The monthly bake for the Artisan Bread Bakers for October was hosted by Ralph Nieboer. He challenged us to make Beetroot Bread with Rye and Spelt. I’ll be honest, when I learned what was in this bread, I almost passed this one by. However, as I started seeing all of the lovely-colored breads showing up in the FB feed, wouldn’t you know that information regarding the benefits of beets made its way to my inbox. Yep, it always seems to work that way.
Did you know that beets have been around a long time? They grew on the coast in ancient times and were originally consumed for their leafy greens. These days, sugar beets are used as a natural source of sugar, but when consumed raw or in whole form, they provide the most nutritional benefits. Beets are low in calories, fat, and cholesterol. They also provide an excellent source of fiber, vitamin C, magnesium, folate, potassium, and manganese.
So armed with this information, you might ask, “what’s not to like about that?” Well, the taste. Even given all of the nutritional benefits of beets, I wasn’t convinced I would actually like the bread. I’ve made bread with beets before and it tasted like dirt, according to my son. However, this time, I’ve upgraded my assessment of the taste and now I would describe the bread as having a sweet, earthy flavor. It’s a dense bread due to the whole grain rye and spelt, but it is very satisfying and goes well with soup or by itself as a healthy snack. A little goes a long way.
The dough for this beetroot bread is a beautiful color so I enjoyed making the loaf just for that reason; however, the added nutritional benefits from the beets is definitely a nice plus.
- 250 gram bread flour
- 125 gram spelt flour whole wheat
- 125 gram dark rye flour whole wheat
- 11 gram salt
- 100 cooked or baked potatoes crushed
- 100 gram mature starter 100 % hydration
- 250 gram beetroot uncooked, pureed (if puree is too dry add 25% more water) hydration is about 72 %
- 100 gram beetroot cubes
- 125 gram water
- 150 gram of roasted seeds
- Mix the beetroot puree with the water
- Add the flour, salt and starter in the bowl of a stand mixer
- Using the dough hook, mix very slowly on the lowest setting
- Slowly poor in the beetroot puree with water in the mixing bowl
- Knead it slowly for 10 min very slow. If the mixture its too dry put in a bit more water
- Knead for another 10 min on lowest setting
- During the last two minutes of the kneading, add in the roasted seeds and beetroot cubes
- Remove the dough from the mixer and place in a lightly-greased bowl. Roll the dough around to coat with oil
- Cover the bowl and let the dough bulk ferment for 2.5 hours with a stretch and fold every 40 min
- Form it into a round loaf after the 2.5 hours and place in a baneton.
- Cover the baneton with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for 12 hours
- Let your oven warm up to 450 degrees with a cloche on the bottom shelf
- Remove the banneton basket from the fridge and carefully invert the loaf onto the bottom of the preheated cloche
- Score your loaf in the pattern of your choice and put it in the oven cold
- Bake the loaf in the cloche with the lid on for 20 minutes; remove the lid and continue baking without the lid for an additional 15-20 minutes for a total baking time of 35-40 minutes.
- Remove the loaf to a wire rack and let it cool completely before slicing.
I baked my loaf in an Emerson Creek Pottery bread cloche; however, you can use a preheated baking stone with a steam pan if you prefer.
Inge Del Nevo says
I will try the tecipe, but can I mix white pepper & mixed spice as well please
Cathy says
I haven’t tried adding white pepper or mixed spice to this loaf, but you can certainly try it. I bet the pepper would be good.
Jess says
Someone has given me a loaf of this bread today — I’d love to know how you use it? I was thinking just spreading butter or cream cheese, perhaps even a soft cheese. Other ideas welcome!
Cathy says
This is a dense and flavorful bread. Serving with butter and cheese sounds great!