How to make fancy pants Flower Bread

how to make fancy flower bread || cityhippyfarmgirl

Bread is one of those things that at times look far more fancy than what it really is. Well, it can do anyway. This Flower Bread is one of them. An easy one to do if you want to team it up with a simple soup or alternatively, tear chunks off and slap some butter on those sides.

First up flatten your dough, this is done at the stage when you would normally shape your bread. (For a basic bread dough recipe see here for a regular yeasted one, or here for a simple sourdough.) Any old shape, as long as it’s the same thickness generally all around. Next you need to divide it into equal portions. I would normally do this as I go along. Again any shape is fine, and a rough triangle is excellent for the next step.

Next you are creating little balls. If you pull those corners into the middle (as if you were making a dumpling) it traps air in and creates a smooth outer surface. Pinch the ends together to seal it. Lightly plop it into some flour (this stops it from sticking to the board or bench top) and leave to the side. Carry on with the rest.

Once you have all your balls. Get two small bowls, one filled with water and the other with poppy seeds (or any other seeds, you might like to use.) Holding your ball of dough at the top where you sealed it, gently dip about a quarter of the dough into the water and then the seed bowl.

Next place them, seed side up into a lined cake tin. Depending on how big you did them, you should fit about seven. Six on the outer and one in the middle. Cover, and let them prove. Then bake at 230C with steam for about 25-ish minutes.

And there you have it… easy fancy pants Flower Bread!

how to make fancy flower bread || cityhippyfarmgirlhow to make fancy flower bread || cityhippyfarmgirl

lunch time dutch crunch

dutchcrunch2

dutchcrunch

Tuna, asparagus, tomato and cheese toasted sandwich. That was my favourite sandwich of choice when I lived on a tropical island covered in goannas, snakes and partying backpackers. Perhaps an odd choice for that point in my life, but it worked and I was hooked on them for quite a while. I had timed the toasting to just the right crunch, to get the cheese just so, and the taste just right. With a light tropical sweat on my brow, and evening party plans being made, that was my tropical island lunch.

Day old slightly stale cheap bakery bread topped with peanut butter. That was my lunch of choice when I first moved to Sydney. With barely any furniture in my newly leased flat, my fluffy white cat pushing against my feet for attention, my lunch time choice was the cheapest of the cheap. Certainly no crunch in this lunch. I was lucky to get the sandwich actually swallowed without at least two glasses of water.

These days, my lunch of choice is usually an open sandwich on something dark and grainy. Not for the rest of my family though. I made these dutch crunch rolls recently and they were declared a new lunch time favourite.

You can easily make them with any basic bread recipe, (commercial yeast or sourdough) and all you need to do is add a thick paste to the top before baking. Giving your lunch a little extra crunch.

dutchcrunch1

Dutch Crunch or Tiger Bread

Sourdough Bread

400g starter

750g flour (5 cups)

750mls water

2 tsp salt

Commercial Yeast Bread

see this post if you have never made bread before and think you might like to give it a crack. 

600g strong bakers flour

2 tsp dried yeast

400mls tepid water

 3 tbls olive oil

2 tsp salt

The Crunchy Paste

1/2 cup water
1 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup rice flour

Mix together to form a thick paste and add to half way though the last prove of your dough.  Bake as you normally do, (I do 230C with steam.)

This post submitted to the inspiring yeastspotting