Daring Bakers December 2011 – Russian Rye Bread

This daring bakers challenge got off to a bad start. First of all I hadn’t realized I would need 7 days to complete it so I really should have gotten started weeks ago. I did look at the recipe just in time to be able to finish it before the posting date, but knowing that I’d be going away for the weekend I started it on a Friday entrusting the Saturday and Sunday component to D. The way the recipe works – you create a “starter” consisting of flour and water mixed into a paste, let it sit for a day then add more flour and water on days 2-4. I mixed up the starter Friday morning before work, placed a lid on the container and put the container in a plastic bag. Then I emailed D the directions for days 2 and 3, even detailing how many inches away from the toaster the container was located (you know, just in case he couldn’t find it). Come Saturday, around 4pm – the time D woke up to start the day – he calls me asking where the container is – saying it’s nowhere to be found. Not only does he not know where it is, but he also has no recollection of ever seeing it in the kitchen to begin with.  Hmm… how peculiar unbelievable. Well what could I have said at that point? There was no other option but to start all over again. Thankfully D was able to mix together the starter on Saturday and Sunday – though one day behind schedule now. Oh and about the mystery of the missing container – I came home Sunday night and found it in the dishwasher (!*!*!*!) – rinsed clean of any remnants of my bread starter. I guess at least D cleaned while I was away…

Overall although D had tried to sabotage my daring bakers challenge it ended up coming out delicious anyway. Although slightly more moist than I would have liked (nobody else saw a problem with this) it tasted just like true Russian rye bread. We took it with us to Canada – where we were skiing with my family for 4 days – and my parents’ friends refused to believe that I had made the bread from scratch – insisting that we were all playing a joke on them. Hey that’s got to be a compliment right?

I will definitely be making this bread again – especially since the recipe is easy to follow and requires few ingredients.