Additional Ingredients

300 grams	Country Grain Bread Flour (Allinson)
40 grams	Malt Extract
40 ml	Sunflower Oil
1 tsp	Demerara Sugar (Billington's)
1 tsp	Salt finely crushed sea salt
75 grams	Warm Water 1 part boiling, 2 parts cold
	Strong White Bread Flour (Allinson) to sprinkle on top

How to make Pain de Campagne - Malted French Country Grain Loaf - Hand Baking

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1. Revitalise the 300g starter leaven by putting it in a non-metallic mixing bowl, adding 50g Allinson's Strong White Bread Flour, 1 teaspoon honey or 1 teaspoon Billingtons Golden Caster Sugar, and 50 ml warm water, stirring thoroughly and leaving in a warm place until it is frothy. (If you have taken the 300g of leaven from your 600g stock, remember to make it back up with 150g flour and 150ml boiled and cooled water and leaving to ferment before storing again.)
2. Dissolve the rest of the honey or sugar in 40 ml of boiling water, then add 60ml cold water to get 100ml warm sugary solution
3. Add the remaining 150g flour into the mixing bowl with the leaven, pour in the warm sugary water and mix together
4. Allow the mixture to stand for at least 6 hours to allow the yeast and other micro-organisms to start to work again and the fermentation to make the mixture into a frothy sponge. The longer the sponge is left to ferment, the more sugars are used by the yeast and the stronger the final flavour of the loaf
5. When the sponge has developed fully, add the additional dry ingredients, malt extract and oil and mix thoroughly, which will produce a stiff dough. Slowly add the warm water, a teaspoon at a time, until the dough is soft and pliable, which may not need very much water, depending on how fluid your overnight sponge was
6. The dough is a little sticky and soft, and needs careful kneading on a board with as little flouring as possible. After 10 minutes it should start to cohere and become quite elastic
7. Scrape the dough from the board and your hands together with the dough mass and put into a bowl, cover with a damp tea-towel or cling-film and leave in a warm place to prove for about 2 hours or until doubled in size
8. Preheat the oven to 230°C/210°C fan assisted/Gas 8.
9. Lightly oil a baking sheet and cover with oiled baking parchment. Take the risen dough, scraping the bowl if necessary, and gently knead for just two or three minutes to get it evenly smooth, then shape into a rough oval, about 15cm long and place on the baking tray. Dust the top of the loaf with a generous sprinkling of flour. With a sharp, lightly oiled knife, cut 6 or 8 slashes along and across the top of the loaf in a square pattern, about 1cm deep. Cover with oiled cling-film or a damp tea towel and put in a warm place to prove for an hour or until doubled in size again
10. Put into the hot oven, after 5 minutes turn the temperature down to 200°C/180°C fan/Gas 6 and bake for another 25 minutes, until the bottom sounds hollow when tapped. Place on a wire rack to cool

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