Fig and Walnut Sourdough
This fig and walnut sourdough is soft and tender, with a delicious crunch of walnuts and sweet figs. It’s the perfect bread to serve with a hunk of artisanal cheese! Makes 1 loaf.
Ingredients
Starter/Leaven
- 25 g sourdough starter
- 50 g bread flour
- 50 g water
Dough
- 320 g bread flour
- 80 g whole wheat flour
- 295 g water
- All the sourdough starter Approx. 100g
- 7 g salt
- 80 g dried figs
- 60 g walnut halves
Instructions
- Mix the starter ingredients in a jar, cover loosely, and leave to peak (4 to 6 hours).
- Toast the walnuts in a dry pan over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes until fragrant. Cool and break into rough pieces. Chop the figs. If figs are hard, soak in warm water for 10 to 15 minutes, drain, and pat dry before chopping.
- Combine the flours and water into a shaggy dough. Cover and autolyse for around 30 minutes.
- Add the leaven and squish in with wet hands. Add the salt and mix in.
- Over the next 3 hours, do a set of stretch and folds every 30 minutes. After about four sets, add half the figs and walnuts, fold in, then add the rest and fold in.
- Leave the dough to finish bulk in a warm spot (ideally 25°C / 77°F) until bubbly, puffed, and jiggly, another 1 to 2 hours depending on room temperature.
- Turn out the dough gently, pat into a rectangle. Fold the bottom third up to the middle, fold the right side in, then the left side in, then bring the top third down over everything to make a parcel. Flip seam-side down and gently roll towards you on the bench to build surface tension.
- Place seam-side up in a floured banneton. Cover and cold proof in the fridge for 8 to 16 hours.
- Preheat the oven and a Dutch oven to 230°C / 450°F for at least 30 minutes. Flip the dough into the hot Dutch oven (or onto baking paper to lower in). Score.
- Bake with the lid on for 20 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for another 20 minutes until deeply browned. Cool on a wire rack for at least 2 hours before slicing.
Notes
Fig soaking: If your figs are hard and dry, soak them first. Soft figs can go in as they are. Drain and pat dry well if you do soak.
Watch the dough, not the clock. Fermentation times shift with kitchen temperature. Trust the visible signs (bubbles, jiggle, puffed dough) over the times listed.
Cool fully before slicing. Sourdough finishes baking as it cools. Slicing warm gives you a gummy crumb.
Variations: This base works with other fruit and nut combinations: cranberry and pecan, cherry and chocolate, or raisin and walnut. Keep total mix-ins to around 140g.
Storage: Cut-side down on a board for up to 3 days, or slice and freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Serving: 1servingCalories: 222kcalCarbohydrates: 39gProtein: 7gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 275mgPotassium: 147mgFiber: 3gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 3IUVitamin C: 0.2mgCalcium: 28mgIron: 1mg
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