Korean garlic rolls with cream cheese filling

Method

1. For the bread rolls, whisk the milk, beer and sugar in a small bowl, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Add the dry yeast and whisk well to dissolve. Allow to sit for a few minutes until it’s bubbling.
2. Sift the flour into a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the yeast mixture to the bowl, followed by the beaten egg. Mix on low speed or knead by hand until the dough starts to come together.
3. Increase the speed to medium and knead for 5 minutes, then add the soft butter and salt. Knead for another 15 minutes until the dough is smooth and passes the windowpane test: pinch off a small piece and stretch it between two fingers. The dough should stretch to create a film in the middle without breaking. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and leave in a warm place to rise until doubled in size – about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
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4. Divide the dough into 4. Tuck and roll each piece into a smooth, tight ball, then put on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Loosely cover with a clean damp tea towel and leave to prove for 45 minutes – the balls should nearly double in size.
5. Heat the oven to 180° fan/gas 6. Uncover the proved dough and transfer the tray to the oven. Bake for 20 minutes or until the rolls are golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Keep the paper-lined baking tray to use later (see Make Ahead).
6. For the filling, mix together the cream cheese, cream, comté, parmesan, salt and icing sugar (and black garlic and the extra comté if you like it extra cheesy). Spoon the filling into a piping bag and set aside.
7. In a medium bowl, whisk the ingredients for the garlic butter sauce (and mustard, if using). Keep in a warm place – the mix should be runny and liquid.
8. Heat the oven to 160°C fan/gas 4. Cut the rolls two-thirds of the way through to form 6 wedges. The bread should stay together but open out to resemble a giant blooming garlic clove as it bakes.
9. Generously pipe cream cheese filling in between each wedge. Repeat for all the rolls, saving a quarter of the filling to use later.
10. Dunk the filled rolls into the garlic butter sauce to coat them. Make sure the sauce gets in between the wedges and sinks into the bread. Repeat with all the rolls, then arrange on the paper-lined baking tray. Pipe the remaining cream cheese filling in the centre of each bread roll and sprinkle with parmesan.
11. Bake the rolls for 7 minutes, then switch to a medium grill for 2-3 minutes until the bread is golden and crispy (keep an eye on the rolls as they can burn easily). Serve immediately.