Sabina rye bread--Sabina bröd--Sabina leipä

Today I baked Sabina bread, another type of rye bread.  This is a sweet dark rye bread that Parhaat Leivonnaiset says is originally from Uppland, Sweden.

For two loaves of bread, the ingredients are:

2 packets of dry yeast (or 4 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast, or 50 g fresh yeast)

4 Tablespoons butter (50 g)

2 cups of water (5 dl)

1/2 cup dark brown sugar (1 dl dark syrup)

1 teaspoon salt

4 cups fine-ground rye flour (1 liter)

about 2 cups flour (bread or all-purpose) (about 5 dl wheat flour)

Melt the butter, and heat the water to lukewarm (37 Celsius, 100 Fahrenheit).  I use the microwave, two cups of water takes one minute to become lukewarm in my microwave.  Don't use water that is too hot, or it will kill the yeast.  Mix in the sugar or syrup and salt.  Add the dry yeast and stir.

Add the rye flour to the bowl and knead the bread forcefully.  I used my stand mixer with a bread hook.  Then I added the wheat flour a half-cup at a time, kneading after each addition.  This is what it looked like after 1 cup of wheat flour was added:

It took a full two cups of wheat flour before the dough pulled away from the sides of the bowl:

I put the yeast in a bowl to rise, sprinkled it with a bit of flour, and covered it.  It took about an hour to double in size in the warming drawer.  You can also let the dough rise in an oven next to a big bowl of hot water.

After punching the dough down, I kneaded it a bit, then divided it into two loaves.

Each one was placed in a greased bread pan and left to rise for another 30 minutes, covered and in a warm spot.

When the loaves had almost doubled in size again, preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit (175 Celsius).

Bake the loaves on the lowest oven rack for 15 minutes, then take them out, brush the tops with water, and move the rack up one notch.  Continue baking them for 35-45 minutes, they are done when they sound hollow when you thump on them.

Carefully take the loaves out of the pans and let them cool 10 minutes on a rack while covered with a dishcloth.

As with any bread, don't put it in plastic until it is completely cool.  This bread keeps well, 7-10 days.  Or you can freeze it for up to 9 months.

This bread was good and hearty.  Great with a warm bowl of pea soup, even though it is not Thursday!  In honor of the bread being of Swedish origin, I made yellow pea soup, following my recipe here.  I just substituted yellow split peas for green.

The kids enjoyed eating this bread, but did say that they enjoyed the malted rye bread better.  The malted rye bread has more white flour, giving it a softer texture.  The malted rye bread also has just a bit of sourdough flavor, which our kids really like.  And then again, it may just be the old Finnish/Swedish rivalry...