Baking | Cheese Garlic Rosemary Eggless Brioche … goodness of cheese & bread

“Life is great. Cheese makes it better.”
Avery Aames

Cheese Garlic Rosemary Eggless Brioche is everything you might want in bread, then some more. Yes, with the weather changing, or rather showing some sign of cooling down, I’m back to bread baking quite a bit. For those who know me, I love a good stuffed bread. Give me a French Fougasse that is bursting with the goodness of cheese, walnuts and garlic and I promise I will not complain. Actually, for the baker in me, the process of making the bread from scratch is seriously therapeutic. The end result always worth waiting for. After all, how much wrong can you go with bread?If you’ve been baking bread for a few years like me, you’ll know that simple is best. Yeast that works, good quality ingredients, flavours that pair well, a handsome dose of some delicious cheese, some nuts. What else? Oh yes, fresh herbs too. Always a winning combination and such a crowd pleaser. And if you know me, you’ll know of my love for dairy and that any eggy flavours don’t work with me, especially with breads.

So I thought I’d do a brioche style enriched dough, but chose to skip the eggs. Because eggs give volume to baking and bread, so the absence means that this dough does’t rise much. Yet stuffing it with all things good makes it better than a normal brioche. I used an absolutely delicious Red Cheddar from Godrej Nature‘s Basket for the brioche. The gourmet cheese store offers you the option of having the cheese grated, sliced or cubed if required. I had it grated, and that I found very handy, a tiny yet welcome luxury!The bread was gone before I knew it. With so many fabulous things within, eating the Cheese Garlic Rosemary Eggless Brioche was literally like nibbling a cheeseboard! Serve pears, apples, grapes, olives, cold cuts on the side, maybe a nice smoked cheese too. The bread takes care of the rest. The rolling up is quite simple, the slicing through and twirling a tad more complex. If you aren’t up to playing with your dough, plaiting it etc like I enjoy doing, you can always just cut the roll into 1″ circles, bake them flat in a square pan.

The bread is on the indulgent side, a little healthier since I added some wholewheat flour as well. Also better than most breads as it is a virtual mini meal in itself. Since it’s rolled thin and well stuffed,the carbs come down, and with it a little guilt too. It’s a good bread for friends, to gift, to nibble. It’s also entirely customisable to your palette. Use any variety of cheese you like. My next one is going to be a smoked cheese, sundried tomato and olive brioche.

Use stuffing that you enjoy, let your imagination lead you. I’m thinking pizza sauce, salami, olives, mozzarella … and roll! Also a herbed garlic chili oil, feta, walnuts, olive, smoked cheese … and roll! I’m thinking many good things, combinations that work for a bread like this. The Cheese Garlic Rosemary Eggless Brioche makes a great make ahead snack for the evening, sliced thin like biscotti, also a very welcome tiffin filler.

Just make sure the cheese is good, the ingredients are fresh. The rest will fall into place!

Cheese Garlic Rosemary Eggless Brioche

With so many fabulous things within, eating the Cheese Garlic Rosemary Eggless Brioche is literally like nibbling a cheeseboard! Serve pears, apples, grapes, olives, cold cuts on the side, maybe a nice smoked cheese too. The bread takes care of the rest.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 50 minutes mins

Course Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine Italian

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

  

Yeast starter

• 1/4 cup plain flour
• 1/2 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp yeast
• 1/4 cup water

Enriched eggless dough

• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/2 cup wholewheat flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 65 g clarified butter room temperature
• 2 tbsp milk {as required}

Filling

• 1 tsp roasted red chili flakes
• 2 tsp dried Italian herbs
• 2 cloves garlic, grated fine
• 1 cup grated mature cheddar 150g
• 1/2 cup toasted walnuts chopped
• Few sprigs rosemary chopped

Instructions

 

Yeast starter

• Place ingredients in a small bowl, stir. Leave to rest for 5 minutes to activate the yeast

Enriched eggless dough

• Place yeast starter and all ingredients except milk in bowl of food processor. Knead to a soft smooth dough, adding a tbsp or two of milk as required.
• Place in a bowl covered with cling wrap in a warm place to rise, approximately 2 hours OR leave to slow rise in the fridge overnight. I prefer an overnight rise since the chilled dough is easier to roll out.

Cheese Garlic Rosemary Eggless Brioche

• In a small bowl, stir together extra virgin olive oil, chili, herbs and garlic.
• Roll out dough to a rectangle, 12" X 8". Spread the seasoned oil all over with a pastry brush.
• Sprinkle over with chopped walnuts,then grated cheese and rosemary.
• Roll up the longer edge to form a tight Swiss roll. Gently seal the open end and transfer to parchment lined baking sheet.
• With a sharp knife, cut right through the centre, lengthwise, leaving one end attached. Gently plait the two, and tuck in the ends. Leave to rise 30 mins while you preheat the oven.
• Bake at 180C for 30 minutes.