MAISON DE KENNEDY

Parmesan Focaccia Pretzel Rosette

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ (5/5) Tested by Cass — ~8 hrs · Makes 8 twists in a 10" round

Eight ropes of parmesan focaccia dough, each twisted into a loose pretzel and arranged petal-style in a round cake pan so they fuse while baking. Pretzel-shape drama, focaccia flavour, and a pull-apart wreath that sits in the middle of the table looking like the whole dinner was for it. The crispy parmesan in the gaps is the best part — eat those bits first.

Ingredients

Dough

• 500 g Bread Flour
• 350 g Warm Water — ~35°C / 95°F
• 10 g Fine Sea Salt
• 7 g Instant Active Dry Yeast
• 40 g Olive Oil — in the dough
• 100 g Parmesan — finely grated, in the dough

Pan, Topping & Finish

• 30 g Olive Oil — for the pan
• 80 g Parmesan — grated medium-coarse, for tops and gaps
• 20 g Parmesan — extra, for finishing
• Flaky Sea Salt — generous
• Fresh Rosemary — picked into short sprigs, generous
• 2 tbsp Olive Oil — for drizzling pre-bake
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil or Melted Butter — for brushing post-bake
• ½ cup Just-Boiled Water — for oven steam

Method

1. Wet mix: Whisk the yeast into the warm water until dissolved, then stir in the 40 g olive oil.
2. Combine: Flour, salt and the 100 g parmesan in a large bowl. Pour in the wet and mix with a wooden spoon until it comes together as a shaggy mass.
3. Knead 5 minutes on a lightly floured bench — push, fold, quarter-turn, repeat. Soft, slightly tacky, smooth. Not sticky, not dry.
4. Bulk ferment ~3.5 hours: Loose ball into a lightly oiled bowl, covered, somewhere warmish. Until roughly doubled, jiggly and dimpled on top.
5. Oil the pan generously, bottom and sides, with the 30 g olive oil. A 10" round cake pan or cast-iron skillet.
6. Divide into 8: Tip the dough onto a lightly oiled bench, pat into a rough disc, divide with a bench scraper.
7. Pre-shape and rest 10–15 minutes, covered. Roll each piece into a short cylinder first. Relaxed gluten is what lets you stretch ropes without fighting the dough.
8. Roll the ropes: One at a time, into 14-inch ropes. Hands in the middle, roll outward, tapering slightly at the ends. If one resists, set it aside and come back to it.
9. Form each pretzel: Make a U with the rope. Cross the ends over each other once, then once more — a single twist. Fold the twisted ends down onto the bottom of the U so they overlap the curve, and pinch lightly to hold. Don't fuss; rustic is the look.
10. Arrange the rosette: Each pretzel goes in with the curved loop end against the pan wall and the twisted ends pointing to the centre. Eight evenly spaced petals, touching their neighbours — that contact is the pull-apart bond. Cover with a tea towel.
11. Second rise 60–75 minutes until pillowy and nearly filling the gaps between each other.
12. Preheat with a steam dish: 220°C / 425°F, empty small oven-safe dish on the lower rack.
13. Dimple and oil: Soft dimple in each twist where it's plumpest, with oiled fingertips — gentle, keep the shape. Drizzle 2 tbsp olive oil over the whole rosette, letting it pool in the dimples and twists.
14. Cheese and herbs: Scatter the 80 g parmesan generously, heavy in the gaps between twists — those become lacy crispy edges — and on the high points. Flaky salt, then rosemary sprigs tucked into the gaps.
15. Steam start: Pour ½ cup just-boiled water into the dish on the lower rack the moment the pan goes in. Close the door immediately.
16. Bake 8 minutes with steam, then carefully pull the water dish out with mitts and continue 10–14 minutes more until the tops are light golden and the parmesan in the gaps is crisp. Total 18–22 minutes; start checking at 18.
17. Brush immediately: Straight out of the oven, 1 tbsp olive oil or melted butter over every dome and gap. Locks in moisture, gives the gloss.
18. Final cheese: The extra 20 g parmesan over the hot, just-brushed top. It melts into the oil and clings.
19. Rest 5 minutes in the pan — the crumb finishes setting and the rosette becomes one piece. Lift out with two spatulas onto a board, or serve straight from the cast-iron. The parmesan in the centre gap is the prize.

Notes

• How this differs from the pan-of-rolls version: hydration drops from 80% to 70% (350 g water) so the dough is shapeable but still soft; oil in the dough goes up from 30 g to 40 g as insurance against dryness at the lower hydration; no stretch-and-folds, just a 5-minute gentle knead, because the dough can take it now; 8 pieces instead of 12 for better rope length and pretzel proportions. Same yeast, same bake temp, same 18–22 minutes.
• Why it still has open crumb. 70% hydration plus 40 g oil keeps it soft. The knead builds structure, the warm bulk builds gas. Clustered baking traps steam between the twists so the contact surfaces stay tender. The steam start keeps the top crust supple while it sets, and the post-bake oil brush seals the surface before moisture escapes.
• If a rope tears while rolling: pinch it back together, rest 5 minutes covered, re-roll. It just needed a break. Don't add flour — that's how you get a dry rope.
• Shape forgiveness. If the pretzels look more like loose knots, fine. Once risen and baked they all read as rustic artisan twists. The rosette arrangement does most of the visual work — the individual shapes only need to be recognisable as twisted ropes.

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