makes 1 dozen rolls
There is an old Yiddish tale about the virtuous but hapless Bontche Schweig, who dies and is rewarded with a place in heaven. God tells him he can have anything he wants, to which he replies, “I’d like a roll and butter.”
I have always pictured a Kaiser roll as the roll that humble Bontche requested, but it would have been a far different roll than the crusty hamburger bun with a funny shape that passes for a Kaiser roll these days. This is another one of those “Why can’t they make ’em like they used to?” breads. In different parts of the country, what passes for a Kaiser roll might be called a Vienna or bulky roll, and up in Buffalo and the Niagara Frontier it’s known as a weck or kummelweck, or simply a hard roll. It was one of the first breads I thought about trying to resurrect when I started to develop new breads for this book.
I had tried my hand at Kaiser rolls when I was at Pearl Bakery in Portland, in that case achieving the classic five-lobed shape by tying the dough in a knot. But they were impractical to make in an artisanal way while still selling for a profit. Then I forgot about them until Peter reminisced about the rolls his grandma used to make for him, topped with a fried egg, in the back of her little grocery store in Kearny, New Jersey, at the edge of the Meadowlands. My goal was to create a good roll for sandwiches, something with a more substantial crust than the classic Kaiser roll and with plenty of flavor in the crumb, but not so much that it would compete with the ingredients of sandwich fixings or other toppings.
I began with a simple starter of yeast, white flour, and water. The result was okay, but not really special. Then I thought to enrich the dough with an additional starter, this one made with yeast and milk, like the one in my White Pullman Loaf. I also added white rye flour to the dough for even more sweet nuance and acidity. Finally, to create a thin, crispy crust, I opted not to cover the shaped rolls during the final dehydration. This allows a skin to form. The result, after a few iterations, was very gratifying. And then, for the ultimate test drive, I tried one with mortadella (aka bologna), a slice of tomato, and mustard. Bingo!
Why is it called a Kaiser roll? According to legend, it was invented, like so many breads, by the ingenious bakers of Vienna. The way the rolls are folded calls to mind a five-pointed crown, so in honor of Kaiser Franz Josef I of Austria, it was called a Kaiser roll.
If you are wondering where the poppy seeds are on my roll, I didn’t forget to include them. I felt my crust had plenty of texture and flavor without complicating it with another element. If you are inconsolable about the absence of poppy seeds, brush some egg white on the top of the rolls and sprinkle with poppy seeds before baking.