Baking Sides

Traditional Caramelised Onion Rye Sourdough Bread

Want to experiment with your sourdough starter and bake something a little different? Why not make this dark, tangy rye loaf? The caramelised onions provide a hint of sweetness that really elevates the bake. As with all sourdough loaves, make the pre-ferment the day before and leave it overnight to rise.

10 minutes, plus overnight fermentation and 1-2 hours proofing time prep, 30 minutes cook

Serves 1 sourdough loaf

Ingredients

For the pre-ferment:

150g dark rye flour, plus extra for sprinkling

100g sourdough starter (preferably rye)

200ml water, warm

For the dough:

500g red onion, thinly sliced

200g dark rye flour

1 tsp salt

150ml water, hot from the kettle

Method

Gather together your ingredients for the pre-ferment. In the first large mixing bowl, mix the dark rye flour, sourdough starter and warm water together thoroughly with a wooden spoon. Cover the bowl and leave to ferment overnight. This is the preferment (the wet mixture).

Place the sliced red onion onto the baking tray and dry in the oven at 150°C/Fan °C/Gas 2 until nice and crisp, then set aside.

The next day, remove the lid from the pre-ferment. It should have risen overnight and will be dotted with little bubble holes.

In the second large mixing bowl, mix the dark rye flour, the salt and the onion. Add the flour, onion and salt mixture to the wet mixture (pre-ferment), making sure that the pre-ferment is completely covered. Add the hot water. It’s important to add the hot water last, as putting it directly onto the pre-ferment could harm the sourdough starter, meaning that your bread won’t rise.

Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon until everything is combined – it should have a kind of porridge consistency. Spoon the mixture into the prepared loaf pan (dip the spoon in hot water to prevent the dough sticking to it. Level the top of the mixture using a metal spoon or the plastic scraper. Sprinkle some extra dark rye flour on the surface for decoration.

Cover the dough with a mixing bowl and allow it to rise for 1–2 hours. Leave it somewhere warm, near a radiator or in the airing cupboard. Check the loaf regularly. You’ll know that the loaf is ready to bake when it rises just over the pan and little cracks and air holes appear on the surface.

Set the oven temperature to 250°C/ Fan 230°C/ Gas 9 and place a deep roasting tray on the bottom surface. Pour a cup of water into the hot tray to form steam and then lower the oven temperature to 220°C/ Fan 200°C/Gas 7.

Bake the loaf for around 30 minutes until it is golden brown. Carefully turn the loaf out of the loaf pan. To check if it is baked through, tap the bottom of the loaf with your knuckles – it should sound hollow. Make sure the bread has cooled down before slicing it.