Ham & Cheese with Mixed Herbs Loaf by Vanessa Tay

Ham & Cheese with Mixed Herbs Loaf

Ingredients:

370g bread flour
65g caster sugar
12g milk powder
6g instant dry yeast
120g tangzhong (pls refer to http://en.christinesrecipes.com/2010/03/japanese-style-bacon-and-cheese-bread.html#.UIfPU2_MhRE on how to prepare tangzhong)
1 egg yolk
200ml milk (original recipe is 125g milk + 75ml whipping cream)
5g salt
35g unsalted butter, softened

(A)
75g chopped ham (do not cut into too small pieces as the kneading in the breadmaker will make the ham pieces smaller)
75g chopped cheddar cheese (do not cut into too small pieces as the kneading in the breadmaker will make the ham pieces smaller)
1 tbsp mixed herbs

Method:

Add the wet ingredients into the BM (breadmaker) pan, i.e. milk, egg yolk and tangzhong. Follow by the dry ingredients. I do by the following sequence: bread flour, caster sugar (at the sides of the pan), milk powder. Dig a small well in the middle of the flour heap and pour in the yeast, making sure the yeast is not wet.

Start the BM (I am using Kenwood BM450). Select weight = 750g, crust = medium, function 1.

When the mixture is being combined (around 2-5 minutes later), add in the salt and the softened butter. Do not switch off the BM. Around 20 minutes later, when the BM beeped (not sure if other BM has the same function), you may add in the ham, cheese and the mixed herbs. Basically, add these in when the dough is being formed in the BM.

You may omit this step. I like to remove the kneader/paddle when the kneading completes, before the first proofing start. This should be at around 2.48 timing on the BM (Kenwood BM). Use a chopstick to gently lift the dough and take out the kneader.

Let BM continues and completes the whole baking process.

Note:
- You may like to add some shredded cheese as toppings. This should be done after the 2nd proofing before the baking starts.
- The above recipe for the dough is what being commonly called as paibao recipe or tangzhong recipe. It is adopted from en.christinesrecipes.com
- With the basic dough recipe, you may feel free to substitute (A) ham/cheese/mixed herbs with other preferred ingredients, such as cranberries and walnuts, bak kwa, chocolate chips. The paibao recipe is good to eat on its own too.
- As paibao recipe yields very soft bread, be extra careful when removing the loaf from the pan.