The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

CHALLENGE FOR ALL MULTIGRAIN BREADS FANS

hanseata's picture
hanseata

CHALLENGE FOR ALL MULTIGRAIN BREADS FANS

Dear fellow TFL bakers, I have a challenge for you!

During our recent trip to Germany we spent a few days in Potsdam, to visit Frederick the Great's Sanssouci. We stayed at Schlosshotel Cecilienhof, a wonderful hotel right inside another historic site, Cecilienhof Palace.

Cecilienhof Palace

Named after a crown princess, this palace was also the place where those three jolly old guys met:

Churchill, Truman and Stalin at the Potsdam Conference

To honor the history and importance of this heritage, the hotel's pastry chef came up with the idea to create a special bread for the guests' breakfast buffet:

Bread buffet at Schlosshotel Cecilienhof

An ancient grain bread, "Urbrot", a rye sourdough with a lot of different grains and seeds. To educate their guests, the hotel had placed a little brochure on the table, with informations about the bread: "Taste meets Tradition", including a list of the ingredients:

Ingredients of the Cecilienhof Ancient Grain Rye Bread

Rye meal

Water

Sunflower seeds

Ancient wheat meal: emmer and einkorn

Wheat flour (white or medium, not whole wheat)

Rolled spelt

Chestnut flour

Rolled oats

Barley meal

Barley malt extract

Vital wheat gluten

Rolled barley

Flaxseed

Steel cut oats

Spelt flour

Potato flakes

Sea salt

Vegetable fat (shortening)

Whole spelt sourdough

Table salt

Yeast

Unfortunately they didn't supply the bakers' percentage!

We really enjoyed the bread, and I think it would be wonderful to have another bread in my repertoire, associated with an important historic event (like the wonderful Wild Rice Sourdough - The Bread That Ended The Cold War.)

A moist, very flavorful loaf - created to honor the history of Cecilienhof Palace

I couldn't stop thinking about it, and see this as a challenge worthy of my talented fellow bakers at TFL. Certainly not all ingredients will be available for us, and we have to come up with a formula, but that is the fun part of it.

WHO WANTS TO JOIN ME AND TAKE UP THE CHALLENGE?

Happy Baking

Karin

Comments

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Those look great DA.   I will have to join the fun as soon as I'm able.

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

than they do on the outside.  You will have fun with this one Ian and enjoy a fine tasting bread too. 

Skibum's picture
Skibum

. . . easy enough, this dropping into the 'dark side!'  After reading through the Friesisches Schwarzbrot I thought I felt brave enough to give it a try, although I do still have some of the psychological scars of a Volkenbrot style bread gone WAY BAD. . .  However, I will press on with Karin's recipe, to which I have added 20 grams each wheat germ and sesame seeds for 'toadies,' and 25 g steel cut oats, so dabrownman's influence is showing up again! T he first starter is bubbling nicely but has not risen a bit and I am guessing I will not get much rise at nearly 200% hydration. the second mix will go this evening and final in the morning.  Is it normal to get excited about a new bake???  I think so!

Anyhow this challenge should be fun and tasty.  I love to bake bread and people on this site understand that.  A lot of people I know don't understand my passion.  When I tell them I love to bake bread, a lot of people kind of look at me like I bleached my hair blonde and spiked it up like Guy Fieri, which I in fact did do for this summer's rafting season . . .

This is Ken Forkish week.  A day after reading his book which I then ordered from Amazon.ca -- FREE shipping in Canada, Canuck TFLers!  Baked his Walnut levain bread this morning and realized when mixing yesterday I still had enough levain for his overnight levain pizza dough which has been highly touted on this site.  Stay tuned, the pizza bakes tonight!

Best regards all of you great TFLoafers and thanks for understanding!!!!!

Brian

 

Skibum's picture
Skibum

. . . a challenge within this challenge:  what to best pair with this most interesting bread.  SO . . . what are you all eating this bread with????

TIA, Brian

hanseata's picture
hanseata

But it has to be the more sophisticated kind, given the grand environment and history.

Karin

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

a thick slice of ripe fruit, like a peach or a slice of melon

Juergen Krauss's picture
Juergen Krauss

 

"Horst Bandel's Pumpernickel" from Hamelman's Bread gave me some inspiration for this loaf, plus Karin's encouragement and a fairly busy day when I mixed this up.

All this accounts for some of the deviations from the original ingredients list:

  • Addition of Spelt and Rye grains
  • Addition of ground Hempseeds (dedicated to dabrownman's assistant)
  • Omission of fat (Coconut oil is a great choice, Janet)
  • Omission of Chestnut flour
  • Omission of Emmer / Einkorn (difficult to get at the moment)
  • Omission of Barley malt

Here a photo of the crumb:

 

Below is what I came up with in Bakers %:

 

Overall Formula  
Original IngredientsMy IngredientsBakers %
Oat GroatsOat Groats10
N/ASpelt Grains10
N/ARye Grains10
Rolled OatsRolled Oats7
Rolled SpeltRolled Spelt7
Rolled BarleyRolled Barley6
Rye MealRye Meal10
Barley MealBarley Meal10
Emmer / Einkorn MealN/A0
Wheat FlourWheat Flour10
Spelt FlourSpelt Flour (Wholegrain)20
Chestnut FlourN/A0
N/AGround Hempseeds5
Wheat GlutenN/A0
Sunflower SeedsSunflower Seeds14
FlaxseedsFlaxseeds3
Potato FlakesN/A0
N/AMashed Potato3.5
SaltSalt2
YeastYeast (IDY)0.6
WaterWater90.9
Barley MaltN/A0
Vegetable FatN/A0
Yield 219
   
Spelt Sour  
 WG Spelt Flour20
 Water12
 Mature Wheat Starter2
   
Flaxseed Soaker  
 Flaxseed3
 Water6
   
Grain Mash  
 Oat Groats10
 Spelt Grains10
 Rye Grains10
 WaterAs Needed

I used roughly the Pumpernickel process as outlined in Hamelman's recipe, soaking the wholegrains overnight and then boiling them for 1 hour.

For the 12 hour bake I used a pullman tin with lid, started in a hot oven and gradually turned down the heat, baking at 100C for the last 9 hours.

A very tasty loaf, deep flavors, but we think it is more versatile than Pumpernickel.A great formula in its own right.

hanseata's picture
hanseata

What you came up with, Jürgen, in spite of a busy schedule. A great Korn-an-Korn (grain-to-grain) loaf, beautiful to behold. I have a customer who just asked me for such a bread, he would jump for joy, if he would see this.

I'm not the greatest pumpernickel fan, for me it's just a party buffet-with-cheese kind of thing, and I do agree that this multigrain rye is much more versatile.

Moin, Moin,

Karin

 

Juergen Krauss's picture
Juergen Krauss

Thank you, Karin.

I am glad you like my creation. 

I just took some to my office, and got positive feedback throughout.

With age this bread develops some new sweet notes, and the crunch of the hemp seeds - though finely ground - becomes apparent.

On a less busy day I will repeat this, using chestnut flour and coconut fat, I think both would be a good complement for the flavors already present.

Thank you for posting this challenge,

Juergen

 

 

hanseata's picture
hanseata

and am very eager to know how my own bread will turn out.

I started yesterday with the starter, and mixed the intermediate dough this morning.

Since your loaf with the long pumpernickel bake doesn't have a darker color, either, I suspect the Cecilienhof baker used molasses or some other coloring agent.

Karin

 

Juergen Krauss's picture
Juergen Krauss

Hi Karin,

I suspect a higher % of spelt, and an effect of the chestnut flour.

My 100% spelt loaves are quite dark, even with a regular bake.

Looking forward to your interpretation,

Juergen

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

interpretation of the multigrain challenge Juergen.  Lucy loves the hemp seeds and is beside herself for adding sesame seeds instead of them in her formula.   She did a whole range of breads pumpernickel style earlier this year  adn agree with you the multigrain  pumpernickel style breads are more versatile than the rye versions and they do have a different flavor profile,  We didn't like white breads baked pumpernickel though.

Well done!

Juergen Krauss's picture
Juergen Krauss

doesn't sound quite right. 

I think it is specifically rye that lends itself to this process.

When I assembled the dough I visualised Lucy rolling the oats and spelt grains ... (chuckle)

Thank you very much,

Juergen

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

Just found this post and the rusty gears are churning...  (hear the rust fall off in pieces onto the floor with each hot flush?)

Agree, oat berries (groats) are making the white spots.  Paul, I sure wish I had some Chilean pine nuts!  Chestnuts also taste like roasted potatoes,  may try to roast some small ones with peels chopping them fine, cutting back on liquids.  Roasted sunflower seeds?  and, and, and...  no VWG for me, still don't trust the stuff.  Thinking about a spelt tangzhong instead.  hmmm...

We ate out for breakfast and hubby ordered "rye."  Looked too dark to be natural rye, loaded with salted butter and was square like pullman shaped wheat toast bread.  Had about the same weight as wheat toast and tasted more like whole wheat than anything else.  Verdict?  Hubby wouldn't touch the stuff.  I could only think about colorants and salt.  Yikes!  

hanseata's picture
hanseata

You as an expert baker!

Today I will start with my own version (probably borrowing shamelessly), and, in the end, I will post about it on my blog with a link to every participant's post.

Karin

 

Skibum's picture
Skibum

Wow, a 12 hour bake!!??!  Must be pretty low and slow . . .  I will have a look at Hamelman's pumpernickel technique.  I'm not sure I can find all of the ingredients you have used, but will try on my next bake of this type.  Also very sad that I cannot find pickled herring in town.  Not even my local Swiss deli -- very sad . . .

Thanks for sharing Juergen!  Brian

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

Always got a jar of "Roll mops" in the fridge...

I got hemp hearts (the soft core without the crunch) still nutty, tastes pretty close to sunflower seeds themselves.

I got kamut berries, steel cut oats (so tiny!) and I'm thinking I'm dropping the rye to about 60%.

Juergen Krauss's picture
Juergen Krauss

is really good - have a look at it. It won't be difficult for you now. It uses far less ingredients than my bread above.

I made one yesterday, for a colleague of a commuter friend ...

Here a picture of the crumb:

 

As for pickled herring - do it yourself!

There is a variety of this which I like very much - Brathering - fried herring. 

It's easy to make, I used fresh sardines or sprats successfully. See for example:

http://www.chefkoch.de/rezepte/593681159027353/Eingelegte-Bratheringe-la-Oma-Lene.html

Happy Baking,

Juergen

hanseata's picture
hanseata

No herrings sold in Maine, they are all used as lobster bait. I do like lobster rolls, but now and then I would like brötchen with brathering or rollmops.

Karin

Juergen Krauss's picture
Juergen Krauss

selling Rollmops in Maine then!

Here in the UK we get herring in many varieties, but usually with rather a lot of sugar!

Usually we get it from Polish shops.

Fascinating, those cultural differences.

Juergen 

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

better, Juergen.  Those little crusties on the berries look close to Karin's crumb shot.  Is that with added yeast?

Juergen Krauss's picture
Juergen Krauss

to the book.

Yes, Mini, this has yeast in it. Roughly 80% rye (berries, flakes and meal) and 20% bread flour.

The flavour is a lot stronger here.

hanseata's picture
hanseata

I'm eager to see your results, Mini!

Karin

hanseata's picture
hanseata

I baked my bread this morning, and we cut it open for lunch (we don't belong to the purists' camp who need to forgo the pleasure of a crisp, caramelized crust for the supposedly superior taste of a day old loaf).

We were absolutely wowed by the flavor of the bread. My husband even swore it was the best bread he'd ever eaten, and declared the humble barbecued chicken breast I had put on the table wasn't good enough for it. Only black forest ham and aged provolone was deemed worthy enough to go with it!

I had basically all the ingredients that were on the list, and I used DBM's and Jürgen's percentages as guidelines, changing them a bit to suit my taste. The procedure and hydration I took from my Friesisches Schwarzbrot, the baking temperature and time from Rheinisches Schwarzbrot.



Will post more, when I have time.

Karin

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

loaf of bread.  I'm guessing it tastes as good as mine and your husband is right to think it one of the very best recipes to make on a regular basis.  We will DaPumperize it too,  Well done Karin.

 

hanseata's picture
hanseata

A mysterious procedure, developed by Lucy, to give it this unique flavor that inspires all those food-porn-grade photos?

We just ate the last bit of my bread, I will definitely bake it again. Post will follow soon.

Karin

Skibum's picture
Skibum

. . . found pickled herring and rollmops and likely ate half of the small jar!!! :-) I was looking in he wrong places . . .

Karin, THAT is one fine looking loaf!!!!  I am still experimenting with pairings and so far blue cheese and frresh apricot/ plum slices, second is a good prosciutto, Rene's garlic sauce, grainy mustard and Hungarian salami . . . YUMM!!!

I must now try another version of this wonderful bread!

Regarrds, Brian

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

I was wondering if the 3 nations have something to do with %.  Russian rye, Churchill oats, Truman...?... Sunflowers?

Sunflowers being treated more like nuts in the formula.

hanseata's picture
hanseata

They didn't divulge in detail, where their inspiration came from. They also offered a light bread, but I didn't find that as flavorful or interesting as this dark version.

I'm not sure whether they toasted the sunflower seeds, but I always toast seeds or nuts that go in the bread to enhance the nutty flavor. After I baked my bread, I am sure that the white pieces in the photo are sunflower seeds.

Karin

 

wassisname's picture
wassisname

Finally got a chance to try this - here's a link.  Well worth the wait and the effort.  Thanks Karin, for the inspiration! 

Marcus

hanseata's picture
hanseata

with such a good looking result!

Karin

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