This is the best post-St. Patrick’s Day meal I know. And it calls for an artisan loaf of rye bread to make a Rueben Sandwich with all that leftover corned beef.
In day to day baking, I seldom make a loaf of bread that doesn’t have half a cup of rye flour in it. It seems to deepen the flavor, especially the second day, so be sure you give this bread a day after baking to develop its full flavor. Especially if you complement rye’s mild, nutty flavor with caraway, fennel, and/or anise seeds, which will give it the traditional deli flavor most of us associate with rye bread.
This bread, however, is not a quick loaf to make. You may find that it does not fit the usual rhythm of sourdough bread making. I usually need two days to make a loaf, but some bakers take it even slower.
Rye bread is darker than other sourdoughs, but not usually dark brown unless something is added. This recipe is made in two batches, one is light and the other is dark, but both are based on our Mischbrot (German Rye Bread) recipe. After mixing the dough, one half is darkened by adding a tablespoon or two of molasses, treacle, or extra dark cocoa.
To darken my bread, however, I have found Chocolate Rye Malt to be my go-to-solution. I just grind it along with my rye berries when making my flour. It is quite bitter, so I usually at 1–2 tablespoons of honey to my mix.
Marbled Rye Loaf Recipe
Ingredients |
Instructions |
Rye Starter
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German Rye Bread Starter
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Bread dough
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German Rye Bread
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This recipe calls for dark rye flour, but it can be made with light rye or pumpernickel flour mixed with other bread flour. King Arthur Flour suggests:
“How much white flour should you use? The more white flour in the loaf, the higher it’ll rise and the lighter its texture will be. So this is entirely up to you and your tastes. Experiment with different percentages of white flour/rye flour until you find the bread texture you like the most.”
Personally, I use whole rye berries freshly ground with whole wheat berries, but commercial rye flour works well too. I have used both but prefer grinding my own flour whenever I can.
The Rueben Sandwich
Now that you have the bread to make the sandwich, here is how:
Let us know how your marbled rye turned out in the comment section below.
Author: Darryl Alder, retired Scouter and outdoorsman, who spent too many hours over a campfire using a dutch oven, and loves sharing recipes for the kitchen and the campfire.