Jarlsberg Cheese Bread - Recipe

Good morning,

What makes this bread so special is the Norwegian Jarlsberg cheese from the small town of Jarlsberg, Norway.  Jarlsberg, near the mouth of Oslo Fjord is adjacent to Tønsberg, Norway, where my husband was born.  It's an old Viking area and Tønsberg is the oldest Viking town in Scandinavia.  In addition to its cheese, Jarlesberg is known for its horse racing.

Jarlsberg cheese is available in most grocery stores in the United States.  If you can't find it where you are, you can use Swiss cheese as a substitute, but don't tell my husband I told you that.  :)

So, with that little history about the cheese in this bread, I hope you'll try it and like it as much as we do.

Lois

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Jarlsberg Cheese Bread

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1 cup sourdough culture - If you don't have sourdough culture, use 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup water.  The dry yeast listed below will cause your bread to rise, but you won't have the sourdough flavor.

1 egg

2 T vegetable oil

1 t salt

2 t sugar

3 oz Jarlsberg cheese cut in small cubes

3 cups bread flour (or all purpose flour, but not self rising flour)

1 T dry yeast (I'm using this as a booster to the sourdough.  If you have plenty of time to wait for the natural sourdough to rise, you don't need the dry yeast.)
   
Yield: Two large loaves

Place all ingredients in large capacity bread machine in order given. Set on dough cycle and turn on.

The first dough cycle on most machines is about 40 minutes. Watch the action to be sure a dough ball forms at least 1/3 way through the cycle. Add a little flour or water if necessary to get the correct consistency.

When first dough cycle finished, remove from machine and place in a greased bowl for first rise. Place the bowl in a warm place such as the oven with the light, but no heat turned on. If you place it out on the counter in a warm place, cover with a damp cloth. This batch required about one and a half hours for the first rise. Keep in mind that the temperature in your kitchen and the mood of the yeast can change the time required for the dough to rise.

Spray 2 Italian loaf pans with vegetable oil. For this batch, I lined with aluminum foil, then sprayed the foil for ease in removing from pans after baking. Alternatively, spray two standard loaf pans.

After the first rise, knead by hand to remove bubbles, divide in half, form into loaves, and place in pans.

Place pans in oven once again - only the light on, no heat - for second rise. This second rise took about one and a half hours.

When ready to bake, remove the loaves from the oven while you preheat the oven to 350 F.

Make five angled slits across top of dough with knife.

Bake at 350 F for 45 minutes. The cheese cubes will melt into the bread.

Click here for more of my bread recipes.

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Fox Run 15 Inch x 4 Inch Italian Bread Pan
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