![boridinsky sourdough - 680](https://thesourdoughschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/boridinsky-sourdough-680.jpg)
Borodinsky Sourdough Bread – this dark, moist treacly bread is distinctly Russian, but behind the combination of caraway, molasses and sweet rye is a heart-breaking story.
Borodinsky bread, was, according to legend, developed by Margarita Tuchkova, the wife of General Alexander Tuchkov; a handsome officer of the Russian Revel regiment. She was said to be utterly devoted to her husband, and often accompanied him on long campaigns, and would nurse the wounded. She gave birth to a baby boy on one of the campaigns, and in 1812, Tuchkov, joined the Russian defense of Smolensk. On August 26, 1812, he was killed defending his position against the Napoleon and French armies at Borodino. Despite the terrible danger to herself Margarita searched through thousands of bodies on the battle field, but sadly never found his body. Even more tragic is that some years later, she lost her only son to scarlett fever.
Margarita founded a convent on the site of the battled field and the dark, sombre Borodinsky bread recipe was served at mourning events with the coriander seeds representing the deadly grapeshot that killed her beloved husband as a dark sweet tribute.
I’ve suggested using some Diax malt flour in this recipe . Diax is full of naturally occurring enzymes, developed during the barley malting process, and the barley goes through a weeklong process where the grains are soaked (steeped), then sprouted (germinated) and kilned. During the process, the endosperm becomes modified to give the flavour of malt and naturally occurring enzymes are made. This process is carefully controlled by the producer to retain these enzymes for us to use on our bread.
![boradinksy bread](https://thesourdoughschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/boradinksy-bread.jpg)
You only need 5g per 1kg flour and the Diax will break down some of the starch in the dough to short chain carbohydrates (sugars). These sugars give great sustained release of sugar to the yeast throughout fermentation, which gives better bread volume and a more open texture, as well as a wonderful darker crust colour, which is especially good for slow fermentation and sourdough and darkens rye bread.
You can expect to see a more relaxed dough, where some of the protein strands will be cleaved by the protease present in Diax. These fissures in the dough structure can help give the lovely irregular structure associated with craft breads The you see in the artisan bakeries.
An additional benefit of enzyme active malt flour is that your bread will remain softer for longer which is why it is also one of the main reasons it’s widely used in bagels. Malt even contains naturally occurring glutamates, which will even further enhance the overall flavour of your bread.
If you’re feeling very bold, then you can use higher levels to give a sticky dough. The enzymes in this malt flour can promote a texture similar to that seen in malt loaf.
My last bit of advice is to make sure that you bake in a slightly lower temperature oven. The treacle and the malt increase the sugar in this loaf and can catch and burn more easily than other sourdough. I have protected mine and baked it inside a cloche .. but if you don’t have one please take extra care, and check your bread 15 minutes before the baking time is up as everyone’s oven is different.
Makes: 2 small loaves or one larger loaf (A 1lb tin loaf)
Early afternoon about 2pm
Levain
- 140ml cold water
- 75g sourdough starter
- 75g rye flour
- 75g strong white flour
Scalded mix
- 75g whole rye flour
- 200ml boiled water at least 95 degrees
10pm
Overnight Ferment
- 125 g whole rye flour
- 125 g water, 28 degrees
Following morning
Bulk ferment
- 1 large tablespoon Molasses (I used Blackstrap)
- 275 g light rye flour
- 5g Diax Flour
- 10g salt
- 1tbsp Muscavado sugar
- 2 tablespoon lightly toasted coriander seeds
- 2 tablespoon lightly toasted caraway seeds
- Butter for greasing
Equipment
- 1 large mixing bowl
- 2 small mixing bowls
- Wooden spoon
- 2 clean tea towels
- 2 x ½ lb tins or 1 1lb tin
- La Cloche
Method:
Levain and scalded mix
A little after lunch time, on the day before you bake you need to make your levain and scald your rye flour.
Put your starter into a large clean bowl.
Stir in cold water at exactly 20 (Degrees) stir and then add strong white flour and rye flour. Leave on the side. Your leaven will be ready to use about 7 hours later. It will be bubbly and smell similar to live yoghurt
To scald your flour: in a separate large bowl add the rye flour. Boil the water and allow to cool for 1-2 minutes. Add the water to the flour mix a little at a time until the flour and water is fully incorporated. Leave both levain and the scalded flour on the side for 8 hours.
About 10pm
Add the levain and the scalded flour mix together. Stir in the water, and the rye flour. Mix, then cover and leave on the side unit the following morning.
![Add the levain and the scalded flour mix together. Stir in the water, and the rye flour. Mix, then cover and leave on the side unit the following morning - the next morning it ill be wonderfully bubbly.](https://thesourdoughschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Boradinsky-sourdough-680.jpg)
The following morning about 8am:
Bulk ferment
Stir in the molasses to your preferment then mix the flours, salt and sugar together and add the toasted coriander and caraway seeds (you can also add some freshly ground coriander if you wish for a more intense flavour). and bring together to form a smooth dough.
Divide the dough (if you want to make one large loaf then keep it as one) and grease your loaf tins with butter.
Shape the dough into two sausage shapes to fit the length of the tins. Cover with a damp cloth and leave rise until the dough almost reaches the top of the tins. Depending on the temperature of your kitchen this will take 4-5 hours.
Just before you are ready to bake preheat the oven to 170C/338F and place a cloche in the oven to heat. Transfer the tins to the preheated oven and place inside a cloche, bake for 40-50 minutes. Remove from then oven and leave to cool in their tins on a wire rack.
If you are not baking inside a cloche then please pop a tray of hot water at the bottom of the oven and reduce the baking time by 10 minutes.
Also please note that if you are using a larger tin and baking one loaf, it will need a little longer, so please check and use your judgment.