Hokkaido Milk Loaf Bread / 北海道牛奶吐司

 

I heard so much about Hokkaido milk loaf bread before moving to Japan, always wanted to bake one myself. At last, I managed to bake one a couple of weeks ago. As its name suggested, Hokkaido milk loaf bread is made with the milk produced in Hokkaido (Japan). In fact, we prefer milk from Awajishima (淡路島) but for this bread I bought a pack of Hokkaido 3.7 milk. In general, milk in Japan (tried 5 or 6 brands so far) is creamier than the milk from Australia. Taste wise, I find that Awajishima milk has a hint of soy taste (100% cow milk) which I like very much.

Instead of two small loaves bread, I baked a 600 gram loaf bread and a few heart shape buns with the sausage and cheese filling. My boy (4yo) decided to help me so he made two plain buns, one for him and another for his little brother. The bread, both the loaf and buns, turned out very moist and soft and stayed soft for the next three days as promised. However, we did not like it as much as others did, thought that it was a little too greasy with the amount of milk and cream used. If you like sweet, milky, soft and moist bread, this is the bread for you.

Hokkaido Milk Loaf Bread / 北海道牛奶吐司

Ingredients (Make 2 loaves of 450g):   
A: 
500 g bread flour
15 g fine granulated sugar
3 g instant dry yeast
160 g fresh milk (minimum 3.7% of fat)
140 g dairy fresh cream (I used Hokkaido product, which contains at least 40%)
35 g egg white
10 g butter  

B: 
40 g egg white
75 g fine granulated sugar
6 g salt
2 g instant dry yeast
30 g milk powder

C: 
10 g butter

Method: 

1. First round of mixing: combine all ingredients A in mixing bowl and mix with low speed till a dough is formed. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 2.5-3 hours proofing. 
2. Second round of mixing: add in ingredients B, knead till soft dough stage, add in C and continue to knead till window pane stage. Cover with plastic wrap and rest for 10 minutes. 
3. Divide into 6 equal portions or desired size, shape each portion into a ball, cover and rest for 15 minutes. 
4. Roll each dough into a 20cm x 10cm rectangle, roll up from the short side to make a cylinder (repeat this step for finer texture bread, rest 15 minutes in between). Place rolled cylinder dough into greased molds, 3 dough in a mold. Cover and proof until 75%-80% full [my experiences say it should be 90% full]. 
5. Bake in a preheated oven at 170C for 30-35 minutes. Adjust the oven temperature and the baking time if necessary.