Dark rye bread - Pane di segale

October 29, 2008 - 12:26 pm 5 Comments

Southern swedish rye bread (OK! It should be “Danish”, but I like the sound of “Swedish” better…)


This lovely bread is quite heavy and dark and the process does require a bit of time, but it is well worth it in the end.

This is a very basic recipe which you could play around a bit with - add some dried fruits, spices (like fennel, anice or caraway), nuts, sesame seeds, rolled oats or other things you find lying around.

Day 1:
500 grams water
300 grams whole rye grain
175 grams sunflower seeds
50 grams linseeds (flax seeds)
30 grams salt
(50 grams rye sourdough starter) The bread DOES get even better with the addition of rye sourdough, but it is not crucial - you will have a good bread anyway!

Day 2:
500 grams water
60 grams yeast
350 grams molasses or malt syrup
650 grams whole rye flour
300 grams wheat flour

Day 1:
Measure the rye, the seeds and the salt in a bowl. Bring the water to a boil and pour it over the mixture. Let it cool down to room temperature. (If you bake with sourdough this is where you would mix it in). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit in fridge until the next day.

Day 2:
Measure the water and heat it to 37 degrees celsius. Dissolve the yeast in the water. Add the molasses, the flours and the mixture from day 1. Work the dough for about 15 minutes in a kitchen mixer (or for as long as your forces last if you do all the work by hand). It will be a pretty loose dough.

Put your oven at 250 degrees celsius. Grease two bread pans and fill them two-thirds full, put some flour on top and flatten with your hand. Let rise for 45 minutes.

Put the breads in the oven and spray some water in there to make a bit of steam. Turn the oven down to 200 degrees.
Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes or to an internal temperature of 98 degrees celsius.

Take the breads out, remove them from the pans and let them rest for one day before indulging.

Day 3: EAT! (Some examples)


Rye (Latin: Secale cereale) - Segale

Pane scuro di segale (di origine danese, ma mi piace chiamarlo “svedese”)
E un pane scuro e pesante e ci vuole un po di tempo per farlo, ma ne vale davvero la pena.

Questo e una ricetta base e si puo aggiungere dei ingredienti a gusto. Esempio: frutta secca, spezie (semi di finocchio, anice o carvi vanno benissimo), sesame, fiocchi di avena o altre cose che uno trova a casa.

Primo giorno:
500 grammi acqua
300 grammi segale intero
175 grammi semi di girasole
50 grammi semi di lino
30 grammi sale
(50 grammi di lievito madre di segale - non e cruciale ma rende il pane un po piu saporito)

Secondo giorno:
500 grammi acqua
60 grammi lievito di birra
350 grammi sciroppo di malto d´orzo
650 grammi farina integrale di segale
300 grammi farina di grano tenero

Primo giorno:
Mischiare il segale, i semi e il sale in una ciotola. Mettere a bollire l´acqua. Versare l´acqua sulla miscela, girare e lasciare raffreddare. (Questo e il momento per aggiungere il lievito madre se c´e). Coprire la ciotola con pelicola trasparente e mettere in frigo durante la notte.

Secondo giorno:
Riscaldare l´acqua fino a 37 gradi. Sciogliere il lievito di birra nel acqua. Aggiungere lo sciroppo di malto, le due farine e la miscela dal giorno prima. Lavorare l´impasto in una macchina di pane per 15 minuti o a mano finche non si stufa. L´impasto non sara molto duro.

Mettere il forno a 250 gradi. Imburrare due stampi per pane e versare il composto riempiendo a 2/3. Mettere un po di farina sopra e schiacciare leggermente. Lasciare lievitare per 45 minuti.

Mettere il pane nel forno, spruzzare un po di acqua dentro per creare vapore. Abbassare il forno a 200 gradi e cuocere per circa 1 ora e 15 min o fino ad una temperatura interna di 98 gradi.

Togliere il pane dai stampi e lasciare riposare fino al prossimo giorno.

Terzo giorno: Mangia! (Esempi per mangiarlo)

    5 Responses to “Dark rye bread - Pane di segale”

  1. Chocolate Shavings Says:

    I agree - I grew up in Paris and I have yet to find a place where the food is as rich in flavor… besides in Italy of course!

  2. Anne (Papilles et Pupilles) Says:

    Thank you for this recipe. Ikea’s bread is good but yours is very very yummy !

  3. Chrissie Says:

    OI- Im danish!
    We eat this every day for lunch with cold cuts or savory mayonaise based “salads” or leverpostej (liver pate) or dried sausage on top.
    The bread is called “rugbrød” and is also the base for the famous danish open faced sandwiches. (which is just a more elaborate version of our lunch =) )

  4. Ben Says:

    I was in Denmark last week and had this bread at breakfast, every day - could’nt get enough of it! Just wondering if the “real” (that is, Danish) recipe would contain molasses? In my experience, molasses gives a very distinct flavor to bread, not one that I appreciate much. What do the Danes use in this recipe?

  5. John Says:

    The Danes would use a thick refined sugar syrup from sugar beets which is quite dark and which also has malt added for flavor. So, it`s does not taste 100% right if using molasses because the taste of the malt syrup is not quite as strong as the molasses, but it`s as close as you can get without having the real stuff on hand.

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