Happy Future Planning

▼

November 26, 2007

Double Soft Bread

Attracted by the title? Yeah, true to its name, this bread is really soft and fluffy. I felt it was even better than the Hokkaido milk loaf, but do not buy my words cos' this time round, I did a better job in my kneading. I finally passed the window pane test! Yeah...and I took a shorter time this time, 20 minutes. Not bad...Ha..tried to use more force, and also went through some kneading videos; and not forgetting the hiccups I encountered when I baked the Hokkaido loaf the last time, which could have contributed to a less than satisfactory result.



I was actually looking for ways to use up the whipping cream. I had planned to bake the hokkaido milk loaf when I came across this recipe from this chinese blog - Warm Sweet Home. This bread uses whipping cream as well, and some butter. The origin of this recipe was from a japanese website I think. I find that breads that uses whipping cream often churn out doubly soft bread that remains as soft the next day. :)

See the texture? It's so soft and cottony. I baked it in a 8-inch by 4-inch loaf pan. As what I did previously, I rolled into 2 logs and put into the loaf pan for proofing. The space was rather constrained for the dough to expand. Seemed like two pieces of fat bulging out LOL. Time for me to get a pullman loaf tin. *hint hint to anyone out there..christmas coming.. :P*


I did not make much changes to the original recipe except for a few grams difference in some ingredients.

Ingredients:

Bread flour 320 g
Dry yeast 3 g
Egg 38 g
Salt 4 g
Water 160 g
Whipping cream 35 g
Honey 33 g
Butter 16 g

Method:

  1. Mix all ingredients together except for butter (I usually separate the yeast from salt as I've read that direct contact with salt would kill the yeast).
  2. Add butter and knead into the dough until the dough becomes smooth, no longer sticks to your hands and is elastic and able to form a thin film which does not tear when stretched (window-pane test).
  3. Shape into a round and let it proof until double in size, about 60 minutes.
  4. Punch out the air, divide into 3 portions (I divided into 2) and let rest for 15 minutes.
  5. Roll the doughs into a swiss-roll style and place them in the tin. (Be sure to measure out the length that you want to fit in). Let it proof until reaches 90% of the tin. (Does not apply to me cos' I didnt have a pullman tin. But I took about 90 minutes).
  6. Bake in preheated oven at 200°C for 10 minutes; then reduce the temperature to 175 °C and bake for another 25 minutes.
  7. Remove the bread and let it cool completely before slicing.
Recipe Source: Warm Sweet Home

This recipe is definitely a keeper. Do give it a try! :)

at

37 comments:

  1. Happy HomebakerNovember 28, 2007 at 10:51 AM

    Hi Aimei, your bread looks good!!! What kind of honey did you use? any brand will do? I'll love to give it a try! Do get yourself a pullman tin, dont need to wait for Xmas! It's really fun especially if you like bread-making :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. AimeiNovember 29, 2007 at 6:09 PM

    Hi HHB (don't mind I use short form hor?), I used the newzeabee 100% pure honey. But I think any brand should be fine. Yeah I'm going to get myself the pullman tin soon at the phoon huat at sembawang! :) It's really happy to produce one whole load entirely homemade. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. ElizaNovember 30, 2007 at 1:06 PM

    hi aimei, thanks for visiting my blog! your bread looks very very inviting, i need to make more of that bread too :D

    eliza
    http://fooddiary.blogsome.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Happy HomebakerNovember 30, 2007 at 11:09 PM

    Thanks Aimei!

    ReplyDelete
  5. sweet-toothDecember 3, 2007 at 5:22 PM

    wow your bread looks to soft!!
    like cotton :D
    i feel like baking this too since you did it by hand.
    haha

    ReplyDelete
  6. AimeiDecember 4, 2007 at 1:16 PM

    Hi Sweet-tooth, yeah do give it a try! Even for me who's not so good at kneading can produce the bread which is so soft, I'm sure the rest of you can do much better! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  7. sweet-toothDecember 6, 2007 at 9:17 PM

    Hi Aimei!
    I tried this recipe today and it is good :D
    just that it was kinda tasteless.
    maybe bcos i cut down on the amount of salt?
    i didn't pass the window pane test though.
    sigh..

    ReplyDelete
  8. AimeiDecember 7, 2007 at 1:15 PM

    Hi Sweet-tooth,

    I just saw your post. It looks good! I felt the taste was rather bland too, even though I added the salt as indicated. But the taste is ok to me. This is only the first time I pass the window pane test. lol I still need to work on it. :P Don't worry practice makes perfect. :) Just like my chiffon experience. Have not made it for some time. Been baking other stuffs. Will have to find time to bake it again. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  9. sweet-toothDecember 7, 2007 at 9:24 PM

    Hi Aimei!
    Was just wondering, what brand of bread flour do you use?
    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  10. AimeiDecember 9, 2007 at 9:19 AM

    Hi sweet-tooth! I used the bread flour from Phoon Huat. :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. AnonymousJuly 20, 2008 at 1:14 AM

    Aimei,

    Thanks so much of the recipe. I am a man that likes to cook and especially make bread. I have been searching for the recipe of the Japanese double soft bread for a long time. Finally found yours. I made it and it turn out awesome!!!! My daughter and wife loved it! Now it is time to make it for the rest of the family!! This is definitely the best bread I have ever made. All thanks to you. The only part I did not enjoy was the kneading. But good thing doesn't come easy (as they say).

    ReplyDelete
  12. AimeiJuly 21, 2008 at 12:37 AM

    Hi Anonymous,

    Glad that you made this and was successful! It feels great when your love ones enjoy homemade bread made by you right.. I'm sure all the kneading and hard work is worth it :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. AnonymousJuly 23, 2008 at 2:50 AM

    Aimei,

    Do you know if there is a difference in the taste of the bread by hand kneading vs. machine kneading? I did your bread by complete hand kneading. But I do have a KitchenAid that will help.

    I was thinking about first start with KitchenAid and then finish it off with hand kneading.

    I wonder if you know from your experience?

    Thanks.

    Tom

    ReplyDelete
  14. AimeiJuly 27, 2008 at 12:33 AM

    Hi Tom,

    I do not have a stand mixer so I've not personally tried using it. But I believe it does helps and from what I know, many bakers (commercial) and those who own a standmixer at home uses it to knead their bread dough with the dough hook. It does saves alot of energy. For me with little strength, I can never knead pass the window pane test with my own hands.

    I've acquired myself a bread maker and I've used it to knead the dough every since. Though it's not that powerful, it does helps alot, in terms of saving my strength and definitely time.

    Why don't you try it once? Let me know the results! :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. AnonymousJuly 29, 2008 at 12:34 AM

    Hi Aimei,

    Well, I tried kneading using a stand mixer. I basically knead until when the dough comes off from the side of the metal bowl. Then I finished it off by hand. And went through the window pane test.

    The result... My wife said she thinks the bread kneaded by hand from start to finish tastes better. It is softer she said. So, I guess, I will knead by hand.

    Thanks.

    Tom

    ReplyDelete
  16. AimeiJuly 29, 2008 at 11:32 PM

    Hi Tom,

    I see. Hmmm actually for this bread, I used hand to knead too and was surprise I could get such soft bread cos usually it's hard to achieve without enough strength. I'm glad this recipe turns out so well for you. U make me feel like trying out this again. :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. AnonymousAugust 3, 2008 at 7:34 PM

    Hi Aimei,

    Okay, so I baked another loaf of the double soft bread. It was great, of course. I am getting more effecient now. Knead with stand mixer and then finish it off by hand.

    Anyway, I read somewhere that mixer kneading tends to be less soft because the mixer is only mixing in one direction as oppose to hands which is always different. This will affect the bread. So, we are right! By hand is softer.

    Also, I will try this next time... I also read that mixig bread flour (which has higher protein content) and French flour (which has lower protein content) will make the bread softer. This is because with high protein content the bread will be a bit more chewy. Since I do not have French flour here, I will first try it with all-purpose flour. I will mix 50-50.

    I will let everyone know the result after. Wish me luck.

    Tom

    ReplyDelete
  18. AimeiAugust 9, 2008 at 12:55 AM

    Hi Tom, do let me know the result. Yeah I've seen some recpes that uses a combination of bread flour and cake flour. Wish you luck!!

    ReplyDelete
  19. AnonymousAugust 9, 2008 at 11:50 PM

    Hi Aimei,

    Okay, I did the bread using 50-50(bread flour and all purpose flour). It turned out great! My taste tester (wife) said it was softest ever. So, I do believe mixing in the all purpose flour will make the difference. If you do have French flour, maybe you can try it out.

    Now, I wonder if I use fresh yeast instead of dry yeast will make a big differece in taste? Again, I read somewhere that fresh yeast tastes better. That will be another experiment.

    ReplyDelete
  20. AnonymousAugust 13, 2008 at 1:02 AM

    Hi...
    :)
    I'm so glad to find this recipe here..thanks Aimee...
    I'm gonna try it out tomorrow...
    I also found a recipe that used a 75% plain flour and 25 % cake flour...
    another recipe used the 50% bread flour and 50% plain flour as Tom mentioned... may be I should try doing 2 different versions tomorrow..hah ha..will let you know how it turns out...
    -pizzalover-

    ReplyDelete
  21. AimeiAugust 24, 2008 at 11:28 PM

    Hi Tom/Anonymous,

    How's your experiment?? :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. AnonymousSeptember 17, 2008 at 2:35 AM

    Aimei,

    Sorry, it took so long to respond back to you...

    I haven't try it yet. I am doing chiffon cakes and mooncakes right now. BTW, chiffon cake took me 3 tries to be successful. I just bought a mooncake mould and I will do it this weekend.

    I finally found a place that sells fresh yeast over here. It was so hard to find them because they are not too popular for regular consumers (at least over here). So, I will try it with fresh yeast soon. I bake this bread almost every week because my wife and daughter love it so much. So, I will try the fresh yeast experiment very soon. Oh, I now use 50% bread flour and 50% regular flour to bake this bread. It is much softer I think.

    I will let you know soon!

    ReplyDelete
  23. AnonymousNovember 11, 2008 at 6:59 AM

    Good words.

    ReplyDelete
  24. WissutaNovember 24, 2008 at 9:44 PM

    i baked Hokkaido Milk loaf before and i will try Duble solf bread from your recipe. it's look yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Fera RosalinaMay 6, 2009 at 1:36 AM

    oh I should try this recipe...thanks :D

    ReplyDelete
  26. AimeiMay 16, 2009 at 9:22 PM

    Hi Fera Rosalina, let me know how it turns out! :)

    ReplyDelete
  27. AnonymousJanuary 30, 2010 at 8:02 PM

    hi Ai Mei,

    tried it and was very soft. BTW, how long do you need to knead by hand ? Can we replace whip cream with milk and any effect on the bread ?

    ReplyDelete
  28. AimeiFebruary 2, 2010 at 9:11 PM

    Hi Anonymous,

    For this recipe, I have not tried replacing with milk. I think it will work too but maybe the texture will not be that good cos' i believe it is the whipping cream that makes it soft. You may want to give it a try. Let me know how it turns out if you do. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  29. AnonymousFebruary 21, 2010 at 9:59 AM

    It is useful to try everything in practise anyway and I like that here it's always possible to find something new. :)

    ReplyDelete
  30. AimeiFebruary 21, 2010 at 11:04 AM

    Hi Anonymous, thanks! Hope you like the recipe. :)

    ReplyDelete
  31. AnonymousMarch 13, 2010 at 2:13 PM

    It is useful to try everything in practice anyway and I like that here it's always possible to find something new. :)

    ReplyDelete
  32. baitiApril 6, 2010 at 12:16 PM

    hey...
    ur bread look so fluffy....
    i really wanna try bake that but...
    i got a lil prob with the ingredients..it so small
    i dont hv an electronic weigh...so can u tell me based on tsp/tbsp or cups pleese???

    ReplyDelete
  33. AimeiMay 20, 2010 at 10:51 PM

    Hi Nur Baiti,

    So sorry for the late reply. I didnt realise this comment was posted. :P I don't have the measurement also. But you may want to go to http://www.joyofbaking.com/ConversionsEquivalencies.html. I usually convert myself from there. :)

    ReplyDelete
  34. Bethan December 28, 2011 at 5:56 AM

    Is this nice with Kaya?

    ReplyDelete
  35. AimeiDecember 31, 2011 at 10:44 AM

    I cant remember but soft bread will go well with kaya. :)

    ReplyDelete
  36. carolsluOctober 8, 2012 at 12:50 AM

    Aimei,

    In your recipe, you said "6. Bake in preheated oven at 200°C for 10 minutes; then reduce the temperature to 175 °C and bake for another 25 minutes."

    If I'm using a 13" loaf pan. Does it mean to bake first with lid on at 200°C for 10 minutes and then with lid off at 175 °C for another 25 minutes? Thanks.

    Carol

    ReplyDelete
  37. carolsluOctober 12, 2012 at 10:50 AM

    Aimei,

    In your recipe, it says "Bake in preheated oven at 200°C for 10 minutes; then reduce the temperature to 175 °C and bake for another 25 minutes." If I use my 13" pan, does it mean that "Bake in preheated oven at 200°C with lid on for 10 minutes; then reduce the temperature to 175 °C with lid off and bake for another 25 minutes."? Thanks.

    Carol

    ReplyDelete