I’m passionate about the food my family eats, and bread is a daily staple where I think homemade blows away any other product if done right, and to make beautiful artisan breads is easier than you would think, this is one recipe I urge you to give a go.
I love nothing better than having a play with different flours to get different tastes in my bread, and was very excited when I got some Doves Farm Organic, Einkorn Flour, which is an ancient form of wheat, and makes a beautiful nutty wholegrain loaf with a wonderful crumb and crust.
I’ve posted this recipe previously, but use it so often I want to encourage you to give it a go again.
Overnight Sponge Bread
Per loaf
250g strong white bread flour
5g fast action yeast
325g tepid water
Stir these ingredients together to make the sponge, and leave overnight covered away from any draughts.
The next day add a further 250g bread flour, I often use 100g white/150g wholegrain and 10g fine sea salt, and a good splash of olive/rapeseed oil.
Mix thoroughly and then knead until silky smooth roughly 10 minutes. Then leave covered in a warm place for an hour until doubled in size.
Use a tucking action to fold the bread on itself to incorporate some air, and allow to prove for a further hour.
Pop onto a baking sheet in a preheated oven at maximum temperature for 15 minutes (splash a little water onto the base of the oven to create a little steam), and then bake at 200degC for a further 30 minutes until when tapped the base sounds hollow.
Leave to cool slightly and enjoy with copious amounts of good salted butter.
COUNTRYWOODSMOKE 
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[…] the Overnight Sponge Recipe I drizzled the bread with the Argan oil and sprinkled with Za’atar before going into the […]
Posted by Jacqueline Maranville on April 18, 2013 at 3:07 pm
I have some Einkorn flour I like your recipe but not sure about the measurements.
Do you have the conversion of them so I can make this in the US ??
Thanks,
Jacquie
Posted by cam on March 6, 2013 at 12:29 pm
Hi Marcus,
Sorry to be dim – very much a beginner here…
– fast action yeast is the dried stuff you get in little 7g packets, yes?!?
– I’ve not heard of a sponge before as a stage in breadmaking.. any reason why you give a weight of water rather than a typical ml/fl.oz measure?
Cheers,
cam
Posted by countrywoodsmoke on March 6, 2013 at 7:07 pm
Hi Cam,
No worries, happy to help you to make some beautiful bread, yes that’s right on the yeast, the doves farm larger packs are good too.
Sponges are very important to get the best bread in my opinion, it allows the yeast time to develop flavour in the dough, and also means you can use less yeast, which is a good thing.
Weighing water gives you a more accurate measurement than measuring by eye, equates to 1g =1 ml most doughs are too stiff,I prefer using a wetter dough as you get a better bread.
Let me know how you get on please, and any further questions.
Cheers
Marcus
Posted by Gail on November 24, 2012 at 8:03 pm
Hi Marcus
I just ordered some Einkorn flour after some research. I can’t wait to try it. Do you know if it works like regular flour in all my recipes? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks
Gail
Posted by countrywoodsmoke on November 25, 2012 at 10:39 am
Hi Gail, great that you got some Einkorn, it’s got such a good flavour, to be honest I used all mine up in bread recipes, and didn’t manage to get any more. But I definitely think it’s worth trying in other recipes, replace a little white with the Einkorn.
Let me know how you get on with it please.
Cheers
Marcus
Posted by Jules on March 11, 2012 at 12:13 pm
This bread went down an absolute treat last night – we made it just white to go with a fish and chip supper we were making for our friends. Everyone was so impressed, we were asked if it was from the Barbakan deli (known to be Manchester’s best bakery). Like Marcus I also urge everyone to try this recipe, normal bread won’t do once you’ve tried this.
Posted by countrywoodsmoke on March 11, 2012 at 7:56 pm
Wow what a great comparison. Glad you and your guests enjoyed it. I’d always struggled with bread until I started using this recipe. It is so consistently good.
Cheers
Marcus
Posted by Grazing Kate (@grazingkate) on March 8, 2012 at 9:33 am
Hi Marcus,
I am finally going to make this bread this evening (well the sponge part). Would you use half and half Einkorn to Strong White?
Posted by countrywoodsmoke on March 8, 2012 at 12:19 pm
Cool! i’d start with 100g Einkorn, and see how you get on, either in the sponge bit or the flour added after.
Look forward to seeing how you get on.
Cheers
Marcus
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Posted by Zoe @ Pantry and Fridge on February 27, 2012 at 1:25 am
Thank you for the link to find this. 🙂 I will definitely give it a go. I’ve made one bread that was a “success” – take a look at it here.
This recipe here looks wonderful. I will give it a go! 🙂
Posted by countrywoodsmoke on February 27, 2012 at 8:06 am
Thanks zoe, I’m passionate about getting people enjoying good bread, and this recipe got me going.
The oat bread looks great would go nice with a warming soup.
Cheers
Marcus
Posted by lesley on February 13, 2012 at 8:32 pm
I must give this flour a try , next time I am in blighty a shopping i must go. Thanks for the link from woodfire to here I am having a wonderful gastronomic wander !!
Posted by countrywoodsmoke on February 14, 2012 at 12:29 am
Hope you have had a lovely wander, I love just having a meander through lots of nice blogs too. Please let me know if you have a play with this recipe, it does make for great bread.
Cheers
Marcus
Posted by Ann Timms on January 25, 2012 at 9:53 pm
Hi Marcus, Saw your posting on TFL and couldn’t resist trying the loaf. I made the sponge at 10.30pm and left it on the counter in my cold kitchen. I could see that it had peaked and fallen slightly and I was concerned, but in fact after kneading in my Bosch Compact the dough rose in less than 30 minutes. I did a stretch and fold then proofed it in a banneton and baked on parchment on a preheated stone under a bowl for the first 15 minutes. Wow! What oven spring, and the loaf sang when it came out of the oven. Can’t wait to check the crumb.
We lived in Ideford before moving to America many years ago, lovely area. Now I live on Whidbey Island, not far from Seattle. Thanks again for the recipe,
Annie.
Posted by countrywoodsmoke on January 25, 2012 at 10:06 pm
Hi Annie,
thanks for your lovely message, I do love to hear how people get on.
The sponge left overnight should be very runny, like a batter and smell yeasty and alcoholic,no need to leave in a cool place, just room temperature is fine.
Let me know how it tastes please.
Ideford is lovely, go up that way every once in a while, used to live a few miles from there on the edge of Exeter. Now live to the North of Exeter on the edge of the Blackdown Hills.
Great to hear from you.
Cheers
Marcus
Posted by Walter Davis on January 25, 2012 at 4:13 am
Sponge is working its overnight magic right now in the pantry for what I hope to be an awesome loaf tomorrow. Heck, I even ordered some Einkorn flour for a future attempt.
Posted by countrywoodsmoke on January 25, 2012 at 5:01 am
Hey Walter, glad you’re giving it a go, I’ve had lots of great feedback so far on this recipe, but would love to hear how you get on, and good job on the Einkorn flour, it’s always good to mix up the flour for bread to find the loaf that is perfect for our taste, as we all prefer different styles of bread.
Just make sure that oven is good and hot before putting the bread in.
Cheers
Marcus
Posted by Walter Davis on February 8, 2012 at 5:00 pm
Marcus,
One usually needs to tweak the hydration level depending on altitude and humidity, but your ratio’s worked perfectly for me here on the Gulf Coast of the US. I’ve tried 3 different mixtures of whole-grains and bread-flour, and my fav so far has to be the Einkorn you mentioned. Ordered some online and it rose wonderfully. Thanks again!
Walter
Posted by Chilli Ninja on January 21, 2012 at 12:19 am
I share your philosophy about home cooked bread Marcus. It is an essential part of a happy home 🙂
Posted by countrywoodsmoke on January 21, 2012 at 7:42 am
Thanks for taking the time to comment Alan, what are your favourite breads to bake?
Cheers
Marcus
Posted by Chilli Ninja on February 9, 2012 at 10:59 pm
Well, as an Irish man!, I love soda bread & wheaten farls so my wife and I bake them a lot. She also makes an incredible courgette bread. We love a good seeded loaf and of course Chilli bread.
Posted by countrywoodsmoke on February 12, 2012 at 11:14 pm
Soda breads are great along with all the Irish breads I’ve tasted. The courgette bread sounds fab.
Cheers
Marcus
Posted by ceciliag on January 19, 2012 at 11:51 pm
this does look so good and easy, i will try it.. c
Posted by countrywoodsmoke on January 22, 2012 at 9:53 pm
Thank cecilia, please let me know how you get on.
Cheers
Marcus