A few years ago my mum bought me a one day bread making course at East London’s artisan sourdough bakery E5 Bakehouse, located beneath a railway arch in London Fields.  My day here was crammed full; making four different types of bread, learning about sourdough cultures and not forgetting sampling lots of delicious bread too. By the end of the day I had a few bags full of bread to take home with me along with a sourdough ‘starter’ and recipes to start baking my own bread at home.

Since attending this course I have continued to bake bread regularly, experimenting with different loaf shapes and recipes along the way. Sourdough baking may seem like a complicated process but in fact the ingredients and method are relatively straightforward. I’ll admit this recipe does take a lot of time to prepare but the effort put in is well worth the end result.

Step 1 – Preparing the leaven

This is made two days in advance to making the dough and is essential in adding flavour and the characteristic airy structure to your sourdough loaf.

1. In a Kilner jar mix 40g of your starter with 35g water, 45g strong white flour and 15g strong wholemeal flour. Now leave this mixture at room temperature for 6 hours.
2. Next add 105g water, 150g strong white flour and 40g strong wholemeal flour mix and pop this in the fridge for two days.

Feeding your starter like this refreshes the lactic bacteria and wild yeast in your leaven and the fermenting flour encourages more growth, which in turn gives the characteristic sour taste to your loaf.

Step 2 – Making your loaf

1. Take your leaven from the fridge, measure out 360g into a large mixing bowl and add 270g of lukewarm water. Using your hands incorporate the leaven with the water, breaking up the structure with your fingers until you are left with a consistency of runny porridge. You should have enough leaven left over to save and use as the starter for your next loaf, so put that aside and feed with water and flour to keep the yeast alive.
2. Next add 300g strong white flour and 60g of strong wholemeal flour to the bowl and incorporate flour working dough into a rough sticky ball. Leave for 20 minutes.
3. Weigh out 11g of fine sea salt, sprinkle over your dough ball, then fold into dough and leave for 30 minutes. At this point I sometimes add seeds for extra flavour – poppy, caraway or fennel seeds are great additions I use approx 10g

4. Now the fun part – stretching and folding the dough. Ignore the usual method of vigorously kneading dough that is associated with making bread; this is not necessary for sourdough making.

Flour your work surface and hands, tip the ball of dough out, working methodically stretch the dough away from you with one hand and fold this stretched piece back into the centre. Turn your ball approx 90 degrees and repeat this action of stretching and folding and continue these steps until the dough stops being stretchy this will be approx after 4 times of stretching, folding and turning. Leave for 30 minutes.

5. Stretch & fold (for the second time). Repeat step 4. Leave for 30 minutes
6. Stretch & fold (for the third time). Repeat step 4. Leave for 30 minutes
7. Stretch & fold (for the fourth time). Repeat step 4. Leave for 30 minutes
8. Stretch & fold (for the fifth time). Repeat step 4. Leave for 30 minutes
9. Shape dough into desired shape – round or long, dust with flour and place seam side up into a floured banneton or wicker basket. Cover and leave in the fridge for 6-18 hours.

Step 3 – Time to bake

1. Preheat your oven to the highest temperature – 230 degrees. Ideally you want to use a casserole dish with a lid to bake the bread in, as this will create a steamy environment for your bread to bake in before creating the crispy chewy crust. Place this in the oven whilst preheating. Alternatively use a baking tray sprinkled with semolina, with a separate tray on the shelf underneath filled with water to create steam.
2. Remove dough from the fridge (the dough should have doubled in size now) and turn out onto a floured surface, using a serrated knife score a cross into the centre about two thirds of the way down, this will allow the bread to grow in the oven.
3. Gently pop the dough into the dish with the lid on and bake for 25 minutes with steam, then a further 10-15 minutes without the lid.
4. Your bread is ready when the crust is golden and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped. Leave to cool on a cooling rack, then enjoy!

Written by Penni Panayiotou, Thornback & Peel Production Manager