posh vegemite and cheese scrolls
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"Buying bread from a man in Brussels
He was six foot four and full of muscle
I said, "Do you speak my language?"
He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich"
Land Down Under Colin Hay and Ron Strykert
We love vegemite in Australia, in all it's black, tarry and salty glory... so when a special edition 'Blend 17' was released this Christmas I not only bought a jar of it for myself, it became the stocking filler of the year.
From Port Melbourne in my home state 'Blend 17' and the beloved yellow and red standard spread.
Vegemite even has it's own street
I'm baking todays scrolls as snacks for the summer cricket season here, no not Jiminy but rather the game with bat, ball and stumps.
It's these guys... plus others that look the same as these guys.
The Guardian: Steve Smith goes through for a run during a Tom Curran over on day four at the MCG. Photograph: Jason O'Brien/PA
It's the fourth day of the fourth test today, it's pouring with rain and they have probably stopped play, maybe they have gone to bed. That's it for all my cricket knowledge except for the "being Australian" comes with compulsory (forced, against your will or at least mine) playing of said game at family get togethers.
Time for the little bit posh (or at least the vegemite is) scrolls that pair perfectly with beer to eat during the cricket or anytime you are craving a salty hit.
I've used a little wholemeal *spelt for extra flavour and differentiate from the bakery bought varieties here.
Posh Vegemite and Cheese Scrolls (more commonly known as cheesymite scrolls)
Ingredients
2 tsp instant yeast (7g sachet)
280ml of luke warm water (that's barely warm guys)
1 medium egg (room temperature and lightly beaten to break up yolk/white)
350g white bread flour
100g wholemeal spelt four
25g of caster sugar (superfine)
1/2 tsp salt
50g unsalted butter melted and cooled
Oil for covering rising dough
1 cup of *grated mature cheddar
optional extra 2/3 cup of grated cheese for the tops
1 and 1/2 to 2 tablespoons of *vegemite Blend 17 (some recipes on net use FIVE tablespoons of vegemite... much stronger Australians than I am!!)
Method
preheat oven to 220cel or 200cel fan-forced
Line two baking trays with non stick baking paper if making separate buns or line one tray if making pull apart buns.
Place the white bread flour, spelt flour, instant yeast and sugar in a bowl.
Whisk lightly to combine and then add salt, whisk again and then attach bowl to stand mixer...I'm using an electric mixer with dough hook attached to do the work, you can make by hand if preferred. With the mixer on low add the warm water slowly, then the beaten egg, then add the melted butter. You are just mixing to the rough dough stage, it will look like this.
Cover the bowl loosely and leave for 10 minutes, after ten minutes turn the mixer back on low (never over 2 on KitcheAid) and continue to knead for 7 minutes on 2 or until you have smooth ball of dough. Remove bowl from mixer and lightly oil the ball of dough keeping it in the bowl. Cover and leave until risen by half.
With oiled hands punch the dough down and bring together in the bowl before turning out on lightly floured surface.
Roll out to approx 42cm x 30 cm, spread on Vegemite leaving a the border free. The first thing I noticed about the Blend 17 Vegemite was that it is more spreadable, perfect for spreading on raw bread dough with hardly any pull. I used 2 tablespoons of vegemite. Yep, it's not the most attractive stuff.
Sprinkle on one cup of cheese.
Roll up dough tightly to produce a large scroll, cut slices ... I cut mine fairly thin around 2cm but you can go up to three for larger scrolls.
Most people will put them close together on tray and they will join together for a pull apart tray of scrolls... you can do that if you prefer, I wanted smaller separated scrolls so put them on two trays well spaced apart. For final rise lightly cover and put aside somewhere warm to they are doubled in size.
here a third through the final rise
Ok here comes the optional cheese choice ... you can take the scrolls out of the oven and 3-4 minutes before they have finished baking and add grated cheese. Cons: it covers the scroll pattern Pros: you can acutally taste the cheese, otherwise the vegemite has overwhelmed the flavour.
Bake for around 15 minutes for two or one tray... check then if golden brown and cooked... if using two trays you may have to swap trays around for the last few minutes.
Eat warm the same day.
The 2 tsp's of yeast ensures a no fail light interior texture.
Vegemite ownership was returned to Australia this year after Bega purchased the Vegemite brand from international giant Mondelez. Grated cheese in scrolls is a *strong vintage Bega cheddar.
I couldn't fit all the vegemite recipes today so there will be sweet and a Japanese inspired savoury in months to come... but first another Australian odd thing coming up soon that is sweet with a sauce everyone can use.
Happy Baking :)
*marmite, standard vegemite or other similar yeast extract can be used.
*substitute 50% reduced fat vintage cheddar if preferred.
*you can substitute plain wholemeal (whole wheat) flour for wholemeal spelt.