Latvia: vegan rupjmaize

Rupjmaize is a moist, sweet and sour Latvian rye bread flavoured with caraway seeds and molasses. This vegan Latvian recipe shows how to make a loaf of rupjmaize using rye sourdough. In our virtual visit to Latvia, I turned a few slices of this bread into rupjmaizes kārtojums, or Latvian Ambrosia. Read the recipe for that delicious and interesting dessert here.

For the visit to Latvia, I decided to convert the interesting dessert rupjmaizes kārtojums into a delicious vegan Latvian treat. Similar to the British trifle, rupjmaizes kārtojums is a layered dessert but where the more well known trifle consists of sponge cake, fruit and some whipped cream, the layers in the Latvian version consist of dark rye bread, a sour jam like lingon berry or cranberry and whipped cream.

Since I like baking bread and good rye bread is a bit tricky to come by here in Canada, I decided to make my own. I followed George Matthes’ recipe on Youtube ​[1]​. Matthes is a political correspondent for the German Broadcasting network Deutsche Welle and is currently doing a series where he bakes breads from different EU countries while talking a bit about the countries’ politics and EU membership.

Rupjmaize

Rye is one of the few crops that give a high, reliable yield in Northern Europe and as such, rye bread is very popular throughout the region. In Latvia in particular they take their rye bread very seriously and it is surrounded by many customs. For instance, if you were to drop it (gasp!), you have to quickly pick it up and kiss it (no tounge!) ​[2]​. The very first slice of a fresh loaf has to be enjoyed in silence ​​[3]​​. And if you wipe the crumbs onto the floor, God will no longer place bread on your table (talk about parenting through fear!) ​[2]​.

The rupjmaize is a risen rye bread with caraway seeds and a sweetener like molasses or malted rye. There are many different recipes for rupjmaize out there, some being fairly quick and easy relying on instant yeast to give the bread its rise and adding buttermilk to give it acidity ​[2], [3]​. Here, I instead opted for a longer recipe based on a rye sourdough and 4 proofing steps totaling ~26 h ​[1]​. (I just so happen to have a rye sourdough which I started in early 2018 and have kept alive since, what luck!)

Matthes’ recipe also calls for mixing rye flakes with boiled water and letting it sit overnight, something which is quite common in baking with rye and leads to a moister bread which stays moist for longer. (You can also scold rye flour, not just the flakes.)

Rye flour in Toronto

On a side note, I have found it a bit tricky to find rye flour here in Toronto. If you live here, you can check out Bulk Barn or try an online store. Some health stores, like Tutti Frutti in Kensington where I got the rye flakes, do carry the flour but many don’t. Check their inventory before going. The rye flakes can be omitted but if you do, scold some rye flour instead.

Conclusion

This sourdough bread came out really well, albeit way larger than I had envisioned. The sourness from the long sourdough fermentation comes through very nicely and pairs well with the molasses and caraway. If you like baking with sourdough and want a new challenge, try it out. This sourdough bread takes some 27 h to make if you have a sourdought starter (a starter takes a few days to make). And of course, you can turn the last few slices into rupjmaize kartojums!

Vegan Latvian recipe for sourdough rupjmaize

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Rupjmaize

This traditional Latvian sourdough rye bread has a great combination of sourness and sweetness and is flavoured with caraway seeds and molasses. The recipe is adapted from a recipe by George Matthes at Deutsche Welle.

Course bread

Cuisine Latvia, Northern Europe

Keyword bread, rye, sourdough

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Proofing 1 day day 2 hours hours

Servings 1 large loaf

Ingredients

Starter 1

• 140 g water
• 140 g rye flour
• 20 g rye sourdough starter recently fed

Starter 2

• 70 g rye flakes
• 300 g boiling water

Starter 3

• 100 g water
• 300 g rye flour

Dough

• 180 g water
• 300 g all-purpose flour
• 260 g rye flour
• 1 g dry yeast
• 45 g dark molasses 2 tbsp
• 22 g salt
• 8 g caraway seeds 2 tsp

Instructions

Starter 1

• Combine water, rye flour, rye starter dough.

Starter 2

• Combine just boiled water with rye flakes.

Resting 1 – 12 h

• Cover both starters with clingfilm and let them rest for 12 h at room temperature.

Starter 3

• Combine starter 1 and starter 2 with 100 g water and 300 g rye flour.

Resting 2 – 12 h

• Cover with clingfilm and let the new starter rest 12 h at room temperature.

Dough

• Prepare the final dough by mixing water, salt, molasses, caraway seeds and yeast. Add all purpose flour and rye flour.
• Combine with the starter.

Resting 3 – 45 min

• Let the dough rest for 45 min at room temperature, covered (a towel is fine).

Form the loaf

• Reserve 40 g of dough and mix with 35 g water. Set aside.
• Tip the rest of the dough on a floured surface and shape into a rough, long loaf.
• Cover a towel with flour and place it in a bread pan. Be generous with the flour.

  If you have an oblong proofing basket, use that instead.

Resting 4 – 60 min

• Let loaf rise for 60 min.
• Preheat oven to 250C with baking stone or thick pan.

Bake loaf

• Tip the loaf onto a piece of parchment paper. Use your hands to coat the loaf in the reserved dough dissolved in water.
• Decorate the loaf by pressing the lengths of your fingers into the sides at an angle.
• Move the parchment paper onto the baking stone / pan.
• Bake for 10 min at 260 C.
• Reduce heat to 190C. Bake for an additional 30-40 min.
• The bread is done when it sounds hollow if you knock on the bottom.