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Surprise bread

This recipe is for a large surprise bread so you can make six layers (48 small sandwiches if you divide each layer in 8), with three different flavours: smoked salmon/lime, smoked ham/butter, mayonnaise/chicken.

462,661 14.8/5 for 122 ratings

Last modified on: October 13^th 2010

For 1 Surprise bread, you will need:

1 2 kgs bread dough
2 6 slices smoked ham
3 6 slices smoked salmon
4 120 g butter
5 ½ lime
6 100 g Mayonnaise
7 200 g cooked chicken
Total weight: 3,255 grams

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Measures:

How long does it take?

Time required

Preparation	Resting	Cooking	Start to finish
1 hour 34 min.	4 hours	50 min.	6 hours 24 min.

At what time?

When will I finish if I start the recipe at a certain time?
When should I start for the recipe to be ready at a certain time?

Work this out...

Step by step recipe

Stage 1 - 10 min.

If you are making your own bread, proceed as for the new leavened bread or mixed seed bread (as in these photos).

Put the dough seam downwards, in a large deep round tin or mould, lined with baking parchment to facilitate turning out (unless you are using a non-stick mould).

The mould in this photo is 20 cm (8") diameter, 12 cm (4.5") high.

Stage 2 - 2 hours

After two hours, when the dough is well risen, bake a little longer than a normal loaf.

Stage 3 - 50 min.

Turn out and leave to cool on a wire rack.

The results are better if you use a loaf that's not too fresh, so make it the day before.

Stage 4 - 5 min.

On the day, cut the top off the loaf, just where it becomes rounded, to obtain the smallest possible lid, and the largest straight cylinder possible.

Stage 5 - 5 min.

With a bread knife (or other serrated knife - this is important), cut vertcally all around the inside of the loaf. Go round twice if necessry to make sure it's cut through from top to bottom.

Stage 6 - 5 min.

Insert the knife into the base of the loaf and cut using a sweeping, sawing movement.

The aim is to slice off the base horizontally to obtain a "perfect" crumb cylinder.

Stage 7 - 10 min.

Now comes the tricky moment: extracting the soft cylinder of bread intact from its ring of crust.

It should be fairly easy, if you have cut round well enough beforehand, to turn the loaf upside down and shake it gently.

You can also slip a metallic spatula or a pallette knife down the side and make small see-saw movements.

Don't get bad tempered or panic, but go at it gently, carefully, and stay zen...

Stage 8

If you succeed and manage this, what follows is only sandwiches!

Stage 9 - 3 min.

Cut the block of bread in half vertically.

Stage 10 - 5 min.

Then slice each half thinly (1/2 cm, 1/4" approx.).

You will need an even number of slices, and keep them in order, because they will be assembled in pairs, and it is much easier if they were cut next to each other with similar size and shape.

Then, begin the fillings:

Stage 11 - 5 min.

For smoked ham: prepare 3 pairs of ½ slices, and butter one of each pair.

Stage 12 - 5 min.

Put a slice of ham on the butter, and trim of any that overhangs the bread with scissors or a very sharp knife (it's easier with scissors ).

Stage 13 - 1 min.

Put the top slices on the sandwiches.

Stage 14 - 5 min.

And cut each one into 4.

Stage 15 - 5 min.

For smoked salmon: prepare 3 pairs of ½ slices, squeeze lime juice one slice of each pair, and butter the other.

Stage 16 - 5 min.

On the butter put a slice of smoked salmon, trim off any extra, and complete the sandwiches, then cut into 4.

Stage 17 - 5 min.

For chicken mayonnaise: prepare 3 pairs of ½ slices, and spread mayonnaise over each one.

Stage 18 - 5 min.

Arrange small pieces of cooked chicken on half, complete the sandwiches, and cut into 4.

Stage 19 - 5 min.

Begin the assembly of the surprise bread by making a layer of 8 sandwiches of one filling.

Stage 20 - 5 min.

Continue to fill with a different type of sandwich in each layer.

Stage 21 - 5 min.

Right to the top of the loaf.

Stage 22 - 2 hours

Then add the lid, and refrigerate for a few hours.

Remove and leave at room temperature one hour before serving, so that the sandwiches are not too cold (or they will have less flavour).

Remarks

For the bread you can use any kind you like, it's a matter of taste. Personally I prefer leavened bread or even better mixed seed bread (as in the photos), but you can also use sandwich bread, in which case replace 400g white flour with 100g rye flour + 300g whole-wheat flour.

For the fillings, you can vary ad infinitum. In this recipe there are 6 layers with 3 differents fillings, but it would be more interesting to have a different filling in each layer. Here are some more ideas:

A little cream cheese, pepper, salt and a very large handful of freshly chopped fresh herbs
Tuna rillettes
Hoummous
Taztikis
Roquefort mixed with a little butter and a few walnuts
Etc...

An idea to try: surprise bread with sweet fillings, for a children's party for example, with jams, honey, chocolate...

In this recipe each layer of the sandwiches is cut into 8, but if it's for an aperitif, it's wiser to cut them into 10 or 12 to makes smaller sandwiches, and avoid filling up your guests before the meal.p>If you'd like more information about making your own bread, look at this dedicated page.

Nutritional information

% are calculated relative to a Recommended Dietary Intake or RDI of 2000 k-calories or 8400 k-joules by day for a woman (change to a man).

How much will it cost?

For 1 Surprise bread : 24.93 €

Note : These prices are only approximate

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Source

Home made

More recipes?

This recipe uses (among others)

	Bread dough: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Baker's tuna and mushroom tart, Baker's chicken and potato tart, Special Parmesan baguettes, Spring Bread, Special Cheese and Walnut Sticks, ... All
	Cooked chicken: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Lemony chicken and radish salad, Gratin of chicken with rice and sautéed mushrooms, Quick chicken curry, Chicken and Avocado Salad, Crispy rolls with chicken and leek, ... All
	Butter: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Flaky chocolate brioche, Sautéed green vegetables, Fish fillet in express cooking envelope, Little lemon biscuits, Scrambled eggs with butter-fried bread and fresh spinach, ... All
	Mayonnaise: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Cocktail sauce, Eggs with mayonnaise, Piedmont salad, Mixed salad with curry mayo, Avocado with Sautéed Prawns , ... All

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Your 1 comments or questions on this recipe

Really useful. Very clear! Just what I wanted to make a Pain Surprise for my daughter's wedding. She lived in the Vendee when young, and this was what she loved. Thankyou.
Posted by Patricia june 18^th 2016 at 20:56 (n° 1)

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