Мой рецепт для хлеба, напоминающего чёрный

In part 1, I described my attempts to reproduce “authentic Russian black bread” at home. And now, here’s the step-by-step recipe for those who want to try it! My instructions tell how to make the bread ручным способом (“by hand”), but you can certainly use a хлебопечка (“bread machine”) if you like. (I’ll give some general tips for that in the comments.)

Although I developed this recipe in an American kitchen (hence the title), I’ve tried my best to internationalize the directions. Here, it’s assumed that a стакан (lit., “drinking glass”) holds exactly 1 US cup or 240 mL of liquid. A чайная ложка (“teaspoon”) is 5 mL, while a столовая ложка (“tablespoon”) is 15 mL.

Also, in most Russian recipes it’s customary to measure granular/powdery ingredients — flour, sugar, uncooked rice, etc. — by вес (“weight”) in grams. But in the States we invariably measure these items by объём (“volume”) in cups. So when appropriate, I’ve given both weight and volume quantities, using the incredibly helpful conversion tables at this Metric Kitchen website.

Сначала, давайте соберём ингредиенты (“First, let’s gather the ingredients”). I’ve grouped them below in the order we’ll be dealing with them in the recipe.

(А)

• Четверть стакана пшеничной крупы (1/4 cup bulgur wheat, uncooked = 50 g)
• Одна столовая ложка семян кориандра (1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds)

(Б)

• Один и одна треть стакана тёплого кофе (1-1/3 cups warm brewed coffee = 320 mL)
• Две столовые ложки патоки (2 tablespoons molasses)
• Одна столовая ложка какао (1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa)
• Две чайных ложки сухих дрожжей (2 teaspoons dry yeast granules)

(В)

• Один стакан пшеничной муки (1 cup all-purpose white wheat flour = 120 g)
• Три стакана ржаной муки (3 cups rye flour = 360 g)
• Треть стакана глютена (1/3 cup gluten powder = 40 g)
• Полторы чайных ложки соли (1-1/2 teaspoons salt)
• Две чайных ложки сушёного укропа (2 teaspoons dried dillweed)

(Г)

• Две столовых ложки растительного масла (2 tablespoons vegetable oil = 30 mL)

(Д)

• Две чайных ложки пищевой соды (2 teaspoons baking soda)

В чашке (in a teacup), combine the bulgur and coriander seeds with about 1/2 cup (120 mL) of кипяток (“boiling-hot water”) and let soak for at least 20 minutes to soften. Drain off excess water after soaking.

В небольшую миску, налить кофе (Pour the coffee into a smallish bowl.) The coffee should feel “warm but not hot” — somewhere in the 100-110°F range (40°C-ish). Stir the cocoa and molasses into the coffee. Потом добавить дрожжи (“Then add the yeast”). After several minutes пена (“foam”) will appear on the surface of the liquid as the грибочки размножаются (“wee little fungi multiply”) and release CO₂.

Потом в большую миску положить муку и все остальные ингредиенты из группы В (“Next, put the flour and all the other ingredients from group В into a large bowl”). Тщательно смешать вилкой (“thoroughly mix with a fork”) these dry ingredients; then add everything EXCEPT the baking soda (in other words, А + Б + В + Г). Mix it all with a big wooden spoon until it comes together as a homogeneous тесто (“dough”).

And now comes the calorie-burning part: пора месить тесто (“it’s time to knead the dough”). From long experience, I have two practical suggestions here.

1. 1. The dough may be липкое (“sticky”) at first; therefore, begin kneading with just one hand — keeping the other hand clean чтобы присыпать тесто мукой, по необходимости (“in order to sprinkle the dough with more flour, as necessary”).

 

1. Once the dough is less sticky and you can use both hands to knead, поставить миску на пол и сесть на колени перед миской (“put the bowl on the floor and kneel down over the bowl”), as though the dough has suffered a heart attack and you’re a paramedic performing CPR! This way, gravity and your body weight do most of the work.

At any rate, вымешивать тесто восемь-десять минут — до тех пор, пока не перестанет липнуть к рукам и миске. (“Knead the dough 8-10 minutes — until it stops sticking to your hands and the bowl”).

Now rub a little more vegetable oil all over the ball of dough, накрыть миску влажным полотенцем (“cover the bowl with a damp towel”), and let it sit in a warm place for at least one hour, пока объём не увеличится раза в два (“until the volume has increased by about 2x”).

Knead the dough again for just a minute, then press it into a well-greased форма (“bread/cake pan”) — I used a 9 x 5 inch pan (about 23 x 13 cm). Customarily, black bread is baked as a буханка (“rectangular pan-molded loaf”), not as a батон (“long panless loaf”), because the sides of the форма give the heavy dough some vertical support. Again, cover the dough with a damp towel and put it in a warm place for 45-60 minutes.

Near the end of the второй подъём (“second rising”), turn on the oven and нагреть печку до (“heat the oven to”) 375°F (190°C).

Растворить пищевую соду (“dissolve the baking soda”) in about 1/4 cup of кипяток, and gently brush several coats of the mixture over the top of the loaf. You can also sprinkle on toppings like seeds or coarse salt, if you wish.

And now we’re almost done: посадить в печку (“sit it in the oven”), set the timer for 40 minutes, and enjoy как вкусно пахнет на кухне, пока хлеб выпекается! (“how delicious it smells in the kitchen, while the bread is baking!”) When it’s done, remove the loaf from the pan and let it cool completely before slicing — if you can wait!

Приятного аппетита!