Ube Cheese Bread–Pandesal, Cheese Roll and with Ube Filling
Soft and fluffy ube cheese bread made 3 delicious ways! Choose from Pandesal, Cheese Roll, and my favorite, with sweet and delicious ube filling! The ube filling is a simplified version of ube halaya that is made from scratch with an option to use fresh ube purple yam or sweet purple potato.
cheddar cheese slicesknown as "singles" for sandwich
Cheez Wiz spreadsee note 6
softened butter, white sugar and grated cheesefor the bread roll
Instructions
Ube Filling
Peel and slice ube or sweet purple potato into chunks. Place in a small pot and fill with water just enough to cover. Boil until soft and tender. Drain well. Save 1/2 cup of the purple water and set aside until temperature becomes lukewarm (temp 40c/105f).
Place the ube in a bowl. Mash with a fork or potato masher until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients for the filling. Stir until combined. Taste and add more sugar based on preference. Divide the mixture–1/2 cup for the dough and save the rest for the filling.
Make the Dough
In a medium-size bowl, combine lukewarm water, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and yeast. Stir until completely dissolved. Let it stand for 5 to 10mins until yeast begins to foam.
Meanwhile, in the bowl of your stand mixer, combine flour, brown sugar, and salt. Mix thoroughly.
Add milk, yeast mixture and eggs to the dry ingredients. Stir with a spatula. Spread chunks of butter and 1/2 cup ube filling on top. Add the ube extract and food color, if using. Attach the dough hook and turn the stand mixer on to the lowest speed and beat for 2 minutes.
Increase the speed to medium, add additional flour as necessary. Continue beating for 5 to 6 minutes. The dough will be sticky because of the ube. Be careful not to add too much flour. I added about a total of 4 tablespoons more flour.
Rise # 1 Warm rise or cold rise
Spray oil on the sides of the bowl then form dough into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm spot for 1 hour until it doubles in size. To make ahead, do a cold rise by placing the dough in the refrigerator. The dough will slowly double in size the next day.
Rise #2 Divide the rolls
Line tray with parchment paper. Grease with oil.
Remove the plastic wrap. Oil your hands and punch the dough down. Transfer onto a floured surface. Divide the dough into 20 to 22 portions and shape into a ball. Place on a tray and cover with a towel to prevent the dough from drying. For an evenly sized dough, use a kitchen scale. Mine was about 45g each. Adjust based on your preference.
Variation 1: Ube Cheese Pandesal (Watch the video, it's helpful)
Shape the dough into a disc until it's wide enough to wrap the sliced cheese or the Cheez Wiz spread (see notes and video for preparation). Place the cheese in the middle. Gather the edges and seal the bun tightly then roll on a surface to smoothen.
For double filling, scoop 1 tbsp ube jam and place it in the center of the sliced cheese. Gather the edges to seal. Place the cheese in the middle of the dough and seal tightly.
Lay it on breadcrumbs. Shake off excess then place inside the baking tray. Repeat with all the other portions. Make sure that the dough is arranged two inches apart. Cover with a towel or cloth and let it rise for 45 mins to 1 hour.
Variation 2: Cheese Bread Roll with Filling (Watch the video, it's helpful)
Using a rolling pin dusted with flour, flatten each portion into an oval shape. Fold the sliced cheese then place it in the middle. Spread 1 tablespoon of the ube jam, then roll the dough into a log. Lightly pinch the sides to seal.
Place seal side down in the baking tray. Make sure that the dough is arranged 2 inches apart. Cover with a towel or cloth and let it rise for 45mins to 1 hour.
Bake and Serve
Preheat oven at 170c/325f, 18 minutes before the dough finishes rising. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes until the bread is cooked through.
Remove buns from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack. Note that the cheese inside will be hot so wait for 10 minutes before serving.
To serve the cheese bread roll: Spread softened butter on top and sprinkle with sugar and cheese. This is optional but highly recommended!
Video
Notes
Ube/ Sweet Purple Potato - the amount is good for 12 pcs of bread plus the 1/2 cup for the dough. Add more if you need to fill 22 pcs. Increase the amount of condensed milk, milk, sugar, and butter. Just make sure the jam's consistency is smooth and thick and not thin or loose.
Bread flour - can be substituted with all-purpose flour if not available. Replaced in the same amount as mentioned in the recipe.
Yeast - use instant yeast or active dry. Follow the same proofing instructions.
Ube extract and purple food color - if you don’t mind having pale ube-colored bread and are not comfortable with using artificial ingredients, you can definitely skip these two.
The best way to manage the sticky dough is to keep on oiling your hands and to keep on "lightly" dusting the surface including the rolling pin with flour. I highly suggest using cooking oil spray for convenience.
To easily wrap Cheez Wiz spread - scoop portions with a spoon and place in a tray lined with parchment paper. Freeze for 10 minutes. The amount depends on how cheesy you want your bread to be. I use 1 tbsp.
Storage/Shelf-life: You can store leftover buns in the fridge for 3 days in an air-tight container.