Almost a Borodinsky Bread with Chocolate Malt
Ever since I read about this bread baked by Varda (recipe here) I have wanted to try to bake one. I managed to pick up what I thought was Chocolate Malted Rye which is one of the key ingredients at a local brewers supply store. Unfortunately I later learned that what I bought was chocolate malted barley. Never the less I still figured it was worth giving it a go anyway.
You are also supposed to use a Pullman pan with a lid for this bake but since I don't currently own one I used a standard baking tin and covered the bread for most of the bake with aluminum foil. I think it worked out okay, but next time I will buy a Pullman pan and see if it makes much of difference.
Following Varda's advise I tried to dock the dough and separated the sides with a spatula to avoid cracking on the top. I still ended up with some cracking so I guess I need to try something else next time.
- Nice and Bubbly
Overall I think the bread came out pretty good for my first attempt. It has a nice moist crumb with a pretty hard crust. I have never eaten this type of bread before so I'm not sure what it is supposed to taste like, but mine is very sour which I imagine may mellow after it sit for another 12 hours or so. I ate a piece after about 18 hours which is the longest I could wait.
The chocolate malted barley smelled so good when mixed with the sour; almost good enough to eat like cake batter.
I am going to try and get some authentic malted rye for the next attempt. I used only the malted chocolate barley for this bake even though Varda's formula called for some plain malted rye which I did not have. Not sure what kind of difference that made in the final taste profile.
I will have to give a 100% rye version of this style bread in the near future after I return from my trip to China next month.
Happy baking everyone.
Comments
Very nice Ian. I am in the process of mixing up the sour and scald for Andy's Moscow Rye which is very similar to the Borodinsky but 100% rye and not as sweet.
Your loaf looks like the Borodinskys I have baked in the past - both in a Pullman and in a mini pan covered with tin foil. I didn't find a significant difference between pans. Lid is just to keep moisture in and tin foil achieves that too. I dock my loaves and I still get cracks on the tops too. I think it looks nice so I don't fret about it anymore :- )
If you do get the chocolate rye I am curious to know if you can detect any flavor differences. My brew shop sells what they call 'crystal rye malt' so that is what I use. Dark like chocolate and smells like chocolate so it might just be crm under a different name…
Thanks for the post
Take Care,
Janet
Thanks Janet. I appreciate your kind words and input. I will certainly let you know when I find the rye version. So how did you find the 100% rye version compared to this version?
Shaping was harder for me to do. Rye gets very sticky. I do the shaping tomorrow and will hopefully be more prepared for the stickiness - wet hands, wet surfaces, wet anything with which the dough will come in contact. I also know that it will 'slouch' into the pans but that it all works out in the end.
As to flavor….People love both. I don't eat anything I bake so I can't comment personally. I do know simply from the formulas that the Borodinsky is a lot sweeter due to lots more molasses than the rye and 'spicier' due to higher % of spice added.
I bake according to PiPs baking schedule since it works better into my daily schedule and oven use. When I tried Andy's method my smaller loaves dried out a lot during the extended bake time.
Thanks for the info.
Regards
Ian
load of bread that weighs more than it tastes. This is my favorite kind of rye. It has to taste great. Your crumb is as open as the Crumb Lady's example but hers was more striking because of the near black crumb she achieved due to the chocolate malt she used. So hers is still the best crumb I have seen in a bread like this - and of course she isn't the Crumb Lady for nothing.
I'm guessing you won't find much difference in the taste though. You are going about as dark as possible with the exception of pumpernickel, Mookie and possibly Max. What a great bake Ian and I'm glad you finally got a chance to try one of these fine breads and have it come out so well.
You are gong dark and I went White Bread today with only 28% whole grains. Doing a white pizza tonight too with YW SD and a poolish for the leavens. Dough was refrigerated for 48 hours so it ought to be decent :-)
Happy baking Ian
Thanks DA. I was very happy with the way thus turned out for my first attempt. I can see a myriad of possibilities types this type of bake.
I will check out your latest shortly.
Happy baking.
Ian
Hi Ian. No computer so just a few words. Looks terrific. I stopped worrying about cracks so don't dock anymore. I don't think the diastatic malt has much effect. And the sour taste does mellow. Great work!
Thanks Varda. Appreciate your feedback. I'm pretty happy for my first attempt at this. Have you tried the 100% rye version yet?
Glad you think it looks good.
Regards
Ian
but looks rich and delicious ! We are getting a brewery just up the street so perhaps I will be able to get some interesting supplies. Love the documentation and pics. Will bookmark for the future. c
Thank you so much for your comments.
Let us know if you try it in the future. It's an interesting procedure and a great result.
Best,
Ian
Ian, Borodinsky is actually my favorite bread and I make it all the time. Right now I have a 100% whole rye with wheat groats, roasted rye malt and dried prunes on the counter proofing. It's always nice to see a fellow rye lover!
Appreciate the comment. Yours sounds great and I can't wait to try some variations now that I got my feet wet. I'm enjoying a couple of slices for breakfast with some fresh mozzarella.
Regards,
Ian
MTT,
A question about prunes….Do you add those in the scald in place of the molasses? Sounds like a nice combination.
Janet
I'm sorry to say that I didn't think to do it myself. In this bake, I made the scald with wheat groats (couldn't find any rye groats) rather than flour and replaced molasses with honey. I also added a few pinches of cardamom, cloves and allspice to the scald - the smells of roasted malt and spices mingle really nicely. The prunes were added when the final paste was mixed, didn't soak them this time because they seemed pretty pliable, but your suggestion would definitely be more interesting, I think.
All in all, I hope to have something like the slightly sweet whole rye bread with dried fruit that I remember eating for dessert as a kid -- will find out tomorrow if it worked :) I could make a blog post about it if you're interested, didn't think it would catch much eyes to be honest
Sounds great. Gives me more tweaking ideas for 'next time'…..A spice blend I love in breads comes from Penzey's and it's their baking blend - similar to yours but it has cinnamon added too….
Sorry Ian to side track here but I just couldn't help myself :(
Janet
At first glance I thought I was looking at a giant brownie. :)
Impressive bake for a first attempt. I imagine my sourdough baking skills are rusty now and if I were to try anything similar, it would not come out as nice as yours...
Anyway, I shall look forward to your second attempt. I predict much success. :)
Happy and safe travels,
Zita
Thank you Zita. Appreciate your kind words.
Hope to see you baking again soon.
Regards
Ian
Hey Ian. Another winner. Haven't seen you bake one of these style breads before. Nice! What a block of yummy.
Thanks for the post.
John
Thanks John. You're right, this was my first try at one of these types of breads. Now that I've made one it's time to start mixing it up a bit.
Haven't seen anything from you lately. I'm off to China on Tuesday for 10 days so I hope to have some interesting reading from you!
Regards,
Ian
It has been extremely hectic lately. Right in the middle of the family business transition being transferred from parents to me. Tax lawyer, accountant, daily operations at same time. Had no time to bake, but I baked up a few goodies yesterday. Nothing too new from me though...I felt like baking up loaves that would be successful so I didn't experiment too much. I pushed the boundaries a bit in hydration of a whole grain levain bread. I guess that is sort of exciting :)
Off to China again, wow. Hope you packed your congee spoon. I have been craving Siu Mai lately but have had no time to even make them from home. Ohhh, and some crispy spicy wok squid...damn you Ian and your Chinese influence on me. :)
Just because you begged me so badly for a post, I think I might just do that for you ;)
John
Look forward to seeing your next post. Hope your family business transition goes smoothly.
Regards
Ian
Beautiful Dark borodinsky, Ian! You did such a good job with this for a first try, i'd imagine you'll perfect ryes in no time. Try this with cream cheese, with or without onion springs, or smoked fish. Try it with scrambled eggs and butter, yum!
-Khalid
Thanks Khalid. Appreciate your feedback as always.
i was very happy with how this turned out for my first attempt.
Regards,
Ian