Does anyone have a recipe for real New York Hard Rolls (Kaiser Rolls?)? I
have tried several and the closest textbook recipe to what I remember
growing up in and around NY is the German "Kaisersemmel" recipe in Joe
Ortiz's "The Village Baker". In the first line of his description of the
rolls he says that they are "light in texture with a crisp crust" which is
what I remember. Although I think Ortiz's book is one of the best teaching
books on bread baking around and have had success with most of his breads,
this one has eluded me. I have given this one about a 5 tries and the
rolls always come out very dense and almost bagel-like in internal
texture. The mechanics of using a weight on the rolls during the final
rise also causes the folded petal pattern on the top surface to disappear
and probably causes the texture to be denser. I would like try another
recipe or procedure. The rolls I remember were light brown to gold in
color, light in texture but not necessarily "holey", and had crumbly crust
that pulled apart easily petal by petal.
Werner