Friday, August 3, 2012

Soft bread W/O Bread Improver

Had always been enjoying soft bread. My friend who likes baking gave me a bread recipe. It was good but the usage of bread softener bothers me. However I just discovered a recipe to make soft bread without bread improver. If soft bread is what you are looking for, this is the recipe. I got this from the net too.

3 1/2 Cup Bread Flour
2 Teaspoon Yeast
4 Tablespoon Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Egg
1/2 Cup Milk
3 Tablespoon Butter
1/2 Cup Tang Zhong (Refer recipe below)

Method:
1. Put in all the wet ingredients (egg, milk,butter, tang zhong) in a mixing bowl.
2. Then put in the other dry ingredients except yeast on top of the wet stuffs.
3. Make a well in the flour.
4. Pour yeast into the well and cover it with the flour.
5. Start kneading it into dough (I use my hand to do it).
6. Prove it (about an hour, depending on the weather).
7. Cut the inflated dough into 16 sections and make them into balls.
8. Take a ball of dough and flatten it with a rolling pin.
9. Fold in both ends and flatten it for the 2nd time.
10. Roll the flat dough into a 'bolster' shape.
11. Put it in a tray.
12. Repeat the rest.
13. Prove it for the 2nd time.
14. Preheat the oven (I'm using a round silver traditional oven, so can't really commend on the temperature).
15. Bake your bread. 

Optional:
1. You can sprinkle some sesame seeds or any other grains of you liking on top of it after a layer of honey.
2. Alternatively you can also put some fillings such as sausages, raisins, cocao powder, bananas ect before you roll the dough into the bolster shape.

Tang Zhong Recipe:
1. 1 Cup Water
2. 1/3 Cup Bread Flour

Method:
1. Put these two ingredients in a sauce pan and whisk it over slow fire until it becomes a lump.
2.Cool it before use.