Yeast-Based Sponge

Though this sponge (also known as a starter or pre-ferment) needs more than 8 hours to rise completely before it can be used, it takes about 5 minutes to prepare, so it really doesn’t add extra work to baking a loaf of bread. Using a sponge as part of a baked dough naturally increases the amount of yeast cells in the dough without using a large amount of yeast at the outset. This imparts a better flavour to the baked bread.