It turns out that sourdough focaccia is my new favourite go-to bread to make!
"Now… this recipe is not that easy… but I’m sure you will be able to make a very good loaf with the steps below! – Spelt is one of the most difficult grains to work with. Spelt rises very fast in the fermentation, BUT it goes down very quickly also. So the whole process should be quick and “clean”. It is wholegrain, and our mind identifies that with…”oohhh another brick!”. But you will see that this wholemeal bread is amazing in texture and taste. Let’s go for it!!"
You will need a mature sourdough starter for this recipe. Julio uses an active rye/spelt sourdough starter which has been allowed to develop for at least 5-6 days to begin.
How to Make a Wheat/Spelt Starter
Or use any sourdough starter recipe from a good baking book, for those of you who have a copy of “Crust” by Richard Bertinet, he has a recipe on p47.
The day before, we need to prepare the pre-ferment or the levain. Mix the ingredients below and leave them in a bowl covered with cling film at room temperature for at least 7 hours.
60 gr. Organic Wholemeal Spelt flour
60 gr. H2O
30 gr. Starter (rye/spelt)
The preferment should be ready in about 6 - 8 hours. It depends on the room temperature where the preferment is located.
500 gr. Organic Wholemeal Spelt flour
310 gr. H2O
150 gr. Levain (100% hydration) --> 30% of the total amount of flour.
10 gr. Sea salt
40 gr. Fresh Orange Juice*
* No, No, No – I haven’t become mad! Yes, orange Juice – Orange Juice is the highest content of Vitamin C in the citric family. Why do you want to put Vitamin C in bread? – Well, if you check the ingredients for a lot of products in regards with pastry/bakery in the supermarket, you could see “Ascorbic Acid” (That is basically Vitamin C), but I don’t want to use any chemicals! Even though the regulations say that Ascorbic Acid can be added for organic products, I would rather use orange juice or even better…Kiwi juice (Higher content in Vitamin C).
Why do you want Vitamin C in the dough? The dough is more elastic. The dough can handle higher hydration level - (The higher level, the less compact the crumb is). The volume of the loaf is better. These three reasons above are examples of why it can be good to use it when you are handling wholemeal loaves.
Added by: Julio Hevia
We love to see what you've been baking, but are just updating this section at the moment - we will be able to accept new community recipes in the near future, please don't try to upload in the meantime as we won't be able to accept the photo or send a voucher yet.
If you add one of your own baking recipes with a photo to the Shipton Mill website, we will send you a voucher for 5% off your next order from the Flour Direct shop.
It's very easy, just click here to visit your " My Shipton Mill" page to get started.