Ravensgard slow-rise multi-grain bread

A. Make a sponge (damp yeast starter) of:

2/3 cup warm water (105-115 F)
1/2 teaspoon yeast
1/4 cup Stone-buhr 7-grain cereal
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon whole wheat flour

Mix ingredients thoroughly in a medium-size bowl; let proof for 4-16 hours. Cover the bowl while it's sitting and the yeast is working; keep it out of drafts and temperature changes as much as possible. When finished it should look (like it has been) bubbly and should smell yeasty.

B. For the bread:

In a larger bowl, combine the sponge and:

3/4 cup water
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons sugar + 1 T. water (originally this was 1 T. Honey)
1 teaspoon yeast
1/4 cup cereal
3 cups unbleached bread flour (approximately, slightly less may be needed)

Knead about 5 minutes. This is a damp dough, but works nicely. When finished kneading, the dough should spring back when pressed with a finger. A bit more flour may be added when kneading if necessary, but try to keep it down.

(Additional rises are possible early in the process, if you wish, or if timing problems require.)

Let rise at room temperature 2-3 hours or up to 12 hours in the refrigerator in a lightly greased bowl.

If the dough has been refrigerated, let it come to room temperature. Shape loaf and set to rise on baking surface (whatever you're using), until doubled, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours.

The baking surface(s) I use are Superstone ceramic cloches (WONDERFUL things; the ones I have were Christmas presents (bought here in Eugene); I have both the original round/beehive and the more recent baguette-loaf shapes). These easily simulate period bread baking conditions*. I place the shaped loaf (previous step) on a sprinkle of cornmeal in the base section for the rise (and put the lid on to prevent drafts). When risen, I remove the cloche lid and rinse the interior with water and replace it. This produces an initial "steam" treatment for the crust. Oven temperature of 375 for about 30-40 minutes. In cloche, the crust will be a beautiful golden color. Loaf should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

IMPORTANT. Just before the bread goes into the oven, make sure to slash the surface of the loaf with something -- sharp knife, razor, even snipping with scissors. There will be more expansion of the loaf when the heat hits, and the crust will tear explosively if not given a route for rapid expansion via the slashes. (This happened to the loaves I made for the housewarming.)

(The original baking instructions -- non-cloche -- indicate: 450 for the first 15 minutes, and spritz the oven walls with water from a spray bottle every few minutes for the crust effect; then finish at 425 for 30-35 minutes. The one time I tried these times and temperatures with a cloche, I got a blackened rock; hence the cooler and shorter figures for cloche baking.)

This should produce a moist, chewy loaf with an interesting multi-grain content which is nice for a period feel (rougher flours with multiple ingredients). The Stone-buhr cereal contains cracked wheat, oats, bran, rye, corn meal, flax seed and hulled millet. The corn meal is the only non-period ingredient in the whole thing.

The steps can be done at long or short times, and the possibility of extra rises makes this a recipe that can be very flexible -- or drive you crazy trying to figure out how to fit it into the work-a-day world... 8-)

* See Karen Hess' discussion of reproducing period baking conditions in modern applicances, esp. pp 19-20, Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery. Eugene Public Library has a copy & so does Chimene; and in spite of the title, the editor Hess dates the contents to ca. 1575-1625 (!)

Last updated 2/10/97.