The softest, most fluffy wheat bread you have ever tried. It is perfect for a sandwich, and because of the way it is made, it stays fresh for many days.
Put 20 grams of bread flour and 100 grams of milk in a pot and mix it thoroughly.
Put the pot on the stove and turn it on to middle-low heat. Heat while whisking until you have a thick and uniform mass resembling a custard.
Cool the tangzhong down. You can use it when it's lukewarm, but it will kill off the yeast if it is too warm.
Mix and knead the dough
Mix bread flour, yeast, skim milk powder, salt, and sugar in the bowl of your mixer.
Crack the egg into a bowl and mix it lightly with a fork.
Make a hole in the middle of the flour, and pour 25 grams of egg and 120 grams of tangzhong into the hole. Reserve the remaining egg for egg wash later.
Add 100 grams of whipping cream.
Attach the bowl to the mixer and mix the dough with the paddle on low speed until everything is incorporated.
Switch to the dough hook and knead the dough until it passes the windowpane test. If the dough is too wet and won't clear the bottom of the bowl, add a bit more flour.
I kneaded for about 20 minutes before my dough passed the windowpane test.
First proof
Brush a bowl with a bit of oil. Shape the dough into a ball and put it in the bowl. Flop it around until the ball is covered in oil.
Cover the bowl and let the dough rise somewhere warm until it has doubled in size.
Final proof
Butter a bread pan.
Divide the dough into four equally sized pieces. I weighed the dough, but I am weird like that.
Take a piece of dough and make it into a quick ball. Press it flat with your hand.
Roll the dough to an approximate rectangle about five mm/⅕ inches thick.
Roll the dough into a taut roll.
Press the dough flat and roll it out again. It will become very long and should be about the same width as your bread pan.
Roll the dough from the short edge and put it into the pan.
Continue with the remaining three dough pieces and put them all in the pan. They should about fill the bottom.
Cover the pan and let the dough rise to double size.
When the dough has doubled, heat the oven to 170°C/340°F.
Baking
Mix the remaining egg for earlier with a splash of milk.
Brush it carefully onto the risen dough.
Bake the bread for 30-35 minutes until it is done. About halfway through the baking, turn the bread the other way around to promote even baking.
Take it out of the oven and remove it from the pan. Let cool for a minimum of 30 minutes on a wire rack.