New bake: Sun-Dried Tomato & Cheddar Sourdough

Hello from the kitchen.

This is the first letter from Crust & Bloom, and it starts with the loaf I've been making on repeat: a sourdough folded through with sun-dried tomatoes and sharp cheddar. It's the bake I reach for when I want the kitchen to smell like a pizzeria.

The loaf#

The tomatoes do double duty here. Their oil tints the crumb a warm amber and carries flavour through the whole loaf, while the pieces themselves stay chewy and concentrated. The cheddar melts into glossy pockets and crisps wherever it touches the crust.

The numbers, if you want to bake along:

• Hydration: 76%
• Starter: 20%
• Bulk fermentation: 5 hours at 76°F
• Bake: 500°F in a Dutch oven
• Inclusions: 80g sun-dried tomatoes, 100g sharp cheddar

One thing to watch: the oil and the cheese fat both coat the gluten a little, so the dough can feel slack. Give it an extra coil fold if it isn't holding shape, and let bulk run to 5 hours or a touch beyond.

The full recipe, with the formula table and step-by-step notes, is on the site: Sun-Dried Tomato & Cheddar Sourdough →

What I'm drinking with it#

A cappuccino, almost every time. My version runs a little bigger than the textbook one: 21g of Counter Culture Forty-Six, 42g out, and 180ml of whole milk at 60°C. The chocolate notes in the espresso sit nicely against a savory slice.

The Classic Cappuccino →

Until next time#

Thanks for being here at the start. If you bake this loaf, reply and tell me how it went. I read everything.

Bake something good this week.