New Bread for New Year

New Year comes and I’m still cooking and baking as always. Many people have new goals, included me. I want to bake and cook something new, something I never did before. I want to read more; there are so many books in my shelf that never be touched. I want my blog to have more variety.

After all the party gone, I sit in my room, reading and searching for what to do, make, bake or cook. In fact, I’m always excited for all the thing that I make in the kitchen, a cake, a cookies, bread or etc. I have an imagination about what they will look or taste like, hope and prayer that all the new recipe will turn out to be god send (I know not everyone has this crazy thought like me).

So, I start with something that I usually buy from the bakery (it’s not hard to make but just can’t help bring it home after see this cute bread). Melon Bread or Melon-pan is a sweet little bread that has a soft bread and biscuit crust, good contrast, you can enjoy it in the morning or for a coffee break, this one won’t disappointed, I promise.

Melon Bread

Makes 8

Bread
200 g	Bread Flour (plus more for work surface)
1⅓ tsp	Instant dried yeast
2 tbsp	Sugar
30 g	Unsalted butter (soft)
120 ml	whole milk
1	egg yolk
¼ tsp	Salt
Cookie
200 g	Cake Flour (plus more for work surface)
¼ tsp	Baking powder
¼ tsp	Salt
40 g	Sugar
50 g	Unsalted butter
1	egg
	1 bowl of sugar (for dipping top of the bread)

Make the bread:

Put half of the flour and yeast in a bowl, whisk to combine, add the sugar and salt whisk again. Pour the egg yolk and milk into the bowl, use large spoon to mix everything together. Put all the remaining flour in, and knead briefly to bring all the ingredients together. Take the dough out of the bowl and knead, you will see the dough will be elastic after about 5 minutes, add the butter at that time, knead for another 5 minutes or until the dough is soft and pliable.

Put the dough into a light buttered bowl. Let the dough rise in a warm place until double in size (can be 1 hour or 1 hour and a half check often depend on the temperature).

Meanwhile make the cookie, sift flour, baking powder and salt together and set aside. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and pale, add egg, and beat to combine. Then add the flour mixture and fold together. Roll the dough into a cylinder shape, and cover with plastic, put in the fridge for 25 minutes.

Take the dough out of the bowl and cut the dough into eight pieces, roll into a ball and let them rest for 10 minutes. Take the cookie dough out of the fridge and cut into eight pieces. Roll each one of the cookie dough into a thin circle large enough to cover the top of the bread dough. Cover the bread dough with the cookie dough. Dip the top of the bread in to the sugar bowl and mark the top of the bread by using the back of the knife.

Place the dough on the oven sheet. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Let the dough rise until almost double in size. Bake for 10 minutes.