A Sweet Master variation. The apple releases water as it bakes — don't add extra liquid.
Ingredients
| Ingredient | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bread flour | 360 g | Or 50/50 bread + all-purpose for a softer crumb |
| Whole milk | 140 g | Warmed to body temperature |
| Warm water | 20 g | About 85°F |
| Soft butter | 60 g | Room temp — soft enough to dent with a finger |
| Granulated sugar | 50 g | Sweet but not dessert-sweet |
| Active starter | 80 g | Fed 8–12 hr earlier, passes float test |
| Egg | 50 g | One large egg, beaten |
| Fine sea salt | 8 g | Added after autolyse |
| Apple, diced | 120 g | Honeycrisp or Granny Smith. 5 mm cubes. |
| Ground cinnamon | 6 g | Mixed with the apple |
| Brown sugar | 20 g | Tossed with the apple just before folding |
Because my starter is fed with organic whole wheat flour, roughly 50 g of the total flour in this recipe is whole wheat (about 10% of the total). It’s a subtle background note, not a wheat loaf — but it’s part of the character.
Weights use baker’s percentage — the starter’s flour and water are subtracted from the totals. Use the calculator to scale.
New to sourdough? Learn how to make your own starter.
Method
1Prep the apple
Dice apple into 5 mm cubes. Toss with cinnamon and brown sugar. Set aside while you start the dough — don't let it sit more than 30 min or it'll get soupy.
2Build the Sweet Master
Follow the Sweet Master through Step 3.
3Fold in the apple
Add the apple mixture during your first fold. Four folds, one per side.
4Folds 2–4 and bulk
Continue as written. Bulk 75–90 min. You can also use your oven's proof setting at ~100°F — it'll get there in about 45 minutes. Same target either way: ~50% growth, puffy and bubbly.
5Shape, retard, bake
Shape, 12–14 hour retard, then 425°F covered 20 min, 400°F uncovered 20–25 min. This IS your final proof. No separate room-temp proof needed before the fridge — the cold and the time do all the work.
6Cool
Wire rack, full hour.
9" Pullman variant (halved)
For a soft sandwich loaf in a 9" Pullman pan (~450g dough capacity). Halve every ingredient.
Ingredients (halved)
| Ingredient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Bread flour | 180 g |
| Whole milk | 70 g |
| Warm water | 10 g |
| Soft butter | 30 g |
| Granulated sugar | 25 g |
| Active starter | 40 g |
| Egg | 25 g (beat one, weigh half; save the rest) |
| Fine sea salt | 4 g |
| Apple, diced | 60 g |
| Ground cinnamon | 3 g |
| Brown sugar | 10 g |
Because my starter is fed with organic whole wheat flour, roughly 20 g of the total flour in this recipe is whole wheat (about 10% of the total). It’s a subtle background note, not a wheat loaf — but it’s part of the character.
Method changes
- Follow the main method through shaping.
- Shape as a log, not a boule. Roll into a tight cylinder about 8" long, seam-side down.
- Grease the Pullman with butter or spray. Place the log seam-side down. Cover.
- Cold retard 12–14 hours in the fridge, lid off. Pull from fridge — dough should have risen to ~80% up the pan sides. If it's short, let it warm at room temp until it reaches that mark before baking.
- Bake at 375°F. Slide the Pullman lid on. Bake 25 min covered. Remove lid. Bake 10–15 min more until internal temp reads 190–195°F and the top is golden. The apple releases steam — crumb will be a touch damper than the Honey Oat.
- Cool in pan 10 min, then turn out onto a wire rack. Cool a full hour before slicing.
For a fully square pain-de-mie shape, leave the lid on the entire bake (35–40 min total). The top stays pale and flat.
Compared to
The published recipes I learned from and measured mine against. Respect to the bakers who came first.
Maurizio uses fresh diced apple + cinnamon swirl in an enriched dough. Yours simplifies the swirl to a fold-in for ADHD-paced shaping.