KARIN'S GERMAN SCHWARZBROT WITH WHOLE RYE BERRIES

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When I started my little home based bakery, I wanted to offer a typical German Schwarzbrot. Though "schwarz" means "black", a Schwarzbrot doesn't have to be a 100% rye bread, only most of the flour should be rye.

With Peter Reinhart's pre-dough method from "Whole Grain Breads" in mind, I cobbled together different recipes into one I could work with. Baking this bread often (my customers love it!) I played with the formula around, and, over the years, tweaked it so much, that it became entirely my own.

It contains whole rye berries, has a little bit of sweetener, but, also, a pleasant natural sweetness, and it is not artificially colored with large amounts of molasses, cocoa, coffee or other additives.

People familiar with my blog know that I'm very much in favor of long fermentation. Breads that are allowed to ripen slowly are much better digestible, and long fermentation reduces the discomfort that gluten may cause for some.

We enjoy Schwarzbrot with ham or other cold cuts, but also with honey

But most important for me - the taste of most breads improves significantly if flavors have more time to develop.

Scarred by my father's strict enforcement of daily Schwarzbrot consumption as a child - "Schwarzbrot macht Wangen rot!" (black bread makes your cheeks red!) was his motto - I never cared too much for dark ryes.

But, overcoming my early Schwarzbrot trauma, I love this hearty, crunchy bread and always bake an extra one for my family, when I make it for my customers. We like it with all kinds of cold cuts,  Fleischsalat (German meat salad) and, also with an aromatic honey.

KARIN'S GERMAN SCHWARZBROT

Rye Berries
150 g rye berries
water, for soaking

Soaker
150 g whole rye flour
5 g salt
113 g water

Starter
40 g whole wheat mother starter (75% hydration)
116 g whole wheat flour
83 g water, lukewarm

Final dough
all cooked rye berries
all soaker and starter
37 g whole wheat flour
3 g instant yeast
11 g salt
15 g molasses
3 g honey
 rolled rye or sunflower seeds, for topping


DAY 1 (afternoon)
In a bowl, cover rye berries with at least 1 inch/2.5 cm cold water and let them soak for 24 hours.

Drain rye berries -  reserve the soaking water to water your plants!

DAY 2
In the morning, stir together soaker ingredients until all flour is hydrated. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature.

Combine all starter ingredients until all flour is hydrated, then knead (using stand mixer or wet hands) for 2 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes, then knead again for 1 minute. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature.

Cook soaked rye berries in fresh water for half an hour

In the afternoon, drain soaked rye berries and discard water (I use it to water my plants, it contains a lot of nutrients). Place berries in a saucepan, well covered with fresh water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Place berries in strainer to drain, cover, and let cool to room temperature. (Cooked berries can be kept at room temperature for 24 hours.)

Schwarzbrot is made with a whole wheat starter

In the evening, combine all final dough ingredients in mixer bowl and mix at low speed with paddle for 2 minutes. Continue kneading (paddle or dough hook) at medium-low speed for 4 minutes. Dough will be soft and sticky.

Let dough rest for 5 minutes, then resume kneading for 1 minute more. The dough will still be somewhat sticky. Transfer dough to lightly oiled container. Mist with oil, cover, and refrigerate overnight.

The dough has risen overnight in the fridge

DAY 3
Remove dough from refrigerator 2 hours before using, to warm up.

Preheat oven to 450ºF/230ºC. Spray loaf pan (8 1/2" by 4"/22 cm x 10 cm) with oil.

Loosening the slightly sticky dough with a spatula

Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. (If you used a square container, it is already pre-shaped.)

Practically pre-shaped (from the container)...

....rolling it into a sandwich loaf is easy

Roll dough into a sandwich loaf and place it into the pan, seam side down. Mist with water, sprinkle with rolled rye or sunflower seeds, pressing them a bit down with your hands to attach, then spray with oil.

Cover pan loosely with aluminum foil, don't let the bread rise anymore!

Covered loosely with foil, the bread is ready for the oven (no second rise!)

Place pan in oven, reduce temperature to 425ºF/220ºC and bake it for 35 minutes. Take loaf out of the oven, remove aluminum foil, loosen the sides from pan with a spatula, and turn the half-baked bread out onto a baking sheet.

Remove foil from half-baked bread, and turn it out onto a baking sheet

Return bread to the oven to bake for about 30 minutes longer. It should be crisp, and register at least 200ºF in the center.

Transfer bread to cooling rack, mist with water while hot, and let it cool. For the first 24 hours, keep it in a brown paper bag to allow it to continue drying out and developing flavor. After that, it can be wrapped in aluminum foil. (Don't keep it in the refrigerator!).

A very popular bread in my bakery

 BreadStorm users (also the free version) can download the formula:


Ginger (from Ginger & Bread) made a lovely version of this bread: http://gingerandbread.com/2016/01/28/karins-german-schwarzbrot/

BREAD BASKET FOR GÖTZ VON BERLICHINGEN

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Dear baking friends who joined in my challenge to create a Bread for the Knight with the Iron Hand:

YOU FILLED MY BASKET WITH 30 WONDERFUL LOAVES!!!

You thought about breads that were worthy of a famous knight from the middle ages, and, also, could please the palates of today's guests of Schlosshotel Götzenburg.

Not only your enthusiasm and creativity is amazing - your comments about medieval knights in general, and Götz von Berlichingen in particular, are highly entertaining.

Götz von Berlichingen putting his iron hand to good use!

Some of you even tried to figure out what practical considerations might influence a pastry chef's decision on what kind of bread to choose - like using leftovers from the restaurant kitchen and easy availability of ingredients.

By and by, I will try to bake all of your breads (I have started already).

Also, I translated all German recipes into English and vice versa. So, if you don't want to be at the mercy of Google-Translate (rather pathetic with bread formulas, but always good for a laugh!), please contact me and I will send you the recipe.

Please, accept our gift!

Dear management of Schlosshotel Götzenburg,
28 enthusiastic bread bakers from 9 countries, from Canada to Dubai, helped me fill a basket with 30 different breads worthy of a Götz von Berlichingen.

Please, accept our gift of recipes - so that your guests will find breads on the breakfast buffet that are a credit to your beautiful hotel (and not bland mass-produced loaves.) 

SCHLOSSHOTEL GÖTZENBURG BREAD BASKET

1. Heritage wheats are not that easy to work with. The same is true for medieval bread grains that were around when Götz was fighting. But Barbara Elisi (Bread & Companatico) even coaxes a filigree crumb out of stubborn whole grain breads.

SICILIAN HERITAGE WHEAT BREAD FOR A GERMAN KNIGHT. I already baked her bread, with Maine heirloom wheat - it tastes fantastic!

Barbara's Sicilian Heritage Wheat Bread for a German Knight

2. With his hearty, moist bread, Brian/Skibum (The Fresh Loaf) wants to supply hotel guests with a healthy dose of grains, seeds and fibers, and, also, make good use of leftover potato cooking water (from the restaurant kitchen):

IRON-HAND-12-GRAIN BREAD

Brian's Iron-Hand-12-Grain-Bread

3. Björn Hollensteiner (Der Brotdoc) presents his GÖTZ VON BERLICHINGEN BREAD (with wheat and spelt) in two delicious versions, as round loaf:

Björn's Götz von Berlichingen Bread - als loaf...

and as break-away flatbread. Considering Götz' one-handed-ness, the latter is, no doubt, a big plus! (Björn has a bilingual blog, in German and English.)

...and as break-away-flatbread

4. With her  hearty POTATO-WHEAT-RYE BREAD FOR GÖTZ VON BERLICHINGEN, Britta (Brot vom Niederrhein) thought of the hotel guests' well-being, but, also, of possible leftover usage in the restaurant kitchen.

With its high potato content - cooked and uncooked - her bread is nice and moist, and keeps fresh for several days. I made it, and it tastes great! (Please, contact me for the English translation of her recipe.)

Britta's Potato-Wheat-Rye Bread for Götz von Berlichingen

5. Just back from China, Che Foodzeit (What's the time? It's FOODZEIT) had two goals in mind. His bread should symbolize the knight's iron hand (flax seed with a high iron content), and, also, "out-smell" his dirty mouth (with lavender flowers):

MIXED FLOUR BREAD FOR GÖTZ (Che's blog is bilingual, German and English.) 

Che Foodzeit's Mixed Flour Bread for Götz

6. Chorus (Die Mehlkäfer) offers a light wheat bread to the medieval knight, appropriate for his noble status. She also adapted her post to medieval language, and cautions:

"Refresh yourself, while you still can, rejoice and play the shawm, the little piece of bread in your hand could be you last. Enjoy it with appetite."

BISHOP'S BREAD FOR GOETHE'S GÖTZ  (Please, contact me for the recipe in English)

Chorus' Bishop's Bread for Goethe's Götz

7. Dabrownman (The Fresh Loaf), baker extraordinaire of grain loaded breads, felt so inspired by Götz' life that he created two loaves in his honor.

Hearty enough for the strongest knight, and, also, in view of the sanitary habits of yore (and the call for a clean behind), baked with high alcohol black ale:

GÖTZ VON BERLICHINGEN ANCIENT AGE SOURDOUGH BREAD

Dabrownman's Götz von Berlichingen Ancient Age Sourdough Bread

8. To slice his SWABIAN POTATO BREAD FOR GÖTZ OF THE IRON FIST,  you don't need a sword, it's softened by the potato content, and reminiscent of the knight's Swabian origin. After making it twice - it advanced to the ranks of my favorite breads (here's my take on it)

...and his Swabian Potato Bread  for Götz of the Iron Fist

9. Dagmar Kern (Brotecke) gave her mighty loaf a war-like name, and a matching fierce decoration to boot. Marked with a sword - and made with black ale, rye and spelt: just the right thing for a hungry knight and his guests!

SWORD BREAD FOR GÖTZ (Please, contact me for the recipe in English)

Dagmar's Sword Bread for Götz

10. Daniel Ronay (Facebook/Baking 101) believes a hothead like Götz should have a robust bread that matches his passionate nature.

His HOT CHILE-PEPPER LOAF FOR GÖTZ is seasoned with chile peppers. (Daniel doesn't have a blog, please contact me for the recipe).

-

Daniel Ronay's Hot Chile Pepper Loaf for Götz

11. To "add a medieval tone" to his loaf, Daniel Strachan (Joy of Gluten) included a "bubbling, blurping porridge" in his SPELT-PORRIDGE-BREAD FOR GÖTZ VON BERLICHINGEN

The trapped water in the porridge keeps the attractive breads moist for several days.

Daniel Strachan's Spelt-Porridge-Bread for Götz von Berlichingen

12. David Snyder/dmsnyder, one of The Fresh Loaf's best hobby bakers, finds that a medieval German knight would have been very lucky, indeed, to have a bread like this on his breakfast table:

70% RYE BREAD FOR A MEDIEVAL KNIGHT

David's 70% Rye Bread for a Medieval Knight

13. Dietmar Kappl, master baker at the renowned Reichl-Bäckerei in St Marien (lucky Austrians!), shares some his wonderful breads in his Homebaking Blog.

Even if authorities and clerics (which Götz despised, anyway) would have sneered at such a hearty rye loaf - my husband and I certainly didn't, it tastes excellent! (Please, contact me for the recipe in English.)

KNIGHT'S BREAD "GÖTZ VON BERLICHINGEN",

Dietmar's Knight's Bread "Götz von Berlichingen"

14. He didn't find a medieval bread recipe during his research, but Don Sadowsky, author of the wildly popular "Really? Authentic Bread?" unearthed a "tough as Krupp steel" Komissbrot from the trenches of Verdun.

It could have saved quite a few lives - if used as impermeable shield against flying shrapnel!

1914 GERMAN ARMY KRIEGS-BROT

Don's 1914 German Army Kriegs-Brot

15. Eva Henningsen (Kochpoetin) caters to the (long neglected) soft side of Sir Götz. I baked her tender spelt brioches with fine orange-lime aroma - even the fiercest old warrior would have enjoyed a

KNIGHT'S BREAKFAST (Please, contact me for the recipe in English)

Eva's Knight's Breakfast

16.  Freerk Bos (BreadLab) shares his very special relationship with Goethe's Götz - he was the first (and probably only) student who ever checked out this drama from the local library!

Little rolls, with a paprika-chili spiral, dipped in seeds - I can't think of a prettier way Sturm und Drang became bread.

NO GÖTZ NO GLORY - HOT BLOODED  BUNS:

No Götz no Glory - Freerk's Hot Blooded Buns

17. Gary Turner (The Fresh Loaf) did some research on food in medieval times. Whereas common people had to eat coarse rye and barley breads, only finest wheat was good enough for the higher classes.

This is his delicious, mildly acidic FIRST CLEAR FINE BREAD FOR SIR GÖTZ:

Gary's First Clear Fine Bread for Sir Götz

18. Ian Sandman's (Mookie loves bread) four-legged kitchen helpers would have rather baked for the mysterious Black Knight without hands (from the Artus legend), but could be persuaded that at least one hand was needed to handle this rustic loaf!

IRON-HAND-CHALLENGE-BREAD - A PORRIDGE MICHE:

 

Ian's Iron Hand Challenge Bread with Porridge

19. For health reasons Janet Cook (The Fresh Loaf) cannot eat her beautiful loaves herself, but that doesn't deter her from indulging in her bread baking passion: making her neighbors happy.

Inspired by medieval drinking habits, she added a barley mash to her wheat spelt bread.

BARLEY MASH BREAD FOR THE KNIGHT WITH THE IRON HAND (Janet has no blog - please, contact me for the recipe!)

Janet's Barley Mash Bread for the Knight with the Iron Hand

20. A piece of this bread in his chain mail pouch or saddle bag would have made a good meal for any knight hungry from pillaging. Joanna's (Zebbakes) loaf, made with a kefir levain, is substantial enough for a forceful character like Götz:

KEFIR REMACINATA BREAD FOR A FORCEFUL CHARACTER

Joanna's Kefir Remacinata Bread for a Forceful Character

21. Josh/Golgi70 (The Fresh Loaf) wants to sustain a knight on the road with a very nourishing loaf - full with berries, seeds - and bacon! It also makes good use of some kitchen leftovers:

A KNIGHT'S RYE 

Josh's Knight's Rye

22 + 23. Jürgen Krauss' (The Fresh Loaf) spelt bread comes in two variations, with light or green spelt. You can also choose between a purist version, or a loaf seasoned with nettle and fennel. Served with goat cheese the nettle version earned him his family's Annual Culinary Awards!

GÖTZ BROT - JÜRGEN'S TAKE, WITH LIGHT SPELT

GÖTZ-BROT - JÜRGEN'S TAKE, WITH GREEN SPELT

Jürgens Götz-Brot with light or green spelt (right: with nettle and fennel)

24. I wanted to use my favorite flours, spelt, einkorn, rye and barley my own bread, and give it a medieval touch with a millet porridge. My bread guinea pig husband and I liked it a lot!

WORTHY OF A KNIGHT - KARIN'S GÖTZENBURG-BROT

Karin's Götzenburg-Brot

25. Even in faraway Dubai, Khalid/Mebake (The Fresh Loaf) bakes with freshly milled organic wheat, rye and spelt flours from Germany. His loaf tastes smoky, nutty, slightly acidic and caramel sweet, since it's made with a raisin soaker.

KHALID'S GÖTZENBURG BREAD
(My take on it you find here)

Khalid's Götzenburg Bread - from Dubai!

26. Marcus/Wassisname (The Fresh Loaf) wondered, what kind of loaf he might offer Old Götz nowadays, and opted for a wheat bread with barley, oats and flax seed.

Everybody who tried it enjoyed his GÖTZENBROT. And if anyone doesn’t like it?  Well… thanks to Götz von Berlichingen, Marcus knows just what to say to those wimps!

Marcus' Götzenbrot

27. Marion's (Marion's Kitchenstories) sourdough with whole wheat and rye berries has such a wonderful "bite" that it made the list of her top ten favorite breads. (She posted in Dutch and English)

MARION'S WHEAT & RYE BERRY SOURDOUGH FOR A COURAGEOUS KNIGHT 

Marion's Wheat & Rye Berry Sourdough for a Courageous Knight

28. No wonder that Ninive (Ninive Loves Life) took up the challenge to help fill the bread basket for Old Götz - her maiden name is Götze!

Her WHOLE RYE BREAD FOR GÖTZ, made with coarse rye meal, beer and molasses, develops its good taste during long, slow fermentation. (Ninive's blog is bilingual, German and English).

Ninive's Whole Rye Bread for Götz

29. Sam Kargl (Sam's Kitchen) wondered how traveling noblemen and their followers prepared their food when when they had no oven. Surely they would have brought a kettle!

But if you aren't busy with plundering and pillaging you can also bake this hearty rye-wheat loaf in a regular oven, in a cast iron pot, or even without a "kettle". (Please, contact me for the recipe in English)

KETTLE BREAD FOR GÖTZ:

Sam's Kettle Bread for Götz

30. Susan (Facebook) bakes this 1.8 kilogram heavy weight every week, and thinks a bread that she and her neighbors have enjoyed for years, should certainly please an old knight, too.
(Susan has no own blog -  please, contact me for the recipe).

COUNTRY FRENCH BREAD FOR GÖTZ

Susan's Country French Bread for Götz

COUNTRIES:
Germany:        Britta, Che Foodzeit, Chorus, Eva, Brotdoc, Ninive, Dagmar
Great Britain: Jürgen, Joanna
Netherlands:   Freerk, Marion
Austria:           Dietmar, Sam
Sweden:           Barbara
Switzerland:    Daniel Strachan
Canada:          Brian
USA:                Ian, Josh, Karin, Janet, Marcus, Gary, Don, Daniel Ronay, David, Dabrownman,
                        Susan
UAE/Dubai:    Khalid

Good bye!

AROMA BREAD - A LOVE STORY

The perfect Aroma Bread

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One of my most favorite cookbooks is "Ancient Grains for Modern Meals".

Award winning Author Maria Speck combines her German father's love for hearty grains, and her Greek mother's culinary talents in dishes that make you grab your shopping bag, hop on the bike or in the car, and drive to the next natural food store to buy those ancient grains, veggies and fruits for Maria's mouthwatering meals.

Normally I consider a cookbook worth its money, if it contains at least one recipe I really like to cook. "Ancient Grains for Modern Meals" has so many, that I still haven't prepared all the ones I want to try. (No, I DON'T get a commission!)

A few of the dishes are breads, among them the Aroma Bread. A no-knead bread by trade, its evocative name spiked my interest, and my love affair with the spicy loaf began.

"Ancient Grains" is very user friendly, with detailed, easy to follow instructions, no sophisticated culinary equipment needed.

No-knead breads meet these expectations, a mixing bowl, a wooden spoon, a clean kitchen towel, a Dutch oven, and you are all set.

These low maintenance breads don't want you to slave over them, they are free spirits, and perfectly willing to go and develop themselves, if you give them enough time (and a little bit of yeast.) They show their gratitude by rising eagerly, and tasting better than many other loaves that had been kneaded, slapped and punched into submission.

You have the choice between a crunchy, and an XX-crunchy Aroma Bread. If you opt for the super chewy, you need to soak whole grain berries for several hours, before mixing them into the dough. This is definitely no impulse bread, so plan to bake it 24 hours ahead.

Maria called her loaf "Aroma Bread" for a good reason. This truly aromatic loaf is not for the faint hearted! But in our old home country Germany breads are often flavored with coriander, fennel and caraway, these herbs are even commonly referred to as "Brotgewürz" (bread spices.) You can use them whole, or coarsely ground.

Bread spices fennel, caraway and coriander

As easy as no-knead breads are to mix, handling wet dough always remains a bit of a challenge. And here comes the sticky wicket: the dough has to be shaped into a loaf, and transferred from the mixing bowl to a place where it can rise. And, after that, it has to be turned out into a piping hot Dutch oven.

That leaves you with two choices: either to lower the bread gently into the pot, risking nasty burns (aka Baker's Badge of Honor). Or you let it drop from a secure height - and have your bread sigh and deflate!

Maria solves the problem by having you scrape the bubbly fermented mass onto a well floured countertop (flour is your friend, creating a barrier between the sticky dough and its surroundings), so that you can fold it into a round.

Then you place the loaf on a floured kitchen towel, fold the corners over it, and, voilà, you have a cozy proofing place. Of course, it takes a rather amorphous shape from being bundled in a kitchen towel. 

My first bread went into a large, oval Dutch oven (I didn't have a smaller one), and eagerly spread to fill the void.

My first Aroma Bread - shaped like a roly poly!

Baked into a rather flat loaf, it reminded me of those little things that scurry away when you lift a stone. But when I took the first bite, my eyes glazed over. My flat roly poly bread tasted awesome!

The next time I decided to set the bread more boundaries, changing its Armadillidiida appearance. Instead of proofing it simply in a towel, I used my pretty brotform to contain it.

Proofed in a rising basket, the bread is round but still...

It came out of the oven nice and round, but still... way too much room to spread during the baking.

Alas! My main source for discounted kitchen gadgets, Home Goods, was letting me down when I needed it most. Still without the right sized pot, I decided to experiment with a free-standing, self- contained sourdough version, made with pre-doughs à la Peter Reinhart's "Whole Grain Breads".

Aroma Bread made as free-standing loaf (with sourdough)

My hearth baked sourdough loaf turned out beautiful. Though I couldn't find much difference in taste, this method is a good alternative for people who either have no Dutch oven, love wild yeasts, hate wet doughs, or prefer to bake their bread as free-standing loaf.

The next time I visited Marshall's (another treasure trove for kitchen stuff) I found a snazzy turquoise cast iron pot in just the right size - for half the price! And soon was mixing the ingredients for my fourth Aroma Bread - again the no-knead version.

And out of the oven came (TATAAA!): the perfect Aroma Bread - looking just as good as it tasted!

The last task left to do for inquiring minds, was to try the sandwich version of Aroma Bread, baked in a loaf pan. A cold cut-friendly shape, and the easiest way to make this wonderful bread. And it has an additional benefit: you can bake more than just one loaf at a time. (My customers will be happy!)

Aroma Sandwich Bread - the easiest version

COMMENTS:

• If you use the optional whole grain berries (I made the bread with and without, both versions are great) add more salt: 9 g/0.3 oz instead of 7 g/0.25 oz. 

• Instead of sunflower seeds you can also take pumpkin seeds (or a mixture of both.)

• Toast the seeds, before adding them to the dough.

• For an easier, risk free transport of the proofed bread into the hot pot, use a large piece of parchment paper as a sling to lower the bread gently into the pot. You don't have to remove it.

AROMA BREAD  (adapted from "Ancient Grains for Modern Meals")
Makes 1 (2-pound) loaf

Grain Berries (optional):
1/2 cup whole wheat, rye, kamut, or spelt berries
cold water, for soaking

Dough:
340 g/12 oz whole spelt flour (3 cups)
107 g/ 3.75 oz whole rye flour (1 cup)
  57 g/2 oz coarse or medium stone ground cornmeal (1/2 cup)
  67 g/ 2.35 oz sunflower or pumpkin seeds, toasted (1/2 cup)
  35 g/ 1.25 oz flax or sesame seeds, toasted (1/4 cup)
   2 tbsp. aroma spice blend*)
    7 g/ 1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt (or 9 g/0.3 oz if using whole grain berries)
    1 g/ 1/4 tsp. instant yeast
     all soaked whole grain berries (if using)
475 g/2 cups cold water
cornmeal, for sprinkling

*) Aroma spice blend: mix 6 tablespoons whole coriander seeds with 3 tablespoons each fennel and caraway seeds (enough for 6 loaves).

DAY 1
In the morning, place whole grain berries in a bowl and cover with at least 1-inch cold water. Cover, and leave at room temperature to soak. Before using, drain them through a strainer (by the way, the soaking water is an excellent fertilizer for your plants.)

Mixed dough - I used black sesame seeds for a nice contrast

In the evening, whisk together all ingredients for the dough in a large bowl, except for soaked grain berries and water. Scatter grain berries on top, and add almost all the water. Stir with a dough whisk or wooden spoon until all flour is hydrated. (Dough will be wet and sticky, if not, add a bit more water.) Cover with plastic wrap, and let sit at room temperature to ferment for 12 - 18 hours.

Overnight the dough grows to a puffy, swollen mass

DAY 2
Use a rising basket, (or improvise by placing a clean kitchen towel over a basket or bowl.) Sprinkle with fine cornmeal (other flours work, too). Generously flour your work surface. Using a bowl scraper or rubber spatula, scrape the stringy, bubbly dough onto the work surface.

Scraping out the fermented dough you will see its spongy structure

With floured hands (or two oiled bench knifes or bowl scrapers), fold dough exactly 4 times, always towards the center, from the top, the bottom, the right and the left side. Turn the dough package around and place it, seam side down, into the towel lined rising basket. Sprinkle with cornmeal or flour, cover with a kitchen towel, and let it rise for about 1 hour.

After 30 minutes, position a rack in the bottom third of the oven, and preheat oven to 475ºF. Place a 4 1/2- to 5 1/2-quart cast iron pot or Dutch oven (with lid) on the rack to heat up.

When the dough has grown about 1 1/2 times its original size, poke it gently with your finger. The dimple should not fill up again (it can come back a little bit, but should remain visible). If not, wait another 15 minutes.

Fitting snugly in the Dutch oven, the bread will rise more than spread.

Remove hot pot from the oven and open the lid. Gently turn out the proofed bread from the rising basket into the Dutch oven, seam side up, guiding it with your hand, (or turn it out onto a parchment paper and, holding the paper on both sides, gently lower the bread into the pot (with paper).

Cover with the lid, and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover, and continue baking for 20 - 25 minutes, until the loaf is nicely browned, sounds hollow when thumped on the bottom, and an instant thermometer, inserted in the middle, registers 200ºF.

Remove bread from cast-iron pot and transfer it to a wire rack to cool.


AROMA SANDWICH LOAF

Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with oil, and sprinkle it with 1-2 tablespoons of flax- or sesame seeds. After folding the risen dough, place it, seam side up, right in the prepared loaf pan. (My suggestion: brush top with water, and sprinkle it with more flax- or sesame seeds.) Let it proof as described.

Preheat oven only to 425ºF, placing an oven proof pan or broiler tray for steaming on a the lowest level to heat up.

When loaf is proofed, place in the middle of the oven, pour 1 cup boiling water in the hot steam pan , and bake loaf for 30 minutes. Remove steam pan, rotate bread 180 degrees for even browning, and  bake it for about 30 minutes more, or until it registers 200ºF.

Let loaf cool in the pan for 5 minutes, than turn it out onto a wire rack (if it sticks to the pan, loosen it with a butter knife or spatula.)


AROMA SOURDOUGH BREAD 

Starter:
  64 g/2.25 oz rye mother starter (100% hydration)
205 g/7.25 oz whole spelt flour
124 g/4.4 oz lukewarm water

Soaker:
  57 g/2 oz coarse or medium ground cornmeal
  75 g/2.65 oz whole rye flour
  92 g/3.25 oz whole spelt flour
168 g/6 oz water
    4 g/0.15 salt

Final Dough:
   all soaker and starter
  43 g/1.5 oz whole spelt flour
    5 g/0.2 oz salt
    5 g/0.2 oz instant yeast
  67 g/2.35 oz sunflower- or pumpkin seeds, toasted
  35 g/1.25 oz sesame seeds, toasted
    2 tbsp. aroma spice blend (see original recipe)
182 g/6.4 oz water, add more as needed

DAY 1
In the morning, stir together all ingredients for soaker. Cover, and leave at room temperature.

Mix all starter ingredients at low speed (or by hand) for 1 minute, until all flour is hydrated. Knead for 2 minutes at medium-low speed (or by hand.) Let rest for 5 minutes, then resume kneading for another minute. Cover, and leave at room temperature.

In the evening, mix all ingredients for final dough for 1- 2 minutes at low speed (or by hand) until all flour is hydrated. Knead at medium-low speed (or by hand) for 4 minutes, adding more water as needed. Dough should be very tacky and not dry to the touch. Let dough rest for 5 minutes, then resume kneading for 1 more minute. (Dough should be tacky, but not sticky.)

Gather dough into a ball, and place it in a lightly oiled bowl, turning it around to coat it with oil. Cover well, and place it in refrigerator overnight.

DAY 2
Remove dough from fridge 2 hours before using, to warm up. (It should have risen nicely overnight.)

Preheat oven to 500ºF, with bread stone and steam pan.

Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface, and shape into a round. Place boule, seam side down, in a floured rising basket. Sprinkle with more flour. Cover, and let it rise for 45 - 60 minutes, or until it has grown 1 1/2 times its original size, and a dimple stays visible when you gently poke it with a finger.

Turn bread out onto a parchment lined baking sheet (or use a peel) and place it in the oven, pour a cup of boiling water in the steam pan and reduce heat to 475ºF. After 10 minutes, reduce heat to 425ºF. Continue baking for another 10 minutes, rotate bread 180 degrees, remove steam pan, and bake for about 30 minutes more, or until it is nicely browned, sounds hollow when thumped on the bottom, and registers 200ºF.

Cool on wire rack.

This Aroma Bread was made with whole kamut berries

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(Reprinted with permission from Ancient Grains for Modern Meals by Maria Speck, copyright © 2011. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc.)

Submitted to YeastSpotting