Autumn to me means apples and I’ve been seeing lots of lovely apple recipes floating about. My food blogger friend Louise of Louilicious has been whipping up delicious apple creations left and right as has Nadia over at Foodfanatic. So needless to say, I’ve had apples on my mind…a lot. This coincided with a renewed interest in bread making, inspired by the man who lives in my house. He seemed to transform into ‘Pat the Baker’ while I was away recently for a week. I’m not complaining. A recipe in Claus Meyer‘s baking book caught my eye and I decided to try my hand at it. The recipe is based on an apple sourdough and is really good. You do have to plan the thing though. The mashed apples have to sit and ferment in your kitchen for a week before they can be used.
And the apple of my eye…well one of a few ;)
For the apple sourdough:
3 ripe apples (is enough for several breads – keeps for quite some time)
For the dough (makes 2 breads):
450ml cold water
100ml apple sourdough
a little yeast (optional)
600g good quality flour, preferably stoneground
15g sea salt
To make the apple sourdough
Core the apples and blend them to a pulp. Pour into a glass container and cover with a loose-fitting lid or some foil with a few holes punched in it, so that the apple pulp can breathe. Leave it to sit for 1 week at room temperature, stirring every day. Make sure it doesn’t get too warm or it will become mouldy. Once the sourdough starts smelling like beer you know it’s about ready.
To make the bread
Day 1: Mix 350ml of the water with 100ml of the apple sourdough (and a pea-sized amount of yeast if you like) in a mixing bowl. Add the flour and salt, and mix slowly in a food mixer for 3 minutes. Afterwards knead it at high speed in the mixer for a further 15 minutes. Add the remaining water gradually. The dough should be firm and elastic once it’s done. Place the dough into an oiled bowl, cover, and put in the fridge for 20-22 hours.
Day 2: Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and carefully split it down the middle. Place the two breads onto a floured board or bread spade. Leave to rise for an hour.
Heat the oven to 250°C (225°C fan)/475°F. If you have a baking stone place it in the oven to heat. Gently transfer the breads onto the warm baking stone and bake them for 20-25 minutes. Transfer the bread onto a cooling rack.
Recipe based on ‘Ølandsbrød hævet på æbler’, Meyers Bageri
