German Bread Pumpernickel - The Black Gold Of Westphalia

Video: German Bread Pumpernickel - The Black Gold Of Westphalia

Video: German Bread Pumpernickel - The Black Gold Of Westphalia
Video: German Bread: Pumpernickel 2024, December
German Bread Pumpernickel - The Black Gold Of Westphalia
German Bread Pumpernickel - The Black Gold Of Westphalia
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Traditional German bread Pumpernikel (Pumpernickel) is made from coarse rye flour with pieces of unground grain. Nowadays, bread has over 300 options for preparation, but one is the authentic recipe for it. It comes from the German territory of Westphalia (a historical area in northwestern Germany, currently forming the eastern part of North Rhine-Westphalia). It is in this territory that the famous one is baked Westphalian bread by ancient technology for 24 hours at a temperature of 120 degrees.

It also follows his simple recipe, preserved for years: at least 90% coarse rye flour or wholemeal rye flour or a mixture of both, plus water, salt and yeast. Other optional ingredients are malt, sugar beet or syrup. The bread is fragrant, tasty, healthy, high quality and contains a rich palette of nutrients. Of course, bread is made in other parts of the world, but they differ in some ingredients and method of preparation. In North America, for example, colorants, flavorings and wheat flour are added to Pumpernickel, and baking time is reduced at the expense of higher temperatures.

Traditional German bread does not contain any colorants has a characteristic dark brown color, and tastes like a sweet dark chocolate with an earthy aroma of coffee. To achieve this, the breads are baked in long narrow pans with lids for 16 to 24 hours at low temperature (about 120 ° C or 250 ° F) - so the sugars in the flour are slowly caramelized in the oven, which is filled with steam. When baked, Westphalian bread has a very small crust or almost no crust, due to the baking itself, which is in a water bath.

German bread Pumpernickel
German bread Pumpernickel

While some commercial bakeries mass-produce wholesale bread, many American families use traditional recipes and baking time. Some mass-produced breads in North America may include natural colors such as molasses, caramel sauce, coffee, or cocoa powder to mimic the different shades of brown from traditional German bread. As is common in modern commercial baking practice, commercial bakeries around the world often add wheat flour to provide the structure of gluten-free bread and yeast to speed up fermentation compared to traditional bread leaven.

To increase production and profits, one forgets about the slow baking typical of German bread, as a result of which it does not differ from dark rye bread. Some shops and boutique bakeries in America still use centuries-old recipes.

But anyway, according to European Union law, the authentic Westphalian Pumpernikel can only be produced in Germany. The commercial use of the term Westfälischer Pumpernickel is governed by the European Union's Protected Geographical Indications (PGI) scheme. Bread can only be sold under this name if the production process, from mixing the dough to baking, takes place in Westphalia, an area where rye is a traditional crop and bread is baked for more than five centuries.

Rye bread Pumpernickel
Rye bread Pumpernickel

You have to spend a lot of time if you are going to bake the original bread at home - it will take many days. On the first day you need to soak rye seeds to stay overnight and knead the primary dough of rye flour, water and yeast and stand it overnight in the heat. Second day - boil the soaked rye seeds and add to the risen dough with more flour along with syrup, which can be maple or gold syrup.

Place the finished dough in the baking dish and leave it warm for another 2-3 hours. Then bake in the oven on a water bath for 1 hour at 150 degrees and then for 13 hours at 100 degrees. When the bread is baked, stop the oven and leave it inside for another hour to absorb the residual heat that is still generated by the oven. During baking, a little hot water is added every hour to continue steaming.

The finished bread can be stored in the freezer for several months, wrapped in baking paper, and if you eat it right away…, you will still not be able to try it, because it must sit 3-5 days in a cool place before cut yourself from it and enjoy its unique taste.

To enjoy a nice diet rye bread, you can try the following recipe for home conditions:

Pumpernickel breads
Pumpernickel breads

350 g of rye flour

150 g wholemeal flour

500 ml of warm water

1 tbsp. molasses

1 tbsp. oil

1 tsp sol

1 tsp May

cinnamon to taste

sunflower seeds or other nuts as desired

Knead the primary dough with part of the two types of flour and the yeast dissolved in warm water. Leave to rise for 1 hour in the heat, then add the remaining flour and other ingredients, mix well again and leave to rise for the second time for about 3 hours in the heat. Bake the bread at 180 degrees, the baking dish should be in another container with water to get a water bath. Cinnamon and sunflower seeds are your choice.

Bread is usually eaten sprinkled with powdered sugar. Pumpernikel is eaten not only with jam, it combines well with salty ingredients on the slices. It is also included in delicious desserts such as chocolate pudding with Pumpernickel, apple Pumpernickel Betty and Westphalian trifle.

Whatever you combine the bread with, it will be delicious. Stir in the kitchen and make an amazing rye bread, adding different seeds, cinnamon, coffee, cocoa or maple syrup to it every time. This is an amazing slightly sweet thick bread with a very rich taste. Enjoy it.

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