Color balance
I have been fooling around with a general purpose focaccia dough turned into pull-apart rolls. You simply put whatever savory filling you like on the top of the stretched out dough, cut the dough into strips, roll the strips into twists and then put the twists into a roasting pan lined with parchment to rise. They then get baked at 475-500 for 20-25 minutes. I usually take them out at 20 minutes, brush with butter or olive oil, sprinkle with a seed or sea salt and then finish for a couple more minutes. They are terrific, with lovely dark brown crusts and stringy, chewy white interiors. Now, here is my probelm for which I would like some creative suggestions.
I can also turn these into wonderful sweet rolls. Instead of a savory filling, I do cinnamon, sugar, currants and chopped walnuts (or make up your own sweet filling). Every thing else is the same ... except I brush the top with butter and sprinkle raw sugar crystals on top. They come out with beautiful dark brown crusts, creamy white insides and nearly burnt bottoms ... the outcome of sugar and high baking temps.
I want to keep the dark brown crusts but minimize the sugar burning. If I bake below 400 the bottoms are not as likely to burn but the tops are paler. I have thought about putting the pan on top of another upside-down jellyroll pan to lessen heat transfer to the bottom and/or to put the pan up higher in the oven. Any other thoughts? I want to bake at as high of a temp as I can and still minimize burning on the bottom.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.