Sourdough Made With Eggs and Yoghurt

I’m not sure what this is called. I tried to look it up – I’m sure there must be some traditional bread on this kind of recipe – it’s such an obvious Spring excesses recipe. I think Bulgarian Kolach uses these ideas but in a neater way!

What I have is a unbleached sourdough enriched with eggs and yoghurt, baked free form with poppy seeds on top. It’s crusty, rustic, moist and dense and toasts magnificently.  My everyday bread is much heavier wholegrain, but this made a wonderful Father’s Day breakfast under Lemony Mushrooms and Spinach with 2 Minute Hollandaise.

The Recipe:

Step One:

Put 1½ cups of fed sourdough starter in a bowl and leave, covered, on the benchtop for around 8 hours.

Step Two:

Then add:

• 2 big dessertspoons of low fat Greek yoghurt
• 2 beaten eggs
• 1½ cups of baker’s flour

Tip more baker’s flour on the benchtop, and knead for just a few minutes to get a smooth, not sticky dough.

Put a swig of oil in a bowl, and swish the dough around in it to cover, and leave it to prove in a warmish spot for another 8 hours or so.

Step Three:

I figured the sourdough bugs would have enough to do rising the bread with eggs and yoghurt in it without salt as well, so I held the salt to add late.

Sprinkle a teaspoon of salt on the benchtop and tip the dough onto it.  Knead in the salt, adding flour as you need to to stop it becoming sticky (but if you make it too dry the poppy seeds won’t stick). Sprinkle a good dessertspoon of poppy seeds on the bench top and roll the dough ball in them till they are well stuck.

I just put the dough ball, seedy side up, on a pizza tray.  Because I didn’t slash the top, it developed the moonscape texture, but I quite like that. I brushed the top with a bit of milk to glaze.

Leave, covered, in a warmish place for another hour or so, until it is well risen, then put in a cold oven set to medium.

Bake for around 50 minutes till the crust is golden and it sounds hollow when knocked.