This is such a straight-forward loaf in many ways - and I love that buckwheat flavour - especially when the bread is toasted - but know for some it doesn’t work.
We got this recipe a couple of years ago and have been making it ever since then. However only recently I’ve found a similar version online - it looks like it might have come from the Breadtopians website - they call themselves 'pragmatic bread freaks’ and say they 'launched in 2006 with a mission of ensuring that baking perfect bread at home is available to everyone’ (i). Their website is well worth a look.
On this bread they write: "In making this bread, I worked from a recipe I found on a blog called Nutriplanet, and that author credits another blog called Conscious Catering. One of my modifications was to add flax and pumpkin seeds for flavor, texture, and visual appeal. Of course, you can use you whatever seeds you want: chia, hemp, sunflower, sesame, poppy or none at all."
Buckwheat is a seed and a great source of protein and Breadtopia link to research from Uppsala University in Sweden linking buckwheat consumption to lower levels of bad cholesterol and better blood sugar management in diabetes (ii). Well controlling blood sugar levels mean it will also be good for lowering risks of cancer and heart disease.
Gluten Free Fermented Buckwheat Bread
Preparation time is around 30 minutes and cook time is around an hour and 20 minutes although we always seem to leave it a bit longer.
Ingredients
Instructions - taken from the Breadtopia website.
Notes
Ingredients
• 450 g buckwheat groats not toasted (2 1/2 cups)
• 3 cups of water for soaking the groats
• 330 g water for the batter (1 1/3 cups)
• Half tsp seasalt
• 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
• 3 Tbsp of toasted flax seeds
• Several handfuls of pumpkin seeds and toasted flax seeds for decorating the top of loaf
• Soak the buckwheat groats in water for 5-6 hours.
• Drain the groats in a colander but do not rinse. The run-off will be very mucilaginous.
• Blend the groats and new water in a blender or food processor. You may need to do this in two parts if you use a food processor, so as to not go over the top of the central blade tube and have leakage.
• Pour into a glass bowl or large measuring Pyrex, and cover with a towel. This will be about 5 cups of batter.
• Set aside for approximately 24 hrs at 67-70 F. Fermentation time is significantly shorter at warmer house temps or in the oven with the light on. Batter expansion is roughly from 5 to 6.5 cups. Do not mix the batter until the fermentation is finished or the batter will deflate, and it will be hard to calculate growth.
• At the end of the fermentation, gently mix in the salt and any seeds you wish to add.
• Pour the batter into the parchment paper-lined loaf pan, and decorate the top of the loaf.
• Let the batter rise for another 30 minutes to an hour in your lit oven.
• Preheat the oven to 350 F with pan in the oven.
• Bake for approximately 80 minutes (less for a long narrow pan) or until the inside temp is about 200 F.
• Remove from the oven and lift the parchment paper out of pan onto a cooling rack. Peel it off and let the loaf cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.
Enjoy!
Update 5.3.23: interesting article looking at buckwheat: https://foodrevolution.org/blog/is-buckwheat-healthy/
Notes