Hokkaido Loaf

I first came across this recipe here.  Since then, I have read raving reviews about this recipe from various blogsites that I had to try it for myself. 

The result ? The addition of the whipping cream really did wonders to the texture of the bread.  The resulting loaf was so soft and fluffy.. almost cloud-like :). For a homemade bread with no addictive or improver, this is definitely as good as it gets.  However, there appear to be another method which promises a much softer and fluffier loaf, which is the water roux method.  That would be my next project.  Meanwhile, I am happy with this straight dough method.

This is a sweet loaf, and it has quite a strong milky taste due to the high content of milk and whipping cream.  I made a BLT (bacon-lettuce-tomato) sandwich with it as I like pairing sweet and savoury.  What more can I say? The BLT was sinfully yummy.  Even my colleague who doesn't normally eat meat has high praises for it :).

  

I halved the ingredients from the original recipe as I didn’t need such a big loaf.  Also, due to my extreme laziness, I kneaded, proofed and baked the loaf entirely in my bread machine using the sweet dough function.


You will need:
270 g bread flour
30 g cake flour
5 g instant yeast
15 g milk powder
40 g sugar
4 g salt
25 g egg
125 g fresh milk
75 g whipping cream (heavy cream)


Preparation:
Put all the ingredients in the pan of the bread machine according to the manufacturer's instructions.  Select the sweet dough function and let the machine complete its course.


To knead the dough by hand, simply put the flour and yeast in a bowl. Stir to combine.  Add the sugar and salt, and stir again.  Separately, whisk together the egg, milk and whipping cream.  Make a well in the centre of the flour. Pour the milk mixture into the well, and mix to make a soft, moist dough.


Place the dough onto a clean, lightly floured surface and, with lightly floured hands, knead for 15 - 25 minutes, until the dough is smooth, elastic and is no longer sticking to the surface and your hands.


Place the dough into a large, lightly oiled bowl. Cover with cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for about one hour, until the dough has doubled in size.


Remove the dough from the bowl and punch down to release the gas produced during the proofing stage.  Divide into 3 portions.  Round up and let rest for about 20 minutes.


Roll each dough out into a long oval shape and roll up swiss roll style.  Place the dough side by side in a 11 x 11 x 20cm loaf pan. Let the dough rise up to two quarters of the pan. Brush with egg wash or milk, if you wish. Bake in a preheated 170 deg Celsius oven for about 40 minutes.