When I still lived in Singapore I greatly enjoyed a specific soft swirl milk bread from a Japanese bakery. It had an amazingly delicious but soft, thick crust, and the crumb was very light, with some uneven holes, but had what I thought was depth of flavour - really the taste of wheat, rather than sugar or butter. This wasn't a typical fast fermented milk bread. I've been wanting to recreate it.
Today I got closer. I increased the hydration to almost 80%, omitted the butter, and brought the sugar down to 1 tablespoon. I went for an extremely slow fermentation for it to build strength - wasn't going to knead that mess! By the end of its 7 hour BF, it was a beautiful and pliable dough. I baked it at a higher starting temperature and lowered it in the second half.
I'm encouraged and will continue to try. The crumb is still not as tender as I want it to be, and the crust is not as flavourful - I think the temperature either needs to go up, or the loaf from the bakery might have been open baked. Nonetheless, it's a good step forward, especially since this is a pretty healthy version (20% emmer, no eggs and butter) and I have yet to get myself a mixer!
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Crumb looks lovely and inviting. Great crumb considering no mixer, and your way of developing strength is clever too!
Does it have milk in the dough? Hmmm... And a Tangzhong? I assume the bread you remember from Singapore didn't have a quality that makes you think of an enriched bread.
-Jon
Thanks, Jon. You're very kind and positive as usual, appreciate it.
All 80% hydration of this loaf was milk and I did make a tangzhong with the 20% emmer. The bread that I'm trying to replicate was indeed enriched with milk and sugar (probably much more than what I've put), but I don't think it had egg or butter. It was just this delicate and surprising blend between the crumb of a less enriched milk bread and the deeply flavourful but soft crust of a hearth bread.
Upon tracking the bakery down to its original shop in Karuizawa, it seems the bread might have been baked in a "traditional stone oven". No idea what exactly that entails, but it might explain the peculiar quality of the loaf.
Beautiful bread, Lin. Are you using chocolate or coffee or what for the dark part of the swirl? -- Rob
That's cocoa powder! The original loaf had chocolate chips as well, but I omitted it in my version because the eldest daughter doesn't like actual chocolate. (yep.) Other versions that I really enjoyed from that bakery were blueberry, matcha, and earl grey swirls.
The swirl is nothing short of spectacular!
A few years back when I lived in NYC I participated in a community food coop. Each week I would receive a allotment of farm fresh food. I never new what I would receive until a few days before delivery. This led to me finding exotic ways to utilize the ingredients some of which were new to me. Your Asian swirl bread reminded me of these dumplings. I remember the way I developed the layered dough was unusual. At least for me. The filling is purple cabbage. I can't remember the name of the dumpling or find my formula. I will keep searching my records.
Your purple cabbage dumplings look great and flaky! I've never made these with purple cabbage before. We typically make these with yam, here's a typical recipe. And you're right, the rolling of the pastry is quite different and pretty fun. It generally involves alternating an "oil" dough and a "water" dough, essentially a laminated dough.
You refreshed my memory! Two different doughs water & oil. I know, I have the formula/ recipe. It is just to find the right folder.