Soft, flavorful, and healthy pumpkin Kamut calendula sourdough bread. Perfect autumn bread for your morning toast or to accompany a hearty stew. This vibrant sourdough loaf is one of our family favorites. The beautiful deep yellow-orange color and soft, almost bun-like, crumb make this bread quite irresistible. For additional yellow-orange zing, I added some dried calendula petals. Now, with the pumpkin season in full swing, we make this bread at least once a week.
The Sourdough Process
As with any sourdough bread I make, this one also stretches over two days. However, it is mostly just fermentation, meaning you don’t have to do anything other than wait for it to do its thing.
Below, I posted my usual baking schedule. You can adjust the bake according to your needs. I usually bake after a minimum of 24 hours have passed from the initial mix. Of course, you can ferment for more extended periods depending on your needs. Just take a note to adjust the amount of sourdough levain in the recipe.
As you can see from the above table, the actual manual work is not that much.
Some of the most important things to look for when baking with sourdough are:
- The starter used has to be bubbly, lively, and mature.
- Take note of the ambient temperature and the dough temperature to adjust the timings in the method. The temperature significantly affects the speed of the fermentation process. So if your room is colder than stated in the recipe, the bulk fermentation will take longer. Also, note that the coil folds are conditional on the ambient temperature. If your ambient temperature is different, please adjust the coil folds timing accordingly.
- The pumpkin puree should be cold. So if you are making some at home just for this recipe, make sure it cools down to room temperature before using it in the recipe.
- As you perform coil folds, take note of how the structure of the dough changes. For example, the dough should be less sticky and more billowy or bouncy as you progress with the bulk fermentation.
The Method for Pumpkin Kamut Calendula Sourdough Bread
Building the Sourdough Levain
The time for building the sourdough levain depends solely on when you plan to mix the dough. Every sourdough starter has a bit of a personality, so it is hard to write the exact method in terms of timings. I can only speak for my sourdough starter. So please adjust to your sourdough starter schedule.
You should have general information by what time your sourdough peaks, given a certain percentage of sourdough inoculation and the ambient temperature. Then, as you need a mature sourdough levain for the recipe, deduct the time necessary for the sourdough levain to mature from your planned time for the initial mix. This is your starting point of the recipe.
The Initial Mix
Once you have your sourdough levain, you are ready to do an initial mix. This is a simple step, where first you mix the wet ingredients until well incorporated. Then you add the flours and let the machine do its thing. Alternatively, you can mix by hand.
At this point, you don’t want to overmix the dough and start to develop the gluten. The goal of this step is to mix the ingredients until there are no dry bits of flour visible.
Then, cover the bowl with reusable plastic and set it aside for 30 minutes. This will allow the flours to hydrate properly.
Adding Flavors
After the initial rest period, you will notice how the dough sort of “came together.” This is the sign that gluten started to develop.
At this point, add the salt and the dry flower petals.
Using the machine, mix the dough for about 3 minutes on the 2nd setting. Increase the speed by one level and mix for another 5 minutes. Once done, the dough will be smooth and shiny, and the sides of the bowl should be clean.
Alternatively, you can do the slap-and-fold method on the kitchen counter.
Transfer the dough to a clean mixing bowl and cover it with a reusable plastic bag. Place somewhere warm (about 26ºC/79ºF) to start the bulk fermentation.
Bulk Fermentation
During the bulk fermentation, you let the wild yeast do its thing while occasionally doing a coil fold to strengthen the gluten further.
As I noted before, the temperature is an important variable of influence here, both the ambient and the dough temperature. Take note of the temperatures and how the structure of your dough when you do the coil folds.
The dough should be very elastic and extensible at first and feel a bit on a denser side. As the bulk fermentation progresses, the elasticity shrinks, and the dough feels lighter as it is starting to fill with gas. This recipe calls for two sets of folding the dough during the bulk fermentation. After the second set of coil folds, let the dough rest the remainder of bulk fermentation.
Toward the end of the bulk fermentation, be gentle with the dough not to degas it too much. At this point, the dough should have risen by about 25% to 50%. Small bubbles should be visible on the sides, and the dough should be visibly concave, which means the dough has developed strength.
Bench & Shape
This bread needs minimal handling after the bulk fermentation.
Lightly dust your working surface and dump the dough out of the bowl. Using the dough scraper divide the dough in half and form each piece into a round ball.
This is achieved by gently tugging the dough scraper under it and pushing it to one side or towards yourself. The surface will become smoother as you push the dough, and the gluten strands will start to show. Be careful not to overdo it as it may break the gluten.
Cover the shaped dough with a clean cloth and let it rest for one hour.
Shaping
For this loaf, I usually shape it like a batard as it is strong and not wet. Shaping a batard is very gentle and allows the dough to retain its shape. The steps are:
- Lightly dust the working surface.
- Using the dough scraper and your other hand, lift and place the dough top-side down on the working surface.
- Gently stretch the dough to form a uniform circle.
- Take the left-hand side of the dough and fold it over, covering slightly more than 1/2 of the dough. Take the right-hand side and repeat the process, which should overlap the previously folded dough. The dough should connect and seal.
- Lightly dust your hand with flour. Starting from the top of the dough, begin rolling the dough towards you. With each roll, gently seal the dough.
- Leave the shaped dough, seam side down to rest for 2 minutes for the seal to close.
Place each shaped dough, top side down, into rice dusted banneton baskets, cover with reusable plastic wrap, and place in the fridge overnight.
Cold Fermentation
Now the dough is ready for another period of fermentation. This time it will be cold fermentation, which translates into slow and long. As the temperature drops, the yeast activity slows down considerably, allowing your bread to slowly ferment and develop a much deeper flavor in addition to making it easier to digest.
Place in the refrigerator and leave to ferment until the next day.
Baking
Since the dough is in the fridge and the fermentation activity is slowed down, the timing for baking is very flexible. This means you can adjust baking time to your needs.
Preheat the oven to 250ºC (482ºF). About 20 minutes before the oven is ready, take the dough out of the fridge and let it warm up a bit on the kitchen counter.
When ready to bake, dust the bottom of the loaf with the flour and invert on the wooden pizza peel or parchment paper if baking in the dutch oven. Score the bread with the bread lame at a 45º angle.
If your oven has a steamer, slide the dough in the oven and add water to the steamer. Next, close the door shut and lower the temperature to 210ºC(410ºF). Alternatively, if you bake using the dutch oven, carefully place the dough in the dutch oven, close with the lid, and put it in the hot oven.
Bake for 20 minutes. Release the openings for the steam or take the lid off, depending on your baking method. Bake for another 15 minutes or until the loaf has a deep golden color.
Let the bread cool to room temperature before slicing. I know this is the hardest part to follow, but the final results are much better if left to cool down.
I hope you will love this pumpkin kamut calendula sourdough bread as much as we do. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
You can find more sourdough recipes here!
Pumpkin Kamut Calendula Sourdough Bread
Equipment & Tools
- Stand mixer with a dough hook
- Kitchen scale
- Large mixing bowl
- dough scraper
- Spatula (small), dough whisk (optional)
- 2x oval banneton baskets
- Wooden pizza peel, parchment paper
- dutch oven (optional)
INGREDIENTS
SOURDOUGH LEVAIN
- 100 g water (non-chlorinated)
- 100 g T00 flour (Mulino Marino)
- 25 g sourdough starter
THE DOUGH
- 255 g whole milk (cold)
- 120 g water (non-chlorinated)
- 300 g pumpkin puree (Note 3)
- 200 g sourodugh levain (bubbly and mature)
- 200 g T00 flour (Mulino Marino)
- 200 g Kamut flour (Mulino Marino)
- 150 g Whole spelt flour (Mulino Marino)
- 11 g sea salt
- ¼ cup calendula petals (dried)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Gather all the ingredients and dust the bannetons with some rice flour.
BUILD THE LEVAIN
- Mix water and sourdough starter until all of the starter is dissolved. Add the flour and mix until there are no dry bits of flour. Scrape the sides of the jar, cover it, and set it on the counter with an ambient temperature of around 24ºC(75ºF).
INITIAL DOUGH MIX
- In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add the whole milk, water, pumpkin puree, and sourdough levain. Using a dough whisk or a spatula, mix everything until the batter is uniform in structure.
- Sift in the T00 and Kamut flour. Add the whole spelt flour. With the setting on the lowest speed, mix the dough until no dry bits of flour are visible. Cover and let it rest for 30 minutes. (DDT: 19ºC/66ºF, AT:21ºC/70ºF)
- Add the salt and flower petals. Mix on the 2nd speed for 3 minutes. Increase the speed by one level and mix for another 5 minutes. (DDT: 21ºC/70ºF, AT:21ºC/70ºF)
- Transfer to a clean bowl. Cover and set side to rest for one hour in a warm area. (DDT: 22ºC/72ºF, AT:21ºC/70ºF)
BULK FERMENTATION
- First coil fold: Perform a coil fold once, turn the bowl for 90º and do another coil fold. Cover and rest for 1 hour. (DDT: 23.8ºC/75ºF, AT:26ºC/79ºF)
- Second coil fold: Perform a coil fold once, turn the bowl for 90º and do another coil fold. Cover, place somwhere warm (oven with the light on) and rest for 1.5 hours. (DDT: 24ºC/75ºF, AT:24ºC/79ºF)
PRESHAPE, BENCH REST
- Lightly dust your working surface and dump the dough out of the bowl.Using the dough scraper divide the dough in half and form each piece into a round ball by gently tugging the dough scraper under it and pushing it to one side or towards yourself.
- Cover with a clean cloth and let the dough rest for one hour. (DDT: 23.5ºC/74ºF, AT:21ºC/70ºF)
SHAPE
- Lightly dust the working surface.
- Using the dough scraper and your other hand, lift and place the dough top-side down on the working surface. Gently stretch the dough to form a uniform circle.Take the left-hand side of the dough and fold it over, covering slightly more than 1/2 of the dough. Take the right-hand side and repeat the process, which should overlap the previously folded dough. The dough should connect and seal.Lightly dust your hand with flour. Starting from the top of the dough, begin rolling the dough towards you. With each roll, gently seal the dough.Leave the shaped dough, seam side down, and rest for 2 minutes for the seal to close.
- Place each shaped dough into rice dusted banneton baskets, cover with reusable plastic wrap, and place in the fridge overnight.
BAKE (next day)
- Preheat the oven to 250ºC/480ºF (Note 2)
- 20 minutes before the oven reaches the desired temperature take the loaves out of the fridge.
- When ready to bake, dust the bottom of a loaf with the flour and invert on the wooden pizza peel or parchment paper if baking in the dutch oven.Score the bread with the bread lame at a 45º angle.
- Oven with the steam: Slide the dough into the oven. Add water to the designated steamer and close the door shut. Immediately lower the temperature to 220ºC/430ºF.Dutch oven: Carefully place the dough in the dutch oven. Close with the lid and place in the hot oven.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Release the openings for the steam to come out or take the lid off, depending on your baking method.Bake for another 15 minutes or until golden.
- Place baked loaves on a cooling rack and let cool to room temperature.
NOTES
- The dough is ready to be mixed when the levain is mature and bubbly.
- If you don’t have a steam oven, the next best thing is to bake in a dutch oven. While preheating the oven, place your dutch oven inside to heat up. Be extra careful when handling a hot dutch oven, as it is scorching. Most of the time, the essential kitchen gloves are too weak so take extra care. If you can, try to get specialized heat gloves that can handle heat up to 500ºF. Generally, they are a good investment as they last for a long time.
- Drain excess water.
