Gingerbread Sourdough Artisan Loaf

Step 1

Levain: Make levain by mixing together ripe sourdough starter, flour and water. Set aside for 3-4 hours at 78 degrees F.

Step 2

Mix Dough: Once the levain is ripe/bubbly/doubled in size, mix together the ripe levain, 290 grams of water, molasses, brown sugar, ground ginger and bread flour. Let rest for 30 minutes.

Step 3

Add Salt and Reserved Water: After 30 minutes, add in the 10 grams reserved water and 10 grams of salt. Pinch chunks of dough and reincorporate them together gently. Pick up one side of the dough and fold it over on itself. The dough will be sticky. Wet your hands as needed and continue to work with the dough until all the ingredients are mixed and the dough is smooth, about 3-5 minutes. Transfer the dough to a plastic container or a glass bowl if desired.

Step 4

Stretch and Folds: Perform 3 sets of stretch and folds every half hour for the first 1.5 hours.

Step 5

To “stretch and fold,” wet your hand (so it doesn’t stick to the dough). Reach down to the bottom of the bowl of dough and pull the dough up and over the top of the dough. Turn the bowl a quarter turn and repeat the stretch and fold. Turn another quarter turn and repeat. Perform one more quarter turn with stretching and folding the dough. Cover and set aside.

Step 6

Repeat the stretch and folds every 30 minutes for three times total.

Step 7

Rest: After your third set of stretch and folds, cover the dough and let rest/rise for about 1.5-2 hours at 78-80ºF until showing signs of readiness to shape. The dough will have risen about 30-40%, have some scattered bubbles around the edges and be doming and pulling away from the sides of the bowl.Sometimes the ginger in this recipe will slow down the fermentation. In that case, the dough may not be ready in 1.5-2 hours at 78-80ºF. Give it more time and watch for the signs of rising before laminating and shaping the dough.

Step 8

Prepare a banneton: Prepare a banneton or small bowl. Place a kitchen towel or hair net in the bowl and liberally flour.

Step 9

Lamination & Shaping: On a clean counter top, stretch the dough as thin as you can without tearing it. See post for pictures and description. When the dough is fully stretched, lightly sprinkle ground cinnamon over the dough. Fold the dough up and sprinkle a little ground cinnamon as you fold the dough up into a round or oval package. Place into the lined banneton.

Step 10

Cold Bulk Fermentation: Cover the dough and store in the refrigerator overnight or for up to 18-20 hours. Alternatively you can let your dough rise outside the fridge for another 3-4 hours and then bake your loaf the same day. If you choose this method, stick your banneton or bowl of dough in the fridge or freezer to chill it for a few minutes before scoring. This dough really benefits from the cold because it tends to be a little more sticky.

Step 11

Pre-heat the Oven: Put a Dutch oven (top and all) into the oven and preheat to 500 degrees. Allow the Dutch oven to heat for about 30 minutes at 500 degrees.

Step 12

Once preheated for 30 minutes, pull the loaf out of the refrigerator. Remove the plastic wrap (this is easy to do straight out of the refrigerator if the dough is chilled – not easy if the dough warms up) and place a piece of parchment paper on top of the bread dough. Flip the dough over so that the dough is now sitting on the parchment paper. Take off the bowl/banneton and kitchen towel.

Step 13

Scoring: Smooth the flour over the top of the dough (add a little extra for more contrast if desired) or leave the flour off completely for no contrast. Use a bread lame or very sharp knife to score the dough.

Step 14

Bake: Carefully remove the Dutch oven from the 500 degree oven with hot pads. Take the top off and place your bread into the Dutch oven (including parchment paper – this helps with the transfer). Be very careful not to touch the sides of the hot Dutch oven. Put your hot pads back on before you pick up the lid of the Dutch oven and place it on top of the bread. Put the whole Dutch oven back into your oven. Lower the temperature to 450 degrees and bake for 25 minutes. Once 25 minutes are up, take the top off the Dutch oven and continue baking for 20 minutes until the bread is fully baked. Note: If your oven runs hot or you are using a dark cast iron pot, there's a tendency for the loaf to burn. Make sure to put a sheet pan on the rack underneath the pot to deflect the heat and decrease the temperature to 425 degrees F instead of 450.

Step 15

Let cool completely and enjoy!