If there is one loaf to bake for the Christmas cheeseboard, it is this one. Tart dried cranberries and toasted walnuts run through a crusty, open sourdough with a little wholemeal flour for nuttiness. It is lovely with Stilton and a mature Cheddar, toasted with butter on Boxing Day morning, and sturdy enough for a turkey sandwich.
Two small steps make the difference. Soak the cranberries so they do not pull water out of the dough and leave dry patches around them, and toast the walnuts so they stay crisp and taste of something.
Ingredients
Dough
- 100 g active sourdough starter, at its peak
- 325 g water at about 27°C, plus 10 g with the salt
- 450 g strong white bread flour
- 50 g wholemeal bread flour
- 10 g fine sea salt
Fruit and nuts
- 100 g dried cranberries
- 100 g walnut halves
- Finely grated zest of 1 orange (optional)
To finish
- Rice flour, for the banneton
Contains: wheat (gluten), walnuts.
Method
- Mix. Whisk the starter into the 325 g water, add both flours and mix until there is no dry flour left. Cover and rest for 45 minutes.
- Add the salt. Sprinkle the salt and the extra 10 g water over the dough and squeeze it through with your hand until it is absorbed and the dough comes back together.
- Prepare the fruit and nuts. While the dough rests, toast the walnuts at 180°C (160°C fan) for 8 minutes, cool and break into pieces. Cover the cranberries with just-boiled water for 10 minutes, then drain thoroughly and pat dry.
- Fold in. Over the next 2 hours give the dough 4 sets of stretch and folds, 30 minutes apart. At the second set, press the dough out a little in the bowl, scatter over the cranberries, walnuts and orange zest, and fold it over itself until they are spread through.
- Bulk ferment. Leave covered at about 24°C until the dough has risen by 50–75%, feels airy and has bubbles on the surface and sides. This usually takes 4–6 hours from mixing, and longer in a cool kitchen.
- Shape. Tip out onto a lightly floured worktop and pre-shape into a loose round. Rest 20 minutes, then shape into a tight oval (batard). Tuck any cranberries on the surface underneath, because exposed fruit burns. Place seam-side up in a banneton dusted with rice flour.
- Cold prove. Cover and refrigerate for 10–16 hours.
- Bake. Put a Dutch oven in the oven and heat to 250°C (230°C fan), gas mark 9, for 45 minutes. Turn the loaf out onto baking paper, score one long curved cut and lower it into the pot. Bake with the lid on at 230°C (210°C fan), gas mark 8, for 20 minutes, then lid off for 20–25 minutes more until deep brown and the centre reads about 96°C. The fruit sugar colours the crust quickly, so drop to 220°C for the last 10 minutes if it is darkening fast.
- Cool. Cool on a rack for at least 2 hours before slicing.
Tips
- Don't worry about a lilac tint. Walnut skins can turn the crumb around them faintly purple. It is a natural reaction and completely normal; toasting the nuts first keeps it to a minimum.
- Swap the nuts. Pecans or toasted hazelnuts work in the same quantity.
- For a sweeter loaf, add 1 tsp ground cinnamon with the flour and swap 50 g of the cranberries for raisins.
- Keeping. It keeps for 3 days in a bread bag and freezes well sliced, so you can toast a slice at a time over Christmas.
Serve it with the cheeseboard, use it for our Boxing Day sandwich, or see all our Christmas sourdough recipes.
FAQ
When do I add cranberries and walnuts to sourdough?
After the salt, at the second set of stretch and folds. By then the gluten has started to form, so the fruit and nuts spread evenly without tearing the dough.
Why has my walnut sourdough gone purple?
Walnut skins contain natural compounds that can tint the crumb a pale lilac. It is harmless and normal. Toasting the walnuts first keeps it to a minimum.
Can I use fresh cranberries?
We would not. Fresh cranberries are very sharp and burst in the oven, leaving wet pockets in the crumb. Dried cranberries, soaked briefly, give a much better loaf.
Bake this with a live starter
Our San Francisco sourdough starter is a live culture: add 75 g flour and 75 g warm water and it is usually bubbly and ready to bake with in about two hours. A starter makes a good stocking filler too — see our sourdough starter gifts.
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