Download Spelt Sourdough Every Day, my go-to guide that distils a decade’s sourdough spelt baking experience into an ebook that’ll enable you to bring the wonders of this ancient grain and sourdough to life.

“Alison has written these recipes so clearly and the pictures are beautiful and inspiring. In the past I’ve wasted so much time on the internet trying to find WHOLE grain recipes – it’s nearly impossible – this recipe book has all you need in one beautiful place.” Justine

The book, which is 71-page (printer version) and 110-page (eBook version) is full of resources and recipes that will form the foundation of your family’s favourites, variations and everyday loaves for years to come. Each of the spelt recipes has been devised, baked and enjoyed many times by my family – they are my go-to recipes that fill my days and the plates of my two boys with nutrition, sustenance and pleasure!

In the book, you’ll find:

• Eleven foundational spelt recipes (loaves, flatbreads, cakes and pastry) – from beginner to advanced, all using natural fermentation
• A breadth of creations, from easy-to-turn-out simple spelt loaves to celebratory cakes and savoury delights
• Breads that’ll expand your sourdough experience and practise – teaching you how to use add-ins and more advanced techniques
• A spelt loaf risen solely with milk kefir
• That pizza recipe!
• An in-depth resources section with video guidance, information on sourdough starters and general baking advice
• A fine-tuned recipe for sourdough spelt pastry – perfect for savoury or sweet pies
• Why I chose spelt to bake with spelt and details of the economics
• A bread especially-made for your lard cracklings!
• My eight tips for better sourdough baking
• Two delicious spelt cakes risen with wild, sourdough yeasts
• A detailed look at baking equipment and what’s really necessary
• Much more than spelt – you’ll learn about choosing chocolate for cakes, rolling pastry, baking tins, sourdough timings, proofing and storage guidance
• 49 colour photographs
• Printer-friendly – photographs are collected on the last few pages
• Two PDFs of the book – one is formatted for printing, the other formatted for e-readers

“This is a wonderfully in-depth introduction to baking with Spelt. Highly recommend for any home baker!” Marisa

Wholegrain sourdough baking with ancient grains doesn’t have to be complicated. Let me guide you:

Tailored 1:1 mentoring that will help you overcome issues and succeed with home-made wholegrain ancient grain sourdough.

A note on us getting together: This mentoring is available Mondays 10.30am-12.30pm, Thursdays 4.00pm-6.00pm and Saturdays 2.00pm-5.30pm (all London time, use a time zone converter to check the equivalent in your time zone). If you cannot do these hours, email me at alison@ancestralkitchen.com before purchasing letting me know your needs, and I will do my best to accommodate you.

Tailored 1:1 mentoring program that will help you succeed with home-made wholegrain ancient grain sourdough.

A note on us getting together: This mentoring is available Mondays 10.30am-12.30pm, Thursdays 4.00pm-6.00pm and Saturdays 2.00pm-5.30pm (all London time, use a time zone converter to check the equivalent in your time zone). If you cannot do these hours, email me at alison@ancestralkitchen.com before purchasing letting me know your needs, and I will do my best to accommodate you.

Take this free short course to get my 10 top tips!

What’s the best flour for my starter?

How do I keep it warm?

How often do I need to feed it?

My starter looks like it’s died what should I do?

So many sourdough lovers struggle with their starters, and that’s understandable: starters can often be the most troublesome part of sourdough baking and is one of the things I receive the most questions about! This short, free course gives 10 tips to help you succeed with creating and maintaining a sourdough starter! The clear, entertaining, and information-packed videos are full of helpful guidance. They are for you if you’ve never made a starter, if you’ve tried before and failed, or if you’ve already got a sourdough starter but want to make your process simpler and easier.

Meals at the Ancestral Hearth

There are main courses that’ll last you all week, breads, super-easy sourdough pasta, ferments, cookies and even lacto-fermented ice-cream! We’ve also included details of the pantries we cook from, the tools we use and many resources that’ll encourage and inspire you to bring ancestral cooking fully to life in your own kitchen.

When you purchase, at $12, you’ll receive two copies of the book. One is formatted for you to print, with all the colour photographs collected at the end (so you don’t have to use your entire ink cartridge printing them!) and the other is formatted for an ebook reader, with larger fonts and pictures alongside the recipes.

If you love the podcast and have been thinking about becoming a patron, you should know that our cookbook is one of the gifts that all our patrons receive (along with many others, including an exclusive podcast) – do check out the benefits here.

Sourdough bread made from rye is a healthy alternative to wheat, has a rich history and is so tasty! Learn how to create 100% wholegrain rye sourdough breads in your own kitchen, whether you are a novice or seasoned baker.

Rye Sourdough Bread: Mastering The Basics

Rye is an ancient grain packed with a rich, deep flavor that has a long history of being used to make bread. It’s low in gluten and brought to life in sourdough loaves, making an exciting, tasty, and healthy alternative to wheat.

In Rye Sourdough Bread: Mastering The Basics, you’ll learn everything you need to know to create delicious, nutritious 100% wholegrain rye sourdough bread in your own kitchen, whether you are a complete beginner or a seasoned baker. You’ll be taught why rye is a wonderful flour for sourdough starters, and be walked through, step-by-step, creating your own. Then, armed with this starter, you’ll create a rye bread you can make and eat daily, along with a more adventurous Russian-style rye loaf. You’ll also also learn ways in which you can use your sourdough discard to create even more rye deliciousness!

You will learn:

• From over 240 minutes of step-by-step video, plus photos and downloadable instructions (all available to keep, forever)
• Why rye is such a great choice for sourdough bread, including its health benefits and history
• How to create a 100% wholegrain rye starter from scratch and how to easily maintain this starter, no matter how often you bake
• How to create a reliable, delicious everyday wholegrain rye sourdough bread
• How to use more advanced techniques to create a Russian-style wholegrain rye sourdough bread
• How to use your sourdough discard, including recipes for wholegrain rye pancakes and spice bread

Course curriculum

Welcome & Course Overview

Module 1: Why Rye & Why Whole Grain?

• The rich history of rye and rye breads
• Why rye, why wholegrain and why sourdough
• Bread-making with rye: The low down – part 1 – introduction
• Bread-making with rye: The low down – part 2 – comparison
• Bread-making with rye: The low down – part 3 – the bottom line
• In pictures! Bread-making with rye v. bread-making with wheat
• Sourcing your flour, grinding grain and storing rye

Module 2: How To Make & Maintain a Rye Sourdough Starter

• Get ready for this module!
• What is a sourdough starter and why use wholegrain rye?
• The equipment you’ll need
• In pictures! Downloadable starter creation and maintenance graphic.
• How to create a rye sourdough starter
• How to maintain a rye sourdough starter
• Rye sourdough starter FAQs

Module 3: The Breads: Equipment & What To Expect

• Useful equipment for baking rye sourdough bread
• Equipment listing to download
• How to tent a loaf tin with aluminium foil
• What to expect from your breads

Module 4: Everyday Rye Sourdough Bread

• Introduction to the everyday rye sourdough loaf
• Everyday rye sourdough bread recipe to download
• Making the pre-ferment
• Mixing the main dough
• Panning your fermented bread
• Is your bread ready to bake?
• Just out of the oven!

Module 5: Russian Borodinsky-Style Rye Sourdough Bread

• Introduction to the Russian Borodinsky-style rye sourdough bread
• What to expect from the Russian Borodinsky-style rye sourdough bread
• Russian Borodinsky-style rye sourdough bread recipe to download
• Making the scald
• Making the sponge
• Combining the sponge & scald
• Mixing the main dough
• Shaping and panning the fermented bread
• Is your bread ready to bake?
• Just out of the oven!

Module 6: Recipes for Sourdough Discard and Leftover Rye Bread

• Sourdough porridge, polenta and polenta bread
• Sourdough pancakes
• Rye discard spice bread
• Traditional Danish Rye Bread Porridge Øllebrød
• Russian Rye Bread Kvass
• Wholegrain Rye Sourdough Crackers

Module 7: Where Now? Inspiration, Thank You & A Gift

• Where next with your rye sourdough bread
• Thank you and a gift for you
• More inspiration and help

Do you want to make sourdough but feel overwhelmed by the starter process? Maybe you’ve tried before and it didn’t work or maybe you’ve never quite got to it?

Join me for an hour-long pre-recorded Zoom session that’ll walk you through how to create and look after a rye sourdough starter from scratch.

What you’ll learn:

• Why wholegrain rye is such a great flour for sourdough starters
• What ingredients and equipment you’ll need
• Step-by-step how to, from scratch, create your starter
• Routines that will help you succeed
• How to troubleshoot issues
• How to look after your starter, however often you bake

This course is a recording of a Zoom session held live in February 2022.