Dutch Crunched Vienna Bread Rolls

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I bake our sandwich loaf bread regularly every week but lately I've been on a roll, bread roll, that is. The last two weeks I made 2 kinds of Filipino pandesal rolls and today I baked Vienna Bread rolls topped with Dutch crunch. Vienna bread is one of my favorite breads from Peter Reinhart's cookbook, The Bread Baker's Apprentice. The bread has thin crispy crust which I really love and has moist soft sweetish crumb. Because the dough uses a large amount of preferment the bread always comes out very flavorful.

When I baked the loaves for the BBAC, I didn't top them with Dutch crunch as suggested in the book. This is the first time I used this topping and didn't know what to expect. They came out a little pale following the suggested baking time; I should have left the rolls in the oven 5 to 10 minutes longer but I didn't want to over bake them and worried they might become dry. I'm not sure if the crunch adds anything to the rolls, except maybe extra crunch specially when the rolls are reheated which actually is good if you are into crunchy stuff but it's rather flavorless. Maybe doubling the amount of sugar will make the crunch more appealing.

Vienna Rolls 
adapted from The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart

pâte fermentée
5 ounces unbleached all-purpose flour
5 ounces unbleached bread flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon instant yeast
6 to 7 ounces room temperature water

• Whisk together flours, salt, and yeast in the bowl of a standing mixer. Attach dough hook, add 6 ounces water, and mix on low speed until the mixture comes together and forms a coarse ball. Add flour or water accordingly so that the dough is neither sticky nor too stiff. Knead on medium low speed until dough is soft and pliable, about 4 minutes. Transfer dough into a lightly oiled container, cover with plastic wrap, and let rest on the kitchen counter for 1 hour. Knead lightly to remove air bubbles, return the dough to the container, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

dough
13 ounces pâte fermentée
12 ounces unbleached bread flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon diastatic malt powder
1¾ teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 tablespoon soft butter
6 to 7 ounces lukewarm water
semolina or fine cornflour for dusting

Dutch crunch topping
1 tablespoon bread flour
¾ cup rice flour
¾ teaspoon instant yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons light olive oil
6 tablespoons water

• Remove the pâte fermentée from refrigerator, cut it into 10 pieces, cover, and let sit on the kitchen counter for 1 hour. 
• In the bowl of  standing mixer, stir together flour, sugar, malt powder, salt, and instant yeast. Attach dough hook, add the pâte fermentée pieces, egg, butter, and 6 ounces water. Mix on low speed until the mixture forms a ball. Knead for 5 minutes on medium speed, add water or flour to make a firm supple dough which is slightly tacky and not sticky. 
• Transfer the dough into a lightly oiled container, cover with plastic wrap, and let sit for 15 minutes. Stretch and fold the dough from all sides towards the center, flip the dough so that the smooth side is up. Cover with plastic wrap and repeat the stretch and fold 2 more times every 15 minutes. Cover the dough and let rise on the kitchen counter for 1 hour. 
• Knead the risen dough lightly to remove air bubbles. Divide into 14 to 16 equal pieces and form into balls. Place balls 3 inches apart on 2 half sheet pans dusted with cornflour. Mix all topping ingredients into a paste and brush top of each roll. Leave uncovered until topping is dry. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 60 to 90 minutes. 
• Preheat oven to 450° F. Bake rolls for 5 minutes, lower temperature to 400° F and bake further for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.