Tiger Bread
Posted: July 15, 2011 Filed under: Bread, Budget, Traditional | Tags: Dutch Crunch Bread, Tiger Bread, Tijgerbrood 35 Comments »
Wotchers!
…and rrrrrOWWLL!
Yes – Tiger Bread! Also known as Tijgerbrood in The Netherlands and Dutch Crunch Bread in the US.
There’s nothing special about the bread itself – its just regular bread dough. Its nice to have a party trick up your sleeve though, to jazz things up once in a while. The secret to getting the crackled effect is painting the half-risen rolls (or loaves) with a yeast paste made with rice flour. Let the bread finish rising, then bake as usual.
When the proved dough hits the heat of the oven, it continues to rise. The rice paste, because its gluten-free, doesn’t stretch and so as the dough rises, the paste ‘tears apart’ to give the distinctive mottled appearance.
Just as an aside, I always think it looks more like the patterning on a giraffe than a tiger. Still, if it were called giraffe bread, I wouldn’t be able to do this: *mimes clawing* rrrrrOWWLL!!!
…
Moving on… I made this dough in a bread-maker, and I’m not ashamed to admit it!
In fact, I really don’t understand the snobbery attached to the use of bread machines. I use mine more like a food-processor, and no-one seems to mind if you chop stuff in one of them as opposed to by hand, so what IS the problem? Just pop in the ingredients and then I can do my own thing while it does its own thing, and bing! in 45 minutes the dough is ready to make into whatever takes my fancy. I still like to make speciality breads by hand, but for a basic dough, the machine can do it more quickly and more cleanly. Consequently, I don’t bother with all the weird stuff that seems to appear in bread-maker-specific recipes. Bottom line: if I wouldn’t use it when making bread by hand, then it doesn’t go in the bread machine. If you don’t have a bread-machine, you can use exactly the same ingredients to make the dough by hand.
Availability: Rice flour is available in health food stores and in some UK supermarkets. If it’s not with the regular flours, try the aisle with the ‘special diet’ foods. Doves Farm is a well-known brand. Price £1.80 per kilo (July 2011)
Important: Ground rice IS NOT rice flour.
This recipe makes 8 large rolls.
Bread-maker Basic White Bread Dough
600g strong white bread flour
1 sachet easy-blend yeast
1tsp sugar
1tsp salt
2tbs oil
400ml warm water
- Put the ingredients into your bread-machine in whatever order is specified for your machine.
- Set it to ‘dough’ (mine says ‘pizza’) and press start.
- When finished, the dough can sit quite happily and continue to rise for up to 30 minutes if its not convenient to shape the rolls – much longer and it may rise over the pan, so don’t leave it indefinitely.
- As soon as the machine starts, mix the topping.
Tiger Bread Paste
150ml warm water
160g rice flour
1 sachet easy blend yeast
2tbs sesame oil
2tbs sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Equipment
Bowl
Soft baking brush – silicon for preference.
2 baking trays
- Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl. Cover and leave to rise.
Shaping the rolls
- When the dough is ready, tip it onto a floured surface and gently pat down.
- Cut into 8 even pieces.
- Shape each piece into a roll and lay on baking sheets to rise. Best to use 2 sheets than try and squash all eight rolls onto one.
- After the rolls have been proving for 15-20 minutes, stir the paste vigorously and then brush lightly over the rolls. The paste will have the consistency of thick, pouring cream. NB Be careful you don’t deflate the rolls as you brush the paste onto them – Gently Bentley! Also – the thicker the layer of paste, the larger the ‘scales’ on the finished bread.
- Leave the rolls to rise for a further 15-20 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C Fan) and then bake for 15 minutes. NB Turn the baking sheets around after 10 minutes, to get an even colouring.
- Leave to cool on wire racks.
Variations: Experiment with different bread flours.
Cost (paste only): £0.55 (July 2011)
Such a fun idea — thanks! I’ll keep this in mind for sure.
Just for the record: tigers are striped
What beautiful bread!! You must have been so elated when they turned out this wonderfully, i definitely would have been! And when something is this pretty, it always tastes that much better
delicious im sure
Thank you for the lovely comments Sasha – I did actually get a real buzz the first time I baked these and I saw the pretty pattern! M-A xx
Lovely pics MaryAnne. I always think it looks more like Giraffe Bread too
xx
Let’s rename it! Excellent picture. xx
It’s a great idea!
As I do not live in the USA – can you please let me know how many grams are in 1 sachet-easy blend-yeast? Is it instant yeast or dry yeast?
Thanks
Hi Winnie – I don’t live in the USA either – but I guess I’m referring to ‘instant’ yeast.
Each sachet is about 7g
Hope this helps! M-A xx
Hi, thanks for such a quick reply
I usually use fresh yeast or dry yeast, but I know the ratio, so your answer helps a lot!
Thank you, and again – I love your tiger-bread!
I really love making these rolls, thank you again.
You are invited to see my new post, in which you can find a credit and link to your post.
http://winnish.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog-post_11.html
Mary-Anne I absolutely love your pictures! You’ll probably give Rob a run for his money! Lol
Thanks Jason – I’m still learning as I go, so any tips Rob has – I’m all ears!
This is great
I am teaching a friend to bake bread and she asked me if I had a recipe for tiger bread, which I did not, so how lovely to stumble upon yours when looking you up before the GBBO final!
Hi Mary-Anne,
was asked only recently if i knew how to bake tiger bread and now,thanks to you,i do. What a wonderful find your site is. You have a new fan.
Kindest regards Patricia
Loving your recipes .They are such fun to read .and so informative After seeing you on GBBO.I can almost imaging you reading them to me in your own inimitable way ! Do you use any sesame oil in the glaze or do you find it doesnt need any ?.Its quite a distinctive flavour
Regards,,Caro
does anyone else remember the movie, alien nation? these remind me of their heads. …..beautiful bread and i will try to make it.
I so need to make this. I always wondered how they made the top look and taste so good! I learn so much from you! Thank you!
One of the tastiest is Tesco. The Sainsbury’s is not as tasty, I think they use less Sesame oil.
The main taste ingredient is the sesame oil, the ‘tiger stripes’ are due to the corn flower paste. Mix the 2 together and magic !
More flavour is available if some of the oil is added to the bread mix.
Enjoy – delicious.
just made this, bloody amazing! tastes so good and is so easy to make, i used sesame oil in the paste and it gave so much more flavour! thanks so much for posting this, i have wondered how to do it for a while!
i imagine my boyfriend will be extremely happy when he realises this is his present!
absolutely delicious
Hiya MA! Great blog!
I don’t live in the UK and only found out about GBBO through your blog and will now have to find a way of getting the series online.
I stumbled upon your blog when searching for a recipe for a tiger bread as we miss the one from Tesco and I thought how hard would it be.
The buns turned out really well, only problem is that the paste is quite sweet. I am wondering if I layered it on too thick – I could only make a bread with 500g because of my breadmaker, but didn’t want to fiddle with your paste recipe just in case I messed it up.
DO I HAVE to use 2 tbs of sugar or can I cut it down to maybe one and keep the other ingredients the same quantity?
Many thanks and keep up the lovely recipes,
Irena
Why put yeast in the tiger paste mix?
There’s no gluten in rice flour so the paste is not going to rise regardless of whether you add the yeast or not.
Has anyone tried spraying the mixture onto the proving loaves?
Wotchers Simon! Lack of gluten has no effect on whether yeast works or not. The yeast adds air bubbles and makes the paste light and frothy, so it is easy to paint on when risen. The rice paste won’t stretch. Once cooked, it will crack apart as the dough underneath expands. The thick paste would be a little difficult to spray, but if you find a way, do let me know how you get on. M-A
thank you for your excellent recipies
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I just love your recipes!!! Thanks for sharing!! I am having so much fun just reading them, can’t wait to try them, all!!!
Aww, thank you Jenny – so glad you’re enjoying the site!
I’d like to make dough in my bread maker then cook it in a loaf tin in the over. If I use the extra large receipe with 600g of flour, how long and what temp for it in a 3lb tin in the oven??
Wotchers Caroline! Bread needs a hot oven, so 200C or 180C Fan. Cooking time depends on your oven as well as the size & shape of your tin, but as a guesstimate I’d say at least 45 minutes and possibly even as much as an hour. Remove loaf from tin after 50 minutes and return to the oven on its side to crisp up the crust. Hope this helps!
can i used fresh yeast
Wotchers bharat! Fresh yeast? Of course! M-A
Has anyone done these in a Halogen whirlwind oven?
If so, can you tell me the temp and time please?
Thank you.
Peter
Wotchers, Peter! Never heard of one of those ovens – how do they differ from regular ovens? M-A Edit: Never mind, I did a search. I suggest you consult the manual, as the tiger bread rolls are baked just like regular bread rolls. Hope this helps!
Hi MAB.
Don’t think the manual goes to buns but thank you.
Peter
Remember if using fresh yeast to use roughly 20% more than you would for dried or fast acting yeast!