This is, I think, a very special bread, with a deep savoury flavour punctuated by bursts of juicy raisins amid the crunch of walnuts. I was given tasters of this bread at a local bakery the other day and immediately fell in love with it (although I was less in love with the price!), so I couldn’t wait to try to recreate this bread at home.
The small amount of rye flour adds a nice flavour without the final bread being at all dense; it actually has a light interior which goes well with its very crisp exterior.
As with all good breads, a great cheese (at room temperature) with perhaps a chutney would be a fantastic accompaniment: simplicity at its best! However, thinly sliced, spread with butter (it has to be butter!) and topped with smoked salmon and just a little thinly sliced pickled cucumber, this bread will make very fine open sandwiches.
This bread lends itself particularly well to rolls, baguettes and small bâtards but full-sized loaves are equally good here.
I make and add a walnut paste to the dough at the initial mixing stage so that in addition to getting the frequent chunks of walnut in the bread, the dough itself has a light walnut flavour to it. I soak the raisins in a little boiling water for about an hour or two to plump up a little.
My notes on making and working with sourdoughs are here. I have also given guidelines for making a non-sourdough version below the recipe.
Recipe: walnut & raisin sourdough – makes 2 loaves or many small bâtards or rolls
For the dough:
- 750g strong white flour
- 50g rye flour
- 90g active sourdough starter or levain
- 430ml water
- 15g salt
For the walnut paste:
- 150g walnuts
- about 100ml water
To flavour the bread:
- 150g walnuts, roughly chopped
- 150-200g raisins, soaked in boiling water for an hour or so and drained well, squeezing out excess moisture
(1) Make the walnut paste: blend the walnuts and most of the water together until it comes to a fairly smooth paste.
(2) Mix the flours, starter, walnut paste and salt together in a bowl, and then continue with my main sourdough recipe here until the dough has had its bulk fermentation.
(3) Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and split into two.
(4) Pat out and stretch gently to a rectangle and scatter over the raisins and walnuts, patting them gently into the dough so they stick in place.
(5) Roll back up tightly like a Swiss Roll going for two loaves, aiming for good surface tension. Alternatively, for bâtards or rolls, for example, use about 80-100g pieces for dough for each.
(6) Place in the bannetons, seam side upwards, for main loaves. Or use baguette trays for bâtards or small rolls with the seam underneath (as in the photo below):
(7) Cover and leave on the work top for a couple of hours for the dough to regain some of its volume and its bounce.
(8) Chill for up to 24 or so hours before baking as in the main recipe. The bâtards or rolls will take about 20-25 minutes.
Phil's Home Kitchen 