Latvian Rye Bread with Pumpkin Seeds

We chose this Latvian Rye Bread with Pumpkin Seeds recipe as our first for several reasons. First, Rolands is a first-generation American. He is also Latvian. His DNA revealed that he is 98% Latvian!

When our son’s dance troupe was invited to dance in the 2018 Latvian Song and Dance Festival in Riga, Latvia, we joined him and made it our family vacation over the Summer Solstice. One amazing discovery was this bread made by our relative, Inese Dambite. We were in Sigulda, Latvia for their Midsummer celebration and went over to property part-owned by Inese and her husband along the Gauja River following a celebration we joined them in attending at Turaida Castle. Inese made this lovely rye bread that we ate near midnight along with many other delicious fresh foods brought by their guests.

Note: Allow two days to prepare as you’ll want to put the dough together and let it rise overnight in a warm place and then bake it the morning.

Size: 1 loaf (I use a 9 1/4” x 5 1/4” x 2” loaf pan)

Equipment: KitchenAid stand mixer with the hook attachment

Ingredients:
- 1 cup Wheat Flour
- 1 cup Whole Grain Wheat Flour
- 1 cup Whole Grain Dark Rye Flour (for the flours, I use Bob’s Red Mill)
- Sourdough starter from your last loaf or from a friend
- 5oz bag of our Naked Spunks
- 3 Tablespoons of honey
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 3/4 cups of room temp water

Instructions:

1. Mix all ingredients together until creamy (heavy cream consistency).

2. I cover my bowl with Saran Wrap and then a towel and put it in a warm area. It can be done in one day if you can allow 10 hours for the rise before baking, yet I just put it together in the evening and place in a warm spot overnight.

3. Preheat your oven to 375 F or 190 C.

4. Spray your loaf pan with oil.

5. Pat down the dough and save a bit for a starter for your next loaf.

6. Pour the remainder into the loaf pan and bake for 80 minutes.

7. Turn off the oven, yet leave the bread in it for 1 hour.

8. Enjoy!