My apprentice, Ethan described Botanical blend No 13 as intense. He isn't kidding and the smell of this dough fermenting is incredible. Within an hour you can smell the esters. The base of this blend is rye, which is widely grown in central and eastern Europe and is a good source of dietary
Featured Products
“Bake, eat share, repeat,” This is what Vanessa suggests this month
20% Chocolate Chip & Spiced Rye Classic Sourdough Boule – Retarded – Mid Hydration
Cherie Denham’s Guinness Bread and a conversion to sourdough
How to Convert a Standard Recipe into a Sourdough Version
I appreciate this bread is not a sourdough bread, but so many people ask me how they can convert a recipe such as this lovely one. What I tend to do is use about 20% of the weight of the flour as a lively, bubbly sourdough starter that I
Read More »
Chocolate & Hazelnut Sourdough Pain De Mie
This is a chocolate and hazelnut version of my classic sourdough pain de mie. It's a favourite here at the Sourdough School, served with a cup of strong coffee kefir for a mid-morning break. The timings listed in the recipe mean that you can easily fit making this loaf around your working day, and
Make your own DIY Dough Proofer out of an apple box
When the seasons change to the cooler months, having access to a proofing box -- which provides a consistently warm environment -- can be the difference between success and failure. I struggled with my proofing for two years, keeping my dough warm in the oven using the low heat emitted by the oven
Read More »
Rye & Buttermilk Molasses Sourdough Cake
This loaf-style rye molasses cake is a great way to use up leftover sourdough starter. Our Botanical Blend No. 13 gives the cake a good depth of flavour from the coriander, fennel and chocolate. If you don't have a home mill, you can just use a blend of rye flour and einkorn flour: simply
Sourdough fermentation controls explained
So you want to make great sourdough?
You need to understand it.
The moment that you stop thinking that you are baking bread and start to think I am fermenting bread then you will be a great baker. So this is what makes my approach different, and why I give guidance - because it is wild yeast and
Read More »
Sourdough Mince Pies
These sourdough mince pies are incredibly delicious. The sweet sourdough shortcrust pastry brings a slightly acid tang to the pies which accentuates the sweetness of the filling. For me they also have three major advantages: • This recipe allows me to enjoy eating pastry, which I wouldn’t
Sweet Orange Sourdough Cake
This is a recipe that I use as an alternative to a Christmas cake. It’s moist, sweet, orangey, and there is nothing quite so lovely as making your own candied orange peel.
The two classic methods to make sourdough – ambient & retarded
Audio lesson
Ambient
The main difference is that ambient is sometimes referred to as a straight dough. In other words you go straight from mix to prove to bake. I typically consider this as a classically French technique and is the more ancient technique as fridges were not invented until this
Read More »