Golden Sandwich Bread

Hi

My first blog of the year, I would like to wish all the bloggers whom I have been baking along with since I started this blog – A Happy and Beautiful 2016!   And also to those who visited or chanced upon my blog and had left a comment, I would like to say “Thank You” for all your encouragement.

 On the 1^st day of 2016, I had made my 1^st ever successful bread which totally won over me!

This was my 1^st time experiencing the intense joy of smelling freshly baked bread that coming from our very own oven.  Wow!

Thanks to this wonderful recipe which I adapted from Joyce (Kitchen Flavour).  I had a very bad experience in making bread.  My failure was due to using lousy yeast.  When I shared my previous failure with Diana Gale (The Domestic Goddess Wannabe), her first reaction was, “Amy! The yeast you used is dead!”  She immediately confirmed that.  I took her advice and changed the yeast to the brand that she recommended.

Before I start making, I did some research on yeast and also the proofing process.  One of the ways to be confident that the bread will turn out well is to make sure the yeast you are using is alive.  Yeast needs water and sugar to activate.  If it’s alive, when water and sugar are added to the yeast, it will start to ferment and becoming frothy.  It is good habit to check and ensure that the yeast you are using is active and not dead.  Better to spend few minutes checking the yeast before making than time wasted to make bread that doesn’t rise.

Steps to ensure the yeast is not dead

1½ teaspoons dried yeast.

1 tablespoon sugar

65ml warm water

Mixed them all together in a cup.  Leave it aside for a few minutes.  When you come back in 5-10mins, it should look like this.

This is indeed a perfect recipe for 1^st timer!  It is ordinary plain loaf bread.  Soft, fluffy and tasty enough that can be eaten as it is.

2015 is an eventful year that I hardly got much time to try out new recipe.  In 2016, I have set my priority to try making variety of breads and those in my To Do List.

HAPPY BAKING!

INGREDIENTS

<For two 9-inch loaves>

6 cups(800g)           Bread flour

2 tbsp(30g)              Sugar

3/4 cup(170g)          Room-temperature tap water

3 tsp(10g)                Fine granulated active dry or instant yeast

1 cup(225g)             Whole milk, scalded and cooled

3                               Large eggs at room temperature

4 tbsp(60g)              Butter, cut into 8 pieces and softened

                                (I used salted butter instead)

1 tbsp(18g)              Fine sea salt

                                (Since I used salted butter, I skipped this)

Two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans, buttered and the bottoms lined with parchment paper (I used cooking oil to grease the pan and skipped the bottoms lined with parchment paper)

METHOD

Combine the flour and sugar in a large bowl and set aside.

Pour the water into the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk in the yeast. Wait 5 minutes, then whisk again. Whisk in the cooled milk and eggs.

Use a large rubber spatula to stir the flour mixture into the liquid a little at a time, stirring to combine between additions.

Place the bowl on the mixer with the dough hook and scatter pieces of butter on the surface of the dough; mix on the lowest speed for 1 minute.  Stop the mixer and let the dough rest for 15 minutes <1^st proofing>

Increase the speed to medium, sprinkle in the salt, and beat the dough until it is smooth and elastic, for 2 to 3 minutes longer. Scrape the dough into an oiled bowl and turn it over so that the top is oiled.  Cover with plastic wrap and let ferment until almost doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes <2^nd proofing>

Invert the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Flatten the dough to a disk. Fold the two sides in to overlap at the middle, then roll the top toward you all the way to the end, jelly-roll style. Invert, flatten, and repeat. Return the dough to the bowl (oil the bowl again if necessary), cover, and let ferment until fully doubled, 30 to 45 minutes <3^rd proofing>

Invert the dough to a floured work surface and shape it into a rough square. Use a bench scraper to cut the dough into 2 equal rectangles, each about 715 grams. Pull the narrow ends of 1 rectangle of dough outward to widen. From one of the wide ends fold the sides in about 1 inch or so, then roll down from the top as for turning the dough. Drop the roll into one of the pans, seam side down. Repeat with the second loaf and pan.

Cover with oiled or sprayed plastic wrap and let the loaves proof until they have risen about 1/2 inch above the rim of the pan. Once they're close to the top of the pan, set a rack a notch below the middle level and preheat the oven to 400 deg F (200 degC).

Place the loaves in the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 375 deg F (190 deg C). Bake until well risen and deep golden.

Unmold the loaves and cool on a rack on their sides. Wrap and keep at room temperature, or double wrap and freeze.

*HAPPY*