Mascarpone Sourdough with Raspberries

Need a way to use up that extra mascarpone lying around? I did. In the midst of a lot of cheese making I noticed that I had ended up with a lot of cheese. Yep. I just noticed it. I'm the sort who doesn't really take things like "I'm only feeding me" into consideration when I spend a whole weekend in the kitchen having fun. So what do I do with anything extra I have lying around that I've run out of ideas for? I put it in bread. Everything is good baked into bread. Especially cheese. Especially rich, creamy, borderline sweet cheeses. Like mascarpone.

I shaped this dough along with raspberries into little rolls and tucked them into cute little fluted tins which made cute little fluted rolls with raspberries in them. My fruity little small breads are my entry into Bread Baking Day 12: Small Breads. This month is being hosted by Aparna at My Diverse Kitchen.

Need a way to use up that extra mascarpone bread dough lying around? I did. I only have eight tins and that only used up about half of the dough, so the rest went into a soufflé dish to be treated a little differently. Topped with the rest of the mascarpone, berries and coarse sugar, it made a wonderful little loaf. Directions for shaping both can be found below.

The bread itself turned out rich, creamy and borderline sweet. Just like the cheese. Really good. It's best the day it's made, but if you have leftovers the next day, toast it. It's awesome toasted.


Mascarpone Sourdough
Yield: 16 small rolls, 2 small loafs or one regular sized loaf

200 grams bread flour
50 grams whole milk
1 large egg
80 grams mascarpone cheese (even better if it's homemade!)
1 tsp orange blossom water
1/2 tsp lemon zest
100 grams ripe 80% hydration starter
5 grams salt

Mixing and kneading
In a large bowl combine the starter, milk, egg, cheese, orange blossom water and zest. Add flour and salt and mix to combine. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about six minutes. This dough is sticky, by the end of kneading it should have subsided to the tacky end of things, it won't necessarily be smooth.

Fermentation
In an oiled bowl, cover and ferment until about one and a half times its original size. Three to five hours perhaps, mine took four.

Shaping
For the rolls with raspberries: On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick and rectangular in shape, stop and wait periodically if it needs to relax. With a bench knife, cut the dough into strips going along the length of the rectangle. Cut each strip in half, you want strips about 1 1/2 x 5 inches or so. Roll up a few raspberries into each strip and place the roll in a buttered tin either face up or on its side with the seam down. I did both and liked the seam side down a little better, they looked neater.
For two mini soufflé loaves with toppings: Divide the dough in half and shape each peice into a ball. Rest for about five minutes, covered. Butter two medium sized soufflé dishes. Flatten out the balls and press them into the bottom of the dishes, pushing the edges up the sides a little so that there is a depression at the bottom. The dough should only come about a quarter up the sides of the dish. Spoon a couple tablespoons of mascarpone into the depression and press five or six raspberries into the cheese.
For a loaf: Roll up and throw into a loaf pan.

Proofing
Until doubled in size, mine took four hours.

Baking
Brush with egg, sprinkle with coarse sugar and bake, on a sheet pan, in a 400 degree oven for 25 minutes. If you're doing the souffle loaves, leave off the egg glaze and increase baking time to 30 minutes.

Is it Friday where you are? Have a gander at some internet bread with Yeastspotting at Wild Yeast.