Recently, I was fortunate enough to have a morning off to visit a friend. Knowing I am obsessed with all things German, she shared a bread recipe her German cousin wrote out for her during a visit to the U.S. After some deciphering and translating, we were able to modify and adapt the recipe to our purposes.
The recipe came into her hands because of a failed attempt to find bread in America that the German cousin was willing to eat. Picky! Apparently all of our bread is way too sweet. Having a high tolerance for sweets, I could not agree less with this accusation. Our breads are absolutely not sweet.
Well, this is what I thought initially.
Having lived in Germany, I have tried many of their breads. Freshly baked, homemade, store bought, American style sliced bread, and bakery breads. Maybe I was used to the reduced sugar in all my foods, or maybe I covered my breads in distracting toppings, but I cannot remember tasting bread in Germany with as little sweetness as this Bread #2.
You really have to try it for yourself and enjoy the new experience if you have always eaten sugary white breads.
The original recipe doubled the one included here, but I have written out the ingredients for one loaf of the German or American portions. Prior to starting we did investigate the differences and comparisons between natural/fresh/wet yeast common in Europe to the dry yeast we are accustomed to state side. We took into account these differences.
Take-Home Tips: If you choose to use active dry rather than the fast rise, sprinkle a little more in the bowl. With this type of yeasty bread, you really are encouraged to add more yeast, rather than skimping. The original recipe called for 200g of natural yeast (about 4.5 tablespoons of active dry). Since the water is not warm and there is milk instead of sugar, we want to see lots of yeast to help this bread rise. Also, if you do not bake the full 60 minutes, it will collapse in the middle and there will be raw dough.
Scoring: 7 of 10. This is a very good bread recipe. We really enjoyed it and would recommend. However, the lower score is due to the acquired taste required for a foreign bread. If you love bread but want to cut back on sugars, this is an ideal alternative. It would be best eaten like a rye with cream cheese and smoked ham (Mary Berry style).
Food of the Month 