Our friends Beej, Matt and Will-I-Am were joining us for lunch, and I was keen to bake a roasted hazelnut loaf.
As I didn’t start until 6am that morning, there wasn’t enough time to make a pure sourdough loaf, so this was a hybrid, risen with a mix of sourdough starter and bakers yeast.
I used the blanched roasted hazelnuts that we buy from Southern Cross Supplies…
…Tania’s lovely Buratto flour…
…and the Pepperberry honey that our friend Jane gave us…
Here’s the formula:
- 450g ripe sourdough starter
- 1 teaspoon dried yeast
- 900g water
- 50g pepperberry honey (or regular honey)
- 200g blanched roasted hazelnuts, chopped
- 1.5kg buratto flour
- 27g fine sea salt
I whisked together the starter, water, yeast and honey, then stirred in the hazelnuts. The flour and salt were added and squelched together to make a shaggy dough. I gave the dough a brief knead (in the bowl) after 30 minutes, and then left it to rise until it had doubled in size. It was a cool day and the dough was quite heavy, so it took several hours to prove.
I then shaped it into three round loaves – two 900g and one 1300g – and placed them to prove in my round bannetons…
Once risen, the loaves were slashed and baked in a preheated oven for 25 minutes at 220C with fan, followed by an additional 25 minutes at 175C with fan. The Buratto flour results in a very brown loaf and a tender, grey coloured crumb…
If you don’t have Buratto flour, you could make these loaves with regular bakers flour. They’re quite low hydration, which means the crumb structure is fairly tight. The next time I make this, I’ll increase the water a little and add a few more hazelnuts!
If you’d like more detailed instructions on baking sourdough, please have a look at our earlier post: Bread #101: A Basic Sourdough Tutorial.
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
The loaves look like they have a lot of character and flavour. I don’t think I’ve ever seen burrato flour before, intriguing!
Saucy, thank you! They were very flavoursome!
What a lovely combination- hazelnuts & honey! I love hazelnuts (especially when chocolate is involved!) Nice rise too!
And congratulations on the newest members of the chook family. I enjoyed reading all about them. I think they should have their own Christmas cards this year, what do you think? Ha ha ;)
Emilie, you’re laughing, but you’re not too far off – not Christmas cards, but they have had their portraits taken for the blog – it will be nice to compare how they look in months to come when their combs grow! :)
Honey & hazelnuts sounds like a fantastic combination to me. I’ve never seen those round bowls – bannetons – before. What are they made of? It sort of looks like a wood, or is it clay?
Di, the bannetons are cane baskets specifically for proving bread. I wrote about them here:
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2011/05/22/bannetons/
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2011/05/26/first-banneton-loaves/
They USED to be incredibly expensive, but the guys at Chefs Warehouse have managed to bring them in at an extremely reasonable price. They’re the bee’s knees. :)
For some reason hazelnuts just go with fall weather. I was thinking about making some bread today, now I’m INSPIRED to make some bread. Hugs, Maz. <3
Enjoy the baking, darling, AND the cool Autumnal weather! xx
mmm, fresh bread! That looks so delicious. I’m feeling a bread baking session coming on!
Bernie, thank you, and it’s ALWAYS time to bake bread in our kitchen!
These are really gorgeous Celia!
I like the shape, color, and texture- if only I could smell and taste them!
Did you have them with soup and salad or did you use the bread to make sarnies?
Heidi, when we have friends over for lunch on the weekends, it’s often a casual spread – fresh bread, sliced and on the table with a small bowl of good olive oil, prosciutto, jamon, an assortment of cheeses, Pete’s quince jelly and a little antipasto – then everyone sits around and nibbles! :)
Thanks for the information about Buratto flour (I went to the link to learn), it sure is a pricey flour, wonder how much it cost per kilo/pound in the US. My mouth is watering just looking at that last photo.
It IS very expensive Norma, I’m grateful that my friend Tania passes me the occasional broken bag that she can’t sell!
Great looking bread, I’m a sucker for a quality artisan loaf!
Thank you – not sure it’s artisan quality with the closed crumb, but it was certainly tasty! :)
what a great combination celia..they look stunning..x
Jane, thank you! It’s so much fun to play around with sourdough, isn’t it? :)
The bread looks truly wonderful. Your kitchen must have the best aromas – either chocolate or bread. I didn’t know you could buy blanched hazelnuts xx
Charlie, the hazelnuts were my great find of 2011! I’d avoided using hazelnuts for ages, because rubbing off the skins was such a pain. Now that we can buy them already roasted and blanched, we use them in everything! :)
I love the sound of this bread with the hazelnuts and honey-and such interesting honey too! Can you taste the flavour of the honey or is it more for sweetness?
Lorraine, you could really smell the honey when the loaf came out of the oven, and it added a subtle taste. The hazelnuts, even though there weren’t all that many of them, flavoured the loaf very strongly…
This looks delicious Celia. More creative bread from your kitchen. The nuts and honey sound like a great addition.
I made my standard white sourdough loaves yesterday and I have decided that my crumb structure is tight compared to other sourdough loaves I see. Would you suggest adding more water?
Jane, definitely add more water, but be prepared to change your handling techniques. Interestingly, I’ve found the flour I’ve been using this year is absorbing more water, making my loaves closer crumbed than they’ve been in the past. But on the adding water bit – I often make 75% loaves (I think the ciabattas are around that hydration), but I know artisan bakeries go much higher than that – I remember one baker telling me they were working on over 85% hydration. That has to be like trying to shape soup! But their loaves were magnificent and full of giant airy holes..
Thank you for sharing your knowledge Celia, I will try a bit more water next time.
Love hazelnuts, Celia… another wonderful tutorial xo
Thanks Lizzy xx
yum, great flavour combo and delicious looking bread.
Thanks for stopping by, Leah! :)
Sounds like a winning combination Celia – and you make it all look pretty easy.
Amanda, it really doesn’t feel that hard anymore! :)
G’day Celia! Your bread looks delicious, true!
i can almost smell it through the screen, wish I could try and thank you today for allowing me to learn something new!
Cheers! Joanne
Thanks Joanne! It was very nice indeed!
Gosh, Celia. You post my favourite two food groups–bread and chocolate! Outstanding loaves. What kind of flavour note does the pepperberry add?
Liz, the pepperberry honey really came through in the aroma of the loaf when it first came out of the oven. It added a subtle sweetness to the loaf – I didn’t add much, so I was quite surprised that we could still taste it in amongst the strong hazelnut flavour!
As a new new granny, I hadn´t have time yet to post my “In my kitchen ” post of this month, but I read all the others! And your posts.
Your bread always looks like one from a book!
Amazing!
Ale, congratulations!! That’s very exciting news! Enjoy your new grandchild, and we’ll catch up with your kitchen only when you have time – you must be very busy at the moment! :)
They look good. Another good idea for hazelnuts.
Celia, do you flour your bannetons before you put your dough into them?
Anne, yes, I dust the bannetons with fine semolina before popping the dough in. I used to use rye flour, but have since found the semolina works better and gives the loaves a crunchy crust!
A magnificent loaf of bread! Makes me want to motivate and make one of my own.
Thanks Azita! Hope you’re enjoying your break! x
Re break: thank you! Laziness is its own reward! ;)
I LOVE the hazelnuts and honey. In Maine where I’m from, hazelnuts are called filberts but I have no idea why. :) (useless trivia)
I adore useless trivia! Filberts sounds like the name of a cartoon character, or a pet dog! :)
DELICIOUS. Love you xxx
Ditto darling xxx
I love that you start at 6am to make bread, such dedication! x
Thanks Lisa! I’m an early riser, so it fits in well with our lifestyle.. :)
You’re a marvel, Celia. With guests joining you for lunch, you make bread that morning. Me? I’d be lucky to get myself coffee. Like all that you bake, these loaves look fantastic and I’m sure your friends were very appreciative of your efforts. And purchasing hazelnuts that are recipe-ready is quite the find. :)
John, you’re kind, but breadmaking isn’t hard for us any more – it’s easier than heading to the shops. You, on the other hand, make pasta from scratch when guests come over, which always astounds me – I have to scrub down the whole kitchen after pasta making! :)
I made this georgous & very delectable bread& loved it so much & so did my husband! He says Thanks. Xxx 😀😀
Hooray! So glad you enjoyed it, thanks for letting me know, Sophie!
You made sourdough in your kitchen?! For real?! – A gutsy, ambitious, lovely move indeed :)
Your bread looks better, fresher and prettier than the store-bought ones.
And gorgeous photos made your post much more interesting :)
I’ll come back, for sure, dear Celia :)
Thank you! :) We’ve been baking all the bread we eat (almost all sourdough) for nearly seven years now. It’s pretty easy now that we have the routine figured out. :)
Yummy!!! Those are delectable loaves for sure! Perfect round shape! I haven’t perfected this bread before. I am so envious right now. :(
Thanks for stopping by! :)