Fujisan Bread

Fujisan bread is a laminated dough that is basically a cross between a brioche and a croissant. This Japanese milk bread is slightly sweet and has a lot of flakey layers that are very satisfying to pull apart. Any laminated dough is a process, but Fujisan bread is more like a project. This dough will take you two days to make with about 6 hours total of resting and rising in between steps (plus an overnight nap in the fridge). If you've never made a laminated dough before, grab your rolling pin and I'll show you how to make this beautiful and tasty bread!

This is a Japanese recipe that I've adapted and changed to be a little less... demanding? The original recipes I found online were all the same and have the ingredients listed by weight. It is, of course, more precise to measure ingredients by weight, and in some ways easier too, but I converted everything into American measurements so you don't have to bust out the scale. You'll notice I've listed a few ingredients as X + X because adding the two measurements together made for an awkward and non-standard measurement amount, which is the opposite of what I was trying to do, so bear with me!

I've also made a few ingredient substitutions to keep the shopping list more manageable. I've broken the ingredients down by the steps to make the recipe a little easier to follow as well.

To make Fujisan bread, you will need:

For the Tangzhong:

1 tablespoon all purpose flour

3 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons water

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For the cake flour substitute:

3/4 cup all purpose flour, minus 1 tablespoon

1 tablespoon cornstarch

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To proof the yeast:

2 1/4 teaspoons rapid rise yeast

2 tablespoons warm water

2 tsp sugar

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For the bread:

3 cups bread flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 + 1/2 cup milk

2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

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For the butter sheet:

17 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 sticks + 1 1/2 tablespoons) (or 1 cup + 1 1/2 tablespoons)

Gallon sized ziplock bag

Ruler

Rolling pin

Tape

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Extra:

Sifter

Pizza cutter

Powdered sugar for dusting

I've never had authentic Japanese Fujisan bread, so I'm not sure how well my version measures up to professional versions, but it was a beautiful and tasty loaf, so even if it's not quite the same, it's still a great bread to make! Plus it's so pretty!

For the Tangzhong:

1 tablespoon all purpose flour

3 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons water

Tangzhong is a roux that is made with water and flour. According to King Arthur Flour, this process pre-gelatinizes the starches in the flour, and as a result they can absorb more liquid. It's said to help the bread stay fresh longer as well.

To make tangzhong, you will need 1 tablespoon of all purpose flour and 3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons of water. Whisk the ingredients in a small saucepan and heat over low until the mixture thickens. Keep the mixture moving with a whisk or a scraper until a pancake batter like consistency is reached. Let the mixture completely cool completely.

For the cake flour substitute:

3/4 cup all purpose flour, minus 1 tablespoon

1 tablespoon cornstarch

This recipe originally called for 3 different types of flour: all purpose flour, bread flour and cake flour! I didn't want to buy all the different types of flour, so I decided to make a cake flour substitute. Cake flour has less gluten than all purpose flour which gives baked goods like cake, a light and airy texture.

We can make a cake flour substitute by replacing a little of the all purpose flour with some cornstarch.

Measure out 3/4 cup of all purpose flour and remove one tablespoon. Replace the missing flour with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch. Sift the two together several times to fully incorporate.

To proof the yeast:

2 1/4 teaspoons rapid rise yeast

2 tablespoons warm water

2 tsp sugar

Mix 2 tablespoons of warm water, 2 teaspoon of sugar and 2 1/4 teaspoons of rapid rise yeast together in a bowl. Let this mixture sit while you make the rest of the bread, or until it is foamy (about 10 minutes).

TIP: Start working on the next step right away because it will take a bit for the dough to come together and the yeast will bloom while you're working on the dough.You don't want to over bloom the yeast.

For the bread:

3 cups bread flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 + 1/2 cup milk (the recipes I've seen call for whole milk but I used 2%)

2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, cut into tablespoons

+tangzhong from step 1

+cake flour substitute from step 2

+yeast mixture from step 3

Fit a stand mixer with a dough hook. Sift the bread flour and cake flour substitute together into the mixing bowl then add in 1/3 cup sugar and 1 tsp salt. Stir briefly to combine.

Next, add in the 1/3 cup + 1/2 cup milk, 2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk, the cooled tangzhong and the egg. Knead to combine. It will take a little while for the dough to come together and it might be a little dry looking. You may need to take the dough out and press it into the dry stuff at the bottom of your mixing bowl to help it come together a bit easier. It will take a bit of time to get the mixture to come together, so don't worry if you're looking at the dough and wondering if you need to add some more moisture, you don't need to. Just let the mixer do the work for you. Push the dough down on itself if it starts to ride up.

Once you can see that the dough is coming together, add in 1 tablespoon of butter in at a time. Let the mixer run between each of the three additions until the butter is fully incorporated before adding in the next chunk. You'll see some butter start to stick around the inside of the bowl as you do this, but let the dough knead until that cleans up and is fully incorporated into the dough.

When the butter is all incorporated, add in the yeast mixture and continue to knead until incorporated. This part will make you wonder if you missed a step because it is going to look kind of wet and messy. Don't worry, you're right on track! Let the mixer go and you will eventually end up with a soft, slightly sticky, dough.

Once the dough is ready, place it in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 2 hours. After the dough has doubled, place the bowl in the fridge overnight.

For the butter sheet:

17 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 sticks + 1 1/2 tablespoons) (or 1 cup + 1 1/2 tablespoon), slightly softened

Gallon sized ziplock bag

Ruler

Rolling pin

Tape

Laminated dough has a sheet of butter that is folded in the dough over and over again making lovely, flakey layers. In order to create this in our Fujisan bread, we'll need to make a flat sheet of butter. There are probably 100 ways to do this, but one way that worked pretty well for me was to use a gallon ziplock bag, a rolling pin, a ruler and some tape.

Start by cutting the top off the ziplock bag then cut along one side of the bag to the bottom.

Next, cut the butter into chunks, about tablespoon in size.

Line up the butter squares in the bag and use the rolling pin to flatten them towards one edge of the baggie. The end goal is to have a 9x9 sheet of butter so use a ruler (or other flat object like a bench scraper) and push the butter into a flat line at 9 inches.

One you have 9 inches one direction, use the rolling pin to roll the butter in the other direction. Use the ruler again to neaten up the top edge. Try to make the butter layer as even and square as possible.

Fold over the edges of the baggie and tape closed. Pop the butter square in the fridge overnight, putting it on cookie sheet will help keep it flat.

TIP: You can do the butter block on day 2, but I wanted to get all the prep work done day 1 so the timing is up to you.

The following morning, take the dough and the butter sheet out of the fridge.

If you made your butter sheet the previous day, let it sit out for a little while. You'll want the butter to bend without breaking but not be so soft that it flops if you were to hold it out straight. If you made it on day 2, put in the freezer for 10 minutes or so.

Lightly dust the counter with flour and roll the dough out so it is as wide as your butter sheet and twice as long. Place the butter sheet in the middle of the dough and make sure your dough will completely cover the butter. Once you have the dough sized, untape the edges and cut the cut along the side edge of the baggie. Pull the baggie off the top of the butter then flip the sheet face down onto the dough. Gently pull the rest of the baggie off the butter sheet.

Fold the ends of the dough into the middle to cover the butter sheet. Pinch to seal the edges.

This recipe calls for 3 laminations. To laminate the dough, roll it out to a rectangle that is about 8x16 inches. Try to keep the edges of the dough as square as possible. Use your hands to shape the dough to keep the integrity of your edges.

When the dough is rolled out, fold one end 1/3 of the way up, then fold the top down. The process is similar to folding a letter.

Cover with plastic wrap and park it in the fridge for 20 minutes.

We have made 9 layers.

After 20 minutes, remove the dough from the fridge. Lightly dust the counter with flour to keep it from sticking. Roll the dough to a 8x16 inch rectangle and repeat the folding process. Wrap in plastic wrap again and put it back in the fridge for another 20 minutes.

It's important to keep the dough in the fridge between laminations to keep the butter cold so it doesn't just melt into the dough.

We now have 27 layers.

Pull the dough out of the fridge and roll it into another rectangle. You can press your rolling pin into the dough gently to help roll out it out.

Once you have rolled out a rectangle again, use a pizza cutter (or a knife) to cut off all four edges of the dough. Keep those bits, you can use them too, they just won't be as nice of a bun (see photos below). Cut the dough into 1/2 inch strips.

We have 81 layers now!

Take two strips of the dough and twist them around each other to make a braid. Keep the edges facing up to show off those layers we worked so hard to build. Roll the braid into a bun and tuck the ends under.

You can get creative with your shapes or just roll a strip up like a cinnamon roll. Put your buns in a baking dish large enough to give the dough some space. Depending on what you make with your dough, you may need several vessels.

Cover everything with plastic wrap and let the dough rise on the counter until it has doubled in size, about 3 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit during the last half hour of proofing. Pop the buns into the oven and bake at 400 degrees f for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, drop the oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit and continue baking for another 20 minutes.

TIP: Peek at your buns periodically. If you start seeing them get too dark, cover them with a piece of aluminum foil to help prevent burning. This recipe does have quite a bit of sugar in it so it will brown pretty quickly.

Side note: your butter should look more like the photos in the previous step. I made this bread twice and you can see I did a much better job at the lamination one of those two times. The good news is that if your butter is a little lumpy like mine was the the first time around, the bread still turns out good :)

Once the buns have baked, remove from the oven and let the bread cool completely.

Fujisan bread is said to be named as such because it raises tall like Mt. Fuji and is covered in powdered sugar like snow on the mountain. Give your buns a liberal dusting of powdered sugar. Pulling the layers apart is so satisfying, and tasty!

TIP: Do not add powdered sugar on top of buns that aren't going to be eaten right away, for best results, add the powder sugar just before serving.

These buns will keep in an airtight container for about 4-5 days on the counter.

This bread is great as it is, but is also fantastic with a smear or dulce de leche, which I made with my Instant Pot to use up the leftover sweetened condensed milk.

This bread is impressive and all the work you put into it will result in something you can definitely be proud to show off! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!