I made my first Sourdough loaf in late July this year after Celia sent me some of her starter. I have made yeasted breads for many years and was familiar with Italian style biga starters, but had never made sourdough until that fortuitous gift arrived. Now I make it at least twice a week, with a yeasted pizza special on Friday nights.
Generally I make a Finnish sourdough, based on a recipe given to me by a gifted baker who is now in Newcastle, New South Wales. If you are in that area, visit Craig at the Baked Uprising Cafe. Check this review here or web site here. Craig studied sourdough baking in San Francisco and worked there for many years before coming back to Australia and then to the mud brick, wood fired oven bakery in St Andrews, Victoria. Then he left! The void in my bread eating life has been partly filled by one of his fab recipes so now I can get on with things.
Some days I go back to basics and re-acquaint myself with Celia’s baking blog. When I am doing a Celia style loaf, this is the mix we favour. Mr T prefers this loaf.
- 15og bubbly sourdough starter
- 270g water (filtered or tank)
- 25g EV olive oil
- 350g white bakers flour ( I use Wallaby flour by Laucke Mills)
- 150g wholemeal spelt
- 10g salt.
Proceed with Celia’s instructions here. This is based on Celia’s white sourdough recipe. I have added spelt because I like a bit of nuttiness and have added a bit more water to compensate for this. I often now make the dough in the evening, place the covered bowl in the fridge for a very slow overnight rise, then bring it back to room temperature in the morning and proceed to shape, do the second rise, then bake. This bread is surprisingly easy and well-behaved, and never lasts long in our house.
My sourdough starter, who is also called Celia, has given birth to Frankie who is now in the hands of my niece Louise. Can’t wait to see what Frankie and Louise bake together.
ALMOST ITALIAN 
Mr T sounds very spoilt 🙂
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He is. I’ll tell him that. But then, because of his extremely patient and accomodating personality, he deserves it. But then, I do crack the whip in the gardens. He has to pay! This is 50 shades of sourdough.
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That bread looks divine! Forgot about getting the little bit of Celia, that we once spoke about, from you when we met – next time? Bowls are being used beautifully, by the way! The girls love them. Xxx
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I can dry out some of ‘Celia’ sourdough and send it in the post. This is how Celia, of Fig Jam…, sent it to me. Send me your address and we will give it a try. Good that the bowls come in handy. Reminds me of Spain when I use mine.
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The bread looks sensational. I won’t show the Yak…one of the thing he misses the most. 50 shades of sourdough…chuckle.
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Don’t show the Yak. It would be mean. He gets enough treats I am sure. Might do a 50 shades of sourdough one day, or has that been done before?
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Love it! The crust and crumb look magnificent! One of the things I adore about sourdough baking is that we might have sibling starters and similar recipes, but your loaves are already completely different from mine and we’ll just continue to diverge over the years to come. It’s what makes the process so satisfying – we all end up with a product which is unique to our kitchens and our hands! 🙂 And lovely Craig – he really is the best, isn’t he! 🙂
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I am using semolina on the trays, as this adds to the crumb and my oven is a bit too fierce for the paper, I love this loaf too, and must force myself to experiment more so we don’t tire of the same one.
Craig is the best. Might have to do a long drive one day.
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PS. My dad is Frank. 🙂
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Aha! Now that’s keeping the grandchild starter in the family!
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Celia, just checking that this is the correct web address for Craig as I noticed some reference to Maryville?
http://www.bakeduprising.com.au/
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Yes, that’s right, Maryville is a suburb of Newcastle. It’s a marvelous place run by the marvelous Alice. Do email Craig if you’re planning to visit as he’s not always on! 🙂
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I have bread envy! I persevered for 6 months with a spelt starter I made and 100% spelt loaves, but they were only OK, IMO. The pizza bases were fantastic, though
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Do you have any other version of bread that passes the taste/texture test? The bread is good,but the new regime dictates that we stay in Brunswick i travel with my pet starter, Celia, so I can feed her.
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I don’t think it was the fault of the starter, i think it’s the density of the spelt flour. I’ve had to resign myself to minimal bread consumption anyway as even spelt seems to be creating havoc with my system. The joys of aging!
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A very good looking loaf you have there – I could just do with cutting a slice to go with a warming bowl of soup for lunch!
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I’m emailing a slice. What’s that soup? It looks good!
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I’m with Sandra, I have sourdough envy. I grew my own starter for a while, like having a pet. I even made rye sourdough which was tasty but I could eat so little of it that it was really not worth the effort of getting someone to ‘starter sit’ while we were on holidays. I thought spelt was worth a try, to see if it was more digestible to me, but it is worse. Life is cruel. Rye is better, has to do with the fructans in them, I believe. I still love the look and smell of all breads, and yours looks amazing.
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Ah thanks Ardys.I have to be careful with bread- if I eat too much I am in trouble. There are a few young family members passing through, so it’s nice to get the kids off ‘white death’ or wettex bread from the supermarket. When they eat this bread, it’s crust and all, usually with a good smother of vegemite.
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This bread loaf looks amazing and is making me hungry. I’m currently trapped under a milk drunk newborn so sustenance will need to wait however.
I’m thinking while I’m home on maternity leave I should start baking more bread. I love sourdough. Is the starter easy to maintain? Any tips and tricks worth keeping in mind?
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Lisa it is quite easy to maintain. But maybe the bread making regime can wait a bit. I love the term’ milk drunk newborn’. How lovely. If you lived next door I would make you some. x
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Looks delicious. Love sourdough bread. Oh if only I could make some! 🙂
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Dear Julie, It is so easy, you would be surprised. But then, thhere are so many other grand things to do too.
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I’m very interested in the Finnish bread as Mr NQN is half Finn and I’m sure his family would love to try some bread “from home”! 🙂
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Do you want the secret recipe? I would love to do a post on it, but Craig, Celia’s freind, sent it to me, and I feel I shouldn’t, since he is a professional baker.. But I can send it to you if you wish. It is a gem!
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Sourdough is an ongoing adventure isn’t it Francesca? Love your bread.
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Oh it is Jane- as you know, and I am just a novice, but I am now in the deep end- and there’s no wading back. Hope you got some rain.
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🙂
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The bread looks fabulous, thanks for posting the recipe.
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Thanks Jean, my pleasure.
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