Seeded Rye Bread

 

 

When I bake a loaf that is so full of good things, I feel totally justified in eating 1 kilo of cheese with it... and 2 glasses of wine.



Seeded Rye Bread
slightly adapted from here

70g farro
70g pearl barley
75g sunflower seeds
75g flax seeds
500ml cold water
250g wholemeal rye flour
1/2 teaspoon dry yeast
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon malt extract
 Sunflower oil, for greasing

DAY 1
Soak the Seeds:
The night before you want to bake your loaf, put the farro, barley, sunflower seeds and flax seed into a bowl and add 300ml of water. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to soak at room temperature overnight.

Make the Sponge:
In a separate bowl, mix the flour with the yeast and the remaining 200ml water. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to soak at room temperature overnight.

DAY 2
Make and Bake your Loaf:
The next day, mix the seeds along with the soaking liquid with the sponge. Add the salt, honey and malt extract. Knead for 5 minutes. This makes a very wet dough (a bit like thick cake batter).

Grease a 23 cm x 13 cm loaf pan with the sunflower oil and pour in the batter and smooth the surface. Let it rest in a warm spot for 2 -3 hours, until the dough has risen to the rim of the tin.

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes. This is a dense, heavy loaf and won't rise much during baking. To test for doneness, turn the loaf out of the tin, if the base and sides are moist, return the loaf to the oven without the tin and bake for a further 5 minutes. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing. It needs to be completely cool, otherwise it will crumble rather then slice. The wait will be worth it.