Walnut Levain

By michele080478

This recipe makes a wonderful rustic loaf with a beautiful crust and moist crumb that is riddled with toasted walnuts. The grain flavour provides a wonderful contrast the the toasted bitters of the walnuts. This bread makes a great accompaniment to cheeses or to jams. The bread is not very time consuming, but requires some planning ahead.

The loaves turned out beautifully. The slashing looks truly beautiful and the crusts turn a wonderful caramelized brown colour while baking. My family ate the majority of one loaf with the cheese course I arranged, and I greatly enjoyed the leftover loaf with goat cheese and jam for breakfast in the days following the meal.

Ingredients

• Ingredients:
• 1/4 cup sourdough starter, refreshed
• 3 tablespoons water, lukewarm
• 1/2 cup unbleached bread flour
• Bake Day:
• 2 cups unbleached bread flour
• 2 cups all-purpose bread flour
• 1/2 cup rye flour
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
• 2 cups water, lukewarm
• 1 heaped teaspoon salt
• 1 heaped cup walnut halves, lightly toasted

Preparation

Step 1

Preparation:

The Evening Before: Combine sourdough starter with water and mix until combined. Stir in flour to form a tough dough. Knead until the dough is smoothe and place in a covered bowl; allow the dough to rise in a warm place overnight until the dough has roughly quadrupled in size.
Bake Day: Combine all the flours in a large bowl; add the water and mix until a dough forms. Knead the dough until it becomes smoothe and the flour has all been incorporated. Cover the bowl and allow to autolyse for 10 minutes.
Add the salt and the levain from the previous day. Mix until the dough becomes smoothe once more. Finally, knead in the walnuts until they have been dispersed throughout the dough. Place in a bowl and cover. Turn the dough after 2 hours, and then allow the dough to rise for another 2 to 3 hours, or until the dough has roughly doubled in volume.
Flour your work surface and turn the dough out. Divide the dough into two even pieces and form into two circular loaves; allow the pieces to relax for 10 minutes before forming the rounds into tight loaves. Place the loaves in proofing baskets dusted liberally with rice flour and cover; allow the loaves to proof for 3 hours.
1 hour before bread is proofed, place a baking stone on one of the middle racks of the oven and preheat to 425˚F (218˚C).
Turn the loaves out of the baskets and onto parchment or a floured peel. Slash each loaf with a deep x, and then make smaller slices each cut of the x. Fill the oven with steam from a mister bottle, and then slide the loaves in. Spray the loaves with water and then bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until they sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Transfer the breads to a rack and allow to cool.