Question and help needed from bread/roll bakers please...

B

barbara-in-va

Well-known member
I have made yeast breads about 10 times in my life. I am not very good at it. I tried these rolls for Turkey day. They looked absolutely georgous in the pan when they came out of the oven. Next was the taste test. They were okay, not wonderful. The texture was a bit crumbly, sorta like a cake, not chewy like a roll. Would this be caused if I added too much cake flour when kneading the dough? Also, this recipe only has you knead for 1-2 minutes, is that enough? Could a too short kneading make the dough crumbly?

TIA!

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/soft_whole_wheat_dinner_rolls.html

 
My advice:

Use all purpose flour, use tepid water, knead till smooth, vs till all flour incorporated. Try to let rise slowly as this helps avoid the cakey, possibly dry-ish crumb.

 
I'm also surprised they went with cake flour, which would have corn starch.

At first I thought it might not be enough fluids, but King Arthur soft roll has 7/8-1 1/8 for 3 cups of flour with the same amount of yeast. So, while 1.5 C of fluid may be okay, the amount of yeast seems low for 5 cups of dry flours.

Whole wheat flour absorbs more moisture too. And two minutes doesn't sound like enough rising time.

I'd give this linked recipe a try first.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/honey-wheat-rolls-recipe

 
I agree with the others--cake flour seems out of place. For bread you want to develop gluten

the protein that makes bread chewy. Cake flour is especially low in gluten because it's formulated for cakes. Also, under-kneading the dough will under-develop the gluten, giving you that cakey texture.

Unbleached all-purpose flour, plus a longer kneading time, will give you a better texture and taste.

 
I considered myself "yeast -challenged"

until Sally helped and inspired me. Now I can do yeast, even sourdough. I am still, however, pastry dough challenged.

 
Then again, maybe the author of the recipe likes a cakey roll. . .

but not me! I want a tender, fluffy, somewhat stretchy roll, whole wheat or plain white.

 
This just reminded me of when a class mate in college raved about some biscuits. . .

that a locak diner made. Ok, lets go try some. We go there and order biscuits with a breakfast and what do we get? A quick bread, cooked in a pan, cut into square "biscuits."

The class mate absolutely loved them. I felt sorry for her because she didn't know the difference. . .

Sorry sweetie, them ain't biscuits!

 
European flours have lower protien than US flours

I often add up to a 1/2 cup of cake flour to 3 cups AP flour when it's called out for if I'm making French or Italian breads. If you had a crumbly crumb the gluten wasn't developed properly. No-knead breads will have this type of a crumb.

 
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