July 2, 2015 - 10:06am
Bäckerstärke - is this just potato starch?
I have been looking for a good German roll recipe (Brötchen) and this tutorial calls for coating the dough lightly with Bäckerstärke before final proofing so that they turn out nice and shiny.
I know that I can order the stuff from hobbybaecker.de but what exactly is "Bäckerstärke?" I am very curious since I don't remember reading about it in DiMuzio's Bread, or any of the Reinhart books that I have.
(I apologize in advance, the referenced tutorial is entirely in German.)
Thanks,
-Peter
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is a special, non-clumping potato starch, used to prevent sticking, the same way that rice flour does. Brotdoc Björn Hollensteiner uses it to prevent his rolls from sticking to the couche. I don't think this is really necessary, the linen is rather non-stick, anyway, and I had never problems with sticking. But if you like to use it, get just normal potato starch, if it should clump (which I doubt) you can always sift it.
To make a shiny crust, you have to make a glaze by cooking starch and water, and apply the glaze right after baking.
Brotdoc's earlier blog posts are German and English, he isn't doing the translation anymore, but I'm happy to translate any German recipe for you. You also might like to check my Bauernbrötchen and Weizenbrötchen.
Happy Baking,
Karin