Rye & Raisin Delight

Sounds like ice cream, but nicer. Full of fruit and 100% rye it does not rise a lot, but it is a really tasty little loaf. A different method from my usual. I opted for sultanas and used a different rye flour too, so it was not as dark as the previous loaves I made. Really good with cheddar, blue cheese or just butter.

Method:

Wet mix. Mix 150g rye flour, 100g starter and 200ml water in the morning. Put a plate over it and let it stand all day, at least 12 hours to bubble. I used a glass bowl. It does not build in volume, but you can see the bubbles from the side.

Late evening. Prepare a loaf pan (approx. 8 x 4 inches/900g)

Mix 200g rye flour with 1 tsp salt and 200g raisins. Tip it over and cover your wet mix. Then gently pour over 150ml warm water and mix all together quickly, before the warm water reacts with the dry flour. Ladle into the loaf pan. Wet a plastic scraper and smooth over the top. Cover with a big bowl and let it rise on the counter overnight to bubble up again. It will rise only about 1-2 cm. (You can sift white flour over the top if you like, but is was out of flour, which is why I made the rye loaf.)

Oven to 220C with fan and with a roasting pan in the bottom. Put in the loaf and pour a cup of hot water or 6 big ice cubes into the roasting pan. After 10 minutes, lower the heat to 200C and bake another 20-30 minutes. It makes quite a nice chewy crust too.

There was a beautiful moon out there last night.