DAY 1

Feed Sourdough Starter

• First thing in the morning, feed your sourdough starter. I typically feed 70g of my starter in a ratio of 1 part starter:1 part water:1 part flour. This simply means that I mix 70g of starter with 70g water and 70g flour. Scoop the mixture into a clean jar, and leave it in a warm spot (ideally, 21-27°C), semi-covered for 4 hours. Your starter should at least double in volume in this time. If it doesn't, it may need a couple of good feeds before it's fit for purpose.
• I use 160g of active starter for baking and feed the remaining 50g before storing it for the future.

Mixing The Dough

• When your sourdough starter is active and bubbly, mix the dough. In a bowl of your stand mixer, combine the flour, cocoa powder, salt and sugar.
• Pour in the water and sourdough starter, and run your stand mixer, fitted with a dough hook attachment, for 10 minutes on medium speed.

Folds, Adding Mix-Ins and Bulk Fermentation

• Scoop the dough into a clean large bowl, cover and leave it in a warm place for 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes, perform the first set of coil folds: using wet hands, lift the dough from the sides and fold it inwards to form a coil. Rotate the bowl a quarter turn and coil fold again. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
• Repeat the coil folds twice more at 30-minute intervals. Then leave the covered dough in a warm place for 30 minutes.
• Now, scatter ¼ of the chocolate chips and cherries over the surface of the dough, and stretch one side of the dough over (just like stretch and folds method). Scatter another ¼ of the mix-ins and fold the dough over. Repeat with the remaining two sides of the dough. Alternatively, you can use the sourdough lamination method to incorporate your mix-ins.
• Let the dough rest for 30 minutes. Then, at 30-minute intervals, perform two more sets of coil folds. For more information on how to coil fold and when to know when you've done enough folding, head to our dedicated article about Sourdough Coil Folds.
• Once all the folds have been completed, cover the dough and let the dough rise at warm room temperature for 2-4 hours to finish bulk fermentation. Your dough should just about double its original size. If you are using a see-through glass bowl for bulk fermenting, you should see a lot of activity and bubbles forming at the base and sides of the bowl.

Shaping and Cold Retardation

• At the end of bulk fermentation, scoop the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Try and make sure that the smooth top of the dough (the side that is not intact with the bowl) is placed on the floured work surface. Then swiftly fold the four corners of the dough into the centre.
• Flip the dough seam-side down and use your hands to cup and rotate it, pulling it slightly against the surface to form a smooth, tight ball.
• Place the dough ball into a well-floured banneton basket (or any proofing basket alternatives). We recommend using rice flour for dusting your proofing baskets. The smooth side of the sourdough ball should be at the bottom, with the seam at the top.
• Pinch the seam together with your fingers, if the dough starts spreading in the bowl to make sure the dough is tight. Sprinkle with some flour, and cover the dough with a clean fabric napkin or small lightweight tea towel.
• Place the proofing basket in a large plastic bag – it will protect the dough from drying out. Then place the whole thing in the fridge for its final rise (a.k.a. second rise) in the fridge for 12-18 hours.

DAY 2:

• The next day, place the Dutch Oven in the oven, and preheat it to 240°C (typically, it is the highest temperature home ovens will go to) with the Dutch oven in it. It needs to be piping hot!

Scoring The Dough

• Once the oven is hot, take the dough out of the fridge and out of the bag.
• Invert the dough gently onto a large piece of parchment paper. You will notice that the dough is a lot stiffer than usual due to cocoa powder in it.
• Using a bread lame or a razor blade, score the dough deeply (approximately 1cm deep) at a 30- 45º angle. One single deep slash is all that’s needed for that sought-after sourdough “ear”. The blade may catch on the chocolate chips and cherries, but be assertive.

Baking

• Take the hot Dutch Oven out of the oven, take the lid off, and lift the sourdough into it, holding the edges of the parchment paper. Be mindful of how you lift the paper. Sometimes, the scored slash can begin to close up during this process. To prevent this, lift the parchment from the sides that won't push the two edges of the scored dough back together.
• Place the lid back on the Dutch Oven and place the bread into the hot oven for 25-30 minutes.
• After 25 minutes, take the lid off, and return the sourdough to the oven for another 20-25 minutes. If you don't want your loaf of bread too dark in colour, you can reduce the oven temperature to 200°C.

Cooling

• Once baked, take the Dutch Oven out of the oven. Lift the bread out by holding the corners of the parchment paper. Place the bread onto the wire rack, and slide the parchment paper from underneath the loaf.
• Leave the sourdough to cool down to room temperature before slicing.