During this pandemic where a lockdown is still on going, there’s a ‘checklist’ of baked goods that came out from it, from cinnamon rolls to shokupan, from dalgona coffee to levain style chocolate chip cookies. But nevertheless, I think the year 2020 is definitely a year to go down in the history books of being the most abnormal, keeping us by the edge of our set. Putting us in the most uncomfortable position and adapting to the new norm of social.
This seems to be a hit that came out from Covid-19 in terms of baked goods. It may be a hit already in the streets of Korea as it is an actual thing in Korea. But because of travel restrictions, there’s literally no way we can try the actual stuff. Looking at some of the videos, it may seem like a very rich, decadent, buttery, garlicy bread with the addition of creamy cream cheese filling, bringing it to the next level.
If you are using store bought bread, use a large burger bur or a plain bun that’s about fist size. If using a smaller bun, bake it with a shorter time.
Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Bread
Ingredients
Bread
- 110 g milk, warm
- 30 g caster sugar
- 4 g instant yeast
- 250 g bread flour / high protein flour
- 3 g salt
- 1 egg
- 20 g butter, softened
Cream Cheese Filling
- 200 g cream cheese, softened
- 50 ml whipping cream
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
Garlic Butter Sauce
- 130 g butter, softened
- 50 g garlic, finely minced
- 30 g condensed milk
- 1 egg
- 20 g honey
- 3 g dried parsley
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
Make bread
- You may skip this step if you are using store-bought bread.
- Warm milk to lukewarm (38c). Add sugar and yeast in, stir gently and set aside
- In a mixing bowl, add bread flour, salt, and egg. Pour in the warm milk with yeast mixture in. Mix with a kitchen aid mixer on 2 minutes till its combined.
- Add in butter and continue kneading for 10-12 minutes in medium speed.
- Once it's done, shape into a ball and let it rise in a bowl, covered in a warm place for about 1 hour or till doubled in size.
- When it's ready, punch and de-gas the dough, divide into 4 and shape to rough balls and set aside, covered and let it rest for 10 minutes.
- When ready, flatten the dough and fold into a ball. Shape by tightening the dough into a smooth surface. Set on a baking tray, covered and let it proof for 45 minutes or till double in size.
- 15 minutes before ready, preheat oven to 175C. Bake bread at 175C for 20 minutes. Remove when it's baked and let it cool. You may leave the bread overnight and use it for the garlic bread, or when the bread has cooled down.
Make cream cheese filling
- Use a spatula and beat cream cheese till it's lump free. Add in cream, mix till its well combined. Add some salt and pepper. Fill into a piping bag.
Make garlic butter sauce
- Melt butter in a bowl or pan. Pour into a bowl big enough to dip the bread in later.
- Mix in minced garlic, condensed milk, egg, honey and dried parsley. It will come into a homogeneous mixture.
Assembly
- Preheat oven to 165 c.
- Slice the bread into 6 sections but leave the bottom part of the bread intact, don't cut all the way through.
- Pipe in the cream cheese filling in the cavity.
- Dip the bread into the garlic butter sauce, make sure it's covered inside the bread as well.
- The garlic butter sauce is enough for 4 so make sure you use all of it.
- Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or till golden brown. Serve warm.
