Worth Reposting

I posted this a few years ago.  But this year's batch was really good, so it seemed worth posting again.

Swedish Rye 

(makes 1 full size or 4 small loaves of bread)

First make the sponge:
Scald 1 cup of milk (whole is best, but skimmed works for those of you counting cholesterol)
Pour it onto a mixture:

• 1 tablespoon butter (can substitute margarine)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1.5 tsp fennel
• 1.5 tsp instant coffee
• 1/4 tsp salt (can omit, if you want)

While the mixture is cooling, add 1 packet of yeast to 1/4 cup of lukewarm water, and let it bubble. Add it to the scalded milk mixture after that mixture has cooled to lukewarm.
Then add:

• 3 tablespoon sugar
• 1.5 tsp orange peel
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1 cup of rye flour
• 1 cup of whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup white flour.

Stir with a wooden spoon for 100 stirs and then leave the sponge to rise for 1-2 hours.

Then make the loaf:

Add 2 cups of white flour to the sponge, gradually kneading until firm and consistent.  Usually takes about 10 minutes for the whole loaf, and another 5 minutes if you choose to break it into small loaves.  Once your loaves are ready, let them rise in a warm place for an hour or two.

Baking:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bake 50 minutes for full-sized loaf, 28 minutes for small size loaf.

Cool on rack, and then:

Devour with honey or peanut butter (also makes a mean grilled cheese sandwich).  Both the making and the eating of this bread will improve your mental health.