Spelt and honey bread: the recipe

Name: Spelt and honey bread
Cook time: 38 min
Total time: 18 h 13 min
Yield: 2 pieces of 680 g
Ingredients: 190 g Spelt flour; 123 g Water; 3.8 g Salt; 0.4 g Yeast; 379 g Spelt flour; 190 g Wheat flour; 423 g Water; 11 g Salt; 30 g Honey; 4.8 g Yeast

Spelt and honey bread brings out the aromatic qualities of this ancient grain.

Although spelt originally comes from the Fertile Crescent (the Middle East), it has unbreakable historical ties to Ancient Rome: It was the staple food of the legionaries and the main ingredient of puls, the ancestor of polenta — so much so that the very word "farina" (flour) comes straight from the Latin far (spelt).

Spelt's variable strength calls for particular care during mixing: It's best to shorten the mixing time to protect spelt's fragile gluten network, stopping as soon as the dough reaches the consistency you want.

This recipe is freely inspired by, or adapted from, a formula by Master Jeffrey Hamelman.

At a glance

Method: Preferment, without autolyse
Preferment: Leftover dough — 25% of the flour
Mixing: Stand mixer

Number of pieces: 2
Weight per piece: 680 g
Preferment weight: 317 g
Dough weight: 1039 g
Total dough weight: 1360 g

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Ingredients

Quantities for 2 pieces of 680 g, kitchen at 21 °C

Preferment

Spelt flour (Whole wheat)190 g
Water123 g
Salt3.8 g (half a teaspoon)
Yeast0.4 g

Dough

Spelt flour (Whole wheat, W140)379 g
Wheat flour (W350)190 g
Water423 g
Salt11 g
Honey30 g
Yeast4.8 g

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Method

Pasta di riporto: make it and let it ferment (at room temperature) (14 hours)
- Weigh the ingredients
- Make a mix with 1 ice cube and 103 g of water at room temperature (to get it to 18 °C)
- Dissolve the yeast in the water
- Mix until you get a smooth dough
- Seal it airtight (a lid, or plastic wrap pressed onto the surface)
Weigh the ingredients and knead (30 min)
- Use water at 21 °C
Add the pâte fermentée last.
End of mixing, start of bulk rise (at room temperature) (2 hours)
Reinforcement fold 1 of 3
Reinforcement fold 2 of 3
Reinforcement fold 3 of 3
Divide/shape: weigh and form the pieces (5 min)
- Divide into 680 g (1.5 lb) pieces, preshape lightly into rounds and let rest until relaxed enough.
- Shape into round or oval loaves and place them into floured bannetons or between the folds of a floured linen couche, covered with plastic.
- It can also be put in loaf pans or shaped into rolls.
Start of proofing (at room temperature) (1 hour)
Ready to cook
Slash the loaves as desired before loading the oven.

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Baking

- conventional oven, with steam
- Overall temperature: 230 °C
- Time: 38 minutes
- Double steam (before loading and again right after). Once the loaves have taken on colour, open the vent to finish the bake drier — the honey brings a lot of colour to the crust, so lower the temperature by 5-10 °C if it's darkening too fast.

The calculator adapts baking times to the weight of your pieces. Open the calculator

Preparation notes

Bassinage: If mixing with a stand mixer or spiral mixer, pour in the last 20% of the water gradually, in a thin stream, only after the gluten network has formed.

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