DARK RYE BREAD
Elsabie Templeton: “Lockdown day #163. Recipe test day. Dark rye bread with unsweetened cocoa and caraway seeds. Nice soft texture, crunchy outside and superb flavour, but the colour too dark for my liking. Will change the recipe slightly next time. Only half the cocoa is probably enough. It is also a very soft, runny dough so I could not manage to get it shaped into a ball for the second proofing. I poured into two big loaf tins as I was not sure how much it would rise on second proofing and during baking. I used aniseed as I did not have caraway seeds.”
- 1½ tablespoons active dry yeast
- 2 cups water, lukewarm
- 3 tablespoons molasses
- ¼ cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons caraway seeds
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1½ cups rye flour
- 3 cups white bread flour
- 1 tablespoons cornmeal, for dusting
Add lukewarm water and yeast to bowl of your mixer, stir and let it dissolve for 5 – 10 minutes. To yeast mixture, add molasses, cocoa powder, salt, caraway seeds, vegetable oil, rye flour and about 2½ cups of all-purpose flour. Beat on medium speed until smooth. Add in remaining flour and keep mixing until it forms a firm dough (about five minutes); dough should come clean from the side of the bowl. Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and place dough in the bowl, spray dough as well with cooking spray, cover with clean damp kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let dough rest until it doubles in size in a warm, draft free environment. Place a piece of parchment paper on a work surface. Sprinkle the cornmeal over parchment paper. Punch down dough and stretch it from the centre to form a ball. Place ball onto the prepared parchment paper.
Let it rise for another 30 – 40 minutes until doubled in size. Once doubled, sprinkle a bit of flour over the top of dough and cut a few slashes with a sharp knife.
Preheat oven to 218 °C. Place a shallow pan (not glass) on lower rack in the oven. Transfer bread with the parchment paper on a baking sheet or into a dutch oven and place in oven.
Pour one cup of water in a shallow pan on lower rack.
Bake for 30 minutes until crusty and golden brown.
Recipe notes:
Store bread in a breadbox, airtight container, or sealable bag. You can pre-slice the loaf, however I recommend slicing it as you enjoy bread to keep it as moist as possible. It will last 2 – 3 days at room temperature or 5 – 7 days in fridge. Make sure bread has fully cooled down to room temperature before freezing. In this case, store bread either pre-sliced or whole. Store it in a large freezer bag, an airtight container, or wrapped well with both plastic wrap and foil. It will last three months.
Recipe courtesy of: Joanna Cismaru
Photo: Elsabie Templeton
