Norwegian Time Machine: 1924 Telemark Rye Bread

Since the last recipe was a hearty Lapskaus recipe, I thought it might be nice to include a traditional accompaniment: Telemark Rye Bread. Once again, this is the 1924 version of the recipe. For a modern version, check out the link at the bottom of the post.

And if you do give this one a try, please let me know how it turns out. Leave a comment or e-mail me--I'd love to hear if this recipe has held up for the past 85 years.

8-quart kettleful of potatoes
Salt
Graham Rye Flour (sifted)
White flour (sifted)
1 cake compressed yeast or its equivalent in any other good yeast

In the evening boil potatoes very well. Salt more than ordinary. Drain. Put through a potato ricer and mash thoroughly. While hot, work in with a potato masher as much graham-rye and white flour (half of each) as you can. Set aside to cool. When lukewarm, knead using the same proportion of graham-rye and white flour—half of each—as before. Make dough very stiff. When nearly through add the cakeof yeast dissolved in a little water. Let stand over night but not in too warm a place as the large proportion of potatoes causes it to sour very easily. In the morning form into small round loaves. Brushthe tops with a mixture of egg yolk and a little cream. Dent the top of each loaf with the point of the little finger and put immediately in the oven and bake slowly for one and one-half to two hours. Caraway seeds and a little grated primost may be added to the potatoes when mashing if desired.

IMPORTANT—be sure to mash the potatoes well. Don’t let the mixture be too warm when adding the yeast. Do not keep in too warm a place over night. Make dough very stiff as it always softens. Much depends upon carefully following instructions otherwise the bread will not be a success. The dough is sticky and may be hard to handle, requiring patience, but this will be more than rewarded by the finished product.

Now, for a more modern version of this recipe, I found this one, which should be fairly similar, with the exception of the molasses. Anyone up for trying both recipes and reporting back on how they turned out?