Kevin: Seasonal Breads — Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

Coffee and newspaper in hand, I stepped out onto my patio and into that strangely orange-gold light that suffuses a clear fall morning. Each season seems to have it's own special brand of light: the harsh, white clarity of a frozen winter morning; the sweet, yellow dance of spring; the somehow round color of summer; and, so, to the particular hue of fall.

Traffic is light at 8:00 on a Sunday morning and most people sleep late, so the sounds of bird calls and songs are clear and add a pleasant punctuation to the Telemann sonatas playing faintly on the radio inside. The newspaper rustles reassuringly.

The odor of fresh coffee mixes with dusty scents of the season's change and the fainter smell of paper and newsprint. And then I pick up the first hints of yeast and cinnamon. A promise growing more insistent as the minutes tick by until, mouth watering, the timer calls me back into the kitchen.

I return to the patio with fresh coffee and a cinnamon bun.

I'd made the buns the night before, letting the dough rise, then forming the buns and letting them rise partially again, before placing the pan in the refrigerator. When I got up Sunday morning I pulled the pan out of the fridge and let it warm for an hour before baking the rolls.

Just imagine how good fresh cinnamon rolls would be on Christmas morning.

Cinnamon Rolls
Makes 8 rolls.

Ingredient US Volume Metric Volume US Weight Metric Weight
Dough:
all-purpose flour 4 1/2 c 1060 ml 23 oz 630 g
quick yeast 2 1/4 tsp 12 ml 1/4 oz 7 g
milk 1 c 235 ml 8 oz 225 g
unsalted butter 1/3 cup 80 ml 2 3/4 oz 80 g
granulated sugar 1/3 cup 80 ml 2 3/4 oz 80 g
salt 1/2 tsp 2.5 ml -- --
eggs 3 large
Filling:
light brown sugar 3/4 c 175 ml 5 5/8 oz 160 g
all-purpose flour 1/4 c 60 ml 1 1/4 oz 3 g
ground cinnamon 1 tbsp 15 ml -- --
unsalted cold butter, cut into pieces 1/2 c 117 ml 4 oz 113 g
half & half 1 tbsp 15 ml -- --
Glaze:
powdered sugar 1/2 cup 117 ml 2 oz 58 g
half & half 1 tbsp 15 ml -- --

Dough:
Heat milk, butter, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan to about 120F (50C), stirring steadily.

Combine half the flour (2 1/4 cups 530 ml 11.5 oz 315 g) and all of the yeast in a bowl. Gradually stir in the milk mixture then beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Make sure all these ingredients are thoroughly mixed.

Mix and then knead in remaining flour. You’re shooting for a soft, smooth, and elastic dough but it shouldn't be sticky, you may need to add some additional flour.

Shape into a ball and place seam-side down in a greased bowl. Spritz the top of the ball with cooking spray and cover bowl with plastic. Let rise until doubled in bulk — 1 - 1 1/2 hours.

Deflate the dough and place it on a lightly floured surface, cover with a clean towel, and let rest for 10 minutes.

Filling:
Mix together the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a bowl and cut in the butter with a pastry knife

Roll the dough out into a 12 inch (30 cm) square. Sprinkle the filling evenly over the rolled out dough and roll the dough into a log, pinching the edges to seal. Slice the log into eight equal-sized pieces and arrange in a greased 13 x 9 x 2 inch (33 x 23 x 5 cm) baking pan.

Cover dough loosely with clear plastic wrap, leaving room for rolls to rise.

At this point you can refrigerate the dough for anywhere from 2 to 24 hours. If overnight, allow the rolls to sit out for 20 minutes, then refrigerate. The next morning remove the rolls from the refrigerator, take off the plastic wrap, and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.

If you are making the cinnamon rolls immediately, don’t chill dough. Instead, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let dough rise in a warm place till nearly double, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Heat the oven to 375F (190C) and brush rolls with half & half. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until golden brown.

Glaze:
In a medium-sized bowl stir together the powdered sugar and half & half. The glaze should be thin enough to drizzle over the rolls.

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Kevin: Holiday Rolls - Yeast Beer Rolls Recipe

No one in my family is a big bread eater. I probably eat far more bread than anyone else and that's mostly in the form of sandwiches (which I love — shut-up Beth). But the holidays seem to call for bread and, in particular, those soft dinner rolls your mother used to buy and finish baking.

I've made these slightly sweet, tender, and buttery rolls in the past. Unfortunately I had no idea what recipe I've used in the past, so I decided to use Rose Berenbaum's recipe from The Bread Bible. Rose let me down. Alternatively, I screwed up. At any rate, the dough was so soft I couldn't get any loft, it simply spread out like a pancake. The rolls tasted fine, but looked terrible. Not something I wanted on a holiday table.

Because I had other commitments I didn't have time to experiment, so I decided to fall back on a recipe I developed a couple of years ago. I knew these would look great and taste great — and besides, I hadn't made them in a while. Besides, they make great little turkey sandwiches.

I was trying to make a beer bread. I thought whole wheat would play well with the beer, but I didn't really want a whole wheat bread. I wanted the flavor as an ingredient. Besides it's sometimes tricky to get a good rise out of whole wheat (the fragments of bran tend to cut the gluten strands) and I certainly didn't want to repeat the pancake experience. I added honey because beer and whole wheat tend to be a somewhat bitter and I chose a dark porter to get a strong beer flavor.

Whole Wheat Beer Rolls
Makes 16 rolls.

Ingredient US Volume Metric Volume US Weight Metric Weight
instant yeast 1 1/2 tsp 7 ml -- --
honey 2 tbsp 30 ml -- --
porter beer warm, flat 1 1/2 c 255 ml 12 oz 337 g
bread flour 1 1/2 c 350 ml 7 1/2 oz 220 g
whole wheat flour 2 1/4 c 530 ml 11 oz 330 g
butter melted and cooled 1 1/2 tbsp 22.5 ml -- --
salt 2 tsp 10 ml -- --
egg 1 each
water 1 tbsp 15 ml -- --

Using the paddle attachment on a stand mixer, combine 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) yeast and bread flour. Whisk the honey into the beer, then, with the motor running on low, add the beer. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit for 1 hour. This is called a poolish.

Combine 2 cups whole wheat flour and remaining 1 teaspoon of yeast. Sprinkle flour over over poolish, sprinkle salt over flour, and recover bowl with plastic. Allow to ferment for 4 hours. The poolish will break through the flour cover — not a problem.

Using the dough hook. Mix together the flour into the poolish then add melted butter.
Knead for four minutes at medium speed. The dough should be slightly sticky but should clear the bowl. Add additional flour if needed and knead for another 2 - 3 minutes. Dump dough onto a floured board and knead another minute or two until dough is fairly smooth and resilient. Allow to rest 5 to 10 minutes.

Clean and dry mixing bowl and spray with a nonstick spray. Shape dough into a ball and place seam-side down in bowl. Spritz top lightly with cooking spray and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in bulk — 60 to 90 minutes.

Punch down dough and turn out onto floured board. Lightly knead dough and form into a flattened ball. Allow to rest 10 minutes.

Using a dough scraper cut dough in four equal quarters. Set three quarters aside and cover. Shape remaining quarter into a flattened ball and divide into four quarters. Shape each quarter into a ball and place on a parchment-covered baking sheet. Repeat for remaining dough, cover, and allow to rise until rolls double in bulk.

Heat oven to 400F/205C.

In small bowl, beat together egg and water. Brush rolls with egg mixture and bake on middle oven rack for about 25 minutes. Watch closely to avoid overcooking.

Cool on a wire rack.

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Susan: Holiday Rolls - Carrot Herb Rolls Recipe

When we were first creating A Year in Bread last January, I came up with a list of personal goals that I hoped to accomplish while being a part of this project. These included delving into the numerous unused bread books on my shelves, baking new breads I probably wouldn't have ventured to try on my own, and making much better use of all the beautiful herbs in my kitchen garden.

This month we decided to each bake some sort of rolls that would be appropriate for the holiday table, and I hit the personal goal jackpot with my recipe. It's a variation of the carrot bread in Bread:Artisan Breads from Baguettes and Bagels to Focaccia and Brioche by authors and cooking instructors Eric Treuille and Ursula Ferrigno (he's French, she's Italian). I've been reviewing this book, and my opinion of it can be summed up in one word: wonderful. Wait, make that two words: wonderful and inspiring. This is the second bread I've made from it, and the first one was as pretty as it was delicious.

Here's a little blurb from the book jacket, and it's all true:

Bread mixes delicious recipes with essential techniques to provide the home cook with practical reference and inspiration. From mixing and shaping to proofing and glazing--each stage of the bread-making process is clearly explained, with problem-solving tips and a complete illustrated guide to key ingredients and equipment to help you succeed. Bread's step-by-step demonstrations of the principles and practices of bread-making will give you the confidence and skills to try its tantalizing range of over 100 breads.

If you learn best by looking at pictures, then this is definitely the book for you because it's packed with gorgeous, full-color photos. While it's a perfect book for beginners (I already know at least one budding bread baker who will be receiving a copy for Christmas), I think most experienced bakers would enjoy it. I've already discovered all sorts of handy tips and useful nuggets of information, and there are several more breads I'd like to make, such as the Hungarian Potato Bread, Dark Chocolate Bread (1 1/4 cups of cocoa powder!), Swedish Dill Bread (made with cream cheese), and the Prune and Chocolate Bread ("a deeply indulgent loaf, chock-a-block with juicy prunes and melted chocolate"). There's also an intriguing recipe for a straight dough (as opposed to sourdough) Pane con Pomodori e Cipolle Rosse (Tomato and Red Onion Bread) which looks similar to the Fresh Tomato & Basil Whole-wheat Sourdough Bread I wrote about recently on Farmgirl Fare.

One of the nice things about it is that many of the recipes start with the same basic recipe and build on it, which means trying all sorts of different breads suddenly becomes much less daunting. Variations on the same recipe are also often given. For example, the pita bread recipe includes a whole-wheat version as well as instructions on how to make Lavash (Armenian Flat Bread).

The Carrot Bread I made is in the chapter called Flavored Breads, and I was intrigued by its use of raw shredded carrots. Other recipe variations included are: spinach bread, beet bread, chili bread, onion and caraway bread, and herb bread (which didn't include the carrots). First I made the plain carrot dough, shaping half into a round loaf and the rest into rolls. The second time around I dove into the herb garden first, emerging with fist fulls of fresh parsley, rosemary, and thyme, which I (hesitantly) tossed into the mix. I also substituted 1 cup of whole-wheat white flour for 1 cup of the bread flour.

The result? Flavorful, healthy, autumn-colored rolls that I think would be a welcome and interesting addition to any holiday table. They have a soft but substantial crumb and a chewy crust that crisps up nicely when reheated. They also freeze beautifully. As always, I urge you to use local and organic ingredients whenever possible. At around a dollar a pound, organic carrots are one of the world's best bargains.

Susan's Carrot & Herb Rolls
Adapted from Bread by Eric Treuille & Ursula Ferrigno
Makes 16 3-inch rolls

Ingredient US volume Metric Volume US weight Metric weight
whole-wheat white flour 1 c 235 ml 4-3/8 oz 125 g
bread flour 3 c 700 ml 15 3/8 oz 437 g
instant yeast 2 tsp 10 ml -- --
warm water 1 1/2 c 350 ml 12 oz 335 g
butter melted 2 tbsp 30 ml 1 oz 28 g
carrots finely shredded 2 1/4 c 530 ml 13 7/8 oz 380 g
parsley chopped 1/4 c 60 ml 3/8 oz 10g
fresh rosemary chopped 2 tbsp 30 ml -- --
fresh thyme chopped 1 tbsp 15 ml -- --
salt 2 1/2 tsp 12 ml -- --

Mix the whole-wheat white flour, bread flour, and yeast in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in the water and melted butter. Stir until combined. Mix in the carrots, parsley, rosemary, and thyme and stir until a soft sticky dough forms.

Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead 5 minutes, sprinkling on a little more bread flour if necessary to keep dough from sticking to your hands and the work surface.

Cover dough with bowl and let rest 20 minutes (this is the autolyse).

Sprinkle the salt over the dough and knead for 5 minutes, until salt is fully incorporated and the dough is smooth and still slightly sticky, adding more flour if necessary.

Put the dough in a clear, straight-sided plastic container with a snap-on lid and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 to 1-1/2 hours. Punch down, then let rest for 10 minutes.

Divide the dough into 16 pieces, about 3 ounces (84 grams) each. Shape into balls and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle rolls lightly with flour and cover with a tea towel. Proof until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

About 20 minutes before baking, heat oven to 400F/205C.

If desired, brush rolls with salt water. Bake in preheated oven until the tops are golden brown and the bottoms sound hollow when tapped, about 25 to 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container or freeze. If desired, reheat at 350F/175C for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

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Susan: Italian Breads From Local Breads - Black Olive Cheeks (Puccia)

If your bakery cafe has 500 locations scattered around the country, launching any new product is a complicated endeavor. First there's the research and development stage, which in many cases can last as long as a year. Creating something that is not only tasty, visually appealing, and on budget, but that can also be easily and exactly replicated around the country — or even the world — is no small feat. Then there are the amazingly expensive, in-store and out-of-store publicity/marketing/advertising campaigns needed to spread the word about your delicious new invention.

If, however, your bakery cafe has only one location, one oven, and one baker, introducing a new item is as easy as flipping through a cookbook, pointing to a recipe and saying, "That looks good!"; baking it up; and sticking the results in your display case next to a handwritten sign stating what it is. Years ago when I had a little bakery cafe in northern California, that's exactly what I used to do.

One of the nicest things about opening a small eatery several miles from any other place folks could buy a cup of coffee or, even better, a still warm chocolate chip cookie and a latté made from freshly roasted coffee beans, is that you quickly develop a band of very loyal customers. And although some of them happily ordered the same thing day in and day out, I was fortunate to have a share of eager guinea pigs. These adventurous folks were always willing to try something new and different, no matter what it might be. Some of my experiments, such as the pistachio olive quick bread, never made it onto the permanent menu (or even into the oven a second time), others, like the pesto piezones, were instant bestsellers. This ongoing creative challenge was one of the most enjoyable parts of the job.

Shaping Rolls

I once knew a guy who had worked as a cook in a restaurant famous for its five different types of homemade rolls. I said something about what a pain it must have been to shape all those little pieces of dough, and he said it wasn't hard at all. "I'd just tear off pieces and throw them in the pan," he said, using hand gestures and sound effects to demonstrate his technical prowess. "I could make about 60 rolls a minute."

The nice thing about homemade rolls is that they, obviously, don't have to each be perfectly formed. I'm not a real stickler for perfection, but I do like my rolls to look nice, so my method takes a little more time than one second per roll. If I want to be sure they're all the same size, I simply plunk a few down on my digital kitchen scale to gauge how I'm doing.

There are many ways to shape rolls. Basically whatever works best for you is the best way to do it. I use the same technique as I do for making large rounds. I hold up the hunk of dough and pull pieces of it underneath the ball, pinching them so that a taut "skin" is formed. Then I set it down on the counter, cup both hands around it, and turn it in a few tight circles while lightly pressing it into the counter so the ball is pulled into shape.

Since describing things in three-dimension is clearly not one of my strong points (can anyone actually follow what I just described?), here's the method for making rolls in Local Breads:

The technique for shaping small round rolls is similar to the technique for shaping a larger round. Place a small piece of dough on an unfloured work surface. cup one hand slightly and cover the dough ball with it. Rotate your hand in small circles, applying a little pressure to the dough. As you rotate, the dough will eventually form into a ball.

Rustic rolls may also be formed simply by flattening a larger piece of dough to a 2-inch thickness. Use a bench scraper or chef's knife to cut 2-inch-wide strips. Cut each strip into squares or rectangles.

I haven't been trying many new bread recipes lately, because I've been focusing on refining the five or six breads that will be the mainstay of the small wholesale bread bakery we're building here on the farm. But the other day I had an enlightening realization. When it comes to offering additional items for sale, things won't be much different than they were at the cafe. Testing out a new type of bread will simply be a matter of finding a recipe that sounds interesting, baking a few dozen loaves, loading them into the delivery truck, and seeing if our wholesale customers want to offer them to their customers. If the response is positive, we bake more. If not, there's no big loss.

That was all the excuse I needed to start baking new breads. Add with the publication of my new favorite bread book, Local Breads: Sourdough and Whole-Grain Recipes from Europe's Best Artisan Bakers, by Daniel Leader (renowned baker and author of my previously favorite bread book, Bread Alone), and my priorities around the farm have suddenly shifted. Weed-filled garden, piles of dirty laundry, ravenous baby chicks, and scorching summer heat be damned — I'm on a bread baking roll.

We're devoting this month at A Year in Bread to Daniel's latest book. Because we haven't tackled sourdoughs here yet, we decided we would each bake a bread from the Italian section as they most often begin with a biga, which can be made in several hours, as opposed to sourdough starters which take several days to create from scratch. After you mix up the biga and let it sit for an hour at room temperature, it goes into the fridge for at least eight and up to 16 hours, so it's not hard to make this recipe fit your schedule.

This is the second recipe I've tried from Local Breads, and both of them were easy to make and are definite keepers, the first article was on "Parisian Daily Bread". The book, which I highly recommend for bread bakers of all levels including total beginners, will be available in stores on August 13th. You can pre-order copies now at Amazon.com for $23.10, which is 34 percent off the cover price of $35.00, plus there's no tax and free shipping on orders of $25 or more.

We're also going to be holding a contest here at A Year In Bread and giving away two signed copies of Local Breads to lucky and skilled bakers! More details will be posted soon.

I have to admit the cute name of these tasty little rolls is what first caught my attention. With the discovery that they're made with those strong and salty oil-cured olives I love so much and Daniel's introduction, I was hooked. He says:

Plump with olives, smooth and round, these rolls look just like puccia, little cheeks. I first saw them in Lucca, a walled city in Tuscany famous for its superior olive oil. I arrived by train, and when I left the station in search of food, these rolls beckoned from the only bakery I found open during the midday lull. They were the perfect snack for a hungry traveler, moist and tender with the delectable crunch of cornmeal on the bottom crust. Dark, oil-cured olives give these rolls richness and great flavor. . . Serve the puccia as an antipasto, with some pecorino cheese and a glass of Chianti.

I also almost never eat crusty breads plain or without reheating them, but I found myself nibbling on these straight from the bag on the counter. They're delicious reheated and slathered with butter, too, and make scrumptious mini sharp cheddar & homegrown lamb salami sandwiches. When I tasted the first one still warm from the oven, my immediate thought was that it would be wonderful with a glass of red wine. Yep.

As with nearly all breads, these rolls freeze beautifully. I pulled out a couple this morning, and for lunch I sliced them in half, toasted them in my beloved toaster oven, and covered them with cream cheese and slices of juicy garden tomatoes. Oh. My. God. If you can keep from gobbling them all up plain, black olive cheeks have all kinds of possibilities. Next time I'm going to make a few larger ones for lamb burger buns.

Black Olive Cheeks (Puccia)
This is the original recipe from Local Breads in its entirety, with my baking notes [in brackets.]

Allow 9 to 16 hours to mix and ferment the biga;
10 to 15 minutes to knead;
1-1/2 to 2 hours to ferment;
45 minutes to 1 hour to proof;
20 to 25 minutes to bake

Makes 20 rolls (2.1 ounces/60 grams each)

Equipment
2 baking sheets
bench scraper or chef's knife

Biga
Ingredients | US volume | metric volume | US weight | metric weight
water tepid (70 - 78F/21-26C) 1/3 c | 80 ml | 2.3 oz | 65 g
instant yeast 1/2 tsp | 2.5 ml | .1 oz | 2 g
unbleached bread flour* 2/3 c | 160 ml | 3.5 oz | 100 g

*[I used Heartland Mill organic, unbleached, strong bread flour that I order in 50-pound bags from my local natural foods store.]

Prepare the biga
Nine to 17 hours before you want to bake, prepare the biga. Pour the water into a small mixing bowl. With a rubber spatula, stir in the yeast and flour just until a dough forms. It will be stiff like pie dough. Dust the counter with flour and scrape out the dough. Knead the dough for 1 to 2 minutes just to work in all the flour and get it fairly but not perfectly smooth. (This is a very small amount of dough, about the size of a plum.) [Mine was more like the size of a peach.] Lightly oil the mixing bowl. [I used Trader Joe's baking spray, which is what I've been using lately to oil my baking pans. It's made with canola oil and flour and works really well.] Round the biga and place it back in the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Leave at room temperature (70 - 75F/21 - 24C) for 1 hour, then refrigerate it for at least 8 and up to 16 hours. The biga will double in volume (to about the size of an orange) [mine was bigger], becoming glossy and porous, and will smell mildly acidic.

Bread dough
Ingredients | US volume | metric volume | US weight | metric weight
biga About 1 cup | 237 ml | 5.9 oz | 167 g
water tepid (70 - 78F/21 - 26C) 1 1/2 c | 356 ml | 13.2 oz | 375 g
instant yeast 1 tsp | 5 ml | .2 oz | 5 g
flour* 3 1/4 c | 770 ml | 17.6 oz | 500 g
sea salt 1 1/2 tsp | 7 ml | .4 oz | 10 g
oil-cured olives pitted & coarsely chopped 1 1/2 c | 356 ml | 5.3 oz | 150 g
coarse cornmeal for dusting

Mix the dough
Remove the biga from the refrigerator and uncover it. It will be soft, airy, and a bit sticky. Scrape into a large bowl. Pour the water over the biga and stir it with a rubber spatula to soften it and break it into clumps. [I used my hands.] Stir in the yeast, flour, and salt until a dough forms. [I used the US volume measurements, but because I'd ended up using quite a bit of extra flour making the Parisian Daily Baguettes, I measured out my flour in cups and then weighed it on my digital kitchen scale. Turns out my 3-1/4 cups of flour only weighed 456 grams. That extra 44 grams to reach the designated 500 grams was nearly a half cup, which I did end up adding while kneading. Click here to read Beth's recent article, "Weights & Measures", which discusses this very subject.]

Knead the dough
By hand: Lightly flour the counter and scrape the dough out onto it. Knead the dough until it is soft and almost smooth, about 10 minutes.

With floured hands, press the dough into a very rough rectangle and spread the olives over it. They will seem overabundant. Roll up the dough to contain as many of the olives as possible and continue kneading until the olives are evenly distributed and the dough is smooth and elastic, 3 to 5 minutes more. If olives pop out as you knead, push them back into the dough. They will tint the dough a grayish color.

By machine: [I haven't tried this.] With the dough hook, mix the dough on medium speed (4 on a KitchenAid mixer until it is fairly smooth, about 8 minutes. Stop the machine, scrape down the hook, and add the olives. Knead the dough on medium-low speed (3 on a Kitchen Aid mixer) until they are well distributed and the dough is smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Or knead them in by hand as directed above. They will tint the dough a grayish color.

Ferment the dough
Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled, clear 2-quart container with a lid. [I used an inexpensive plastic freezer container that I sprayed with Trader Joe's baking spray.] With masking tape, mark the container at the level the dough will reach when it has doubled in volume. [I used a Sharpie permanent black marker, which washes off with dishsoap and a scrubbie sponge.] Cover and leave it to rise at room temperature (70 to 75 degrees F) until it doubles in volume, 1-1/2 to 2 hours. When you press your finger into the dough, the fingerprint should spring back slowly. [My kitchen was 83 degrees, so I put the container of dough in a cooler with an ice pack during fermentation. I should have checked it sooner; after 1-1/2 hours the dough had already more than doubled in size.]

Divide and shape the rolls
Sprinkle a light coating of cornmeal over the surface of the baking sheets. [I lined my baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper first. I didn't have coarse cornmeal, but the regular stuff worked fine.] Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured countertop and pat into a rough rectangle. With a bench scraper or chef's knife, cut the dough into 20 equal pieces (2.1 ounces/60 grams each). [I cut the dough into pieces and then weighed them on my digital kitchen scale, adding or subtracting bits of dough to make them all about 60 grams each.] Shape each piece into a ball. Place them smooth side up on the baking sheets, about 1-1/2 inches (4 cm) apart. Sift a veil of flour over the tops of the rolls and drape them with plastic wrap. [I was too lazy to pull out the sifter so I sprinkled the flour with my fingers, then covered the rolls with a damp tea towel instead of plastic wrap.]

Proof the rolls
Let the rolls rise at room temperature (70 - 75F/21 - 24C) until they expand to the size of a mandarin orange, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Press your fingertip into the dough and your fingerprint will spring back slowly. [The baking sheets wouldn't fit in my cooler, so I just let them proof in the 83F/28C kitchen for 45 minutes. I'm not sure how big a mandarin orange is, and this may have been a bit too long as the dough barely sprang back, and the rolls didn't rise very much in the oven. They looked and tasted great, though.]

Prepare the oven
About 15 minutes before baking, place one rack in the top third of the oven and another in the middle position. Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Bake the rolls
Uncover the baking sheets and slide them onto the oven racks. Bake until the rolls are honey-colored, 20 to 25 minutes. [I baked mine about 5 minutes longer.] Halfway through baking, switch the sheets so the rolls bake evenly. [I'm usually paranoid about baking two racks of anything at once, but I wanted to follow this recipe exactly, so I tried it. Surprise! It worked great.]

Cool and store the rolls
Remove the baking sheets to a wire rack. Cool the rolls briefly, about 5 minutes, and enjoy them slightly warm. [Finally a bread that doesn't have to cool for 40 minutes before you can taste it!] The oil from the olives will help to keep them moist. Sstore uneaten rolls in a resealable plastic bag at room temperature for 1 to days. [Or freeze.]

Recipe reprinted from Local Breads: Sourdough and Whole-Grain Recipes from Europe's Best Artisan Bakers by Daniel Leader (c) Copyright 2007 by W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. With permission of the publisher, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

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Beth: Summer Breads - Pesto Rolls

Around my place, summer means casual food that can be grabbed on the run, or taken to impromptu parties and late night bonfires. Like tomorrow night's solstice bonfire, or tonight's impromptu birthday celebration. (Not that the birthday is impromptu, but the celebration is.)

Summer is also when my herbMage aspect emerges in full bloom to fall upon the bounty of seasonal herbs, especially basil. Don't get me wrong, I love most herbs but I have a particular soft spot for basil. I am guessing that many of you share this particular fondness; basil seems to always have plenty of dates for summer parties.

These rolls are one of my favorite summer breads. Easy to make and infinitely variable, they don't need to be sliced or buttered, making them perfect for those casual summer picnics and parties where cutlery is superfluous.

The dough is relatively simple, although it does use a starter, and the extra few minutes it takes to fill, roll, and slice into rolls is well worth it for the payoff. I usually make my first batch of these babies in early June and keep making them until the freeze kills the basil…or later if I managed to freeze pesto.

kitchenMage's Twirled Pesto Rolls

Ingredient | Volume US | Volume Metric | Weight US | Weight Metric
Starter:
water| 1 cup | 235 ml | 8 ounces | 450 grams
bread flour| 1 cup | 235 ml | 4 1/2 ounces | 125 grams
whole wheat flour| 1/2 cup | 112 ml | 2 1/4 ounces | 62 grams
instant yeast| 1/4 teaspoon | 1-2 ml | 1/4 ounce | 2 grams
Dough:
water| 1 3/4 cups | 350 ml | 14 ounces | 392 grams
bread flour| 5 cups | 1175 ml | 22 1/2 ounces | 630 grams
instant yeast| 1 1/4 teaspoons | 8 ml | <3/8 ounce | 10 grams
olive oil| 3 tablespoons | 45 ml | 1 1/2 ounces | 42 grams
salt| scant tablespoon | 15 ml | 1/2 ounce | 15 grams

pesto for filling| 1 cup | 235 ml | 8 1/4 ounces | 232 grams
parmesan cheese (optional)

Notes:
If you don't have a favorite pesto recipe, I'd recommend Susan's pesto as a starting place.
I posted a flickr set with a number of photos if you want a more visual how-to than what follows. I did not link them here because they seem to work better taken in order. So click already!

Mixing the starter
In mixing bowl, combine starter ingredients and mix until well combined. Cover and let rest on the counter for about two hours until it is very bubbly. (You can shorten this to ~20 minutes or wait as long as 4 - 5 hours. You can also refrigerate the starter for 24 - 48 hours after it bubbles.)

Mixing the dough
Add water, 4 cups of bread flour and yeast to the starter and mix well. Add the oil and mix until it is integrated. Sprinkle in the additional cup of flour as you go — you may not need all of it, you may need a little more. (As we all know, my flour lives in a fog valley and yours does not, so they weigh differently. They would weigh differently in any case, but that is my excuse.)

When the absorption of the flour starts to slow down, turn it out on a well-floured counter, cover with a towel and let rest for 20 minutes.

Sprinkle the salt on the dough and knead until firm yet supple (like a Chippendale's dancer's butt). This is basically a baguette dough and it feels like it – smooth and neither tacky or dry. When it is done it feels good to knead and I think, "this is what bread dough should feel like!"

Roll the dough in flour and place it in a clean bowl. Cover the dough and let rise until doubled in bulk (about an hour).

When the dough has doubled, turn it out on a lightly floured counter and flatten into a rectangle. You are going to roll this out into a 12 x 24 rectangle and it will take a few cycles of rolling and resting (that Chippendale's reference just hangs there…begging to be used) to accomplish this. Roll the dough out until it starts resisting and springing back, then let it rest for 5 minutes and repeat.

Other fillings

I love these rolls filled with pesto but that is not the only thing you can use. Almost any very thick mixture will work for filling so feel free to experiment. If you think that bread would taste good dipped in it, then it will probably be a good filling. You can even include bacon if you must have that touch of pig.

Many sauces can be made the right consistency for filling by reducing the liquid (often olive oil) used to make it. I have been wanting to make a paste version of my favorite roasted red pepper sauce (mostly garlic, roasted red peppers and rosemary) but seldom remember it when I am in a store that has the peppers – let me know how it is if you try it.

I have also made these with deconstructed pesto: brush the dough with olive oil, scatter liberally with torn fresh basil, pine nuts and parmesan cheese, then roll, cut and bake as described.

Place the dough on the counter so that the long side is parallel to the counter edge. Spread pesto on the rectangle of dough, leaving an inch uncovered the long edge that is further away from you. Brush the exposed edge with water. Roll up the dough starting on the side closest to the counter edge and rolling away from you. The water brushed edge will be the last part to be rolled up, pinch the edge to seal. You should now have a 2 foot long cylinder of dough. (don't you dare bring up the Chippendale's now!)

Cut the rolls into 1 1/2" - 2" sections (my three fingers are about 1 15/8 inches wide so that's how tall my rolls are) and place in a lightly buttered baking pan. When I last made these, I had 15 rolls, which fit into two glass pie pans.

Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk, about an hour. Bake in a preheated 400°F/205°C. Bake bread for 25 minutes or until golden brown (~195°F/90°C internal temperature). Cool rolls in pans for 15 minutes and then place on rack to finish cooling.

Optional: If you want a bit of melted parmesan on top of the rolls, use a vegetable peeler to shave off little pieces onto the hot baked rolls and return them to the oven for a couple of minutes to melt.

Variation: This recipe can also be made into two loaves of bread. To do so, divide the dough in half before shaping and then roll into two rectangles (~9 x 14) before filling and rolling. Don’t cut the loaves into rolls and place the loaves on a parchment lined baking sheet to proof and bake.

Sources and inspiration: The bread recipe is based on Peter Reinhart's polish baguette (BreadBaker's Apprentice) and while I had the idea independently, I must note that Jerry Traunfeld's Herbfarm Cookbook has a rolled pesto loaf in it. This last bit makes me happy that I could come up with the same thing as Mr Traunfeld because as Daniel Leader is to Susan, Jerry Traunfeld is to me. sigh

Technorati: Food | recipe | baking | bread | artisanal | artisan | bread baking | pesto | rolls | summer breads

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