Save The Kaiser!

Alright.....I have returned. I think Summer is not always the best time to plan regular bread making sessions. There is far too much to distract the fledgling baker/sausage maker from his appointed task. One strays too easily from their focus, lured in by sun soaked activities and general bon temps. I did however make time to bake rolls.....Kaiser rolls or Kaisersemmel to be specific. I recently returned from a great trip to Toronto and I would like to dedicate these rolls to all the great Kaisers in that fine city. Apparently every rad rocker from the seventies and eighties ended up in Toronto and I was having a love in with all of them care of my Hawkwind t-shirt. Best random run-in has to go to the 62 year-old recovered methamphetamine addict who waxed poetic about the history of his favorite drug/Motorhead/Lemmy/Diabetes/mortality and spiritual awakening all in the space of 5 blocks! Pretty amazing Toronto....pretty amazing.

Onwards and upwards to the bread arts. Kaiser rolls are named after Franz Joseph I of Austria (who by the way had a pretty amazing mustache). Kaiser is the German word for emperor and these rolls truly are the royalty of the little breads. Kaisersemmel are very popular in Austria and Germany and are most commonly eaten with soups and liberally covered with butter or as sandwiches. They are easily identified by the 5 slashes on their top surfaces radiating out from the center. I did not actually do the slashes on my rolls but I am sure you can forgive me. The rolls can optionally be sprinkled with poppy seeds, sesame seeds or even caraway, for extra crunchiness.

Austro-Hungarian Riffage: Hawkwind, Space Ritual (1973)

The Recipe!!!!

Kaisersemmel


I was pretty loosey goosey with the quantities when i made this bread so these are just rough approximations. I also weighed the ingredients out in order to start making my recipes more flexible in terms of quantities.

Starter
-100g Unbleached Bread Flour
-60g Lukewarm Water
-4g Yeast (I used fresh yeast but you can use any type, just put more in if using fresh)

Mix the ingredients in a bowl, cover and let rise for 2 hours.

The rest...
-200g Unbleached Bread Flour
-3g Salt
-6g Honey
-4g Yeast
-120g Water
-10g Soft Butter
-Optional seeds for sprinkling

Add ingredients to starter and form a sticky dough. Turn the dough out on to a floured kitchen counter and knead for 10 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball, place in a bowl, cover with cling film and let rise for 30 minutes. Place the dough onto your counter again and flaten it out to a rough rectangular shape. Cut the dough into 8 equal sized pieces.

Lightly shape each piece into a ball by cupping the dough on the counter and moving it in a circular motion.

Not even close to the same sizes.....

Place the rolls on a nonstick baking sheet or a sheet lined with parchment paper, cover loosely with a damp cloth and let rise for 10 minutes. Beat 1 egg white with an equal portion of water. Paint this onto the surface of the dough and roll them in a shallow dish filled with your choice of seeds (I used sesame). This would also be the time when you cut the 5 slashes on the top surface of the bread. I forgot to do this, but if you are feeling more awake than I was....get into it.

Place the rolls seed side facing down onto you baking sheet, cover with a plastic bag and let rise for 20 minutes.

Pre heat you oven to 400 F and flip the rolls so the seeds face up. Bake for 15 minutes until the crust is golden brown.

My camera is taking pictures with a weird off color strip on the top of the images, sorry....time to invest in a new one.