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Serves
6 big rolls or 10 smaller
Author Notes
Kummelweck (or just plain Weck) is a kaiser-type roll pretty much only found in Western NY, where it is eaten exclusively in the form of Beef on Weck - thick-sliced roast beef slathered with horseradish on a weck topped with salt and caraway seeds. I first had this at my grandma's memorial service in Cassadaga, NY and embarrassingly found that I could not pull myself away from the buffet table as I consumed sandwich after wecky sandwich. I've got the buns down pretty well, now all I need is a good roast beef recipe (if you have suggestions, please let me know!)! - solmstea —solmstea
Test Kitchen Notes
My Buffalo-born boyfriend was ecstatic to see Kummelweck bread featured. After raving about the beloved Beef on 'Weck, we wondered if this recipe would live up to the memories. Success! Not only is this recipe easy to follow, but we had fresh bread in about 1 1/2 hours. Kummelweck is known for the salt-crusted top (delicious) along with the caraway seeds, which are commonly known for flavoring rye bread. The butter and egg make this bread almost biscuit-like. Salty biscuits from heaven. We served with roast beef and made a toast to Buffalo, NY. - CatherineJagers —The Editors
Ingredients
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4-5 cups
All-purpose or bread flour
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2 teaspoons
salt
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2 tablespoons
Mild-flavored oil
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1 tablespoon
Softened butter
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1
Egg white
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2 tablespoons
Granulated sugar
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1 packet
Active dry yeast
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1.5 cups
Hot water
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some
extra melted butter to brush on top
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some
Flaky sea salt (to taste)
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some
Caraway seeds (to taste)
Directions
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Mix 1.5 cups of the flour, the sugar, the salt, and the yeast. Add the oil and butter until well incorporated. Then slowly add the hot water, mixing until the batter is smooth.
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Mix in the egg white and enough dough to make a soft, shaggy dough. Knead until smooth, elastic, and well-incorporated.
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Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and let rise for about an hour in a warm place. It's done when you can press on the top of the dough and it doesn't spring back.
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Form the dough into equal pieces and form into rounds on a lightly floured surface. Let rest, covered, for 30 minutes or until the buns have about doubled in size. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
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Brush the top of the rolls with melted butter and lightly press on some of the salt and caraway seeds.
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Bake 15 - 20 minutes or until golden brown. It can help to spray water into the oven once in a while. Transfer the buns to a wire rack to cool.
I like to cook simply, especially cooking with things I can find (or at the very least, find at the farmers market which, in SoCal, contains every kind of produce on earth!). I like ingredients like lambsquarters, which grow in every alley and once-tilled ditch but are overlooked as weeds. Or I like scuba diving for lobster - lobster you catch with your bare hands just tastes Great! Generally, I don't like overly fussy recipes and tend to just improvise with whatever I have on hand and few meals come out of my kitchen without green garlic, cayenne, orange zest, or either fresh mint or dill.
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