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Rustic Rye Loaf

Rye plays a central role in Sweden’s bread-making history. Rye has been grown in Sweden since the 11th century, and rye bread is considered more traditionally Swedish than wheat bread. This two-day Rustic Rye Loaf is incredibly tasty everyday bread. The recipe was created by Annelie Andersson, who is a popular Swedish recipe creator, photographer and baking book author.

2 loaves

Ingredients:

Day 1

25 g fresh yeast

150 g (150 ml) lukewarm water, around 30°C

80 g (150 ml) fine rye flour

Day 2

350 g (350 ml) lukewarm water, around 30°C

220 g (400 ml) fine rye flour

15 g (1 tbsp) oil

3 tsp salt

420–480 g (700 - 800 ml) wheat flour

Method:

Day 1

Dissolve the yeast in the water and mix in the rye flour.

Cover the bowl with cling film and leave at room temperature overnight (or for 12 hours). In the morning, there will be small, fine bubbles in the mixture.

Day 2

Take out the starter and add water, rye flour, oil and salt. Mix everything together.

Then work in the wheat flour until the dough comes away from the sides and is no longer sticky. It may be helpful to use a dough mixer at this stage.

Cover the bowl and leave the dough to rise until doubled in size; this usually takes about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 225°C.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide into two equal portions. Shape into two round loaves. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper, cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for 30 minutes.

Score the loaves and place the tray in the middle of the oven; bake for 35–45 minutes.

Leave the loaves to cool on a wire rack. Rye bread also benefits from resting for a few hours or overnight before slicing.

Annelie’s top tip!

Country-style rye bread is a two-day loaf that I’ve been baking for many years. With a starter left to ferment overnight, the bread becomes really moist and delicious. And it stays that way for several days. As long as you plan the baking, this makes a very good everyday bread. Just make sure you plan the different stages.

The recipe and photo are from Annelie Andersson’s book Blomster & bakverk, which is sold (in Swedish) in TotallySwedish shops. You can find more recipes (in Swedish) on Annelie’s blog here.