Sweet Potato Cream Cheese Mochi Bread

How to make it

1. 1

   [Sweet potato cream cheese filling] Soften the room-temperature cream cheese until it's smooth.

2. 2

   Add the mashed sweet potato, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract and mix them in evenly.

3. 3

   Divide the finished cream cheese filling into 6 portions (about 65 g each), roll them into balls, and keep them refrigerated.

4. 4

   [Mochi] Put the glutinous rice flour, tapioca starch, sugar, and salt in a bowl and mix them.

5. 5

   Add the water (or milk), honey, and cooking oil and knead it together.

6. 6

   Move it to a microwave-safe container, cover it with cling film, and microwave it for 2 minutes.

7. 7

   Take it out, stir it with a spatula, and microwave it 1 minute 30 seconds more.

8. 8

   While it's still hot, take the dough out, dust your hands with tapioca starch, and divide it into 6 portions (about 37 g each), rolling each one round.

9. 9

   Keep the finished mochi in a plastic bag so it doesn't harden.

10. 10

    [Bread dough] Put the bread flour, tapioca starch, nonfat dry milk, sugar, and salt in a bowl and mix them.

11. 11

    Add the instant dry yeast, cold milk, and eggs and start kneading.

12. 12

    Once the dough comes together, add the room-temperature unsalted butter and knead at least 15 minutes until it turns smooth and elastic. A dough temperature around 27℃ is best.

13. 13

    Put the dough in a bowl, cover it with cling film, and let it through the 1st rise (27 to 28℃, about 60 minutes). Leave it until it swells to 2 times its size.

14. 14

    [Shaping] Press the dough from the 1st rise lightly to knock the gas out and divide it into 6 portions (about 100 g each).

15. 15

    Round each piece, then rest them for a 15-minute bench time.

16. 16

    Flatten each piece into a round and set the mochi and the sweet potato cream cheese filling in the center.

17. 17

    Pull the edges up, pinch them tightly shut, and shape each one into a smooth ball.

18. 18

    [2nd rise] Set the shaped dough on a baking sheet and let it through the 2nd rise (30℃, about 40 minutes). Leave it until it swells to about 1.5 times its size.

19. 19

    [Baking] Preheat the oven to 350°F (170°C).

20. 20

    Bake at 350°F (170°C) top heat and 350°F (170°C) bottom heat for 15 to 18 minutes. Move them straight onto a cooling rack once they're out.

21. 21

    [The point] Keep the bread skin thin and the filling generous — that's what brings out the chewy texture. Tapioca starch in the mochi keeps it from hardening in the refrigerator.

22. 22

    [Storage] 1 day at room temperature / 2 to 3 days refrigerated (10 seconds in the microwave before eating) / 2 weeks frozen (thaw it slowly, then warm it 10 seconds).

You can fix this

If it hasn't burned or stuck to the pan, it can still be fixed.

• If the batter or cream is stiff, add milk a little at a time; if it is loose, add flour the same way. Once it has set, it cannot be adjusted.