Christmas Bread

November 18, 2015


This festive rye bread combines all the best parts of Christmas, almonds, dates and dark chocolate. How could you resist it? 

What's more, you can bake this bread with sourdough starter or with yeast. 

Home-brewed beer are part of our Christmas as well as Easter and I never throw away any leftover mash. Instead, I recycle it into my breads. Mash gives a lovely, deep flavour to all kinds of breads. No wonder I have added some mash into this dough too.

2 breads

First day (morning) with sourdough 

1 dl (100 g) sourdough starter
1 dl (100 g) lukewarm water 
2 dl (110 g) dark wheat flour (yeast bread wheat flour) 

Mix together lukewarm water and flour. Cover with a tea towel and leave to sit at room temperature (22–24° Celsius) until the next day.

First day (morning) with fresh yeast

2 dl (200 g) lukewarm water 
2 dl (110 g) dark wheat flour (yeast bread wheat flour) 

Mix together lukewarm water and flour. Cover with a tea towel and leave to sit at room temperature (22–24° Celsius) until the next day.

Second day

3 dl (300 g) lukewarm water
2 tsp salt
1,75 dl (0,75 cup US) mash
1,5 dl (210 g) Scandinavian dark syrup (or light molasses)
(25 g fresh yeast) 
5 dl (325 g) wheat flour
1 dl (0,4 cup US) dates, raisin-size pieces
1,5 dl whole almonds with skins75 g chunky bits of dark chocolate 
about 7 dl (400 g) rye flour 

Decoration: whole almonds with skins 

Blend lukewarm water, salt, mash, syrup (and fresh yeast) with the starter dough. Usually you don't have to use commercial yeast if you are baking with the sourdough starter, but if your starter seems to be a bit lazy, you can add 10 g yeast into the dough. It doesn't spoil the bread. 

Add the wheat flour and whip vigorously couple of minutes. Mix in dates, almonds, chocolate and gradually more rye flour and knead until the dough feels smooth, but still a little sticky. This time the dough is ready even if it's still sticking to the sides of your mixing bowl. 

Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for 8 hours or until the dough has almost doubled in size. (The dough is ready for baking, if it slowly springs back, when you gently push a finger against the dough.)

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it gently. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Shape the pieces into two long loaves and put them on a parchment paper. Attach the almonds on the top of the breads by slightly pushing them down.

Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for 2 hours.

Put a baking tray into the oven and preheat it to 275°C. Using the parchment paper slide the breads into the hot baking tray and put them into the oven. Reduce the temperature to 200°C and bake for 50–60 minutes. 

Cover and let cool on a wire rack. Wrap the breads into tea tovels and wait until the next day to cut them.


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2 kommenttia

  1. Hi! What can we use in place of the mash? I don't make beer at home.

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    Replies
    1. You can use malt flour or malted grains + hot water. Just let the mix cool before you add it to your dough. Or, replace mash with malt extract.

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