Swedish Rye Bread

This recipe comes from my great-grandmother, who emigrated from
Sweden and brought this recipe with her. It makes a sweet, dark
bread, and (like most whole-grain breads) it tends to be a bit heavy.

INGREDIENTS (Makes 3 loaves)

2 c milk 1 c water 1/2 c brown sugar 1/2 oz dry yeast (two packages)
6 c rye flour (approximate) 3 c white flour (approximate) 1/2 c
granulated sugar 1/2 c vegetable oil 1/4 c dark molasses 2 ts anise
seeds, crushed 1 ts salt

(1) Scald the milk and combine it with the water and brown sugarin a
very large bowl. (You need something that holds at least 4 or 5
quarts.) When the mixture is lukewarm, dissolve the yeast in it, then
stir in 2 cups rye flour and 1 cup white flour to make a paste.

(2) Let the mixture rise in a warm place until it is light and foamy.
This usually takes about 30 minutes to an hour. Check it frequently –
it can really make a mess if it rises enough to overflow the bowl.
(I’m sure they could make a 3 great horror movie about a gigantic
blob of bread dough that keeps getting bigger and bigger as it
consumes everything in its path….)

(3) Stir in the granulated sugar, oil, molasses, anise seed and salt,
and enough flour to make a stiff dough, using 2 parts rye to 1 part
white. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until it is smooth and
elastic, adding more flour to keepit from sticking to your hands.

(4) Clean and grease the bowl. Put the dough in the bowl, turn-g it to
grease all sides. Cover the bowl loosely with aclean towel and let
the dough rise until it’s doubled in bulk. Punch it down and let rise
until double again.

(5) Divide the dough into three loaves and put in greased pans. (I
usually make round loaves and bake them on cookie sheets.) Cover with
the towel and let rise until double again.

(6) Bake for about 45 minutes at 350 deg. F. Because of the high
sugar content, this bread can burn rather easily; watch closely so it
doesn’t get too dark.

NOTES: Rye flour can be a little hard to find these days. You may
have to visit a store that specializes in natural foods. Avoid the
kind that is very coarsely ground with big chunks of bran in it,
though; this doesn’t seem to have any gluten at all in it, and since
the proportion of rye flour is so high in this recipe, the texture of
the bread willcome out all wrong. You need something that looks more
like ordinary flour.

RATING: Difficulty: moderate. Time: 30 minutes preparation, several
hours rising, 1 hour baking and cooling. Precision: measure the
ingredients.