Test Your Newfound Baking Skills with This Artisan Bread Recipe

Many people have developed new skills over the lengthy Enhanced Community Quarantine. One of the more popular skills people have learned is cooking/baking, with many posting pictures of the various dishes and breads that they made from scratch.

If you’ve learned how to bake bread recently, you may be itching to test yourself with a slightly more advanced recipe. After all, now is the perfect time to improve your bread-making skills and reach an artisan level. This recipe from Chef Leti Moreau, Executive Pastry Chef of Enderun Colleges, is the perfect place to start:

Sourdough Bread

by Chef Leti Moreau

500g Bread Flour
340g Water
11g Salt
210g Sourdough Starter Mix

1. Pour 320g of water into a small bowl and the remaining 20g of water into a separate container. Refrigerate both 30 minutes before preparing the dough.
2. Pour the 320g of cool water into a mixing bowl with the sourdough starter mix. Add the bread flour and salt to the mixture.
3. Run the dough through the slowest setting on your mixer for 8 minutes. Slowly add small amounts of the remaining 20g of water as the dough mixes.
4. After the first 8 minutes, increase the mixing speed to “medium” or its equivalent on your machine. Allow the dough to mix for 3 minutes.
5. Apply a thin coat of oil to your work surface to prevent the dough from sticking. Gently shape the dough into a ball. Take care not to overwork the dough
6. Cover the ball with a kitchen cloth. Leave the dough alone at room temperature for an hour and a half (1.5 hours).
7. After 1.5 hours, cut the dough in half. Take one dough and fold the corners into the center and shape back into a ball. Line a bowl with a kitchen cloth. Lift the dough, flip it, and place it into the bowl. Cover the dough with the rest of the cloth. Repeat with the remaining dough ball. Allow the dough to proof for another 1.5 hours.
8. Preheat 200°C.
9. Take one dough ball and gently place it on top of a small baking tray lined with baking paper.
10. Optional: gently place a baking stencil on top of the dough. Carefully sprinkle flour over the stencil to create your preferred design on the dough.
11. Take a sharp knife and gently score the dough right down the middle. Be careful not to score the bread too deep.
12. Gently place the tray on the upper level of your oven. Place a tray of water in the level directly below the tray with the dough. Immediately lower the oven temperature to 180°C for 40 minutes.
13. The first 20 minutes is to help the bread rise. The last 20 minutes is to add color to the crust. You may adjust the length in order to reach your preferred color.

You may also view this recipe by following Chef Leti’s online baking program That Thing You Dough on Facebook. The baking program also teaches other fun baking recipes, including how to make your own sourdough starter. Follow the class here