An attempt to extend the concepts employed by America's Test Kitchen in their Fluffy Dinner Rolls recipe that works so well. This is inevitably a step toward Japanese shokupan. That shokupan recipe doesn't make use of the slurry technique, however.
2 standard loaves.
| Slurry | |
| 3 tbsp | all-purpose or bread flour |
| ½ cup | water |
| Main ingredients | |
| — | the slurry |
| 1 cup | milk |
| ½ cup | water |
| 3¾-4 cups | bread flour |
| 1 tbsp | yeast |
| 4 tbsp | sugar |
| 2 tsp | salt |
| 8 tbsp | softened butter (1 stick, room temperature at least) |
1. Make the slurry by whisking the 3 tbsp of flour into the ½ cup of water until no lumps remain. Microwave the slurry stirring every 20 seconds until it turns into a stiff, but smooth pudding-like paste that will stand up a bit when you lift and let it drip back onto itself. Typically, you will need only 2 periods in the microwave.
2. In your stand mixer's bowl, not under the mixer, whisk together the slurry and the 1 cup of milk and the other ½ cup of water. Park the bowl under the mixer.
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3. Add the bread flour plus the yeast. Put the bowl into the mixer under its dough hook and mix on low until all of the flour is moistened, 1-2 minutes, then let it sit in the bowl for 15 minutes. |
15 minutes |
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4. Add the sugar and salt, mix on medium-low for 5 minutes. |
5 minutes |
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5. With the mixer still running, add the butter, one tablespoon at a time as you incorporate it. Let the mixer run for 5 more minutes scraping down the sides of the bowl and the dough hook to ensure perfect incorporation of all ingredients. The dough will be a bit sticky (do put just enough flour for the dough to pull away from the sides and a little bit from the bottom of the bowl). |
5 minutes |
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6. Remove the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it into a ball. Put the dough, seam-side down, into a greased bowl for proofing. Spray with Pam and cover with plastic wrap. Let the paton proof until doubled, about 1 hour. |
1 hour |
7. Grease a standard loaf pan. Transfer the paton to your kneading surface, resist the temptation to add flour. Press gently to expel air and flatten out to a square. Cut the dough into 4 pieces like this:
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8. For each piece of dough, stretch and flatten gently into a long strip. Roll each into a snug cylinder, then curl into a ball (a little like what's done in the shokupan recipe. Put 2 pieces side-by-side into each loaf pan.
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9. Cover with plastic wrap, let proof until double in volume, 45-60 minutes. |
45-60 minutes |
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10. Preheat oven to 350° with a rack on the lower middle. Bake loaves on this rack until deep, golden brown, 45 minutes? |
45 minutes? |
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11. Cool loaves in the pans for 3 minutes, then invert each carefully from pan, then reinvert and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before cutting. Cooling on a rack will guard the bottoms from sweating against the surface they're cooling on. |
3+20 minutes |