Walnut Cranberry Sourdough Bread

(Time is just a guide. Adjust accordingly)

10am (activate starter)

14g sourdough starter

27g water (I use Perrier)

23g bread flour

4g whole wheat flour

- mix all in a covered glass container and mark the volume with a rubber band

1pm (autolyse dough)

starter should start to double in size at this point

50g whole wheat flour

275g bread flour

253g filtered water

- in a bowl, mix the above ingredients until water is fully absorbed

- cover the bowl and leave dough autolyse for 1hr

2pm (add activated sourdough starter)

starter should be ready for use and triple in size after 4hrs

65g sourdough starter

- add to the autolyse dough and mix with rubaud method till well incorporated about 3min

- cover bowl and rest for 30min

2:30pm (add salt)

6g sea salt

- mix again using rubaud method for about 3min and let it rest for 30min

3pm (first fold)

- wet hands, stretch the dough upwards from each corner and fold NSEW and rest 30min

3:30pm (2nd fold + add ingredients)

60g chopped lightly toasted walnut

30g chopped cranberry

- wet working surface and transfer dough

- pull stretch the dough out to squarish shape and sprinkle w+c in the middle 1/3 section

- tri-fold top over (to cover the w+c) and sprinkle w+c on the top folded section

- fold bottom over (to cover the w+c) and sprinkle w+c in the middle 1/3 of the section

- fold over the right side and sprinkle w+c over it

- finally fold over the left side to cover the w+c

- gently transfer the dough to a container (preferably squarish) cover and rest for 1hr

4:30pm (3rd fold)

- coil fold NSEW and rest for 1hr

5:30pm (4th fold)

- coil fold NSEW and rest for another 1hr

6:30pm (pre-shaping)

dough should be firm, fluffy and slightly increase in volume. 

It should jiggle like jello... if not, do another fold 

- lightly flour working surface and gently stretch out dough

- tri-fold the dough gently from top to bottom and again from right to left

- use a scraper to round the dough and create tension

- rest for 10min

- prepare proofing basket by dusting all surface with rice flour using a sifter

6:45pm (shaping and retardation)

- flip the dough over gently and spread out but try not to lose the gas

- tri-fold the dough gently from top to bottom

- from the short edge, roll down the dough so that it fit into the proofing basket

- use scraper to transfer to proofing basket seam side up

- pinch sides to the middle to form a bit more tension

- retard in the fridge for 12-16hrs

anytime from 7am up to 1pm next day (prep for baking)

- pre-heat oven with a dutch oven+cover in the oven for 45min-1hr @ highest temperate depending on oven about 230°-250°C

8am (baking)

- take dough out from the fridge and flip to transfer onto a parchment paper

- brush off any excess flour on surface of dough

- take a bread lame and swiftly score across from top to bottom (or other design) of the surface about 1.5cm deep

- take out the dutch oven from the oven and carefully transfer the dough+parchment paper into the dutch oven and cover

- bake for 20min

- take out the bread and bake on a rack for another 10-15min @ 220°C till desired color

- let bread cool down completely for about 4-5hrs completely cutting

Foodnote: baking sourdough bread is really time consuming but very satisfying. First time trying to add walnut and cranberries since I have both on hand and wanted to clear both. I don't get a nice rise and oven spring much to my disappointment. Still a lot to improve in my sourdough baking technique but the bread is delicious and I might want to try with other ingredients eg.dates+almonds next time. This recipe is from here.