Rye and Barley Malt Sourdough

This bread was a bit of an experiment, it’s the first time I baked this recipe, but it turned out such a success that I will definitely be baking it again! It is bursting with flavour – super seeds mix for the extra goodness and a touch of sweetness from the dried fruit.
 
Makes 2 medium sized loaves (tin loaves)

Dough :
250g rye starter (100%)
320g (+30g) lukewarm water
330g white bread flour
100g rye flour
50g roastedbarley malt
10g salt

Seeds porridge :
100g sunflower seeds
50g linseeds
50g pumpkin seeds
50g dried fruit (raising, currants or cranberries)
100g warm water
 
Prepare the porridge : toast sunflower seeds and linseeds in a preheated oven (180C) for 6-8 minutes. Combine with the rest of the seeds and fruit and add water. Leave for an hour until the water is absorbed.
 

Dough :
Mix all flours, including roasted barley malt, with starter and 320g of water. Mix well to make sure that all the water has been incorporated and all the flour is mixed in.
Leave for 60 minutes to autolise.
Add salt and the extra water if you think you need it. Water makes it easier to incorporate salt into the dough, but if you think the dough is too wet to handle, then skip on the extra water.
The dough will still look very rough, with no obvious gluten development. This will change over the next couple of hours, so don’t be tempted to add more flour at this stage. Perform 4 stretch and folds over the next hour (every 15 minutes) and another 3 over the next hour and a half (every 30 minutes).
On the second to last stretch and fold, add seeds and fruit porridge to the dough. The easiest way to do it is to stretch/flatten the dough in a lightly floured bench, cover it with porridge and roll the dough on itself, like a sausage. Proceed to the last stretch and fold after 30 mins.
After the last stretch and fold, leave the dough undisturbed for 3-4 hours, covered at room temperature, until the dough has grown noticeably.

 
Line two medium sized tins with baking parchment (you could use one bigger tin, but would need to adjust baking time in that case)
 
Place the dough on a lightly oiled bench and divide in two. Shape each piece into a log and place into a prepared loaf. If you find the dough too sticky and hard to shape, oil your hands to stop the dough from sticking to your hands and the bench.
Press the dough firmly to get a flat and even top.
Cover the tins and leave to prove at room temperature for 2 hours and place in the fridge for further 8-12 hours or overnight.
 
Take the dough out and bring to room temperature (1-2 hours). Bake in a pre-heated oven (220C) for 25-30 minutes until the colour is very dark and sides of the loaf start coming away from the tin.
Take the loaves out of tins and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes.
Wrap each loaf in a clean tea towel and leave to completely cool down for 5-8 hours.
Its important to give rye loaves plenty of time to cool down slowly to allow the flavours to develop fully. Cutting a rye loaf too early will result in a gummy crumb. But if you are patient enough, you will be rewarded with a beautiful and delicious loaf of bread