Black pepper rye

[Dan Lepard]

Black pepper rye

Very moist and soft light rye bread with a crisp crust and a kick of pepper, just the ticket for soft cheese and smoked salmon sandwiches.

325ml regular black coffee, warm or cold
150g rye flour
2 tsp crushed black pepper
2 tsp anise, fennel or caraway seeds
1 tsp dry instant yeast
325g strong white flour, plus extra for shaping
1 1/2 tsp salt
beaten egg and poppy seeds to finish

Put the coffee in a saucepan with half the rye flour (75g) and the pepper and seeds, whisk well, and heat until thick and just boiling. Remove from the heat, spoon into a mixing bowl and leave until warm. Add the yeast, mix well, add the remaining rye and white flours and salt and mix to a smooth dough. Cover, leave for ten minutes then knead the dough for ten seconds on a lightly oiled worktop. Cover, repeat twice more at ten minute intervals then leave for 30 minutes. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking parchment. Using a little flour pat the dough out into a 20cm square then roll up tightly. Place the dough seam side down on the tray, cover with a cloth and leave to rise for 45 minutes. Egg wash the top, cut 6 diagonal slashes across the top, sprinkle with poppyseeds and bake at 230°C/fan 210°C/450°F/gas 8 for 40 minutes.

[Sue-L]

The picture in the Guardian for this recipe makes it look very appetising. I was looking for something suitable for serving with smoked mackerel pate and think this might be just the thing.

I'll have to have a trial run tomorrow, though, just to make sure, even if we don't need any bread.

[Dan Lepard]

It was lovely: thin crisp crust and soft moist crumb. It was another one of those "ate the whole thing" recipes. I've been saying that a lot lately, must get out running!

D

[Sue-L]

I need help - it was an absolute disaster, apart from the fact that it tasted wonderful.

First point - after mixing the yeast and flour into the cooked rye/coffee mix, the dough was very dry - I couldn't even bring it together without adding a little more water. I remembered afterwards an earlier tip to weigh the water rather than using a measuring jug, but I wondered if this was a dough which should have been on the dry side at this stage.

It was so dry that the layers of dough made by rolling up the square didn't stick together, and after cooking you could still see where the dough had been rolled.

Secondly - it hardly rose at all in proving and not much more in the oven. I'm fairly confident that the cooked mixture wasn't too hot when I added the yeast. Is it possible for dried instant yeast to lose it's power over time? The pack wasn't very new and hadn't been used for several months.

The finished result was like a brick, which would have been OK if I wanted a really dense heavy rye bread! As I said, the flavour was spot on, so I'm very disappointed with the texture.

[Dan Lepard]

I think the rye mixture cooked too much, and this will make the dough dry, and in turn slow down the speed it rises at. The softer the dough, the easier it is to rise. The trick is to heat the rye mixture until only just boiling. If you need more water, if it gets too thick, then it's fine to add it.
Very sorry to read this, Sue. Hope it hasn't put you off completely

Will make it again tommorrow and if the water is too little will post here.

Dan

[Sue-L]

I think the rye mixture cooked too much, and this will make the dough dry, and in turn slow down the speed it rises at. The softer the dough, the easier it is to rise. The trick is to heat the rye mixture until only just boiling. If you need more water, if it gets too thick, then it's fine to add it.
Very sorry to read this, Sue. Hope it hasn't put you off completely

Will make it again tommorrow and if the water is too little will post here.

Dan

I hadn't thought of that, although it makes sense, as always.

No - I'm not put off, I will be trying it again, with a new yeast batch too, just in case - the Dove's Farm yeast does say use within two months of opening, although I suspect that's just a 'play safe' position!

[Dan Lepard]

Hi Sue,

Let me know if you remember if anything you did looked different to the steps shown here. Two things struck me: if you cooked the rye mixture for longer it would come out dry and not rise well (as we discussed) but also that the yeast may not dissolve at all if the mixture is too thick. Once cooled, before adding the yeast, the rye mixture should be the consistency of thick pouring custard.


Put the coffee in a saucepan with half the rye flour (75g) and the pepper and seeds, whisk well…


and heat until thick and just boiling. Remove from the heat, spoon into a mixing bowl and leave until warm.


Add the yeast, mix well, add the remaining rye and…


white flours and salt and mix to a smooth dough.


Cover, leave for ten minutes then knead the dough for ten seconds on a lightly oiled worktop. Cover, repeat twice more at ten minute intervals then leave for 30 minutes. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking parchment.


Using a little flour pat the dough out into a 20cm square…


then roll up tightly.


Place the dough seam side down on the tray, cover with a cloth and leave to rise for 45 minutes.


Egg wash the top, cut 6 diagonal slashes across the top, sprinkle with poppyseeds and bake at 230°C/fan 210°C/450°F/gas 8 for 40 minutes.


Slight changes toward the end, as you can see. Took Odette's advice and brushed with egg white rather than a beaten whole egg, and didn't have any poppy seeds so used Japanese black sesame. Still cooling so can't try it yet.

Dan

[Sue-L]

Thank you so much for going to all this trouble, Dan. The only difference I can see is that my cooked rye mix looked thicker, not so much at the boiling point, but it thickened up even more as it cooled. I can see that it's a point to be very careful about. The first mix of the dough looked very similar in consistency, so it's possible that your suggestion of the yeast not dissolving in the thicker rye mix was the problem

We still ate 75% of the loaf I made - as a heavy Eastern European rye bread it was very good, but not what you had in mind, obviously.

I shall try again tomorrow!

[PeterPiper]

i omitted the boiling rye part opting to use 7g fresh yeast, in the warm coffee, insted of the easy blend, (couldnt resist melting a slice of butter into the liquid too!!) then adding this to all the dry ingrediants which i mixed to a dough then bunged in the fridge over night.

found i had to add another tablespoon of water whilst doing the kneading the next day.

open sandwiches of philadelphia crean cheese rocket and cucumber have been wonderful. tmrw cream cheese and crispy pancetta should be good too

Cheers Dan

Gets the full thumbs up

[Sue-L]

Thank you so much for your help, Dan. The second attempt yesterday was so much better. I took your advice to cook the coffee/rye mixture less. I have to admit that I used new yeast too, as I didn't want a second failure, even though I know that you shouldn't really change two things at the same time, if you want to get to the root of a problem.

I didn't have any suitable seeds for the topping, so just sprinkled a few extra caraway seeds over the egg wash, as it was caraway which I used in the dough.

Anyway, if you are interested, there's a few pictures here:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/suelle35/BlackPepperRye#