I am not very good at scoring bread. I’ve tried many different methods and tools to make my cuts look nice and tidy. Most of the time it doesn’t work out. So this time, I did not score the loaf at all. Instead I shaped it in a special way to get a “rustic” look for my bread. And it worked out perfectly!
Usually, when you shape your loaf, you place it on your baking sheet seam side down and make sure the seam is sealed. For this spring onion bread, I did place the bread seam side up on the sheet. The result was this beautiful loaf:
This recipe calls for a pre-ferment and a sourdough starter. You might think this is a bit too much pre-fermentation, but it’s not. It’s a great method to get a flavourful and shelf stable bread with a creamy and light crumb.
Spring Onion Bread (makes one loaf)
Pre-ferment:
75 g all-purpose flour
75 ml water
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
Sourdough starter:
10 g sourdough starter (ripe starter from the fridge)
100 g whole rye flour
100 ml water
Bread:
pre-ferment
starter
163 g whole wheat flour
163 g all-purpose flour
10 g diastatic malt powder (optional)
10 g wheat germ
180 ml water
10 g salt
3 spring onions, chopped
1 teaspoon oil, plus some more for the loaf
In a bowl, combine ingredients for the pre-ferment and stir until the dough is smooth. Cover with plastic and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour. Transfer to fridge and let rest for 12 hours.
At the same time, combine ingredients for the sourdough starter. Also mix until smooth and let sit, covered, at room temperature for 14 hours.
The next day, remove pre-ferment from fridge and let come to room temperature (2 hours).
Combine pre-ferment, starter, flour, malt powder, wheat germ, water, and salt. Knead the dough for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Transfer to a bowl and let rest for 1 hour. Meanwhile fry the onions. Heat oil in a pan and add onions. Fry over medium heat until browned, about 10 minutes. Let cool.
Generously flour your working surface. Punch down the dough and knead in the onions. Shape into a round loaf and form a hole in the centre.
Brush this hole with oil. Turn the loaf around and close the hole by gathering the dough and shaping it into a ball. Place the loaf seam side down in a brotform (proofing basket).
Cover and let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 250C (480F). make sure to preheat the baking sheet as well. Have a piece of parchment paper ready.
When the bread dough is ready, take out the baking sheet and line with the parchment paper. Transfer the loaf to the baking sheet. The seam side should now be up. Transfer to oven and reduce heat to 200C (400F). Bake for 55 minutes until golden brown. Let cool completely before slicing. This step is important because if you slice the bread while still warm, your crumb will be dense and gum-like.
This post was submitted to Susan’s YeastSpotting.
Lovely bread. I love the texture.
[…] Spring Onion Bread […]
you always have the most amazing pics
Looks gorgeous!
sourdough starter??
I don’t understaaaand!
But that bread looks freaking amazing!
Mihl, your bread is the thing of my dreams! So gorgeous!
Don’t worry, I always mangle my bread when I attempt to score it, too! Perhaps I’ll try making this in a loaf pan for ease, but it definitely sounds too good to pass by.
Your breads always look so scrumptious! I can just imagine the chewy texture and sourdough tang. And the green onions would make the bread so flavorful. I always score my breads with a serrated knife and a light touch, and it seems to work well.
I love nothing more than rustic, chewy fresh baked bread. This looks like such a delicious loaf of bread, I bet the onions add the best flavor. Thanks for this recipe!
Oh, this looks delicious! And did you say strawberries?! I’m eagerly awaiting strawberries too ;)
That’s one pretty tasty looking bread!
Your bread looks amazing!
You really make me want to look into and find out what I need to know about sourdough starters. Clearly, it’d be worth it.
Yes, it really is! Making your own starter is not that difficult and once you have it, it is very low maintenance.
The loaf looks awesome! If I weren’t trying to limit my bread baking, I would pretty much make this right now, because I love bread and also happen to have tons of spring onion around. Then again, I never have rye on hand, which might just be a blessing in disguise!
Limit bread baking? That sounds like torture ;)
P.S. You don’t have to use rye. Whole wheat flour would make a good substitute.
It still looks beautiful to me!
That is one gorgeous bread, Mihl. I too have trouble scoring bread :)
I know many people who do! It’s so weird.