As I had rye malt on hand and half a bag of light rye, I decided to try my hand at this Lithuanian palanga rye, an interesting recipe that calls for a sourdough levain, a flour and malt scald, and a yeast levain. I made it with 1/3 light rye and 2/3 whole rye.
I've been eyeing this one for some time -- http://theryebaker.com/vitebsk-rye/. My partner doesn't like the heaviness of whole grain ryes, so I figured a 100% light rye might intrigue her. Also, in a different thread, where I foolishly argued that I could see no reason to use light or medium rye when you could use whole grain, Ilya recommended that I try a light rye to see how it showcases flavors like fennel and anise.
so I've baked this Chocolate Rye from Lutz Geißler's ploetzblog -- https://www-ploetzblog-de.translate.goog/2015/09/05/im-schoko-rausch-schokoladenbrot-sechzig-prozent-roggenbrot/?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_… -- twice now. It's got extraordinary flavor and, though I got two completely different looking results, I wanted to share it here.
As a New Yorker, I tend to give the side-eye to distant takes on my heritage -- but I have to say this is better than the original. Nice but not overpowering sour flavor. Just enough caraway seeds (sorry, Benny, this is a Big Apple bread -- but you're free to make a Toronto version with different seeds.) Great aroma. Fantastic texture. Crumb that won't drip mustard. Crunchy but not rock hard crust.
