Victorian Milk Bread (revisited) for #Twelve Loaves

Bakingyummies
Here's Wishing all my readers a Very Happy New Year! Hope you all have a                             great year ahead and may all your wishes come true :)


It would only be fitting that the first post of this new year be about the first meal of the day - Breakfast! (but who stops you to enjoy a slice of it any part of the day?) Nowadays, I am on a recipe revisit spree, more so for breads. The next on my 're-do' list was Victorian Milk Bread and so when this month's theme for Twelve Loaves came up as 'Keep It Simple', I knew this bread recipe would fit the bill. Perfectly.




This bread is a complete no fuss one. There are just two basic areas where it differs from the White Sandwich Loaf. First being that it uses milk instead of water in the dough and second, the dough is shaped into 'S' before the final proofing.


Because milk is used to knead the dough, you will find the texture of the baked bread to be very smooth and creamy. I used the Tangzhong method this time but honestly, I was skeptical about it working since in my recent revisited bread recipes, the Tangzhong method has been used with water but not milk. However, even with milk it works just as fine. Experiment successful! :)

Recipe Source: Bread by Eric Treuille and Ursula Ferrigno

Makes one medium size loaf

Ingredients
500 grams / 17 ounces strong white flour or bread flour
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1+1/2 teaspoon salt
1+1/2 teaspoon instant yeast (if the weather is cold, use 1+3/4 teaspoon instant yeast instead)
400 ml / 13.5 ounces whole / semi skimmed milk at room temperature
1 small egg + 1 tablespoon milk for the egg glaze

Method
For the Milk roux
Take out about 25 grams / 1 ounce bread flour from the 500 grams / 17 ounces flour in a small saucepan. Add 125 grams / 4.5fl ounces milk from the total milk weight and add it to the flour. Mix with a hand held whisk or spatula until there are no lumps. Cook the mixture on a low flame until you get a paste consistency or when ribbons form in the pan when you hold the whisk or spatula above the mixture. Let the mixture cool.

For the Dough
Meanwhile in the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together rest of the bread flour, salt and sugar. Add the yeast and mix. Now add the cooled milk roux and rest of the milk. Knead the dough using the dough hook, first on the minimum speed until the dough starts to form and then on speed 1 until the right stage is achieved (which would take about 7 to 10 mins). You can knead the dough by hand as well, but it's going to take a long time.

To understand if you've reached the right windowpane stage, once you stretch the dough and it forms a windowpane, try to poke your finger through it (start checking after about 10 mins of kneading). The dough should not tear at this point. However, when you poke your finger real hard, you get a hole whose edges should be smooth and not rough. If the edges are rough, knead the dough a little longer. If you can easily poke your finger through the hole, then it means that you have over kneaded the dough. Over kneading isn't going to a pose a major problem. Just that the texture of the bread might be a little rough. Don't worry, it takes some time to get this right. Keep trying. If you want to look at the photos and understand, please click here.

Lightly oil a large bowl and rotate the dough in the bowl so as to coat the dough with oil. Cover the bowl with a cling film and let it rest at room temperature until the dough has risen noticeably but is not double in size. Punch back the dough, cover with the same cling film again and keep in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, remove the dough from the fridge and the bowl and knead for few seconds. Spray the dough with oil and cover with a cling film and let rest for 1 hour to remove the chill.

Press the dough into a thin rectangle and roll it lightly like a swiss roll and let rest for 10 minutes. If the dough keeps coming back and doesn't stretch when you press it, let it rest for 20 minutes and then repeat. Remember to sprinkle flour on the counter throughout the process if the dough is too sticky to handle.

NOTE: In case you have trouble following the instructions below, you can click on my earlier Victorian Milk Bread post that includes photos of the instructions.

Lightly grease a 9 * 5 inches loaf pan. Pat the dough on the counter to form a rectangle. Now fold one-third of the dough till the center of the dough(like you fold a letter) and press the edges of the folded part against the dough to seal the fold. Now fold again and seal the edges with your thumb or the edge of your hand. It should now look like a cylinder. Now hold both the ends of the dough with your hands. Stretch the dough a little at a time till it is around 10 inches long (if the dough does not get stretched and keeps coming back to its original size, leave it for 5-10 mins more and then try again). Place it on the counter and press in the middle with the edge of your hand along the length of the dough.

Now fold one end of the dough to meet the other and seal the fold with your thumb or the edge of your hand. Rock and roll the dough on the counter to stretch it starting from the middle and moving towards the end to form a long rope about 16 inches long and 3 inches wide. Shape the dough in a 'S' shape to fit in the loaf tin.

Cover loosely with a cling film and prove until it has doubled in size. Beat the egg and the milk together in a small bowl. Brush the loaf with the egg wash taking care that the egg mixture does not drip down the sides else the loaf might stick to the tin and would be difficult to remove after baking. Do not cover the dough. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.

Just before you place the bread in the oven, brush it again with the egg glaze. Bake until the bread sounds hollow when tapped at the bottom or the internal temperature of the bread when checked with a food thermometer shows at least 95 degrees C.

Immediately remove the bread from the pan and place on a wire rack to cool completely. Slice and enjoy your home made milk bread.
#Twelve Loaves is a monthly bread baking party that was created by Lora from Cake Duchess and runs smoothly with the support of Paula from Vintage Kitchen Notes and Renee from Magnolia Days. Have a look at what the other talented bread bakers have made:

We enjoyed a delicious month of December with our Holiday Breads.  January #TwelveLoaves is here and we are going to Keep it Simple!

If you’d like to add your bread to the collection with the Linky Tool this month, here’s what you need to do!
1. When you post your Twelve Loaves bread on your blog, make sure that you mention the Twelve Loaves challenge in your blog post; this helps us to get more members as well as share everyone's posts. Please make sure that your bread is inspired by the theme!
2. Please link your post to the linky tool at the bottom of my blog. It must be a bread baked to the Twelve Loaves theme.
3. Have your Twelve Loaves bread that you baked this January 1, 2014, and posted on your blog by January 31, 2014. 

26 comments

  1. How great that you chose a recipe that the dough is shaped into an "S" for our Simple challenge. Have a very happy and prosperous 2014!

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    1. You have a very Happy and prosperous 2014 too Renee :)

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  2. Your milk loaf looks like the PERFECT way to start the day, Deepti. The texture looks marvelous...and I wish I had a few slices for my breakfast! Happy New Year!

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    1. Thank you Liz and a very Happy New Year to you as well!

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  3. Hi Deepti! I just love the looks of your bread. The interior crumb looks wonderful. I'd love to have a nice fat slice, toasted, right now!
    I hope you have a wonderful new year! Cheers :)
    Renee - Kudos Kitchen

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    1. Thanks Renee. I wish you a great year ahead too :)

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  4. Very interesting. I want to try it to learn to give the dough the 'S' shape. I've never tried it before.
    Happy New Year Twelve Loaves mate!

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    1. Yeah you should, it's very easy. I so many times make other breads and give them this shape. Such fun!

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  5. Deepti! wow, I love this. . I had to look up the Tangzhong method. . didn't know what that was! so fabulous!! love this! Happy New Year and cheers to you and your family!

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    1. Thank you. Even I've stumbled upon this method just recently and I'm so glad I did :) A Very Happy New Year to you and your family!

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  6. I feel like I've said this on everybody's post today but it's true for yours as well, Deepti: What a beautiful loaf! The perfect breakfast or anytime snack.

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    1. He He that's so true..I end up saying the same thing on everybody's post. Though I want to write something different for everybody, but all you guys bake such wonderful breads, that I just end up saying how beautiful they are!

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  7. Gorgeous loaf and love that it is formed into an "S", Deepti. Super fun for our Keep it Simple challenge. Thanks for being a part of our Twelve Loaves group. Happy New Year!!

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    1. Pleasure is all mine Lora. Happy New Year to you too!

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  8. Really interesting shaping technique! I have used the Tangzhong method with milk, and the results are amazing. Such soft bread. Your loaf is beautiful and tempting! Happy New Year!

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    1. This is the first time that I've used the Tangzhong method with milk, otherwise it has always been with water but seriously... such amazing results! Happy New Year to you too!

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  9. Deepti....this is such a gorgeous bread! What a lovely texture! It would be the perfect addition to ANY part of my day! Hope you have a wonderfully happy and healthy new year! : )

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    1. Thank you so much Anne. I hope you and your family have a happy and healthy new year as well :)

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  10. I would certainly be very happy to have a slice, or two of this bread to start off my day. I'm so glad I joined this group because I can tell I am going to learn so much about bread-baking from everyone.
    Wishing you all the best for 2014!

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    1. Same here Felice, I'm so happy to have joined this group..feels very nice to be baking with all you talented bakers. Wish you all the luck for 2014!

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  11. Yes, I'd love to start the day with this bread! It turned out so well and has such a nice texture. This surely got your 2014 off to a good start! All the best to you in the year ahead!

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    1. Thank you Holly. Wish you the very best for 2014!

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  12. I love using tangzhong! I've never tried it with milk so I need to give this a try. This may be the sandwich bread of the week! Thank you for baking this to share with us. :-) I hope your year is off to a good start!

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    1. Thank you, this is my first attempt at Tangzhong with milk though I was not sure if it would work. Wish you a Happy New year!

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  13. Hi! Just found your blog and I just love the way your bread looks, lovely crumbs and I have not tried cooking tangzhong with milk before, this looks like a great recipe to try! Thanks for sharing and Happy New Year!

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    1. Thanks Jeannie, I'm glad you liked the recipe. Wish you a Happy New Year as well!

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