Hokkaido Milk Bread and Rolls With Tangzhong

This is the bread for the month of March we had to bake for the "We Knead to Bake" Bread  Baking  event. 

Until Aparna our fearless leader heading this group announced about this bread, I had never even heard about Hokkaido Milk bread and Tangzhong.

Thanks Aparna for your detailed step by step instructions and ample of tips, It was quite easy to bake this bread. Check out her space here and see for yourself and learn more about Hokkaido Milk bread. Its a popular bread in South Asian bakeries across the world. It has a soft pillowy texture and I can promise you this, once you taste this bread you would want to bake this again and again. That's the Hokkaido Magic !!!

Original Recipe from 65 Degrees Tangzhong "65C Bread Doctor" by Yvonne Chen and adapted from Kirbie's Cravings. 

Ingredients:

For the Tangzhong (Flour-Water Roux)

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup Milk

For the Dough :

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp powdered milk
• 2 tsp instant dried yeast
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/8 cup cream
• 1/3 cup tangzhong (Use Half of the tangzhong from above)
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter cut into small pieces softened at room temperature 

Preparation :

•   Making the Tangzhong (Flour-water Roux): In a saucepan, whisk together flour, water and milk until smooth and there are no lumps. Now place the saucepan on the stove and over medium heat, let the roux cook till it starts thickening. Keep whisking constantly so no lumps form and the roux is smooth. Watch the roux/Tangzhong until you start seeing "lines" forming in the roux/tangzhong as you whisk it. take the pan off the heat. Le the roux/tangzhong cool completely and rest for about 2 to 3 hours at least. It should have the consistency of a soft and creamy creme patisserie. If not using immediately,  transfer the roux to a bowl and cover using plastic wrap. It can be stored in the fridge for about a day.  Discard the Tangzhong after that.  
• Making the Bread Dough : Making this dough in the food processor makes it much easier as it is a bit sticky and could take some time, and effort to knead it by hand. Put the flour, salt, sugar, powdered milk and instant yeast in a food processor and pulse a coupe times to mix. In another bowl mix milk, cream and tangzhong ( half of the tangzhong which you just made above) till smooth and add to the processor bowl. Run on slow speed until the dough comes together. Add the butter and process till you get a smooth and elastic dough. the dough will look a bit sticky, but kneading it will make it smooth. Form the dough into a ball and place it in a well-oiled bowl turning it so that it is well coated. Cover with a towel and let the dough rise for about 45 minuets to 1 hr or till almost double in volume.   
• Place the dough on your working surface.I made 1 loaf (7" x 3") and 6 small rolls. I divided the dough into two equal pieces first. Then divided the first half into three equal pieces to make a loaf.  The other half was divided into six equal pieces for six rolls. 
• Shaping of the portions for the loaf and the rolls is the same : Roll out each portion of the dough with a rolling pin into an oval shape about 1/8" thick. Take one end of the dough from the shorter side of the oval and fold it to the middle of the oval.Take the other end and fold so it slightly overlaps the other fold. (See the Collage in Aparna's blog here.) Roll this folded dough with the rolling pin so the unfolded edges are stretched out to form a rectangle.Roll the rectangle from, one short edge to the other, pinching the edges to seal well. Do this with each of the  larger pieces and place the sealed edges in a well oiled loaf pan. Cover and leave the dough to rose for about 45 minuets to an hour.   
• I repeated the same process for my rolls. Just before rolling up each rectangle, I added  about 1 tbsp Raspberry Jam in the center carefully brought all the 4 sides together and sealed it to form a roll. Repeat this with the other 5  dough  pieces. Now place them in a well oiled cake Pan. Cover and let it rise for about 45 minutes to an hour.
• Brush the tops of the rolls and the loaf with milk(or cream) and bake at 325 F (170 C) for about 30 minutes till they are done (beautifully brown on top). Cool for about 5 minutes and then unmould and transfer to a rack till slightly warm.  Enjoy !!!                    

This Recipe makes enough to make One loaf (9" X 5" loaf pan) or Two small loaves (6" X 4") or (7" x 3")  or One mall loaf (6" X 4" ) or (7" X 3" ) and 6 small rolls