Saturday 27 September 2014

Rocket-Science Flatmate Rye Bread

Several times now I am sure I have told you about my flatmate's excellent bread making skills. In fact - it is so good that the other night when he had made an extra loaf from a batch I managed to eat almost all of what was left of it (toasted and with peanut butter...can you blame me?!). So! The next day, I decided that I would make it up to him by practising my own baking skills.

I have tried a few different varieties of bread and rolls over the last few years, but this time, I decided to try and do it the good ol' way, where science and fresh yeast is required, and then - I got stuck in! I asked my flatmate for some advice with the ratio, and then just took it from there. For the yeast, I used 50g fresh, but it might need a little more to rise even more.

Rocket-Science Flatmate Rye Bread
(Makes one bread)


300g strong white bread flour
200g fine rye flour
1-2 tbsp black onion seeds (optional)
1 tbsp runny honey (can swap for 1 tbsp sugar, to feed the yeast)
270ml lukewarm water (37ºC aka when you tip a drop onto your hand, you shouldn't feel it)
50g fresh yeast
1 tbsp (extra-virgin) olive oil

- Start by mixing the flours and onion seeds (if using) until combined, make a well in the middle.

- In a pot, heat up your water and oil until it reaches 37ºC. Take the pot of the heat and crumble the yeast into it and stir until it is dissolved. Pour into the well in the flour and add the honey/sugar. Stir well to combine, knead lightly and let it sit in a warm place to rise for about 2 hours until it's almost doubled in size (rye doesn't rise as much as normal flour).

- Now, punch the air out of it, knead it for about five minutes, and place in the breadpan (if using) and leave it to rise for a further hour.

- Pre-heat your oven to 200ºC, place a shallow tray with a bit of water in to allow the bread to steam slightly, place the bread in the middle of the oven and bake for about 45 minutes, lower the temperature slightly (160-180ºC) and bake for a further 30 minutes to get that lovely crust fully developed.

Rustique!

Leave to cool slightly before serving...

Also, I wasn't sure whether or not to label this vegetarian/vegan, as it has yeast in it, perhaps some of my veggie friends can give me a little more insight here?
If you're only baking for yourself, why not slice it up and store in in the freezer for some other time? Just pop them in the toaster and they'll taste almost newly made again, mmmm ^ ^

What is your favourite bread recipe?

PS. I wrote a little mindful post about bread here some time ago.


Recipe by yours truly (with a little help from my friend)

- Jules

10 comments:

  1. Så flink du er! Og heldig 'samboer'!!
    Gjær er vegansk, men honning er ikke vegansk (men vegetar så vidt jeg vet :)).
    God lørdag til deg også:)

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    1. Ahhh! Ca er det lett og gjøre dette vegansk da, heldigvis :) Bruker jo egentlig sukker som regel med gjær men denne gangen tok jeg det jeg hadde :)
      Tusen takk Ragnhild! Har jobbet i hele dag, men i morgen - da har jeg fri :) Gleder meg til og putle litt i heimen ;) x

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  2. That looks wonderful! There's nothing like homemade bread. Looks like it came out awesome, you may give your flatmate a run for his money... :) And FIY the yeast is perfectly vegan, since it's a member of the fungi kingdom and not the animal kingdom. Common misconception :P

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    1. Thank you so much! Then I know that for next time, but as my Norwegian friend pointed out in the comment above, honey isn't vegan (I knew that, but was more curious about the yeast and forgot!). Hahah biology lesson for the day methinks ^ ^ I have done a bit of baking over last week and it's so much fun :D Especially when sharing :) I hope you're having a good weekend :) x

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  3. Åh, nybakt brød er faaaarlig! Det ser kjempegodt ut :) Og som de andre her har sagt, gjær er helt vegetarisk :)

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    1. Tusen takk! Også metter rugbrød så godt også :D Har nå lagt til "vegetarisk" til kategorien, thanks ;) x

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  4. This bread looks perfect. I love that kind of dense looking bread, and I LOVE rye bread. I just recently got a kitchen scale, so I should be able to follow your recipe! (before that, I had to rely on cup measurements only)

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    1. Hey Kate! That's great to hear, scales are pretty handy to have, especially with baking as it's more down to the science of it, which I have never quite gotten my head around when playing by ear. This bread was lovely though, very filling :) Happy baking! x

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  5. What a GORGEOUS loaf of bread, Jules!! I truly admire your skills as I don't have much luck making bread (doesn't help that I'm mostly grain free haha!). Your flatmate is on to something!!

    As far as I know, yeast is vegan. But is it gluten free?! That's the big question for me (and I guess it depends on the yeast!). Thanks for yet another awesome recipe!!

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    1. Hey thank you so much Missy! *blushes*

      Because I am using a bit of plain flour, it is unfortunately not gluten free, and I also just looked it up and it appears that rye is indeed one of the three gluten-containing grains.

      Perhaps you can look up some soda bread recipes that calls for other types of gluten-free flours? :) I bet you could make a masterpiece of a loaf. I'm not much of a baker myself, but I do enjoy it on days when I have all the time in the world :) And it's so tasty too! x

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