Borodinsky Rye Bread

Mix the red rye malt, the 80g of rye flour for the scald and the ground coriander in a heatproof bowl.

Pour on the 300ml of boiling water and stir to a thick paste with no dry pockets.

Cover and hold the paste as close to 65C/149F as you can manage for 2 hours, using a warm oven with the light on, a slow cooker on its lowest setting or a vacuum flask.

This hold is doing real work. Rye starch pastes at a low temperature and the malt carries active enzymes, so at that heat the enzymes cut the gelatinised starch into sugars. The scald turns looser and noticeably sweeter as it goes. Skip the hold and the loaf bakes flat-tasting and pale for its colour.

Cool the scald to room temperature, about an hour.

Mix the starter, the 150g of rye flour for the sponge, the 100ml of lukewarm water and all of the cooled scald into a thick batter.

Cover and ferment for about 4 hours at around 24C/75F, until domed, aerated and sharply sour to taste.

Do not rush this stage or use an under-fed starter. An under-soured rye bakes to a sticky crumb no matter how long it stays in the oven.

Stir the treacle and caster sugar into the 80ml of lukewarm water for the dough until dissolved.

Add that liquid, the 270g of rye flour for the dough, the white bread flour and the salt to the sponge.

Mix with a sturdy spoon, or on low in a stand mixer, for 3-4 minutes, until even.

Stop there. Rye carries almost none of the protein that builds an elastic network, so this dough will stay a heavy sticky paste and there is nothing to knead. Working it longer only breaks down what structure it has.

Oil a 900g loaf tin with the teaspoon of oil.

Scrape the dough in and level the top with a wet spoon, doming it very slightly. A wet spoon is the only tool that will not drag it.

Scatter the whole coriander seeds over the top and press them lightly in.

Prove at around 24C/75F for 1.5-2 hours, until the dough has risen by about half and fine cracks have opened across the surface. Rye does not double, and the crazing is the signal it gives in place of a slowly filling dent.

Do not let it go past that. With no gluten to hold the gas, an over-proved rye sinks in the middle as soon as it meets oven heat.

Heat the oven to 240C/475F with an empty tray on the floor of it.

Slide the tin in and pour the 100ml of water into the hot tray.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Turn the oven down to 180C/350F and bake for a further 45-50 minutes, until the crust is very dark and hard.

Check the centre with a thermometer if you have one: 96C/205F, a few degrees higher than a wheat loaf needs.

While it bakes, whisk the cornflour into the 80ml of water for the glaze, bring it to the boil in a small pan and simmer for 30 seconds, until clear and slightly thickened.

Turn the loaf out and brush the hot crust with the cornflour glaze, which sets to the dark gloss the bread is known for.

Cool completely on a rack, then wrap in a cloth and leave for 12-24 hours before cutting.

The wait is not optional. Rye starch sets far more slowly than wheat starch, and a loaf opened early smears into paste under the knife and stays gummy afterwards.

Cut thin slices with a serrated knife, sawing rather than pressing.

Note on sourcing: red rye malt is sold as krasny solod through Eastern European grocers and online. There is no true substitute for it, and a loaf darkened by other means is a different bread that should not carry the name.