Rheinbrot – A Taste of July with the BBB

Rheinbrot is a tasty bread made with an overnight sponge of Reisling, sourdough, flour, and water.  My version includes a portion of spelt and emmer in the final dough for additional flavor and color.

July’s bake is baker’s choice for the Bread Baking Babes which means we had the option to choose from any of the July breads featured over the past decade.

There are a few breads from the BBB archives that I haven’t made, but I decided to revisit a bread that I have made before, Rheinbrot.

Rheinbrot got the name because (Rhein) Riesling is used in the bread dough.  Reisling is a wine widely associated with the Winzers located at the Rhein in Germany. 

There are many great choices from the BBB archives, but the idea of a bread made with a crisp and light Reisling in the heat of the summer did it for me.

I made two versions of this bread this go around.

One weekend, I made this Rheinbrot with home-milled spelt flour instead of regular whole wheat flour.  It was delicious!  I gave half of the bread away. The remaining half didn’t last very long.

The next weekend, I made the Rheinbrot again. However, this time, I scaled the formula to make a bigger loaf, used Sauvignon Blanc instead of Reisling, and used a mixture of spelt and emmer flours.

I also tried my hand at stenciling a few birds on the loaf.  I haven’t quite mastered the art of stenciling on bread yet.  This one doesn’t have enough contrast. I spritzed the loaf with water to remove some of the excess flour, but it wasn’t enough.  And, one of the birds got messed up when the scoring opened up.  Oops!

This just means I need to keep making bread so I can practice stenciling.  I’m okay with that!

To me, any way you make or score this bread, it’s delicious!  You can use all white bread flour, but I recommend adding at least a portion of whole wheat flour to give it more depth of flavor and a lovely color.

Rheinbrot – A Taste of July with the BBB

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• Author: Bread Experience
• Yield: 1 Medium Loaf 1x

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Description

Rheinbrot is made with an overnight sponge of Reisling, sourdough, flour and water. This version includes spelt and emmer in the final dough.

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Ingredients

Units MUS Scale 1x2x3x

Sponge:

• 72 grams sweet Riesling (or other white wine of your choice)
• 72 grams boiled water, at room temperature
• 143 grams white bread flour
• 72 grams sourdough at 100% hydration

Dough:

• 207 grams white bread flour
• 95 grams whole grain spelt flour
• 55 grams whole grain emmer flour
• 190 – 225 grams water, divided
• 8 grams salt

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Instructions

1. Mix wine with water and add the sourdough, whisk thoroughly. Add flour and mix again.
2. The dough ferments at 2 stages:
3. hours at a temperature 70-75°F, it should grow at least twice its size, will be lumpy looking at this stage and have larger and smaller bubbles.
4. Pour the sponge in a bowl and whisk thoroughly to remove all the gas out of it and fill it with oxygen. Cover and let sit for 10-12 hours (overnight) at room temperature. Dough will rise again in half and very often shows smaller bubbles.
5. Now the sponge is ready for kneading: pour in the water and stir until smooth. Add the flour, mix well and give the autolysis a chance to do it’s magic for 40-50 minutes. I added more water due to the whole grains, but depending on the type of flour used, you may not need additional water.
6. Add the salt and quickly knead the dough, if it is too sticky add a little four, but be careful not to add too much. You may also need to add a little bit of water to dissolve the salt.
7. Let ferment for 2-2.5 hours. Fold twice after 1 hour and 1 1/2 hour.
8. Form a loaf and let proof in a basket for 1 1/2 hours (until doubled in size) covered with a towel in a draft free place.
9. Preheat oven to 450°F with a baking stone on the middle rack.
10. Gently flip the loaf over to a piece of parchment paper. Score the loaf in the pattern of your choice, add a stencil design if you like, and transfer it to your preheated baking stone.
11. Spritz the loaf with water and bake at 450°F for 10 minutes. Spritz with water 2 more times at 30-second intervals, then lower the temperature to 400°F. and continue baking for an additional 20 minutes.
12. Let the loaf cool down for at least half an hour before slicing and eating.

Notes

The formula for this winey loaf was translated from this forum (http://homo-pistorius.livejournal.com/1029.html) where the chemics of wine and bread baking are discussed.

I recommend using a lined proofing basket.

• Category: Sourdough Loaf
• Method: sponge
• Cuisine: French

Baker’s Choice … Which bread will you choose?

Here are all of our July bakes since 2008!  We’re sure you’ll want to try one of the BBB July breads too! To receive a Baking Buddy Badge to display on your site: make the bread in the next couple of weeks and post about it before the 29th of July, 2019. Refer to the submission instructions listed below.

July 2018: Elle, Singing Hinnies
My results If it’s too hot to bake, this is a griddle or stove top option, no oven!

July 2017: Kelly, Velvety Bean Bread
My results: A very soft and fluffy bread that incorporates a bean paste into the dough. 

July 2016: Judy, Bialys
My results Delicious and onion-y flavor!

July 2015: Judy, Power Bread
My results A very hearty and tasty bread, perfect for the whole grain bread lover.

July 2014: Cathy, Panmarino
This was my choice for July in 2014.  Rosemary bread, what more can I say!

July 2013: Astrid, Rheinbrot
My original results A lovely scented sourdough with Riesling in the sponge.

July 2012: Sarah, Easy little bread
My results  An easy bread that may not be much to look at, but it sure tastes good.

July 2011: Sarah, Hamburger buns

July 2010: Lynn, Yeasted Sprouted Wheat Bread
My results: This is one of my favorite breads.  I have made Yeasted Sprouted Wheat Bread with No Flour many times, but not with the BBB.  I usually make it at least once or twice a year.  I have several variations.

July 2009: Natashya, Sukkar bi Tahin

July 2008: All, in memory of Sher

Bread submission instructions:

You can submit your bake to any of the Babes that post this month.  Don’t have a blog?  That’s no problem – just contact the July BBBabe of your choice with a photo and brief description of the bread you baked and you’ll be included in the round-up.  And remember, new recipes are posted every month on the 16th.  Check out our Facebook group to see the participants’ baking results during that time.

Check out the posts from the other BBBs for more inspiration:

• Blog from OUR Kitchen – Elizabeth
• Judy’s Gross Eats – Judy
• A Messy Kitchen – Kelly
• Feeding My Enthusiasms – Pat
• Bread Experience – Cathy

Happy Baking!

Cathy