Sweet rye bread | Finnish archipelago bread (Saaristolaisleipä)

Finnish archipelago bread is a traditional treat during the winter time. With this yummy Saaristolaisleipä malt bread recipe, you make two loaves of sweet rye bread that get its flavor from the amazing espresso and dark syrup glaze. Make the traditional archipelago bread to the side of a salmon soup or spread some chives spread on the top.

When it is dark and gloomy outside Finns tend to bake plenty of things in the kitchen. The authentic Finnish Archipelago bread (Saaristolaisleipä) is a quite distinctive winter bake, for it is a very very black bread on the top. With this traditional bread recipe, you will make two loaves of dark bread that have a deliciously malty and rich flavor with the yummy moisture that buttermilk brings and the incredible sweetness of dark syrup. Other traditional winter tie bakes are for example gingerbreads, plum pinwheel torte, and Runeberg torte, especially in February on Runeberg day. 

Ingredients you need for sweet rye bread

• Buttermilk, can be substituted with kefir milk, orange juice, or apple juice. The most common Finnish archipelago recipes use either buttermilk or orange juice.
• Fresh yeast, can be substituted with dry yeast with a ratio of 11 grams, which equals 30 grams of fresh yeast. 
• Rye malt
• Oatmeal, can be substituted with oat bran or wheat bran, but decrease lightly for bran night dry  the dough slightly.
• Rye flour
• Dark syrup, gives the sweet flavor of the bread in the dough and in the glaze.
• Salt
• Wheat flour
• Espresso shot, can be substituted with filtered coffee, or water

You can find the exact measurements on the recipe card.

Tools you may need

• Large bowl
• Large spoon for stirring
• Measuring cups and scale
• Two bread loaf tins or loaf pans about 1.5L in volume each (25 x 12 cm)
• Parchent paper (optional)

How to make Finnish archipelago bread

Step one: Heat the buttermilk and mix with yeast

Heat the buttermilk in a pot on the stove until it feels lukewarm. Pour into the large mixing bowl, crumble the fresh yeast, and mix it well. Use a whisk if needed.

Step two: Mix the rest of the ingredients

Pour the rest of the ingredients in one by one mixing in between to combine all well. The consistency of the dough is perfect if you stick a spoon into the dough and it remains standing without falling.

Step three: First proof in mixing bowl

Cover the dough with a clean tea towel and let it proof to double the size, for about one hour.

Step four: Second proof in bread tins

Stir the prooved dough to exit the extra bubbles and pour it into the parchment-lined bread tins about 1.5L each to make two loaves of bread. Use my parchment paper folding technique to make the lining easier. You can also grease the tins instead of parchment paper if you like.

Let the bread proof for half an hour under a clean tea towel, make sure you put a bit of flour or parchment paper to avoid the bread sticking into the linen! Set the oven to 175°C.

Step five: Bake the bread

Uncover the bread loaves and place them on the lover rack in the oven for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Step six: Glaze and bake some more

Mix the glaze with hot espresso and dark syrup. Take loaves of bread off from the oven, and glaze them on top generously, so that the glaze runs down into the tin to give some goodies for the sides of the loaf as well.

Return the loaf to the oven for the middle griddle and bake for another 40 minutes still. The top of the bread will darken looking almost black, if it feels burning cover it with parchment paper or aluminum foil

Serving the sweet rye bread Nordic style

Enjoy the Finnish archipelago bread traditionally with creamy salmon soup. I love to dip it in a smooth carrot soup as well and just spread a bit of olive oil or butter on the top. The sweet rye bread is a perfect addition and an essential part of the Christmas dinner table in Finnish food culture.

Try these bread toppings:

• Soured cream, cold smoked salmon, and a sprig of dill
• Skagen röra, a shrimp mayonnaise
• Chives cream cheese spread

Storage

Store the bread airtight for up to 7 days at room temperature and in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. This bread freezes also well for about 6 months. Slice it up before freezing, it to make it easier to sneak one piece, and drop it in a toaster to heat up with a bowl of soup.

This recipe makes two loaves of bread. I normally freeze the second loaf or give it to my mother or sister as a natural gift, when I visit them. Here is how I wrapped the bread loaf last Christmas.

How to tweak this recipe

• To make vegan sweet rye bread use orange juice or apple juice instead of buttermilk.
• This recipe is for the moist, sweet rye bread, if you want less moist, replace the oatmeal with oat or rye bran.

How to fold the parchment paper for the bread tin

Turn the bread tin upside down and fold the paper using the size of the bottom of the tin. Turn the bread loaf tin and unfold it to the edges. Use tiny cloth pins to keep it in place while pouring the dough, if needed.

Troubleshooting

Here, you will find some help if you feel you are not succeeding with the sweet rye bread loaf.

Why does the bread fall? 

You may have too much flour for too little. If you have too much flour, the dough is too thick to rise. If your bread rises but then falls, you may have too little flour: the bread rises but cannot hold its form because of too little flour and falls afterward.

Why does my bread tear apart when cutting a piece of the archipelago bread loaf?

Let the bread cool down before cutting. If you can leave 1-2 days before you cut. The texture gets better and the flavor deeper in a few days.

Why my archipelago bread is dry?

If you use bran instead of oatmeal, your sweet rye bread might result dryer. You may also have too much flour in your bread.

Why does the malt in my bread feel so hard when eating?

Depends highly on the malt you are using. You can make the malt softer by adding it into the buttermilk when heating it up in the pot, then the heat helps the malt to soften.

Other Finnish recipes you might like

• Vispipuuro, whipped lingonberry semolina porridge
• Orange gingerbread cookies
• Apple glogg (non alcoholic)
• Soft apple pie
• Rhubarb juice

You can find the recipe card below!

Nordic treasures to continue with