I finally bought a pullman loaf pan. This is bought from HEC in Shanghai, a place where they sold all kinds of restaurant equipments. There's a whole section of home baking stuff, but still not very complete. I didn't find my baking stone. A pullman loaf pan is a square pan, that makes the loaf squarish so that it can be made into nice square sandwiches. They came is several sizes, and I decided to get a smaller one, as the family usually can't finish 1 long loaf of 16 inch. I bought the 7 inch size, 2 of them, 1 that is plain and the other with toast lines. I bought only 1 cover, thinking that I probably only use one of them at a time. Of course, I bought a number of other things as well, bannetons, baskets etc.
Anyone would have thought that a white sandwich loaf is the easiest recipe. Well, I don't think so. I saw in the baking community, www.thefreshloaf.com, there are many many people asking for soft white sandwich loaf, and although there's many recipes out there, everyone's looking for a healthy loaf, that's fluffy and soft. Similarly, I was looking for my "Bonjour" or "Gardenia" bread. A soft white bread, that lasts at least 3 days, staying soft such that I don't need to heat it up in the oven, or toast.  Recipe - Day of Baking: 1. Mix dough with overnight sponge dough and water (leave the butter last). 2. Mix in water roux starter and knead well. It took me about 15-20 minutes to knead by hand. 3. Mix in the butter - I left some to brush the loaf and bread. 4. Knead in the butter well. 5. Let if proof for 60 minutes (till double) 6. Divide the dough into 6 pieces and mould it round. Let rest for 10 minutes. 7. Flatten the dough and roll it up like swiss roll, let rest for 10 minutes. Repeat step 7. 8. Place 3 into each pan. Let proof till 80% full. Cover the lid. 9. Bake 220 degree celsius for 35 minutes. Remove the tin immediately.  As I only had 1 cover, I left the other uncovered. The uncovered one turned out darker, but didn't seem to rise much. The one with the lid rose a little but not enough to make it into a square. I should leave it risen a little more. This bread is a little too sweet for my taste. A little less sugar will be better. It turned out very soft and it can lasts up to 5 - 6 days. This indeed requires no toasting even after 5 -6 days. But if you would like, it goes well with peanut butter after toasting. | Recipe from Magic Bread by Alex Goh Water roux starter (gelatinized flour) 150g bread flour 105g boiling water Mix the night before, and refrigerate after its cooled. Overnight sponge dough 120g bread flour 80g water 1/2 tsp instant yeast Mix the night before, proof 1/2 hour, and refrigerate. Dough 450g bread flour 20g milk powder 45g sugar 10g salt 9g instant yeast 285g cold water 120g overnight sponge dough 60g butter |
