This recipe was kind of a pain. It probably took me 20 minutes of hunting through the cupboards just to pull out all of the ingredients. I ended up having to send Paul on a quick run to the store because we were out of molasses. I also discovered that instant espresso can go bad (who knew?!) and had to substitute instant decaf coffee granules instead. I couldn't bare to make (or seek out and buy) prune lekvar when I had apricot lekvar in the freezer***, so I substituted that instead. Once all of the ingredients were assembled I turned to my heavy duty Kitchen Aid stand mixer to do the mixing and kneading. It gave up about half-way through the kneading, so I had to finish by hand. Luckily the bread still rose beautifully, Charlotte let me wear her in the carrier while I shaped the bread (I don't think I did this quite right, I found the instructions awfully confusing), and by dinner time we were eating delicious rye bread. We ate the bread Sunday night alongside fish and salad, Monday night with squash soup, fried green tomatoes, and more salad, and Tuesday night as smoked salmon reuben sandwiches. The bread really was excellent. I happen to love rye bread, and this was a good one. Paul commented--without my asking--on how professional the bread seemed. I love the big slices that are perfect for sandwiches, and how soft the bread stays for days. I'm glad I have a second loaf ready in the freezer!
***When I was telling Paul that I used apricot lekvar instead of prune "because I already had apricot lekvar in the freezer", he cut me off and reminded me that I may be one of the few people in the world who just happens to have apricot lekvar in the freezer. I told Paul he's known me long enough not to be surprised by such things :-)
Heehee. Love that you happened to have apricot lekvar in the freezer! :)
ReplyDeleteI made my own prune lekvar, as I couldn't find it anywhere. This really was a good bread. I didn't dare try my KA with it, as I was sure I'd kill it. But I was very pleased with the results. And I'm freezing the second loaf and will bring it out when during the holidays to go with spinach dip!
It is pretty funny that you had lekvar in the freezer - I ended up making some for this (which is okay, because I like it spread on toast...)
ReplyDeleteSmoked salmon Rueben's sound great.
Yeah, I DO think you're the only one with apricot levkar in the freezer!!! And you get double points for making this while wearing an infant! Brava!
ReplyDeleteInstant espresso goes bad, or just looses some of it potency? I never would have thought that. I do keep mine in the freezer, since I do not use it often. We had ours with soup too. I was surprised at how moist this bread was.
ReplyDeleteI had to look up the video before I could gather the courage to shape the bread and do the whole towel thing -- but I am a total believer now. This bread was great, and I really do believe it's worth the effort.
ReplyDeleteI made a shortcut and reduced to puree some dry prunes and water :-) and I was so glad I had seen the pumpernickel video: the folding instructions sounded so complicated.
ReplyDeleteLuckily for all of us it was a "happy ending" bread. We loved it.