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Makweti Marmite And Cheese Bread Recipe

There is nothing quite like the smell of freshly baked bread. Actually, we lie. Eating freshly baked bread probably tops the smell, but both are heavenly. This home-baked bread is a Makweti favourite, made with a local ingredient that South African kids grow up on: Marmite. Add loads of cheese and you have a recipe for a dreamy snack or the perfect accompaniment for a meal. 

Make it at home and let us know what you think of the finished product.

Ingredients

  • 175ml full cream milk
  • 1 tsp caster sugar
  • 100g butter, plus extra for greasing
  • 4 tsp Marmite or Bovril
  • 500g strong white bread flour
  • 1 x 7g sachet fast-action dried yeast
  • 4 medium eggs, beaten
  • 250g mature cheddar, grated coarsely
  • Black pepper

Method

  • Warm the milk in a saucepan. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar, butter and 2 teaspoons of Marmite, until the butter has melted. Cool to lukewarm
  • Sift the flour and ½ teaspoon salt into a large bowl, stir in the yeast and make a well in the centre
  • Pour the beaten eggs and milk mixture into the well and mix quickly to a soft dough
  • Knead for 10-15 minutes by hand or 5-7 minutes in a food mixer with a dough hook on a low speed, until elastic. The dough should be very soft and quite sticky
  • Place the dough in a lightly-oiled bowl, cover and leave to rise until doubled in size. This should take about 1½ hours
  • For a richer flavour and easier to handle dough, allow the dough to rise overnight in the fridge, after an initial 45 minutes of rising time at room temperature
  • You’ll need to bring it back to room temperature for at least an hour before proceeding
  • Knock the dough back and sprinkle over half of the grated cheddar, season well with black pepper and knead for a minute or so until smooth and the cheese is well dispersed
  • Break the dough into 19 equally-sized pieces (about 50g each), pinch the edges of each piece together together and roll to create a smooth ball
  • Lightly brush a 25-26cm springform cake tin with a little melted butter and arrange the balls of dough in concentric circles around the tin. If you don’t have a tin of this size, arrange the dough balls in a 26cm circle drawn on baking paper, on a baking tray
  • Sprinkle half of the remaining cheese in the crevices between the balls of dough, taking care not to sprinkle any on top, and set aside to prove for 1½-2 hours, until the dough is well-risen and feels soft and pillowy
  • Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6
  • Bake the bread for 30 minutes, then remove from the oven
  • Mix the remaining Marmite with 2 teaspoons of just-boiled water and brush the mixture over the bread to glaze
  • Sprinkle over the remaining cheese and return to the oven for 10 minutes or until the bread is golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean
  • Serve warm to enjoy the melty ooziness of the cheese

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