Spelt bread with a crispy crust

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 450 g spelt flour type 1050
• 50 g sourdough, dry
• 100 g sunflower seeds
• 2 tsp, heaped salt, fine
• 10 g fresh yeast
• 250 ml water, hot
• 200 ml water, cold
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 small piece(s) of butter
• 1 pinch of sugar

Instructions

Working time approx. 45 minutes; Rest time approx. 1 day 2 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 55 minutes; Total time approx. 1 day 3 hours 40 minutes

Work and effort are worth it, makes 2 loaves

Mix 100g of spelt flour in 250ml of boiling water until smooth, then let it cool overnight. If you’re in a hurry, you can also use the refrigerator, but then let it cool again for 45-60 minutes. Briefly boil 100g of sunflower seeds in 100ml of water, sift through, and let it cool to room temperature. Then place these two ingredients in a mixing bowl with the salt and the dry sourdough starter and mix briefly with the dough hook on a low speed. Add a pinch of sugar to approximately 5ml of warm water (45°C). Crumble the fresh yeast and dissolve it in the water. Now add 350g of spelt flour, 150ml of cold water, and the dissolved yeast to the sunflower seed mixture and knead for five minutes with the dough hook on a low speed. Then knead for another two minutes on a high speed. The dough will become increasingly more homogeneous. Now continue kneading slowly for another two minutes, gradually adding 50 ml of cold water. The dough must now be kneaded at a high speed for another 2-4 minutes. These minutes are the most important. The dough is kneaded when it can be stretched into a thin “film.” Place the finished dough in a buttered bowl and let it rest at room temperature, covered with foil, for three hours. The bowl should be able to hold twice the amount. Then refrigerate the bowl overnight. The next day, let the dough rest for two hours, preheating the oven to 250°C (fan oven). In the absence of a baking stone, I place my pizza stone on the oven rack. I transfer the significantly larger dough mass with a moist plastic spoon into two baking pans lined with parchment paper (25 and 15 cm long). The baking pans can also be buttered instead of parchment paper. After 10 minutes of baking, reduce the temperature to 220°C (428°F). Then bake for 45 minutes at 180°C (350°F). I turn on the steam function in my oven throughout the entire baking process. Alternatively, you can use an ovenproof dish filled with water. To achieve a nice, shiny crust, spray the baked goods every 30 minutes with a clean spray bottle filled with cold water. Remove the finished loaves from the pans, spray them with water again—don’t forget to tap them—and let them cool completely on a wire rack.