Black & white sesame sourdough rolls
Deep nutty taste, crunchy white sesame crust and perfectly moist and open crumb, filled with toasted black sesame seeds. A step-by-step recipe for all sourdough bakers that love sesame in their bakes.
Equipment
- kitchen scale
- transparent jar
- mixing bowl
- frying pan
- small sieve
- transparent plastic box with lid (optional)
- bench knife
- baking stone/ steel
- oven tray
Ingredients
For the levain:
- 35 g ripe sourdough starter
- 35 g water (temperature neutral to touch)
- 35 g strong bread flour (11% or more protein content)
For the dough:
- 100 g levain at peak
- 375 g water (temperature neutral to touch)
- 100 g whole grain spelt flour
- 50 g whole grain rye flour
- 100 g Ølands flour (I use stoneground)
- 200 g strong bread flour (11% or more protein content)
- 15 g salt
- 20 g black sesame seeds
- water for soaking the sesame seeds
For baking:
- flour to dust the working surface
- raw white sesame seeds to cover the rolls
- hot water to create steam
Instructions
Day 1 - morning
- Build the levain. In a jar mix the water, sourdough starter and flour. Cover and let rest in a warm place until it reaches its peak point.
- Toast the black sesame seeds in a frying pan, on medium heat. Remove from stove, let cool, then cover with cold water and let soak until needed.
Day 1 - afternoon
- Start building the dough. In a mixing bowl add the water and levain, lightly stir to dissolve the levain a bit. Add the flours and mix (with your hand or a spatula) just until all the flour is wet. Make sure there are no pockets of dried flour left. Cover the bowl and let fermentolyse for half an hour in a warm place.
- Add the salt and work it into the dough. With wet hands, squeeze and knead for a couple of minutes using the Rubaud method or some slap&fold in the bowl. The dough should come nicely together and not break any longer. Cover and let rest for 30 min.
- Drain the pre-soaked black sesame seeds. Perform a strong stretch&fold and laminate 1/3 of the seeds in the dough. Transfer to a clean lightly oiled transparent container if you'd like to see the dough evolution better. Cover and let rest for 30 min.
- Perform 3 coil folds separated by 30 minutes. Incorporate the remaining sesame seeds during the first two coil folds.
- After the last coil fold, cover and let continue bulk fermenting in a warm place for about one hour and a half more, or until there's visible activity in the dough - you can notice fermentation bubbles and the volume has increased with about 30-50%. Then place in the fridge for a cold rise overnight.
Day 2 - baking the rolls
- Set your baking stone/steel in the middle of your oven and place a tray on the bottom of the oven. Turn oven on at 250C and let preheat for about an hour. Take the dough out of the fridge and let temper on the counter for 50min.
- 10 minutes before baking line your loading tray with baking paper and put some water to boil in an electric kettle. Dust your working surface well with flour. Gently turn the dough onto your floured working surface, then cover the entire piece of dough completely in white sesame seeds. With a bench knife cut the piece of dough in about 8 to 10 rolls, as even as possible. Transfer each roll onto the loading tray.
- Load the rolls onto the hot stone/steel by sliding the baking sheet from your loading tray. Carefully pour about 300ml of the hot water into the tray on the bottom of the tray and quickly close the door of the oven. Bake with steam for 12 min. Then carefully open the door to release the steam and continue baking for 15-20 min. more or until the rolls are nicely brown, feel light and when tapped on the bottom they sound hollow.
- Transfer to a cooling rack and let rest for a little while. Can be enjoyed warm or cold.