In her Denmark travels, Hannah has discovered the joy of dense, nutty German bread garnished with all varieties of toppings – cheese, meats, avocado, hummus, veggies – you name it. Her gastronomic tales (and texted snapshots) remind me of my childhood years in Germany. I’d forgotten about bread like this. I’m particularly fond of Dave’s Killer Bread – the 21 seed variety – but it’s not the same.

Hannah’s tastes have changed. It wasn’t long ago that she wouldn’t eat anything more fancy than sourdough. Since we both enjoy this Vollkornbrot, I thought I’d try to make it.

The recipe I found online calls for Einkorn flour and wheat berries. From what I’ve read about it, Einkorn is an ancient grain, the only wheat that has never been hybridized. It’s not something you’ll find in the local grocery store, so I resorted to Amazon for my Einkorn purchases. While there, I added in the special loaf pan required for the recipe and an electric knife to help cut the bread into thin slices.

What started as a simple loaf of bread experiment has become a real investment.

• Organic Einkorn Wheat Flour (a $17.02, 2 lb package so there’s a bit leftover) – $8.95
• Organic Einkorn Wheat Berries – $8.95
• Flax Seeds – $4.98
• Sunflower Kernels – $3.98
• Sesame Seeds – $3.96
• Buttermilk – $1.58
• Sam Adams Lager – $3.00
• Large Pullman Loaf Pan – $22.99
• Cuisinart Electric Knife – $25.49
• Rolled Oats – already on hand

The total for this tasty loaf? Just shy of 84 dollars. Back out the cost of the loaf pan and the electric knife, and I’m still at  $35.40 – about $1 a slice.

The batter was quite soupy, but after 18 hours of “fermenting”, the flour, grains, and seeds soaked up much of the moisture.

The Pullman Loaf Pan is 13″x4″x4″ – totally different than the squat, fat pans used for quick bread.

The beautiful loaf straight from the oven.

The first slice, ready for testing. No – I didn’t wait until it was fully cooled. Who can do that?