Fermented Buckwheat Bread
This bread is mind blowing, it toasts so well. It’s chewy and slightly sour like a proper sourdough bread. Also did I mention, super easy to make. Mostly you have to have patience while the fermentation does it’s thing.
Instructions
Rinse: Rinse the grouts.
Soak: To start the fermentation process, you need to soak the buckwheat groats in water for 12 hours. Add the groats to a glass or ceramic bowl, and cover with water. There should be at least 3 cm of water above the top of them as they do absorb some of the water and will ‘grow’ a bit. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave it on the counter for at least 12 hours.
Drain: After the twelve hours have passed, tip the contents into a sieve or colander and leave to drain for 5 minutes. DO NOT RINSE!
Blend: Place the drained buckwheat in your blender or food processor along with 250ml fresh water + salt. Blend until smooth!
Fermentation: Once the mixture is smooth, pour it into a clean bowl, cover it again and set it aside on your counter for 24 hours.
Add: salt and seeds (either fold in or add to the top) and then pour the batter into a 1lb bread tin lined with grease-proof paper*.
Bake: Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan / 350°F) with the loaf in the oven and bake for 60 minutes. Insert a toothpick to check the doneness - it should come out clean. If there is still sticky dough on the toothpick, bake for a further 5 minutes.
*Grease the baking paper! I didn’t and the bread stuck like crazy to the paper. I also tried it without baking paper, greasing the tin - and that didn’t work well either.