Cottony Toast Bread Recipe

How to make it

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• DIRECTION:
• Dissolve high grade flour in a bowl with water, bring to stove and heat up the mixture.
• Continue to stir to combine the mixture until form traces.
• Remove from heat and let it cool at room temperature (few hours) before use or
• Wrap mixture with plastic wrap and leave in refrigerator overnight.
• Notes:
• This Tangzhong starter can be kept for 1-2 days in refrigerator. However, discard once the mixture turns grayish.
• DOUGH MAKING METHOD: (HAND KNEADING METHOD)
• 1. Sieve flour into mixing bowl; add in the rest of ingredients A. However, avoid having the salt come in direct contact with the yeast which might dehydrate and kill the yeast.
• 2. Pour the ingredients B and use spatula to mix the dough until the dough was too sticky to move then start using hands to knead the dough in the mixing bowl.
• 3. Initially, you will experience very gluey dough, just continue to mangling with the dough, after 10 minutes it will gradually firm up.
• 4. Once the dough firm up, you can start to knead the dough on a clean, smooth surface that's at a comfortable height. I did not flour the surface, the more I knead the dough the less sticky the dough became.
• 5. It took me at least another 10-15 minutes to knead to transform the initial glob of gooey dough into smooth dough which ready for the final ingredient C.
• 6. Check to evaluate on the gluten development of the dough before adding in butter. The dough should be stretchy.
• 7. Place the dough back into mixing bowl and pour in melted butter, knead to combine.
• 8. Be prepared to deal with oily dough for another 10 minutes before the butter totally blend in.
• 9. Once the dough was not so oily, move back to kneading surface and continues to knead until forming shiny, smooth and elastic dough. (It took me about 15-20 minutes)
• 10. Test by pulling the dough into thin sheet. If dough not easily breaks off, the dough is ready for its first rises.
• 11. Once the dough double in size (Finger test – Poke finger into center of the dough and depression not rise up, dough fully proof ) punch it a few times to deflate it (using hand knuckles)
• 12. Divide dough into 5 equal portions and shape them into balls. Covered and leave them to rest 15 minutes.
• 13. Shape each into an oval shape. Place them into a greased loaf pan, covered with greased plastic wrap and leave dough to proof for 2nd time.
• 14. Preheat oven 180°C and bake for 30 minutes. Instead of using egg wash, I spray the bread dough with little water before I place the loaf pan into the center of the oven.
• 15. To avoid over burnt crust, after 15-20 minutes of baking, I use foil lightly cover the bread and continue to bake until the required time.
• Notes:
• For this recipe, I had revised down to 77% from original measurements. This was because I was running out of high grade flour and the amount of flour I had on hand was only 77% of the original recipe.