Pumpernickel Caraway Bread Recipes

CLASSIC PUMPERNICKEL BREAD

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup of the warm water, yeast and sugar. Let sit in a warm place until the yeast mixture turns bubbly (about 5-10 min.).
• In a large mixing bowl (I use my Kitchenaid stand mixer with a dough hook), combine remaining 1 cup water, molasses, salt, shortening, caraway seeds and yeast mixture. Beat until smooth.
• Slowly beat rye flour into the yeast and molasses mixture. Mix in the all-purpose flour and mix until it is a soft, smooth dough ball.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. If dough is too moist, add a little more flour. If dough is too dry add a little more water.
• Knead the dough for 5 minutes.
• Lightly grease (or spray with cooking spray) a large bowl. Add the dough, turning once to coat the entire surface of dough with oil. Cover dough with a clean cloth and let rise in a warm place until almost doubled in size (about 1 1/2 hours).
• Punch down dough. Separate dough into 2 equal parts. Form 2 round, slightly flattened loaves. Score a 3/4 inch deep 'X" into the tops of both loaves with a sharp knife.
• Grease (or spray) a large baking sheet; sprinkle with cornmeal. Put the loaves on top and then cover with a clean cloth and let rise until doubled - about an hour.
• Preheat oven to 375 degress F. Bake 30-35 minutes or until crusts are dark brown and loaves sound hollow when tapped.
• Remove from baking sheet and cool on a rack before slicing.

PUMPERNICKEL BREAD

Steps:

• Brush a large bowl with butter; set aside. Combine 1/4 cup warm water with sugar; sprinkle yeast over top. Set aside. In a small saucepan, heat espresso, chocolate, molasses, and 1 1/2 cups water over medium. Cook, stirring often, just until chocolate is melted, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool until warm but not hot (below 110 degrees).
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, combine both flours, caraway, and salt. Add the chocolate mixture then yeast mixture. Mix by hand, using the hook, to combine. Turn mixer on medium and mix until dough comes together in a smooth, springy ball around the hook, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove a small piece of dough and stretch it. If the dough holds together in a thin "windowpane" without breaking, the gluten is sufficiently developed. Add butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until incorporated, about 4 minutes. Turn out onto a well-floured surface and knead a few times to form into a ball. The dough will be slightly sticky; don't be tempted to add more flour. Transfer to buttered bowl, turning once to coat, and cover loosely with buttered plastic. Let sit at warm room temperature until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
• When dough has doubled, turn out onto a work surface. Pat dough out into a rectangle, roughly 10 by 12 inches with short side facing you. Fold bottom edge two-thirds of the way up the rectangle, and top edge down to cover. Rotate dough 90 degrees and repeat the fold. (This is called a business-letter turn.) Return to buttered bowl and top with buttered plastic. Let sit at warm room temperature until doubled in size again, about 1 hour. Remove from bowl, gently deflate, and work into a round boule about 6 inches in diameter. Place a clean dish towel in a medium bowl and generously dust with flour. Place boule, seam-side up, in bowl. Loosely fold floured towel ends over dough to cover. Let sit at warm room temperature until doubled, 30 to 45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat oven to 450 degrees and place a 9- or 9 1/2-inch enameled cast-iron pot in oven with the lid to preheat. When dough is ready, carefully remove the lid, pull back corners of towel, and flip bowl upside down to transfer bread to the heated pot, seam-side down. Quickly slash an "X" in the top of the bread with a serrated knife and using an oven mitt, cover with lid. Return pot to oven and bake 20 minutes. Remove lid and continue to bake until bread feels hollow when tapped and internal temperature registers 205 degrees, 20 to 30 minutes more. Immediately turn bread out of pot onto a cooling rack. Let cool at least 2 hours before slicing.

PUMPERNICKEL CARAWAY BREAD

Steps:

• In bread machine pan, place all ingredients in order suggested by manufacturer. Select basic bread setting. Choose crust color and loaf size if available. Bake according to bread machine directions (check dough after 5 minutes of mixing; add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water or flour if needed).

QUICK AND EASY EASTERN EUROPEAN PUMPERNICKEL BREAD

Steps:

• Combine the hot tap water and the cold coffee. Check temperature of water. Should be lukewarm. Whisk together the yeast, salt, caraway seeds, molasses and cocoa powder along with the water in a 5-quart bowl or a lidded (not airtight) food storage container.
• Combine the liquid ingredients with the dry ingredients without kneading, using a spoon, Danish dough whisk, a 14-cup food processor with dough attachment or a heavy duty stand mixer with paddle.You may need to use your hands to combine the last of the dry with the wet if not using a machine.
• Cover (not airtight) and allow the dough to rest at room temperature until it rises and collapses, approximately 2 hours.
• Refrigerate it for at least 2 hours before using. The dough can be stored and used over the next 8 days, or store the dough in the freezer for up to two weeks in an airtight container. Freeze it in 1 lb portions. When using frozen dough, thaw it in the refrigerator for 24 hours before use, then allow the usual rest/rise times.
• On baking day, cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit-size) piece of dough. Using wet hands (don't use flour), quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter turn as you go. Then form an oval shaped loaf. Allow to rest and rise on a cornmeal covered pizza peel for 40 minutes.
• Twenty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F, with a rack in the middle of the oven where your baking stone should sit. Place an empty metal broiler pan on a lower shelf.
• Using a pastry brush, paint the entire loaf with the cornstarch wash and sprinkle with caraway seeds, if desired. Slash the loaf with deep parallel cuts using a serrated bread knife.
• Slide the bread directly onto the hot stone. Pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler pan and quickly close the oven door. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until firm. Allow to cool before slicing.

PUMPERNICKEL RYE BREAD

Steps:

• Place ingredients into the pan of the bread machine in the order suggested by the manufacturer. Select Whole Wheat cycle, and Start.
• After the first rise, remove dough from the machine. Shape, and place into a lightly oiled 9x5-inch loaf pan. Cover, and let rise for 1 hour.
• Bake at 350 degrees C (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes. Remove from oven, remove from pan, and let cool completely on wire rack before slicing.

BREAD MACHINE PUMPERNICKEL BREAD

Steps:

• Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select Basic cycle; press Start.