Spelt Walnut Bread
This is traditionally served with the cheese course throughout France. It is called Pain Au Noix.
Some differences when using spelt:
When incorporating spelt into an existing recipe, reduce the liquid by 10-15%. For non-yeasted bread reduce the knead time by ⅔ and allow 30 minutes rest at least for full development. I find the time and patience needed for baking non-yeasted spelt bread so very relaxing.
Making CHEF
Rise 12-24 hours
If using cold refrigerated chef (previously left over levain) about a half a day before baking your next loaf, allow it to come to room temperature. Mix the refrigerated previous chef with ⅓ cup of water and ½ cup of spelt flour. Allow it to sit out on the countertop in a glass jar for 12-24 hours or until it develops fine bubbles. For its rising I keep it in a glass covered jar with a rubber band to mark the beginning of the rising. Once it has fermented (12-24 hours) this becomes your chef for baking today. Adding almond milk to replace water in this recipe makes a softer crust.
Water Choices
Mineral water
Filtered water
Tap water that has been left out overnight to dissipate the chlorine.
Four steps to bake non-yeasted spelt walnut bread.
CHEF Step1-One begins with CHEF
LEVAIN Step2-Second is the LEVAIN
BAKING Step3-Third step is BAKING the bread
CARING Step4-The final step is caring for remaining LEVAIN
CHEF Step1 (Takes 4 days to make)
Day 1
⅓ C. water or 5 Tbsp water
½ C. spelt flour or 8 Tbsp spelt flour
Add water first then add flour.
Add all to a tall 2-3 quart clear glass container with a lid. Stir well to make a thick, soft dough. The exact consistency of the dough will vary with the flour. Do not add more flour or water. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula, cover tightly with a lid and let stand in a moderate area (about 70ºF) for 24 hours. Put a rubber band around the jar at the top line of the CHEF. With a rubber band in place, one can easily view the rising CHEF. 70º is the temperature in a wine cellar or basement. The refrigerator is too cold for a beginning CHEF. Try a cool corner of the kitchen counter top or the back of a closet. Avoid placing the CHEF on the top of the refrigerator as this area contains refrigerator coils, undesirably warming the CHEF too quickly. For tropical environments or in the summer months, one may wish to use a thermometer to find a cool area of the kitchen or place the CHEF into the refrigerator at night and remove it in the morning.
CHEF Step1
Day 2
⅓ C. water or 5 Tbsp water
½ C. spelt flour or 8 Tbsp spelt flour
When you first observe the CHEF in the morning it will have doubled in volume. You can tell this has happened by the previously placed rubber band marking the beginning volume. Add water first then add flour. Stir vigorously adding fresh oxygen to the CHEF. Place in a 70ºF draft-free place for 24 hours. The CHEF should have the consistency of soft dough. Consider adding a little more flour or water to create this texture.
CHEF Step1
Day 3
⅓ C. water or 5 Tbsp water
½ C. spelt flour or 8 Tbsp spelt flour
Add water first then add flour. CHEF will now have the texture of a thick batter and will have doubled in volume. Let it stand at 70ºF in a draft free place for another 24 hours.
CHEF Step1
Day 4
CHEF is now fully ripe, with many bubbles and a batter like consistency, similar to pancake batter. It is ready to be added to the next step. If you do not want to bake bread today, refrigerate the CHEF up to 3 days. After 3 days, bring the CHEF again to room temperature, add ⅓ cup water of water and ½ cup flour, stir rapidly, aerating the 3-day-old-CHEF.
LEVAIN Step2
Rise 6-10 hours
1 ¼ cups of spelt flour
All the CHEF
Bring the CHEF to room temperature. 2 hours will bring refrigerated CHEF to room temperature. Add flour directly to the batter-like CHEF. Stir vigorously adding fresh oxygen to the mixture. This should make the mixture very stiff. This stiff form is important for ripening the LEVAIN.
LEVAIN Step2
If the batter is too water-y it becomes very sour and tangy. Scrape down the sides and let stand in a cool 70ºF draft-free place for 6-10 hours, or until doubled. Inside a bread machine with the machine unplugged will do nicely. Do not let it rise beyond 10 hours or there will not be enough strength in the LEVAIN to encourage the bread to rise.
BAKING Step3
Ingredients
1 C. spring water
1 C. LEVAIN (save remaining *LEVAIN for baking another day)
1 Tbsp Himalayan pink crystal salt
1 C. roasted chopped walnuts
3 C. spelt flour
Preparation
Bring LEVAIN, flour, water, and the mixing bowl, all to room temperature. If your flour is cold from being kept in the fridge, warm it a little. Taking these extra steps helps the bread to rise nicely. It behave quite differently when all ingredients are first brought to room temperature. Mix LEVAIN and water with a wooden spoon or a wire whip. Continue stirring until the mixture is slightly frothy and the LEVAIN is partly dissolved. Add 1 cup of flour and stir until well combined. Add salt and just enough of the remaining flour to make a thick mass that is difficult to stir. Add roasted chopped walnuts. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead or put in a bread mixer with a dough hook for 15 minutes. Add more flour until the dough is firm and smooth, about 25-50 times. Stop kneading when the dough is soft, and a little dough pulled from the mass springs back quickly. Lay it aside while you clean the bowl and drizzle the clean bowl with olive oil Shape into a ball.
BAKING Step3
RISE THE DOUGH (2 hours)
rise 2 hours
Cover and let the dough to rise for 2 hours. Try a deep wide bowl, cover with a huge plate to keep drafts away. If you have a bread machine, lightly oil the inside of the machine. Keep the bread machine turned off with the door closed, a perfect place for a 2-hour rise.
BAKING Step3
LET THE DOUGH REST
Rest 30 minutes
Deflate the dough by pushing down in the center and pulling up on the sides. Knead the dough very lightly to form a tight ball. Place it on a lightly floured board. Cover with a clean damp canvas or linen cloth. Place in a moderately warm 74º – 80º draft free spot for 30 minutes.
BAKING Step3
SHAPE THE LOAVES (5 minutes)
Rest 5 minutes
Knead dough very lightly to form a ball. Flatten with the heel of your hand on a lightly floured surface into a disk about 8 inches in diameter. Shape dough into a torpedo or fit it within an oiled bread pan. Knead it tightly.
BAKING Step3
SECOND RISE OF THE DOUGH (2 hours)
Rise 2 hours
Place the dough seam side down in a traditional bread-baking pan that has been lightly oiled or place the loaf seam-side up in a well-floured couche within a basket. A basket or bowl with a diameter of 8 inches and a depth of 3 – 4 inches will do. Lay inside a clean, lightweight even linen towel dusted with flour. By letting the dough rest in a cushioned, floured container, this will give a loaf that will take on the shape and markings of the basket. The crust will be thicker and bolder from the extra flour becoming embedded in the dough upon rising. This creates a rustic, earthy looking crust. Place in a moderately warm 74º – 80º F draft free spot until almost doubled in volume, approximately 2 hours. Sometimes I wrap everything with a thick towel to protect the rising bread from any drafts. Cover and allow it to rise for an additional 2-4 hours until doubled in size. Or place it in the fridge overnight if you wish to bake the bread the following morning.
BAKING Step3
REFRIGERATED DOUGH
Rise 2-4 hours if refrigerated
When the dough is shaped it is at this point that the dough can be put into the refrigerator overnight. Refrigerating overnight is an important step to decrease the phytic acid content. The following morning (if you have placed the loaf in the refrigerator overnight) allow it 1-2 hours to come to room temperature and allow it to rise an additional 2-4 hours.
BAKING Step3
IMPORTANT STEP
Using a very sharp, serrated knife or a single-edge razor blade, score the loaf by making quick shallow cuts 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep along the surface. I always seem to forget this. If baking in a basket or free form, use a well-floured smooth linen or smooth cotton towel (called a couche) as an aid, gently roll one loaf from the couche (towel) onto a lightly floured wooden plank (known as a peel) so that it sits seam side down. Use the peel to slide the loaf onto the hot baking stone. At this point if you want a free form flatter rounder bread, just place it on the heated stone. I sometimes prepare my breads free form by braiding the dough and allowing it to rise. Once I preheat the oven and pop it in, spray the walls, I pull up a chair and watch the show unfold as the bread beautifully starts rising taking on a golden brown color. This glorious piece of dough made with water, salt, and flour suddenly are transformed as they begin to expand, inflate and take on a life of their own. The aromas fill my kitchen.
BAKING Step3
About 45 minutes to an hour before you are going to bake, pre-heat the oven to 450º F. Position the baking stone in the center of the oven. When the dough is first put into the oven spray the oven walls with water from a sprayer. Repeat this in about five minutes and again in another five minutes.
Preheat your baking stone or oven to 450º.
BAKING Step3
CREATING STEAM
Quickly spray the inner walls and the floor of the oven with cold water from spray bottle or splash water into the oven from a bowl. The idea is to create an abundance of hot steam. Avoid hitting the light bulb in some ovens, or it may burst. Close the oven door to trap the steam, wait three minutes and repeat the process. Alternatively get an old pan fill it with clean rocks and pour water over the heated stones. I use both techniques.
BAKING Step3
Bake for 25 – 30 minutes. Rap the baked loaf with the back of your knuckles. If it sounds hollow, it is done, if not bake for an additional 5 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack before cutting.
NOTE.
Now I try to bake bread on flower days according to the bio-dynamic methods described by Rudolph Steiner. There is an online calendar here. Or Marie Thun’s calendar can also be purchased. The days for tasting wine also correspond to fruit day or baking days. An iTunes app is available.
CARING FOR LEVAIN Step4
Once you have measured out the LEVAIN for the Spelt Bread Recipe, you will have a bit left over. Add to what you have left-over, 5 tablespoons of water (⅓ cup) and 8 tablespoons of flour (½ cup). Add the water first, then flour. Mix to aerate. Allow it sit out while the bread bakes; then place in a cool place like the refrigerator. This becomes your new CHEF.
CARING FOR LEVAIN Step4
For a sweeter bread, fed the CHEF twice in a 24 hour period just before baking your next loaf. To bake your next loaf, allow CHEF, flour, water, and mixing bowl, all to come to room temperature. The process for making these non-yeasted breads is indeed a long one, but once you experience biting into a savory warm slice of spelt bread, made fresh from your own stone lined oven, you will be handsomely rewarded through your efforts. Early on I did a taste test. I thought my first loaves were flat and I assumed the taste would also be flat. I compared a slice from a commercially made loaf of non-yeasted spelt bread to my own, and my own won hands down.
