These rye tea cakes are perfect for a picnic or your children's lunch boxes. Slightly sweet and quite substantial, they are divine fresh with either mild salami or cheese, or why not a fried egg?

 

1. Warm the milk to lukewarm and mix in the butter.

 

2. Crumble you fresh yeast into a large bowl or your  mixer. add salt and pour over the butter milk until the yeast has dissolved.

 

3. Add syrup and spices. Don't be stingy!

 

4. Add the flour and mix well until the dough is springy and is easily shaped into a ball - about 3 minutes in the machine, a little longer by hand. Put a towel over the bowl and let prove until doubled in size. About 40 minutes, unless your kitchen is very draughty and cold (like mine).

 

5. Tip the dough unto a floured work top and knead vigorously a minute or two. Divide into four and make flat, rounds, no thicker than 1,5cm (1/2 an inch) as they will prove again and easily get a bit too thick. Place the rounds on baking sheets - it might be tricky to fit all four on one sheet - and don't forget the grease proof or baking paper. Cut halfway through the rounds to make quarters and prick with a fork to make them rise more evenly.

 

6. Cover with a towel again about 30 minutes, while pre-heating the oven to 225C/400F/Gasmark 6.

 

7. Bake in the middle of the oven for 10 minutes and let cool down on a rack, under a towel.