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SVARTBROD (BLACK BREAD LOAVES) FROM THE TURKU ARCHIPELAGO

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Serves: 1 loaf

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  • Vegetarian
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Traditional from the Turku archipelago in south-west Finland. Excellent on its own with just butter, with cheese, with smoked fish or gravlax. I also like it with roe and smetana and finely chopped red onion, instead of blinis.

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Ingredients

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  • 500 grams malt
  • 1.2 kilograms coarse rye flour
  • 1.3 kilograms wholemeal flour
  • 400 ml syrup
  • 40 grams fresh yeast (not dried)
  • 2.5 litres water
  • salt (according to taste)
  • coffee (to baste the loaves with)
  • syrup (to baste the loaves with)

Method

  1. Read through carefully before starting. This is time consuming. A weekend project really...
  2. Day 1 : Stir 1/3 of the malt and 1/3 of the rye carefully with a wooden spoon into 8 dl of warm water for about 15 minutes. Strew a little malt and rye to cover the dough.
  3. Cover with towels and a blanket to keep warm and let rest for 20 minutes. Stir the dough again, pour in 8 dl boiling water a little at a time.
  4. Stir for about 15 minutes. Strew again with 1/3 of the malt and the rye to cover the dough. Again cover tightly with towels and a blanket.
  5. Let rest for 20 minutes. Stir the dough vigorously for 15 minutes. Pour in the rest of the boiling water a little at a time while stirring.
  6. Cover with the last of the malt and nearly all the rye. Cover with towels and blanket and let rest again for 20 minutes. Stir vigorously for 15 minutes.
  7. Crumble about 1 teaspoon of fresh yeast over the dough and stir it in. Cover with the last of the rye. Cover with the towels and blanket and leave to rise overnight.
  8. Day 2 : Dissolve the rest of the yeast in the syrup and add to the dough. Add the wholewheat flour (save some for baking out the dough), and knead until the dough comes away from the hand easily, "snapping" (the dough talks).
  9. Strew a bit of flour over the dough, which should be "crossed" (traditionally you press a cross pattern on the dough with the side of your hand).
  10. Cover with towels and a blanket and leave to rise for as long as seems to be needed until baking out (I'd guess 1-2 hours).
  11. Turn the dough onto a table, cut into 8 shares. Bake these into 1,5 cm thick flat round loaves, let rise covered with a towel and prick with a fork before baking. Bake for 15-20 minutes in a 225 degrees centigrade oven. Immediately on removing from oven, baste liberally with a mixture of coffee and syrup, don't forget the underside.
  12. Quickly cover with cloths to keep warm and soft. When lukewarm - baste again. Let surface dry after second basting. Stack in pairs top side together, package tightly and well with aluminium foil and bake again in 100 degrees centigrade low oven for about 6 hours (until the bread is black).
  13. While this is going on there should be a container of water in the bottom of the oven. This process in a cool oven makes the bread sweet and black. Upon removing from oven, pack well in towels and blankets to cool very very slowly. Leave like this for 2 days.
  14. You might cover blankets gently with big plastic bin bags to keep moisture in. Taste improves and deepens every day. After this it's ready to eat. Can be frozen, but keeps well in plastic bags too. Enjoy!

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