Aunt Elin's Swedish "Limpa" Rye Bread

In response to Blogger "Technobabe" -whose e-mail address I can't seem to locate, but who requested the recipe for the Swedish Limpa Rye Bread -that I posted about baking here, the other day, I've copied the recipe over, just for her and am putting it up here. (Well, if anyone else wants to take this recipe and give it a shot, please do so. I don't think you'll be disappointed in the outcome.)

Tonight, for example, for supper I sliced several slices of this bread, buttered each slice and slapped them down on the griddle. On top of each slice, I put some muenster cheese plus, a nice thin slice of deli-style roast beef on top of the cheese and we dined royally then on grilled cheese and roast beef sandwiches.

Well, in truth, I dined royall -in my opinion. The kids, not so much. Oh, they ate the bread, sure. They both also made darned sure that they had also gleaned every last bit of cheese off that bread too. The roast beef though? Well, that never entered the gullet of either child!

Foiled again, I was! Foolishly, I thought sure as all get out I could entice them into the luscious flavor of the roast beef by slipping it in, ever so casually and carefully, between the cheese that I know both of them dearly love.

Oh well, as the sages say, "The best laid plans of mice and men...." Yeah, another one went astray!

But anyway -here's the recipe which has been around in my Mom's family for well, about four generations now. And, if you try it, I hope you love the flavor of this bread just as much as my kids, grandkids and I do!

Aunt Elin’s Swedish Rye Bread swedish="" limpa="" rye

¾ cup of brown sugar – I usually use the dark, but the light sugar is fine too.
½ cup of margarine or butter
¼ cup of dark Karo syrup
¼ cup of molasses
¼ cup of honey
3 cups of very hot tap water
2 packets of dry yeast
3 cups of rye flour –I prefer the finer milled flour by Pillsbury, Betty Crocker or Robin Hood but for almost a year now, none of the grocery stores where I live have been carrying that so so I HAVE to use whatever rye flour I can find. The taste is the same, but it does change the texture somewhat If you can find the finer milled rye flour.
7 to 8 cups of white flour.

Combine the sugar, syrup, molasses, honey, margarine and hot water in a large bowl and mix till the margarine is melted in.

Next, add in the rye flour, slowly mixing it in thoroughly, To that, you then mix in the two packets of yeast and blend it well into the dough mixture.

Gradually adding about two cups of white flour at a time, mix –or knead in – the white flour until the dough mixture pulls the remaining flour off the sides of the bowl and it all becomes slightly tacky (sticky) and has a good elasticity to the feel of the dough.

Place mixture in a clean bowl and cover first with waxed paper, then with clean, dish towels and wrap the whole thing in a nice blanket or throw covering of some type. Place it in an area that is warm and draft free and allow the dough to rise for an hour or until double in size.

Then, divide the dough into fourths and using greased loaf pans, place a quarter of the dough in each pan and press it in so as to mold to the sides and corners of the pan. Cover the pans again –waxed paper, towels, blanket, etc –and set to rise again for roughly an hour or until this doubles in size.

Place pans – two at a time –in 350 degree oven and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Turn pans upside down to release bread and then, after uprighting the loaves, brush lightly across the top and side with margarine or butter – just enough to give it a light, very thin glaze. This softens the crust and also gives is a luscious looking glisten to the bread.

Now, you’re all set to have a scrumptious slice of bread, warm, fresh out of the oven, slathered with some great, cool pats of real butter.

Nothin’ finer!