Fuzz is on a school trip to Russia, so in her honor today's recipe is Russian Black Bread. Also called Black Rye Bread, this is one of two loaves I made before she left, so she did get to taste it. Now she can compare this bread to actual black bread served in Russia.
![Russian Black Bread](https://www.cookiemadness.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/russianblackbread.jpg)
The recipe is from a little bread baking book I bought at a garage sale years ago, and it seems pretty authentic. In fact, there's a very similar version on The Russian Report. This version doesn't have onion, but rather a lot of other good things including chocolate, coffee, ground fennel and caraway. The two flours are all-purpose and dark rye, and there's just enough molasses to give it a hint of sweetness, though it's a perfect accompaniment to a savory meal.
![russian black bread](https://www.cookiemadness.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/peterhofpalace.jpg)
Lastly, the bread has a strange cornstarch glaze. Brushing a loaf of bread with cornstarch was new to me, but it gave the bread a nice shiny finish.
![Moscow Skyline](https://www.cookiemadness.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/russianblackbread3.jpg)
Update: Fuzz came back from Russia with a new appreciation for Russian Black Bread. In fact, I think it's her favorite bread of all time. Given that, I've made this recipe several times since and have added a few more notes. Also, here are some pictures of the dough. In the first photo it has risen.
![Black Bread Dough](https://www.cookiemadness.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/russianblackbread2.jpg)
This second photo shows it after I've punched it down and shaped it into a ball.
![Russian Black Bread](https://www.cookiemadness.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/russianblackbread-1.jpg)
This recipe makes two loaves of Russian Black Bread.
Recipe
![Russian Black Bread](https://www.cookiemadness.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/russianblackbread-320x320.jpg)
Russian Black Bread
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cup rye flour, Bob's Dark Rye (228 grams)
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour (228 grams)
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar (12 grams)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups Raisin Bran or 1 cup of All Bran
- About 1 tablespoon caraway seed crushed
- ½ teaspoon fennel seed crushed
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder
- 2 ¼ teaspoons 1 packet quick rising yeast
- 1 ¼ cups water
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons dark molasses (60 grams)
- ½ oz unsweetened chocolate (14 grams)
- 3 tablespoons butter (42 grams)
Cornstarch Glaze
- ¼ cup water
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon of cold water.
Instructions
- Combine the rye and white flours. Set aside 1 ½ cups and put the remaining 2 cups of flour mixture in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add brown sugar, salt, cereal, caraway seed, fennel, espresso powder and yeast and stir well.
- In a saucepan, combine water, vinegar, molasses, chocolate and butter and heat until chocolate melts, stirring often. Let the temperature cool down to 125 degrees F , then add the saucepan mixture to the mixture in the stand mixer. Stir well.
- Gradually add remaining 1 ½ cups of flour, about ½ cup at a time, until you have a soft dough. If you weighed the flour, you will probably need all of it. If for some reason your dough is too sticky, you may need a little more. It should just barely pull away from the side of the bowl as it is being kneaded.
- Put the mixing bowl on the stand, attach the dough hook, and let the machine knead for 10 minutes.
- Cover bowl and let rise in a warm (100 degree F) place. When dough has doubled, punch it down and shape into two balls. Place each ball in a greased 8 inch round pan. Let rise until doubled (about 30 minutes).
- Bake the loaves in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes. When the bread is almost done baking, begin making the glaze.
- To make the glaze, bring ¼ cup water to a boil. Add the dissolved cornstarch/cold water mixture and boil until thickened. Brush this over the baked bread.
sheri tallman says
Found the no knead recipe and cornstarch reference http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/2008/01/06/98
Katrina says
Mmm, love that kind of bread. Especially the chocolate. 😉
Sonya says
Very cool, and interesting to learn about the cornstarch glaze! Hope Fuzz has a great trip in Russia!
Anna says
Sheri, that's interesting. I'll have to read up on it.
Sheri says
I started the cornstarch slurry glaze on my furs free reading it in Artsians no knead bread blog , I love that the finish is exactly like the big reason I remember my childhood