Rye bread is reasonably sweet bread and dark brown. In some places in Iceland, it is cooked by digging a hole into the ground (where there’s geothermal heat). The container is buried there until the bread is ready. You can also bake it in an oven, the hot spring is optional! That is what makes it great, it is so easy to bake. Everyone can do it!
Sugar was very hard to come by back in the day. Icelanders were mostly poor farmers. There were some wealthy people and sugar was something only they could afford. It didn’t matter because the bread became sweet on its own when baked. It is a slow-baked bread, and that breaks down the starch in the rye, which makes it sweet.
When rúgbrauð has become stale, it is sometimes used to make “bread soup”. Then the bread is soaked, simmered with raisins and flavourings (usually lemon) and served hot with whipped cream as a dessert. This recipe probably comes from Denmark.
It is also sometimes called þrumari or thunder bread because of the unfortunate side effects of overeating it. Tying yourself to a chair might be a good solution against propelling yourself into the next room due to flatulence. The bread is worth it, though!
Ingredients of rye bread:
* 1 cup = 2 dl
- 15 cups rye flour
- 3 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup syrup
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 L whole milk
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 100° C (212° F).
- Mix all ingredients well in a large bowl. Mixing the ingredients can be difficult, but just take your time; it will all come together.
- Grease a sizable fireproof mould with a lid. It is also possible to bake the bread in milk cartons or old Quality Street tins.
- Pour the dough into the mould and put the lid on.
- Bake for 12 hours.
Serve with butter. Serve it with cheese, smoked salmon/trout, or pickled herring for extra deliciousness.
The Icelandic Rye bread is perfect with a Fish Stew (Plokkfiskur). If you are traveling to Iceland, maybe you want to join a Rye Bread Tour or the Reykjavik Food Lovers tour?
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Is the **15 cups** of rye flour listed in the recipe correct? Or should it be 1.5 cups?
Hi Susie, it is supposed to be 15 cups.
Wow! Thank you for clarifying!
My pleasure; you could always begin by making just a half recipe to see if you like it.
15 cups of rye flour???? What is the yield? I may need a few more ovens.
What kind of syrup can I use? Thank you for posting this recipe!
I had your bread at a restaurant last night. I thought I tasted molasses. Can you confirm the type of syrup? We have several types available in the U.S.
Hi up there in Iceland up the top of the planet, from Australia down here at the bottom of the planet. When I visited Iceland a few years ago, i loved the rye bread. My friend served it to me with butter and a little salmon and an hard boiled egg on top. Anyway, when you say cups i think of Australian metric cups, which one cup holds approximately 250ml of water…. and you have a little formula with an acronym of 1 cup = 2dl, i was wondering if you could explain “dl” to me please. I’m also surprised its a type of “soda bread” similar to colonial Australian dampers or Irish recipes, with baking powder instead of yeast.
Anyway i LOVE Iceland.
So your measuring differs from the video linked here.