The simplest bread with pre-dough

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 300 ml flour (white or wholemeal) for the pre-dough
• 1 tsp dry yeast
• 1 tsp sugar, honey or Birnel
• 200 ml water
• 300 ml flour, white
• 1 tsp salt
• some oil for spraying
• some water or coffee cream

Instructions

Working time approx. 25 minutes; Rest time approx. 3 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 3 hours 55 minutes

The pre-dough improves taste and shelf life and it’s really easy!

Flour and water are measured with a measuring cup; teaspoons are standardized to 5 ml. You can also weigh the flour; this will give you 180 g each. For the starter dough, mix the flour, yeast, sugar, and water in a bowl until smooth. Sprinkle the white flour over the dough, then carefully sprinkle the salt on top so it doesn’t come into contact with the yeast. Let the starter dough rest for 1-3 hours. It can also be refrigerated overnight after an hour and taken out again one hour before use. Knead the dough for 5 minutes and place it in a bowl. Lightly spray the surface of the dough with oil and cover the bowl with cling film. Let the dough rise for about 1 hour until it has doubled in size, then shape it into a round loaf and let it rise again on the baking sheet for about 1 hour until it has almost doubled in size, placing a bowl over the bread to keep the surface moist. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Celsius (top/bottom heat). Before baking, brush the bread with water or coffee cream and lightly score it several times. This works best with a serrated knife rinsed in cold water. Place the bread pan in the center of the oven and reduce the heat to 220 degrees Celsius. Bake for 30 minutes. After baking, immediately remove the bread from the pan and let it cool on a wire rack.