Do you need to soak poppy seeds before adding to sourdough?

While soaking poppy seeds is not necessary for sourdough baking, it can provide some benefits in terms of improving nutrient availability. It's up to you to decide if you want to soak them or not, based on your personal preferences and nutritional goals. If you want to soak the poppy seeds before adding them to your sourdough recipe, you can do so by mixing them with warm water and letting them sit for several hours, or overnight. Drain off any excess liquid before adding the soaked poppy seed batch to the dough.

Is seeded sourdough bread healthy?

Seeded sourdough bread can be a healthy choice , depending on the ingredients used and the overall nutritional profile of the bread. In general, if you're looking for a healthy seeded sourdough bread, look for one that is made with whole grain flours, a variety of seeds, and minimal added sugars or oils. You can also check the nutrition label or ingredients list to get a better sense of the bread's overall nutritional profile.

Why do people put poppy seeds on bread?

One of the main reasons is for the taste and texture of poppy seed. They have a nutty, slightly sweet flavor that complements bread well. Poppy seeds also add a bit of crunch to the texture when you bake bread. In some cultures, poppy seeds are also used for their symbolic meaning. In other cultures, poppy seeds may be used as a symbol of fertility or prosperity. Finally, some people may simply enjoy the look of poppy seeds mixed into their bread flour. The small, dark seeds can add an attractive visual element to bread (like in this poppy seed sourdough), especially when used in combination with other toppings like toasted sesame seeds or flax seeds.

Lemon Poppy Seed Sourdough Bread Cake With Lemon Icing

Ingredients

Scale

Dough

225 g white spelt flour
100 g active white spelt sourdough starter
80 g milk (or any other milk of your choice)
2 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1 tablespoon lemon peel
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
35 g fat
4 g fine sea salt

Vegan and Refined Sugar-Free and Dairy-Free Lemon Icing

6 tablespoons melted coconut oil
70 g almond milk at the room temperature
few drops of liquid stevia or sweeten to your taste (with honey)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons coconut flour

Others

10 ice cubes for steam during the bake
lemon peel for decoration

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Instructions

The night before preparing the walnut swirl bread, mix 50 g of white spelt flour, 50 g of water and 1 tablespoon of your active sourdough starter. Leave to ferment overnight or until risen and bubbly on the surface.
In the morning, dissolve all of your starter in the milk. Add honey, lemon juice, lemon peel fat, salt and mix well. Add 225 g of flour and knead the dough until all ingredients come together. The dough will be quite soft. Then knead the dough for 6-8 more minutes until the dough becomes smooth. Transfer it to a clean and slightly greased bowl and leave to rise until doubled in volume. It took 4 hours for my dough to double at the 26°C/78°F – that’s in the summer, it might take longer in the winter. If you want to speed up the fermentation, add more starter or place the bowl to a warm place like quickly heated and switched off oven. I like to use cylinder shaped bowls/containers, because I know exactly when the dough has doubled in volume and it is ready for the next step.
Just before you see your dough getting doubled in volume, prepare your baking dish – coat it with fat (butter, coconut oil) and sprinkle it with flour.
When the dough has doubled, use a plastic scraper to take it on a working surface and shape it into a ball – dust the dough’s surface, turn it upside down and fold it in half, than use your palms to rotate the dough. Leave it to rest for at least 10 minutes so you will be able to roll it easily as the dough will not shrink back.
Roll the dough on a floured kitchen cloth to be about half centimeter thick and to be as long as the inner perimeter of your baking dish (use a piece of string to measure it). Start rolling the dough tightly at the longer side near you. When done, carefully transfer it to a baking dish seam-side down and make sure you tuck the ends together.
Leave the dough to rise again. It took my dough 1.5 hour to be fully proofed. How will you know the dough is ready to be put in the oven? Make an indent with your finger and observe the reaction – if the indent springs back quickly, leave it to rise a little bit more. If it comes back slowly, you will know it’s ready to be put in the oven.
At least 10 minutes before the bake, preheat your oven to 200°C (392°F) along with baking pan that you put on the lower rack.
When ready, place the baking dish into oven, throw ice cubes on the baking pan and close the door. Bake the roll for 15 minutes at 200°C (392°F), 20 minutes at 180°C (356°F) and for another hour at 160°C (320°F). The top crust should be brown, but most importantly make sure the bottom is also baked.
When baked, let it cool for at least an hour before you decorate it with the lemon icing. The crumb should be soft and airy with small bubbles and the bread should feel very light in your hands. These are the signs your dough was perfectly fermented.

Instructions for the lemon icing

Mix all ingredients in a blender and blend well until smooth. Pour over the cooled sourdough lemon poppy seed bread cake and enjoy every slice of it

Notes

The dough for sourdough lemon poppy seed bread cake was mixed in the morning, left to rise for 4 hours until doubled in volume, then rolled and left to rise for the second time for another 1.5 hour. Sourdough starter was mixed a night before and left to rise overnight.
If you would like to make the cake during the week when you are at work, mix and knead the dough in the morning and then just make sure you leave the dough to rise at the temperature to have the dough doubled in volume when you come home from work. Afterwards, continue as written.
Pay attention to how much water your flour absorbs. In my experience, white spelt flour absorbs less than white wheat flour. I advise you to start with less flour and continue to add more if necessary. The dough should be more relatively soft and kneadable.
My oven is quite tricky, so I had to take the roll out of the baking dish after one hour and bake it on a baking pan afterwards to brown the bottom as well.

Author: Natasha Krajnc
Prep Time: 17 hrs 40 mins
Cook Time: 1 hr
Category: bread