I’ve been experimenting, using my sourdough (Alice in Wondoughland) and some new-to-me and interesting flours from Maine Grains in Skowhegan, Maine. I am calling this one Swedish Honey Wheat Sourdough Loaf because it uses Öland Wheat. Öland is an island in the Baltic Sea where the Swedish Monarchy has their summer home (there will be a pop quiz on the names of the Swedish Monarchy later today, go study up). It a slightly nutty, slightly golden in color wheat, and I added some local honey (well, local to Cambridge Massachusetts, not to Öland, nor to Skowhegan) and came up with this lovely loaf. It’s delicious. The one thing that I am beginning to learn though, is that it takes a bit of trial and error when experimenting with new flours, to get the hydration levels just right. The first dough I made was a gloppy mess and I kept on overcompensating, and then the sourdough ratio was totally off. This attempt is better, but still a little too dense, but definitely flavorful.
Ingredients
1 to 1 1/2 cups warm water (between 100-110F)
1/2 cup (120 grams) ripe sourdough
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups Maine Grains Öland wheat flour
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
Directions
In a larger work bowl, combine flour, honey, water and sourdough. Hand mix in the bowl with 4-5 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes covered with a piece of plastic wrap (or a clean dish towel), then add in the salt and hand mix in the bowl for another minute. Turn out dough onto lightly floured counter and knead another about 2 minutes. Transfer dough to greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let dough rise at room temperature until almost doubled in size and fingertip depression in dough springs back slowly, 60 to 90 minutes.
Gently transfer dough to lightly floured counter and shape into tight round ball. Place dough on a piece of parchment or in a proofing basket. Cover dough loosely with plastic and let rise at room temperature again, for only about 30 minutes.
Heat oven to 425F. Heat your Dutch oven along with the oven. Use a sharp knife to make 1/4-inch-deep cross, 5 inches long, on top of loaf. Remove the preheated pot from the oven and transfer the dough into the pot as carefully as possible by handling only the parchment paper. Place the lid on the pot and return it to the oven for 40 minutes. Then remove the lid from the pot and continue baking for another 15-20 minutes. Bake until crust is dark brown and bread registers 200F degrees. Transfer loaf to wire rack and let cool completely, about 2 hours.
