Swedish Limpa Bread

Another bread people are looking for when they come to the Scandinavian Bazaar is Swedish Limpa Bread. In the past I was using an ABM recipe but again wasn't thrilled with the results. So this year I decided to give this recipe a try. There are many variations of this bread but I always made the one with the seeds. Again if you don't like them but want the flavor they give the bread you can finely grind them up of just leave them out. I added the orange zest as my original recipe called for it and I think it gives the bread a nice touch!

Swedish Limpa Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups orange juice

1/2 cup butter

1 1/3 cups dark brown sugar

1/4 cup dark molasses

2 1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds

2 teaspoons anise seed

Zest of 1 orange ( I use Penzey's Spices Orange Peel and rehydrate)

2 teaspoons salt

2 cups cold water

3 tablespoons yeast

4 cups rye flour (medium)

5 -6 cups all-purpose flour

1 egg whisked with 1 tablespoon milk for egg wash


Combine first six ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil; simmer for approximately 5 minutes.
Let cool some, then add the salt and cold water.

Test the temperature, it should be between 115-125 not any hotter! then add the yeast. Stir till yeast is dissolved.

Transfer to a mixing bowl ( I use my KitchenAid with the dough hook attachment) and add the rye flour and as much white flour as needed to make a soft dough. After all flour is Incorporated Knead well.  I did between 7 & 10 minutes with the KitchenAid. The bread dough will be sticky.


Let rise until double. Punch down and let rest 15 minutes.

Shape into 4 loaves (Traditionally in round loaves, but loaf pans work also).I use round cake pans because I prefer the round shapes. You can score the tops at this point if you want a design on the top of your loves.

Let rise again until double. About 1 1/2 hours.

Brush with the egg wash if you want a shiny crust!

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes. I convection bake and found the bread needed to bake about 40 minutes just keep an eye on it and give it the thump test!

 If you are freezing any of the loves make sure they are completely cooled before freezing!

Here is the link to the original recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/swedish-limpa-bread-136565

And here is the link to Penzey's Spices: http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/shophome.html

Here is a link to Baking911 great tips on bread making: http://www.baking911.com/bread/101_intro.htm