Sweet Potato Cream Cheese Wheat Bread

This is another entry for the NC Sweet Potato contest that I referred to earlier when I made the sweet potato pandesal and pandelimon. I would like to thank sweetbytes for this contest and giving us a boost to explore the possibilities of sweet potatoes.

This bread is inspired by the common Filipino bakery item "pan de pula" with the bread enveloping a red filling. Although the original recipe for pan de pula makes use of stale bread for the filling that is made like a pudding, to which a few drops of red coloring is added for interesting contrast against the bread that wraps around it, I used cream cheese for this recipe to make it special. I also made use of some whole wheat flour for the bread. The sweet potatoes help create a very tender wheat bread. Upon baking, this bread is then sliced into individual servings. The leftover is kept in the fridge. Reheating takes about 15 seconds for each slice. I love it as snack or to accompany my evening/morning coffee. My husband said it was quite good. My sons liked it as well, especially upon coming home from school.

I experimented with two types of "presentation" of the bread, one with slashes and one with fork tine piercings for vent. I like the slashed one better as far as appearance goes.

FILLING:
Ingredients:
8-oz cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
1-2 cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup sweet potato
1 egg

Instructions:
Beat together all ingredients until well-blended. Refrigerate until ready to use.

DOUGH:
Ingredients:

Makes 2 loaves

3 to 3-1 / 2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 / 4 cup sugar
2 envelopes FLEISCHMANN’S RapidRise Yeast
2 teaspoons salt
1-1 / 2 cups water
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 / 4 cup mashed boiled sweet potato

egg wash made of 1 egg and 1 tbsp milk

Instructions:

In a large bowl, combine 1 cup all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, undissolved yeast, and salt. Heat water, butter and mashed potato until very warm (120o to 130oF). Gradually add to flour mixture. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. Cover; let rest 10 minutes.

Divide dough in half. Roll each half to 8 x 12-inch oval. Divide filling into two and spread on the dough, either in the form of a log or spread flat, sparing the edges for the dough to seal (filling is quite runny, so do not put too much and allow about 3-4 inches for dough edge sealing. Turn seam side down onto greased baking sheet and let rise for about 40 minutes to an hour in a warm, draft-free place. Using a sharp blade, make slashes (or use fork tines) to create vents. Let rise for another 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat up the oven to 400 deg F. Brush dough with eggwash. Bake 15-20 minutes or until done. Remove from sheet. Cool on wire rack.