Darnytskyi Khlib (дарницький хліб, rye-wheat sourdough)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Two medium loaf tins
• •A large mixing bowl
• •A digital scale
• •A dough scraper
• •A cooling rack

Instructions

1. 1

   Wake the starter

   The night before baking, feed your rye starter so it is lively by morning. It should be domed or just beginning to sink, full of small bubbles, and smell fruity-sour rather than sharp. If it smells flat or dusty, feed it again; rye bread needs that acid to behave.

   This is the step that does not forgive neglect. A sleepy starter gives you a dense loaf with a tired taste, and no amount of kneading will rescue it.
2. 2

   Mix the dough

   In a large bowl, loosen the starter with the water, honey or malt syrup, and sunflower oil. Add the rye flour, bread flour, whole wheat flour, and salt. Mix with a wet hand or sturdy spoon until no dry patches remain. It will feel tacky, clay-like, and less stretchy than wheat dough. Good. Rye has its own manners.

3. 3

   Rest and fold

   Cover the bowl and let the dough rest until it looks a little puffed and smells deeper, tangy but warm. Give it two or three wet-handed folds during the first couple of hours, lifting from the edge and folding into the centre. You are not building a tall white loaf. You are giving the wheat enough strength to hold the rye steady.

4. 4

   Shape the loaves

   Oil two medium loaf tins with sunflower oil and dust them lightly with rye flour or bran. Scrape the dough onto a wet surface, divide it in two, and shape each piece into a squat log with wet hands. Set them seam-side down in the tins and smooth the tops. Wet hands are your friend here; flour will only make paste.

5. 5

   Prove until domed

   Cover the tins and let the loaves rise until the tops are gently domed and a few small pinholes appear on the surface. Press lightly with a damp finger: the dent should come back slowly, not spring like a ball. If the dough smells sharply alcoholic and starts to sag, it has gone too far, so bake it at once.

6. 6

   Bake dark

   Heat the oven to 230C with a tray inside. Put the tins in, splash a little hot water into the tray for the first few minutes, then lower the oven to 200C and bake until the crust is deep brown, almost black at the ridges, and the base gives a hollow knock when tapped. The smell changes from wet grain to toasted malt. That is your sign.

7. 7

   Cool completely

   Turn the loaves out and let them cool on a rack until barely warm, then wait longer if you can bear it. Rye crumb finishes setting as it cools. Slice too early and it smears on the knife; slice after a proper rest and you get clean, tight, honest bread.

Chef Tips

• •Use a rye starter if you can. A wheat starter will work, but feed it with rye flour once or twice before baking so the flavour leans where the bread wants to go.
• •Barley malt syrup gives the most familiar dark bakery note. Honey is easier to find and perfectly good, a bit more modern and softer in taste.
• •Do not add extra flour because the dough feels sticky. Rye dough is supposed to feel like wet clay; keep your hands wet and trust it.
• •The crust should be dark. If you pull it out pale, the inside will taste raw and sleepy. Wait for the toasted-malt smell and the hollow knock.
• •This bread keeps well for four or five days wrapped in linen or paper. On day three it makes excellent toast, rubbed with garlic and slicked with Ukraine in a bottle of oil.

Advance Preparation

• •Feed the rye starter the night before so it is bubbly and fruity-sour when you mix the dough.
• •The baked loaves slice best after several hours of cooling, and even better the next day.
• •Darnytskyi khlib freezes well sliced. Wrap tightly, freeze, and toast straight from frozen.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 55g)