Marble Rye

I will be honest and say that this recipe is a lot of work...but it is worth it if you like good marble rye bread.  In my opinion, marble rye bread means rye bread and pumpernickel bread swirled together.  Two very different flavors coming together to make one yummy loaf of bread.  Lately I've noticed that most marble rye is rye dough with caramel color added to half of it.  It just tastes like rye bread.  There is no strong pumpernickel taste.  I decided to try and make my own marble rye read by combining my favorite rye bread recipe with my favorite pumpernickel recipe.  I used medium rye flour in the rye bread and pumpernickel flour in the pumpernickel bread.  If you can't find pumpernickel flour (I had to order mine), you can use dark or medium rye flour.  I am excited about the pumpernickel flour.  It is whole grain rye flour, so it is much more coarse than other rye flours. It also has a nice, strong, rye smell to it.  The recipe will make 2 loaves.  I froze the second loaf so that we can have corned beef and cabbage sandwiches on St. Patrick's Day. 

Marble Rye Bread
makes 2 loaves

1) Make rye dough and pumpernickel dough.  Make  rye bread dough first since it has a longer rising time than the pumpernickel.  After you mix up the rye, place it in a lightly greased bowl and cover it.  Once the pumpernickel is mixed up, allow both doughs to rise covered 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

2) Divide each ball of dough in half.  You can use a food scale if you want to make sure your measurements are exact.

3) Roll out each ball of dough into an 8 x 11 inch rectangle.  It is OK if your rectangles aren't perfect. Place one pumpernickel rectangle on top of one rye rectangle. 

4) Roll into an 8-inch log and place the seem side down in a greased 8-inch loaf pan.

5) Repeat with the other pieces of pumpernickel and rye dough.  Let both loaves rise, covered for one hour, or until the top of the bread is about one inch higher than the top of the pan.

6) Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, tent each loaf with foil and bake for 20 minutes longer. Remove from pans and let the loaves cool on a wire rack.