- 375g strong white flour
- 250g starter
- 7.5g salt
- 1 and half bananas
- 150g muesli
- 225g water
Paul Hollywood's original recipe states that the loaves should be proved for around 13 hours. I baked one loaf after 6 hours of proving. It hadn't grown much in the bowl. I started off with a medium oven temperature of 180 degrees C fan, but after 40 minutes it had no colour on it so I increased the temperature and the time. The finished loaf was quite small and heavy.
I left the other loaf to prove overnight (meaning it had 15 hours of proving). I was surprised to see that it had grown to quite a good size in the bowl. However, it did not rise any more during baking.
Comparing slices from the loaves, the one at the top is from the 6 hour proved loaf, the one at the bottom proved for 15 hours. Whilst both are heavy, and a bit rubbery, the longer proved loaf has a more "grown up" texture.
I think this loaf might be better as an instant yeast recipe, rather than a sourdough one. My sourdoughs all seem to be quite moist, I often think I should have baked them more.
It might be an idea to actually follow his recipe! Neither of the two versions I have made, have been as good as the one made to his recipe that I bought in Waitrose, which is a surprise as bread bought from a supermarket wrapped in plastic is usually not very good.