Bacon, Isle of Mull cheddar and Thornbridge beer bread rolls

I don't normally run commercial recipes but this comes from an enterprising new cookbook from a brewery I really like called Thornbridge with recipes from chef Richard Smith.

It's called Craft Union and includes a useful section on matching beer with food.

If you've never baked with beer before you'll be amazed how good the results are. You could, of course, substitute another pale ale for the Kipling.

Makes approx. 30 small rolls

Ingredients

Bread

500g granary flour

500g white bread flour

10g salt

50g fresh baker’s yeast

200ml Thornbridge Kipling beer (or other pale ale) plus a little for brushing

350ml water

140g smoked bacon, diced and cooked

100g Isle of Mull (or other) cheddar cheese, finely grated

Glaze

25ml Thornbridge Kipling beer (or other pale ale)

25g sugar

Method

For the bread

Mix both the flours and yeast in a bowl. Add the beer and water and bring together. Cover with a wet cloth and leave to prove somewhere warm until it doubles in size.

Cut the dough in half and roll it out into a rectangle 5mm thick. Add the cheese, bacon and salt and knead. Brush the rectangle with beer and roll up like a Swiss roll.

Cut the roll into portions 3cm thick and place them on greaseproof paper on a tray

Now prove again for about 30 minutes somewhere warm until they double in size.

Pre-heat the oven to 210°C.

When the bread has proved, put the tray into the oven and cook for roughly ten minutes or until golden brown (when tapped on the bottom the rolls should make a hollow sound)

Turn the rolls onto a wire rack until cool

For the glaze

Pour the remaining beer into a pan with the sugar. Warm until the sugar is dissolved then reduce it on a medium heat until a syrup is formed. Brush the glaze over the rolls.

Warm the bread in the oven for a couple of minutes before eating.

This recipe comes from Craft Union: Matching Beer with Food. You can buy the book from the Thornbridge shop for £14.95.

 

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