Malted sourdough loaf

I have just ordered Bethesdabasics, a guide to making sourdough bread from the PArtisan Baker. I am looking forward to trying some of his recipes and techniques and hope to post some of the results here. I have fond memories of Bethesda as I lived in North Wales in the late eighties/early nineties.

I have been making my own bread over the past three months. I have made a tasty wholemeal sourdough bread but my favourite sourdough loaf so far uses Dove Farm's Malted bread flour. I have been using a simple method I found at  River Cottage. Last Wednesday night I added 250g flour to 300g  water and 100g of my starter (which has a thick batter consistency), mixed it up and covered it, leaving in a cool place.

The next morning I added 300g of flour, a glug of olive oil and 10 g of salt. I kneaded the dough for about 10 minutes, it was initially quite sticky but I resisted the temptation to add more flour. I then shaped the loaf into a tight ball and then left it covered in a bowl.

Up to now I have usually gone to work and then at 6 pm I have knocked back the dough, reshaped in a tight ball and then left it for 2-3 hours to proove before baking in the oven. The results have been good. However, I was wondering what it would be like if I left it to prove for longer, so I improvised a proving basket (mixing bowl and a floured tea towel!) and left it overnight.

Friday morning I quickly placed the risen dough on a floured wooden chopping board, slashed the top of the loaf and put it onto a hot pizza stone in the oven, with the usual misty spray of water to create a steamy atmosphere. The bread had a great aroma as it baked.

The crust was chewy and the tangy complex flavour of the bread only required a little butter to complement it.
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Best tasting loaf so far. I think I've caught the bug for this sour dough  bread-making!