Rose Bouquet With Ham and Cheese

This is a very simple recipe and just like all the simple recipes I love, it's so delicious!
The only negative thing about it is the time because it needs to rest for a couple of hours...but preparing it is actually much faster so you can just make it and do something else while you let it rest! :)

The dough is very similar to a bread dough so you probably can imagine already how good it is, and the smell during the baking is amazing!
The classic filling is ham and cheese but you can adjust it to your own taste and try endless combinations.
Everybody will love it!

And let's not forget about its look...a bouquet of roses will impress your guests!

• 400gr (3.2 cups) all-purpose flour
• 140ml (a little over 1/2 cup) milk
• 12gr (0.42 oz) yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 50ml (3.38 tbsp) olive oil
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp salt

For the filling:

• ham
• cheese (any kind you like)

This is a salty recipe, but you probably noticed that there is a teaspoon of salt in the list of ingredients.
This is because (in case you don't know already) the yeast is alive and needs to "eat" something sweet like sugar or honey to be able to grow. If you put the yeast in contact with salt it will most probably die and the rising of your dough won't happen.

For this reason, let's start dipping the yeast in the milk with a tsp of sugar.
Use your hands to make sure that the yeast completely melts in the milk.

Now put your flour in a bowl and add the milk/yeast mixture that you've prepared and mix everything a little.
I used a mixer but you can use your hands for the whole recipe if you don't have one.

We have to prepare another mixture now:

put your egg in a bowl, add the olive oil and 2 tsp of salt.
Mix everything with a fork and add it to the rest of the ingredients.

Continue to mix everything together until you obtain a homogeneous dough.

Let your dough rest for a couple of hours, leaving it in a covered bowl to make sure that it will rise.

After your dough has leavened, spread it on a table using a rolling pin, until it becomes a big rectangle, about 5mm thick (0.19 inches).

Lay your slices of ham and cheese on the rectangle and begin to roll it starting from one of the longest sides.
Try not to make the roll too tight.

Prepare a round cake pan, I used a springfoam pan, spreading some oil or putting parchment paper in it.

Now you have to cut your roll in many thick sections, about 3/4cm thick (1.30 inches).
These sections will be the roses of your bouquet :)
Place them in the pan trying to keep them a little distant from each other because they are going to grow some more.

Let them rest for other 45 minutes.

Your roses are almost ready!

Spread some milk over the top, and bake at 180C (350F) for about 35 minutes.

It's ready!!!
Doesn't it look tasty?? :D Enjoy!