Wandering Bob
Veteran
It was only after I’d made this bread that I discovered that pain au sarrasin actually exists – and is a speciality of Brittany. (Perhaps it’s sold on some local markets or sur commande from a boulangère artisanale – but I’ve never seen it for sale). If the bread contains between 10% and 40% buckwheat flour, then it’s called pain au sarrasin – over 40% is classified as pain de sarrasin.
I’m pleased with my first attempt at using buckwheat flour in bread. It’s hard to define the flavour that the farine de sarrasin gives to this loaf – it’s almost an earthy taste, which is then offset by the caraway. It’s probably fair to say that a little goes a long way. My neighbours are equally enthusiastic about this first try, describing it as a ‘rustic bread’, resembling old-fashioned country bread – and if it’s good enough for them, then that’s (almost always) good enough for me.
My inclusion of caraway seeds probably detracts from the bread’s authenticity – but this is ‘my bread’, not someone else’s, so I really don’t care.
You need:
300g of strong white/rye flour with seeds (see footnote *)
200g of strong white bread flour
100g of buckwheat flour (farine de sarrasin)
¾ teaspoon of caraway seeds (graines de carvi)
1 heaped teaspoon of salt
1 heaped teaspoon of sugar
10g of dried active yeast
1 tablespoonful of olive oil
warm water
Method:
I’m pleased with my first attempt at using buckwheat flour in bread. It’s hard to define the flavour that the farine de sarrasin gives to this loaf – it’s almost an earthy taste, which is then offset by the caraway. It’s probably fair to say that a little goes a long way. My neighbours are equally enthusiastic about this first try, describing it as a ‘rustic bread’, resembling old-fashioned country bread – and if it’s good enough for them, then that’s (almost always) good enough for me.
My inclusion of caraway seeds probably detracts from the bread’s authenticity – but this is ‘my bread’, not someone else’s, so I really don’t care.
You need:
300g of strong white/rye flour with seeds (see footnote *)
200g of strong white bread flour
100g of buckwheat flour (farine de sarrasin)
¾ teaspoon of caraway seeds (graines de carvi)
1 heaped teaspoon of salt
1 heaped teaspoon of sugar
10g of dried active yeast
1 tablespoonful of olive oil
warm water
Method:
- Put the flour, caraway seeds, salt, sugar and dried active yeast into a large mixing bowl.
- Add the olive oil and as much warm water as is necessary to make a malleable dough. Knead and stretch the dough until it feels smooth and elastic (around 8/10 minutes work). Then cover the dough and put it on one side somewhere warm for 2 hours (it should double in size).
- Knock the dough down, place it on a baking tray and shape it into an oval. Cover and leave it for another hour.
- Pre-heat the oven to 210C
- Cook the bread for 25 minutes at 210C, then reduce the oven temperature to 200C for a further 5 minutes
- Take it out of the oven and let it cool on a wire rack
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