Fig Hazelnut Sourdough

METHOD

PREPARE TOASTED HAZELNUTS

Heat the oven 200°C/ 392°F. Carefully toast the hazelnuts for -10 minutes on a baking tray. Do not leave them in the oven unobserved as the nuts burn easily. Let the nuts cool for a while & then rub the skins off either with fingers or inside a tea towel. Using a mixer or a knife, finely shred a portion of the hazelnuts (100ml). Randomly chop the rest but you can leave few nuts full-sized, too. If you don't have moist figs, you can soak dry figs and rehydrate them in 30 minutes.

MAKING THE DOUGH

Weight and add all the ingredients into the bowl except salt. Keep mixing the ingredients at the slowest speed for 10 minutes. Add salt & finely shredded hazelnuts and keep mixing for 5 more minutes.

Grease a container or a bowl that you can cover with a wrap (I used avocado oil). Keep the dough resting at room temperature covered in the bowl in a warm spot. After the first 30 minutes, gently press and fold the dough down. The dough should be ready for shaping after 1,5 hours resting (depending on room temperature).

SHAPING THE DOUGH

When doubled in size, work and shape the dough on a lightly floured surface. First, shape the dough into a long rectangular so that you can add the figs and the rest of the hazelnuts. Fold both edges from left and right into the middle so that you now have a smaller rectangular.

From here, you start working on your batard or any other method you prefer to make a longer bread. I pressed a clean seam on the edge closest to me & then started working the dough from the opposite edge. Rolling and tucking, rolling and tucking until I was at the end to seal the shape with the seam. Check the shape and fold the pointy sides inside. Work the dough carefully because you don't want any figs or nuts to come to the surface.

Transfer into the banneton. Remember to place the bread seam side up and finally cover the bread with a wrap. Let the loaf proof at room temperature and make the poke test a few times to anticipate when to pre-heat the oven.

OVEN BAKE

Pre-heat the oven and baking stone 250°C / 482°F. (Also add an extra baking tray in the bottom level of the oven if you want to use it or a cast-iron skillet for steaming. 

Place the bread on the stone and create the steam. Schedule and observe the oven bake accordingly: bake the loaf for 10 minutes at this highest temperature. Next, open the oven door and lower the temperature to 200°C / 392°F. Bake the bread for another 10 minutes and open the oven door for air again. Bake the bread for 40-50 minutes until fully done (98°C inside). Let the bread rest on a cooling rack.