メロンパン Melon Bread
A very popular Japanese sweet bread called メロンパン、meaning melon bread. Every bakery and every convenience store will have one available for you in Japan and they are our old time favourite for young and old.
You will need to prepare 2 types of doughs, one for bread and one for the cookie topping on top. But it only requires very basic ingredients and once you learn how to make it you will find it very simple and easy.
The original recipe was given by my Japanese friend who lives near us and she makes the most beautiful melon bread in the UK as far as I know! You can buy those bread from Japanese bakeries or similar ones from Chinese bakeries but it's convenient to be able to make one when you get the sudden crave like I often do. So here we are, thanks to her, we have the recipe available for anyone who misses eating melon bread outside Japan like me or for those who loves to try the Japanese sweet bread.
how to
Preparing Main Dough by BreadMaker
Insert all the ingredients in the breadmaker including the yeast in the right compartment. Set the breadmaker setting to "dough" (or other depending on the machine) and prepare the dough until the 1st proving is completed.
*While the bread dough is being prepared, make the cookie dough.
Cookie Dough
- Cut the butter into approximately 1cm cubes and soften to room temperature (or you can soften in the microwave 30 - 35 seconds) until the butter becomes soft.
- Once the butter is soft, add sugar and combine well with the butter. Add beaten eggs small amount at a time and mix well.
- Shift the flour and baking powder into the wet ingredients and mix roughly until the dough can be removed onto a lightly floured (in order to avoid the dough sticking on) surface. Knead well until the dough is smooth.
- Divide the dough into 8 and make round balls. Place the balls on a tray and keep them in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
- While the cookie dough is resting in the freezer, take out the bread dough and divide them into 8 round shapes. Put caster sugar in a small ball and prepare the tray with a baking sheet for baking in the oven.
Assembling Melon Bread
- Take out the cookie dough from the freezer and flatten each ball into 10cm2 round shapes on the floured surface.
- Cover the cookie dough onto bread dough and press lightly. Once covered, dip and press the top part onto caster sugar. Once the dough is coated with the sugar, use a knife or spatula to make lines on top. Place them on baking tray once shaped. *Make sure you leave good space between each bread as they will expand about twice as big after second proving.
Final Proving and Baking
- Prove the dough in a warm place (approx 27℃) for about 1 hour or until the size is doubled. Make sure the bread is not dried out while proving.
- Bake the bread for about 10 to 12 minutes in a preheated oven of 170℃ (or 165℃ in a fan oven)*, until the bottom of the bread is slightly browned.
- Take the bread out of the oven and place on the rack to lose the heat.
