Wholegrain bread with rakia

Ingredients for a 1100 g loaf. They are listed in the order in which they go into the machine (except for Panasonic machines — for them, add the ingredients according to your machine's instructions).

The teaspoon and tablespoon are the measuring spoons that come with the machine; all other ingredients are measured on an electronic scale, including the water.

As you can see, this recipe contains two ingredients that are often added to white wheat bread but are unusual for kneading and baking wholegrain bread — full-fat powdered milk and rakia. We have used them in very small quantities, but they generally change both the look and the taste of the wholegrain bread. And eating it becomes a real pleasure. We recommend that you do not exceed the stated quantities — neither of the powdered milk nor of the rakia — because instead of tender, fluffy and velvety you will make the bread heavy and gummy, with the feeling that it is damp and underbaked. Tried and tested!

The rakia is Peshterska Grozdova; we can't say how it will turn out with homemade rakia.

The fenugreek is added for aroma — it can be left out, but with fenugreek the bread smells so wonderful!

The quantity of oats and of raw hulled sesame seed has been fine-tuned for the best result. The oats seem to melt away when kneading the dough and are not felt in it when chewing, but they definitely affect the taste and the softness of the bread, while the hulled sesame seed crunches gently between the teeth.

Saf Moment red is a very strong, very high-quality French yeast; in our opinion it is better than Dr. Oetker and we prefer it. We bake only with it and everything comes out flawlessly. And we always add less than is stated in any recipe. We can't say for sure how much yeast will be needed if it is different from this one. We buy Saf Moment red from the online shop "Droga" in 0.5 kg packs and store it in a tightly closed glass jar in the fridge. The online shop also has a physical store in Sofia, in the Mladost 1 district, next to the metro station.

The flours are undemanding, but so far we have never had a failure with them. We buy them at T Market and use them regularly — everything comes out flawlessly.

Method of preparation: The ingredients are put into the machine in the order in which they are listed. At the very bottom are the liquids, the salt, the sugar, then the flours, and on top the yeast, the fenugreek and the powdered milk.

The machine is set to the "wholegrain bread" programme, weight 1250 g, medium crust.

During kneading the dough turns out much softer than the dough for white wheat bread, and that is how it should be. Do not add more flour. The dough tightens up quite a lot after the sesame and the oats are added.

For our machine the duration of the programme for this bread weight is 3:25 hours, with 15 min of preheating the ingredients.

The oats and the sesame seed are added at the sound signal.

Immediately after the two kneadings finish, use a silicone spatula to distribute the dough evenly in the container. The dough looks quite tough and firm and before the second rise it sits a bit like a ball, it just can't relax and fill the container evenly, so you need to help it. After you have shaped the dough into an even loaf in the container, close the lid and do not open it again — until the end of the baking.

After the signal for the end of the programme, immediately turn on the "bake" programme for just 5 more minutes, but on dark crust. After the second end signal, leave the bread with the lid closed on keep-warm for about 20 min to half an hour.

Then turn off the machine, take out the bread, wrap it in a cotton towel and leave it on a rack to cool.

Very tasty, with a crisp crust and a soft, velvety interior! Magnificent!

Bon appétit!