Italian Cheese and Herb Pinwheels Bread (THB)

I remember...

... more than a year ago on 7 June 2012 when I baked my first The Home Bakers cake, Pear Pinwheel and Hazelnut Cake.

The Home Bakers (THB) is an baking event organised by my friend, Joyce from Kitchen Flavours. With a group of gorgeous ladies, we are baking all recipes from the book, "Coffee Cakes" by Lou Seibert Pappas until every recipe from this book has been baked.

Time files. This Italian Cheese and Herb Pinwheel Bread is now our 25th THB bake and this THB recipe is chosen by me (Bake for Happy Kids). Co-incidentally, both recipes that I chose are pinwheel kind of bakes.

Baking with THB is fun. Although some that I baked were not as good as I expected, some like Gruyère Brioche Braided Bread, Cranberry Pecan Orange Cake and Danish Chocolate Streusel Swirled Bread were extremely delicious and well-received!

For an extra bit of fun, I remember pledging to bake like a retro-style home baker on my first THB bake. Silly me! - LOL! So far, I have been baking most of my THB cakes using my "retro" wooden spoon but wouldn't recommend or use a wooden spoon to bake this recipe. Due to its high liquid content, this bread recipe is expected to yield a sticky and messy bread dough and I reckon using an electric mixer or a breadmaker would definitely do a better job.

The word, pinwheel reminds a lot of Spring, fun and innocence of a child playing in the sun. I chose this recipe because of the current season, Spring and my son. I know that my son will love this pinwheel-cheerful-looking cheesy bread and glad that my innocent child did. Do you?

Italian cheese and herb pinwheels

The Italian cheeses that I have used

Making pinwheel breads

Ready to bake these breads...

Happy to see these beautiful breads!

Happy too to enjoy these!

Being part the rule of this event, only the host of the chosen bake can include the recipe in her blog post and the host of this specific bake happens to be me.

And, so here's the recipe from the book, Coffee Cakes by Lou Seibert Pappas
(with my notes and modification in blue) 

Makes 2 large loaves
(Half of this recipe makes 6 smaller breads)

1 package active dry yeast (half: 1 tsp)

The dried parsley that I used

Pinch of sugar, plus 2 tbsp (half: 1 tbsp)
1 cup warm water (105° to 115°F) (half: 1/2 cup)
1 tsp salt (half: 1/2 tsp)
3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 
(half: 200g bread + 60g Italian "OO" flour)
4 large eggs
(half: 1 1/2 egg + 1/2 egg yolk for egg wash)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, or 8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
(half: 60g butter)
3/4 cup (3 ounces) grated romano or Parmesan cheese
(half: 50g Parmesan, partial finely grated and partial roughly crumbled)
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Asiago cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
(half: substitute Asiago and Monterey Jack with about 100g young Pecorino cheese, roughly crumbled)
1/2 cup mixed minced fresh Italian parsley, basil, chives, and oregano (half: for a milder taste, I've used about 1 tsp dried parsley)

Lightly oil 2 rimmed baking sheets.

In a large bowl, sprinkle the yeast and the pinch of sugar over the warm water. Stir to dissolve and let stand until foamy, about 10 mins.

Add 2 tbsp sugar, salt, and 1 cup of the flour; beat well with a wooden spoon or a heavy-duty electric mixer. Add 3 of the eggs, one at a time, and beat until smooth. Beat in the olive oil or butter and gradually add enough of the remaining 2 1/2 cups flour to make a soft dough. Turn out on a floured board. Knead until smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 mins. Place in an oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hrs.

Instead of using an electric mixer, I've placed all my ingredients (except the cheese and herbs) into my bread-maker and use "dough" setting to knead and prove the bread dough for 1 hr and keep the dough overnight in the fridge.

Turn out onto a floured board. Knead lightly until smooth, 1 or 2 mins, and divide in half (I have divided 6 portions for half amount of the recipe). Roll out each piece into a rectangle about 10 by 16 inches (or small rectangle shapes).

In a small bowl, beat the remaining egg and blend in the cheeses and herbs. - I didn't add any egg and herbs into my cheese filling. Spread cheese filling evenly over each dough rectangle. Roll each up firmly, starting from a long side. Place one loaf on each of the prepared pans, seam side down. With clean scissors, snip each loaf at 1 1/4 - inch intervals, cutting three-fourths of the way through the dough. Pull and twist each cut piece to lie flat on an alternate side (to form a shape of a pinwheel). Cover with a tea towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about l 1/2 hrs.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (or 160°C fan forced). Bake the loaves for 30 to 35 mins (25 mins for my small breads), or until they are golden brown and sound hollow when thumped. Let cool on the pans for 10 mins, then transfer from the pans to wire racks. Serve warm or at room temperature, cut into slices.

This post is linked to The Home Bakers. To see the other THB members' bakes, please go to THB website. 

THB with a retro look - Happy Baking!

Happy Baking
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