Tartine Bread

Prepare the sponge. Dissolve the starter in water (100 ml, room temperature). Then, when it foams well, add to 100 g of bread flour. Mix until homogeneous and let it ferment at room temperature until it increases in volume by 20%. The sponge should have a milky-cream aroma with fruity notes without signs of sour dough smell. Fermentation will take 2 hours at 24-26 degrees, 3 hours at 22-24 degrees, or up to 8 hours at 18 degrees.

Prepare the dough. Dissolve all the starter in 350 ml of room temperature water (25 degrees). Mix 470 g of bread flour and 50 g of whole grain flour. Pour the starter into the mixture, mix, and leave covered for 25-40 minutes for autolyse (protein swelling).

After autolyse, knead the dough for about 5-8 minutes until smooth.

Add another 50 ml of room temperature water and salt to the dough, mix and knead the dough by stretching and folding with your hands to develop gluten: at first the dough will be very sticky, but by the end it will come together, stop sticking to your hands, yet remain quite sticky.

Place the dough in a container covered with a lid or film for fermentation at 26-28 degrees for 4 hours. Fold the dough after each hour of fermentation to aid further gluten development.

Shape the dough, place it in the proofing basket seam side up.

Wrap the basket with bread in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for overnight proofing (8-12 hours at 13-18°C). Alternatively, proof in a warm place for 3-4 hours at 25-28°C, in which case the bread should be baked immediately after proofing.

After the night proofing, warm the bread at room temperature for 1-2 hours, based on the appearance of the dough: it should increase in volume by 2-2.5 times.

Make a longitudinal cut exactly in the middle of the dough so that the bread opens beautifully while baking.

Bake the preparation for 45 minutes. The first 15 minutes in a preheated oven at 240°C with steam, then reduce the heat to 200°C and bake until done.