As many of you know, I’ve been fascinated with rye for years (am working on a book about it). Here’s one of my faves, a wonderfully flavored, wonderfully simple Polish rye made with prunes.
Yield: Two 21.5 oz./610 g loaves
| Ingredient | Volume | Oz | Gr | Pct | |
| Sponge | Rye sour | 1 cup |
6.70 |
189 |
34% |
| Water | ½ cup |
4.00 |
113 |
20% |
|
| Medium rye flour | 1¾ 2 cups |
8.20 |
235 |
42% |
|
| Dough | Coarse rye meal | ½ cup |
2.40 |
70 |
12% |
| Medium rye flour | 2 cups |
8.80 |
250 |
45% |
|
| Water | 1 cup |
9.50 |
270 |
48% |
|
| Granulated sugar | 2 Tbs |
0. 80 |
22 |
4% |
|
| Table salt | 2 tsp |
0..0 |
12 |
2% |
|
| Pitted prunes | ½ cup |
3.00 |
85 |
15% |
1. Combine the sponge ingredients and let stand at room temp overnight.
2. Combine the sponge and the dough ingredients, except for the prunes, and mix until smooth and evenly hydrated. Ferment at room temp for 5-6 hours. The dough will be very bubbly.
3. Soak the prunes in warm water for about 30 minutes, dry them on paper towels and chop coarsely. Fold the prunes into the dough, divide into well-greased loaf pans and let proof about 2 hours at room temp, until the top of the dough shows bubbles on top.
4. Preheat your oven to 45oF/230C with the baking surface in the center. Brush the loaves with water and bake with lots of steam for 10 minutes, then reduce the temp to 400F/200C and bake for another 40-50 minutes, until the loaves are nice and brown.
5. Brush the top crusts with boiling water as soon as you remove them from the oven and let cool for at least 12 hours before cutting.
