Cheese and mustard bread recipe
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Total: 4 h 30 min Diners: 8
It probably sounds like Mandarin Chinese in Spain, although it is nothing more than what the Anglo-Saxons call pull-apart…. But what is it, is it an appetizer, a starter, a dessert, a side dish, or is it just another piece of bread? The truth is that it can be any of them. In fact, this kind of bread ‘stuffed’ and garnished with things, before anything else, was a dessert.
Back in the 1950s, in the United States, a bread was made for breakfast that was spread with butter and seasoned with sugar, cinnamon and other spices. It was sweet, fluffy and ideal for dunking in coffee early in the morning. However, since some people have less sweet tooth than others and the concept was good, a savory option was needed to please everyone.
This is where the ‘pull-apart bread’ or bread stuffed and presented in some way (so that we understand each other in Spain) was born, although cheese bread was the most common. The concept was good, because if there is a food that is eaten all over the world, with its different types and varieties of dough or preparations, it is bread. It was easy to succeed.
The good thing about this recipe is that it is very easily adaptable to everyone’s taste. In this case we propose to make it from goat cheese, a Moluengo that I had in my fridge with ash crust, but you can adapt it to the cheese that we like the most or that we have on hand. In the center of the table, with a couple of bowls of your favorite sauce and surrounded by friends, it is a plan that gives no option for error.
How to make pull apart cheese bread
On this occasion, the dough is also homemade but we could make it from an already baked bread, cutting cubes, taking into account that the cuts should not reach the base of the bread so that it does not separate completely, and filling each hole. If you have never made bread at home, I encourage you to take the plunge, even if it is with some simple recipe to make bread at home in an easy way.
Ingredients
. Strong flour, 300 g Spelt flour, 120 g Whole milk, 250 g Dry baker’s yeast, 5 g Sugar, 40 g Salt, 10 g Butter, 40 g Mild olive oil, 40 g Ash-wrapped goat cheese in roll (Moluengo type), 250 g Sweet mustard, 60 g
Step 1
The first thing will be to make the bread dough and for this we will mix all the ingredients, except butter and oil, kneading very well, thoroughly. If we have a mixer it will be easier, with the kneading hook, until it is smooth. It is advisable if we do it by hand to knead for a while, let it rest for 5 minutes, and knead again. This way up to 4 times. The rests relax the gluten and allow a more uniform and easy kneading.
If you don’t have dry yeast you can always use fresh yeast or make your own sourdough.
Step 2
When the dough is already soft add the butter (soft) to the dough and also the oil and knead very well until it is shiny and everything is incorporated. Make a tight ball and place in a large oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise for about 2 hours or until it has doubled in volume.
Step 3
Oil the worktop and roll out the dough completely with a rolling pin. Make a rectangle with it. Cover all the dough with the goat cheese discs so that there is cheese everywhere on our cheese bread and finish on top with the mustard.
Step 4
Make the Pull Apart Bread shape by cutting the rectangle into 3 long strips and mounting each one on top of the other.
Step 5
That bread tower we will have to cut it in turn into 5 or 6 portions.
Step 6
Turn each portion 90 degrees and place it consecutively inside a cake pan. It is better if it is rigid. It is advisable to put baking paper in the mold to then be able to remove the bread well.
Step 7
Top the bread with plastic wrap and let it ferment again for about an hour or until it doubles in volume.
Step 8
Bake with a little steam if possible (a ladle of water) in a preheated oven at 200ºC for 30 minutes until golden brown on top. Let cool on a wire rack.
Tricks and tips
The proofing of the dough depends a lot on the temperature of the room they are in: the warmer it is, the faster. It is best to leave them in a warm place away from drafts so that the heat is as uniform as possible.
Your pull apart style cheese and mustard bread can also be filled with cold meats, olive pâté, herbs, fruits and nuts or whatever you like.
