Glorious Innards

Glorious Innards

Image by Sifu Renka
… lovely with a large mug of matcha latte.

I have finally found a recipe for one of my most beloved breads. Ever since my introduction to the Hokkaido Milk Bread, I’ve been scouring to find loyal versions or substitutes here in Canada (well, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver). No such luck.
Recently I’ve found a recipe (translated version, yipee!) for the bread and decided to try it out. It’s not EXACTLY the same as I made some generous substitutions for a healthier and more whole grain version. Maybe I should just stick it out and make the real deal before passing judgement. My loaf wasn’t as billowy as the one on Angie’s site, but then again, I used whole wheat flour and all milk (didn’t want to use heavy cream… it just seemed a little too indulgent). All my rolls of dough eventually melded into one big loaf, which was still fine with me. The dough was a tad moist and sticky and took more time to rise (a number of factors could be possible). Tastewise, well… it’s got the moist dense crumb that I have longed for, and it is heavy on the wheaty goodness. This is Angie’s recipes with my substitutions in the brackets.
I think I’ll try the real recipe next time

Hokkaido Milk Bread

Ingredients:
540 g Bread flour (I used 350g whole wheat flour, 190g bread flour)
60 g Cake flour
10 g Dry active yeast
30 g Milk powder
80 g Sugar
9 g Salt
1 pc Egg
250 g Fresh milk
150 g Whipping cream (heavy cream) (I just used 400g fresh milk)

Mix all the ingredients in the bowl of an electric stand-mixer. Remember separate the yeast from salt and sugar to avoid the dehydration.
Knead until gluten is fully developed and the dough is elastic, smooth, non-sticky and leave from sides of mixing bowl. Cover with a damp towel and allow the dough to ferment until double in size, about 60 minutes. (Mine took longer, but I’ve found that my rises always take longer than most recipes… possibly due to my kitchen environment)
Take out the dough and press out the gas produced during the proof. Divide it into 4 portions. Round up and let rest for about 20 minutes.
Roll each dough out and roll up and place in a 13×33x12cm loaf pan. (This was tough as my dough was fairly sticky… so I patted it “flat” with my hands and rolled up whatever didn’t really stick to my hands into what became a roll). After shaping, let the dough rise up to 2/3 full. (This was taking too long so I let it rise overnight while I slept) Brush with egg wash or milk. Bake in a preheated 170C/340F oven for about 40 minutes.

Seen on: simplystated.realsimple.com/food/2009/02/easy-healthful.html
Healthy Recipes

By following the basic rules of variety, moderation (portion control), and balance, you can plan your daily healthy recipes in accordance with Canada’s Food Guide. You can partake in almost any food without guilt or worry. You are able to use healthy recipes to learn to utilize foods to lower your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers.

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Learn to eat less sweets and use Splenda, a natural sugar replacement as often as possible in healthy recipes, in order to keep sugar intake lower, and sea salt in place of regular table salt, to keep our intake of processed iodized salt. Packaged and canned products are usually heavily salted or sugared and it is not necessary – our bodies just do not need it. Choose light and low sugared and salted canned foods if you must.

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Remember we are what we eat!

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