I love this bread! It is so, so good! The crust is perfect, the crumb is just right, the flavour is excellent. It's easy to adjust the inclusions to your taste. And the timing is pretty laid back.

The first time I made it, I made it with dried cranberries and slivered almonds and followed the proportions given in the original recipe. The second time I opted for dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds to make it school safe and upped the hydration a little bit. I also played around with the timing and hydrations levels in the starter/preferment. I think the first preferment worked better, but the higher hydration in the second batch was an improvement.

Fruit and Seed Semolina Sourdough

Slightly adapted from Sourdough.com

Ingredients

First Preferment

• 13g starter (100% hydration)
• 26g hard (strong/bread/high grade) whole wheat flour
• 26mL water

Second Preferment

• first preferment
• 83g hard whole wheat flour
• 83mL water

Dough

• 230g fine semolina flour
• 233g hard whole wheat flour
• 275mL water
• second preferment
• 10g coarse sea salt
• 1g malt syrup mixed w/ 10g flour
• 22g olive oil
• 7g fennel seeds
• 70g nuts and/or seeds of your choice
• 110g dried cranberries

Directions

Morning or early afternoon of Day 1

1. Combine the starter, flour, and water for the first preferment and mix very well.
2. Let stand, loosely covered, at room temperature for 4-8 hours. (4 hours for warmer rooms, 8 hours for cooler.)

Evening of Day 1

1. Add the flour and water for the second preferment to the first one and mix very well.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the semolina flour, whole wheat flour, and water for the dough and mix until combined.
3. Loosely cover both containers and let stand at room temperature overnight (8-12 hours depending on room temperature).

Morning of Day 2

1. Add the preferment to the flour-water mixture and fold/knead it in.
2. Work in the salt and malt-flour mixture as well.
3. Cover and let stand at room temperature for one hour.
4. Add the olive oil and fennel seeds to the dough and stretch and fold it/knead the dough until the new ingredients have been incorporated. (It's okay if they're not evenly distributed at this point.)
5. Flip the dough over, cover, and let stand for another hour.
6. Add your preferred nuts and seeds and work them in as above.
7. Turn the dough over again, cover, and let stand for another hour.
8. Add the cranberries (or other dried fruit) and work it in as above. (One again, it's okay if things are a little uneven at this point.)
9. Flip the dough, cover, and let stand for an hour.
10. If the dough seems lively and light at this point, you may proceed with shaping. If not stretch it and fold it again and return it to its covered bowl for another hour. Keep repeating the hourly stretching process until the dough has reached a good level of activity. This may take 8 hours or more in a cool room.

Afternoon/Evening of Day 2

1. Once the dough is pleasantly airy and supple, place it on a lightly floured surface and press it flat.
2. Fold the dough into thrids (like a letter) and press it down a bit again.
3. Roll it up jelly-roll style, starting from a short side to form a loaf.
4. Place the loaf in a floured banneton, cover, and chill for 8-12 hours.

Morning of Day 3

1. If dough was still sluggish before shaping, allow the loaf to stand at room temperature for an hour or two before baking.
2. Preheat oven to 230°C (450°F).
3. Grease a baking sheet and sprinkle it with cornmeal.
4. Boil a few cups of water.
5. Carefully turn the loaf out onto the prepared baking sheet.
6. Lightly brush the surface with water and sprinkle with a bit of cornmeal if desired.
7. Once the oven is preheated, slash the loaf as desired.
8. Pour several cups of boiling water into a large pan and place it on the bottom oven rack.
9. Bake the bread on a rack set above the pan of boiling water.
10. Bake at 230°C (450°F) for 15 minutes.
11. After 15 minutes, carefully remove the pan of boiling water and reduce the temperature to 180°C (350°F).
12. Continue baking for another 20-30 minutes.
13. When loaf looks and smells done, remove it from the oven and tap the underside. If it sounds hollow it's done, otherwise return it to the oven for another 5-10 minutes.
14. Once loaf sounds hollow when tapped, turn off the oven. Leave the loaf in the warm oven for 10 minutes.
15. Remove bread from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.