As you already know, I am all about flavor when it comes to baked goods. I do try to make things look appealing but it is not my primary target. If I can make something tasty and pretty at the same time that will definitely be high up on my regular baking list. This wool roll bread has become one of those. I was dying to make one ever since I saw this being going viral on the internet. I don’t always follow trends but this was just too good not to try!
Being an avid sourdough fan, I created a sourdough version of the fun bread. I based my recipe on the dough that I used for my ‘Sourdough Brioche Frangipane Tarts’ but tweaked it a bit to get the exact dough consistency I liked. A regular brioche dough, I thought, was way too rich and soft for it to be meddled with.
Dough flavors
Even though I use a Matcha dough to demonstrate, keep in mind that you can use any flavor for the dough. I am a big fan of just plain too. Following are some suggestions and how to go about introducing the flavor;
- Chocolate – 2-3 tbsp. cocoa powder ( may need to add extra water)
- Strawberry (any berry) – replace some milk (2-3tbsp) with blended strawberry. You can use powders or flavors for color
- Matcha – 1 tbsp. Matcha powder
- Coffee – replace some milk(3 tbsp) with room temperature brewed coffee
- Blue pea – this is for color only. Steep about 50g of dried flowers in 100g water and replace 1/4 cups milk with that water
Experiment with more flavors and colors. If you are using essence or flavors, just add a few drops (always taste) and you wouldn’t have to worry about adjusting the recipe.
Filling
You can make this bread without any filling. Then simply slice and serve it with a spread or butter and jam. Adding a filling to the center will make it more interesting. You can use any filling as long as it won’t go bad as this bread sits longer for proofing. This is why I didn’t use custard (which is commonly used in this type of bread) in my Matcha bread. Following are some of the filling ideas;
Dried fruit – sultana, raisins, cranberry (you can soak them to make them soft)
Custard – use in yeasted bread only (not recommended for sourdough bread)
Sesame paste – Tahini + brown sugar mix (this is what I use in my Matcha bread but I added some cream cheese too)
Jam – any jam you like
Nutella – either homemade or store bought
cinnamon sugar – simply mix sugar and cinnamon. Spread butter and sprinkle the mixture
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Have all the ingredients ready.
I’m using Matcha for this batch, but feel free to use any flavor you like (or go plain)
Mix everything except butter and knead until a dough is development. Add soft butter 1 tbsp. at a time and knead (using the dough hook) until incorporated.
Make sure to scrape the bowl while doing this.
Once all the butter is added, let the dough rest for about 15 minutes. And then slap and fold until a smooth surface is achieved. place the smooth dough in a bowl, cover and leave in a warm area to bulk
May take 5-6 hours @ 26°C
Once the dough has bulked (almost doubled in size), punch is down and round it up back to a mall tight dough
Place in the same bowl, cover tightly and place in the fridge for slow fermentation.
You can skip this step and move on to shaping and baking on the same day!
Let the cold dough sit at room temperature for about an hour and divide the dough into 5 pieces
Mold (shape) the dough balls until smooth, cover and let them rest for about 15-20 minutes.
In the meantime prepare the filling, if you are using any
Important
Line the base of the baking pan with parchment.
I use a 12 cup angel food cake pan. You can use any round deep cake pan of 20cm(8″) diameter.
Take one dough piece at a time, roll out to a slightly rectangular shape (slightly larger than your palm).
Using a bench scraper, cut one end to create dough stripes
Place some filling, you can spread it or leave it like that.
Start rolling the dough piece starting from the uncut end, like shown in the picture.
Be careful not to touch the center(top) as it may disturb the gentle dough strings. Lift carefully using both hands and place in the prepared cake tin
proofed wool roll 
baked wool roll
Slightly curve the dough so that it will take the shape of the tin when proofed. Continue with the rest f the dough pieces.
Once the are all tightly packed, in the tin, cover and leave in a warm place until doubled in size. Or fully proofed.
May take 4-5 hours @ 26°C
Towards the end of the proofing, preheat the oven to 350°F
Brush the top with milk and bake for about 30-40 minutes or until the top is lightly browned
You can use egg wash if you like
Once baked, leave to cool for about 10-15 minutes in the pan. then removed the bread and place on a wire rack to cool completely
Enjoy with a cup of tea!
Ingredients
For the starter
- 10g starter
- 60g flour
- 40g water
For the dough
- 320g all purpose flour
- 100g starter (or all of the above starter is fine too)
- 70g sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 80ml milk
- 2 medium eggs
- 80g soft salted butter
- 1 tbsp. Matcha powder(replace with your flavor or skip for plain)
For tahini filling (if using)
- 2 tbsp. Tahini
- 1/4 cup dark/light brown sugar
- 2-3 tbsp. of softened ream cheese
Instructions
- Make the starter 8-10 hours prior to making the dough (overnight if ideal)
- To make the dough, place everything except butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix using the dough hook. If the dough is too dry, add 1-2 tbsp. of water/milk
- Scrape the bowl and keep mixing until every thing comes together. Knead for about a minute or two until a dough is developed
- Add butter 1 tbsp. at a time and knead to incorporate
- Once all the butter is added the dough will be very soft (somewhat sticky)
- Leave to rest for about 15-20 minutes
- Then take the dough out and use slap and fold to form a smooth dough ball
- Place the dough in a bowl, cover and leave in a warm area to bulk (almost doubled in size). May take 5-6 hours at 26°C
- Once bulked, punch down the dough and place in the same bowl, cover tightly and place in the fridge overnight for the slow fermentation. Or skip this step and move on to the next and bake on the same day
- Take the cold dough out and leave it for about 1 hours until slightly softened
- Divide the dough into 5 and shape until smooth
- Cover and leave to rest for about 20-30 minutes
- Prepare a baking pan ( 10 cup angel food pan or a 20cm cake tin) by lining the bottom with a parchment. Make the filling if you are using.
- Then take each dough piece and shape in to a wool roll. Please check the step by step guide and pictures of the post above
- Once done, place on the prepared pan, cover and leave in a warm area to proofed or until doubled in size. The dough will fill the tin. This may take 4-5 hours at 26°C
- Preheat the oven to 350°F
- Brush the proofed bread with milk (or egg wash) and place in the preheated oven. Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until the top is lightly browned
- Leave in the pan to cool slightly and then, demold and place the bread on a wire rack to cool completely
- Enjoy with a cup of tea/cofee
