October 8, 2005 - 8:14pm
Kaiser Rolls
I forgot to mention that I baked kaiser rolls again yesterday. They were mighty tasty, though they still don't look like professional kaiser rolls. I actually like the rough look of them though.
Anyone have any kaiser shaping tips?
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Those kaisers look delish! We do a lot of "rough thrown" bread in the bakery where I work, I prefer the look myself. but.....when I am at home I round mine and use a butter knife to press the 5 star look to them, it sometimes works, sometimes doesn't.
I even bought one of those kaiser press thingy's but it really do much of a job.
Yours look great,,,,,,,,,,,,qahtan
I was having trouble with the folding. Seems it has to go the other way around, clockwise, and instead of just pressing in the middle, the whole length of the thumb must be used, pressing the dough thin to seal. Found this, it might be useful. :) Mini Oven
http://www.bsbaeko.musin.de/baeck/slidesh.html
So many people are making lovely Semmel or Kaiser Rolls that have nice folds and look pretty. I have looked at the various photos of folding and shaping and watch the video of it. While my folding and shaping can use a bit more practice, my real concern is with the actual recipe. I can't tell from the beautiful photos whether the inside is what I taste in my mind when I recall Semmel.
I wonder if anyone has a recipe they will share that has the authentic taste of the Semmel that we remember from our days in Augsburg. ... light airy tender melt-in-the-mouth crumb with a thin crispy crust.
I have made two attempts from Daniel Leader's (Local Breads) Rosetta Rolls. He says they are an offshoot of the Kaiser rolls of Bavaria. I followed the recipe exactly on my first batch, but ended up with little tight round dinner rolls with a heavy crumb. He said to retard the dough several hours in the refrigerator...after shaping, but without proofing. Then he bakes without proofing at room temp. I thought that could have been an error in his book, so today I made another attempt and varied from his recipe, using the slap and fold kneading technique and raised them at room temperature according to instructions in another recipe. They were raising and spreading out so nicely, but in the oven they tightened up and became, once again little round dinner rolls with a chewy crumb and a crunchy curst. My husband says they are delicious, but they are NOT Semmel.
I used steam in the oven both times, using ice cubes in a cast iron pan method endorsed by Leader.
I am ready to try a different recipe as soon as I get my digital scale...which is ordered and coming soon. I have found a few recipes through web searches, some calling for oil or butter, milk and egg whites. I don't believe the Bavarian ones had those ingredients, but I could be wrong. They tasted like such a pure mixture of flour and yeast and water and air.
If anyone can help, I would appreciate trying a new recipe.
I saw your post about the old time Kaiser rolls
are you still on this forum?