Lemon Poppy Seed Sourdough
I did a double take the first time I saw this recipe. Lemon poppy seed…sourdough? I had seen plenty of muffins and cakes before with this delicious combination, but never a loaf of bread. Now that I’ve made it I wonder why I hadn’t seen it before, because it is quite tasty.
The crumb of the bread was denser than most loaves I make and it did take on an almost cake-like consistency. It was wonderfully chewy, dense, and had a great citrus flavor from the lemon. While we mostly treated it as though it were a dessert, I did have a few slices toasted with peanut butter for breakfast some mornings.
Often when I’m trying out a new bread recipe I will make two so test out varying formulas and bake times. I only made one of these loaves and I really regretted my decision halfway through the week when I realized we were running out. Much to my excitement, a few days later I discovered half of the loaf tucked away in our freezer!
We have very slowly been eating through the lasagna, stuffed cabbage, calzones, and chicken bake in the freezer. I imagine in the next few weeks we are going to fill it back up with different meals, especially since we just got our last CSA box of the season and it was so full of veggies that I don’t think we could possibly eat them all before they spoiled.
It is getting to the point of the year where it is cool enough most weekend afternoons that I can have the oven on for hours and not have to worry about boiling in our apartment. With a Michigan football bye week coming up, I’ll have plenty of time to make more of this! Enjoy!
- 460 g bread flour (66%)
- 240 g all purpose flour (34%)
- 140 g active sourdough levain (20%)
- 560 g water (80%)
- 2 g lemon zest (.2%)
- 50 g poppy seeds (7%)
- 15 g salt (2%)
- In a large bowl combine all ingredients except for the salt. Mix well until there are no dry bits of flour. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let sit for one hour.
- After the hour rest turn the dough out onto an unfloured surface and add the salt. Incorporate the salt and knead for 5 minutes.
- Place back in bowl and let rest for 1 hour. Then place in the refrigerator for 15-19 hours.
- Turn the dough back onto the work surface and shape into a boule. Let rest for 30 minutes. Shape the dough into a boule once more and place in a floured proofing basket. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise for 3-4 hours. One hour before baking place a cast iron pot (with lid on) into the oven and heat to 500 F.
- When ready carefully transfer the loaf to the heated pot and and score with desired pattern. Place the bread in oven with the lid on and lower the heat to 450 F. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove the lid. Bake another 20-25 minutes, until the crust is a deep golden brown. Let cool 2 hours before slicing.
This post has been featured on YeastSpotting.
