Hokkaido Milky Loaf

I had wanted to bake this bread quite some time ago as the reviews from many online blogs were good. I had some whipping cream left from cake making and it would be best to be used here as I won't be making any fresh cream cake for the time being. I had the whole Sunday free so decided to bake this bread finally...however, many a time, things just won't go the way you planned to be...

I'm sure those who have tried baking bread before knew how time-consuming it was, especially I do not have a bread machine or stand mixer, I have to knead it by hand. I'm determined to try it by hand and feel the texture.

So, after mixing all the ingredients together (I shall post the recipe below), I was patiently kneading and kneading..it was sticky...when i received a call from my workplace, which required me to be there to see to an urgent problem...imagine on a Sunday! (I'm managing building/property by the way). My bread was kneaded halfway..so I quickly finished up the kneading (I knew it was not there yet but no choice)..quickly put it in a bowl and let it proofed while i went out of the house.

Two hours later, i was still at my office. Suddenly i thought of my bread...Oh no..proofing is usually about 1 hour, and it was already 2 hours. I called my mum, who told me that the dough had already doubled in size to the top, I asked her to help my punch out the air, and divided into portions to let it rest (should be 20 min) while I hope i can go back home in time to 'save' those bread which I had painstakingly spent the morning preparing the ingredients and kneading it. 45 minutes later, my workplace's problem's finally solved. So I went home, seeing that the rested dough looked good, I continued to work on it.

After some shaping, it was finally prepared for the last proofing, to be sent to the oven.

Result? It was good! So happy...My brother and family liked it too. The bread remains soft even after the next day. :) I think it could be even better if I had the time to go through the whole process without any hiccups. The top was very brown though, probably due to my oven's top heat which always caused the top crust of my bakes to brown very easily. I had to cover with aluminium foil to prevent it from getting burnt. Any remedies for that? My oven does not have the option of turning either the top or bottom heat element on. Other than that, overall, It's definitely a good recipe!

Ingredients:

• 540 g Bread flour
• 60 g Cake flour
• 10 g Dry active yeast (I used SAF instant)
• 30 g Milk powder
• 80 g Sugar
• 9 g Salt
• 1 pc Egg
• 250 g Fresh milk
• 150 g Whipping cream (heavy cream)

1. Mix all the ingredients in the bowl of an electric stand-mixer. Remember separate the yeast from salt and sugar to avoid the dehydration. (For me without a mixer, I put all into a big bowl and mixed together using a wooden spoon).
2. Scrape the mixed dough out of the bowl onto a floured surface.
3. Knead until gluten is fully developed and the dough is elastic, smooth, non-sticky and leave from sides of mixing bowl (if using mixer). This takes approximately half hour depending on how fast you work. Use the windowpane test - Take a piece of dough and, grapsing an edge with eac hand, gently pull the dough. If it tears and looks shaggy, it is not ready. If the dough looks smooth, holds together and thin enough to see light through, it is ready.
4. Cover with a damp towel and allow the dough to ferment until double in size, about 60 minutes.
5. Take out the dough and press out the gas produced during the proof. Divide it into 4 portions. Round up and let rest for about 20 minutes.
6. Roll each dough out and roll up and place in a 13x33x12cm loaf pan. After shaping, let the dough rise up to 2/3 full. Brush with egg wash or milk. Bake in a preheated 170C/340F oven for about 40 minutes.

Recipe Source: Angie's Recipes