Using Tangzhong method to make classic French Pain au Lait, Tangzhongified for longer keeping qualities and general awesome boinginess. Makes a fantastic sandwich. Makes fantastic toast. It's just all around fantastic.
1 ¼teaspoonsactive dry yeast(from a batch of yeast you know is alive and kicking)
1 ⅛teaspoon7 grams kosher salt (picky, but there you have it), (I used Morton's)
3.25ozbuttercut into small pieces and allowed to get very soft
Instructions
For the Tangzhong
Whisk together the flour and milk.
Once there are no lumps remaining, cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture has evenly thickened and is nice and smooth.
Remove from the heat and...
For the Bread
pour the 6 oz of milk into the Tangzhong, whisking until smooth. This will lower the temperature so you don't have to wait before continuing.
To your mixing bowl, add all the tangzhong/milk mixture and all the rest of the ingredients except for the butter.
With the dough hook, mix on low speed for one minute, or until the dough just comes together. There might be some loose flour in the bowl, but don't worry about it. It will get incorporated in the next step when you add the butter.
Cover the mixer bowl with a lint-free towel (you can leave the bowl on the mixer) and let rest for 30 minutes. This rest (autolyse) allows some gluten to form before you even start kneading.
After the rest, turn the mixer on medium-low speed and add the butter in several additions over the course of about three minutes. By the time the butter is incorporated, you should have a nice, slightly sticky dough.
Turn the mixer on medium speed and knead for 10 minutes.
Test the dough to see if it is smooth and stretchy and passes the windowpane test.
If not, knead an additional 5 minutes and check again.
Once the dough passes the windowpane test, gather it into a smooth ball, plop it back into the mixer bowl and spray with pan spray. Cover the bowl with a lint-free towel.
Boil a mug of water in the microwave, move it to one side, and let the dough hang out in the moist, warm microwave until doubled, about an hour or so.
Once the dough has doubled, turn it out onto a clean work surface--no flour. Lightly press the dough into a rough 9" square.
Shaping
Fold the dough into thirds like a letter. Then, fold it in half--it will seem an impossible task, but just start at one side and sort of push the dough down in the center of your letter fold and pinch the top and bottom edges together. Keep doing this all the way down the length of your dough. Now you will have a fat cylinder of dough about a foot long.
Roll the dough over (smooth side up) and hold it like a bowed up slinky.
Fit the dough into a pan-sprayed 9"x5" loaf pan so the slinky's ends are down in the bottom of the pan. Then press the dough down a bit to even it out and allow it to sit snugly in the pan.
Heat the mug of water for another minute or so, and spray the top of the loaf with pan spray.
Cover with plastic wrap and place back in the cozy microwave with its little mug friend.
Go ahead and set a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350F.
Let the loaf rise until it has not quite doubled in size--it will probably rise about an inch or so above the lip of the loaf pan. This will take about 30-45 minutes.
Once the dough has risen nicely, place in the preheated oven and bake until the loaf is a deep golden brown. It doesn't need any egg wash or anything. The loaf should sound hollow when tapped and the internal temperature will be between 205F and 210F.
Tip the bread out of the pan and onto a wire rack to cool. Let cool at least an hour if you can. If you can't, I'll understand. Your bread will have a better texture if you let it cool first, though. Hot bread sort of turns to mush in your mouth since the starches need to cool down to about 140F to solidify. Cutting too soon can result in smooshed and smooshy bread.
Store at room temperature in an airtight container for 3-4 days. For longer storage, pre-slice, wrap well and freeze. Pull out slices as needed and leave the rest frozen.
Notes
For a softer top crust, brush the loaf with additional butter once it comes out of the oven.Allow the bread to cool to room temperature before cutting.Store on the counter, well-covered, for up to 4 days. For longer storage, slice and freeze in freezer bags. Remove slices as needed and thaw for a few seconds in the microwave.Nutritional Information based on 10 slices of bread.