Hello!

Check out my very first instructional video on how to make rye starter from two malts.

You can find plenty of different brick-shaped rye breads in Latvia. I just went to an online Latvian super-market Barbora and counted 13 different rye bricks there. I already posted one very simple recipe before. But today I want to share a scalded version.

Most of rye breads in Latvia are traditionally scalded as it improves quality a lot.

While semi-refined rye flour plays important part in 1934 Borodinsky bread recipe, it is possible to make whole grain version with one slight modification. I would suggest you first read history post and then read original recipe post so you can understand the whole process. This post will only focus on how to make whole grain version and why I chose specific modifications.

Without further ado, let’s get into this!

This is the very first standardised (OST NK №1) and published Borodinsky bread recipe. It differs from modern variants in flavour, aromatics, presentation and some technical aspects, yet it is very similar to modern Borodinsky in many ways. All variants of the bread share the same dough development principles and all of them are mostly wholegrain rye.

First part of Borodinsky bread history can be found here and wholegrain variant of this recipe is here.

Russian Borodinsky rye bread has become a true icon of Russian food and culture and is well-known across the world. As with many iconic cultural artifacts, Borodinsky’s history is covered in myths and legends. This article opens a series dedicated to uncovering the history of the bread and how its recipe changed over the last century.

I’m not a historian and I can’t make a claim that this series will be 100% historically accurate, but I will try my best to present my knowledge about Borodinsky based on an online research I was doing recently.

There are three most used types of scalds used in rye baking: simple, malted and self saccharinified. This post will guide you step by step through the process of creating a malted scald. This post only describes the technology behind the process, the exact ingredients and their ratios and weights will depend on a specific bread recipe.

If you want to know more about scalding, different types of scalds and why they’re used in baking, check out Scalding - what is it?.

English flour terminology differs between English speaking countries: all purpose vs plain flour, bread flour vs strong white flour, dark rye in US is not the same as dark rye in UK, etc. I decided to completely switch to German and Austrian flour gradings in this blog to avoid confusion.

This move will also make it easier to find correct flour in other European countries like France and Latvia which are using similar ash content based grading approach with only minor numbering differences.

I will be updating existing posts over time to reflect the changes and all new recipes will follow German and Austrian grading. This post will be linked to all recipes so that everyone can find correct flour easily.

Baker’s percentages are universally used by both professional and home bakers across the world. It is a very simple notation of writing down recipes in a scalable way so that the same formula can be used to bake a single loaf or a whole factory batch to feed the nation.

Even though it is a very simple and effective tool I’ve noticed that many home bakers struggle to understand how to use it. And then there are some bloggers who interpret baker’s percentages in a wrong way which only leads to more confusion.

Let’s take a look at what baker’s percentages really are and how to use them to bake existing recipes, adapt them and change them to your liking. I believe that once this tool is properly understood one can not only follow instructions, but also start creating their own breads.

With the global pandemic came flour shortages. So I started experimenting with rye flours I don’t normally use and mixing them with buckwheat, oats and other grains. This recipe is one of my most favourite experiments so far. 70% light rye (T997), 30% oats, scalded and soured.

I didn’t have any expectations as my experience with rye and oat breads is limited, but I was really surprised by the flavour and aroma of this bread! Sourdough fermented oats have a very unusual taste, the bread turned out to be quite sour, but with a sweetish crust on top. Good colour and soft juicy crumb topped with a crispy crust - what else can you ask for?