Black bread

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 200 g sourdough (rye sourdough)
• 100 g rye meal
• 250 g rye flour 1150
• 100 g rye flakes, alternatively whole grain oat flakes
• 50 g sunflower seeds, also works without
• 50 g flaxseed
• 15 g salt
• 1 tbsp beet syrup, alternatively plum jam or honey
• 400 ml water, lukewarm
• possibly yeast, fresh (see text)

Instructions

Working time approx. 10 minutes; Rest time approx. 8 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 45 minutes; Total time approx. 8 hours 55 minutes

pure rye bread with rye flakes, linseed, sunflower seeds and rye meal TA 180

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix or knead for a good 5 minutes using a mixer or food processor (the dough will be relatively soft, but this is normal). Cover the bowl and let the dough rise (depending on the room temperature, this can take 2-6 hours; the strength of the sourdough is also important, so keep an eye on it). Once the dough has doubled in size, it’s ready to be used. If you prefer a more intense bread flavor, you can let the dough rise overnight in the refrigerator, which I recommend. Knead or stir the dough again briefly and pour it into a baking pan (mine was too soft to place freely on a baking sheet, but I generally prefer to use baking pans. For professionals, it might be kneadable and can be moved freely). Cover the pan and let the dough rise again for a good third. The dough is ready to bake when you lightly press into it with your finger and it gives way and no longer expands. Now preheat the oven to 250°C (480°F) top/bottom heat! Place a cup of hot water on the floor of the oven and put the tin in on the middle rack. After about 5 minutes, turn the oven down to 200°C and then bake the bread for a good 40 minutes. I normally recommend tapping it on the bottom to test it. If the bread sounds hollow, it’s done. However, since you’re baking in a tin, you need to know your oven well and how hot it bakes, as almost every oven heats differently. For me, 45 minutes was always enough and the bread was done. You can also carefully remove the bread from the tin after about 35 minutes and let it bake uncovered to finish baking. Please pay attention to whether the bread comes away easily or is in danger of collapsing; if so, leave it in the tin! If your sourdough is strong, you can do without yeast altogether. However, if the sourdough is still quite new, you should use yeast instead, as it is not yet strong enough. Here, however, just 7g of fresh yeast is enough. The rye flour can also be replaced with wholemeal rye flour, but add about 50ml more water as wholemeal flour needs a bit more water. You can also add some bread spice to the dough for a stronger flavor. The sunflower seeds can be replaced with pumpkin seeds! Caramel coloring is often found in dark breads, but I don’t use this because I like the natural color of the bread and, in my opinion, it is dark enough as it is! If you want to add it anyway, feel free to do so; it’s just for the color and not for the flavor! The bread stays fresh for a long time; mine was still delicious after a week. It has a strong flavor! I always let the dough rise overnight in the fridge; I think the bread tastes even better that way! I find it a nice alternative to regular brown bread, although there are also some great recipes in the German database using wholemeal wheat!