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Hokkaido milk bread

Hokkaido milk bread

fluffy, cloud like milk bread, from two red bowls cook book
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Course Dessert, Side Dish, Snack

Ingredients
  

for the dough

  • 3/4 cup whole milk
  • 1 and a half tsp active dried yeast
  • 320 grams strong bread flour (2 and a half cups)
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp non fat dried milk powder optional or add condensed milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp butter softened

for the tangzhong

  • 2 tbsp bread flour
  • 6 tbsp water

Instructions
 

  • The night before, or at least two hours before baking
    (I have always made it the night before) : in a small sauce pan bring the milk just to the boil, 2 to 3 minutes, or heat to the boil in a microwave, in a microwave safe bowl. About one minute. This scalds the milk and kills any enzymes that might prevent the yeast from working. Set aside to cool slightly. Pour through a sieve when ready to use If you find a film has formed on the surface.
    Now make the tangzhong: in a small sauce pan add the water and flour and whisk until no lumps remain. Heat over a medium/low heat whisking constantly until the mixture resembles a roux like gel, about 2 minutes. As soon as lines begin to appear in the mixture when it is stirred, remove from the heat and transfer to a small clean bowl and allow to cool down to room temperature.
    Prepare the dough: When the milk is just warm and no longer hot, about 100f to 110f, sprinkle the yeast on top and let sit until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes.
    Meanwhile in the bowl of your stand mixer add the flour, salt, sugar and milk powder and mix. (Cynthia makes it by hand, but I prefer to use my mixer.
    If you are making It without a mixer then click the link below for her instructions on food52)Once the yeast has foamed, add the egg and tangzhong and whisk together until well combined.Turn your mixer on and pour in the liquid and start mixing with the dough hook. I found that I needed a bit more liquid than the half cup stated in the recipe list in the book (1/2 cup so i used about 3/4 cup, so at this point I added a little more milk until it became a nice kneadable dough. I later checked her recipe for this bread on food52 and that recipe list called for 1/4 cup heavy cream, so maybe that is why as this wasn’t on the ingredient list in the book.
    So add cream if you prefer rather than extra milk.
    After the dough has been mixing for two minutes add the butter in small chunks a bit at a time and making sure it is combined before you add the next chunk. Turn the mixer up and knead for another 3 to 5 minutes.
    Place the dough in a large bowl, so it has space to rise and cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge over night until it has doubled in size. (alternatively let is rise in a cool place for 2 hours)
    The next day: remove the dough from the fridge. when I do this over night method I like to leave the bowl on the work top for 30 minutes so it can get back to room temperature, but I’m not sure that step is essential. Shape the dough as desired.
    I rolled it out into a large rectangle and folded it in half and cut it into equal pieces and rolled it up and placed them in a lined baking tin. (see below) Cynthia suggests a tall 9×5 loaf pan. Leave to rise again for 1 hour, until doubled in size.Preheat the oven to 180c 350f.
    Mix an egg with a tsp of milk and brush the top of the loaf. Bake for 30/40 minutes until golden brown, or an instant read thermometer inserted into the middle reads 200f (at 30 minutes it was quite brown so I covered the top with some foil so it didn’t burn.