Tuesday, September 2, 2014

40 minute ham rolls with three cheeses

It has been a while since I had done a post on the 40 minute bread recipe.

While I like experimenting with different recipes, this is the one recipe I always come back to when I have very little time to spare, which is, quite often. :)

Today I was craving for something cheesy so I decided to make a ham and cheese roll. The plan was to use make the bread with Cheddar but the LAM suggested that I add some Parmesan to improve the flavour of the bread. So while I was at it, I decided to add some Mozzarella. I mean, why not, right!
Does this bread not look good? :D

And I made that in 40 minutes!

Let me show you how!

To start, I placed lukewarm water, oil, sugar and yeast in a mixing bowl.
I mixed everything together with a whisk, and left it to sit for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, the mixture will be foamy. If you do not see this, it means your yeast is probably dead.
Underneath the foam, there will still be liquid.
Into this, I added flour, salt and egg.
Using the dough hook attachment of my mixer, I mixed this until the dough came together. This took about 2 minutes.
I lightly oiled my fingers, and transferred the dough onto my lightly oiled worktop.
Yes, the dough should be sticky.

I kneaded the dough with my hand.

Step 1: I pushed the dough outwards away from me.
Step 2: I folded about 1/3 of the dough towards me.
Step 3: I folded again.
Step 4: I turned the dough 90° anti-clockwise.

I repeated this 2 more times.
I divided the dough into 2 equal parts - just eyeball it; a little difference in sizes does not matter.

Using a rolling pin, I rolled the dough into a rectangle, then placed the ham on the dough. I sprinkled Mozzarella on the ham and rolled the end nearest to me away from me, tucking the dough in tightly as I rolled.
At the end, I pinched the edges to seal.
I cut each roll into 6 pieces.
And placed them, side facing up, in a greased baking tray.
I repeated the same with the remaining dough. At the end of the process, there should be 12 rolls in the pan.
I covered this with a damp cloth and allowed the dough to rest for 10 minutes.

I egg washed the bread.
And sprinkled on Parmesan and Cheddar cheeses.
The bread was baked for 10 minutes.

It was cooled in the pan for about 5 minutes then transferred onto a wire to cool completely.
Well, if you really can't wait, and want to take a bite (who can blame you - the smell will drive you crazy!) then just go for it!
The bread is so so soft.

And the best part is, it remains soft for up to 4 days, stored in an air-tight container!
If it lasts that long, that is!

RECIPE
40 Minute Ham Rolls with Three Cheese (Makes 16)

Ingredients:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (280ml) warm water
1/3 cup (83ml) oil - I used canola oil
2 tablespoons (about 16g) active dry yeast (or instant yeast)
1/4 cup (56.25g) sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons (9g) salt
1 egg
3 cup (about 476 g) bread flour 
18 slices ham
1/2 cup (64g) shredded Mozzarella 
1/4 cup (32g) shredded Parmesan
1/4 cup (32g) shredded Cheddar
1 egg + 3 tablespoons (75ml) milk, beaten

Method:
1. Heat oven to 220°C.
2. In your mixer bowl combine the water, oil, yeast and sugar and allow it to rest for 15 minutes. Using your dough hook, mix in the salt, egg and flour.
3. Knead with hook until well incorporated and dough is soft and smooth. (Just a few minutes.) The dough will be a little sticky. I oiled my hands, kneaded it one to two times, and it became really easy to shape. If your dough is too wet, add a little more flour and knead a few times.
4. Form dough into 2 balls. Roll one ball out into a rectangle, about 1cm thick. Lay ham on the dough, the sprinkle Mozzarella cheese evenly over the ham. Roll the dough tightly into a log.
5. Cut each log into 6 pieces and place in a greased 8 x 8-inch pan. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Glaze with egg wash. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese and Cheddar.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. 

NOTE: 
To keep rolls soft, wrap with cling film and keep in an air-tight container (I keep the rolls in cling film in my oven.)
If you keep the rolls in the fridge, warm in the microwave oven for about 20 - 30 seconds to soften.

TROUBLESHOOTING:
1. Dough is too wet or sticky? Add a little oil and hand knead a couple of times. The dough should become easy to work with. Still too wet? Add a little less water.
2. You can use any oil. Maybe not peanut oil. Unless you want a peanut-y bread. Olive oil, Canola oil, Sunflower oil, Grape seed oil... all can be used.
3. Personally, I have not had any problems with the bread being too yeasty. If you find it so, change the yeast and try different ones till you find one that you like.
4. Conversion of flour from cups to grams: This is a conversion I got online. You may still need to adjust.
5. Oven temperature: Every oven is different. You need to understand your oven, so if you have one that tends to be hot, lower the baking temperature, and vice versa.
6. I do not recommend that you reduce the yeast quantities because this is a quick bread. You need the yeast to make it work. Similarly, you need the sugar to feed the yeast so it works.
7. You can put any filling you like in this bread. It is very versatile.
8. You can also glaze with milk (full-fat, low-fat, skim, etc), sprinkle any toppings you like.
9. I don't recommend that you rest the dough for more than 10 minutes. From feedback I received, the bread may be less soft.
10. You can use 1/2 bread flour, and 1/2 wholemeal flour, or 100% plain flour. The results are the same. You can't use top flour. There isn't enough protein to form gluten. 
13. The yeast MUST foam. NO FOAM = DEAD YEAST. Throw it out.
12. Every environment differs. You may live somewhere humid, or dry, or hot, or cold. If in doubt, check what other bakers recommend that you do for the weather conditions you live in, and experiment! You may need to tweak timings/ baking temperature, etc. Don't give up!

4 comments:

  1. How I can bake this delicious bread within 40 mins. With the weather here in Downunder, I will definitely need many 40 mins for the dough to rise beautifully like yours. Ham and cheese, yum!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Diana! This looks super scrumptious! OK, adding it to my ever growing list of things to bake LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very nice. Must be yummy yummy....

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your 40min bread is the ever bread recipe that never fails me! I'm a novice at baking and I'm so happy I found your recipe!

    ReplyDelete