Marbled Rye Bread

Today in the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge, we made the 19th bread in the book: Marbled Rye Bread. I wasn't really a big fan of rye bread until I started making it myself. I still prefer breads made with wheat, but I do enjoy a good rye loaf every now and then. Chris at eating is the hard part had mentioned on Twitter that the BBA Rye Loaves were different and would convert me so I was looking forward to trying them. I agree with his assessment. These marbled loaves are beautiful and taste great!

I particularly enjoyed making this rye bread. I thought it might be tricky working with the different colored pieces of dough, but it wasn’t. It was actually very easy! Peter Reinhart simplifies the process of shaping the pieces into batards, then into loaves so it turned out to be a very creative and relaxing process. In addition, this version uses the direct dough method, as opposed to the sourdough method that is generally used for onion rye and deli rye so you can make the bread in an evening if you plan it right.

Some interesting facts about Rye:

Rye is hardier than wheat, resistant to cold, and is the only grain other than wheat that can be used to make leavened bread. It can be made into a sweet or sour loaf. Rye is high in B vitamins, expecially niacin. It contains iron, zinc, and magnesium as well as vitamin E, rutin, antioxidants, and insoluble fiber. It has a bitter-strong, earthy flavor with a pleasant aftertaste. It can be used alone in a loaf or mixed with cornmeal, potato, white flour or whole wheat. Without the addition of wheat flour for body, rye makes a flat, crumbly, and coarse-grained loaf.

You might also enjoy one of these Rye Bread Recipes.

Marbled Rye Bread

Makes: 2 loaves
Adapted from: The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart 

Marbled Rye Bread is made with a combination of light and dark rye doughs. The formula suggested using white rye flour; however, I didn't have any. I used stone-ground whole grain rye flour instead. Whole grain rye flour makes a more rustic-looking bread rather than the creamy-colored version you get when using white rye flour. However, the whole grain version has more nutrients because it retains the bran and germ; whereas white rye flour has been sifted twice to remove the bran and germ.

I prepared the doughs simultaneously (like an assembly line almost) so that both doughs would rise at about the same time.

Ingredients:

Whole Grain Rye

• 1 1/2 cups stone-ground whole grain rye flour (or white rye flour)
• 3 cups unbleached bread flour or clear flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 3/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds (optional)
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 2 tablespoons shortening
• About 1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons water, at room temperature

 

Dark Rye:

• 1 1/2 cups stone-ground whole grain rye flour (or white rye flour)
• 3 cups unbleached bread flour or clear flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 3/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds (optional)
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 2 tablespoons shortening
• About 1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons water, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon liquid caramel coloring or
• 2 tablespoons cocoa, carob, or coffee powder dissolved in 2 tablespoons (1 ounce water) (I used cocoa powder)

 

Egg Wash:

• 1 egg, whisked with 1 teaspoon water until frothy.

Directions:

Preparing the Light Rye Dough:

Stir together the dry ingredients, including the caraway seeds.  Add the molasses, shortening, and the water.  Mix until the dough until it forms a ball. Add additional water if needed. I decided to make this dough by hand, but you can use a mixer if you like.

 

I started out mixing with a spoon but switched to the Danish dough whisk once the dough was too thick to stir with the spoon.

I was able to mix the dough into a ball without adding any extra water. Transfer the dough to a counter sprinkled with a little flour. Knead for 4 minutes by hand. Add sprinkles of flour if necessary.

The dough should feel supple and pliable, a little tacky but not sticky. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and roll it around in it to coat it with oil and cover the dough with plastic wrap.

 

Preparing the Dark Rye Dough:

Stir together the dry ingredients, including the caraway seeds. Add the molasses, shortening, water, and liquid caramel coloring. I used a mixture of cocoa and water for the caramel coloring. When I make this again, I think I'll try coffee granules to make it a little bit darker.  Mix until the dough forms a ball. Add additional water if needed.

Transfer the dough to a counter sprinkled with a little flour. Knead for 4 minutes by hand. Add sprinkles of flour if necessary.

The dough should feel supple and pliable, a little tacky but not sticky. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and roll it around in it to coat it with oil.

 

Fermenting the Doughs:

Ferment both of the doughs at room temperature for about 90 minutes, or until each dough doubles in size. I let my doughs rise for about 2 hours while I was doing other things.

Light rye dough doubled in size.

Dark rye dough doubled in size.

Shaping the Doughs:

Turn the doughs out onto a lightly floured counter and divide and shape them as shown below. (Refer to p. 186 for additional methods of shaping the doughs.)

Divide each dough into 4 even-sized pieces using a dough scraper.

 

Roll out each piece with a rolling pin into an oblong about 5 inches wide and 8 inches long.

 

To make a spiral loaf, which is what I chose to do, take a light rye piece and lay a dark rye piece on top, then add a light rye piece, then one more dark rye piece.

Roll this stack up into a batard and seal the bottom.

 

Repeat with the remaining dough to make 2 loaves. Then, place the doughs in 2 oiled 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pans. You can also bake these loaves freeform on a baking sheet but I wanted a beautiful sandwich loaf so I used loaf pans.

Here is a side view of the spirals. I like the way they look so far.

Proofing the Loaves:

Mist the loaves with spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Proof at room temperature for 60 to 90 minutes, or until the loaves double in size. It didn't even take an hour before these loaves were double in size. Thank goodness because I was getting tired and ready for bed.

Baking the Loaves:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Prepare the egg wash by whisking together the egg and water until frothy. Brush the loaves evenly, but gently with the egg wash.

 

Bake the loaves for approximately 45 minutes. Rotate the loaves after 20 minutes if necessary for even baking. The loaves should make a hollow sound when thumped on the bottom.

 

 

The loaves are done when they register 190 degrees on a thermometer.

Remove the loaves immediately from the pan when they have finished baking and let them cool on a wire rack for at least 1 hour, preferably 2 hours, before serving or slicing.

I thumped the loaf on the bottom to see if it sounded hollow. It did! This is another sign that it is done.  I let mine cool for an hour then placed it in a plastic bag until the morning.

 

The bread was ready for toast in the morning. By the way, it tastes great with the citrus marmalade I made this weekend. I'll be posting about that soon.

Thanks for joining us this week in the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge. See you next time...


Happy Baking!
Cathy

Rye Bread with Raisins and Rosemary

The combination of rye, whole wheat, bread flour, and cornmeal gives this Raisin-Rosemary Rye Bread a very good texture and shape. The bread also has a very unique and satisfying flavor. It tastes a little sweet from the raisins and has a wonderful aroma from the rosemary. Very interesting indeed!

Raisin-Rosemary Rye Bread

The recipe for this flavorful and unique bread is from Wine, Food & Friends by Karen MacNeil.

Makes: 1 loaf
Yield: 20 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
• 1 1/2 cups warm water (100° to 110° )
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 2 1/3 cups bread flour, divided
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup rye flour
• 1/3 cup nonfat dry milk
• 1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 1/2 tablespoons dried rosemary
• Cooking spray

Directions:

Dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water in a large bowl, let stand 5 minutes. Stir in oil.

Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups, level with a knife. Combine 2 cups bread flour, whole wheat flour, and next 5 ingredients in a bowl.  Add flour mixture to yeast mixture.





Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface.  Knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes); add enough of the remaining bread flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands.





Knead in raisins, walnuts, and rosemary.



Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85° ), free from drafts, 45 minutes or until doubled in size.





(Gently press two fingers into dough. If the indentation remains, dough has risen enough.)




Punch dough down; cover and let rest 10 minutes. Form dough into a ball; place in a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise 30 minutes or until doubled in size.




Preheat oven to 400°F . Uncover dough.  Score top of loaf.



 
Bake at 400° for 50 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow when tapped.  Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.




To serve bread, cut loaf in half crosswise. Place cut sides down, and cut each half into slices.  This bread is very good. It smells wonderful and it tastes very interesting.




Happy Baking!
Cathy

Bread Machine Beer Rye Bread

I made this honey and beer rye bread to celebrate Oktoberfest. My friend from Romania loves German food so we decided to create our own Oktoberfest meal this weekend. The rye bread went well with the other menu items.

For this bread, you make a rye starter in a separate bowl and let it sit for a few days before making the dough in the bread machine. Letting the sourdough starter develop over 3 days will enhance the flavor of the bread.

If you're looking for a basic recipe for Pumpernickel Rye Bread that can be made completely in the bread machine, click here.

Honey and Beer Rye Bread (using the bread machine)
Makes 1 loaf
From: Bread Machine: How to prepare and bake the perfect loaf by Jennie Shapter

Ingredients:

For the starter:

• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 cup rye flour
• 3/4 teaspoon rapid-rise active dry yeast

For the dough:

• scant 3/4 cup flat beer
• scant 2 3/4 cups unbleached white bread flour
• 3/4 cup rye flour (medium grind)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon rapid-rise active dry yeast
• whole-wheat flour; for dusting

Directions:

Step 1: Mix the milk, flour and yeast for the starter in a large bowl. Stir, then cover with a damp dish towel. Rest in a warm place for 3 days; stir once a day.

Mixing the rye starter

Rye starter on day 2

Rye starter on day 3

Step 2: Make the dough. Pour the starter into the bread machine pan. Add the beer.


If the instructions for your machine specify that the yeast is to be placed in the pan first, simply reverse the order in which you add the liquid and dry ingredients.

Step 3: Sprinkle both types of flour over, ensuring that the beer is completely covered. Add the honey and salt, placing them in separate corners of the bread pan. Make a shallow indentation in the center of the flour (but not down as far as the liquid) and add the yeast.


Step 4: Set the bread machine to the dough setting; use basic dough setting (if available). Press Start. Lightly oil a 6 1/2 inch square pan that is fairly deep.


Step 5: When the dough cycle has finished, remove the dough from the machine and place it on a lightly floured surface. Punch it down gently.




Step 6: Roll the dough into a rectangle about 3/4 inch thick. It needs to be the same width as the pan and three times as long. Fold the bottom third of the dough up and the top third down, then seal the edges with the rolling pin.




Step 7: Place the folded dough in the prepared pan, cover it with lightly oiled plastic wrap. Leave in a warm place for 45-60 minutes, or until the dough has risen almost to the top of the pan.




Step 8: Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425°F. Dust the top of the loaf with a little whole wheat flour.

Step 9: Using a sharp knife, slash the loaf with four long cuts. Repeat with five cuts in the opposite direction to give a cross-hatched effect.




Step 10: Bake the bread for 30-35 minutes, or until it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool slightly before serving.




We had German potato salad, sausage patties and a cucumber salad and this yummy rye bread.


Happy Baking
Cathy


You might enjoy these additional resources for making bread machine bread:

• Making bread machine bread
• Bread machine recipes
• Adapt recipes for use in your bread maker