Don’t let the unusual name put you off making this special German rye bread. It gets its unique flavour and texture from long baking at low temperature. Pumpernickel is a bread that can stay fresh for a long time, although it contains no preservatives at all. This makes it ideal for light snacks and small meals. Dare yourself to take the challenge and let your kitchen fill with the aroma of this German speciality that will make you rightly proud.
Pre-dough
50 g sourdough starter
350 g wholemeal rye flour
350 ml water
Dough
200 g rye
150 g coarse ground rye
550 g wholemeal rye flour
500 ml water
22 g salt
120 g maple syrup
Procedure
First preparation (day 1)
1. Make up the pre-dough – mix the 50 g of sourdough starter, 350 g of wholemeal rye flour and 350 ml of water.
2. Cover the pre-dough with film.
3. Shake the 200 g of rye into a bowl and pour 200 ml of boiling water over it. Cover the bowl with film.
4. Pour 150 ml of boiling water over the 150 g of coarse ground rye and also cover it.
Dough and baking (days 2-4)
1. Shake the soaked whole rye into a pot of boiling water and cook for 1 hour until completely soft.
2. Once cooked, drain it and cool it.
3. Take 50 g of the pre-dough and store it in the refrigerator for the next bake.
4. Mix the remaining 700 g of pre-dough with the cooled cooked rye, soaked ground rye, 550 g of wholemeal rye flour, 150 ml of water, 22 g of salt and 120 g of maple syrup.
5. Stir the ingredients well with a wooden spoon.
6. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for 30 minutes.
7. Grease well two bread moulds measuring 20 and 30 cm long.
8. Distribute the dough in both moulds – it should fill them a little over half way up.
9. Cover the moulds with cling film and let the dough rise for 3-4 hours.
10. The dough will not rise drastically, but it should rise a bit.
11. Preheat the oven to 150°C.
12. Brush the top of the dough with water.
13. Wrap both moulds in several layers of aluminium foil, then place in the oven.
14. After 1 hour of baking, lower the temperature to 120°C and bake for another 13 hours.
15. After baking, turn off the oven and leave for 1 hour so the bread slowly cools in the oven.
16. Cover both moulds with a cloth and leave at room temperature for another 24 hours.
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