Black Bread

Thanks for the info. I'll look into it.

Recently found a recipe in Daniel Leader's book "Living Bread" for a black baguette that uses activated charcoal powder. It's called Baguette Au Charbon Vegetal on page 128. I ordered some ACP and some black cocoa. Time to experiment.

I continued my research on Black Bread with a review of Rye Breads listed in Bernard Clayton's NCBOB. I read the recipe for Dutch Roggebrood, which translates to Dutch Rye Bread and his comment in the text before the recipe caught my eye. I instantly related it to my Aunt's Health Bread, "... will keep almost indefinitely...". So, I began researching Roggebrood online and came across several methods, recipes and variations of each.

About two weeks ago, I made a loaf of porridge bread using my homemade mixture or 8 grains plus buckwheat. I made another batch of porridge, let it cool down, added whole wheat and rye flour, salt and molasses for the final dough. The dough was more like an extremely thick porridge and the "dough" could not be kneaded as the recipe that I was following suggested. But the recipe did not say use a hybrid mixture of grains, so, I was on my own.

I greased 3 small loaf pans (7.5" x 3.5" x 2.25"), scooped the mixture into the pans, pressed it into the corners and smoothed it with a spatula. I then covered the pans with a double thick layer of aluminum foil, placed them in a preheated 225 degree F oven and set the timer on my cell phone for 12 hours. When I woke up the next morning the house smelled wonderful but I had more time to wait.

One recipe that I read said to leave the bread in the oven until it cools and leave the foil on the pans to retain the moisture. About 5 hours later I removed the foil, took the loaves out of the pans and placed them on a wire rack to dry some before wrapping in plastic wrap.

I named the trial loaves Boska Bread after my Aunt's nickname. One of my cousins told me her nickname that some of the bakers used in her bakery but she warned me never to let my Aunt hear me use that name. I thought that it meant Bosslady in Polish. Years later I found out that it means gorgeous.

The loaves did not turn out black but the one I sliced into sure was good with butter. One source said that the loaf will darken over a few days, so, I'll wait and continue my experiments to find my perfect black bread.

Well the second attempt to make a passable replica of my aunt's health bread ended in a dismal failure. I made my porridge but used blue corn meal, black rice and black quinoa to get a darker porridge which did appear to be much darker. In making the dough I added dark rye flour and pumpernickel flour and some activated charcoal powder. Then I packed it into a baking pan and baked it at 230 degrees F for 24 hours. One referenced recipe suggested that the long slow bake would activate the maillard reaction.

When it cooled down I removed the foil covering and the loaf was really black with some dark brown specs that was probably the buckwheat. The loaf had cracks all over the top, sides and the bottom but it held together. After cooling on a wire rack for a couple of hours I wrapped the loaf in plastic wrap and let it sit for two days.

When I tried to slice it, I thought that I would ruin my bread knife. It was like trying to slice a brick. I jokingly told my sister that I would have to head out to the work shop and bring in one of my saws to slice it.

So, my second attempt was a complete failure and I sent the loaf to the trash bin. I did take a picture of it but I was so disappointed in the results that I deleted it.

Back to the drawing board.