Buckwheat Couronne Bread

Today I want to share with you a recipe of a delicious buckwheat couronne bread, made in a shape of doughnut (couronne). Buckwheat flour doesn’t contain any gluten and adds incredible earthy flavor and dark color to the loaf.

One of my favorite books about bread is Living Bread by Daniel Leader.

When I am looking for an inspiration this book always has something to offer.

I adjusted some of the directions from the book.

Ingredients

Stiff Sourdough Starter 

• 15g sourdough starter
• 50g water
• 75g all purpose flour

Dough

• 400 g bread flour (85%)
• 70g buckwheat flour (15%)
• 376g water (80%)
• 140g sourdough starter (30%)
• 9g salt (2%)

Directions 

Night before

• 10 pm add starter to the water and whisk together, add flour, mix well, cover loosely, let it sit at a room temp 74-78F for about 8-10 hours until starter reaches its peak (at least triples in volume). Learn how to make starter from scratch here.

Dough

• 7 am mix water (350g – 74%) with all flour and cover, let it rest for autolyse. Save leftover water for farther steps
• During the autolyse the flour absorbs the water, becoming fully hydrated. This will activate gluten development.
• 8 am add sourdough starter. 
• Mix on low speed of your mixing machine for 2-3 min, or KitchenAid on speed 3 for 3-4 minutes until well incorporated.
• Cover, let rest for 30 minutes.
• 8:30 am add salt and saved water (26g-14%).
• Mix on low speed of your mixing machine for 4-5 min, or with KitchenAid on speed 3 for 7-9 minutes until well incorporated. The dough should come up together, but still be sticky on the bottom.
• Continue gluten development and structure building by performing stretches and folds during the warm fermentation period.

• Leave to rest 30 minutes at 74-78F /23-26C.
• 9 am spray your work surface with water, wet your hands to perform 1st nice stretch and fold on a table. Fold the dough, put in a container, cover and it let rest for 45 minutes.

Note: there is 30% of sourdough starter in the dough. This will make fermentation go faster, so stay alert.

• 9:45 am 1st stretch and fold.
• 10:30 am 2nd stretch and fold.
• 11:15 am 3rd stretch and fold.
• After 3rd stretch let the dough proof for 30 minutes at 76-80F/ 23-26C. You should see some bubbles on the surface, the dough has to become lighter and puffy. We are looking for 50% rise.

Shaping 

• 11:45 am flip the bowl with the dough on to a floured surface.
• Start stretching the dough by pulling the sides, about 18 inches long.
• Roll the dough into a log (18 inches long).
• Punch the ends together to shape it as a circle, roll a little to smooth the connections.
• Place small cup inside proofing basket to create mold for our bread circle. Line the mold with kitchen towel, generously sprinkled with buckwheat flour.
• Transfer the circle, seam side up, to a prepared proofing basket.
• Cover it with plastic, and transfer the dough to rise for 14-24 hours in the refrigerator.

Baking

Next morning

• Preheat your oven to 500 F, place a cast iron pan with the lid inside for 45 minutes -1 hour.
• Remove the dough from the fridge.
• Flip it over on a parchment paper, score it with a sharp knife or a scoring lame.
• Transfer the dough on to the hot cast iron pan, cover it with the lid (to create steam for a beautiful and crunchy crust).
• Bake at 500F for 15 minutes with lid on.
• Open the lid and continue baking for 20 min at 450F

Enjoy!

Buckwheat Couronne Bread

2093kcal

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Prep 30 minutes mins

Cook 35 minutes mins

Cold Retard (Fridge) 14 hours hrs

Total 1 day d 3 hours hrs

A crown-shaped French artisan sourdough loaf made with high-hydration dough and non-gluten buckwheat flour. Features an overnight fridge retard and a covered Dutch oven bake for maximum oven spring and crisp crust.

Servings 1 Loaf

Cuisine French (Artisan Sourdough)

Ingredients

1x2x3x

Stiff Sourdough Starter Levain (Night Before)

• ▢ 15 g Sourdough starter culture
• ▢ 50 g Water
• ▢ 75 g All-purpose flour

High-Hydration Crown Dough Base

• ▢ 400 g Bread flour (85%)
• ▢ 70 g Buckwheat flour (15%)
• ▢ 350 g Water (74% – autolyse mix)
• ▢ 26 g Cold water (14% – bassinage water added with salt)
• ▢ 140 g Stiff sourdough starter (30% – from the stage above)
• ▢ 9 g Salt (2%)

Equipment

• ▢
  Digital Kitchen Scale
• ▢
  Stand Mixer or large bowl for hand mixing
• ▢
  Couronne Proofing Basket or banneton with inverted small bowl in center
• ▢
  Cast-iron Dutch Oven with lid
• ▢
  Scoring Lame or Razor Blade
• ▢
  Parchment Paper

Method

Prevent Sleep ModePrevent Sleep Mode

1. Night Before: Build Stiff Starter

1. 10:00 PM: Whisk 15 g starter into 50 g water. Add 75 g all-purpose flour and mix into a tight dough ball. Cover loosely and ferment at 74–78°F (23–26°C) for 8–10 hours until tripled in volume.

2. Autolyse & Mixing

1. 7:00 AM (Autolyse): In a mixer bowl, combine 400 g bread flour, 70 g buckwheat flour, and 350 g water (saving 26 g for bassinage). Mix until fully hydrated, cover, and rest 1 hour.
2. 8:00 AM (Starter Integration): Add 140 g stiff starter. Mix on low speed (KitchenAid speed 3) for 3–4 minutes. Cover and rest 30 minutes.
3. 8:30 AM (Bassinage & Salt): Add 9 g salt and the remaining 26 g cold water. Mix on low speed for 4–5 minutes, then medium (KitchenAid speed 3) for 7–9 minutes until dough pulls together cleanly. Rest 30 minutes.

3. Stretch-and-Folds & Bulk Fermentation

1. 9:00 AM: 1st Stretch & Fold
2. 9:45 AM: 2nd Stretch & Fold
3. 10:30 AM: 3rd Stretch & Fold
4. 11:15 AM: 4th Stretch & Fold
5. Rest untouched for 30 minutes at 76–80°F (24–27°C) until puffy (~50% rise).

4. Shaping & Cold Retard

1. 11:45 AM (Shape): Turn dough onto a floured surface. Stretch into an 18-inch long rectangle, roll into a log, and pinch the ends together to form a ring/doughnut.
2. Place ring seam-side up into a floured couronne proofing basket (or a towel-lined bowl with a small inverted bowl in the center).
3. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator for 14–24 hours cold fermentation.

5. Bake in Dutch Oven

1. Next Morning: Preheat oven with Dutch oven inside to 500°F (260°C) for 45–60 minutes.
2. Invert cold ring dough onto parchment paper and score diagonal slashes around the crown.
3. Transfer to hot Dutch oven, cover with lid, and bake at 500°F for 15 minutes.
4. Remove lid, reduce heat to 450°F (232°C), and bake uncovered for 20 minutes until deep golden/espresso color. Cool on a wire rack before slicing.

Nutrition

Calories2093kcalCarbohydrates426gProtein69gFat10gSaturated Fat2gPolyunsaturated Fat4gMonounsaturated Fat1gSodium3529mgPotassium885mgFiber20gSugar3gVitamin A8IUCalcium115mgIron10mg

Notes

• The Technical Purpose of a Stiff Starter: Unlike typical poolish or 100% hydration liquid starters, this recipe utilizes a firm, low-hydration sourdough build (around 66% liquid–to-flour). Stiff starters ferment at a slightly slower pace, which prevents the production of harsh, bitter acetic acids. This ensures your Buckwheat Couronne Bread maintains a beautifully mild, nutty grain flavor profile rather than an overly sour tang.
• Managing High Buckwheat Hydration: Buckwheat flour is entirely gluten-free and acts like a dry sponge, drawing in massive quantities of liquid. Because it lacks structural proteins, balancing it alongside a strong high-protein bread flour is essential. Trust the 80% hydration level in step 2; the dough will feel remarkably wet and soft at first, but it will rapidly tighten up into a cohesive, supple network across the four structural stretch-and-fold sequences.
• Preventing the Center Ring from Closing Up: A common pitfall when baking a couronne style loaf is having the center hole completely disappear during the explosive oven rise, transforming your beautiful crown back into a standard round loaf. Ensure that you stretch the initial center ring gap out to a wide diameter of at least 4 to 5 inches during step 8 to guarantee the hollow space holds its shape perfectly in the oven.
• Transitioning to an Overnight Fridge Retard: If you prefer a freshly baked loaf first thing in the morning, you can easily shift the timeline. After shaping the ring and turning it into the floured basket in step 9, cover it tightly with plastic wrap and transfer it straight into your refrigerator to cold-retard for 12 to 16 hours. Bake it directly out of the fridge the next morning following the exact high-heat steam steps.

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