Alsatian Dough Rolls

One of my first entries was on the topic of “Pâte fermentêe“ in which I wrote about rolls that are eaten in Alsace.  It is hard to forget the crispy crust and open crumb of these particular rolls. 

Since I don’t have a recipe for Alsatian rolls, I just created my own. In my recipe, I used a pre-dough that was added to the main dough after 24 hours of maturing. After kneading, the main dough is folded twice and then kept in the refrigerator for 12-18 hours to mature

After the dough has matured, 85g pieces of dough are cut off and immediately rolled up loosely into cylinders. The processing is the same as with baguettes, but without rolling it out length-wise. With the seam-side down, the shaped pieces of dough are set aside to proof.

Before baking you can decide if you want to bake with the seam-side up (without scoring) or with the seam-side up (with score). In the photos you can see how each way looks. 

TIP: If you would like, you can cold proof the rolls. (Mix on Saturday morning, work up in the evening, chill (4-5°C),  and bake fresh for breakfast on Sunday morning.) 

Recipe

for 20 rolls/ each 85g 

Pâte Fermentêe:

• 200g T-65
• 120g Water
•     5g Yeast
•     3g Salt

Mix the ingredients together to form a dough. Then allow to rise for 2 hours at room temperature and then store for 24 hours in the refrigerator. 

Main Dough:

• 800g T-65
• 580g Water

Mix together for 2-3 minutes on slow and then allow to autolyse for 30 minutes. Am langsamen Gang 2-3 Minuten mischen und weitere 30 Minuten zugedeckt zur Autolyse stehen lassen.

• 1380g Autolysed Dough
•   330g mature Pre-dough
•     22g Sea Salt
•       7g Yeast

Mix all ingredients for 7-8 minutes on slow and then for a maximum of 1 minute on fast. Cover and let rise for 90 minutes during which the dough is given 2 folds. 

Work up as described above!

Bake the rolls with steam at 250°C reducing to 235°C / approx. 15-17 minutes.