Marbled Rye Bread

I am happy to be professionally collaborating with Red Star Yeast in 2012. I will be documenting my baking adventures and hopefully sharing some useful information on baking with yeast in this series. As you know, from the multiple challahs, babka and yeast doughnuts on my site, I love baking anything with yeast. It's addictive, therapeutic and delicious.

As I was looking through Red Star Yeast's recipes online and contemplating which bread to feature first, I came across the Shelf Life and Storage: Dry Yeast in the Tips and Troubleshooting section. I realized then, I don't let the dry yeast stored in the refrigerator come to room temperature, prior to using, as advised. That might explain one of the reasons why sometimes, not often, my breads in the past failed to rise. Luckily most of the yeast I store is in the pantry but some packets somehow make it into the fridge.
Rye bread to inaugurate the series was a natural choice. I got more curious and dived into the baking books I have in my collection for comparison, additional techniques and methods of shaping marbled rye bread. In Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day, there are a few methods of shaping bread, one is called, 'bull's eye method.'
I brushed up on rye bread history in the course of daydreaming about pastrami on Jewish rye at Katz's deli in NYC.Traditionally in the United States, Jewish rye is a light rye bread. The Jewish rye is a descendant of the Eastern European rye, which traditionally is dark. Rye breads, widespread throughout Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, and Germany, were brought by the Saxons and Danes to Britain in 500AD.

A common saying in Alaska is "eggs on rye," an expression to describe something delicious. Speaking of delicious, I got to have rye seeds in my slices, but that is my personal inclination and preference. :)

I was surprised and delighted at how authentic the results were. My son said 'mom you could open a deli.' I will share a couple of ways I served this rye to my guys in a separate post aside from this series.


Important baker's notes:
I used only 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt instead of 2 teaspoons. I also found that when adding the last 1 cup of bread flour, I only needed 3/4 cup. A total of 1 3/4 cups bread flour and 1 1/3 cups rye flour. Make sure to pinch the seam of the dough and tuck it securely at the bottom of the loaf. It took my loaves only 40 minutes to bake, but ovens vary. I didn't use bread loaf pans. I baked free formed on parchment paper lined cookie sheets but it's riskier. The loaf pans will keep the tucked away seam in its place at the bottom. Slice only after bread is cooled, if only I would listen to my own advice! My crust came out super crispy, so when I took the loaves out of oven, I covered them immediately with kitchen towels. The consistency was perfect crispiness outside and beautiful softness inside! You have to think on your feet, lots of factors affect baking bread, level of humidity, temperature and more. I happened to bake on our very first super cold day this winter.

Marbled Rye Bread 
(slightly adjusted from Red Star Yeast's site)
makes 2 loaves
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Ingredients:
Light Rye Dough
1 1/4 cups water
4 1/2 tsps vegetable Oil
1 3/4 cups bread Flour
1 1/3 cups rye flour
2 tbls sugar
1 1/2 tsps salt
2 tsps caraway seeds
1 packet/2 1/4 tsps Active Dry Yeast (1/4 oz)

Dark Rye Dough
1 1/4 cups water
4 1/2 tsps vegetable Oil
1 3/4 cups bread Flour
1 1/3 cups rye flour
2 tbl sugar
1 3/4 tsps salt
2 tbls cocoa
2 tsps caraway seeds
1 packet/2 1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast (1/4 oz) 

For the light rye dough, combine yeast, 1 cup bread flour, salt, sugar and caraway seeds: mix well. Heat water and oil to 120° to 130°F; add to flour mixture. Blend at low speed; beat 3 minutes at medium speed. Gradually stir in rye flour and enough of the remaining bread flour to make a firm dough. Knead on lightly floured surface 5 to 7 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place dough in lightly oiled bowl and turn to grease top. Cover; let rise in a warm spot until doubled in volume or when you press with the fingers lightly, the indentation will stay in.

Repeat the process to make the dark rye dough, adding the cocoa to the flour mixture.
On lightly floured surface, divide each light and dark dough in half. Roll or pat each half to a 14 x 7-inch rectangle. For a dark crust, place a light rye piece on top of a dark rye. For a light crust, place a dark rye piece on top of a light rye. Starting with shorter side, roll up tightly, pressing dough into roll with each turn. Pinch edges and ends to seal. Working from the center of the loaf to the ends, gently roll the loaf back and forth to form a baguette shape approximately 14 inches long. Place on a greased baking pan. Repeat for second loaf. Cover loaves; let rise in a warm spot until indentation remains when lightly touched. Bake in a 375°F preheated oven for 40-45 minutes. Remove from pan, cool on a rack and slice only after loaves are cooled.

For bread machine method, tricks to creating perfect warm dough rising environment, nutritional value and more check out original recipe.
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54 comments:

  1. One of the prettiest rye breads I've seen. Beautifully marbled and perfect for sandwiches.

    Happy New Year, Shulie!

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  2. Beauty!!!! I love the aroma of bread baking in the oven... and I love Peter's book too :D

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  3. So lovely. As pleasing to the eye as to the stomach, no doubt :)

    Congratulations on your new collaboration with Red Star!

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  4. Gorgeous bread, I am dreaming of all the wonderful sandwiches it could create!

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  5. Oh my! I love rye bread and yours looks stunning.

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  6. This is fabulous Shulie! I am so excited for you to work with Red Star Yeast. I think you should open a deli and please let your 2nd one be here in Fl;)xx

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  7. As a fan of Jewish Deli food, marble rye is something I had frequently as a child. Great post!

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  8. I just need a steaming pile of pastrami slices and some potato chips and I am set. I love baking with yeast too... my husband is too sneaky with me though and before I get to try a piece, he has eaten most of it even before it can cool. Gorgeous Shulie!

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  9. So beautiful! Rye bread is my favorite - with pastrami, poached eggs, or toasted with butter. Congrats on your collaboration with Red Star!

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  10. wow...rye bread looks awesome...loved the texture :-)

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  11. I love rye bread and tried several recipes from Red Star Yeast website. They all came out delicious! I'll have to try this marbled one!
    Congratulations on working with Red Star Yeast!

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  12. Yum! Now I'm craving a turkey reuben with this bread. Looking forward to more of your bread posts!

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  13. Hi Shulie-such a coincidence to come to your blog, finding your marbled rye bread on facebook, that I rarely explore. Just posted my chicken soup recipe from Weight Watchers which I joined online, and posted my recipe!

    Just finished the last slice of the marbled rye bread the other day, and was wondering how it's made, wanting to google it! What a pleasant surprise to see you made it!

    Absolutely divine, and perfectly delicious! Red Star yeast? Wow... Superb! Lora and I use Fleischmann's, but not have noticed any recipes on the package. Will give it Red Star a try!
    Following your blog...invite you to do the same!
    Hugs,

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  14. wow, that's the most beautiful bread ever!

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  15. Definitely an amazing bread and I love the tip of letting the yeast come to room temperature, it totally makes sense! Can't want to see how this project develops, love Red Star Yeast!

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  16. What a beautiful bread. I love marbled rye and never knew it was made with cocoa! Well you got me making challah so I suppose I'll have to give this one a try too! Congrats on the collaboration with Red Star Yeast.

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  17. Shulie- you did an amazing job with our recipe. The pictures are beautiful and I learned a little about the history of rye bread. Can't wait to see what sandwiches you made with it!

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  18. This bread is beautiful, and you make it look so easy to make. I'm still a novice baker and hope some day I can make bread as pretty as yours.

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  19. great bread and so pretty :-), they are lucky to have you

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  20. What a beautiful loaf! Marbled rye is one of my all-time favorite breads, but I would have never attempted it at home. So glad I have your recipe to follow now.

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  21. perfect! You make me miss bread making so much!

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  22. Beautiful bread Shulie! I don't bake much {gluten-free} bread, but would love to experiment more...hopefully this year :-) Congrats on your collaboration with Red Star Yeast!

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  23. Looks amazing Shulie! Looking forward to see lots of new ideas to use yeast.

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  24. Hi! Your bread looks amazing! I love the attention to detail and congrats on your connection to Red Star Yeast.

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  25. I am so happy you are collaborating professionally with Red Star Yeast! You make the most gorgeous breads, Shulie. I am definitely tuning in what you are baking next. I'm too scared to try yeast, but we shall see.

    Thank you for sharing this! Congratulations!

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  26. Gorgeous gorgeous bread! Someone hand me some butter!

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  27. This is going on pinterest very shortly. Love!!

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  28. Thank you so much all for your sweetest comments my friends. I knew everyone knew rye bread but had no clue how widespread its popularity was in the US and all over the world. I hope 2012 is treating you all well so far. Cheerios! Shulie

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  29. Never made rye bread of anykind. But looking at your fabulous results i feel inspired!!

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  30. I am sooo going to make this! :) Great advice about the yeast coming to room temperature. I wondered why my yeast foamed on some occasions and not on others, although I haven't had it not rise at all. Thanks for a great post!

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  31. Congrats to my dear friend..what a wonderful start for 2012! Here is wishing you many more accolades to follow your way. Love.
    Marbled Rye bread..wow..you did it again with this delightful bake, Shulie.

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  32. seriously, i wish i knew how u make everything look bakery perfect...! and picture perfect too. this marbled bread looks perfect with some apple butter, yum! :D have a great day!

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  33. New to your blog. I am going to make this bread this weekend. Looking forward to following you baking adventures!

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  34. This looks gorgeous. Looking forward to learning more about your adventures. Great post.

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  35. It's my father in law favorite. Yours really look super Shulie!

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  36. Ooh! That looks delicious. I love rye bread!

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  37. Oh I am looking forward to enjoying all your beautiful bread recipes! This marble rye looks gorgeous, and I know has to taste amazing:-) Hugs, Terra

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  38. GORGEOUS!!
    I've been having fun with the artisan bread in 5!
    I never knew making bread could be so easy! I'm excited to give this recipe a try!!

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  39. Oh, I love rye bread! This looks wonderful! I used to make a lot of breads...I must not have made rye. I don't think I ever considered that it had cocoa, but apparently that accounts for the color. Thanks!

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  40. The bread does look perfectly shaped. Mine always looks so funny that I can only limit to our dinning table LOL !!
    I am keeping so damn busy these days that I hardly get online ... hope i will get free soon and can catch up more often :)

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  41. Thank you so much guys I want to address the color of the bread. In this recipe and others I saw cocoa used. In others I saw molasses used or a combination of both, cocoa and molasses.

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  42. LOVE it! every bit of it and the lovely pattern inside the bread intrigues me. yes you can open a deli. all your breads (and desserts) with yeast are really classy and I would love to bite into the rye seeds in the bread.

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  43. Made it!
    http://bit.ly/xjkfJR
    Wow I am in love with this bread. Thank you for sharing the recipe!

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  44. Can't get good Rye in the the OC, so when I am out here can't wait to use this recipe!!
    Brava! XOXO

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  45. What a beautiful loaf of bread!!!

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  46. Gorgeous bread and gorgeous pictures.

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  47. I saw this bread at Red Star Yeast Shulie and it is gorgeous...makes me want to go buy some rye flour stat!

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  48. Is there any store in the Ventura County area that I can purchase the marbled rye bread from?

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  49. I love this recipe so much! thank you for sharing!...i have a blog of my own about making food from scratch for less money and better quality and i was wondering if i could post about making your marble rye bread with a link to your blog for the recipe?

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