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Sourdough Buckwheat Couronne
With the New Year approaching, we thought a ring-shaped bread would have nice cyclical symbolism and also make for a lovely appetizer presentation. This rustic wreath or “couronne” bread is delicious with spinach dip, olive tapenade, and served with cheeses and jams. The recipe was inspired by Dan Leader’s Menhir au Blé Noir in the book Living Bread, though we skip the instant yeast and use turkey red whole grain flour in addition to bread flour and buckwheat flour or blé noir. The dough shaping is a bit challenging because of the gluten-free buckwheat flour and relatively high hydration, but it’s worth the resulting delectable complex flavor and abundant crispy crust.
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Aromatic and delicious
Turkey red wheat and buckwheat groats milled together
Sourdough Buckwheat Couronne
This couronne bread has rustic appeal and complex delicious flavors from buckwheat and turkey red flours as well as sourdough fermentation. Enjoy it sliced vertically for dipping or topping with jam or cheese, or slice it horizontally to make sandwiches. The shape gives you a lot of wonderful crispy crust.
Ingredients
Stiff Levain
Dough
Instructions
See the Notes for proofing "basket" bowl sizes and the Photo Gallery after the recipe for dough consistency and target expansion.
Baking
Notes
I tested two bowl setups for proofing this 1 kg dough. The one I prefer is an outer bowl of 10 inches diameter and an inner, upside down bowl of 6.5" diameter. Feel free to try a smaller, thicker couronne; or a larger, thinner couronne e.g. the test bake depicted at end of the Photo Gallery below. The bake time will shift by a few minutes based in the thickness of the tube.
Shopping List
Buckwheat Groats
$9.05 – $124.00Turkey Red Whole Grain Flour
Heirloom Turkey Red Wheat Berries
High Protein Bread Flour
Sourdough Starter (Dry)
Mockmill 100 Grain Mill
Breadtopia’s Choice Kitchen Scale
$18.00Danish Dough Whisk — Large
Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls — Set of 3
$39.99Maldives Tea Towel
$2.95Flour Duster
FibraMent Oven Baking Stones
Sourdough Buckwheat Couronne