Chocolate & Hazelnuts Sourdough

• 100 gr active levain (starter)

• 325gr + 25gr water 

• 25 gr maple syrup 

• 470 gr white flour 

• 30 gr black cocoa powder 

• 1.5 tsp salt 

• 100 gr dark chocolate chips +100 gr roasted hazelnuts

MIX + AUTOLYSE 

Once your leaven is ready you can get started on the bread. Combine 100 g of the leaven with 325g of water and the maple syrup.  Add the flour and cocoa powder to the water mixture and mix to combine for a couple of minutes. Once mixed, cover with a tea towel and let sit anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour. This gives the flour time to absorb the water and is called an ‘autolyse”. After the dough has had time to rest, add the remaining 25 g of water and the salt. Mix well for about 3 to 5 min until the dough is smoother and stretchy. 

BULK FERMENTATION

30 min after you’ve mixed in the salt you can do your first “stretch & fold”. To do this, begin by getting your hands damp (it’s less sticky that way) and reach under the dough on the opposite side of the bowl from you. Pull the dough up and over towards you. Repeat this 4 to 8 times, turning your bowl ¼ to the right every time, so you’ll do a total of 4 to 8 folds. Think of it as wrapping a package. This completes one "stretch & fold”. You will do one of these complete "stretch & folds” every 30 minutes for 2 hours. 

Add the nuts and chocolate chips before your last stretch and fold to incorporate.

After the last fold, let the bread sit for a few hours, depending on temperature, until your dough has gained volume, starts having a few bubbles and looks bouncy and pillowy. 

SHAPING 

First, get your banneton dusted with rice flour, or layer a clean tea towel in a medium mixing bowl and dust the cloth liberally with rice flour. 

To begin to shape your dough, gently scoop it out of the bowl, on a lightly floured countertop, and form into a rough rectangle. Then gently fold the dough up like an envelope, then flip it over so that it’s seam side down and use your hands to cup and roll the dough. You want to make as much surface tension as possible without tearing the outside of the loaf. Once shaped, turn the loaf into the lined and floured bowl (top down). Gently flour the top of the loaf (which is in fact the bottom) before covering with the edges of the towel. 

COLD FERMENTATION 

Pop this loaf in the fridge overnight for a next day’s bake. 

DAY 2: BAKING 

PREHEATING– The next day, place your dutch oven in the oven and preheat the oven to 500 F (or as hot as your oven can go, up to 500F). 

BAKING – When your oven is fully heated, take your bread out of the fridge. Gently invert the loaf on a piece of parchment paper, with your lame score bread. Take your dutch oven out of the oven, remove the lid and lower the loaf into the hot pot. Cover the pot with the lid and put the entire dutch oven back into the oven.  After 20 minutes are up, gently take the lid off the dutch oven and bake for another 20- 25 minutes at 450F. After 40 min of baking, your break is fully cooked. Leave longer in the oven if you want a darker, crustier outside. 

Once cooked, remove the pot from the oven and gently lift out the loaf and let cool completely.

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