I love this sourdough recipe from the Tassajara Bread Book. I’ve had a starter mix going for nearly two years, which had remained untouched in the fridge for way too long. I got it out on the weekend to stir and the impulse took over. Usually I make a rye version but having only wholemeal flour, chickpea flour and a bit of cornmeal in the cupboard, I opted for a combination of these. It made for a slightly cakey texture and deep flavour… and became the basis for a picnic down at the river on what was a very balmy Sunday evening.
The recipe looks slightly complicated, but is definitely worth the effort. Artisan-made sourdoughs are readily available these days, but there’s something about making your own that you won’t find in a bakery. This bread is heavy, intricately flavoured and different each time.
I’ve halved the Tassajara recipe to make two large (or three smaller) loaves at a time. I usually freeze one or two. The best part is playing around with different flours and add-ins.
A note on folding in. Folding in is the method used to mix ingredients. Don’t stir or cut through the dough – the aim is to keep it in one piece. Stir around the side of the bowl and fold over towards the centre. Turn bowl toward you a quarter turn with your left hand, folding as you go until oil and salt are incorporated.
A note on kneading. Pick up the furthest edge of dough, fold in half toward you, so the two edges are roughly aligned. With open palms, press down on the nearest side of the dough to you and push forward and away from you through the heels of your hands. The idea is to use the weight of your body to knead the dough so that the top fold joins with the bottom fold. Pick up the dough and turn a quarter-turn clockwise and repeat.
starter mix
Combine 1 tbspn dry yeast, 2.5 cups warm water, 2 tsp sugar or honey and 2.5 cups wholemeal flour. (Alternatively, mix any sour food, such as two-day old rice, with 2.5 cups wholemeal flour and water as necessary to make it spongy.) Let ferment, covered, in a warm space for five days, stirring daily. The starter may be kept indefinitely in a sealed containter in the fridge, though it’s best to use it once a week. I’ve used it far less often and find it keeps well with an occasional stir.
the night before
4.5 cups wholemeal flour
1 cup starter mixture
3.5 cups lukewarm water
in the morning
1/2 cup oil (I like olive or sesame oil)
1 tbspn salt
3-4 cups rye flour and 2 cups wholemeal flour for the rye version (or 5-6 cups wholemeal for the standard Tassajara version)
couple of handfuls of seeds (toasted sesame & sunflower seeds, pepitas)
the night before
Add starter to flour without mixing. Then mix together while adding water a cup at a time. Mix well to form a thick batter. Cover and leave in a warm place overnight to sour. This mixture is called the sponge.
in the morning
Stir sponge and replenish your starter mixture with 1 cup of the sponge. Fold in oil, salt and remaining flour gradually with spoon. When you have a rough blob of dough, turn it onto a well-floured board. Knead for five minutes, adding more flour as needed. Cut into two or three sections (depending on how many loaves you want). Form into loaves, by rolling up the dough into a log shape. With the seam on bottom, mould into shape. Turn over and pince the seams together all the way along, including the loaf ends. Place into floured bread pans. Slit tops and sit in a warm place (covered with a damp teatowel) for two hours to rise. Brush tops with water and place in 220 degree oven for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 180 degrees and bake for an hour or until cooked through.
Cool before slicing. Serve with organic butter. Bliss!
Did you inadvertently halve the baking temperatures?
Hi db – good question. I was remiss in not mentioning that the temperature in the recipe is degrees Celcius. And you’re correct – you can roughly double these temperatures for the Farenheit equivalent. I will look at including the conversions in future recipes – but in the meantime, there are lots of good converters online, such as http://www.onlineconversion.com. Hope that helps.
Hi, I just visited your site to confirm baking temperatures as I am baking away from my book, thanks.
I love this recipe and have had the Tassajara Bread Book for about 10 years. For some reason the recipe’s just didn’t work for me for a while, then it all clicked when I started making sourdough and have been doing so for about three years. My starter takes a lot of neglect and apparent abuse, but keeps delivering.
I have been doing some brewing recently with crystal and dark malts and have experimented by including these in my latest batch of bread. I’ve also used the sourdough starter to brew ginger beer, and the Tassajara sourdough pancakes are yummy.
As you can guess I’m a fan.
Best wishes
Hi Jan – I hope the temperatures worked for you. I’ve found it really depends on the oven (gas/fan forced/combustion) and of course the size of the loaves. I also reduced the oven time from that given in the book.
I’d love to hear more about your use of crystal and dark malts in your sourdough.
Oh and homemade ginger beer?! Yum!
Thanks for stopping by
Do you feed your sourdough once it’s sealed and kept in the fridge? How long does it go without feeding? Do you discard all the dark alcohol layer that forms on top or do you stir it back in?
Hi TinyPliny. No, I don’t feed the sourdough starter, except of course whenever I make bread and the starter is ‘refreshed’ with more sponge. But having said that, I have had very long breaks in between bread-making – perhaps several months – and the starter still seems to be OK, though I don’t get as good a rise as when it was fresh. I try to stir the starter weekly, mixing in the liquid which seems to separate and sit on top. For me it’s all trial and error though, and I’m still learning!