In the bowl of your stand mixer, mix the flour and 170 grams of water with a wooden spoon, until all of the water is absorbed. The dough will look rough and shaggy.

Let it rest for about 30 minutes (autolyse).

Add the sourdough starter, malt, salt, the remaining water

and knead for about 15/20 minutes, until your dough is smooth and comes off the sides of the bowl.

Transfer the dough to a lightly dusted surface,

shape it into a ball and let it rest, covered, until doubled in size (about 3 1/2 hours).

Now it’s time to shape it as you wish: you can make a loaf shape or a boule shape. But, before you shape it, remove a small piece of dough, the size of a walnut.

Transfer the shaped dough to a proofing basket / banneton (or line a bowl with a clean kitchen towel generously dusted with flour) smooth side down and cover with cling film.

Make a ball with the small piece of dough and put it in a glass of water.

When the bread is ready to be cooked, the ball should be up (about 3 hours).

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees C (475 degrees F). To get a nice crust, create some steam in your oven by putting a small metal baking tray on your oven floor when you preheat it.

Transfer the dough onto parchment paper, seam side down.

Slash the top of the loaf with a blade, a serrate knife or a bread scoring tool. You can create whatever pattern you want.

Place the bread into the oven and bake for 15 minutes.

Reduce the temperature to 200 degrees C (400 degrees F), remove the water and bake for another 15 minutes.

Reduce the temperature to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F) and bake for 15 minutes.

Release some steam by setting your oven door ajar (perhaps with the help of a wooden spoon ) and bake for 10/15 minutes.

Transfer onto a rack and leave to cool.