Ham and Cheese Bread

I was on msn with my good friend SL and I showed her this Ham & Cheese Ring Bread by Dailydelicious. SL is a person who doesn't like to bake as she doesn't like to wait. She prefers to cook. Upon seeing this recipe, she decided to try baking it (though I do not know when). I'm glad this recipe has spurt her interest to try baking. Her mother, Auntie A, cooks and bakes very well. SL only inherited half her mother's genes, at least for now.

Being a sahm, I need to think of what meals to prepare for the family. Breakfast being the most important meal of the day, I try not to offer just commericially bought bread served with butter/jam/peanut butter. I decided to bake this for tomorrow's breakfast.

The recipe asked for Gruyère cheese and both SL and I went "Huh? Where to find this??" I substituted with cheddar cheese instead. I used my breadmachine to knead the dough and left it for 1st proof in the machine for 30 mins. Then I took it out and followed the steps accordingly. I baked it in a loaf pan instead of the tube pan. Big mistake! I was too lazy to line the tube pan so I thought the quickiest way is to bake in a loaf. I cut them into 6 equal parts but lined them in a 9" x 5" loaf pan. The dough does not have enough space to proof side-ways and the baked bread feels very compact. Also, I was too greedy with the cheese toppings. Instead of using 40g of cheese, I added 70g. I should not be greedy the next time I bake this again.

Ingredients
Bread Dough
200 g Bread Flour
1 tsp Instant dried yeast
2 tbsp Sugar
½ tsp Salt
30 g Unsalted butter (soft)
140 ml whole milk

Fillings
3 tbsp Mayonnaise
5 slices Ham (I use Honey Baked Ham)
30 g Cheddar Cheese (grated)
40 g Gruyère cheese (grated) (I replaced with Cheddar cheese)

Method

1. Put the flour and yeast in a bowl, whisk to combine, add the sugar and salt whisk again. Pour the milk mixture into the bowl, use large spoon to mix everything together. Put the butter in the bowl and rub until all butter is distributed, and knead briefly to bring all the ingredients together. Take the dough out of the bowl and knead, until the dough is soft, smooth and elastic about 10 minutes.
2. Put the dough into a light buttered bowl. Let the dough rise in a warm place until double in size about 1 hour. Line a baking paper in the pan and set aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Take the dough out of the bowl. Gently press down the dough and a rolling pin to roll the dough to press the dough into a rectangle, about 25x25 cm. Brush the mayonnaise over the dough then scatter cheddar cheese all over and place the ham on top.
4. Roll the dough toward you starting at the top, gently pressing as you go to form a tight log. Cut the dough into 6 pieces, then place the dough, cut side down in the prepared pan.
5. Scatter Gruyère cheese all over the top.Let the dough rise until almost double in size.
6. Bake for 25 or until the bread is golden and the cheese is slightly brown.