Leaving this bread to rise in the fridge overnight means that the sweet potato and garlic almost melt into the dough, which gives the bake a real subtle smoky sweetness. Serve this loaf alongside a cheese board, or dunked into a large bowl of dhal.

Bake time 25 minutes | Prep time 8 + hours | Makes 1 medium loaf

Ingredients

For the sweet potato:
1 large sweet potato, cut into small chunks
2 teaspoons ground coriander
6 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon rapeseed oil

For the dough:
400g strong white flour
7g dried yeast/14g fresh yeast
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons rapeseed oil, plus a little more for greasing
250ml water

Method

• Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees °C
• Place the chunks of sweet potato onto a large baking tray, along with the garlic cloves (still in their skins)
• Sprinkle over the ground coriander, salt and rapeseed oil
• Bake the potato and garlic mix in the oven, for around 20 minutes, or until the potato chunks are soft
• When the potato mixture is out of the oven, squeeze the garlic from it’s skins (discarding the skins after) and leave everything to cool completely
• Make the dough by placing the flour in a large bowl and rubbing in the yeast with your fingertips
• Add in the salt, oil, cooled potato mixture and water and combine until the mixture forms a dough (adding more water if it feels a little dry)
• Tip the dough out onto a lightly oiled surface and knead for around 5 minutes, or until it feels a little smoother and more elastic
• Return the dough to the bowl, cover with a tea towel, and place it in the fridge for at least 8 hours, or ideally overnight (the coolness of the fridge will make it rise slower, and therefore give the loaf a more intense flavour)
• When the dough has been in the fridge for at least 8 hours, take it out and leave it to come to room temperature, this may take about an hour
• When the dough has come to temperature, shape it into a ball and place it onto a lined baking tray
• Cover the ball with a tea towel and leave to rise again, for about an hour, or until it has really puffed up
• Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees °C
• When the dough has risen, cut a couple of slashes in the top with a sharp knife
• Bake the loaf for around 25 minutes, or until it has turned a deep golden brown, and the base sounds hollow when tapped
• This loaf will keep well for a couple of days, wrapped up and stored in a cool, dark place (not the fridge)

Top tip
Different flours will absorb different amounts of water, so I would add ¾ of the suggested liquid and then if your dough feels a little dry, you can always add some more