1large cooking applecored and diced but not peeled (I used an unidentified Cornish variety, but a Bramley would work well)
Instructions
The night before baking the bread, mix the rye flour with 450ml of warm water in a large bowl. Add the sourdough starter and stir well. Cover loosely with a plastic bag and leave to ferment overnight.
In the morning remove 75g of the ferment into a covered glass jar and place in the fridge until the next time a sourdough starter is needed.
To the remaining ferment, add the spelt flour and knead in a stand mixer for a couple of minutes. The mixture is quite wet, so it could be difficult to do by hand. Add the remaining ingredients and knead for a further 5 minutes or so.
Form into a freestyle loaf and place on a greased or lined baking tray. As the dough is quite a soft one, a free style loaf will flatten out. For a uniform loaf, place the dough into a 1 kg/2lb loaf tin.
Cover loosely with a plastic bag, ensuring it doesn't touch the dough and leave to prove until the loaf has risen by about ⅓. This could be anything from 2 to 6 hours depending on the temperature of the room and the liveliness of the starter.
Dust with a little spelt flour and slash the top 2-4 times with a sharp knife.
Bake at 200℃ (400℉, Gas 6) for 40-45 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow when the base is tapped. Allow a further 10 minutes or so if baking in a tin.
Notes
Makes one large loaf.Overnight ferment and a few hours proving time is required.Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on exact ingredients used.