Swedish Rye Recipes

Steps:

• In a bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup water. Add sugar, molasses, shortening, salt and remaining water; stir well. Add rye flour; beat until smooth. Add enough all-purpose flour to form a soft dough. , Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1-1/2 hours. Punch dough down. , Shape into 4 round loaves. Place on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise until doubled, 45-60 minutes. Bake at 350° until golden brown, 30-35 minutes. Brush with butter.

Steps:

• Combine caraway seeds, fennel seeds, and anise seeds in a spice grinder; pulse until coarsely ground.
• Heat milk and butter in a deep saucepan, stirring occasionally, until butter melts and milk comes to a bare simmer, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool until milk registers 100 degrees F (38 degrees C) on an instant-read thermometer.
• Stir molasses and yeast into the milk mixture. Let stand until yeast is foamy, about 5 minutes. Add 2 cups all-purpose flour, rye flour, sea salt, and orange zest; stir until dough forms a shaggy mass. Knead in the saucepan, adding more flour if needed, until dough is no longer sticky, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Turn dough out on a floured surface. Knead, adding more flour if needed, until smooth and springy, about 7 minutes.
• Place dough in a large greased bowl, turning to coat. Cover with a damp kitchen towel or piece of plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm area until somewhat puffy, about 1 hour.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place dough on the baking sheet. Cover lightly with the towel or plastic wrap. Let rise until puffy, about 1 hour 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bake in the preheated oven until browned, 35 to 40 minutes. Bread will sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water; stir in sugar and let stand for 5 minutes. Add milk, molasses, brown sugar, oil, oats, orange zest, salt, fennel, aniseed, caraway, rye flour and 6 cups of all-purpose flour. Add enough remaining all-purpose flour to form a soft but sticky dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place overnight. , Punch dough down. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Shape into four loaves. Place in greased 9x5-in. loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. , Bake at 350° for 35-45 minutes. Remove from the pans to cool on wire racks.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in rye flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well and add enough water to moisten dough.
• Roll out onto floured board. The thinner the dough, the crispier the cookies will be. Cut into 2 1/2-inch rounds using cutter or floured glass. Cut a small hole off center in each cookie using a thimble.
• Bake on ungreased cookie sheets until slightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Hang on a Christmas tree with ribbon or yarn.

Steps:

• The day before making the bread, make the sponge. Combine the water, molasses, orange peel, aniseeds, fennel seeds, and cardamom in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil and then turn off the heat. Cool to lukewarm. Stir in the barm and rye flour until the flour is fully hydrated and evenly distributed. This should make a thick sponge. Cover with plastic wrap and ferment at room temperature for 4 hours, or until the mixture becomes foamy. Refrigerate overnight.
• The next day, remove the sponge from the refrigerator 1 hour before making the bread dough to take off the chill.
• To make the dough, in a 4-quart mixing bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer), stir together the flour, yeast, salt, and brown sugar. Add the sponge and the melted shortening. Mix with a large metal spoon (or on low speed for 1 minute with the paddle attachment) until the dough forms a ball. Sprinkle flour on the counter, transfer the dough to the counter, and begin kneading (or mix on medium speed with the dough hook) for approximately 4 minutes. Adjust with additional high-gluten (not rye) flour, if needed. The dough should be slightly tacky but not sticky. Do not overknead, as the rye flour will become gummy. The entire kneading or mixing process should be completed within 6 minutes. The dough should pass the windowpane test (page 58) and register 77° to 81°F. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
• Ferment at room temperature for about 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.
• Remove the dough from the bowl and knead for 1 minute to degas. Divide the dough in half for 1-pound loaves (or leave intact for a 2-pound loaf). Shape the dough into sandwich loaves (page 81) or bâtards (page 73) for freestanding loaves. Lightly oil two 8 1/2 by 4 1/2-inch pans or one 9 by 5-inch pan; for freestanding loaves, line a large sheet pan with baking parchment and sprinkle with cornmeal or semolina flour. Transfer the loaves to the pan(s) and score the top of the loaves with 3 parallel slashes as shown on page 90. Mist the loaves with spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap or a food-grade plastic bag.
• Proof at room temperature for approximately 90 minutes, or until the dough crests 1 inch above the bread pans at the center, or rises 1 1/2 times its original size for freestanding loaves.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F. For freestanding loaves, brush the egg wash over the surface of the dough just prior to baking. This is optional for loaf-pan breads.
• Bake for 20 minutes, then rotate the pan(s) 180 degrees for even baking. Continue to bake for 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the size of the loaves. They should register 190°F in the center, be a light golden brown, and make a hollow sound when thumped on the bottom. If the sides are still white or soft, return the bread to the oven to finish.
• When the loaves are finished baking, immediately remove them from the pans and cool on a rack for at least 1 hour before slicing or serving.
• BREAD PROFILE
• Enriched, standard dough; indirect method; commercial yeast
• DAYS TO MAKE: 2
• Day 1: 4 hours sponge
• Day 2: 1 hour to de-chill sponge; 6 minutes mixing; 3 1/2 hours fermentation, shaping, and proofing; 35 to 50 minutes baking
• Commentary
• By being scored before the final proofing the breads take on a different look than when scored just prior to baking, as is customary for most breads. The cuts fill in during the rising period and spread out. When the bread bakes, it seems as if the cuts have healed, leaving behind a different shade of crust where the cuts were made.
• BAKER'S PERCENTAGE FORMULA
• Swedish Rye: Limpa %
• (SPONGE)
• Water: 43.1%
• Molasses: 10.8%
• Orange peel: 2%
• Seeds and spices: 2%
• Barm: 43.1%
• White rye flour: 30.8%
• (DOUGH)
• High-gluten flour: 69.2%
• Instant yeast: 1.4%
• Salt: 2.3%
• Brown sugar: 13.8%
• Shortening: 6.2%
• Total: 224.7%

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast in warm water.
• Scald milk. Transfer milk to a large bowl, and add salt, molasses, brown sugar, and melted shortening. Cool to lukewarm, and add dissolved yeast. Add rye flour, beating with mixer. Gradually beat in white flour. Place dough in a greased bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover with a damp towel, and allow to rise till double in bulk in a warm place.
• Punch down the dough, and place on a lightly floured board. Knead until dough becomes elastic, and does not stick to the board. Allow to rest for 5 minutes. Divide into 3 equal portions, and shape into loaves. Place in greased 9 x 5 inch bread pans. Let rise until double in bulk.
• Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 35 to 40 minutes.

Steps:

• In a saucepan, mix together molasses, water, brown sugar, fennel, and salt. Bring to boiling point, then gently cook, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add shortening. Let stand until lukewarm.
• Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup lukewarm water. Add cooled molasses mixture and mix well. Stir in the rye flour. Beat until smooth. Cover and let rise at room temperature overnight, about 9 to 10 hours.
• In the morning add 5 cups white flour, and place remaining 1/2 cup on a pastry cloth or board for kneading. Turn out the dough and knead until smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl, cover, and let rise until double in size, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
• Cut dough in half and shape into 2 loaves (round is more traditional). Place in 2 greased 9 inch pie pans. Cover with a clean cloth and let rise until light, about 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Bake for 45 to 55 minutes. Remove and brush tops with melted butter.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, molasses, butter, orange zest, salt, aniseed and boiling water; stir until brown sugar is dissolved and butter is melted. Stir in cold water; let stand until mixture cools to 110° to 115°., Meanwhile, in a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in molasses mixture; mix well. Add, all-purpose flour and 1 cup rye flour. Beat on medium speed 3 minutes. Stir in enough remaining rye flour to form a stiff dough., Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour., Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Shape into 2 oval loaves. Grease 2 baking sheets and sprinkle lightly with cornmeal. Place loaves on prepared pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes., Preheat oven to 350° . With a sharp knife, make 4 shallow slashes across top of each loaf. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks; brush with butter.