Hapanleipä - Finnish Sour Rye Bread

This is my bread of choice for the most god-awful stinky cheeses I can get my hands on. It’s probably not a traditional use for it but it works for me. This rough and crispy flatbread is perfect for slathering with the funkiest of room temperature washed rind cheeses. I haven’t tried the stinkiest cheese as determined by a computerized electronic nose, but I’m sure it will also pair well with this 100% rye bread.

So what’s the deal with the shape? Supposedly breads are baked in the western regions of Finland only a couple of times a year. Hundreds of these breads would be baked at the same time and hung on poles right under the ceilings. The acidity from the use of a wild yeast starter and its inherent dryness help preserve the breads until the next oven firing.

I painstakingly recreated such poles as I imagined it in the ceiling of a Finnish kitchen. Not included in the photo are four tomato cans used as rests for the wooden dowel.

formula adapted from Peter Reinhart’s Whole Grain Breads
Yeastspotting at Wild Yeast Blog

Hapanleipä
Finnish Sour Rye Bread

makes two 12-inch wheels

Notes:

• There’s enough sourness with the formula as specified below. For a more sour hapanleipä, omit the instant yeast and increase the bulk fermentation time to 2-3 hours.

For the Soaker:

Ingredients                  Volume          Ounces          Grams
medium or dark rye flour          1 3/4 cups      8            227
salt                                1/2 tsp
water                               3/4 cup       6            170

Mix the soaker ingredients until evenly hydrated. Cover and leave at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours.

For the Rye Starter:

Ingredients                  Volume          Ounces          Grams
rye starter (75% hydration)                       2.5           71
medium or dark rye flour          1 2/3 cups      7.5          213
water, at room temperature          3/4 cup       6            170

Mix the rye starter ingredients until evenly hydrated. Knead the starter with wet hands for about 2 minutes. It will be very sticky.

Place the rye starter in a bowl and cover. Let rise at room temperature for 4 to 6 hours or until doubled in size.

Remove the rye starter from the bowl and knead lightly to degas. Return to the bowl, cover, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 3 days. Let the rye starter sit at room temperature for 2 hours before using in the final dough.

Final Dough Formula:

Ingredients                  Volume          Ounces          Grams
all of the soaker, chopped into small pieces
all of the rye starter, chopped into small pieces
medium or dark rye flour            7/8 cup       4            113
salt                                5/8 tsp
instant yeast                     2 1/4 tsp

Final Dough Instructions:

Mix             Mix all of the ingredients until evenly incorporated

Knead           3 to 4 minutes

Rest            5 minutes

Knead           1 minute

Bulk Ferment    45 minutes in a lightly oiled bowl, or until
                1 1/2 times its original size

Divide          2 pieces

Shape           rolled 1/4 thick with a cut out center and docked,
                as pictured (approximately 12 inches wide)

shaped hapanleipä with 2 bonus crackers

Final Proof     approximately 45 minutes at room temperature on
                2 sheet pans, covered

Preheat Oven    425ºF/218ºC

Bake            Immediately lower the heat to 350ºF/177ºC and bake for
                15 minutes. Rotate the loaves if necessary and bake
                for another 10 to 15 minutes, until reddish brown.

Cool            At least 1 hour

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