Cheese, bacon and carbs. A combination I have loved my entire life. Living here in Switzerland, bacon and cheese are my favourite raclette combination and is the ultimate rösti topping. Growing up in Australia, grabbing a pack of fresh out of the oven cheese and bacon bread rolls from the local supermarket was a highlight of my childhood. So it came as quite a surprise that it took me this long to combine cheese and bacon with my favourite swiss loaf, the Zopf. Actually, it took a baking project with my six-year-old to figure out this winning combination.
You see, each Monday afternoon this year, you will find us in the kitchen baking up a storm. A way for us to spend one on one time together, without work/chores, before she starts school in August. Sometimes it’s an old favourite, sometimes something new, but always Little Z declares she wants to put her little creative spin on whatever we bake. One week we tried adding marshmallows to our tried and tested cookie recipe (semi-successful). Another, she added extra cinnamon to a new chocolate chip recipe. And on this Monday, it was decided we would experiment with my Zopf recipe.
Her flavours were quickly decided, chocolate chips in one and cherry jam in another. We kept one plain, but the fourth loaf was up to me. Feeling a little nostalgic, I decided it had to be something from my childhood. Vegemite was my first thought, or an ode to fairy-bread was another, but I landed on recreating my favourite combination: Cheese and Bacon.
Cheese and Bacon Zopf took a little experimentation. Should the bacon be pre-cooked or not (lighting fried), and how to cut the cheese (thin slices won hands down), but all that tasty testing was worth it and has resulted in my favourite Swiss/Australia combination to date. Bitting into this loaf takes me back to Saturday grocery store runs to grab a bag of fresh-out-of-the-oven cheese and bacon rolls of my childhood.
How to enjoy cheese and bacon Zopf? Sliced while still juuuust warm is heavenly, but it is also good toasted with a smearing of butter. Or why not go all out as I did growing up and turn slightly warm slices into the ultimate sandwich, leftover roast chicken, avocado, mayo, grated carrots and more bacon and cheese if you dare.
Recipes for Cheese and Bacon Zopf
Ingredients:
- 500g white flour (In Switzelrand also look out for Zopf flour which is a mixture of 90% white flour and 10% spelt)
- 1/2 tablespoon of salt
- 1/2 tablespoon of sugar
- 20g fresh yeast (or 7g of dried yeast)
- 300ml milk at room temperature
- 85g butter, cut into small pieces
- 150g (around about) of diced bacon (50g reserved for the top)
- 100g thinly sliced cheese that melts well like gruyere or raclette
- For the Egg Wash: 1 egg and a drop or two of water.
Method:
1. In a small bowl add sugar, 100 ml of milk and yeast. Mix and set aside in a warm spot until the mixture starts to bubble, about 10 or so minutes. You can skip this part and move straight onto step 2, but this is where I believe the flavour starts to develop.
2. While the yeast is doing its thing, gently fry off the bacon pieces. No need to add any oil to the pan, just let it gently fry in its own fats. Drain on a paper towel and set aside to cool.
3. In a separate large mixing bowl mix all of your flour and salt, followed by the activated yeast mixture. You can add the rest of the milk (500 ml) here too. Start to mix with a spatular or in your kitchen machine with the dough hook.
4. Now it is time to add your butter. If not using a machine, take it out of the bowl now and start kneading, the dough will be very sticky, and you will question my methods, but keep on kneading. The texture will soon become silky smooth.
5. Keep on kneading. The secret to beautiful airy bread is not to skimp on the kneading. I know it is annoying, but trust me, the longer you knead, the better the texture. Start with 10 minutes before cutting down the middle to see how many bubbles have formed. I usually knead for 15 minutes in total.
6. Add in 100g of the bacon and continue to knead until it is well distributed.
7. This is where I should tell you to let your dough rise in a clean, lightly oiled bowl, but honestly, I never do it. I just pop the ball of dough back in the bowl I mixed it in and drape over a damp tea towel. Let the dough sit in a warm place, by a window, a radiator or even in a cold oven with just the light turned on works well, for about 2 hours until doubled in size.
8. It’s time to create your Zopf. Divide dough into two equal parts and lay one strand horizontally and one strand vertically and start braiding (see the braiding video in this post). Place the loaf on a baking-paper-lined tray and lightly glaze using the egg wash (1 egg and a few drops of water), then pop it into a cold oven and turn the oven on to 200 C (fan-forced) and set your timer for approx 35 minutes.
9. With about 10 minutes to go, quickly open the oven and layer on your cheese. Wait a few minutes for it to start melting and sprinkle on some raw bacon pieces (the melting helps the bacon pieces to stick).
9. As the rich butter smell wafts through your home, you will know the Zopf is ready. But to be sure, at the 35-minute mark check the colouring, mine usually needs 5 minutes longer. The bread should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Do your best to wait at least 30 minutes for the bread to cool before cutting into it.
