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Prep:
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To make the sponge, blend all ingredients of the Sponge above and stir 25 times with a wooden spoon. Cover tightly with plastic wrap to prevent moisture loss. It will rise and fall over the course of 3 days. Stir each day. Watch and smell the magic!
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This can be used as little as 6 hours after mixing, but I went the full three days with wonderful results.
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On the day you're baking, uncover and add the water, molasses, 1 tbsp caraway, egg, salt,rye flour, and about 2 cups of the white flour. Beat until smooth, about 100 strokes and add the shortening.
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Add the remainder of the flour, 1/2 cup at a time and stir or mix by hand until the dough is somewhat sticky still.
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Kneading:
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Turn the dough out on a floured work surface and knead by hand with a strong push, turn and fold method for 8-10 minutes. Use a dough scraper to help and add sprinkles of flour to control stickiness.
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First Rise:
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Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with wrap again. Leave at room temp until doubled, about an hour.
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Punch down and let rise an additional 10 minutes.
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Shaping:
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I shaped mine into 2 round loaves as I mentioned, but I'm sure this could be panned or shaped how you'd prefer.
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Second Rise:
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Cover loaves and let them double, about 40 minutes.
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Preheat oven to 375F 20 minutes before baking.
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Baking:
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Rye loaves should be cut on top. Diagonally for long loaves, or tic tac toe for rounds, but it's up to you.
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Brush tops with the egg/milk mixture and sprinkle with the last tbsp of the caraway seeds.
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Bake for 40 minutes until they pass the thump test or until they're done by your method of testing.
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Cool on metal racks.
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Keeps for a week in a plastic bag, or you can freeze it for months!
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Enjoy!
