Bacon & Cheese Bread

I have been back to my usual bread-making routine for quite some time, you don't get to see much of my homemade bread here as I have trouble trying to keeping up with my blog posting. I definitely bake faster than I could blog!


For the past week, I have made mini-polo buns, a wholemeal raisin loaf and the latest is this Bacon & Cheese loaf.


As usual, I used my bread machine to do the kneading...it was almost like making a plain sandwich loaf, except for one little extra step of pan-frying some bacon. It could be due to the 'cold' flour (I stored it in the fridge) or the temperature of the water, this dough took quite a long time to rise, especially during the 2nd proof...it was almost 2 hours later before I could pop it into the oven. Other than a slightly 'shorter' loaf than usual, the end result was very satisfactory.


I went weak the moment I unmolded this loaf and removed the parchment paper. It was baked to a gorgeous golden brown all over...the aroma from the loaf freshly out of the oven was simply irresistible!


It was a joy eating a slice of this bread...the bacon bits and mild peppery taste from freshly grounded black pepper was a match in heaven...not forgetting the savory melted cheese on the crust. The bread kept well too...which I have stored in a Lock & Lock bread container. Since homemade bread tends to 'age' faster, keeping them in air-tight container is the best solution. The bread was still soft on the 3rd day and I toasted the last slice, which I saved just to test the texture...and it tasted just as good.



Bacon & Cheese Bread

Ingredients

A:
3 slices of bacon; finely chopped
1/2 tsp black pepper

B:
250g bread flour
15g caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp instant yeast
150ml water, lukewarm
20g unsalted butter

C:
40g grated mozzarella cheese
1/8 tsp black pepper
some dried parsley


Method:

1. Pan-fry finely chopped bacon over low heat, until brown and crisp. Drain off any excess oil and mix in the black pepper. Set aside to cool.
2. Place all ingredients B, except the butter, in the pan of the bread machine (according to the sequence as stated in the instruction manual of your bread machine). Select the Dough function of the bread machine and press start. After about 8mins of kneading (the ingredients should form a smooth dough by now), add in the 20g of butter. Let the machine continue to knead the dough. After the kneading cycle has stopped (20mins), Stop and Restart the machine. Continue to let the machine knead for another 10mins.
3. Add in the bacon and black pepper mixture and let the machine run for another 1~2 mins until the bacon mixture is incorporated into the dough.
4. Stop the machine and remove dough from the bread pan. Shape the dough into a smooth round and place in a lightly greased mixing bowl, cover bowl with cling wrap and let dough rise till double in volume for about 80 ~ 90 mins.
5. Remove dough and give a few light kneading on a lightly floured work surface. Press out the trapped air as your knead. Shape into a round dough and cover with cling wrap, let the dough rest for 15mins.
6. Flatten and roll out the dough into a rectangular shape (20cm by 15cm). Roll up swiss roll style and pinch the seam in place. Place dough in a loaf pan (size, 7.5"x4"x4", lined with parchment paper, both bottom and sides), seam-side down. Cover with cling wrap and let dough proof for 50~60mins or until the dough reaches about 90% of the height of the pan.
7. Sprinkle top with grated cheese, black pepper and some dried parsley.
8. Bake at preheated oven at 190 degC for about 30mins until the bread is golden brown all over. Cover the top with a sheet of aluminum foil if the surface browns too quickly.
9. Remove from oven and unmold immediately. Let cool completely before slicing.
Recipe adapted from 孟老师的100道面包