Sourdough bread with caraway and anise

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 425 ml milk (lukewarm)
• 1 tbsp dry yeast
• 450 g sourdough, wheat
• 45 g brown sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• ½ tsp cardamom, ground
• 1 tbsp caraway seeds (whole)
• 1 tsp anise, (whole)
• 150 g rye flour
• 120 g flour (wholemeal flour)
• 550 g wheat flour

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Rest time approx. 2 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 2 hours 50 minutes

Warm the milk (lukewarm) and then pour it into a larger bowl. Add the dried yeast and let it swell for a short while. Add the sourdough, sugar, salt, cardamom, caraway seeds and aniseed and mix everything together, preferably by hand. Then gradually add the rye flour and mix until you have a smooth dough. Continue in the same way with the wholemeal flour and stir it in. I only use my hand the whole time. Now I gradually add the wheat flour and knead it until the dough is smooth and no longer sticky. I never need all the flour and always have some left over. When the dough is ready, I put it on a floured work surface to knead. You can always add more wheat flour during kneading if it’s sticky. Knead it until you have a smooth, elastic dough. This is then placed in a floured bowl and left to rise, covered. It should have doubled in volume; depending on the room temperature, this can take 1-2 hours. Once the dough is ready, place it back on a lightly floured work surface and knead it briefly again. Then shape it into any round or oblong shape you like. Place it on a baking tray lined with baking paper, cover it, and let it rise for another 45-60 minutes. It should have increased in volume considerably. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 200°C. Place the bread in the oven and bake for about half an hour, until it is a nice brown color or sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Then remove it from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack.