Neutral Newspaper Headline: Traditional Swedish Vörtbröd Recipe for Christmas
Table of Contents
Classic Vörtbröd (Malt Bread)
The Vörtbröd is a popular traditional Christmas pastry recipe in Sweden. Similar to English malt bread, it gets its name from the “vört” (beer wort) used to give the bread its malt flavor. The “vört” is a liquid extracted from the mashing process during beer production. You will find Vörtbröd on the Swedish Christmas table, served with eggs, anchovies, pickled herring, or Christmas ham. The bread is traditionally made with raisins, but you can also choose to add nuts or other dried fruits according to your preference.
Ingredients (for 2 loaves):
- 50 g fresh yeast
- 300 ml dark beer
- 100 ml warm water
- 100 ml syrup
- 50 ml neutral cooking oil (e.g., rapeseed)
- 75 g malt extract
- 365 g flour
- 210 g rye flour
- 1.5 teaspoons salt
Glaze:
- 50 ml dark syrup
- 100 ml water
Instructions:
- Crumble the yeast in a bowl and add the dark beer, water, and syrup. Stir until the yeast dissolves.
- Combine the remaining ingredients and knead the dough until smooth. Knead for about 10 minutes.
- Place the dough on a floured surface and divide it into two equal parts. Shape two loaves and place them in loaf pans lined with parchment paper (1.5 liters each).
- Let the dough rest at room temperature until it has doubled in size, approximately 1.5 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 225°C (top and bottom heat).
- Bake the bread in the center of the oven. After 5 minutes, reduce the temperature to 200°C. Bake for another 25 minutes or until the internal temperature of the bread reaches 98 degrees.
- Glaze: mix the syrup and water in a cup. Brush the hot bread with the glaze.
- Remove from the pans and let cool on a wire rack.