The Fresh Loaf

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Pain à la bière - Beer bread (buns, in this case)

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Pain à la bière - Beer bread (buns, in this case)

Hello,
I was browsing on the modern-baking.com website and came across a beautiful bread called pain à la bière,
or Alsatian beer bread. There's been a lot of interest in Dutch Crunch recently here on TFL; many people have baked pretty breads and rolls using Dutch Crunch. The rye and beer 'crust' for this Pain à la bière sounded appealing, too.

With many thanks to Chef Jacquy Pfeiffer and Modern Baking for this wonderful article. (I'd link to it, but you need to set up an account to view the article). The Modern Baking site allows you to print/email/share the article, but when it comes to posting/blogging using the article's content there are copyright warnings.
I want to respect Modern Baking's copyright so won't republish the article's formula here, but comparing formulas, the dough is very similar to Mr. Hamelman's Roasted-Potato Bread (except using rye instead of whole wheat flour, & slightly shorter fermentation/proofing times due to the rye).

The topping is similar to Dutch Crunch topping. I used 77g lager beer, 43g whole rye flour, 2g salt and 1g yeast to top these 8 buns (4oz size each). I had approximately half of the topping left over.
As for Dutch Crunch, this topping is brushed on, after shaping and before proofing.
I dusted the topping with rye flour before proofing; I found the rye flour had mostly absorbed into the topping after proofing, so I dusted again with bread flour prior to baking.

Here's the baked result (very tasty).
 

I've cut the corner off of one of these to taste - YUM!
Happy baking everyone,
from breadsong 

andythebaker's picture
andythebaker

this looks incredible.  thanks for sharing.

Franko's picture
Franko

Hi breadsong,

These do indeed look tasty, and I love the colour of them as well as the shaping. It reminds me very much of a bread in Jan Hedh's 'Swedish Breads and Pastry' called Potato Bread with Mulhouse beer topping. Hedh's shaping is triangular as well, or as he calls it "like a bicycle seat". I've been meaning to make this bread myself at some point, so your  fine bake of it is a great example to follow. Thanks for the inspiration!

All the best,

Franko

Syd's picture
Syd

Those look gorgeous.  I love the shaping.  I just want to pick the one on the bottom right up and skim it across a pond.  Not that I would do that!  I would eat it first! Beautiful shaping.  I am betting the beer gives it a great flavour, too.

regards

Syd

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Hello Andy, Franko & Syd - Thanks for your comments!
The buns are delicious - the beer flavor contributed by the topping is quite good, imho. The shaping wasn't hard to do & I was please with the result. And the aroma while these buns were baking...wow!  The article suggested other effervescent liquids might be used for the topping (perhaps champagne, sparkling apple cider, or...?), but I thought the beer was perfect.
from breadsong

MadAboutB8's picture
MadAboutB8

Sounds delicious, Breadsong. The two great fermented products in one, beer and bread, gotta love that!

Sue

http://youcandoitathome.blogspot.com

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Hello Sue, We do love these rolls - I froze some but the supply is dwindling - will definitely make these again!!!
Thanks, from breadsong

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

Nicely done, breadsong!  @ Franko,  Love how the shape is called, like a bicycle seat!  

Sylvia

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Thanks, Sylvia!

hanseata's picture
hanseata

can be bad! My favorite beef stew is made with Guiness.

Jan Hedh's recipe is already on my to-do list.

Beautiful breads, breadsong, I'll check out that website.

Karin

 

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Hello Karin,
I hope you like that site - lots of formulas, ideas and some interesting write-ups there. 
from breadsong

 

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

Tell me, what did you think of the size?  I tend to gravitate to slightly smaller rolls.  

The rye, potato, and beer combo sounds so good and they look impressive!  I'm thinking over my bread basket that gets blessed before Easter.  :)

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Mini, thanks so much for your compliments!
I had sandwich rolls or hamburger buns in mind for the 4-ounce size;
for a dinner roll, I'd make them smaller.
I hope you enjoy these if you make them - please do share pictures of your Easter bread basket!
from breadsong

SallyBR's picture
SallyBR

Gorgeous, somehow I missed this thread until today...

 

I am definitely trying this type of crumb once I master the "dutch crumb" (I am going to try it again tomorrow)

 

 

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Thanks Sally; just saw your Vienna Bread post and I'd say you've got it 'mastered';
those Vienna rolls with the Dutch crunch are beautiful!
from breadsong

hanseata's picture
hanseata

I finally made them, they turned out wonderful!

I divided the recipe by half, for 3 loaves à 350 g, but next time I would make the whole batch of six, they are so good, and they freeze well.

I don't really see why a modified version of the recipe shouldn't be published here, it needs adjustments for the home baker, anyway (including a formula for the pre-fermented dough).

Karin