“This is an extremely interesting bread, but since it is practical to make only in large quantity, I recommend it solely to those of you who have large kitchens and large bowls. Besides this, the dough is very sticky and takes a lot of deft working to get it to the baking stage. So if you have any reservations about this challenge, I urge you to try another pumpernickel.”
-James Beard, Beard on Bread
Since I don’t have a large kitchen or a large bowl, and harbored some strong reservations, Pumpernickel Bread has been a recipe that I’ve put off until the bitter end.
Ingredients:
I used prepared instant mashed potatoes.
There is a lot of set up to this recipe. You have to proof your yeast, make mashed potatoes, and prepare a cornmeal mush. While I was working on the potatoes and cornmeal, my yeast ended up looking like this:
But I finally finished all of the beginning preparations, mixed in an ungodly amount of flour, and manhandled a huge mass of sticky dough into semi-submission. I let the dough rise until it had exploded out of my not-large-enough bowl, and then formed it into three loaves. This was difficult, because somehow my dough had reverted back to its sticky state while rising. I ended up with one 8 x 4 loaf and two 9 x 5 loaves.
Once they had doubled in size, my loaves went into the oven at 425 degrees for 10 minutes and 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
Pumpernickel Bread I is delicious–it is more of a rye bread than a pumpernickel, with only a hint of caraway. Best of all, it made some very tasty Reuben sandwiches with leftover corn beef from St. Patrick’s Day.
Despite my reservations and small kitchen, I was up to the challenge.
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