Today
I am baking some nice old fashioned “Milk Bread” which had its hay day back
around the turn of the last century. Fundamentally this is a simple bread to
bake, close to French bread save for the fact that one employs milk instead of
water. Not quite pan du mie which requires a starter but still great sandwich
bread nevertheless. Many people to this day use it quite regularly in that
regard. As for myself, I don’t typically buy bread out here in L.A. as good bread is hard to find. Not to
mention I had a bakery myself for a number of years (for those of you familiar
with it don’t worry, I still do only we don’t have the store front café any
longer) so if I want a sandwich or a dinner roll for my meal, I just bake it
myself, for the record when we bake these for work we do so a bit differently
but this recipe and method work perfectly well, a great bread!!
Shopping List
Milk
Flour
Yeast,
fresh or instant
Sugar
Salt
My Mad Method
Ready
to serve!
Begin
by combining your dry ingredients in a mixing bowl: 8-9dl flour, 1.5 tsp salt,
1 tsp sugar, 2tsp instant yeast
Mix to incorporate
To
this add 3dl milk 1/3 at a time
Mix
to a nice smooth dough
Transfer
to a well greased bowl, cover with a cloth and proof for 45-50 minutes, punch
down the dough, cover proof again for an additional 45-50 minute
When
the dough is ready it will be nice and smooth about double in size and feels
lighter
Work the dough, portion and
transfer to a well greased mold, and proof for an additional 45-50 minutes
(under a cloth). These have already been proofed. I have divided the dough for my form in two for a nice
presentation when baked
Brush
the top of the dough with an egg wash with just a touch of milk added. Bake in
a preheated 200c oven for 1 hour or until it sounds hollow if taped and has
good color. I have scored the bread
Here
is a roll I made with the additional dough which I coated in black and white
sesame seeds
