If you have been to Japan, you will no doubt have come across milk loaf bread, or Hokkaido milk bread. I get totally addicted every time I go to Japan and decided to finally give it a go at home.
It is very similar to brioche but much softer and fluffier – the secret to the soft and fluffy texture is the tangzhong starter roux. Not a difficult recipe but you do need patience.
INREDIENTS:Â
Tangzhong (starter)
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 3 tbsp milk
- 3 tbsp water
DoughÂ
- 140 ml warm milk
- 1 tbsp instant dried yeast
- 50g brown sugar
- 320g bread flour (if mixture is too sticky, add more 1 tbsp at a time)
- 60g melted butter
- 1 egg
- 50g brown sugar
- 1 tsp salt
METHOD:Â
Tangzhong (starter)
1. Combining flour, milk and water in a small pan, and whisk until smooth. Heat on a low heat for 3-5 minutes until the mixture thickens into a white paste (the whisk should leave lines on the bottom of the pan). Place in a bowl, leave to one side and cool to room temperature.
DoughÂ
2. Activate the dried yeast by adding dried yeast and 2 tbsp brown sugar to the warm milk. Whisk together and set aside for 5 minutes.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine the tangzhong, flour, butter, egg, brown sugar, salt and the activated dried yeast mixture together. Mix and knead until a smooth, elastic dough forms (you can do this either by hand or with a mixer).
4. Place the dough into a greased bowl and cover with a towel. Leave to rise for 1 hour, the dough should double in size. To test whether the dough has risen, poke the dough with your finger; if the dough doesn’t bounce back and hole stays there, it is ready.
5. Cut the dough into 4 equal sized pieces and roll them.
Tip for rolling: roll each piece into a rectangle with a rolling pin. Fold the long edge into thirds – fold the left side inwards towards the centre then fold the right side inwards toward the centre. Rotate 90 degrees and roll the dough from one end to the other.
6. Grease a loaf tin and place the rolled dough into the tin, make sure each piece if toughing each other. Don’t worry if the dough doesn’t go to the end, we will leave to one side and let it rise a second time.
7. Cover the loaf tin with a towel and leave to rise for 30 minutes – 1 hour (or until the dough fills the loaf tin).
8. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.
9. Brush top of dough with egg wash (1 egg and 1 tbsp water) or milk and bake for 25 minutes.
10. Remove loaf from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes. Transfer to a c. Allow the Remove the rolls from the oven. Leave it to rest for 5 minutes then transfer the loaf to a cooling rack.
Enjoy!
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