Breads & Baked Goods
Rye Bread (Ruginė Duona su Mielėm)
- In a large bowl, combine yeast, sugar, and 1/4 cup water.
- Let stand until foamy.
- Add remaining water, honey, butter, salt, and caraway seeds.
- Add flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Cover; set aside for about 5 minutes.
- Turn dough onto floured surface and knead until smooth, adding the rye flour.
- Place dough onto well-greased bowl; cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled.
- Punch down; knead dough briefly; divide in half and place into well-greased loaf pans.
This recipe is from Virginia Sakalas Mikenas and Ramune Sakalas Jonaitis. Treasures of Lithuanian Cooking 2002 pg. 125.
Lithuanian Rye Bread (Lietuviška Ruginė Duona)
**Dough should be mixed in a wooden bucket pail or bucket (oak, if possible.) Season a new pail by rubbing it with salt and caraway seeds. If the bucket is used rarely, season it before baking. When a freshly seasoned pail is used, decrease the amount of salt and caraway seeds for dough.**
- Dilute the vinegar with an equal amount of boiling water. Stir in to the rye flour. Add enough boiled water to make a thin paste.
- Add salt and caraway seeds. Let mixture cool.
- Dissolve 1/2 cake of yeast and sugar in 1 c. lukewarm water. Stir this into the rye mixture while it is still slightly warm. Cove with a cloth.
- Let stand overnight in a warm, even temperature.
- In the morning, add the remaining 1/2 cake of yeast, which has been dissolved in a little lukewarm water. Stir in enough all-purpose flour to make a stiff dough. Mix vigorously.
- Let rise for 1 hour.
- Divide dough in half and place in large bread pans which have been greased with butter or shortening, and sprinkled with cracker meal or corn meal. Let rise again for 15 to 30 minutes.
- Bake in a 450F degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until tops of the bread are brown, and then reduce the temperature to 350F and continue baking for another 2 1/2 to 3 hours.