We bake our bread in a geyser, but you can bake it at home.

Cooking with heat from geothermal springs is a generations-old tradition in Iceland. At Laugarvatn, where Fontana is located, we’re lucky to have abundant geothermal heat underground.

Our rye bread is baked by burying it in sand near an active geyser. Boiling water seeps through small cracks beneath the sand, warming it up and turning it into a natural cooking apparatus.

On our tours, we hear the same question all the time: Can I make this at home? And the answer is, yes, you can!

The recipe below works perfectly in a regular oven, or in a geyser, if you happen to have easy access to one.

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Ingredients

• 2 cups rye flour


• 1 cup plain flour


• 1 cup sugar


• 2 teaspoons baking powder


• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 
500 ml. milk

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Method

Step 1
Preheat the oven to 100°C / 220°F.

Step 2
Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Step 3
Pour in the milk and mix it together with the dry ingredients.

Step 4
Grease a pot with butter to prevent the bread from sticking.

Step 5
Pour the mixture into the pot.

Step 6
Place the pot in the center of the oven with a tray of water below to make sure the bread stays moist.

Step 7
Bake for 8 to 10 hours.