Naturally Fermented Bread

Naturally Fermented Bread: How To Use Botanical Starters Cultivated from Fruits, Flowers, Plants, and Vegetables To Bake Wholesome Loaves, Buns, and Pastries

From an award-winning baker, Naturally Fermented Bread introduces the principles of yeasted water baking, including recipes for nutritious, delicious sweet and savory bakes.Learn to bake healthy, gut-friendly loaves and sweet fermented buns using wild yeasts cultivated from fruits, flowers, vegetables, and plants.

Like sourdough baking, yeast-water or botanical bread baking draws on the amazing process of fermentation and the ancient art of breadmaking. The method described in this book, while unique, is informed by the author’s knowledge of both bulk fermentation and sourdough bread baking, resulting in an innovative process and delicious, nutritious results.

To bake naturally fermented bread—fruit, vegetables, plants, or flowers are submerged in water and left for a few days to a few weeks to ferment. Yeasts living in this newly fermented water, or botanical water, will, like a sourdough starter, raise the dough more slowly than commercial fresh or dried yeast resulting in a more flavorful and gut-friendly bread.

You can use this technique to make traditional long-fermented loaves and also a range of sweet fermented buns that showcase the subtle and surprising flavors of your own botanical starters.

Recipes include:

Tomato and Basil Pizza Dough
Cucumber Burger Buns
Chocolate Orange Brioche
Botanical Laminated Pastry