Do you have guests and want to impress them with a somewhat unusual bread? Then you absolutely must prepare this aromatic cheese bread. It is incredibly soft, and the butter brushed on it gives it a delightful flavor that pairs perfectly with the fontina cheese filling. If you don’t like cheese, you might think of skipping it, although I think that would be a real shame. With a few moves, you will bring to the table a kind of rose cake-shaped loaf. A bread that satisfies the eye as well as the palate. I assure you that everyone will love it!
Other special recipes:
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 5 Hours
- Preparation time: 50 Minutes
- Portions: 8 people
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients for aromatic bread
As I often say when preparing leavened products, the amount of yeast can be adjusted to your needs. Increasing it will shorten the rising time; decreasing it will require longer rising times. In this recipe, I used 5 g of dry yeast, but fresh yeast also works well. In this case, you could use 14/15 g. If you’re interested in the correspondence between these two products, read the article I wrote on the subject. You can find it by clicking HERE.
- 3.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp dry yeast
- 2 tsp honey
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup water (warm)
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 leaves sage
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 1 clove garlic
- 5.3 oz fontina cheese
Tools
I prepared the dough for this aromatic bread using a stand mixer, but you can make it with any other mixer or even by hand, working the ingredients first in a bowl and then on a pastry board.
- 2 Small Bowls
- Stand Mixer
- 1 Bowl
- Rolling Pin
- Brush
- 1 Cake Pan 24 cm diameter
- 1 Baking Dish small ovenproof
Preparation of aromatic bread
Put the warm water in a small bowl, add the honey and yeast (dry or fresh) and mix. Then let it rest for 10 minutes.
Sift the flour into the bowl of the stand mixer, then add the water and yeast mixture and start kneading with the dough hook.
When the mixture has come together, add the salt and oil and continue kneading until you have a smooth and homogeneous dough.
Shape a ball and place it in a large, oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled in volume in a warm place, away from drafts: the rising times depend greatly on the room temperature and can vary from 2 to 4 hours.
After the time for this first rising has passed, put the butter in pieces in a small bowl, add a peeled and halved garlic clove and a tablespoon of chopped herbs (sage and rosemary). Melt everything in a double boiler or in the microwave.
Cut the fontina cheese into thin slices.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured pastry board and roll it out with a rolling pin to form a rectangle about 16 x 10 inches.
Brush the entire surface of the rectangle with 2/3 of the aromatic butter without the garlic and arrange the cheese slices on top.
At this point, roll up the rectangle starting from the long side and cut it into pieces about 2 inches thick.
Seal each piece well at the base to prevent the filling from leaking during cooking, and arrange the “roses” inside a 24 cm diameter cake pan previously lined with parchment paper.
Cover with a tea towel and let rise until the roses have swollen and touch each other. It will take a couple of hours; maybe less in a warm environment.
At the end of this second rising, brush the surface of the aromatic bread with the remaining butter. If it has solidified in the meantime, warm it again for a few seconds in the microwave or melt it in a double boiler.
Bake the aromatic cheese bread in a preheated static oven at 356°F for 30 minutes, being careful to place a small baking dish full of water at the bottom of the oven.
Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool slightly before serving. Enjoy! Paola
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