Rye bread — a rustic, dense homemade loaf flavoured with honey and caraway seeds. A little chewier than white bread, lovely sliced thin for hearty open sandwiches.
- 200g Rye
- 200g Strong White Bread Flour
- 10g Yeast
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 tablespoon Honey
- 1 tsp Caraway Seed
Video
Preparation
- Tip the flours, yeast and salt into a bowl. In a jug, mix the honey with 250ml warm water, pour into the bowl, and mix to form a dough. Rye flour absorbs lots of water, so if the dough looks too dry, add more warm water until soft. Tip out onto your work surface and knead for 10 minutes until smooth — rye has less gluten, so it won't feel as springy as a white loaf.
- Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl, cover with cling film, and leave to rise in a warm place for 1–2 hours, or until roughly doubled in size. Dust a 2lb/900g loaf tin with flour.
- Tip the dough back onto your work surface and knead briefly to knock out air bubbles, working in the caraway seeds if using. Shape into a smooth oval loaf and place in the tin. Cover with oiled cling film and leave to rise somewhere warm for a further 1 to 1.5 hours, or until doubled in size.
- Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Remove the cling film and dust the surface with rye flour. Slash a few incisions on an angle, then bake for 30 minutes until dark brown and hollow-sounding when tapped. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.
