Winter bread
Submitted by Petra Lindeson-Harris
About the cook: I'm a Swede living in Honolulu. Getting anything Swedish is nearly impossible here, and anything from home that I crave I have to make. It's not always easy since a lot of ingredients here are vastly different or non-existent. So I have to be creative. I look up the chemicals and how they interact with different levelers and how it works so that I can replicate the procedure, and possibly make it similar or better. I order some things, but living on an island is what t is, and sometimes products can't be shipped here. I love baking and cooking and will continue my quest!
About the dish: For Christmas every year Swedes eat a spiced raising bread that just tastes like the home and the holidays to me. I've had to make so many corrections and substitutions that it at this point is a completely new bread. It is different from the original but still amazing in it's own right. And the ingredients can be found somewhat easily!
National Origin: Sweden
Serves: 4
Estimated Time: Over 2 Hours
Ingredients:
25 g butter
2 tsp dried bitter orange peel
3/4 tbsp ground ginger
1/2 tbsp ground cloves
1/3 tbsp ground cardamon
4 g quick rise yeast
225 g Guinness
25 ml canola oil
50 ml or 70 g malt syrup (find in home brewery store)
160 g rye flour
245 g King Arthur bread flour
2/3 tbsp salt
80 g raisins
Preparation:
Melt the butter in a pot together with the spices; set aside to let cool.
Dissolve the yeast in 1/4 of of the beer. Add the rest, oil and malt syrup.
Add the butter and and sifted spice mixture.
Add the flour and the salt.
Mix the ingredients briefly until just blended.
Let the dough proof for about 30 min
Fold the outside edge towards the middle, around 4 times
Repeat this step two times. Once you have folded the dough the third time, let it proof for about an hour.
Shape the dough into a rectangle by folding the four sides towards the middle and flip it over. Let the dough proof for about 60-90 minutes or until the bread does not spring back.
Bake the bread for about 50 min in total: Start baking it at 375°F for about 15 minutes to get a nice crust, then decrease the temperature to 330°F for the remainder of the time. The bread should reach an internal temperature of 205°F
Let cool uncovered.