Hokkaido Milk Bread

This milk bread is extra soft due to the use of something called Tangzhong. It's simply flour cooked with water to help develop the gluten which helps with the elasticity and the softness of the bread.

For the Tangzhong:

- 20g of plain flour

- 100g of water

For the dough:

- 350g of plain flour

- 100g of tangzhong (the one you made earlier)

- 55g of sugar

- 7g of salt

- 1 large egg

- 110g of milk

- 10g of milk powder (optional but adds a richer taste)

- 5g of dry yeast or 15g of fresh yeast

- 30g of butter

- Place the flour and the water in a small pan

- Heat slowly while whisking constantly (at first it might look like it will never thicken but be careful it happens really quickly)

- Stop the heat as soon as it forms a thick paste

- Let it cool and place in the fridge for the night or at least for 6 hours

Place the ingredients in the bowl fo your stand mixer as follows :

- Yeast

- Warm milk

- Flour

- Salt

- Sugar

- Milk powder

- Egg

- Soften butter

- Tangzhong

Knead for 10 minutes at the lowest speed. The dough will be very sticky, don't worry.

Cover with a plastic wrap or a wet towel and place it in warm place to rise until the dough doubled in size. It should take 1h30 to 3h.

Place your dough on a flat surface and divide in 4 equal parts.

Spread one ball in a long rectangular shape

Fold the bottom of the rectangle back to the centre

Fold the top of the rectangle back to the centre

Turn the dough of a quarter to the right

Spread again in a long rectangular shape

Loosely roll the dough, starting from the bottom and place in a cake mold

Repeat for the 3 other balls

Place it again in a warm place (without cover) for about an hour

Preheat your oven at 150°C (300°F)

Brush your bread with milk

Place your bread in the oven and cook for 50 minutes

Let it rest for about 10 minutes before cutting it open

The bread is extremly soft. You can keep it soft for a day or two by placing it in a closed freezer bag