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Pumpernickel Raisin Bread
European and American pumpernickel breads are different, with the former often comprised of all rye flour and cooked at a low temperature for 14+ hours, and the latter having a lot of refined flour and extra ingredients that deepen the color and flavor of the bread, rather than the color coming from a prolonged Maillard reaction.
This recipe is for a North American pumpernickel bread, baked in only 50 minutes and containing molasses, cocoa powder, brewed coffee, and bread flour for chew and lift. It also has rye flour, whole wheat flour, and corn flour, as well as raisins, which are optional but I think add a bright sweetness to the deliciously bitter flavors of coffee and cocoa.
Chocolatey pumpernickel crumb
[Jump to recipe]
Recently, my sister brought me a loaf of pumpernickel raisin bread from a bakery in NYC. That loaf didn’t have enough rye flavor in my opinion, and I missed the sourdough tang. I set out to improve the experience and the recipe here has the complex flavors I wanted, and retains chewiness of crumb and dough manageability despite having a fair amount of low-gluten rye and corn flours.
I used a reader recipe in the Breadtopia forum as a launch point for developing this recipe, shifting around the ingredient ratios and adding a few additional things to the mix, such as coffee and a corn flour scald, which I found in other recipes. You could try 1-2 tsp instant coffee and water instead of fresh-brewed coffee if you prefer. You can also use any home-milled corn variety or even store-bought cornmeal.
For step-by-step pics, see the photo gallery after the recipe.
Pumpernickel Raisin Bread
Here is a pumpernickel raisin bread with bold flavors that balance out in the final product. Cocoa, coffee, molasses, rye, corn, wheat, and raisins meld together during a slow sourdough fermentation, and the result is chewy and intoxicating. This is not quite a dessert bread, but certainly with a layer of melted butter or made into French toast, it'll be a decadent treat.
Ingredients
Instructions
Mixing
Bulk Fermentation
Shaping and Final Proof
Baking
Notes
Use the brown sugar if you want the bread to edge farther into dessert or breakfast pastry territory. The sweetness makes the cocoa powder read more chocolatey.
Shopping List
Rye Berries
Rye Whole Grain Flour
Heirloom Rouge de Bordeaux Wheat Berries
Rouge de Bordeaux Whole Grain Flour
Heirloom Blue Cónico Corn
$16.00Bench Knife by Lamson — Walnut Handle
High Protein Bread Flour
Sourdough Starter (Dry)
Mockmill 100 Grain Mill
Dr. Oetker Dough Scraper Successor
Oval Rattan Proofing Basket
Breadtopia Hearth Baker
Flour Duster
Pumpernickel Raisin Bread