Sourdough levain
30 g active sourdough starter
60 g bread flour
60 g water, at around 78F/26C
Main dough
600g bread flour
450g water, at around 78F/26C
120g sourdough levain
12g salt
Method:
1. Make the levain:
Mix the levain and rise at around 78F/26C for 5 hours or until peak.
2. Prepare the main dough:
3 hours after mixing up the levain, you can start preparing the main dough:
•In a bowl, add flours and water, and mix until just combined. Cover and rest/autolyse for 2 hours – until the levain is ready.
3. Add levain and salt:
•Add levain to the main dough and hand mix using the Rubaud mixing method (or whatever mixing method you prefer). I mixed for about 3 minutes.
•Rest 30 minutes.
•Add salt and hand mix for another 3-4 minutes.
4. Fermentation process:
I let my dough ferment/proof for 6 hours at 75F/24C, including one lamination and four coil folds. Each fold was separated by around 60 minutes in this order: fold, lamination, fold, fold, fold.
5. Overnight rest:
When the dough had finished fermenting; divided dough into two, pre-shaped and shaped into boules, placed in bannetons, and transferred them to the fridge for an overnight cold-proof.
6. Pumpkin shape:
Remove from fridge and wrap dough in oiled kitchen twine as demonstrated in this video.
Cut off any access twine.
Score and decorate with seeds as desired. I used egg wash to make the seeds stick.
7. Bake:
I baked the bread in a preheated cast iron pan at 500F/260C for 20 minutes. Removed the lid, turned down the heat to 430F/220C, and baked for another 15-20 minutes until golden.
