At least 12 hours prior to kneading the dough mix:
For the leaven:
- 10 gr (1 tbsp) of cold starter
- 70 ml (1/3 cup) room temperature water
- 70 gr ( 0.5 cup) flour
Makes about 120 gr of leaven
Seeds mixture (you can use any combination if you don’t have these particular seeds):
- 300 ml room temperature water
- 1 tbsp sunflower seeds
- 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
- 1 tbsp flaxseeds
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
For the dough:
- Water with seeds mixture
- White bread flour – 400 gr
- Wholewheat flour – 100 gr
- Salt – 10 gr
- Cold water – 25 ml
Directions:
- If your starter lives in the fridge you will need about 12 hours to activate it by combining 10 grams of the cold starter, 70 ml room temperature water and 70 gr of flour in a glass container, just so you can mark the level and watch it rise. Cover your container and leave it on the counter (temperature should be about 70 °F)
- After 12 hours (could be up to 16 hours) it should at least double in size.
- Pour your water with the seeds into a big bowl (you can use stand mixer bowl)
- Add your activate starter (leaven) to the water, it should flow. If it doesn’t – don’t proceed!
- Add white bread flour and wholewheat flour and mix to combine. If you use stand mixer use the low (2 out of 10) speed, mix till all the ingredients combined (about a min and a half on a low speed), or 2 min using your hands.
- Cover the bowl with a towel or plastic wrap and let it sit for almost an hour.
- After an hour add salt + 25 ml of cold water and knead for about 8-10 minutes by hand or 5 min using stand mixer on speed 4 out of 10.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let to rest and proof for 40 min, the temperature should be above 72°F or 22 °C.
- After 40 minutes start folding the dough. You can use coil folding or envelope folding.
- Repeat folding 4 times, maybe 5, leaving the dough to proof for 40 minutes in between. Each time it will feel more stringy and pleasant to touch.
- After 4 or 5 foldings, load the dough on the floured working surface and shape the bread, it can be done with the same folding and rolling it. Place into a container or bowl flat side down covered with the kitchen towel dusted with flour (rice flour is a good option). Put the container into the fridge for 12-16 hours for the cold fermentation.
- Place cast iron pan (or dutch oven) into your oven, preheat your oven with the pan inside for 30 minutes to 450°F.
- Take your bread out of the fridge, place onto a parchment paper. Cut your formed bread on an angle so that it has room to rise. I sprinkle the bread with some bread deep spice mixture (it’s salt with red pepper flakes and herbs).
- When your oven is preheated – using gloves!!! take the pan out and place the parchment paper with the bread on it inside, cover the lid and quickly place the pan into the oven. Let it bake for 20-25 minutes with the lid on, then remove the lid and bake for another 20-25 minutes.
- Using gloves!!!! take the pan out of the oven, transfer the bread onto a cooling rack.
Enjoy the view!
