Ruisleipä
Ruisleipä is the dense rye bread that has underpinned the Finnish diet for centuries, a bread so fundamental to the country's culinary identity that many Finns find long trips abroad hard to bear without it. Finland's harsh northern climate is better suited to growing rye than wheat, which made rye the staple grain of traditional cooking. The slow fermentation process, using natural sourdough rather than commercial yeast, develops the complex, slightly sour flavours characteristic of this bread, a process that can take whole days from one starter to the next. Ruisleipä is traditionally eaten sliced extremely thin, often topped with butter, cheese or smoked fish, and many Finns living abroad cite missing this specific bread as one of the strongest feelings of homesickness.
Whole rye flour
Dark flour with an intense, slightly sour flavour
Natural sourdough
Long-fermented dough, no commercial yeast
Dense crumb
Compact, moist texture, no large air pockets
Baked once
A large loaf, sliced thin over many days
Ingredients 4 servings
- 500 g whole rye flour
- 200 g active rye sourdough starter
- 350 ml lukewarm water
- 1 tbsp malt syrup
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground caraway seeds
- Rye flour for dusting
- Butter for serving
- Cheese or smoked fish for serving
How to make it
- 1Mix the active rye sourdough starter with the lukewarm water in a large bowl, dissolving it well with a wooden spoon.
- 2Add the malt syrup, salt and ground caraway, then gradually incorporate the rye flour, mixing until a sticky, dense dough forms.
- 3Unlike wheat dough, rye dough isn't kneaded at length — it's just mixed until the ingredients combine, since rye has much less gluten.
- 4Sprinkle a thick layer of rye flour on the bottom of a greased loaf tin, then pour the sticky dough directly into the tin, levelling the surface with a wet spoon.
- 5Cover the tin with a towel and let it rise in a warm place for 3-4 hours, until the dough noticeably expands, though not as much as wheat dough.
- 6Bake at 200°C for 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 175°C and continue baking for another 50-60 minutes, until the bread sounds hollow when tapped on the base.
- 7Remove it from the tin and let it cool completely, ideally overnight, before slicing very thinly.
Nutritional info
per serving (~350 g)
Estimated nutritional values.
Pairs perfectly with
