Brotchen, kaiser rolls, or weck rolls

1 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
2 tablespoons (scant) or 2 (1/4 oz.) pkgs active dry yeast
2½ cup Warm water; (105-115 deg F)
2 tablespoons Solid vegetable shortening
1 tablespoon Sugar
2 teaspoons Salt
6 cups Unbleached all-purpose flour; (up to 7)
3 Egg whites; stiffly beaten
1 Egg white; beaten with 1 Tbsp cold milk for egg wash
Poppy seeds
Caraway seeds
Course salt
Sesame seeds

Directions

OPTIONAL

This recipe is from the Bread Book by Betsy Oppenneer The kaiser roll and brotchen are German staples. Soft on the inside, with a crisp crust. Kaiser & Brotchen are made from the same dough, but shaped differently. Kaiser rolls are large round buns with a 5 sided pinwheel design on top, while Brotchen are smaller & oval shaped. In Buffalo, NY Kaiser rolls are lightly glazed & sprinkled with course salt and sometimes caraway seeds. Called Weck Rolls, they are extremely good for roast-beef sandwiches.

In a large bowl, soften the yeast in the water. Add shortening, sugar, salt & 3 cups of the flour to the yeast. Beat vigorously with dough whisk or heavy-handled spoon for 2 minutes.

Fold egg whites into yeast mixture. Gradually add more of the remaining flour

¼ cup at a time, until dough forms a mass & begins to pull away from bowl. Turn onto a floured surface.

Knead, adding more flour, a little at a time, as necessary, for 8-10 minutes, until you have a smooth, elastic dough and blisters begin to develop on the surface.

Place the dough in oiled bowl. Turn to coat the entire ball of dough with oil. Cover with a tightly woven kitchen towel. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Punch down, cover & let rise until doubled again in size (about 45 minutes.)

Punch down & turn out onto lightly oiled surface.

(For Kaiser or Week: Divide dough into 18 equal pieces. Use rolling pin to flatten each piece into a 7 inch circle. Fold left side to center to form a flap. Halfway down flap fold again to center to form another flap. Repeat all the way around to make overlapping flaps. Lift the first flap to ease the last flap underneath. Press center to seal the dough. This design takes practice, but is easy once you get the hang of it.

Place rolls upside down on a well-greased baking sheet, 3 inches apart.

This helps them keep their shape. Let rise 30 minutes, tum right side up, let rise 15 more minutes.)

For BROTCHEN: Divide dough into 24 equal pieces. Shape each into an oval about

3½ inches long. Place on well greased baking sheet.

If your oven will not fit all the brotchen at once, prepare half at this time, keeping the rest covered on the work surface for 15 minutes.

Flatten the tops of the rolls slightly. Cover with a towel & let rise 45 minutes.

About 15 minutes before the end of rising of the first batch, turn the rolls right side up. Then Preheat oven to 425. Put a shallow pan on the bottom shelf of the oven.

Lightly brush the rolls or brotchen with egg wash, taking care not to let it drip onto the pan. Sprinkle with seeds or coarse salt ,if desired.

Place 1 cup of ice cubes in the heated pan on the lower shelf of the oven.

Immediately put the rolls in and bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden ( the internal temp should reach

190 F).

Remove from the baking sheets to cool on racks.

Posted to recipelu-digest by LSHW <shusky@...> on Feb 21, 1998

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