Perhaps it was the "swedish limpa" recipe I posted, taken from Bernard
Clayton Jr's book "The complete book of breads" ??
Well, here it is again:
Here's a recipe for a TERRIFIC loaf of bread. I've made it a number of
times for luncheons at church and it's always received with open arms and
rave reviews. Afterwards there are always a few people who come around
hoping there's some extra they can take home!
From "The Complete Book of Breads", by Bernard Clayton, Jr. published by
Simon and Shuster, first edition, page 203.
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Swedish Limpa Rye
[two large round loaves]
This is one of the author's favorite loaves from among a dozen limpa
recipes in his files. It has the chili-like flavor of crushed cumin seed,
the unmistakable fragrance of fennel, and the pleasant goodness of orange.
Studded with raisins, the loaf rises up to become a handsome brown ball. It
sends forth a good aroma when toasted and buttered.
INGREDIENTS:
2 packages dry yeast
2 cups warm water (105-115 Fahrenheit)
2.5 cups medium rye flour
.25 cups EACH sugar and molasses
1 teaspoon EACH cumin and fennel, crushed or ground
Grated rind of 2 oranges
1 cup raisins, light or dark
4 cups all-purpose or bread flour, approximately
3 tablespoons shortening
1 tablespoon salt
BAKING SHEET: One baking sheet, greased or teflon
PREPARATION: 20 minutes
In a large bowl or cup dissolve yeast in water. Stir briskly with a fork or
whip. Let it stand 5 minutes to begin its fermentation.
With a large wooden spoon stir all of the rye flour, sugar, molasses,
cummin, fennel, orange rind, raisins, and about 1.5 cups of white flour
into the bowl. Beat until smooth-- about 100 strokes.
Add 1 cup flour, stir, and beat in the shortening and salt. By hand add
more flour, a little at a time, until the dough cleans the sides of the
bowl and is stiff. If a raisin works its way out, push it back into the
dough. The slight discoloration that sometimes comes with working fruit
into white dough will not be noticed in this dark loaf.
KNEADING: 10 minutes
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board or counter top. Since this will
be a slightly sticky dough, it may help to grease the fingers beore
beginning. Knead until the dough is smooth and no longer sticky.
FIRST RISING: 50 minutes
Put the dough into the large bowl (which has been washed and greased),
cover tightly with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place (80-85 F) until
it doubles in bulk. You can test if it has risen by poking a finger in it;
the dent will remain.
SHAPING: 15 minutes
Punch down dough with quick jabs of the fist and fingers. Turn it over; let
rest for 10 minutes. Turn the dough onto the board, knead briefly to press
out the air. With a sharp knife, cut into two pieces. Pat and roll the
dough into round balls. Place on opposite corners of the baking sheet.
Flatten slightly.
SECOND RISING: 45 minutes
Cover the dough with wax paper or foil and return to the warm place until
doubled in volume. You can test if it has risen by poking a finger in it;
the dent will remain.
BAKING: 375 F 45 minutes
Preheat the oven to 375 F. With a razor blade or sharp knife, slash a cross
on top of each loaf. Bake in the oven. When the loaves are crusty and
tapping the bottom crust yields a hard and hollow sound, they are done. If
not, return to oven for an additional 10 minutes. If the loaves appear to
be browning too quickly, cover with a piece of foil or brown sack paper.
FINAL STEP:
Remove from oven and place the loaves on a wire cooling rack. This limpa
makes exceptionally good toast. The loaf freezes well.
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My observations are that this is one FANTASTIC loaf of bread... and the
author is correct in his statement that it makes exceptionally good toast
but it usually doesn't last long enough to get anywhere near a toaster.
When I make it I tend to find that it needs either a little LESS rye flour,
or a little MORE water than the recipe calls for (to allow mixing in of the
recommended amount of white without the dough becoming waaaaay too dry).
I'd suggest that you may want to try 2.5 cups of water instead of 2, but
you may want to try it as written first, just to see how you like it.
Since it contains quite a bit of rye flour, it's low in gluten, and really
does get sticky, so the cautions about dealing with stickiness are entirely
appropriate.
Also, since it contains a lot of rye (even more if you don't add extra
liquid or cut back the rye a bit because it gets too stiff before you can
get all the white flour worked in) it tends to take a lot of kneading and
also may not rise well. I'd take that as a hint to do what I suggested
above, i.e., add water or cut back on the rye a bit. You could also add in
2-4T of vital wheat gluten.
Also, it may be my oven, but I find it tends to burn on the bottom if baked
at even 350 F. The last time I made it I dropped the temperature to around
335-340 F, and covered the bottom of the baking sheets with aluminum foil
(shiny side down) to prevent the bottom from getting so much heat. This
just means the crust won't get quite so dark, and it may take a few more
minutes in the oven to finish baking.
And, I find it works better to make each loaf on a separate baking sheet,
as they tend to crash into each other and become Siamese twins.
In addition, I tend to use more raisins than the recipe specifies (closer
to two cups than one)..., I don't think you can put too many raisins in a
good raisin bread as long as there's enough dough to hold it all together!
Enjoy!
Fred
---- Fred Smith -- fredex@fcshome.stoneham.ma.us --------------------------