Cheat's sourdough

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If you've ever dabbled in sourdough, you'll know that all the feeding and cosseting can take over your life. But this overnight bread is based on French techniques: flour is initially mixed with cold water to form a 'starter', which gives the bread its characteristic, slightly tangy flavour.

Ingredients

For the starter

100g strong white bread flour

100g organic dark rye flour

½ x 7g sachet or 1 heaped tsp instant dried yeast

For the main dough

400g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting

½ x 7g sachet or 1 heaped tsp instant dried yeast

Method

To make your starter, put all ingredients in a bowl and add 250ml cold water. Mix together thoroughly with a spoon until you have a spongy mixture, then cover with plastic wrap and leave to ferment at room temperature at least overnight, but up to 24 hours if you have time.
To make bread dough, pour the ingredients into a clean bowl and add 1 Tbsp fine salt, 200ml cold water and your starter. Bring all the ingredients together to a dough, adding a splash more water if too stiff, then pour onto a lightly-floured surface and knead for 10 minutes or until smooth, elastic and springy (this will take 5-7 minutes in a mixer with a dough hook.) Put the dough in a clean, lightly-oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave until doubled in size (1 hour at room temperature, 3 hours in the fridge).
Pour the dough onto a floured surface and gently shape into a round – you don't want to knock too much air out of the dough. Dust a piece of baking paper heavily with flour and sit the dough on top. Cover with a tea towel and leave to prove for 1 hour until doubled in size.
Heat oven to 200 degrees C fan-forced (220 degrees C conventional). Put a sturdy flat oven tray on the middle shelf of the oven and a smaller tray with sides underneath. Dust the dough with flour and slash with a knife (see pics, below). Slide the bread onto the hot tray on top and throw a few ice cubes (or pour some cold water) onto the tray below – this creates a burst of steam, which helps the bread form a nice crust. Bake for 25 minutes or until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Leave the bread to cool completely.