Recipe - Brotchen Kaiser Rolls Or Weck Rolls

2 tablespoon (scant) or 2 (One fourth oz.) pkgs
active dry yeast
2 One half cup Warm water; (105115 deg F)
2 tablespoon Solid vegetable shortening
1 tablespoon Sugar
2 teaspoon Salt
6 cup Unbleached allpurpose
flour; (up to 7)
3 Egg whites; stiffly beaten
1 Egg white; beaten with 1
Tbsp cold milk for egg wash

OPTIONAL
Poppy seeds
Caraway seeds
Course salt
Sesame seeds

http://countrylife.net/bread/forum/1214.html

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 roastbeef
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
heavyhandled spoon for 2 minutes.

Fold egg whites into yeast mixture. Gradually add more of the remaining
flour
One fourth 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 810
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 wellgreased 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
3 One half 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 recipeludigest by LSHW shusky@erols.com on Feb 21, 1998