Simple wholemeal loaf

Method

1. The night before you make the bread, mix the flours and water in a bowl until it forms a rough, shaggy dough. Cover with a clean shower cap or damp tea towel and leave somewhere warm (but not an airing cupboard or anywhere very warm) for around 12 hours. You can skip this step if you don’t have time but it will help the flavour of the flour come through in the finished loaf.
2. The next day, scrape the dough into the bowl of a stand mixer and add the yeast, salt and honey/sugar. Use the dough hook attachment to knead the dough for about 6 minutes until smooth and elastic. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a shower cap or damp tea towel and leave somewhere warm for about 1 hour or until doubled in size.
3. Use wet hands to scrape the dough from the bowl onto a lightly dusted work surface. Shape it into a ball by pinching the edge and drawing the dough into the centre, repeating all the way around. Flip it so it’s seam-side down, then use a bench scraper to draw the dough across the worksurface into a tight ball. Push the bench scraper under one side of the ball so it starts to slide a little – the opposite side should stick slightly, creating some tension across the top of the ball. You might want to use your other hand as a guide to lightly help the action. Turn the dough with the scraper and repeat this from different directions until you have a tight ball. Sit the dough on a sheet of baking paper, cover with a tea towel and leave to prove for 45 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 250°C fan/gas 10 with a large dutch oven or lidded casserole inside to heat up. Carefully lift the loaf into the hot pan and score the top with a baker’s blade (lame) or very sharp knife a few times. Cover with the lid and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the lid and reduce the temperature to 220°C fan/gas 9. Bake for another 10-15 minutes, depending on how dark you like your loaf. Check that it sounds hollow when tapped on the base, then turn out onto a wire rack. Leave to cool completely before slicing.