After Gerhard posted the video of a Westphalian bakery making old school pumpernickel the same way since 1537I knew Lucy would be getting it on the bake list pretty fast since she claims the only real bread is pumpernickel if you are German like her.
The recipe for this one is about as short and easy as it gets – rye meal and water at 100% hydration and 2% salt. Lucy, being the con conformist and whack job she is wont to be couldn’t leave it alone and added 12% scalded rye berries and 5% aromatic seeds where half were caraway and the other half equal amounts of anise, coriander and fennel.
But that is it. No sourdough, no yeast. It is then baked low and slow in monstrous Pullman pans for 24 hours in the video. I was making a tiny one, in a cocktail pan totaling 981 g with everything in it. So I cut the baking time down to 12 hours total – 1 ½ hours at 325 F and 10 ½ hours at 225 F.
This is a mix everything, autolyze for 1 hour and dump it in the pan recipe. Then I covered it with foil to keep the moisture in and then put the pan in a pot with 1 1/2“ of water in the bottom and then covered the pot with foil too. Then into the mini oven it went. You don’t want this bread to dry out because it will become harder than a brick and last longer than one as a building material too.
Not only is this a fine eating bread but it has to be the most aromatic one when baking too. The smell is intoxicating and addicting. The foil stuck to the top on one edge and discolored that spot. This one needs to sit for 24-48 hours before slicing if you want 1/8th” slices like Lucy does. So now we wait and then wait some more as the wrapped bread redistributes its retained moisture.
The holidays scream for a an eggnog cheese cake with a gingersnap crust to go with those pork ribs and salad.
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First time I saw a recipe for pumpernickel without a leavening agent of any kind, I didn't believe it but now that you have posted this, I really know that it can be done because I trust you! Can't wait to see the crumb! As usual, beautiful creations too especially the cheesecake, I LOVE CHEESECAKE!
Cheers!
published on TFL not long ago. Real pumpernickel for Wesphalia Germany circa 1537. He grew up not far from this bkery
I like Youtube and here is a Just click the link
Won;t cut into this for a other 20 hours though - It smells great!
In willpower and self-restraint, then... ;-)
I'm going to have to try this at some point as I love this kind of bread. But a question... When you say rye meal, is this wholemeal (wholegrain) rye flour, or is it still something else?
read thermometer to test the at the 6 hour mark. I'm estimating mine was over baked by about 6 hours:-) This was a small cocktail loaf and 12 hours baking was way, way too much. I could hardly cut it with a knife. Just horrible. It sure smelled great though. I can;t even make altus out of it.....sadly I ruined a fine recipe Meal is coarsely ground rye - not flour or even medium flour.
That's a bummer... Mind, it *is* an issue with scaling down recipes - it does change the cooking / baking time, and sometimes even the best guesstimate leads to an epic fail. Been there, done that... :-P
What about the old cocktail stick / wooden skewer test?
I'd say my usual Bacheldre Mill whole rye would work with this as it's a fairly coarse grind.
luck so we can't even us it for altus:-) I'm going to keep it on the counter and see how long before it turns green!
luck so we can't even us it for altus:-) I'm going to keep it on the counter and see how long before it turns green!
luck so we can't even us it for altus:-) I'm going to keep it on the counter and see how long before it turns green!
luck so we can't even us it for altus:-) I'm going to keep it on the counter and see how long before it turns green!
Looks like a chocolate brownie! Sorry it didn't turn out better but I'm sure you'll get it right next bake. I'm sure your dentist would love it....he's planning his next vacation based on how many cracked teeth he needs to fix :)
failure so it was overdue! This one makes bricks seem feather light....
Did you try again?
brick. I checked the temperature and when it got to 202 F I took it out and all was well - one of the great bread of the world. Today I am doing a 60% whole grain rye medium grind with 40% whole grain wheat also medium using porter for the dough liquid, some red rye malt and barley malt syrup with prunes and aromatic seeds - another one of my favorites.
Just don't bake this one too long and it will be fine. You can't find an easier recipe.
Thanks. I love Westphalian pumpernickel. My mother was from Bavaria and used to buy it at the German market. Whenever I have it, I have the delicious blend of remembering a kind mother and having something tasty in my mouth.
Your bake today sounds fabulous. I've had to cut back on baking because I end up eating too much of it myself. I need a friend like Lucy.