From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Many years ago, I worked in a facility that was a 10 minute drive from Short Hills Mall and Bloomingdale's Department Store. When things were calm, I loved to sneak over to the bakery in Bloomingdale's basement and buy a stash of rye raisin rolls. They were not quite Lucullean, but they came awfully close and I loved them. You can imagine how delighted I was when I learned the November challenge at Recipes to Rival was going to be Old World Rye Bread from "A World of Breads" by Dolores Casella. Our hostess, Temperama of High on the Hog, also gave us some leeway to play with the base recipe. My personal quest was to alter it and duplicate the Bloomingdale's rolls. I tried three times, but had to admit defeat. I can tell you that despite that, this is a lovely recipe and well worth your time should you choose to use it to make a plain rye bread. I used dark rye and dark molasses to make the dough. I also pulverized the caraway seeds and added brown sugar, raisins and toasted walnuts to the base recipe. The bread is very easy to make and it has a lovely hint of cocoa in its moist crumb. Here's the recipe.
Old World Rye
A World of Breads by Dolores Casella, 1966
Ingredients:
2 cups rye flour
1/4 cup cocoa
2 tablespoons yeast
1-1/2 cups warm water
1/2 cup molasses
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons caraway seed
2 tablespoons butter
2-1/2 cups white flour or whole wheat flour
Directions:
1) Combine rye flour and cocoa. Do not sift.
2) Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water.
3) Mix molasses, 1 cup warm water, salt, and caraway seed in large mixing bowl. Add rye/cocoa mix, proofed yeast, butter and 1 cup white flour or whole wheat flour. Beat until the dough is smooth.
4) Spread remaining flour on a breadboard and kneed it into dough. Add more flour if necessary to make a firm dough that is smooth and elastic. Place in buttered bowl and cover. Allow to rise until double (about 2 hours).
5) Punch dough down, shape into a round loaf and place on a buttered cookie sheet that has been sprinkled with cornmeal. Let rise about 50 minutes.
6) Bake at 375 for 35 to 40 minutes. Yield: 1 loaf.
Cook's Note: I added 1 cup or raisins and 1 cup walnuts to the dough before kneading.
This recipe is linked to:
Wild Yeast - Yeast Spotting
41 comments :
What foods or fillings and spread would go with this bread? Of course it looks to be filling enough without anything but a bit of butter on it. I am intrigued by the addition of cocoa to it.
Love rye bread -- a Sunday treat was stopping at the Jewish bakery and picking up a loaf of rye bread for Sunday dinner!
I've never had raisins nor cocoa, however, in rye. Perhaps this winter when I'm in a baking mood --
It is too bad you couldn't get the taste you were going for but it is truly lovely bread!
I love Rye bread although we struggle to get the correct flour here to make it. Yours looks delicious, I love it's deep colour, too !
Toasted rye bread with butter is one of my favorite breakfasts, I can only imagine how delicious that would be with this amazing bread, cocoa, huh? Interesting!
Hi Mary,
Somehow yeast and I never quite seem to see eye to eye. . . .I only wish I could make this bread. It really does look unbelievable..... Happy December. . ..
adoro fare il pane! questo deve essere eccezionale!
This bread looks so good. I love that you put raisins into it......and it has a touch of cocoa.
Is the Short Hills mall you are mentioning in NJ? I use to live near one in NJ many years ago.
Have a geat day and thank you for posting your recipe.
Mary, this sounds like a really hearty full flavored bread. I don't make bread very often, but recently you have posted some wonderful recipes that I will have to try. Many thanks
mary
i hope you had a good holdiay with family and friends. After all the busy entertaining, you still have the energy to bake. you are the best.
Mmm, I love your festive version with the raisins and nuts! Gorgeous bread!
I didn't know there is cocoa added to rye bread - it looks wonderful.
Erica, yes the mall I was speaking of is in Short Hills New Jersey.
KathyB, I limit spreads for this to creamy cheeses and butter, but I also love this with a really sharp, aged cheddar on the side.
Pam, cocoa and coffee powder are used in rye and pumpernickel primarily for color. The taste is usually less prominent than in this bread.
I hope you had a wonderful holiday, Mary! You have some of the most gorgeous recipes and this is definitely one of them. Just look at the color! Very impressive.
dare I say it... but I can do this... I think
It's almost impossible to fins good raisin bread or good rye bread. This is absolutely fabulous!
That looks so thick and tasty!
A Year on the Grill, you definitely can do this. It is a sticky dough so resist the temptation to add too much flour. I'd advise using light molasses and adding more pulverized Caraway seeds to get a great rye flavor.
Wow. Would my familylove to come to that! Scrumptious with the raisins and cocoa - hearty and delicious.
When I first started reading your post I was thinking you had altered it to find the recipe to your past favorite bread. Then I was secretly hoping it would be like pumpernickel that I am looking for.
Your bread looks great Mary- I do like the addition of walnuts.
Oh Mary, I have missed you so!
I hope you don't mind, I made a button out of your header to add to my sidebar. I'm always telling friends and family to come here for inspiration and amazing recipes.
This will stop those phone calls that start, "What was that blog you told me to go to for recipes?" Now they can easily find it.
I miss rye bread, I haven't found a good loaf in Florida yet!
My son would be parking himself at your table for a slice of this. He and I both love rye bread.
Rhonda, I'm thrilled you did that.
This is a perfect baking-season bread! I'm impressed at your three-time persistence, duplicating breads are super hard. I used to bake a lot, but had to give up because my bread never trumped store-bought. But this looks like a worthy re-immersion!
Mary, your rye bread looks superb. Beautiful pix.
That bread looks totally delicious. I have never tried rye raisin rolls before. I am sure that I would love them.
This looks lovely!!
I haven't had rye bread in such a long time. I don't think I have ever had it with raisins in it. It sounds wonderful.
Iris
Mrs. Ergul, welcome to One Perfect Bite. I hope you'll visit with us often.
This looks gorgeous, Mary! I'm saving it up for later use. Thanks for sharing.
I love the flavor of rye bread. This recipe sound and looks wonderful!
Thank you for adding diversity to my life & kitchen!
I've never tried making rye bread before, but it's one of my favorites. nothing beats rye toast with butter!
Sounds really delicious and looks great too! :)
What a gorgeous loaf! Very festive and winter-y looking. I'll put it on my list for Xmas brunch. Thank you!
Great looking rye bread!
I made this bread yesterday and it reminded me of Boston Brown Bread.
The rye didn't stand out like I thought it might. I followed you and put the walnuts and raisins in it and I am glad that I did. While the bread is good it is almost boring to me. Your additions gave it interest. I doubt that I make this again.
Penny, what we consider rye flavor actually comes from caraway seeds. Bakers pulverize it to use in the rye bread they make for their shops. If you want a more intense rye flavor use more ground caraway. Have a great day. Blessings...Mary
Thank you for the info on rye flour. I am new to the science of bread baking and the various flours. I have mastered only the eating part.I cannot wait to try some of your other recipes. I hope you will bear with me.
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