What are you Baking the Week of October 25, 2020?

[Mike Nolan]

Not sure what it'll be, but I'm in the mood for something chocolatey.

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[chocomouse]

I've been in the mood for something lemon for weeks now -- so I have 2 dozen lemon zucchini muffins with lemon streusel in the oven.

[BakerAunt]

On Sunday, I baked Whole Grain Pumpkin bread, using as my basic recipe the one from Lemon Poppy that is posted at Nebraska Kitchen. I use barley as my wholegrain flour and add flax meal and milk powder. I cut the sugar to 1 ¾ cups and use half oil and half buttermilk, as Lemon Poppy suggested. I baked the recipe as six small loaves; I sprinkled two loaves with orange and black decorating sugar and the other four with autumn color decorating sugar. I will freeze those four.

[BakerAunt]

I am in the midst of a long baking project. Cass and I talked about Rosetta Rolls, and he asked if I would be interested in baking them. There was a long discussion about these Italian rolls on the King Arthur Baking Circle. (I think that discussion did get transferred to Nebraska Kitchen under the threads category.) To my knowledge, no one from the BC or NK ever tried baking them. Cass sent me a recipe from Il Fornaio and Italian Independent Bakers, and he generously sent me a real Rosetta stamp. I made the biga last night. Today I added the additional water, flour, salt. I decided to knead in the bread machine, but to cut it off after about 12 minutes. The dough is now on a short ferment in a dough bucket on the dining room table. After it is divided, shaped, and stamped, it will spend 3-8 hours in the refrigerator before baking. I'll report back later today.

I have taken a couple of pictures and will take others along the way. Whether I can figure out how to upload them to Nebraska Kitchen remains to be seen.

[Mike Nolan]

If you can't upload them, email them to me (nolan at tssi dot com).

I did try one recipe for rosetta rolls, and it was pretty good, but not having the right stamp they didn't really have the right shape. (A Kaiser roll stamp is close but lacks the circle in the middle.)

Net searches for a supplier for rosetta roll stamps were futile, as I recall, though there was a supplier in Italy, though shipping, customs and other issues would have been challenging even before the pandemic.

[Italiancook]

I had never heard of Rosetta Rolls, so I searched for a picture online. One site says they're hollow in the center for stuffing with deli meat or sausaage. Is that accurate? Are they hollow inside? A couple of sites said to use a round apple slicer if you don't have the correct stamp. I'm intrigued, BakerAunt. It's fun to read about your adventure and to look forward to more.

[Mike Nolan]

A friend of mine often spends summers in Italy, he's familiar with these rolls, and yes, they generally are hollow in the center. He couldn't find a source for the stamp, though. The stamp cuts most of the way through the dough, and that creates a pocket that seals from above so as it rises it produces a hollow center.

[BakerAunt]

I have turned them over. I'm not sure just how well the design has stayed. They go into the oven in about 10 minutes.

[cwcdesign]

I made Deanna’s (from the BC) Sour Cream Chocolate Cake with Penuche Frosting to take to work tomorrow for a coworker’s birthday. We always liked it and I hadn’t made it forever. Had to get some powdered sugar from work as I didn’t have enough and I substituted whole milk Greek yogurt for the sour cream since that’s what we use now. I also used double dark KAF cocoa powder and oil for the unsweetened chocolate.

Will wanted to make sure I’ll bring a piece home for him

[BakerAunt]

Well, I didn't get the hollow center, at least not in the four we had tonight, although I did serve the ones at dinner with less design. I'm hoping the one that has more of the design, which I will cut for lunch tomorrow, will have a hollow, but I think that I need more practice with the stamp. Here are my notes from the first attempt. Pictures will have to wait.

Rosetta Rolls (Notes on Baking)

On Sunday, October 25, I mixed up the biga at 8 p.m. I followed Cass Avona’s suggestion to use half King Arthur AP flour and half Bob’s Red Mill Artisan Bread flour. (The recipe states “unbleached bread flour, preferably high gluten.) I used the metric weights for ingredients. I put it in a 2-quart dough bucket, lightly coated with olive oil (no specific oil was mentioned). It was to rest in the container on the counter for an hour before refrigerating, but it was rising so fast (house temperature about 74F) that I moved it to the refrigerator after 35 minutes. When I checked it an hour later, it was at the top of the dough bucket on the lid. I oiled a 4-quart dough bucket and moved the dough to it for the overnight time in the refrigerator.

On Monday, October 26, shortly after noon, I put the biga in a bowl, added the water (70F) and broke it up with a spatula until most of the water was mixed in. As my 7-quart stand mixer does not do well with small amounts of dough, I used the Zo bread machine to mix and knead. The recipe states a Kitchen Aid mixer on speed 4 for 10-12 minutes until smooth and elastic, and that is equivalent to what the bread machine does. I stopped the bread machine 16 minutes into its cycle, which after the initial mixing of several minutes, should give the correct kneading time, and the dough was smooth and elastic. I put it into a 2-quart, lightly olive oiled, dough bucket.

This rise is to be for 35-45 minutes (at 70-74F kitchen). I put it on the dining area table, which is a bit warmer than the rest of the house but registering at 67F. Bread machines do add some heat in the mixing, which I hope will give the dough sufficient warmth. Due to the coolness of the room, I gave it an extra 10 minutes, for a total of 55 minutes.

I patted the dough into a rectangle that would make it easy for me to divide it into twelve pieces. Forming the pieces into balls was initially difficult, as the dough is slightly tacky. As I worked, I found it best to take a piece and start folding it in on itself with one hand, while holding it with the other hand. The directions call for an unfloored countertop; I used my Silpat mat. Using the stamp will take some practice. I found that it helps to flour it. It also helps to pick up the resting ball of dough and move it before stamping (less sticking). It is still tricky getting them onto the silicone turner, so that they can be put, stamp side down, onto a floured baking sheet. (I wondered about using parchment but decided to follow the directions exactly. I might, next time, try putting the ball of dough on a wide silicone spatula and stamping it on that before moving to the baking sheet. I discovered that I needed to press down the rosetta stamp completely into the dough. I finished at 2:10 p.m. and put the baking sheet, covered in saran, in the refrigerator for the required 3-8 hours. My plan is to bake them after the spaghetti squash lasagna that I am making for dinner, as the oven will be close to temperature and can be heated up to 500F from there.

I was able to flip over the rolls with a silicone spatula when I took them out of the refrigerator after about five hours. The design was not that distinct, and on a some it did not show up at all. After a 20-minute rest at room temperature, the pan went into the oven. I used the third rack up. They had nice oven spring and after ten minutes had developed good color, so I removed them. (The directions say 10-15 minutes but best when lightly baked.) We each had two with dinner. Neither had a hollow, but they do have a lovely light texture and delicious taste. I will try one that has a bit more of the rose design at lunch tomorrow and see if it has any hollow area. I will do some reading about how to best stamp them before I give the recipe another try.

[Mike Nolan]

My experience with putting rolls like Kaiser rolls face down on parchment for proofing suggests that you need to lightly oil the parchment, or the dough will stick.

[Italiancook]

BakerAunt, I enjoyed reading your post about your Rosetta Roll experiment. I doubt I'll ever try them, but it's good to have your learned comments in my brain just in case. I'll look forward to finding out if the rolls you cut tomorrow are hollow.

Sounds to me that finding the Rosetta Roll stamp is similar to finding a chittara in Italy before the days of Amazon. Prior to going to Italy, I subscribed to an English language magazine about Italy. There was an article about making pasta using a chitarra (sp?). I cut out the picture and tucked it into my wallet. We had no luck finding one in that country.

Near the end of our journey, we were in a town square. I pulled out the picture and went up to a woman whom I thought was Italian. I showed her the picture and asked in English where I might find one. She gave no hint she understood English, but she motioned for me to wait. She walked into a door at the opposite end of the square. She returned with a chitarra. In Italian, I asked her how much it cost. She walked away from me and went back in the door at the other end of the square. We stood staring at the door and window unsure what to do. It looked like the place was a residence and not a store. We finally decided it was a gift. Yes, I made pasta using it, and it was fun. It's used for cutting the pasta.

I'm waiting for a pan of Oatmeal Coffee Cake to cool so I can cover it for the night. It's for breakfast.

[Italiancook]

BakerAunt, the sites I checked today say Rosetta Rolls have a hard crust. Is that your experience?

[BakerAunt]

Italian Cook--the crust is chewy, not hard, with a pillowy soft interior. I note that some I am seeing on line seem darker than mine, but I do not think mine are under baked. There seems to be a raging debate on how strong the flour should be. I certainly like the taste! My husband asked about a whole grain version; I told him that I have not mastered the white flour version!

Mike--I agree that something is needed to prevent sticking, so that the stamped roll can be easily picked up, before being turned down on the baking sheet. I was relieved that the floured pan worked well for the long refrigerator rise, and that there was no sticking after baking.

[Mike Nolan]

I've seen some burger/hot dog recipes that have you proof the buns face down to help the seeds stick, I haven't done it enough times to decide if it really helps keep them on, though. But having seed on the inverted top does seem to help keep them from sticking to the parchment.

When I make bagels I take a small paper towel, spray a little oil on it, and wipe it across the parchment, leaving a very thin film of oil.

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