Rye and Oat Zeppelins (Homemade Bread Rolls)
The zeppelin is the long airship that Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin patented at the end of the nineteenth century — and that is exactly the shape of these rolls of wheat, rye and oats. You could give them any other shape, but the zeppelin is a likeable one, and cut crosswise it becomes a zeppelin sandwich, on a direct flight from plate to palate.
It is made with a sponge, and that is what gives it the moist crumb and the flavor a quick rye bread does not have. Thirty minutes of work spread across the day, and three hours of rising in which the dough makes itself.
You will also need: cling film (plastic wrap) and an empty metal roasting pan to make steam in the oven.
The other long-rise bread in this book is the pan de campo, which is made with fat and no rye.
Ingredients
- 175 g bread flour (strong white flour), for the sponge
- 175 ml water, for the sponge
- 15 g fresh yeast or 5 g instant dried yeast, for the sponge
- 200 g bread flour (strong white flour)
- 125 g fine rye flour
- 10 g salt
- 50 g rolled oats
- 150 ml water
- 20 g malt extract or honey
- 30 g sunflower oil
Method
- 1
Sponge: mix the 175 g of flour, the 175 ml of water and the yeast in a bowl. Leave it to ferment until it doubles in volume, 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on how warm your kitchen is.
- 2
In a second bowl, combine the rest of the dry ingredients: both flours, the salt and the rolled oats. Add the 150 ml of water, the malt extract or honey and the sponge, and mix.
- 3
Work in the oil and keep mixing. Turn the dough onto the worktop (counter) and knead until it is smooth and elastic.
- 4
Cover with cling film and leave to rise until it doubles in volume, one to two hours: the warmer the room, the faster it goes.
- 5
Knead again, roll into a cylinder and divide it into 10 pieces. Shape each one into a zeppelin — long and tapered at both ends — and set them on a buttered tray. Cover with film so no crust forms and leave them until they have doubled, about an hour. Take the film off before baking.
- 6
Heat the oven to 210 °C with an empty metal roasting pan on the floor of it. Just before baking, slash the tops diagonally and dust them with flour. As they go in, pour a glass of hot water into that pan and close the door at once: that burst of steam is what makes the crust crisp. If your oven runs on gas, take care not to put the flame out.
- 7
Bake for about 30 minutes, until the crust is deep golden and crisp and the rolls sound hollow when you tap the base.