After reading in the Daring Bakers forumn that several bloggers weren’t able to produce cracks in their bread I was worried that as a newbie to the bread making process I would have the same problem. As luck would have it within the hour my bread had doubled in size indicating the yeast had in fact been successfully activated (insert sigh of relief). The second batch seemed slightly warmer but I still contemplated starting over – until I realized I didn’t have any more yeast packets to spare and simply had to hope for the best. My neurotic self got all worked up and paranoid that the water/milk combination was too cool for the yeast, so I dumped it out and started over.

Sometimes I feel more confident about the temperature – not this time though. Frankly without a kitchen thermometer it’s almost impossible for me to accurately measure a 41-43 degree C temperature on my hand (anyone else with me on this?). I rarely make bread – a) because I don’t really eat it and b) because it requires yeast which I consider to be a pretty high maintenance ingredient – if the liquid is too hot you kill the yeast and if it’s too cold you don’t activate it. After discovering that my local Giant does not carry rice flour and with Whole Foods just a few blocks away I was able to painlessly find some. The most convenient aspect of working in the center of the city is the ability to pop out during lunch and run all your errands. Since my last attempt at making rice flour ended in epic failure (apparently grinding the rice in a blender produces more of a grainy sandy texture than the required powdered sugar texture) I decided to buy some this time. Hailing from Holland (where it’s known as tijgerbrood) but currently popular in the San Francisco Bay Area this dutch crunch bread is unique in that before baking, the rolls are painted with a rice flour paste-like substance which creates the cracks and crunchy slightly yeasty texture in the final product. Having never heard of this so called “ tiger bread” I was intrigued. This month’s Daring Bakers challenge was to make bread dough, topped with the dutch crunch paste, and then to bake it and devise a creative sandwich. This month’s Daring Bakers challenge was to make the Dutch crunch bread, and then to bake it and devise a creative sandwich.