Once you've made Borodinsky rye bread, you'll never want to have any other dark rye bread ever again.
The texture and flavour of this naturally leavened rye sourdough is incredible and unique to Russian black bread. It also has a very forgiving nature, making it a great choice for beginner bakers.
Along with traditional Russian piroshki , medovik, and bread kvass, Borodinsky bread is one of the most popular Russian foods. It's a delicious base for sandwiches or simply served with butter.
What is it
Borodinsky dark rye bread is a traditional Russian bread made with dark rye flour, molasses, fresh coriander seeds and caraway.
It's classically made using rye sourdough starter, but can be made with regular starter or yeast.
It's often used for open sandwiches or small snacks served with cured salmon, salted pork fat(salo) or salted/marinated herring.
How does it taste?
Unlike regular rye bread, Borodinsky bread is flavoured with coriander and caraway as well as dark molasses.
This gives the bread a rich warm flavour and a crumb that is soft and slightly "wet".
Dare I say moist)
This recipe also includes cocoa powder which does not make it taste like chocolate. You can't actually taste it in the final product.
It's for depth of flavour and a rich dark colour.
Traditionally rye malt powder was used but I find no benefit for it in this recipe over cocoa powder.
It's also much easier for most people to find the latter.
History
There are a few legends about the origin of Borodinsky bread. The one I would like to believe and probably most suited to Russian history is one of sorrow and war.
At the battle of Borodino, when crazy little Napoleon was going at it, a general perished.
General Alexander Tuchkov. He left behind a Widow. Margarita Tuchkova.
She apparently set up a convent on one of the previous battlefields. The nuns started to bake and serve this bread at events for mourning the dead.
The coriander seeds represented the shot from the bullets and the dark colour, the sorrow and solemnness caused by their loss.
Fact or fiction? You decide.
Making the dough
Jump straight to the recipe and video using the "jump to" buttons at the top. Otherwise, read on for in-depth instructions, serving suggestions and frequently asked questions.
Traditional Borodinsky bread is made with a rye sourdough starter.
You need a nice active starter culture full of yeast to make this bread.
Mix 150 grams active sourdough starter, 250 grams cold water, and 200 grams rye flour together. Let it rest overnight or for at least 12 hours at room temperature.
The following day, mix together the pre-ferment, 350 grams white bread flour, 50 grams rye flour, 100 grams wholemeal flour, 15 grams salt, 5 grams freshly ground caraway seeds, 8g whole coriander seeds(Keep 4 grams for sprinkling in the tin and on top), 60 grams molasses, 40 grams dark cocoa powder, and 280 grams room temperature water.
The mix will be very wet. DO NOT ADD MORE FLOUR!!! It's supposed to be like that. Just work the dough for about 3 minutes with your hands or a wooden spoon or whatever, until the gluten has formed a bit in the dough.
At this point, just oil your hands, stretch and fold the dough a bit and then just cover it up. Don't forget to draw a smiley face and put the time on it.
Give the dough an hour to rest and fully hydrate.
When the hour is up, oil your hands and give the dough a few stretches and folds by lifting up the bottom, stretching up and folding back onto itself.
Cover and let it prove for 3 hours or until doubled in size in a warm place. Around 26°C or 78°F.
Preparing the tins
While the dough is doing its thing. Line a bread tin, moulds or springform cake tin with parchment paper. You can use any shape even a bunt cake mould works. First oil the tins then parchment paper and then a bit of oil again. You're learning the secrets of the pros now.
Sprinkle each tin with a bit of semolina, coriander seeds and ground caraway.
Now your tins are ready. You go do something else or whatever until the dough has risen nicely or roughly doubled in size.
When your dough has risen you don't smash all the air out like a hooligan.
You just gently tap it down and with oiled hands divide the dough in two or make one big bread if your bread tins allow it.
Dump the dough onto an oiled work surface and shape it into a round by tucking the sides underneath it with a dough or bench scraper. Cover and let it rest for 15 minutes.
Next, you could shape your dough into a tight-ish oval shape to improve the shape. If you're not experienced with shaping bread then simply tuck the bread underneath itself again with the dough scraper and put it into the tin.
Gently even out the top and sprinkle with some more coriander and ground caraway seeds.
Next, we will let the dough rise again lightly covered with plastic wrap in a warm place. Oil the wrap a bit to make sure it does not stick to the bread. Just in case.
Turn your oven up to 220°C(428°F). Let the bread prove one more time till doubled in size about 1,5 hours.
Rye bread can easily overprove so keep an eye on it. When it looks nice and plump get it into the oven. It's better to bake a loaf under proofed slightly than over-prooved.
When ready to bake, place a small metal bowl or tray with water in the bottom of the oven.
This will create a bit of steam and the crust of the bread will be beautiful and crispy.
It also allows for the bread to finish rising in the oven without the crust forming too quick.
Baking the bread
Bake the bread at 220°C(428°F) for 20 minutes. Turn down the oven to 180°C(356°F) and bake for a further 10 minutes.
When the ten minutes are up, carefully remove from the moulds and bake bottom side up for another 5 minutes. Always measure the internal temperature of bread and make sure it's above 90°C(194°F).
Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool on wire racks or on a kitchen cloth.
Let it cool down completely before you slice it. It will be extremely hard at this point to resist as the smell is absolutely intoxicating. Just be strong.
Finally, our reward for all that not-so-hard work looks like this.
a Sight to behold.
The best thing now is to slather some good butter all over it. Great as is.
Even sprinkle a bit of chives. It's all engines go at his point.
Serving suggestions
Borodinsky bread makes a great open sandwich. Toppings include the following.
Frequently asked questions
It will keep for 5 days wrapped airtight at room temperature. For longer storage slice the bread, wrap it up tight and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
The best sandwiches are made with some sort of rye bread. Reuben sandwiches, Turkey sandwiches, Coronation chicken, home-cured salmon, and many more come to mind.
Kvass is a Russian drink made by toasting this Borodisnsky bread and fermenting it mixed with filtered water, molasses and brewers yeast. It’s fantastic and we will be doing a recipe on this site soon.
Plenty)) The most popular topping for Borodinsky rye bread is salo(сало). It is salted pork fat smeared or sliced on top of this bread.
That with an ice-cold vodka is probably one of the most Russian experiences you could think of. I love it and you should try it.
Tips for success
- Make sure your sourdough starter is healthy and active. If you don't have a rye starter then use a normal plain white flour starter
- Follow the timings as a guide. Your loaf may prove faster or slower due to the many variables involved in bread making. If it proves slowly move it to a warmer place. If it is plump and proven early, then get it in the oven.
- Rye bread can easily overproof so keep an eye on it.
- This is a very forgiving bread recipe and every loaf I've seen readers make has turned out great. Even ones that never baked anything. Point is. Have confidence. It'll all be good.
- Make sure to fully bake the loaf. Check that the internal temperature reaches above 90 degrees Celsius or 194 degrees Fahrenheit. Or until a wooden skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Once cooked make sure to cool it down completely before cutting. Overnight is best.
Related recipes
Useful equipment for this recipe
Loaf Pan
Temperature Probe
Electronic Kitchen Scales
Kitchenaid Stand Mixer
This site contains affiliate links. I may earn a tiny commission on qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. By bookmarking these links you help support the upkeep of this site.
If you found this post helpful or have learned something, comment, subscribe, and follow me on social platforms for more tasty recipes.
Recipe
Russian Borodinsky Dark Rye Bread
Ingredients
For the pre-ferment
- 150 g (⅗ cups) rye starter
- 250 g (1 cups) cold water
- 200 g (2 cups) rye flour
For the dough
- 600 g (all) pre-ferment
- 350 g (2 ⅘ cups) white bread flour
- 100 g (⅘ cups) wholemeal flour
- 50 g (3 tablespoon) rye flour
- 15 g (3 teaspoon) salt
- 10 g (2 teaspoon) caraway seeds
- 12 g (2 ½ teaspoon) coriander seeds
- 60 g (⅕ cups) molasses
- 40 g (2 ⅔ tablespoon) dark cocoa powder
- 280 g (1 ⅕ cups) cold water
Instructions
Day 1 The pre-ferment
- You need a nice active starter culture full of yeast to make great bread. For that reason, we will mix 150g sourdough starter, 250g cold water, and 200g rye flour together.
- Let it rest overnight or for at least 12 hours at room temp.
Day 2 Making the dough
- The following day, mix together the pre-ferment, 350g white bread flour, 50g rye flour, 100g wholemeal flour, 15g salt, 5g freshly ground caraway seeds, 12g whole coriander seeds, 60g molasses, 40g dark cocoa powder, and 280g room temperature water.
- The mix will be sticky. Do not add more flour. It's supposed to be a a wet dough.
- Work the dough for about 3 minutes with your hands or a wooden spoon.
- At this point, just oil your hands, stretch and fold the dough as much as possible and then just cover it up.
- Don't forget to draw a smiley face and put the time on it. Let it rest for one hour.
- After an hour, oil your hands and give the dough a few folds by lifting from the bottom and folding back onto itself. All the way around the parimeter of the bowl. Close the dough and let it prove for 3 hours in a slighty warm place. Around 26°C or 78°F.
- While the dough is doing its thing. Line some bread tins or moulds with parchment paper.
- First oil the tins then parchment paper and then a bit of oil again
- Sprinkle each tin with a bit of semolina, coriander seeds and ground caraway.
- When your dough has risen you don't smash all the air out like a hooligan. You just gently tap it down and with oiled hands divide the dough in two or make one big bread if your bread tins allow it.
- Dump the dough onto an oiled work surface and shape it into a round by tucking the sides underneath it with a dough or bench scraper. Cover and let it rest for 15 minutes.
- Next, you could shape your dough into a tight-ish oval shape to improve the shape. If you're not experience with shaping bread then simply tuck the bread underneath itself again with the dough scaper and put it into the tin.
- Gently even out the top with your hands and sprinkle with some more coriander and ground caraway seeds
- Next, we will let the dough rise again lightly covered with plastic wrap. Oil the wrap a bit to make sure it does not stick to the bread. Just in case. Let the Borodinky bread prove one more time till doubled in size about 1,5 hours. Turn your oven up to 220°C(428°F).
- When ready to bake, place a small metal bowl or tray with water in the bottom of the oven. This will create a bit of steam and the crust of the bread will be beautiful and crispy. It also allows for the bread to finish rising in the oven without the crust forming too quick.
- Bake at 220°C(428°F) for 20 minutes. Turn down the oven to 180°C(356°F) and bake a further 10 minutes. When the ten minutes are done carefully remove from the moulds and bake bottom side up for another 5 minutes. to make sure it's cooked measure the internal temperature with a kitchen thermometer. It should read above 90°C(194°F) Remove from the oven and let cool on wire racks or kitchen cloth.
Video
Notes
- Let the bread cool down completely before slicing.
- Rye flour can easily overproof so keep an eye on it.
- Once cooled the bread can be sliced, sealed airtight, and frozen for months.
- Feel free to leave out the spices if you don't like spices in bread.
- If you don't have a rye starter use a regular starter.
- Don't add more flour to the dough. It's supposed to be wet.
- If you want your bread without cracks on top simply fold and shape like you would regular sourdough. Watch video for instructions.
- Use old borodisnky bread to make this delicious Russian bread kvass. A naturally fermented drink similar to dark beer and popular in Slavic countries.
Helene Rossouw says
Wow, I made this bread with the eye on making kvass, but I've not come past the bread yet. This bread is amazing. A lot of waiting time for the risings, but actually not so much effort. This bread takes care of itself. The cocoa, molasses, coriander and caraway gives it an authentic richness and depth of flavour. I absolutely love this bread. I hope I get to the kvass eventually... but this bread is on my favourite list. By the way, you have a South African accent. Do you in live in SA?
Charlé Visser says
Glad you like! From there yes!)
Sandro C says
I just made this bread today and it turned out wonderful! Charlé I followed your video and recipe and this was actually a very easy bread to make. I used a starter that is all white flour but followed the rest of the instructions. I don't think the all white flour starter versus a rye starter made any difference, the rise of the dough was perfect at room temperature. My baking time for one full loaf was only about 40 minutes.
Thank you Charlé
Lara B says
Thank you so much for this awesome recipe and your clear and hilarious instructions. It was so much fun to make, using our very first rye sourdough starter! (and imo, the special smiley-face is critical.) Tastes fantastic with sour cream and boysenberry jelly…
Charlé Visser says
Glad you like it! Enjoy! That's sounds like a simple, super tasty treat with the boysenberry.
Socks says
Looks very good and I really want to do the recipe after reading tons of comments. I am wondering though about a substitute for the cocoa, you see I can’t eat it. Would carob powder be a good substitute or am I better to try something else. I am looking into finding the malt rye but it is somewhat confusing trying to find the right stuff. Your thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks for sharing this fascinating recipe.
Charlé Visser says
Leave it out completely and replace with flour. The colour will be a bit lighter but the flavour will still be amazing.The main flavours in borodinsky bread are molasses, coriander and caraway. Using those three ingredients you can make borodinsky scones, pancakes, crepes, cake, kvass(recipe on here too) and whatever else comes to mind.
Megan says
I've made this not once but several times because it is that good. Where I live (San Francisco) there are no bakeries that make good BLACK bread. So I have to make it and you give me the method. Thank you very much.
My tiny variations: one half the specified amount of coriander. Add 1 Tbl of brown sugar.
Nick says
Hello I don't have a sourdough starter is there a way to make the pre ferment with bread yeast?
Charlé Visser says
Got a recipe for the regular yeasted version in the comments on the youtube video and here it is. If you can’t find malted rye flour then sub for white or regular rye.
Don’t worry about pre ferment just mix, rise once. Knock it down then shape, rise and bake.
Yeasted Recipe:
750 g water
650 g rye flour
150 g wholemeal flour
50g malted rye flour
10g instant yeast
8g salt
40g sugar
30g molasses
10g caraway seeds
10g coriander seeds
Patty lamb says
Let me say love this bread. My favorite sandwich is a rueben and this bread was truly awesome. I'm already thinking about lunch tomorrow cream cheese onion and smoked salmon. Thanks to Charl'e for this recipe. And video hilarious!
Alice says
Making this bread just reminded me of why I quit baking bread at home a number of years ago.....I have to restrain myself from just sitting down and eating every bit of it at once! I think my pre-ferment overproofed some (It escaped the jar overnight and went all over the towels I had around it to keep the temp even) and the bread did not rise nearly as beautifully as your video shows....but the taste? AH the taste. It is EXACTLY the flavor I have been searching for in my attempts to make a black bread and I am so very happy that I found your site and this recipe. It most definitely is the best tasting bread I have found and I will continue to use the starter I made using your recipe and make this bread over and over again. Thank you for sharing this fabulous recipe with the world!
Baking in Colorado says
Great bread. I live at 7000 ft and this bread came out exactly as described. I did adjust the proofing times by reducing each by about 15 percent time, as is suggested by Susan Purdy in her ‘Pie in the Sky Cookbook’. Q: Your total cook time is 1 hr for the regular loaf size pan on the video, but your baking times add up to a total of 20+10+5=35 minutes in the recipe. So do you increase the higher or lower temp baking time to get to 1 hr. Q: if one wanted a more intense pump taste what would you add or do differently?
Charlé Visser says
For the big loaf I bake longer about an hour. I go high for 15-20 minutes then down for the rest of the time. If you wanted to increase the flavour I would add some nutritional yeast flakes and sub out some of the water for a roasted vegetable puree and of you feeling fancy some chopped salted pork fat or bacon will go a treat. Hope that answers your questions!
Tim says
Tovarish, this turned out like a champ. Fiddly pain in the ass for 19 hours, but a great loaf of bread.
Being funny when doing this stuff is the only way people pay attention. Nice job.
Fedya
michael says
Hello- What would you say about substituting honey for the molasses?
Charlé Visser says
I would say, don't do it. But then again, who am I to tell folks what to do. Reckon it would be too much sugar for the yeast to handle, and you will lose the very important flavour it brings. But, by all means give it a go and let me know the results!
Tired Human says
This is delicious.
I used AP flour and the result was delightfully soft but I can see why bread flour would have been a bit better. I used a bit of rye instead of semolina to for my baking pans - I just didn't realize I needed any until it was too late and had a "whatever" moment.
I've been baking sourdough bread for two years which I think saved me a bit. I didn't stick to the exact timing (because life), I used my fridge for some of the rising time (because life), and went by what it's supposed to look like at each stage of the proofing. My starter wasn't ready to use at 9am, I only finished mixing my ferment up at 2pm. I'm was not going to be baking at midnight. So just a casual note to anyone curious: yes, store that dough covered in the fridge if you don't think you'll have time in exactly 3 or 8 hours and go by look and feel of the dough. IT WILL WORK AND IT WILL BE DELICIOUS AND I'M SENDING EVERYONE I KNOW TO THIS BLOG.
BN says
Hi Charlé. I really want to try this bread for a good friend (from Poland) who LOVES dark Russian bread. Couple questions to help me please.
- Can I make the preferment using my regular AP starter together with the rye flour?
- Is whole grains organic rye flour (Arrowhead Mills) considered dark rye?
- Can I use whole wheat flour for the wholemeal flour?
- Will Dutch processed cocoa help make bread darker?
- Will whole coriander seeds in the dough & outside be too strong? How fine should caraway seeds be grounded (powder like)? Or can it be left ungrounded?
- Will it be ok to retard dough overnight (fits my schedule better), say after step 14 (before pre heating oven)?
- if I use a Dutch oven, should I un-lid after 20 mins and continue baking another 10 mins @356F?
Sorry for the many questions but they will help clarify my first attempt (and my friend very happy). Many thanks.
Charlé Visser says
Regular starter good.
Only malted rye is a dark colour. Use that one you got. It’s grey.
Wholewheat good.
Dutched cocoa good. Also use it.
Depends how much you like coriander seeds. It’s pretty standard for the outside ones to fall off as you slice it. Caraway I prefer ground bit have had it whole too. Prefer ground still.
You can do the overnight proof. Don’t bulk proof it too long though. Rye, molasses and sourdough gets very active and can overproof.
If you Ducth oven it, remove the lid and make sure the bottom has a bit of crust. Shouldn’t be a problem though.
Hope that helps! Good luck!
BN says
Thanks for your feedback. Since the dough is wet & loose, will it be able to hold its shape (boule) in Dutch oven? Or will it spread & flatten out?
Perhaps it’ll help be better to bake in a loaf pan? Is the recipe dough enough to be divided and baked in two 9x4 inch loaf pans for a sandwich size bread? Thank you.
Charlé Visser says
You can strengthen then dough with a good few folds and bake in a Dutch oven, but like you said the dough will still spread. If you’re looking for a loaf shape best to bake in them. You will have a good tall bread and some dough left over if baking in one tin. Two tins will give you two “short” loaves that are perfect for little open sandwiches.
BN says
Hi Charlé,
I made the bread using your feedback and as a trial run before baking for my friend. Came out quite good (I think!) — tasty, light crust, soft insides, slightly sweet/chocolatey and all around a “moist” hearty bread. Great as open face avocado toast .. yum!
I modified timeline to fit my schedule. The overnight preferment in 72F kitchen was very active after 10h, so I refrigerated 5h before mixing the dough. I shortened bulk fermentation to 2h (step 6) and 1h (step 14) then refrigerate overnight (11h) before baking according to recipe.
I baked in 2 vessels .. an uncovered 9x4 loaf pan (with steam bath) and a LoafNest (a small cast iron bread vessel with a tight cover, kinda like a small fitted Dutch oven). Both loaves were smallish, approx 8x3 inches. Would have liked a taller bread .. but how ?
I freezed one loaf .. should I thaw and warm in 350F oven for 10-15 mins before serving ?
Now I will bake next week & surprise my friend with Borodinsky bread ! Thank you again.
Charlé Visser says
Sounds like a success. If you want a taller bread, adjust the amount of dough you're making and add more to the pans. Or scaled down and less for one loaf. Thaw before you warm, yes. Warm at around 320F.
Steph says
This bread is enthusiastically Russian Father-in-law approved! I didn't want to buy the dry rye starter so I used an equal amount of my sourdough starter! It worked out great. I did have to do a second feed of the starter to get it nice and bubbly but it worked well.
I did use warm water instead of cold and raised the bread overnight. In total this bread took four days but is very worth the effort!!
I was told I need to keep making this 🙂 I raised it in sourdough baskets lined with oiled plastic wrap and got some lovely round discs of delicious dense rye. Perfect for Russian butter and caviar!
Definitely saving this recipe!
Sierra says
Making this bread for my dear Russian friend. I make regular sourdough bread, a few questions -
Can I use a mortar and pestle to grind the spice?
Can I place into banneton instead of oiled parchment pan, then dump into parchment lined covered Dutch oven as I usually do for rustic sourdough? Or just shut up and follow the directions?
Thank you
Charlé Visser says
You can do all of that just make sure some coriander seeds stays whole(symbolic). If you shape it well you can use a banneton and then dutch oven. Just make sure the dough is not too wet. Adjust the hydration slightly. Alternatively, shut up and follow the instructions))) Good luck and let me know how it went!