Schwarzwälder Kruste- Black Forest Bread

Who's ready for some more bread?

This is a very approachable bread if you aren't too used to sourdough- it's soft, light, but also incredibly flavourful. It's crusty (but not toothbreakingly so), has a nice crumb that can hold together a sandwich (very important when your family eats as many sandwiches as mine) and has just enough flavour from the rye flour. There's a sponge in addition to the sourdough, but that's very simple to make- just mix together the ingredients at the same time you prepare the sourdough, the night before you want to bake. Leave the sponge out for two hours to begin the yeast's growth, then place it in the fridge while leaving the sourdough out. I added some Brotgewürz (German-style bread spices) to add to its character, and it went perfectly well, but you don't need to use any if you don't have the ingredients on hand.

I finally found a use for my oddly shaped cast iron skillet that hardly
fits in the oven! YEAH!

Since the recipe calls for two sorts of rye flour that I don't have (unless I order it from King Arthur, I only can really get dark rye) I just used a mix of wheat and rye flour. Hopefully I'll be able to try the recipe again with more rye once I manage to find some.

A closer look at the crumb.

If you want to try the spiced version, take 1 Tsp. caraway seeds, 1 Tsp. coriander seeds, 1/2 Tsp. fennel seeds and 1/4 Tsp. anise seeds and grind them up in a pestle and mortar roughly. Add this at the same time you're adding the fat and salt to the final dough.

Schwarzwälder Kruste

Makes two loaves (I halved this recipe to make just one)

Source: Jennifer McGavin, About.com

Sourdough:
58 g. Light rye flour
58 g. Medium rye flour (I used equal proportions dark rye and wheat flour for these two ingredients)
118 g. Water
3 Tsp. Sourdough starter, from the fridge

Mix all and leave at room temperature overnight.

Sponge:
388 g. Wheat bread flour
1/4 Tsp. Active dried yeast (or about 3 g. fresh yeast)
1/8 Tsp. Salt
270 g. Water

Mix all and leave at room temperature for two hours.
Put in the fridge and leave overnight.

Final dough:
388 g. Wheat bread flour
40 g. Light rye flour
40 g. Medium rye flour (as above, the light and medium flour are replaced with wheat and dark rye flour)
10 g. Lard or shortening (I used butter)
20 g. Salt
1 Tsp. Active dried yeast (or about 10 g. fresh yeast)
300 g. Water

Mix the sourdough, sponge and final dough ingredients, adding the fat and salt last. Mix with the dough hook attachment on medium speed for 4 minutes, or until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl.

Knead a bit and let rise, covered, for 30 minutes. Stretch out the dough and fold, then let rise another 15 minutes and repeat.

Form 2 loaves. Let rise in a bowl (or better yet, a Garkorb/bread rising basket) for 1-2 H. Preheat a baking stone (I used a cast iron skillet) to 240℃. Add a heatproof pan and pour in about 1 C. of hot water to create steam.

Using a peel (or other large scrapey device) transfer the loaf, well-sprinkled with flour, to the oven. Let bake for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 200℃ and bake 40 more minutes, opening the oven door after 20 minutes to release steam.

Let cool completely before cutting.