or Rye Bread Latvian style.
The scent of bread is the fragrance of all fragrances; it is the primal fragrance of our earthly life, the fragrance of harmony, of peace and of home.
– Jaroslav Seifert, 1984 Nobel Laureate in Literature
On the last day of 2022, I finally finalized the recipe for my very own sweet-sour rye bread. After years of hunting for the perfect recipe for my favorite Latvian bread, and many failed attempts at baking it, I gathered all the knowledge and recipes together and came up with my own.
I grew up on rye bread, and after moving to America, I missed it a lot. That made me search for the recipe to bake it at home.
This quote from The Rye Baker by Stanley Ginsberg, explains its well:
Rye baking in Europe is alive and well. In northern and eastern Europe, rye bread is more than a daily staple; it’s both symbol and source of national identity – and something that’s sorely missed when northern Europeans find themselves expatriated, or even on extended vacation.
For the foundation of my recipe, I took a Rustic Pumpernickel recipe from Artisan Sourdough Made Simple. If you are new to sourdough baking, I highly recommend this book!
Sweet- Sour Rye Bread
Makes 1 loaf
Ingredients:
- 65 g active rye starter
- 365 g apple cider at room temperature
- 35g molasses
- 130g pumpernickel flour
- 370g AP flour
- 12g salt
- 25g oil
- 5 – 10g carraway seeds (to your liking)
Direction:
Evening, Day 1
In a large bowl, whisk starter, apple cider, and molasses together.
Add pumpernickel flour, all-purpose flour, and salt. Mix with spatula until flour is completely incorporated.
Cover and let it stand for 20-30 minutes.
Meanwhile, you can mix other dough 🙂 or feed/replenish your starter and store it the way you prefer to.
After the dough has rested, add the oil and carraway seeds to the bowl and mix. This time use your hands to mix it.
Cover the bowl with a towel and let it rise at room temperature until morning. (During winter months, the dough rises very slow and not as fast as during the summer. Keep that in mind.)
Morning, Day 2
- Shape the dough into a round loaf (I do it right in the bowl) and place it in the prepared proofing basket. To flour my proofing basket, I use rice flour. Rice flour is great for that. It doesn’t burn as easily as other flours do.
Cover the basket with the same towel and let it rise again at room temperature for about two hours.
Preheat oven to 450F.
Cut or tear a sheet of parchment paper fit to the size of your Dutch oven.
Place the parchment paper over the dough and invert the basket to release. Place it on the countertop. Using a sharp knife or a bread lame, make a few cuts on top. For this particular bread, I always cut in a shape of a cross.
Use the parchment paper to transfer the dough into the Dutch oven. You can reuse the same parchment paper next time you bake.
Place the Dutch oven into the preheated oven. Bake the dough for 20 minutes with the lid on first. After, take off the lid and bake it for about 35 – 40 more minutes.
Transfer to a wire rack and let it cool for an hour. If you can wait that long!
This bread has a very good shelf life. I keep mine in a plastic bag in our bread basket. It can last for almost a week.
If the day 2 is on a weekday, and you need to leave for work, shape the dough, place it in the proofing basket, cover it, and put it in the fridge. Bake the bread when you get back home from work. I did it many times, and it comes out great too.
Of all of the other breads I make, I think this one is the easiest. Try it and let me know what you think. If you like it, share it with someone else.
Feel free to ask questions, share your ideas, or comment down below. Thank you!
Happy baking everyone!
Natasha
FYI: I wasn’t able to find pumpernickel flour in store. I order mine at http://www.centralmilling.com . You can check your favorite online store; they may have it too.
You can also find more helpful information on sourdough here: https://aquietlifeofmine.com/2022/12/29/lets-talk-sourdough/
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