The Recipe Room

When I was a young girl, a friend of mine’s grandmother always used to invite us in for a slice of warm fresh rye bread with butter after playing.  I remember instantly loving the nutty flavour and chewy texture the first time I bit into a slice.  My friend’s grandmother was Ukrainian, but this Russian rye bread recipe is the closest thing I’ve found so far to what I remember.  The recipe takes a fair bit of work and waiting for the dough to rise, but when you bite into a nice warm slice, it’s always worth the wait! (I also recommend this rosemary focaccia bread.)

 

What you’re going to need:

• 4.5tsp active dry yeast
• 250ml warm water (40 – 45°C)
• 85ml dark corn syrup
• 1.15 to 1.45 litres dark rye flour
• 2tsp salt

What you have to do:

 

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water.
2. Stir in the corn syrup and set aside for 5 minutes, until the yeast mixture foams. If after 5 minutes the yeast mixture has not started to foam, discard the mixture and try again.
3. Add 625ml of rye flour to the yeast mixture, a little at a time, and beat with a spoon until smooth.
4. Stir in the salt.
5. Set the bowl in a warm place, cover with a cloth towel, and let rise for 30 minutes.
6. When the dough has risen, add 500ml to 750ml more of flour, about 150ml at a time, stirring after each addition.
7. When the dough becomes difficult to stir, turn out onto a floured surface and knead in flour with your hands until the dough is stiff but still slightly sticky.
8. Form the dough into a ball.
9. Wash and dry the bowl. Place dough back in the bowl, cover with a cloth towel, and set in a warm place. Let it rise again for 2.5 to 3 hours, or until the dough almost doubles in size.
10. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and, with floured hands, form into a loaf.
11. Place loaf in a well-greased 23cm x 13cm loaf pan, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and return to a warm place to rise for 1 more hour.
12. Preheat the oven to 175°C.
13. Bake the loaf for 30 to 35 minutes. (Bread will not brown much.)

 

Preparation Time:  45 minutes plus 4.5 hours rising

Cooking Time: 30-35 minutes

Serves:  Makes 1 loaf

Difficulty: Medium

Tags: active dry yeast, bread, dark corn syrup, dark rye flour, Russian Rye Bread, vegetarian

This entry was posted on Thursday, 10 May, 2012 at 10:48 am by Serena Langley and is filed under Starters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the feed RSS 2.0. You can leave a comment, or make a trackback from your own blog.