SWEDISH RYE BREAD

Scald the milk and combine it with the water and brown sugar in a very large bowl. (You need something that holds at least 4 or 5 quarts.) When the mixture is lukewarm, dissolve the yeast in it, then stir in about 2 cups rye flour and about 1 cup white flour to make a paste. Let the mixture rise in a warm place until it is light and foamy. This usually takes about 30 minutes to an hour. Check it frequently, it can really make a mess if it rises enough to overflow the bowl. (I’m sure they could make a great horror movie about a gigantic blob of bread dough that keeps getting bigger and bigger as it consumes everything in its path….) Stir in the granulated sugar, oil, molasses, anise seed and salt, and enough flour to make a stiff dough, using 2 parts rye to 1 part white. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until it is smooth and elastic, adding more flour to keep it from sticking to your hands. Clean and grease the bowl. Put the dough in the bowl, turning it to grease all sides. Cover the bowl loosely with a clean towel and let the dough rise until it’s doubled in bulk. Punch it down and let rise until double again. Divide the dough into three loaves and put in greased pans. (I usually make round loaves and bake them on cookie sheets.) Cover with the towel and let rise until double again. Bake for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees F. Because of the high sugar content, this bread can burn rather easily; watch it closely so it doesn’t get too dark. NOTES: * A sweet, dark whole-grain rye bread — This recipe comes from my great-grandmother, who emigrated from Sweden and brought this recipe with her. It makes a sweet, dark bread, and (like most whole-grain breads) it tends to be a bit heavy. Servings: Makes 3 loaves. * Rye flour can be a little hard to find these days. You may have to visit a store that specializes in natural foods. Avoid the kind that is very coarsely ground with big chunks of bran in it, though; this doesn’t seem to have any gluten at all in it, and since the proportion of rye flour is so high in this recipe, the texture of the bread will come out all wrong. You need something that looks more like ordinary flour. : Difficulty: moderate. : Time: 30 minutes preparation, several hours rising, 1 hour baking and cooling. : Precision: measure the ingredients. : Sandra Loosemore : Evans and Sutherland Computer Corporation, Salt Lake City : {decwrl, utah-gr!uplherc}!esunix!loosemor : Copyright (C) 1986 USENET Community Trust —– Archive January 2010 December 2009 July 2009 June 2009 April 2009 March 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008