Valentine’s Day Loaf

I’m pretty pleased with how this Valentine’s Day loaf turned out. It was a trial run as I have never used coloring in my dough before. I will follow this same method to make my loaves for family and friends on Valentine’s Day.

4 separate bowls with the following:
31g active sourdough starter
90g warm filtered water
125g bread flour
3g salt
Liquid Food Coloring (I used ~20-25 drops of 3 varieties of pink/red and left one bowl without coloring)

Directions
Prepare Dough:
1. 2. 3. In each small bowl, add starter. Zero out the scale and add warm filtered water. Add food coloring. Mix until the starter is dissolved. Add bread flour and salt. Mix with hand until the dough is the same consistency and there are no pockets of dry flour remaining.

Stretch and Folds:
4. 5. 6. Cover the dough and let it rest for one hour. Perform stretch and folds every 30 minutes for 3 rounds. On the 4th round, stretch out the dough and layer them on top of each other. Fold one side into the middle, then repeat with the other side. Roll the dough into a ball shape and place in a clean bowl, cover it and let it finish bulk fermenting on the counter until it increased by 75%.

Shaping:
7. Lightly flour the counter. Split the dough in half.
8. Shape the dough into a large rectangle, then fold one side toward the middle, and repeat with the
other side. Roll up your dough into a ball shape. Shape it into a round ball by pushing your dough
out in a circular motion and pulling in about 3-4 times (tucking in the underside). Let rest for 20
minutes.
9. Perform the final shaping by repeating the steps you did in the first shape. Place your dough upside
down (seam side up) into a floured banneton.
Proofing:
10. Cover your dough with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and cold-proof in the refrigerator for 2 hours
or up to 48 hours.
Baking:
11. Preheat the oven to 500°F (260°C) with a Dutch oven inside.
12. Once proofed, flip the dough onto parchment paper. Score the dough.
13. Place the dough with parchment paper into the preheated Dutch oven.
14. Bake covered at 500°F (260°C) for 35 minutes, then uncover and bake for another 10 minutes at
425°F (220°C).
15. Remove from the oven and cool for at least one hour before slicing.