“Bread is the king of the table and all else is merely the court that surrounds the king. The countries are the soup, the meat, the vegetables, the salad… but bread is king.”
Louis Bromfield

I have never seen a bread prettier than this one and I have never been so elated baking bread, something I do quite often. This month Daring Bakers led us straight into the wild, ,or rather the wild side of bread baking. The challenge was to bake Dutch Crunch Bread or Tijgerbrood. I was exhilarated when mine began to crackle, roar and ‘tiger up’ in the oven.

Sara and Erica of Baking JDs were our March 2012 Daring Baker hostesses! Sara & Erica challenged us to make Dutch Crunch bread, a delicious sandwich bread with a unique, crunchy topping. Sara and Erica also challenged us to create a one of a kind sandwich with our bread!

Technically, Dutch Crunch doesn’t refer to the type of bread, but rather the topping that is spread over the bread before baking. In Dutch it’s called Tijgerbrood or “tiger bread” after the tiger-like shell on the bread when it comes out of the oven. The final product has a delightful sweet crunch to it that makes it perfect for a sandwich roll. This recipe for the Dutch Crunch topping came from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s The Bread Bible; an adaptation of a recipe found on Baking Bites. The bread is a common option at sandwich shops all over the Bay Area and is often one of the first breads to run out. This has to be the prettiest bread I have ever made; one of the most satisfying too. Quite a show stopper. If ‘we first eat with our eyes‘ holds meaning for you, make this bread. You can taste it before you even bite into it! Something that looks this pretty and exciting MUST taste good!

Tiger bread (also sold as Dutch crunch in the USA, tijgerbrood or tijgerbol in Netherlands) is the commercial name for a loaf of bread which has a unique mottled crust. The bread is generally made with sesame oil and with a pattern baked into the top made by painting rice paste onto the surface prior to baking. The paste dries and cracks during the baking process. The rice paste crust also gives the bread a distinctive flavour. It has a crusty exterior, but is soft inside.On 31 January 2012, the UK grocery chain Sainsbury’s renamed the product “giraffe bread” after a letter written by a three-year-old named Lily Robinson, suggesting the alternative name, went viral. Sainsbury’s stated that “In response to overwhelming customer feedback that our tiger bread has more resemblance to a giraffe, from today we will be changing our tiger bread to giraffe bread”.

It was certainly a charming end result. I waited with baited breath to see if I managed to get animal prints on my bread; lady luck was with me. The characteristic cracks showed up soon, and then the crust got coloured to perfection. Things like this define the joy of being a Daring Baker. Each month throws up a promising challenge, one that I await with eagerness, almost an impatience. The challenge really had me intrigued, unsure and a bit rattled too after reading much discussion on the forum. I made a meal of it pretty early in the month, around Holi, the Indian festival of colour. That might explain why the ‘now threatening to be quite terrible teen‘ looks so colourful, and the pooch happy as always! {The colours’ off now … }The second part of the challenge was to use it in a sandwich. For the filling I did chicken paillards marinated in a chimichurri sauce, a sauce which is believed to have originated in Argentina. My sis from Houston recently got me a bag of dried chimichurri which I used. Its a great tasting marinade. In the sandwich also went some quick pickled cucumbers that I made the night before, and some fresh iceberg from my little garden. On the side was a colourful fresh salad – cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, ground cherries, white grapes, lettuce and spring onions {whatever I found in the fridge basically}, tossed in a light fruity vinaigrette.

Thank you Sara and Erica of Baking JDs for a breathtaking challenge. Thank you and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice for hosting this fab kitchen!! Do stop by here to see the other bakers prowl the jungle!

Recipe: Dutch Crunch Bread / Tiger Bread / Tijgerbrood

Summary: Dutch Crunch bread, a delicious sandwich bread with a unique, crunchy topping. A visually delightful bread which is a common option at sandwich shops all over the Bay Area and is often one of the first breads to run out.

Servings: 10-20 sandwich rolls / buns
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 60 minutes {plus resting time}
Ingredients:

Dutch Crunch Topping
2 tbsp active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 tbsp sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ tsp salt
1½ cups rice flour
Soft White Roll
This recipe approximates the quintessential white sandwich roll found throughout the Bay Area. The recipe is simple, quick, and addictive. Should make 10-12 rolls.
1½ tablespoon active dry yeast
¼ + 1/8 cup warm water {it should feel between lukewarm and hot to the touch}
1 ½ cup warm milk {low fat}
2 ¼ tbsp sugar
3 tbsp vegetable oil {plus additional for greasing bowl during rising}
2¼ tsp salt
5 ½ cups {750gm} all purpose flour
2 tbsp vital gluten

Method:

Dutch Crunch Topping
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and beat with a whisk; beat hard to combine. The consistency should be like stiff royal icing – spreadable, but not too runny. If you pull some up with your whisk, as shown below, it should drip off slowly. Add more water or rice flour as necessary. Let stand 15 minutes.
Coat the top of each loaf or roll with a thick layer of topping. We tried coating it with a brush but it worked better just to use fingers or a spoon and kind of spread it around. You should err on the side of applying too much topping – a thin layer will not crack properly.
You can place the rolls directly into the oven after applying the topping, or let them stand for 20 minutes.
When baking, place pans on a rack in the center of the oven and bake your bread as you ordinarily would. The Dutch Cruch topping should crack and turn a nice golden-brown color.
Soft White Rolls
In the bowl of an electric mixer or large mixing bowl, combine yeast, water, milk and sugar. Stir to dissolve and let sit for about 5 minutes. {The mixture should start to bubble or foam a bit and smell yeasty}.
Add in vegetable oil, salt and 2 cups of flour. Using the dough hook attachment or a wooden spoon, mix at medium speed until the dough comes together.
Add remaining flour a quarter cup at time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 4 minutes, until smooth and elastic. {Thermomix:Place all ingredients in TM bowl. Mix at speed 6 for 7-8 seconds, and then knead for 2-3 minutes}
Place in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 1 hour, or until doubled.
Once the dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 10-12 equal portions {or 2 equal portions if you’d like to make a loaf}.
Shape each into a ball or loaf and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet {try not to handle the dough too much at this point}.
Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 15 minutes while you prepare the topping.
Coat the top of each roll or loaf with the topping as described above. {While the original recipe recommends letting them stand for 20 minutes after applying the topping, I got equally good results by putting them directly into the oven, and by letting them stand for 20 minutes while the first batch baked}.
Once you’ve applied the topping, bake in a preheated moderately hot 190°C for 25-30 minutes, until well browned. Let cool completely on a wire rack before eating.