Recipe for Calvinist bread ‘Queen of Night’
Best shopping scenario Flour: The best flour you will get is also the freshest, so we recommend going to Molen de Friendshap or Molen de Zaandhas, which is closer to Amsterdam. Seeds: In Ecoplaza you can get organic roasted buckwheat seeds from the Netherlands. Beer: I recommend using a seasonal beer like the Bokbier from Brouwerijhetij. The pure activated Charcoal powder you can get or order in health stores.
Note: For this recipe you’ll need: a sourdough starter, a 20cm wide bread tin and a heatproof lid to cover during baking.
Ingredients:
336g of freshly milled Rye flour*
144g of freshly milled wholegrain spelt**
432g of room temperature water
72g of dark beer
17g of fine sea salt
200g of mature sourdough starter
A handful of buckwheat seeds
Optional: 20g of activated coal (to obtain a dark color)
Alternatively you can use a mix of sifted milled rye flour and wholegrain rye flour. We recommend using 144g of wholegrain.
** you could also split the spelt proportion with another type of flour, e.g einkorn or buckwheat flour.
Before you start: You will need to feed your sourdough 2 times* before you can use it for bread. When the sourdough reaches its max. level of activity, you can use it for your dough. We recommend feeding the sour with 50g/50g spelt and rye for the first time, and with a 100g of Rye for the second.
*Depending on the ‘fitness’ of your sourdough, it can be fed 2 times in 24 hours, or 2 times in 48 hours.
Building Levain:
50g starter
100g room temperature water
100g Rye flour
Preparing the bread dough:
Mix: Add the beer to the levain, making sure that the levain is well dissolved. Add all the dry ingredients and mix well.
Bulk fermentation: Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 2 hours, or until it has risen slightly and you can witness some activity.
Proofing: Oil your tin and and cover the bottom with the buckwheat seeds. Carefully pour in your dough. Let it sit and rise up to 1cm under the rim of your tin.
Bake: Preheat the oven at 205°c one hour before baking. Not forgetting to cover with the lid, bake the bread for 30 min at 205°c. Lower the heat to 180°c and continue baking for 1.5 to 2 hours. To know if the bread is baked correctly, look at the crust which should now be hard, and try sticking a knife inside of it. If you wish to make sure with a thermometer, know that the inside temperature of your bread should reach 97 to 100°c.
Wrap the bread in a tea towel and let it rest on a rack for at least 24 hours before slicing it.
