Simple Seeded Rye Bread

You can take the German girl out of Germany, but you cannot take the taste for good bread out of the German girl.

Often, when I talk to other German expat friends about food, our collective culinary cravings revolve around bread: Schwarzbrot, bread rolls, early morning bakery visits, crusts, variety, the frustration with soft-slice, or the aversion to pumpernickel. And what I personally miss most about Germany (apart from being near my family, of course) is probably having a bakery in walking distance. And by bakery I do not mean Greggs or Percy Ingle. Don't even go there! I mean, not literally. I have actually gone there... And don't get me wrong, I do like white bread, soft bread or toast as a treat. But for me, real, everyday bread needs to be fresh, contain seeds, grains, or spices, and have bite and a lovely smell. Okay, there are places where you can get stuff like that in GB: big supermarkets have an instore bakery, there are farmers' markets on the weekends, or you might live near an artisan baker if you're lucky. But in Germany, no matter where you live or what day of the week you want to eat your fresh bread, I guarantee you, that fresh bread will be no further away than a quick trip and a chat with that nice lady behind the counter.

So, I do try and bake a lot of my own bread, and I aim to make a fresh loaf every weekend. This Sunday, I made a variation on an easy spelt bread recipe my mother sent me recently. It takes about 10 minutes to prepare, that's quicker than walking to the corner shop and back! But if you were already in the mindset, you could still walk to the shop to get some butter and jam while the bread is in the oven...

P.S.: Sorry about this slightly longish prelude to a recipe, but it IS bread we're talking about here!

Simple Seeded Rye Bread

Must Have:

500g rye flour

10g fast-action dry yeast

50g pumpkin seeds

50g sesame seeds

50g linseed

1 1/2 tsp salt

600 ml luke-warm water

Must Do:

Preheat oven to 200°C. Mix all the dry ingredients in a big bowl, then add water. Pour bread mixture into a greased and floured loaf tin and bake for 60 minutes. Remove bread from the oven and take it out of the tin. The bread is ready when the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. If you think it needs a bit longer, just return it to the oven without the tin and bake for another 10 minutes or so.

You can pretty much add any kind of seeds or nuts that you fancy. Maybe try poppy or sunflower seeds. Or add roughly chopped hazelnuts. Or maybe raisins. As long as it adds up to 150g, you'll be fine.