Formula - Japanese Style White Sandwich Bread - Water Roux Starter / Sponge

Hi Yippee,

Thanks for sharing this recipe!  I made it 2 days ago and it's delicious!  Mine didn't rise as much as yours but it was great nonetheless!

When you call for 59g of Whip Cream, do you mean the "ready whip" stuff that comes in a can, the frozen kind like "cool whip", or something altogether different?  I skipped this ingredient and wonder if it made a big difference.

Thanks and happy baking!

what's the logic behind that unic thecnique?

Thank you Yippee.  I've never tried Japanese bread, but it sounds really wonderful.  My husband loves a soft white bread and I'm thinking he might really enjoy this recipe. 

Obviously, you have modified it to include a sponge that you let rest overnight.  Do you use the sponge for any other reason other than enhancing the flavor?  I might give this a try today, without using the sponge method and see how it goes.  Then do it again with a sponge.

One question, however... you mentioned dividing the dough in quarters.  Are we talking a standard sized bread loaf pan for those?  9x5 inch size?  If not, what size loaf pans did you use for your 250g doughs?  You said you made two and they were 12 inches long.. far too long for our standard loaf pan.  I can't wait to try - again thanks for sharing this.

And one more question.  You mentioned the original recipe calls for a flavor enhancer.  Do you know what that flavor enhancer was? 

Yes, I am know about window panes.. I've asked two different camps about window pane.. and I get two different answers.  Some say window panes aren't that important because the dough develops gluten with time and hydration.  I just spoke to a baker in Germany who suggests that stretching and folding every half hour gives you more volume and achieves better results. 

With that being said, however, it's purely a matter of personal choice in most cases.  For this bread, I think a strong mix to full window pane helps in the development of the dough since it doesn't ferment overnight, but is a straight dough.  Here is a pic of my last window pane.. it was nearly there, but my husband was anxious and took the shot.  LOL

I think you're right.. practice makes perfect.  I have also posted a recipe here that is similar to Yippees and I've had great luck with it.  It adds the egg directly to the initial roux and uses milk.  I know you were looking for a vegan formula, but if you want to try that recipe you should.. you may get different results.  A friend had to interpret it for me.. lol.  http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/20081/super-soft-custard-bread-images

I made your bread with water roux starter. ( YUDANE 　湯だね/湯種　）I decreased the sugar amount down to 5% and instand yeast ( Bread machine yeast ) down to 1 %.    I also put the water roux starter in a refrigerator after it is cooled for 6 hours.    I let the dough rest at 28c for 1 hour ( the dough rose tripled in bulk)  and... I had to leave the dough in a tin at 22-26c for 2.5 hours because I had to go out.   I expected the bread came out chewy as other Japanes bakers said. But this bread crumb is really soft and nice texture.  While kneading the dough, I was worried because the dough was really sticky like keading stew dumplings, but it came out smooth and shiny at the end of bulkfermentation.  The bread got brown on the top just 5 minutes past after I started to bake at 410F with steam that I sprayed water 4 times in the wall of the oven.  Of course, I decreased the oven to 350F after that. It took 35 minutes in totall to bake.

Your Japanese style sandwich loaf was a huge hit!  Thank you, Yippee. 

Many Japanese home bakers use 1: 1.25 = boiling water : bread flour. then put it in a refrigerator for over night.    I have never tried a water roux starter loaf until now.  Have you tried the way?    It is very interesting method and I'd like to experiment yours and the other method of water roux starters for a while.  Thank you for sharing your great loaf recipe.

Best wishes,

Akiko

Have you by any chance had any experience with baking these as a roll? Mabye a change in temperature or oven time? 

for introducing to us the water roux method.  I finally managed to purchase the book by Yvonne Chen, I followed her recipe using a bit of whipping cream and for the flavour enhancer (not sure what it meant at the time) I decided to use a bit of vanilla extract in my dough and the bread was awesome.  It's the best bread I've made to date in terms of softness and taste.  I even used a bit of the dough to make individual buns wiith apple and cinnnamon filling. I was absolutely thrilled to see it rise in the oven within a few minutes!  This is the best method for a sweet dough for buns with filling or on its own as a loaf bread. Unfortunately I don't have a stand mixer and the kneading took quite a while to reach windowpane effect.  Best, Judy

I hope I don't sound to dense but regarding the recipe....in particular...is the sponge a percentage or part of the recipe total.....

in other words the sponge calls for 400 g's of flour.....is that 400 g's of the original recipe amout of 540 or an additional 400.......

I hope I am clear.the question is.....does the recipe call for 540 g's of flour or 940?  of course that same question applies to all ingredients in the sponge...

I so want to try this bread but don't quite understand the recipe.  American brain is confused enough by grams and then the recipe has me reeling.......any help would be appreciated.

I try your recipe. It worked out very good and my kids love it. My loaf never expand like this before, I can see it. But, I need a bit of practice to shape my dough.