I based this recipe on a similar one in The Book of Bere: Orkney's Ancient Grain by Liz Ashworth, which called for a rye starter. As I already had a wholemeal starter (https://www.stelladrez.co.uk/post/sourdough-starter-using-beer-yeast), I used that instead. The recipes takes about two days to make, so give yourself enough time to let the dough rise.
Ingredients
Day 1: 60 g sourdough starter, 320 g beremeal flour, 400 ml cold water
Day 2: 320 g beremeal flour, 320 g wholemeal flour, 400 ml warm water, 10 g salt
Method
Day 1: Use your hands or a wooden spoon to mix the ingredients together for 5 minutes to form a smooth dough. Place in a bowl, cover and leave to rest overnight.
This is what the dough looks like when just mixed.
This is what it will look like after resting overnight.
Day 2: Add the day 2 ingredients to the day 1 dough. Bring everything together within the bowl, tip over on a floured surface and knead for about 20 minutes until smooth and elastic. At this stage you can either split the dough in two for two loaves or leave as one large one. Oil the baking tin/ tins you will use and place the dough in there. Cover and leave to rise until doubled. This could take from an hour and a half to most of the day depending on how warm your house is.
This is what the day 2 dough looks like before and after rising. I had kneaded it first thing in the morning before work and baked late in the afternoon, when I got home. It had developed cracks on the surface, but it did not retract from the final taste.
Pre heat your oven to 210 degrees C and bake your loaf for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 180 degrees C and continue baking for another 30- 40 minutes until the loaf sounds hollow when you knock on it with your knuckles. This would depend on if you went for one big or two smaller loaves. Take out of the oven and leave to cool a little in the roasting tin. Tip out and leave to cool completely before cutting into it.
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