Holiday Rye Bread (joululimppa)

Total Time: 2 hrs 50 mins Preparation Time: 2 hrs 15 mins Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients

• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1/4 cup butter or 1/4 cup margarine
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon fennel seed
• 1 teaspoon caraway seed
• 2 tablespoons dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 orange, zest of
• 1 cup rye flakes (available in health food stores) or 1 cup wheat germ
• 2 cups rye flour
• 3 1/2-4 1/2 cups unbleached flour or 3 1/2-4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 2 tablespoons water

Recipe

• 1 heat first 6 ingredients until belt melts. cool and reserve.
• 2 dissolve yeast in water and let stand for 5 minutes until bubbles form. add to buttermilk mixture.
• 3 add zest, rye flakes or wheat germ and rye flour. beat until smooth.
• 4 add 3 to 31/2 cups wheat flour, stirring in 1 cup at a time, until the dough will not accept any more. the dough will appear very rough.
• 5 flour work surface with remaining flour and turn out dough. cover with damp kitchen towel and let rest 15 minutes.
• 6 gently knead the dough, as gluten in rye is more fragile than wheat, until smooth, approximately 5 to 10 minutes. form into a ball and place in greased bowl, turning to coat all sides. cover with clean kitchen cloth and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size.
• 7 punch down dough and gently knead for a minute. form dough into 3 round loaves and place on lightly buttered baking sheet. cover and let double in size.
• 8 pre-heat oven to 375°f combine molasses and water. brush tops of dough with half of mixture. pierce the loaves all over the top, gently, with a fork.
• 9 bake for 35-45 minutes, until bread sounds hollow when tapped on bottom. while bread is hot, glaze with remaining molasses and water mixture. cool on racks.