Donna took Henry's Foolproof Sourdough Loaf and added fresh blueberries as an inclusion. That sounds simple, but it's not. She knew the recipe well enough to feel how the fruit changed the dough, adjusted on the fly, and still pulled off a clean bake. That's the whole point of mastering a base recipe first.
- Deep, even golden-brown color — well-baked, not timid
- Leaf score opened cleanly, showing confident shaping
- Exterior texture is tight and blistered, good steam management
- Blueberries visible at the surface without burning out
- Open, irregular crumb — good fermentation throughout
- Blueberry streaks distributed without clumping
- No gummy or dense zones, fermentation was complete
- Structure held despite the added moisture from fruit
The recipe having my name on it means nothing if it can't eventually have your name on it. That's what Donna did here. She baked my Foolproof Sourdough enough times to know it by feel. When she folded in those blueberries, she wasn't guessing. She knew how the dough was supposed to feel, and she knew when the fruit changed that. That's the skill. That's what we're building here.
Bake a recipe until it bores you. Then make it yours.
Built on: Henry's Foolproof Sourdough Loaf
500g bread flour · 75% hydration · 20% starter · 2% salt. The base recipe Donna knew cold before she started experimenting.