Following the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge, we arrive at yet another sourdough rye, Swedish Limpa. The recipe required a special kind of “sponge” : a sourdough starter with molasses, spices (caraway and fennel seeds) and orange peel, that smelled terrific!
Apart from the fact that I dislike the “feel” of rye dough, I had no problems with the recipe. Here’s what the sponge looked like 60 minutes after mixing it….
The dough seemed dense and heavy; after forming the loaf it must rise for 90 minutes. Mine didn’t rise that much, but by now I’m used to the finicky personality of rye…
This bread smelled wonderful during baking, and the resulting crumb was tight and dense, but not too heavy.
Verdict: it was a delicious bread, and impossible to eat only a single slice. Maybe it was the spices in the background, or the mix of molasses and rye that produced kind of a hippie-aura, but both me and my husband felt closer to Nirvana with each bite.
Please visit Phyl’s site to check her Swedish Limpa, and then make sure to read about her adventures with Stollen… and I thought our dogs were naughty…. 
Yay! And just think, if not for the challenge you’d never have chosen Swedish Limpa to bake!
Indeed…. the great thing about participating of the Challenge is getting to make a ton of breads I would never dream of trying
I am so impressed that you are doing this challenge! I have that cookbook and am totally intimidated by it. I should have just joined the challenge and gotten over my fear. Your bread is beautiful – clearly you are enjoying baking it!
Sally, that is perfect!!
That looks great, I am so glad that it turned out.
that looks like one happy rye loaf Sally!
@ Dana: it’s never too late to start the challenge! I know that some people started not too long ago, but you could always select maybe 20 breads and do a half-challenge, half-marathon of sorts….
@ Jean, Anne Marie & Zeb; THANK YOU!
Ooh! That looks good! I have a few more to go before I get to this bread. Looks like I’m in for a treat. Great Job and great looking loaf!
I baked this yesterday and I love its aroma, texture, and flavor. Your loaf looks great!
This looks and sounds absolutely delicious. Can’t wait til I get there in the book!
The loaf looks absolutely fabulous. I actually can’t wait to make this one, even though I’m dragging my feet through the rye breads.
@Cathy, Oggi, Madam Chow, & Misterrios:
thank you!
I did not expect to enjoy the “rye series” as much as I did, apart from the dreadful 100% rye…
rye is indeed a tricky flour to work with, but we are all getting there, one bread at a time
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