sourdough wool roll bread with black sesame // 黑芝麻毛線球麵包

           

 

       

This naturally leavened wool roll bread is soft, flavorful, and has a delightful texture due to the shaping method. Make sure your sourdough starter is active and at its peak before using. The black sesame filling is delicious here, but you can choose to forgo the filling or choose to add a different sweet or savory filling. 

Note: Rise times are based on my winter kitchen, where room temp is about 67 degrees. Based on your starter, humidity, and kitchen temp, the rise times may be different.

 

Adapted from Apron

Dough

220g fed sourdough starter, 100% hydration

200g bread flour

5g salt (about 1 tsp)

30g sugar

1 egg (about 55g)

70ml heavy cream

 

Black sesame filling

¼ cup ground black sesame seeds

2 tbsp neutral oil

2-4 tbsp granulated sugar, to taste (you can add more sugar if you like a sweeter filling)

 

Instructions

1. Mix all dough ingredients together and knead until smooth and the dough passes the windowpane test.
2. Let rise for 4-5 hours at room temperature (adjust rise time based on the temperature of your kitchen)
3. Make the filling: add ground sesame, oil, and sugar to a pan and cook on medium low heat until fragrant and evenly combined. The filling may look crumbly, which is fine. Place in a bowl to cool. 
4. After the first rise, punch down and divide dough into 5 portions, about 115g per portion. Shape each portion into a ball, cover, and let rest for 15 minutes.
5. Grease an 8 x 3 inch round cake pan.
6. Roll a ball of dough out into an oval. 
7. Using a bench scraper or sharp knife, cut the top half of the dough into thin strips lengthwise, stopping halfway down and keeping the strips attached to the rest of the dough.  
8. Place 1/5 of the sesame filling on the half that is not cut into strips. It’s ok if the filling extends a little over to the cut side.
9. With the filling side closest to you, fold the sides up about 1 cm to contain the filling. Then begin rolling the dough starting from the bottom of the filled side, roll away from you and up through the cut strips. 
10. Place the finished roll in the prepared cake pan.
11. Repeat with the rest of the dough balls, and place against the perimeter of the pan so the dough forms a ring, hollow in the middle.
12. Cover and let rise for 2-3 hours, until doubled in size. Brush top with melted butter.
13. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes, or until the center of the bread registers 190 degrees F on a thermometer. 
14. Let cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!