50g Light Rye Flour No.997

50g Stoneground Organic Spelt Flour

200g Organic Untreated White Flour No.4

15g Poppy Seeds

8g Sea Salt

10g Organic Active Dry Yeast

195g Water

Place all of your dry ingredients into a small bowl & mix very thoroughly; I tend to use a Pyrex type bowl, having warmed it prior to adding the flour etc.

Add the water, which should be slightly warm (definitely not cold) & mix together until you have created a slightly sticky dough.

Cover the bowl with a damp cloth & leave for 10 minutes minimum but no longer than 12 minutes.

Use a stretch & fold kneading technique, repeating it four times, with a 10 minute rest between each stretching & folding. I tend to create a dimple in the dough after each stretch & fold, to remind myself of where I am in this process. If I find the dough to be a bit too sticky I just add a bit more flour ( Untreated White) but not too much, in order not to reduce the slight stickiness.

After the final, fourth knead, let the dough rest for 10 minutes, adding a further 60 minutes for the first rise, having covered the bowl with either a damp cloth or a shower cap. I tend to keep the bowl on a tea towel in a coolish part of the kitchen.

Separately, prepare a small round proving basket, ensuring it is well floured, in readiness for the second & final rising.

Once the hour is up, having lightly floured your work surface, empty the dough out, gently knocking it back with your fist before kneading & shaping it into a nice round. Place the round, bottom side up into the proving basket, cover & leave it in a warm place. I tend to put the proving basket on top of the (closed) AGA warming plate which should itself be covered (using another tea towel).

Leave the dough to rise again for about 40 minutes.

I‘m a fan of using a baking ‘cloche’ as it gives great results; so, after 15 minutes I place the ‘cloche’ in the AGA roasting oven ( ours usually runs at 230 C ) for the remaining 25 minutes.

Remove the ‘cloche‘ from the oven. After lifting off the cloche lid, carefully empty the dough from the proving basket onto the cloche base, put the cloche lid back on, place in the oven and bake for at least 30 minutes (minimum 225 C in a conventional oven).

At the 30 minute mark, take the cloche from the oven, remove the cloche lid & place the base back into the oven for a further final 10 minutes.

Once your time is up, remove the bread from the oven having checked that the base of the bread, when tapped sounds hollow’ish.

Place the baked bread on a wire rack to cool & resist any temptation to cut yourself a slice for at least 10 mins

Enjoy..