Pan de Jamón • filled Christmas bread from Venezuela ⋆ SOULFOOD.nl

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Pan de Jamón is a bread in which the filling is baked. You make it with ham, raisins, olives and prunes. The pan de jamón originally comes from Venezuela, but it has also been 'established' in Curaçao, Aruba and Bonaire for many years.

This festive bread is very popular in the Antilles. We traditionally eat it every Christmas. The name is actually just a Spanish translation of 'bread with ham' (but of course it sounds much less fun!) . The filling is baked with this bread as a filling. So you only have to cut it at the table.

Of course we will be working with this delicious bread again this year. That means kneading, rolling out, investing and baking… and then: merry Christmas and enjoy!

This recipe is for 1 loaf, enough to cut 15 slices.

Ingredients

80 ml water
2 tbsp sugar
7 gr / 1 sachet of instant yeast
500 gr wheat flour
2 eggs
150 ml of whole milk
4 tbsp butter, melted
5 slices of bacon
350 gr ham, sliced
100 gr olives with allspice
75 gr raisins
1 tbsp molasses (by default you can also use syrup)
75 g prunes

Prefer a video?

In the video below you can see in less than a minute how Jonathan and I make the pan de jamón:

Preparation pan de jamón

Dissolve the sugar in the water. Add the yeast and let it stand together for 10 minutes, until it starts to foam.

Then add the wheat flour, one egg and the milk to the mixture. Then knead it into a smooth (bread) dough. Do you knead the dough with a machine? Then 5 minutes of kneading is sufficient. If you knead it by hand, it is best to hold for 15 minutes.

When the dough for the pan de jamón is well kneaded, you can put it back in the bowl and cover it. Let the dough rise for an hour in a warm place. The dough should have doubled in volume after rising.

Now preheat the oven to 200°C. (convection oven: 190°C).

Then roll out the dough until it is about 1 cm thick. Melt the butter and brush the rolled out dough with it.

Fill the pan with the jamon

Spread the bacon, ham, raisins, plums and olives evenly over the dough. Roll the dough loosely and fold the ends under the roll. Make sure the last piece closes properly and roll the 'seam' (ie where the bread closes) under the bread. Then place it on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

Place the pan of jamón in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes until almost done.

Then beat the other egg together with the molasses or syrup. Spread this mixture over the bread and bake the bread for another 10 minutes. Then let the pan of the jamón cool down for at least an hour and finally cut it into slices. Enjoy your dinner!