The sixteenth Bread Baker's Apprentice challenge (from the book by the same name authored by Peter Reinhart) was Kaiser Rolls, and is found on pages 175-177.
This was another of the two-day breads in this section of the book, calling for the pâte fermentée like the French Bread. By this point, I am no longer intimidated by the thought of two-day breads as it is just a matter of being organized and realizing you get to spread the work out over two days. Sometimes I don't have two days in a row to mess with bread, but the dough keeps in the frig for up to three days, so am more relaxed about that aspect as well. Nancy has even frozen her starter dough and taken it out and put it back in a few times and says it is still one of the best breads she has made using it. I am a lot less intimidated (saving that for the upcoming sourdough section, yikes).
The Kaisers were a big hit here, I had one, the guys polished off the rest and then I made them again as Mark wanted them for lunch for his sandwiches all week.
The dough is nice and easy to work with, the rising times and sitting around times have to be attended to, so these are not exactly a quick run, but the flavor makes them well worth it, very fresh and nice and much better than the ones I can get around here.
I do not have a fancy cutter for the top, so I used the knot method, which takes some practice. I am getting better the more I do it. Sometimes they go in looking really great and rise funny and come out looking very individualistic. I like that, too. Perfect for sandwiches, give them a try, they are just downright fun to make.
Nancy, Cathy, Jessica, Melissa, Sarah, Di, Leslie, Margaret and I are baking and posting every other week to better fit into our schedules. If you would like to see their Kaiser Rolls, click on their names and visit their sites in the next few days, or you can visit the main group and marvel how they are so far ahead of us. We'll get there...Slow and Steady. Our next challenge: Lavash, found on pages 178-180.