I’ve had quite a few requests for the recipe for this Estonian black bread in the 24 hours since I made it so I thought I should get it up on the blog quickly.  I made it for the first time on Wednesday night for my Audience Studiesclass, but I’ve seen it made quite a bit by my aunt.  I was under the impression it was an old family recipe, but when I went looking for a description and a photo for you all I found the exact same recipe in a cookbook online, so turns out I was wrong!  Regardless of whether it is my family recipe or not, this is a traditional style of bread in Estonia which is absolutely delicious.  Karin Kärner’s book Estonian Tastes and Traditions describes the bread as a cross between a wheat bread and a black bread.  “It’s a soft version of pumpernickel, slightly sweet, and very easy to make because there’s no yeast used.”  From what I understand it is served with almost every meal at my cousins place, toasted or fresh.

Ingredients

• ¼ cup unsulfured molasses
• 2 cups buttermilk, warmed
• 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon caraway seeds
• ¼ teaspoon instant coffee granules
• ¼ teaspoon unsweetened cocoa
• 1 cup wholemeal flour
• 1 cup rye flour
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup raisins (optional)
• ¾ cup (coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)
• Butter

Directions

1. Mix the molasses into the buttermilk until well blended.

2. Stir n the brown sugar, caraway seeds, coffee, and cocoa.

3. In a large bowl, combine the whole wheat, rye and all-purpose flours, baking soda, and the salt.

4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined.  Don’t overwork the dough.

5. At this point also stir in the raisins and walnuts, if using.

6. Preheat the oven to 160-170C.

7. Grease two small loaf pans and divide the batter evenly between them, or just use one large pan

8. Bake for approximately 45 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

9. Cool in the pans for about 10 minutes.

10. Rub the tops of the loaves with the butter.

11. Turn out the loaves onto a wire rack and cover with a clean towel.

It ended up really well in the end.  I couldn’t find dark brown sugar so I just used soft brown sugar and I didn’t have walnuts and raisins so I just left them out, but still it was good!