drainaps's blog

Good evening,

After weeks of European-style baking, we were missing some much-loved Tang Zhong, that my son particularly likes to indulge in.  I searched the Forum and Voilà!, I found a recipe posted by Floyd a few years back:

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/32997/hokkaido-milk-bread-tangzhong

Floyd's recipe describes the process with turn-by-turn instructions and it was a straightforward process.  A few comments from my side:

1) Use a whisk and a thermometer permanently in the casserole to prepare the Tang Zhong and make sure you don't go too far above the required 65C.  I cooked it over medium power in an induction stove, and it was done in less than 5 minutes.  When the flour started thickening, I took it off the stove and kept stirring a couple of minutes. Hassle-free.

2) Let the Tang Zhong cool own a bit and mixed everything in the Kitchenaid (KA).  I quickly realised my dough was too wet, and I added some more flour (+60 gr, the recipe calls for 800gr, and I ended up with 860).  I kept the dough in the KA on #3 for 15 minutes.  Gluten was not the best after 25 minutes, but the dough temperature was already 32C, so I decided to stop.

2) Bulk and proof were relentless.  I portioned into 6x115 gr plus a 1x200gr ball for the centre and set everything up in an oiled Pyrex dish.

It came out beautiful, and I couldn't be happier with the result.  Please judge by yourselves.

A HUGE THANK YOU to Floyd for his recipe and support, and a suggestion to all of you to try a Tang Zhong bake if you haven't done yet.  They're soft, they're way healthier than brioche with substantially less sugar and butter, and they're a pleasure to bake and eat.

I had some leftover dough that I braided and baked last.

I baked this today, and it turned out great.  I forgot to add the walnuts though! :-(. The recipe contains some milk powder, sugar and a small amount of butter, and the crumb is like a brioche, very soft and with distinct sour notes.  The pumpkin accents the sour flavor, giving Your sourdough a twist.

Here’s the recipe (using a KA mixer):

2 hours before mixing your dough:  Slice the pumpkin into chunks, boil WITHOUT SALT until soft.  Use a mixer to purée and let it cool down to room temperature.  I use a pressure cooker for this and it takes 4 minutes in the pressure cooker from the moment the steam valve shows until the moment you stop the cooking altogether.

Ingredients:

• AP Flour 1,000 gr
• Water 600 gr
• Salt 20 gr
• Sugar 100gr
• Butter 70 gr
• Milk Powder 50 gr
• Pumpkin Purée (Room Temp) 290 gr
• Sourdough Culture 500 gr
• Pumpkin seeds: 100 gr
• Walnuts 100 gr

Instructions:

1. All ingredients in the KA bowl EXCEPT Butter AND Seeds.
2. Knead on #1 speed with dough hook for 2 minutes, until mixed.
3. Increase speed to #3 for approximately 7 minutes, until you see the dough coming off the walls. Adjust water / flour as required, and don’t be shy to adjust.  If your dough is a shaggy mess after 2-3 minutes on #3, you’ll need a little more flour so it can come off the walls 3-4 minutes later.  Check gluten and knead a bit longer if needed until you have good gluten development.
4. Fold the butter in, cut in small chunks, little by little.  Do not add more butter unless the previous batch is incorporated into the dough.
5. Fold the nuts in.  To avoid tearing the dough, you can do this by hand on a lightly floured work surface.  Fold half of the nuts and make a letter fold. (4-sides), then the rest of the nuts and a second 4-side fold.
6. Let it ferment at room temperature (I use a Proofer set to 25C) for one hour.  You can do one Stretch & Fold after 30 minutes being extra careful that the nuts do not tear the dough.
7. Chill overnight.  I use a closed, oiled plastic container for this.
8. Next morning take out from fridge, let sit (closed) at room temperature for one hour, then pre-shape.
9. 30 minutes bench rest.
10. Final shaping followed by final proofing for around 1-2 hours, depending on room temperature.  In my case it’s usually closer to 2 hours.
11. Bake (Steam or Dutch Oven highly recommended) at 190C for 15 minutes and an additional 10-15 minutes at 230C.  I know the temperatures look wrong, especially the initial 190C.  These are the ones I use.  Bear in mind that the dough contains sugar and milk powder, so it can turn dark and set real fast if your temperature setting is too high.
12. Take out from the oven and let it sit for at least one hour before consuming.

And some pictures.....  It came out really beautiful today.

I made a beautiful boule too.....

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my son does (I love it as well :-).  Stay safe all.