Sourdough Limpa Bread

The technique for this bread can be applied to other sandwich loaves with excellent results.

You Will Need:

Sponge:

1 cup fed sourdough starter
2 cups water
2 cups dark rye flour

Mix together and let stand 8-12 hours.

Final dough:

All of sponge
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
Grated zest of 1 large orange
Enough strong flour to make a dough that is tacky, but not soaking wet.

Cover with cling film and let rest 1 hour.

Over the next four hours, give the dough about 2 folds each hour. More or less-see how the dough is responding.

Transfer dough to a well-buttered loaf pan (I have a large Pullman pan, but 2 regular loaf pans are OK as well). Cover lightly with cling fil and set in fridge until doubled. This can take 8-24 hours, again, it just depends on the strength of your starter, temperature of the fridge, etc.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees f.

Remove bread from fridge while the oven preheats. Bake 20 minutes, then rotate pan. Bake another 20 minutes. At this point, you'll need to watch the bread and check the internal temperature. I like my loaf breads around 200 degrees F. but if it seems too light, or too dark, trust your judgment and adjust the timing/temperature. A thermometer is helpful, but careful attention is important as well. After you've baked for a while, you learn to trust your eye.

Cool completely before slicing.