2 C Milk 3 C Flour, white (approx)
1 C Water 1/2 C Sugar, granulated
1/2 C Brown sugar 1/2 C Vegetable oil
1/2 oz Dry yeast 1/4 C Dark molasses
-(two packages) 2 t Anise seeds, crushed
6 C Rye flour (approx) 1 t Salt
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. Yield: 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 & Sutherland Computer Corporation, Salt Lake City
: {decwrl, utah-gr!uplherc}!esunix!loosemor
:
Yields
3 loaves