Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Seeded Rye Bread

I find a change of scenery can sometimes spark a renewed interest in the familiar. This recipe for Seeded Rye Bread was born out of a trip to Copenhagen and an instant love for the gorgeous Rugbrod I encountered on my visit there.  

The city of Copenhagen is full of amazing design to look at, open friendly people to chat to and some of the most beautifully plated and oh so delicious food I have had to date. I loved that many places lavished dishes with visual attention and created unique visual compositions but  when the flavors hit my palette there was a welcome familiarity of flavors. Of the restaurants and cafes we visited, there was a consistent focus on whole, healthy foods which I was also very excited to find. I particularly loved Grod, Coffee Curators & Host.


Many places served up thick slices of Rugbrod with various dishes. It is a dark hearty fermented style loaf bread. Scattered through the bread are nuts and seeds of various types and a gorgeous crisp top crust. I found it particularly satisfying dunked into a hot bowl of soup during one of my lunches. But is also conjured up thoughts of an old familiar recipe for Irish brown bread and I begin thinking about marrying different aspects of the breads together. 




The resulting bread comes together quickly even though there many ingredients. I prefer to measure the ingredients by weight as I find it the most efficient and accurate method. 
It is also preferable to bake the bread in two small loaf tins. It is dense and the baking times are more accurate when using 4" x 8" loaf pans. Grease them well on the bottom and sides. 

7oz dark rye flour
2oz self raising white flour
2oz oat bran
2oz porridge flakes 
2oz sesame seeds
2oz pumpkin seeds
2oz sunflower seeds plus a handful to sprinkle on top of the bread
15 hazle nuts halved 
1 1/2 teaspoons bread soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp brown sugar
1 egg beaten 
285ml butter milk 
285ml of plain natural yogurt 

Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl to combine. In a separate bowl, lightly beat egg then add buttermilk and yogurt. Stir to combine. Slowly combine wet into dry mix. IT will be quite thick and sticky but be sure to stir well so that there are no pockets of dry ingredients at the bottom of the bowl. If the mix needs more moisture add a tablespoon or two more yogurt. 

Pour equally divided mixture into the two greased loaf tins. Sprinkle remaining sunflower seed on top of each and gently pat into the mixture. 

Bake at 200 celsius/400 fahrenheit for 1h 15m - 1h 30m (depending on your oven temperature or until a tester stick comes out clean.  After 45 take the tins out of the oven an cover with foil. Then return to bake for the remaining time.