A Seedy Sourdough Bread

Back to the roots! This is my first recipe, followed by lots and lots of good things in my life.

Wersja polska - klik!

The seedy bread is a wheat-rye, mainly wholemeal sourdough bread, full of seeds:

• pumpkin
• sunflower
• oats
• flax
• sesame
• nigella

All ingredients and accessories ready

Visually it reminds me of a brick, one loaf weighs about 1250 g. The top is covered in sunflower, pumpkin and linseed.

It brings a lot of memories every time I make it. It's because of it that I got interested with baking. If I had not brought it to work, I would probably have (less kilograms on me and) to find some other, inferior hobby.

The preparation time is about 30 minutes to combine the ingredients, 20 minutes for their preparation and weighing, and preparing the baking tins, and cleaning, 6-8 hours to refresh the sourdough, 6-12 hours for proofing. A lot depends on the temperature and sourdough activity. In my case the activity is not consistent as I don't bake as much as I used to. Baking takes 70 minutes, then leave it to cool and enjoy :)

From left: strong white wheat flour, wheat wholemeal flour, rye wholemeal flout. The two latter can be recognised by colour: wheat one is rather brown and the rye one is grey.

I already had the recipe published on my blog. It has evolved slightly since then, mainly because of a limitation which is the size of a mixer bowl. Currently I make three loaves at once which works, but I had to downsize the loaves slightly.

Since every now and then I bake for my friends and make four loaves, I use my hands and a 10 litre mixing bowl (I have two from the pre-mixer era). I have a dough mixer with a thick handle (I managed to break two wooden spoons so far). It's good to work with dough and to make sure everything is mixed evenly. Of course, a scale is crucial. You'll also need two smaller bowls for the seeds, a water jug, baking tins (I use old ones from Ikea, same size as the new ones, but I like them more). I think that's all.

The seeds used in the bread:

• wheat - strong and a wholemeal flour. Country of origin: Great Britain and Canada. I currently use Shipton Mill, I used Bacheldre Watermill and Doves Farm before. Wheat flours in the UK are often made with grains mixtures as the local one is usually to weak and the Canadian one is very strong. I order flours over the Internet (it's convenient to receive a 25 kg bag at your doorstep). Bacheldre stopped selling what I was buying recently and then started again, but for much more, so I switched over to Shipton Mill.
• rye - in a wholemeal flour. Country of origin: Great Britain. I still use Bachledre one as I have ordered too much once and still have a two months' supply.
• pumpkin - Country of origin: China. I don't use much pumpkin for other breads as I don't always like the flavour it gives. In this bread it's awesome.
• sunflower - Country of origin: China. Very tasty, especially roasted :)
• oats - Country of origin: Great Britain. Of course, rolled oats are part of British heritage. Importing them would be like carrying wood to a forest. Unless it's gluten free. I think only Finland offers it (but i might be wrong)
• flax - Country of origin: China. A lot of fibre. I it also quite vulnerable to static electricity. Emptying a bag is mission impossible
• sesame - Country of origin: Bolivia. It gives some aroma to the bread but not as much as nigella seeds. Sesame contains a lot of iron, calcium and magnesium
• nigella - Country of origin: Turkey. The seeds are really aromatic. Adding too much on top of the loaf will make it bitter and uneatable. Note there isn't a lot of nigella in the dough as it's rather pricey and not everyone likes it.

Small cheat: Nigella seeds are only at the part of a bowl in their layer, just to look nice

Ingredients:
Makes four loaves

• 500 g wholemeal wheat sourdough (rye sourdough will do as well)
• 1100 g wholemeal wheat flour
• 550 g wholemeal rye flour
• 275 g strong white wheat flour
• 50 g salt
• 2100 g water
• 130 + 50 g pumkin seeds (50g for sprinkling)
• 130 + 50 g sunflower seeds (50g for sprinkling)
• 130 + 50 g flax seeds (50g for sprinkling)
• 130 g rolled oats
• 130 g sesame seeds
• 20 g nigella seeds
• a bit of butter for greasing the tins. You can use coconut oil but nothing works as well as butter. You can also use some baking parchment, but it won't give that nice smell.

Preparation:

1. In the evening, get the sourdough refreshed - take it out of the fridge, add 50 g water and 50 g flour, and leave it on the kitchen worktop. I also prepare the ingredients in bowls. Flours and salt go to one bowl, seeds to add to the dough go to another, and seeds to sprinkle the top go to yet another. Remember: there is no such thing as too many seeds to sprinkle on top. If any don't stick, you can use them in a salad or as a snack.
   
   Ripe sourdough in the morning
2. In the morning, add water to flour and mix it so that whole flour gets incorporated
3. Add seeds to the dough and mix them so that they spread evenly
4. Grease the tins with butter so that the bread doesnt stick
5. Put the dough into the tins, level it with wet hands or a spatula
   
6. Sprinkle the seeds on top and distribute them evenly
   
7. Cover with cling film and put into a cold or a lightly heated but already switched off oven (max 25-30 C degrees)
8. Wait patiently for it to rise. The dough is usualy 2-3 cm below the tin edge. When the seeds touch the film, the bread is ready. A bit earlier will be ok - it will rise and crack a little when baking, artisan style. If it overproofs it's also OK - maybe the looks are not too pretty, but it is still delicious and usually not too dense
   
   This one is just right
9. Bake in 160 Celius degrees using fan assisted baking for 70 minutes. 160 degrees may be not enough for you, know your oven. I started with 180, but the bread was getting a bit burnt
10. Put it away to cool down

Behold, my seedy bread.

I have submitted this recipe to polish culinary contest #pl-kuchniakonkurs. I recommend this tag, the recipes are in Polish, but the pictures are excellent. I suspect your favourite translation service will deal with it well.

If you'd like to try it and find yourself in London one day, let me know. You will not die of hunger.