Seed Loaf – inspired by Sarah

Sarah and I LOVE bread. I couldn’t imagine my life without it. Making it myself on a weekly basis allows me to appreciate what goes into it. Bread is one of the most simple of recipes and only requires 4 ingredients. Flour, water, yeast and salt. When you add seeds, it adds a different enriched texture that nourishes and satisfies you for hours. I rarely add sugar to my bread, but in this loaf I did adhere to the recipe the first time I made it, as there is no kneading and I wanted to feed the yeast slowly to help with the rise and fermentation. I just love the moment, sitting in Sarah’s and Darryn’s sun room, being handed Sarah’s Health Loaf, with a smile and “here’s breakfast Mom”

I recently visited Sarah in Cape Town. I wanted to spend time with my beautiful child and just be in her space for a few days, to absorb her gentle energy. On our first morning together we sat in the sun room with her kitty cat, Kimchi, admiring the view of Table Mountain and watching a squirrel go about her day. It was a touch chilly and the squirrel’s tail was ingeniously curved up her back, popping up like a collar at her head. I marvelled at nature in all its beauty and wisdom as I slowed down my thoughts to be in this moment with Sarah. We sipped on our hot coffee and then Sarah disappeared into the kitchen. I sat reading and listening to my Insight timer meditation music.

We both love bread, but being a busy business woman she definitely does not have time to nurture a sourdough starter at this stage of her life. She’s not in that space yet. She also loves homemade bread. Good bread is still something she wants to enjoy. Sarah’s Health Loaf is quick to make relative to sourdough bread baking. I made a few little adjustments to my style of baking, checked the hydration and got to work when I got back home to make a seeded loaf inspired by Sarah’s Health Loaf. Here it is. I changed the flour from brown bread to wholewheat, I added crushed wholewheat flakes from Simple Truth. They are similar to All Bran Flakes, but with reduced sugar. I left out the sugar and I played around with the seeds according to what I had in the pantry. I hope you get to make a loaf and enjoy with your family. If you have ever enjoyed homemade bread, you’ll know exactly what I’m saying.

PS – I did make a sourdough version of this bread too, as Rusticus has been somewhat neglected these past few weeks and I was very impressed with the result. I think he was showing off just to let me know he’s still my favourite. I did have to use a loaf pan, though as this is a wet and heavy dough (before baking) with all the added seeds. I popped the loaf pan inside my dutch oven and proceeded as usual when I make all my sourdough loafs. I got a great rise and ear too on the loaf. For my Sourdough Seed Loaf recipe click here

If you don’t have a dutch oven or don’t want to wait 36 hours for your loaf of bread go ahead and make this quick version of seed loaf.

Seed Loaf – Inspired by Sarah

Nutty and Seedy and full of health benefits to keep you satisfied all morning.

Ingredients

Dry ingredients

• 420 g Whole Meal Wheat Flour from Eureka Mills
• 20 g crushed wholewheat flake Simple Truth reduced sugar
• 5 g salt 1 1/2 tsp
• 5 g instant yeast
• 40 g pumpkin seeds
• 40 g sunflower seeds
• 20 g sesame seeds
• 20 g golden flaxseed

Wet ingredients

• 340 g lukewarm water (240g + 100g boiling for the seeds) 80% hydration (100g boiling water for the seeds)
• 1 tbls olive oil 10g
• Extra olive oil to coat

Instructions

• Line a 900g loaf tin with baking paper (21cm x 11cm x 6cm)
• Add seeds to a bowl and pour 100g of the boiling water to seeds – leave to cool to blood temperature. This allows the seeds to soften and adds moistness to the crumb of the bread
  40 g pumpkin seeds, 40 g sunflower seeds, 20 g sesame seeds, 20 g golden flaxseed
• Add dry ingredients to a bowl whisk to blend
  420 g Whole Meal Wheat Flour, 20 g crushed wholewheat flake, 5 g salt, 5 g instant yeast
• Add water and olive oil and mix to form a sticky dough – cover
  340 g lukewarm water (240g + 100g boiling for the seeds), 1 tbls olive oil
• Leave to proof for 2-3 hrs or until double in size
• Knock back dough, tip dough onto counter
• Shape into loaf, rub with olive oil
  Extra olive oil to coat
• Place dough in loaf pan and leave to proof for a further 45-60 minutes
• Heat oven to 190°C
• Bake for 50 minutes (96°C) to an hour depending on your oven.
• Remove from oven, lift out of pan using the baking paper and place on wire rack to cool. Rest for 1 hour before slicing

Notes

Thanks to Evan Faull from Knead Bakery for the tip in his Book, Café Food at Home, about soaking the seeds in boiling water.  This was a revalation for me when I read it and credit lies squarely at his door. Every time a recipe calls for seeds, I now soak them.  

If you want to stick seeds to the outside of the loaf, this technique will stop the seeds from burning and also help them to stick to the loaf. 

I also like to dry fry the sesame seeds in a pan on the stove.  Another little tip to enhance the bread flavours.

Sarah puts 7g sugar in her bread.  I decided to try it without sugar, it works, no problem.

I’ve tested a 24cm x 14cm x6cm (wider loaf) loaf pan as well as a long 28cm x 12cm x 7cm (skinny loaf) one. They work, but I’ve  settled on the 21cm x 11cm x 6cm, perfect width and height 

Try the recipe with different flours, I love Wholewheat, but brown also works, which Sarah uses in hers.

Course: bread

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