Sesame Semolina Rolls - for World Bread Day
Hello everyone,
Today , October 16, is World Bread Day. 
Zorra’s invitation to participate described the idea behind World Bread Day:
“…to honor our daily bread and be grateful that we have sufficient food. Not all of us are this lucky.”
In the spirit of gratitude and our recent Canadian Thanksgiving, I’m offering my Thanksgiving dinner rolls as a contribution to World Bread Day.
Many thanks to Nancy Silverton for her recipe for Sesame Semolina Sandwich Rolls, and to Richard Bertinet for a shaping idea I saw in one of his books – a beautiful, braided sesame roll :^)
This was a soft dough but with careful handling it braided OK. Ms. Silverton’s formula includes instant yeast –
I reduced the yeast and retarded the dough in bulk overnight so it would be cold when I started to braid and shape, hoping this would make the dough easier to handle.
Dividing 30g strands, then preshaping
Preshaped (top), ends tapered (middle), and extended to about 6” in length (bottom)
Braiding, starting at center, flipping 180 degrees away from you, then finishing the braid
The tops of the rolls were gently pressed onto a clean, damp tea towel, then gently pressed onto a tray of untoasted sesame seeds.
After proofing, the rolls were baked with steam for 15 minutes at 425F, turned for even browning, and baked about 10 more minutes at 375F.
There was enough dough left over from the batch I made to make a small bâtard -
a bread basket for the Thanksgiving table 
The flavor? Delightful, sweetness from durum flour, lovely toasted flavors from the roasted sesame topping, and a good, crunchy crust!
Ms. Silverton's Sesame Semolina dough made nice breadsticks, too :^)
(breadsticks baked, slightly visible on the left)
Thanks to Zorra for putting together the bread display for this year's World Bread Day - looking forward to seeing all of the breads that were baked for today!
Happy baking everyone,
:^) breadsong
Comments
Beautiful!
Thanks so much, Floyd! :^)
Wishing you a wonderful Canadian Thanksgiving Day!
What beautiful rolls and braids you have contributed for World Bread Day.
I'm not quite sure how to go to Zorra's site and check out all the bakes contributed. I think it's such a lovely idea. I don't tweat, twitter or facebook and unfortunately I do text due to family influences 'lol'. Such a fast world. It's so nice to have a WBD.
I very much enjoy the flavors of sesame and semolina breads. I have had sesame/semolina loaves on my mind lately and trying to get some into the oven. Your beautiful bake is a delicious reminder.
Also thanks for reminding me it is WBD not NBW. I knew something wasn't right and kept pondering over it on my late long day. I made the correction :)
Sylvia
Hi Sylvia and thank you for your Thanksgiving wishes!
I'm so glad you like the rolls and braids.
I'm going to take a peek at Zorra's site in a few days and look for the post.
The WBD roundup may be posted here:
http://www.kochtopf.me/stories/world-bread-day-2006-2012/
I know whatever semolina bread you decide to bake, it will be gorgeous!
:^) breadsong
so elegant too for such an seemingly easy method. The fridge had to be a real help - wise thinking. You get a lot of bang for your buck with this one breadsong - and happy Thanksgiving to you too. Lucy loves everything about this bake and post - well done Now she wants to out some semolina into Friday's WBD bake. Might as well since she already had 8 other home ground grains in it..... and it is a white something bread:-)
Happy baking
Hello DAB and thanks so much!
I have Mr. Bertinet to thank for the shaping idea, and Mr. Hamelman to thank for the cold dough idea (it really does help with shaping strands).
I guess I did get a good bang for my buck...with the braids, breadsticks and bâtard :^)
Mmmm, your Friday bread sounds wonderful with semolina and home-ground grains.
Happy baking to you too!
:^) breadsong
Hi Breadsong,
Beautiful shaping/braiding of these exquisite rolls. THanks so much for posting and the details of setting up the dough. My brain loves all the help it gets! This will be my next roll shape but I am going to use it on Mark S. Portuguese Sweet Bread dough.
Take Care,
Janet
P.S. Thanks for the alert to Bread Day. I never hear about it until the day so I am ill prepared.
Hi Janet,
Thank you and glad to hear you're going to give this a try with Mark's Portuguese Sweet Bread dough.
It was a bit of trial and error getting the strands the right length, to make a roll instead of a breadstick.
I thought about WBD earlier in the month, remembering it was an October thing and then almost forgot about it by the 16th...next year, if I think about it, I could post a heads up in the forum?
:^) breadsong
Breadsong, I didn't know it was world bread day. Such pretty rolls. Must make them! -Varda
Hi Varda,
Thank you!, and I hope you have fun making these.
Wishing you the very best for your market baking!
:^) breadsong
Hi breadsong,
Hope you had an enjoyable and relaxing long Thanksgiving weekend...and by the looks of those lovely semolina breads it was a delicious one as well. Wonderful baking as always! :^)
All the best,
Franko
Hi Franko,
Thank you for your Thanksgiving wishes and for your compliments on the rolls.
It was nice to have the extra day on the weekend, and yes, it was very relaxing to have time in the kitchen to bake. I hope you had a lovely weekend too!
These rolls reminded me of your beautiful Pane di Altamura, with the orangey-gold colors that emerged in the crust, after the bake.
:^) breadsong
Beautiful braided breads, Breadsong! (Alliteration intended.)
I had absolutely no idea it was World Bread Day on the 16th. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I'll prepare myself for next year's. :)
Take care and happy baking,
Zita
Hi Zita,
Thank you! I'm happy you liked the braids.
Since I became aware of World Bread Day, I've enjoyed seeing all of the breads people bake for the occasion - looking forward to seeing what you will bake next year!
Happy baking to you as well,
:^) breadsong
I don't know what happened to my comment.
Anyway, what a lovely and delicious tribute to World bread day! nice braiding Breadsong.
-Khalid
Hi Khalid,
Sorry your first comment was 'lost'.
Thanks so much - I'm glad you liked these!
:^) breadsong