malt

Gift Bread

March 30, 2016


I like to share food with friends, co-workers and neighbors and this tasty bread has long been one of my favorite edible gifts.

3 breads

7 dl (700 g) kotikalja (a traditional, low-alcohol, home-made beer, closely resembling kvass) 
50 g fresh yeast 
1,5 tsp salt 
1,5 dl (210 g) Scandinavian dark syrup (or light molasses) 
0,25 tsp cinnamon 
0,5 tsp clove 
1 tsp ginger 
14 dl (770 g) rye flour 
about 3 dl (200 g) wheat flour 

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast, salt and syrup in home-made beer. Stir in cinnamon, clove and ginger. Gradually mix in the flours and knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes. 

Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for one hour. 

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it gently. Divide the dough into three equal pieces. Shape the pieces into round loaves. 

Line two baking trays with parchment papers, place the breads on them, cover and leave to rise at room temperature for 30 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 175°C. Bake for about an hour. 

Cover and let cool on a wire rack. For the best texture and flavor, wrap airtight and don't slice until the next day.


no-yeast

Sultsina

March 24, 2016


Sultsina pasties are part of a traditional Karelian cuisine. Our family started to bake them when my grand aunt got a daugher-in-law from eastern Finland in the 1960s. Now they are beloved part of our family celebrations.

The original family recipe calls for unleavened rye dough and semolina porridge. I prefer rice or pearl barley porridge. I have filled sultsina shells with potato, wild mushroom and smoked fish salad too. Maybe not sultsinas anymore, but delicious! These variations have been a huge hit among my friends. 

I have also taken liberties with the shape of sultsinas. I make cones because they look prettier than the traditional shape.

18 pcs.

Shells:
4 dl (220 g) rye flour 
1 dl (65 g) wheat flour
1 tsp salt
2 dl (200 g) cold water

Filling:
2 dl (200 g) water
2 dl (170 g) short grain rice
1 L whole milk 
1 tsp salt 

Glaze: 
50 g butter 
1 dl (100 g) milk 

Combine the flours, salt and cold water. Shape the dough into a round ball. Cover the ball with plastic wrap an put it in the fridge.

Start to cook the porridge. Place the rice in a fine mesh sieve and rinse under cold water. Bring 2 dl water to the boil. Stir in rice and cook until water has completely evaporated. This takes couple of minutes. Pour milk into the kettle, reduce heat to a low simmer and cook for another 40 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in salt.

Make the shells while the porridge is simmering on the stove, but remember to stir the porridge once in the while.


Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it softly, for just a moment or two. Roll the dough into a rope. Cut the rope into 18 pieces. Shape each piece into a ball. Press to flatten. Roll out each ball into a 15-cm (6-inch) circle. Make them as thin as possible, but don't worry about the perfect shape. Some roughness looks good.


Sprinkle generous amount of flour between each shell and make an overlapping pile on the table. Cover the pile with plastic wrap.


Melt the butter and add milk into it.

Brush the excess flour away and place one shell on a cast iron pan or a griddle. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until bottom turns color. Turn over with a flat spatula and cook until light brown spots appear on the underside. Brush only the other side of each shell with butter-milk mixture and pile them buttered sides against each other. Cover with foil and cloth. 

Place some of the filling on the buttered side of each shell and roll them all up into cones. Serve immediately.


wheat

Mustaleima Soup Bread

March 16, 2016


As you might have already noticed I like cheese. Mustaleima ("Black Label") Emmental is one of my absolute favorites. Mustaleima is a strong cheese, matured for a minimum of 9 months. It has a sharp, nutty flavour and fat content from 30 to 32 %. 

Couple of weeks ago I saw a ready-to-use Mustaleima cheese soup carton at the local grocery store, when I was queuing at the cash register. The queue was long and I had time to think about new bread recipes. I have never used a soup as a base for a bread dough. Why? That's a good question! There are almost endless possibilities. I was ready to try.

My first experiment was a success. The family loved the bread. Mustaleima Soup Bread was delicious, but there was one surprise. The taste most resembles an onion bread in flavor! 

2 breads 

1 carton (5 dl or 2 cups, US) Valio Viola Mustaleima cheese soup 
2,5 dl (1 cup, US) water 
25 g fresh yeast 
0,75 tsp salt 
about 16 dl (1000 g) wheat flour 

Combine the soup and water. Add yeast and salt into the lukewarm liquid. Gradually mix in the wheat flour and knead the dough about 10 minutes. 
Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for about 1 hour.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it. Divide the dough into two equal pieces and shape them into two round loaves. Line two trays with parchment papers, place the breads on them, cover and leave the first bread to rise at room temperature for 30–40 minutes. Put the second one in the fridge. 

Put a baking tray into the oven and preheat it to 275°C. 

Fifteen minutes before you'll put the first bread into the oven, take the second one out of the fridge.

Slide the first bread onto the hot baking tray with parchment paper. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the temperature down to 200°C and cook for a further 15 minutes. Bake the second loaf in the same way.

Cover and let cool on a wire rack. 

barley

Fennel Bread

March 08, 2016


This recipe will give you three loaves, because they will freeze well. Or, you can give a bread or two to your friends. (A freshly baked homemade bread is one of my favorite edible gift.) A cup of tea shared with friends and a slice of Fennel Bread is a good idea too. 

 3 breads 

5 dl (180 g) rolled oats 
5 dl (280 g) barley flour 
2 tbsp fennel seeds, coarsely crushed
1 L (1 kg) hot water
0,5 dl (70 g) honey 
1 dl (90 g) canola oil (or other vegetable oil)
2 tsp salt
50 g fresh yeast 
about 1 L (650 g) wheat flour 

Stir rolled oats, barley flour and coarsely crushed fennel seeds together and then pour the hot water on top of the mixture. Stir until smooth and set aside to cool.

Add honey, canola oil, salt and yeast into the lukewarm porridge (the last two dissolved in a small amount of water). Gradually mix in the wheat flour and knead the dough about 10 minutes.

Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for about 1 hour.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it gently. Put some dough aside for top decorations. Divide the rest of dough into three equal pieces. Shape the pieces into three long loaves and put them into oiled tins. Decorate the breads with dough leaves using water as a glue. 

Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for 50 minutes or so. 

Preheat the oven to 250°C. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the temperature down to 200°C and cook for a further 40–50 minutes. 

Let cool on a wire rack.

Eat one and freeze the others inside an airtight freezer bag.


leftover

Rye Bread Dessert

March 03, 2016



One thing that will inevitably happen if you love and eat rye bread, some day you have a dried bread on your table. This is a delicious way to use the leftover rye bread and to turn it into an incredibly tasty dessert. I have won a recipe contest with this recipe and got a pile of pans, which I still use in my kitchen.

 200 g dried rye bread
25 g butter 
70 g sugar 
35 g brown sugar 
130 g good quality dark chocolate 
400 g fresh apples 
the juice of 1/2 lemon 
75 g crushed almonds 
1 dl (100 g) heavy whipping cream 
1 dl (100 g) natural yoghurt 
1 tbsp sugar 
Decoration: 
dried apple slices 
grated chocolate 

Grate the dried bread. Place the butter in a pan and melt it. Add sugar (white and brown) and the grated bread. Fry until the mix has a rich, dark color. Let the bread mix cool completely. Grate the chocolate and add it into the bread mix. 

Make sure the cream is very cold and beat it until soft peaks form. Add 1 tbsp of sugar and the natural yoghurt into the whipped cream. 

Mash the fresh apples into a thick puree. Add the lemon juice and crushed almonds into the puree. 

Layer the bottom of a dessert bowls with bread mix, apple mix, and half the whipped topping. Repeat layers. Decorate with apple slices and grated chocolate.