METHOD
1. Place the flours, salt, caraway, raisins, sunflower and the oil in a large bowl or in a standing mixer with the dough hook attachment.
2. Put the grated beetroot in another bowl, pour over the warm water, add the yeast and mix well. Add this to the flours and mix into a soft dough.
3. Knead by hand or use the dough hook on your mixer at 10 minute intervals (knead for a while, then let it rest for a few minutes) until it’s smooth and stops sticking as much to your hands as it did at the start – or bounces off the sides of the standing mixer bowl. Cover and prove in a warm place for an hour.
4. When appreciably risen, turn out the dough onto wet surface, stretch and fold onto itself a few times, then shape into a ball.
5. Prepare a banneton or a bowl lined with well-floured cloth, dip the loaf in wholemeal flour and place in the banneton seam side up. Cover or place in an inflated plastic bag (just blow into it and tie the ends) and leave to prove for about 30 minutes.
6. In the meantime preheat a clay cloche, baking stone or a heavy baking sheet in the oven set to 220C/425F/gas 7. Tip the loaf (it should have risen by half at the most) onto the preheated cloche bottom, stone or a tray and slash the top in several places - I could not resist cutting a CF into it...
7. If using the cloche, place the lid on for the first 20 minutes of baking, then bake uncovered for further 20 minutes. If baking on a stone or tray, spray the oven liberally with water and bake for 40-50 minutes.