I’m back to experimenting with sourdough, baking breads as classic as rye loaves to funky creations like semolina loaves. Today I want to talk about a banging spelt loaf that I made!

Dried Blueberry and Blackseed Spelt Loaf

I know what the title sounds like but bear with: don’t knock it till you try it am I right? This came about because of curiosities that stayed with me when I made my sourdough bagels. The wonders of sugar dusted black seeds (nigella seeds) hadn’t left my mind, and I knew that I had to try using dried blueberries again… this time taking all the care not to burn them!

So as I was looking for the pantry for things to use for my first spelt loaf… I said why not use nigella seeds and dried blueberries?

It didn’t make sense, and it still doesn’t make sense… and I can probably get ChatGPT to write me an explanation to make it make sense… but none of this matters because it tasted quite nice. The tart sweetness of the blueberries didn’t contrast with the earthy notes of the nigella seeds like I feared it would, and instead I felt like the nigella seeds added a depth (or perhaps an extra dimension) to the flavour. Not very different for instance to an apple chutney that has onions and raisins in the recipe. This bread is definitely not one that I would serve for breakfast with eggs, cheese or yoghurt, but I could see it pairing very nicely with some cold cuts.

I enjoyed it on its own, because it really was quite tasty.

Recipe

For the recipe, I modified the base rye loaf recipe to use spelt instead:

• 120 g 100% hydration spelt levain
• 220 g water
• 235 g wholemeal spelt flour
• 40 g dried blueberries
• 20 g nigella seeds
• 20 g bulgur¹
• 6 salt

Below is a photo journey of the process, with photos of the final outcome. Like my rye loaves, I cooked this in an oven at 250 degrees for 30 minutes with some steam inside, and then for 15 minutes with the steam removed.

Spelt is the Poor Man’s Rye

I remember one of my German friends harshly criticizing spelt. She said that she didn’t understand why spelt breads exist when we have rye and wheat. At the time, I hadn’t a clue what spelt tasted like, but I liked the sound of spelt flour in German (Dinkelmehl)… so, as one does, I dismissed my friend’s earnest concerns.

Having now baked with spelt, I see it as poor man’s rye.

TO BE FAIR to spelt, it’s not really comparable to rye and you should see spelt more like a wheat flour with a lower gluten content. However, when making a lazy loaf like mine where you don’t mind a dense outcome, it behaves very similarly to rye:

• It absorbs a similar amount of water
• It forms a similar crumb

Where it lacks is flavour: rye is much, much, much more flavorful. For this particular recipe, spelt worked well because it was a carrier of the other ingredients, but the bread itself was just… uninspiring.

I used the remainder of my spelt flour to feed Dusty, and didn’t bother to bake with it again.

I don’t really see myself working with spelt again anytime soon, though I might consider using it as a replacement for AP flour in baked goods to see how much it affects the flavour.

Concluding Remarks

A shorter article today, as I have been quite busy! I have a few more bread articles to post before writing about some of my travels with my new bike, Pixie². I have also been experimenting with a fusion of ranginak and a really famous desert (which I will keep secret for now!). While my brainstorming has been quite exciting, the results of my experiments far less… and borderline demoralizing! There’s still a few ideas up my sleeve though, so hopefully I’ll have an interesting journey to share with you soon!

1. Instead of going for 40 g nigella seeds I decided to add some bulgur to see what happens. The result? Nothing really, could barely notice it. But decreasing the nigella seeds to 20 g was a good option, as more would have changed the profile of the bread completely. ↩︎
2. Because she’s pretty and a fixie! ↩︎