This recipe was designed specifically to be made with Bakers' Magic gluten free flour. The finished baked product will not be the same if you use another gluten free flour and you will need to adjust the recipe, particularly if the flour you're using contains rice flour. Bakers' Magic gluten free flour is no longer available commercially however the recipe is available for purchase. 

 

Sourdough Starter

50 g of previous days leaven

50 g Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour

100 g Lukewarm water

~1.5 tsp Sugar (of some type)

or

50 - 70 g Roasted sweet potato

or 

sugar + sweet potato - I usually add both

The remaining 150 g of the previous days leaven I either use to make bread (below) or put it on the humus heap.

I'm not gentle when it comes to mixing the starter - I find the easiest way to mix is with a stab blender. It's quick & gets the lumps out.

Sugar - your starter will need a sugar source (the simplest one is glucose powder). Sugar comes in various forms for example grated apple, roasted pumpkin, roasted sweet potato, honey or simpler versions table sugar, raw sugar, molasses. We want to add the Goldilocks amount of sugar to our culture. Too little you will starve your starter, too much & you will kill it, just the right amount & your starter will grow happily. 

Adding the Goldilocks amount of sugar - Unfortunately I can't say what that amount is for your culture. For Arthur, my starter/leaven/culture, I know I haven't added enough food when I let the starter grow for ~6 hours (it has doubled in size) I swirl it back down & it doesn't grow again. 

Roasted sweet potato - I usually bake it whole for 1 - 1.5 hours (depending on the size). I blend it with a food processor & freeze it in ice cube trays. Two of my roasted sweet potato ice cubes weigh ~70 g. I've fed my culture on one ice cube of sweet potato however the culture is not as active. The water content of the roasted sweet potato will vary & may affect the final shape of your loaf.   

 

Ingredients

400 g Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour

100 g Teff flour (ivory)

1.5 tsp Salt

45 g Sugar

150 g Sourdough starter (leaven)

4 tsp Psyllium husk powder or psyllium husk

50 g Oil (I use Rice bran)

475 g Warm water

  

Maize starch = Cornflour from maize/corn and potato starch is sometimes labelled as potato flour. For more information go to Maize starch vs Cornflour. 

Psyllium husk - Psyllium is used to make the dough easier to handle however the downside to this is that the bread won't rise as much if too much is used. 

 

 

Method

Simple Instructions

1. Blend the dry ingredients.

2. Thoroughly mix together the dry ingredients, sourdough culture, warm water and oil. Let the dough sit for approximately 1 hour.

3. Mix the dough again. 

4. Transfer dough to an oiled bread tin, prepared banneton or shape dough using oiled hands.

5. Prove the dough (approximately 3 - 5 hours at room temperature). The time will depend on how active your starter is & the proving temperature. 

6. Bake in a hot oven (190 - 200 C) with steam (add in a tray of hot water). Times will vary depending on shape - as a guide 60 mins per tin, 45 mins cigar shaped loaf, 30 -35 min baguette.

7. Let the bread cool a bit before slicing into it.

 

More Detailed Instructions

Lightly oil a bread tin or prepare your bannetons (or line the banneton with a clean chux or thin, soft linen tea towel). 

Blend together the dry ingredients. 

Add all ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the flat beater combine the mix until a uniform consistency is achieved. You may need to stop the mixer and scrap down the sides. 

Let the dough prove for approximately 1 hour in a warm moist environment. Mix the dough again. 

Oil your hands, divide the dough and roll each half and put them in the bread tin (or banneton).  

Let the dough prove for 3-5 hours in a warm moist environment. The actual time will depend on many factors particularly how active your sourdough starter (leaven) is. 

Before putting it in the oven ensure that the dough has risen.  

Turn your oven on to 190^o C.  

Bake at 190^o C for 1 hour. The time will vary depending on the individual oven. If your oven has a hot spot turn the bread halfway through baking. Baking the bread for longer will result in a wonderfully crusty bread.  

Take out of the oven & cool the bread on a cooling rack. Ensure the bread is sufficiently cooled before cutting into it.

When the bread is more than a day old I refresh the bread by sprinkling it  with a little water & putting it back in the oven for ~20 mins at 180^o C.

Simply enjoy!