How to Make Easy Apricot and Ginger Sourdough Bread

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Soft, spongy and slightly sweet, this Apricot and Ginger Sourdough Bread is absolutely divine. Soak the fruit the night before, and the bread water will be full of extra flavour and sweetness. This recipe requires an active, bubbly sourdough starter. It takes about 3 days, from soaking the fruit overnight, to mixing, stretching and bulk fermenting the dough, to overnight cold ferment, to baking. Makes 1 large loaf, or 10 generous slices.

Apricot and Ginger Sourdough Bread Ingredients

• Dried Apricots – Dried apricots are like bright, tangy jewels in this sweet dough. They bring a much needed tartness, and go really well with the ginger and vanilla essence. Use dried apricots, because fresh ones have too much juice and will affect the hydration of the dough.
• Crystallised Ginger – I prefer to use crystallised ginger because it is sweeter and releases a more pleasant flavour into the dough. The heat of the ginger gives this dough such a sophisticated flavour! It is definitely not replaceable with ground or fresh ginger.
• Vanilla Essence – Vanilla essence marries the apricot and ginger together in perfect harmony. It softens the ginger and sweetens the apricot. It is definitely a must for this recipe! Just slosh it in – i used about a tablespoon.
• Water – this bread dough is 75% hydration, so it uses 375g water for 500g flour. This makes a decent loaf that is easy to handle and gives a satisfactory rise. The baked loaf is high, soft and spongy.
• Sourdough Starter – The sourdough needs an active, bubbly starter. Feed your starter at the same time you put the fruit on to soak (the night before you mix the dough). For the best performing starter, you will want to discard about 2/3rds of your starter (here’s a vanilla cake recipe you can use it for), and replace it with the same volume of flour and water.
• Flour – I prefer to use bread flour, because it has the highest protein content. I have used cake flour when it was the only flour to be had, which produced similar results. So if cake flour is all you have, don’t worry about using it.
• Salt – bread without salt is abysmal. Only 10g is what you need to enhance the flavour of the dough and prevent it being bland.

How to make the Best Apricot and Ginger Sourdough Bread

The Night Before:

• Two things need to happen tonight – feeding your starter and putting the fruit on to soak.
• Because you will be discarding a lot of starter when you feed it, you could put on a cake, some biscuits, or even some pancake batter for your breakfast tomorrow. Let the batter or dough rest overnight and bake it in the morning. Feels like you are getting two meals for the price of one!
• Tonight, you also need to soak your fruit. This is essential if you want to maximise the flavour of this Apricot and Ginger Sourdough Bread. Place apricots, crystallised ginger, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Pour over the water.
• Let it strain overnight.  The fruit will release a lovely sweetness into the liquid, which is why you will not need to add honey or sugar to this dough.

The Next Day:

• Add sourdough starter and salt to the apricot and ginger mixture. Mix thoroughly. Add flour and mix until a cohesive dough is formed.
• Leave to rest for half an hour.

Stretch and Fold

• For the next 2 hours, do 4 stretch and folds, 30 minutes apart.

Bulk Ferment

• Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for a minimum of 6 hours (be careful not to over-prove at this stage.  If it is warm, leave for a maximum of 8 hours, just to be safe).

Shape

• Tip the dough out onto the bench.  With wet hands, stretch the dough out as far as it will go without tearing. 
• Then, bring each corner to the centre of the dough. 
• Flip it over.
• Cup your hands at the top of the dough and pull it across the bench towards you.  This should make the surface of the dough nice and taut.
• Turn it back over and rest for 40 minutes on the bench.
• Repeat this step, but leave the taut surface of the dough remaining upwards.

Overnight Ferment

• Line your proving bowl with a tea towel, and dust with flour.  Transfer the dough, with the taut surface facing down into the bowl.
• Leave overnight in the fridge.

Bake

• An hour before you want to start baking, preheat a casserole dish/dutch oven in the oven at 250 degrees Celsius. 
• After 45 minutes, carefully transfer dough to a sheet of baking paper.  Score the tight surface of
  the dough to any extent your artistry desires. Transfer to the (hot) casserole dish, putting the lid firmly on top.
• Bake for 45-50 minutes or until you receive the colouration you desire.  Anything less than 45
  minutes will probably be undercooked.

Apricot and Ginger Sourdough Bread Tips and Tricks

When baking sourdough bread in a Dutch Oven, I actually leave the lid on for the full 45 minutes baking time. The Sourdough rises a lot, and though it gets high, it does get a bit flat on top. The reason I do this is to ensure the dough is cooked throughout.  I find it still gets good colour with the lid on the whole cooking time. If you desire, you could take the lid off after 30 minutes and bake with the lid off a further 15-20 minutes, to give the bread a deeper colour and a crisper crust.  You do you!

When feeding your starter, it is best to discard most of it (here’s a passionfruit cake recipe you could use it for, or these pancakes are a fave). This is because Sourdough loves being fed a LOT, so the greater the ratio of food (flour and water) to sourdough starter, to more energetic it will become. And therefore, the better your bread will be.

I like soaking the fruit overnight, because the flavours of the apricot and ginger release into the water and permeate more effectively throughout the dough. The result: a more flavourful and sweet bread!