Easy peasy sourdough bread
Hello there, Ruth Sofie here! I wanted to show you that Susan´s not the only one who's been making good food around here lately. I´ve made my very own sourdough starter, and have been using it to bake bread around once a week. As we speak, I have not one, but two sourdough starters, which I like to call "Tiny My" and "Hufsa". Today Tiny My will help me bake some simple sourdough bread.
I´m no great baker, I just bake when I feel like it. I don´t give my dough insane amounts of love and attention. You won't find me kneading it countless times during the baking process; no, my breads are simple, but delicious all the same and are great for my girls´ packed lunches at kindergarten.
This is the easy recipe I follow:
- 1 generous spoonful sourdough starter
- 5 dl water
- 10 dl organic flour (a mix of white and whole wheat flour will do the trick)
- 1 teaspoon salt
I often use baking mixes from Holli Mølle, and my favourite is rye whilst my girls like landhvete (an old type of wheat), which is a bit milder in taste. I encourage you to try out as many different sorts of flour as you like. The only thing I would not compromise on, is the flour being organic.
My sourdough starter lives in the fridge. If I plan to bake a loaf in the evening, I make sure I take out the sourdough starter early in the day, this gives it time to “wake up” before using it. Does it work? It's hard to say, but I sure need a little time before I´m properly awake, and I like to think that my sourdough is a bit like me!
Baking sourdough bread is actually pretty easy and quick to make. Thing is, it needs to rise, a LOT. You just have to find your own rhythm and your routine, but once you´ve got it, you´ll notice the bread kind of bakes itself. Here's how:
Start by taking a nice tablespoon of sourdough starter and mix it in cold water. Then add the rest of the ingredients and mix them all together. Once this is done, leave the dough to rise for at least 12 hours. Put the dough in a bread tin and leave it to rise for another 1 to 4 hours on a sheet of baking paper.
Now it's ready for baking, yay! Set an oven tray filled with a little water and place at the bottom of the oven - this will give the bread a delicious crunchy crust. Set the oven on to 250 ˚C and put the bread in once it´s reached the right temperature. The loaf has to stay in the hot oven for a couple minutes, then turn the temperature down to 160 ˚C and leave it to bake for another 1,5 hours. Take the loaf out of the oven and allow to cool on a cooling rack until it cools down completely. Don´t fall for the temptation to slice while it's still warm! Once your loaf is entirely cooled, you can finally dig in! Freshly baked bread with a slice of cheese, preferably Norwegian brown cheese, is one of life's greatest pleasures!
Don´t think about storing your bread in a plastic bag, that's just a soft and sad crust waiting to happen. Store in a kitchen towel, so that the crust remains nice and crunchy ;) and our kitchen towels are fantastic for this purpose! They are the right size and thickness, not to mention how pretty they are!
Happy baking!