White Boule

I don’t know about you, but I have never had the patience to even read to the end of a recipe for a sourdough starter. Needless to say, I haven’t attempted to make my own.

Buuuut this recipe uses a mini starter which is easy to prep, doesn’t take weeks of feeding, and gives a chewy, tangy, delicious white loaf. Too delicious. Fresh from the oven, it’s perfect. A few days in, toasted and slathered with peanut butter – also perfect.

The weather is turning colder, and the smell of freshly baked bread always cheers me up. If you have a day where you're hanging around the house, I can think of no better recipe to make.

Ingredients for the starter

• 250ml lukewarm water
• ½ tsp active dry yeast
• 125g plain flour
• 50g wholemeal flour

Ingredients for the dough

• 250ml lukewarm water
• 1 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 450g plain flour
• 1 tsp salt

Method

Stir all of the starter ingredients together in a big bowl to make a thick, sticky mixture.

Cover with cling film and let rest for at least 2 hours, and up to 16 hours.

To make the dough, stir the starter and throw in the rest of the ingredients. Hold back 50g of the flour, mix well. Kneed the dough, adding more flour as needed for about 10 minutes until you have a soft and stretchy dough.

Put in a greased bowl, cover with cling and allow to rise until doubled (about 60 minutes in a warm ish kitchen).

Turn out onto a floured surface and knock back a little (but don’t knock all the air out). Form into a large ball.

..and place on a tray lined with greaseproof paper.

Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees C (but turn it down to 220 degrees C just before baking).

Cut a cross in the top of the loaf and dust with flour.

Pour some water into a roasting tray/deep baking tray and place on the shelf below where you’re going to put the bread.

Turn the oven heat down to 220 degrees C and place the bread in.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until brown and crispy outside.

Remove to cool on a wire rack.

Slice when cooled a bit, will keep for a few days.