What caused the crust on on the top of my bread to separate from the rest of the loaf?
I used this Portuguese sweet bread recipe. The bread came out with a great crumb, great flavor, and a great crust. The problem is that the crust on the top separated from the crumb on the top of the bread:
I followed the recipe. The only change I made was that I refrigerated the dough after the first rise and shaping for 12 hours and baked it the next morning after letting it warm to room temperature. Anyone?
Best Answer
What caused it: it's gotta be gases from the yeast exhalations which are unable to escape the air-tight envelope of the crust layer. So they just build up in a bubble right under the surface. Cutting some of those large gashes or cross-hatches into the top of the bread before baking should break up the outer skin of the loaf to let some of that gas out without detaching the top of the bread.
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Answer 2
I found with a loaf I baked yesterday in a bread pan that the crust not only separated from the crumb, but became wrinkly and flaky and fell off the loaf when cut. I think it may have been because I set the hot bread outside to cool on a very cold day, rather than letting it cool slowly inside.
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