English Milk Loaf

Bought another new Japanese bread making book last week. I must be addicted to buying Japanese cook books! Think this is my number 6 Japanese bread making books. Yet every time when I go to Kinokuniya, I can't stop but walk to the Japanese cook books section. Many times I tell myself I have more than enough of these books at home, but......

Baked this English Milk Loaf last night, for today's breakfast. The bread didn't let me down. It's been almost a week I did not make any bread, since my hubby went for his long trip. I went to try on some nice professionally made bread from Bread Society. They are great, I love their Baguette! I bought it while they were still hot. And during my way home, my car was filled with the aroma of the baguette. My son kept asking me about that smell, during the journey home. Once we reached home, he couldn't wait and started to pinch on the crust... Yes, he is my Roti Boy!

This milk loaf is not the typical milk bread we always expect it to be. This is rather light and soft. Though it has egg and made of milk, it doesn't have that silky soft effect. But it's really great for making sandwiches and spreads. I would say, it's more of the English characteristic of milk bread. (Though it's from a Japanese cook book) I was caught by it's look, at first sight!

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Ingredients:

Bread Flour 250g

Sugar 20g

Salt 5g

Yeast 2g

Egg + Milk 205ml (1 egg plus enough milk to make 205ml)

Unsalted Butter 5g

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Method:

1. Mix all ingredients (except butter) to a rough dough.

2. Followed by butter and knead the dough till it's smooth and none sticky. This shall take about 15- 20 minutes and keep bashing the dough to get the elastic texture. Form the dough to a smooth ball and let it prove for 60 minutes.

3. Bring the dough onto work top, and portion it into 2. Let the 2 dough rest for about 20 minutes.

4. After the 20 minutes, roll the dough flat and roll both into a Swiss roll shape and put them side by side into the bread tin, and have the last proving. When the dough is double the volume, brush the top with milk and bake it in pre heat oven at 200 'c for 30 minutes.

5. Cool the bread out of the tin on a wire rack.