Baking 201: Marbled Deli Rye with Tara Jensen

If you’ve ever admired a slice of elegant marbled rye bread, it’s high time you learned how to make it yourself. This isn’t a bread reserved for pros, and there are no fancy tricks or special tools required—it’s all about good bread-baking technique and a little patience. Join guest chef Tara Jensen, author of the new book “Flour Power,” for a livestream class where you’ll crack the code on a rye bread loaf that marbles together a light and a dark dough for truly stunning results.

First, Tara will walk you through the creation, care and keeping of your very own sourdough starter. Then, you’ll learn how to use your starter to make a malted molasses dough and a perfectly sour white rye. By layering these two doughs together before the second rise, you’ll avoid the dreaded separation of the layers. And forget kneading: Tara’s technique is all about folding, which means less work for you and a lighter crumb for your dough. You’ll learn all about baker’s percentages (no need for alarm—they’re actually extremely simple once you get the hang of them). You’ll get Tara’s recommendations on storing and sourcing rye flour and may even get her tips on sneaking flavorful rye into other favorite baked goods. We’ll cover the difference between blackstrap, light and dark molasses and you’ll come away confident in choosing the right variety for every occasion. And you’ll appreciate why temperature is everything if you want consistent baking results; Tara will convince you to put an instant-read thermometer to great use to ensure ideal rising every time.

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