BBB: Dutch Crust Nostalgia

When I was growing up in the Seattle area, my mother would occasionally stop by a Van de Kamp's Holland Dutch Bakery and buy various treats*. One of those treats was bread with a most delicious crunchy top.

With this bread, you actually ate the crust first.




This month, the Bread Baking Babes, with Astrid as hostess, chose Peter Reinhart's Vienna Bread. The Dutch crunch crust was optional.




Not for me. Especially when I read Reinhart's note about how perfect this bread was for sandwiches. That's what brought back my childhood memory.



I have made this bread before, during my artisan bread class at Santa Barbara City College several years ago. My buddy, Chris, and I made the Vienna bread into pistolets and coated them with the Dutch crunch mixture. They were some of my favorites, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to make them again.


I don't know if my two loaves will last long enough for sandwiches, though. The slices are just heavenly when toasted and buttered.




Be sure and visit the Bread Baking Babes to see how they transformed their Vienna breads. If you don't already own Peter Reinhart's book, you can find the recipe on Astrid's blog.




And, do try the Dutch crunch topping.



*While the photo is from the 1930s, the bakeries were still around into the 1960s when we lived in the Seattle area.