Late night Sunflower seed Matcha Milk Bread (One rise)

This late night bread is baked using a single rise method requiring less than 2 hours from start to finish. The bread has a rich texture thanks to the dairy products and eggs, has a tender crumb and thinnest hint of crust. It is best eaten on its own or with a thin layer of coconut jam (kaya). Pre-slice the bread when the bread has cooled well. Store in a Ziploc and freeze to preserve freshness or consume with a 2 days for maximum enjoyment.

Wet ingredients -

1 cup  milk ( room temperature )

2 T whipping cream

2 eggs

Dry ingredients -

½  tsp salt

4 T fine sugar

5 T milk powder

1 T matcha powder

4 cups bread flour

1/2 plain flour

3 t instant yeast

Optional-

Handful toasted sunflower seeds, coarsely chopped

Combine dry ingredients.

Combine wet ingredients to dry ingredients.

Knead on low for at least 20 minutes or until dough comes together.

Knead on a floured top.

Divide to 2 halves and transfer to a greased/dusted Pullman bin, uncovered.

Leave to rise until 80% risen.

Place a low baking rack with a steaming plate of water.

Bake the bread in a preheated oven (180C) at 180C for 35 minutes.

Drop the bread on a hard surface to loosen the bread from the tin.

Remove immediately and cool well before slicing.

Adzuki milk buns

My apologies for another adzuki related bread. The only reason I am logging this is because this bun is made with the milk bread recipe, which turned out wonderfully moist and fluffy.

I delayed removing the bread from the tray for cooling, an oversight,  causing  condensation on the bottom of the bread. However, moisture was reabsorbed back into the bread and what ended up was one of the fluffiest bread I ever baked. To remedy the soggy situation, I left it over a cookie rack to dry, with no major consequences.

As today is our 20th wedding anniversary, I made a pair of bread in a heart mould , nutella for hubby   red bean for me. But girl2, a biology buff, commented that it looks more like a set of lungs , since the left bun is  smaller , just like the left lung in human anatomy. Aish ! Talk about romance!

Ingredients :

270 g Bread flour

30 g Cake flour

5 g instant yeast

15 g Milk powder

20 g Sugar

3 g Salt

1 tsp matcha powder

1 small Egg

200 g low fat fresh milk

1 T Toasted sesame seeds

1 egg, lightly beaten, for egg wash

Method :

Making the dough -

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Set aside.

Bring milk to room temperature. Add egg, beating  lightly. Set aside.

Divide adzuki beans, 8 portions. Chill to firm paste until needed.

Combine wet and dry ingredients together and mix until a dough forms.

Knead to get a smooth, glossy dough , 20 minutes.

Cover and let dough ferment for 1 hour or until nearly doubled.

Forming the buns -

Preheat oven to 180 C. place rack in the center of the oven.

On a lightly floured surface, portion out dough rounds,  11  pieces, about 50g each. Rest dough for 10-20 minutes.

Wrap adzuki buns paste with dough. Pinch to seal bun.

Brush buns with milk, then rest  buns for 40 minute in a warm , moist place , seal side down on an oiled baking tray. 

Sprinkle buns with  sesame seeds .

Baking -

Dab the bun surface with  egg wash.

Bake for 20 minutes  or  until bun is slightly browned.

Credits : Portions adapted from http://wendyinkk.blogspot.com/2011/11/hokkaido-milk-loaf-white-loaf-week-1.html

Matcha red bean milk bread

Matcha ( green tea powder ) and red bean milk bread

This combination of matcha and aduki red bean bread is as Japanese as I can get.

If you are using a bread machine to knead the dough, like I did, it is almost a no-brainer.  Just roll in the red beans before the second proofing by hand and you are halfway to a sumptuous breakfast. Though made with the straight dough method, it still yields silky bread strands, due to all the sinful ingredients - whipped cream, egg, milk powder etc.

History has indicated that I am prone to consuming copious amount of Japanese-anything bread. To counteract this, I decided to go for a quick run in  my jogging circuit while waiting for the second rise.

But  I got 'distracted' and the run took more than an hour, surpassing the 1 hr rising time allocated for the second proofing. So it was to my horror when I saw green globs oozing out from the gap between the Pullman cover and base.  To add to my consternation, more green glob oozed during the process of baking. Nothing that a sharp pair of scissors could not solve but I lost 10% of the entire bulk as a result.

The majority of the recipe is adapted from that of the Hokkaido Milk bread recipe.

Matcha bread with Nutella is simply bliss

Ingredients:

Wet ingredients -

1 cup  milk ( room temperature )

2 T whipping cream

1  egg white (  + 1 egg, lightly beaten )

Dry ingredients -

1 tsp salt

4 T sugar

5 T milk powder

1.5 T matcha powder

4 cups bread flour

1/2 cup cake flour

3 t instant yeast

Additional ingredient -

1 cup red beans ( cooked to al-dente )

Method:

Mix the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. In the bread machine, pour in milk, whipping cream and top off with dry ingredients. 

Use the dough function of the bread machine. Add red beans 15 minutes after the start of the kneading. This first cycle takes 1.5 hours.

Remove risen dough from bread machine . Stretch dough lengthwise and roll, sprinkling cooked red beans.

Divide it into 4 portions. Rest dough for 20 minutes, covered.

Grease with butter a Pullman loaf pan. Stretch and roll each dough again. Place  rolls into  loaf pan.  Cover Pullman, leaving a tiny gap. Let the dough rise up to double, about 60 minutes.

Cover Pullman pan completely. Bake in a preheated 180 C oven for about 35-40 minutes. I baked mine for 35 minutes.

Cool pan and remove bread to cool completely before serving. Pairs well with Nutella spread and a cup of espresso.