Cold-Risen Spelt and Wheat Bread

For my first time using spelt flour, I’ve decided to follow (mostly) a recipe from Scandinavian Baking by Trine Hahnemann. The loaf has a rather fragrant nutty smell and a light brown colour, with little flecks in it – I love the flavour! The crumb was nice and open at the sides, a little tighter in the middle of the loaf, and chewy in general. Maybe a little more hydration next time!

This dough calls for ~30% wholegrain spelt flour, and uses a long cold rise, similar to the one for Pain a l’ancienne. I didn’t follow the directions specified for the levain – the recipe uses a mix of white-wholewheat or white-rye liquid starter at more than 100% hydration, while I decided to use my white starter at 75% hydration (i.e. same as the main dough), since I’ve had prior issues with high hydration. Since I was worried about overproofing in the fridge, I also reduced the amount of instant yeast by about half. (Note: Breads risen over a longer time seem to manage the high amount of water though, as seen in Jim Lahey’s No-knead White Bread, which is also at 75% hydration.)

Timeline: Levain build 12 hours, first rise 10 hours in the fridge, 30min out of the fridge, second rise 1 hour. Note that during the second rise, I didn’t observe the dough rise much, it was just getting to warmer (the book doesn’t call for a second rise).

Ingredients:

Levain

• 10g white starter
• 33g bread flour
• 24g water

Main dough

• 172g bread flour
• 95g wholegrain spelt (100g would have been ideal)
• 200g cold water (I used water and two just melted ice cubes)
• 1/6 tsp instant yeast
• 5g salt

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Before and after the first rise in the fridge. The dough also looks slightly browner after the proofing.