Sesame Spelt Sourdough Loaf

I used Tartine’s country loaf recipe as inspiration for this loaf and combined two of my favorite flavors (sesame and honey) with one of my favorite flours (spelt)! Sesame seeds and spelt bring the nutty, earthiness, while the small amount of honey makes each bite finish slightly sweet.

Makes 1 boule.

Levain

16 g active starter

100 g water

50 g whole wheat flour

50 g all purpose flour

Dough

350 g water (+ 25 g added later)

450 g bread flour

50 g spelt flour

100 g Levain

10 g salt

Inclusions

1/2 cup sesame seeds, toasted

30 g honey

Additional sesame seeds for the crust (optional)

Supplies recommended: scale, large bowl, bench scraper, lame or sharp blade, banneton or bowl, baking tray, timer, dutch oven or combo cooker, thick oven mitts

8-10 hours* before mixing your dough, create your levain. Cover with a towel and place in a draft-free spot in your kitchen.

In the meantime, toast your sesame seeds. Pre-heat your oven to 375. Spread seeds evenly on a baking tray and toast in intervals of 5 minutes, checking and tossing the seeds to make sure they don’t burn. They will be toasted once they are fragrant and taken on a bit of color. Set aside and allow them to cool completely.

Once the levain has domed edges, some bubbles, has grown in size, and passes the float test**, it is ready to use.

Mix the dough. Weigh 350 g of warm (80 degree) water into a large bowl. To that, add 100 g of your levain and mix until it partially dissolves. Add 30 grams of honey and mix until it is mostly incorporated.

Add the flours and mix with your hand until all the flour is hydrated and the dough forms a shaggy mass. Remove as much dough as possible from your hand, add it back to the main dough, and cover the bowl, setting it aside to rest for 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes have passed, add the 10 g of salt and the remaining 25 g of water. Pinch the dough with your whole hand to make sure the salt is thoroughly incorporated throughout. Once the dough is a cohesive mass, cover it.

Now begins the bulk fermentation, during which there will be folds for the first 2 hours, every half hour (for a total of 4 folds) and a subsequent 1-2 hour rest. At this point, make sure the dough is covered and in a warm, draft-free location. Ideally, the ambient temperature for the bulk fermentation will be around 70 degrees. If your kitchen is colder than this, it may take longer to fully ferment during this stage.

Fold the dough. The purpose of each fold is to strengthen the dough so it holds its shape and rises properly when baked. To fold, imagine your bowl is a compass, with the four cardinal directions, North, South, East, and West. Dip your hands into a bowl of water and gently pull the dough from its ‘North’ corner, pulling it to its limit without tearing it, and then fold it over the rest of the dough. Rotate the bowl by 90 degrees and repeat with the ‘East’ corner of the dough. Then repeat with the other corners. The dough should appear more taught and cohesive than it was pre-fold. Here is a great video demonstrating the stretch and fold method.

Immediately after the second fold, incorporate the sesame seeds by spreading them over the dough and pinching them through the dough, similar to mixing in the salt.

You should see the dough come together throughout the folds, changing from shaggy to smooth.

After 3 hours of the bulk fermentation, check the dough for activity. If it looks as though it has grown 20-30%, has domed edges and you can see bubbles, go ahead and shape. If you do not see these indicators, let it rest for another 30 minutes. Check again and if necessary, add 30 more minutes to its bulk. Note: my home kitchen runs very cold so it is typical that I have to use all 4 hours for my bulk fermentation, and sometimes even longer. Let the dough take the time it needs to grow.

Shape the dough. After bulk fermentation, it is time to shape. To pre-shape, dump the dough onto a clean surface. Sprinkle all purpose flour over it so it creates a light layer on the top of the dough. Use a bench scraper to flip the dough so it’s flour-side down. Grab the left and right sides of the dough, stretch them slightly, and fold one over the center of the dough, and the other over that one. Gently pull the top of the dough over the middle of the mass, pulling the floured side so it is now facing upwards. Using one hand and your bench scraper or just both of your hands, move the dough in a circle, creating tension with your work surface and the dough. You are tucking the edges underneath to create initial structure within the loaf. This is a great video that demonstrates the pre-shaping technique.

Cover the loaf and let it rest for 5-10 minutes. This rest allows the gluten to relax and will make the final shaping stage easier.

Once the loaf has slacked out a bit, it is time to final shape.

Before shaping, prep your banneton with a sprinkle of all purpose or rice flour. This will prevent the loaf from sticking. Sprinkle in some sesame seeds as well, to add extra crunch to the crust. If you do not have a banneton, you can use a medium-sized bowl, lined with a dish towel.

To shape it into a boule, or round loaf, flip it so the top of the loaf is now in contact with your table or bench. Gently stretch the two sides of the dough away from each other. When you feel you have reached the dough’s limit of stretch, fold one side over the middle, patting to seal, and fold the other on top of the first side.

Similar to the pre-shape, you’ll pull and fold the top of the dough over the middle of the loaf, bringing all of the seams you’ve created onto the surface of the table. Using your hands as paddles or one hand and a bench scraper, create tension with the loaf and your work surface while also pushing the dough in a circle, always keeping the seam in the center of the loaf. This creates enough structure within the bread to hold its shape when baked.

Pay attention to the surface of the dough while shaping, go slowly if you need to. You should be able to feel and see the surface grow tighter with each rotation. When the surface is springy to the touch, you are done shaping. Be careful not to over-shape, as this will create tears in the surface and undo some of the work you just did.

Once shaped, place the round in your prepped banneton or bowl. OR If you’d like to add more sesame seeds here, lay a damp kitchen towel out on your work surface, as well as a tray or plate with a layer of sesame seeds. Pat/dab the top of the shaped loaf onto the wet cloth, then gently roll the wet surface on the layer of seeds and place in your banneton or bowl.

Leave the dough out for 1 hour at room temperature after shaping. Then cover and place in your fridge for 8-12 hours for a long, cold ferment.

Bake! Half an hour before baking, preheat your oven to 500 degrees and place your dutch oven or combo cooker inside. It is important to get your baking vehicle as hot as possible to facilitate a crisp crust and good oven spring.

After half an hour, remove the dough from the fridge. At this point, I conduct the ‘Poke Test:’ with a floured finger, gently press into the dough, about half an inch down. Remove your finger and watch the dough carefully. If it fully springs back and leaves no indent, it needs more time to ferment. Place it back in the fridge for 45 minutes and try the test again. If the dough slowly springs back and leaves a partial indent, it has passed the Poke Test and is ready to bake!

Sprinkle some rice flour on the exposed dough to prevent it from sticking to your dutch oven or combo cooker. Remove your baking vehicle from the oven, be very careful because it will be heavy and hot.

Gently flip your banneton over onto a piece of parchment that will fit in your combo cooker or dutch oven. Using a blade (lame or very sharp serrated knife) score the bread, giving it a direction to grow. Don’t score too deeply, 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch is deep enough. Carefully, holding the edges of the parchment paper, place the scored dough in your baking vehicle.

Place the top back on and carefully place it back in the oven. Turn down the temperature to 475 and bake for 20 minutes.

Remove the top and bake for 15 more, or until the crust has reached your desired color. The loaf should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom, and feel significantly lighter than it was before baking.

Allow to cool for at least 45 minutes, as the loaf will continue baking. Slice and enjoy!

*the timing that I use for this recipe that works best for me is to make the levain around 8 AM, let it build during the day, and then mix the dough around 4:30 PM. Then folds and shaping can occur while you’re winding down your day and you can put the bread to bed around the same time you get ready yourself. Then, I’ll bake the loaves first thing in the morning and have fresh bread for lunch.

**the float test is a way to tell if your levain is ready to be used as the raising agent of your loaf. You conduct this test by filling a small bowl with water and dropping a tiny bit (a pinch) of levain into the water. If it floats on top of the water, it is ready to use. If it doesn’t, cover your levain and give it another half hour to grow. If your levain repeatedly fails this test, something has gone wrong in the creation of your levain.