The year has started with an interesting challenge for those of us who participate in Fresh from the Oven. This month, Silvia and Ivan from mushitza set the challenge and it was for tangzhong bread which I have never heard of before. In fact, I am not sure how one even pronounces this? A real challenge indeed. The challenge continued throughout the bread making process. The cooking of the tangzhong took me 45 minutes of stirring and with my sublocated rib, this was a challenge indeed. The next challenge was the issue of room temperature. The Western Cape has been in the throws of a heat wave, and the room temperature in my house has been over 30 Deg Celsius – too hot for anything and not at all what Europeans would consider room temperature. Following that challenge, my tangzhong only weighed in at 85g and I needed 120g for the recipe, plus extra for glazing. I was worried the bread would not work out – but it did, so that challenge was achieved. Then, I did not have a loaf tin – I had forgotten to buy one and made the bread in my cake tin. This worked for the bread, but as the top rose so nicely, it does not cut perfectly. I am off today to get a loaf tin. The recipe below is my adaption of the one we were given.
Tangzhong Bread
Ingredients
for the tangzhong:
- 30 g flour
- 150 mls cold water
for the bread:
- 125 mls milk
- 5 g instant dried yeast
- 350 g bread flour
- 55 g fructose
- 5 g salt
- 120 g tangzhong (or less if that is what yours makes)
- 1 egg
- 30 g butter, melted and cooled
for glazing:
- the rest of the tangzhong or milk if yours does not make more than 120g
Method
for the tangzhong:
- whisk together the flour and the cold water until there are no lumps
- cook over low heat, stirring all the time, until the temperature reaches 65º Celsius
- allow the tangzhong to cool down at room temperature before using it
for the bread:
- dissolve the yeast in the milk
- combine the flour, fructose and salt
- add the milk, tangzhong and the egg
- use a stand mixer equipped with the dough hooks to mix all the ingredients into a soft dough
- add in the butter
- knead in the mixer for 25 minutes
- to test if the dough is ready: take a small piece of dough and stretch it to a very thin membrane before it tears
- cover the bowl and leave it to prove for one hour
- knock the dough back on a lightly floured surface
- give it a quick knead just to let the gas escape, then form it as desired
- transfer to buttered loaf pan for bread or a lined sheet pan for rolls
- cover with cling film and allow to prove for one hour
- preheat the oven to 180º Celsius
- brush on the rest of the tangzhong or the milk
- bake for 25 minutes until nicely golden
- remove from the pan and allow to cool completely before slicing
Click on the links for conversions and notes.
Wow – a challenge indeed. Had never heard of this either but it looks great. What did it taste like?
it is actually quite sweet – and lasted the entire week. Last night we used the last of it to mop up the gravy from our roast chicken pieces 🙂
Gorgeous then!
for sure!
This made me laugh sincerely. We live on the sea coast and normaly we face the opposite challenge – things we cook get more water instead of loosing it 🙂
There is no need to buy a loaf tin, the cake form works fine.
By the way I’m so jealous about the hot weather there, its minus 10 – minus 15Celsius here and I long for the summer heat.
That is really cold Sylvia – we live in such a moderate climate. It barely gets below 10degC here 🙂
This is new to me too. Looks beautiful!
thank you Greg 🙂
YummmY
thanks Paul 🙂
Looks really scrumptious, Tandy. Love the shape too. I could just tear off a goodly sized piece right now. 😉
Dave has been tearing off pieces at random the entire weekend 🙂
I am in complete awe that you made this without a mixer with a dough hook! I should think you burned off a whole loaf of calories before you made it!
Hi Sally, I did use my stand mixer, sorry if I gave the impression I didn’t. The onlly thing I did by hand was make the Tangzhong and that took all the stirring 🙂
Hi Tandy!
It looks yummy 🙂
thank you!
Wow, Tandy, despite your difficulties, this looks wonderful!! I would have never guessed anything less than perfect when I first looked at your photo!
thank you so much for the compliment 🙂
Beautiful Bread. I bet today you are out looking for a dough hook and blender after this experience. Whew a warm one! BAM
Seems I gave the impression I did the kneading by hand – sorry 🙂 I have a stand mixer thankfully!
Okay, I think by now everyone knows I am not a bread person lol.. BUT you guys are definitely inspiring me to make my own loaf of bread. I may not eat it but I think everyone should learn how to play with dough :). Great recipe
playing with dough is so rewarding 🙂
Kudos Tandy! I haven’t hear of this bread before either. I’m not much for sweet bread but you did a brilliant job – beautiful end result.
🙂 Mandy
thanks Mandy – I love all types of breads which is not so good for my waist line 🙂
I’m so intrigued by this bread, Tandy, wow. Your results were amazing. I’ll have to give this a try 🙂
hopefully on the fire so that you can share that experience with us!