Pain de Campagne
This is my version of Pain de Campagne. It took three attempts before I was satisfied with the result. The first two loaves were too sour for my liking. It was only when Josh suggested that I use more starter in my levain build, instead of less, that I finally got the result I wanted. :)
Levain
- 50g mature whole wheat starter
- 100g water
- 100g whole wheat flour
Allow to peak. Once it has peaked and started to recede, it will get more and more acidic. I wanted a young levain for this loaf so I used it when it reached its highest point. This took somewhere between four and five hours in my 28 degrees C kitchen. It had a nice fruity aroma and wasn't at all sour.
Main Dough
- 200g of the levain
- 350g water
- 50g rye
- 1/2 tsp diastatic malt
- 450g bread flour
Disperse the levain in the water with a wire whisk. I like to whisk it up until it has a good foam on top. Next, whisk in rye and malt powder. Then add bread flour with spatula and mix until all the flour has been moistened.
- autolyse for 50 minutes
Then:
- add 10g salt
- knead to medium gluten development
Now:
- bulk ferment for 1 hour with a turn at 30 minutes
Next:
- pre-shape
- rest 10 minutes
- final shape
Put into well floured banneton and after about half an hour cover and:
- retard for 12 hours in the fridge
Bake
- at 230 C with steam for 15 minutes
Then:
- reduce heat to 200 C and bake for a further 30 - 35 minutes
The proportionately large amount of levain in this recipe means that the dough develops really quickly hence the relatively short bulk fermentation time.
For the first two attempts I used smaller amounts of starter (30 and 20g respectively) and let the levain ripen for 12 hours. As Josh suggested, this made for a more sour levain. So more starter and a shorter ripening time is what he recommended. It worked really well and I am really pleased with the way this turned out.
I like adding all my whole wheat to the levain as I feel it gives it more 'wheaty' flavour. On the other hand, I don't like adding too much rye to the levain as it gets too sour too quickly.
The flavour of this bread improves with time and by day two (yesterday) it had a slight tang.