The simple white loaf is the most basic of bread but somehow I didn’t have much luck with it, I have tried other milky and white toast recipe but somehow they just failed. I need some white bread so nephew could have his ham + cheese sandwich for snack so I tried another recipe from 孟老师的100道面包。This one take a really long time since there is a starter dough that need 90 mins of fermentation. Followed by 30 mins of kneading, 60 mins of first proofing, 10 mins for resting and another 50 mins for the second proofing, finally 30 mins for baking. It took a whopping of 4.5 hrs to get the loaf ready!

I need to form the starter dough so I thought why not use my mixer to do the whole kneading process since the total bread flour is 280g which should be pretty manageable for the mixer. I’ve been using the breadmaker to do all the kneading this while cos I dunno if my mixer is powerful enough for dough kneading. Well, at the end of the kneading I would say the mixer does it fine and after half an hour of kneading, the dough did pass the window pane test! It’s actually the first time I see how the kneading process cos I’ve always put everything into the breadmaker, close the lid and attend to it when the time is up. I had to go out for dinner after the kneading and in order to slow down the proofing process, I cover the bowl with cling wrap and put it in the fridge! After 2 1/2 hrs, the dough has double the size and proof really very nicely!

The effort and long waiting time is definitely worth it. I had to cut 2 slices for nephew when the bread is cool and I have to say that the texture is comparable, or maybe softer than the Hokkaido Milky Loaf. For those who didn’t like milky taste, do not have whipping cream or milk readily at home, this is the recipe! I didn’t expect white loaf could really taste that good!

 

Simple White Loaf
(A) Starter :
220g Bread Flour
3g instant yeast
130g water

(B) Main Dough :
60g Bread Flour
15g caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
10g milk powder
40g water

(C) 15g butter

Method :
1. Mix starter ingredients together to form a dough, use low speed if you’re using a mixer.
2. Cover starter dough with cling wrap and leave it to ferment for 90 mins.
3. You should see small air holes on the dough when it’s ready.
4. Put starter dough and main dough ingredients in mixer to mix. Start with slow speed and increase to medium speed. Continue kneading till dough look smooth.
5. Add in butter using slow speed. Continue kneading process till dough pass window pane test and is not sticky.
6. Cover dough with cling wrap and leave it for 1st proofing for 60 mins.
7. Separate dough into 3 portions, leave it to rest for 10 mins (cover with cling wrap).
8. Roll dough to height of 20cm and wide 10cm. Roll up the dough and place inside loaf tin, always start by putting the dough in the middle followed by the sides.
9. Leave dough to proof in tin for 50 mins or about 90% filled
10. Bake at 190 degrees for 30 mins.
11. Remove bread from loaf tin immediately and leave it to cool completely before slicing.

Note :
- You should be able to get a 490g dough.
- If you’re not able to remove the lid when the baking time is up, it mean the bread is not completely bake, give another 3 mins of baking or till you could remove the lid.
- The bread remain soft and fluffy the next day too

 Recipe adapted from 孟老师的100道面包