Spelt Bread

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Triticum Spelta - Spelt flour, otherwise known as dinkel wheat or hulled wheat has been a staple food for over 5000 years. From Bronze Age Man to the Romans and on into the Middle Ages, it was used for bread and bread products. 

After the Romans left Northern Europe, tastes changed and Spelt now only survives as a native crop in Spain and Central Europe. 

As late as the 1890s, spelt and the subsequent flour were introduced to Eastern Ohio and then across America by Swiss immigrants. In the early part of the 1920s it was all but abandoned in favour of lighter flour and cheaper crops and it has only re-established favour in the last forty years. 

It's an interesting flour. High in protein (15% - 21%), it also has blood-clotting properties. easier to digest for those with wheat intolerances and helps reduce cholesterol and heart disease. 

This formula for Spelt can be interpreted in two ways: 

For Wholemeal Spelt flour add 350 gms tepid water

For White Spelt Flour add 300 gms tepid water/ 

INGREDIENTS

500 gms spelt flour (white spelt or wholemeal/wholegrain - see above)

300 gms tepid water (White Spelt) OR 350 gms tepid water (wholemeal/wholegrain spelt)

20 gms clear honey

10 gms crushed sea salt

25 gms olive oil

10 gms dried yeast 

METHOD

1. Activate the yeast in a little water and a little honey. (from the volume above, not extra)

2. Add the salt to the flour and mix well. 

3. Add the liquid and the yeast mixture and mix well. 

4. Knead until you have a soft and silky dough. 

5. Tip the dough into a lightly-oiled bowl, cover and place it somewhere warm until it has doubled in volume. 

6. Tip out onto a lightly floured surface. Shape into (a) loaf tin (s) and then cover and proof until more or less doubled in volume. 

7. Preheat the oven to 200⁰C and bake for 30 minutes until golden and hollow when tapped underneath. 

Cool on a rack

Happy baking. 

Happy baking...

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