Europe Recipes

G for Germany (Crusty bread)

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German bread!

I often get this answer asking my friends who are not from Germany what they particularly like to eat in Germany. Conversely, the most common response from Germans living abroad or being on holiday in another country to the question of what they miss most off all is: German bread! Me too, I regularly start missing our excellent bread after a few days abroad.

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German bread

In fact, our bread is really very good and there are an incredible number of different types of bread. In the bakeries you can find light and dark, fine or rough, savory and sweet bread. Contrary to bread in other countries, in Germany we do not only use wheat flour. Many types of bread are made from rye or spelled flour or from a mixture of different types of flour.

Ancient, almost forgotten types of grain, such as emmer or barley, are also becoming popular again.

Bread ist also made from oat, buckwheat, corn or rice flour.

Not only yeast and baking powder are used as leavening agents, but often sourdough. I also know sourdough bread made from rye flour from Denmark which tastes very good. Here you will find a delicious recipe for Danish Rugbrød.

But nothing beats German bread!

Not only water is added to German bread, but also – depending on the type of bread – milk, yoghurt, quark or buttermilk. Beer bread also tastes particularly good.

Furthermore, other ingredients such as oatmeal, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame, walnuts, hazelnuts, grated carrots or raisins are often added to the dough. Thus results in the many different types of bread. There are no limits for your creativity.

Almost as varied is the selection of rolls: white rolls, poppy seed-, sesam-, whole grain-, spelt-, rye-, oat-, raisin-, muesli-, milk-, potato-, cheese rolls etc.

Depending on the region, a white bread roll is also called a Rundstück (Northern Germany), Semmel or Weck (Southern Germany) or Schrippe (Berlin).

And really nothing beats the smell and taste of freshly baked bread or rolls!

German breakfast

No wonder that we Germans typically start the day with a slice of fresh bread (or toast as well) or a fresh roll. By the way, the sandwich is called: butter bread (regardless of whether it is eaten with or without butter).

Sweet or savory

If you ask how we like to top our sandwiches or rolls, there are typically two opposing factions: Those with a sweet tooth swear by jam, honey and of course Nutella! The other fraction prefers a hearty start to the day and tops the bread with sausage or cheese.

A layer of butter or margarine should of course be placed under the topping.

I belong to the mixed group: i.e. I like one half sweet and the other half savory. I also use cream cheese instead of butter.

Typical German breakfast

Breakfast components

Common components of bread or rolls are boiled eggs (soft, medium or hard - depending on your individual taste), yoghurt, fresh fruit or vegetable sticks.

Alternatives to bread or rolls

Many Germans (including me) love to eat muesli instead of bread and rolls or as an additional component. I like my muesli best with milk or yoghurt and fresh fruit.

Muesli

What to drink for breakfast in Germany

For breakfast we usually drink freshly brewed coffee - black or with milk, with or without sugar - alternatively tea (black -, green - or fusion tea) and a glass of orange juice (freshly squeezed if possible). Children like to drink a glass of milk or a cup of cocoa. Water (pure or sparkling water) is of course always possible.

Thus, if you want to have a typical German breakfast, but you don't have a bakery around the corner who offers German bread and you don't want to eat muesli either, then just try my recipe for a delicious crusty bread. This is a mixed bread with yeast made from wheat, spelled and rye flour. The bread is easy to bake and tastes very, very delicious!!!

Enjoy baking and Guten Appetit!

Crusty bread

Course bread, breakfast
Cuisine Germany, Europe
Servings 1 big bread

Ingredients
  

  • 650 g water lukewarm
  • 300 g wheat flour (type 1050)
  • 300 g spelled flour
  • 300 g rye flour
  • 15 g salt
  • 15 g fresh yeast

Instructions
 

  • Mix flour and salt together in a large bowl.
  • Make a hollow in the flour with your fist.
  • Crumble the yeast into the hollow. Fill up with 50 ml water and leave to rest for about 10 minutes.
  • Add the remaining water and knead well with a food processor for a few minutes. Caution: Since the dough contains rye flour, it is quite sticky. That is normal!
  • Cover the dough and let it rise at a warm place for about 1 hour.
  • Form the dough into a round loaf and place it on a baking sheet covered with baking paper.
  • Let the bread rest for another 10 minutes. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 230 degrees convection air. Sprinkle bread with water and dust it with flour.
  • Place a small heatproof pan filled with water on the bottom of the oven to generate plenty of steam while baking.
  • Bake the bread in the middle of the oven for about 40 minutes.

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