There's a new loaf on the shelf!
We love making traditional breads and bringing them to our community, and it doesn't get more traditional than our newest loaf...
T H E S P R O U T E D V O L L K O R N B R O T
Popular throughout Northern Europe, this is our version of the German Vollkornbrot or Danish Rugbrod.
On the shelves of traditional German bakeries you'll find many varieties of dark brown and whole grain breads. The Vollkornbrot is earthy with a moist and chewy texture that has a pleasant sour kick to balance the sweet and nutty flavors of the grain.
Fun Fact... There is actually a German law that makes it mandatory for the Vollkornbrot to have a whole grain flour content of at least 90%.
When making an old world traditional bread like the Vollkornbrot, there aren't set recipes. They differ from region to region, baker to baker. So when designing our Vollkornbrot, we gave ourselves permission to let the creative juices flow!
Our goal was to pack in as much wholesome nutrition as possible, and we wanted to include a sprouted whole grain for an added boost.
The ingredients in this bread are the highest quality local ingredients we could get our hands on:
- Stone-Ground Organic Bolted Bread Flour (Meadowlark Organics, Ridgeway, WI)
- Stone-Ground Whole Wheat (Meuer Farm, Chilton, WI)
- Stone-Ground Rye (Meuer Farm, Chilton, WI)
- Stone-Ground Whole Buckwheat (Ledgecrest Family Farm, Greenleaf, WI)
- Whole Sprouted Rye Berries (Meuer Farm, Chilton, WI)
- Soaked Sunflower Seeds (Various wholesale suppliers)
- Sea Salt (from the sea)
Two of these I'd like to highlight are the Whole Buckwheat and Sprouted Rye Berries.
You may be familiar with buckwheat if you enjoy gluten-free baking because it’s actually a pseudo cereal; in other words, not a grain or cereal at all.
In fact, buckwheat is a fruit seed that is closely related to rhubarb and sorrel. It has a low glycemic index and is a good source of fiber, manganese, magnesium, and copper. It has become more popular in modern sourdough baking to use small percentages of buckwheat for flavor & nutrition.
And secondly, Sprouted Rye Berries.
Rye Berries have a firm, chewy texture and mild walnut-like flavor. Highly nutritious, rye berries are the whole-grain form of rye with the hull removed. They are high in dietary fiber, amino acids, selenium, magnesium, phosphorus, and B vitamins.
The rye berries are sprouted for 3 days to help unlock all the nutritional goodness that is stored inside. These are then mixed into the dough whole.
So there you have it... a nutritious, healthy loaf that is equally satisfying and delicious!
Due to the amount of wholegrain in this loaf, it lasts for days and - in my opinion - gets better with time. Slather on a good layer of the best butter you can find. Or try it with a smear of our Smoked Salmon Pate, a slice of really great local cheese, and a touch of german mustard for a tasty lunch.
And when you do, let us know what you think! Contact us with any feedback or questions. We love hearing from you.
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