Rupjmaize

Rupjmaize (Latvian Dark Rye Bread)

Rupjmaize is a dense, deeply flavored Latvian dark rye bread made with a sourdough starter. It has a moist crumb, a sticky crust brushed with caraway water, and keeps for over a week.

Prep

45 min

Cook

75 min

Total

120 min

Serves

12

Difficulty

Medium

Recipe ingredients

• •150 g (5¼ oz) active rye sourdough starter, mature, recently fed
• •500 g (17½ oz) dark rye flour, Type 997 or whole-grain rye; do not substitute with wheat flour
• •100 g (3½ oz) whole wheat flour
• •500 ml (2 cups + 2 tbsp) lukewarm water, around 38 °C / 100 °F
• •15 g (1 tbsp) fine sea salt
• •15 g (1 tbsp) caraway seeds, lightly crushed
• •30 ml (2 tbsp) molasses or dark honey, Latvian recipes use dark rye malt syrup (iesala ekstrakts); molasses is the closest home substitute
• •250 ml (1 cup) water, for the crust wash
• •5 g (1 tsp) caraway seeds, for the crust wash

Steps

1. 1 Refresh the sourdough starter 4–8 hours before mixing: stir 50 g starter into 100 g rye flour and 120 ml lukewarm water; let it bubble and rise.
2. 2 In a large bowl, whisk together the dark rye flour, whole wheat flour, salt, and crushed caraway seeds.
3. 3 In a separate bowl, mix the lukewarm water, molasses, and 150 g of the active starter until smooth.
4. 4 Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon or strong spatula until a thick, sticky, uniform dough forms. Rye dough will remain tacky and will not form a ball like wheat dough — resist adding extra flour.
5. 5 Cover the bowl and let the dough rest at room temperature (ideally 22–26 °C / 72–78 °F) for 4–6 hours, with a stretch-and-fold every hour for the first 3 hours. The dough should look airy and smell tangy.
6. 6 Scrape the dough into a well-greased 1.5 L (1½ qt) loaf pan or a traditional round rye form (cepure form). Smooth the top with wet hands and let it proof 2–4 hours at room temperature until it has visibly risen by about one-third and a finger poke springs back slowly.
7. 7 Meanwhile, make the crust wash: simmer 250 ml water with 5 g caraway seeds for 10 minutes, then strain and cool to lukewarm.
8. 8 Preheat the oven to 230 °C (450 °F) with a deep oven tray of water on the lowest rack for steam.
9. 9 Brush the top of the loaf generously with the caraway water, then place in the oven. Bake at 230 °C (450 °F) for 20 minutes.
10. 10 Reduce the oven to 180 °C (350 °F) and bake 50–60 minutes more, brushing the crust with caraway water two more times during baking.
11. 11 The bread is done when the internal temperature reads 96–99 °C (205–210 °F) on an instant-read thermometer and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
12. 12 Remove from the pan and brush the crust once more with caraway water. Cool completely on a wire rack for at least 12 hours before slicing — cutting too early will make the crumb gummy.