Petit Pains Au Lait (Milk Breads) - We Knead to Bake # 17

The bread for this month for the We Knead to Bake group chosen by Aparna is a simple but classic french bread. Petit pain au lait means little milk breads/ rolls. The rolls are mildly sweet and they bake to a beautiful golden brown. They are slightly rich and are soft and almost flaky on the inside because of the way they are shaped and rolled.

This is a wonderful and very easy recipe making it perfect for beginners. I stuffed about four rolls with some chocolate and left the others plain. All of us at home preferred the plain ones and I will surely be baking these again.

Do take a look at these videos to get an idea of how the bread is cut to create the pattern. Link1/ Link2.

Recipe adapted from Gourmet by Kat

Petit Pains Au Lait

Ingredients:

2/3 cup warm whole milk (plus a few teaspoons more if needed)

1 tsp instant yeast

1/4 cup sugar

1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup bread flour*

1/4 tsp salt

60 gms butter, soft at room temperature

extra milk for brushing

Method:

*If you don’t have bread flour, put 2/3 tsp vital wheat gluten in your 3/4 cup measure and top up with all-purpose flour. Mix this well. 

Or if you don’t have vital wheat gluten, then just use 3/4 cup all-purpose flour.

**This topping is optional. The pearl sugar looks pretty and adds a little crunch. If you can’t find pearl sugar, use large crystals of sugar or even regular granulated sugar. 

I used my stand mixer to knead the dough, you can also use the food processor or knead by hand. Put the warm milk, yeast and sugar in the bowl. Mix on low speed. Then add all the flour and the salt and mix until the mixture looks crumbly. Add the butter and knead until you have a soft, smooth and elastic dough that’s not sticky. Add a little more milk (in teaspoonful at a time), if your dough is dry, until you have the required consistency of dough.

Shape the dough into a ball and place it in an oiled bowl. Turn it over to coat with oil. Cover loosely and set aside to rise until double in volume, about 1 1/2 hours. Turn the dough out onto a clean surface. The dough will be easy to work with and not sticky, but if needed, just lightly dust your palms with flour. Deflate the dough gently, and divide it into 10 equal pieces. Let them rest for 15 minutes.

Roll out each piece of dough, one at a time, into a circle of about 4” in diameter. Slowly roll up the circle from one end, Swiss roll/ jelly roll style into a cylinder. Pinch the seam closed neatly, and place them on a greased or parchment lined baking sheet with the seam side facing down. Cover loosely and let them rise for an hour or so till almost double in size.

Brush them lightly with milk and using a pair of sharp scissors, make diagonal cuts (not too deep) on the top of the rolls. Sprinkle pearl sugar/ granulated sugar. Bake them at 200C / 400F  for about 15 minutes or so until they’re golden brown. Cool on a wire rack and serve them warm or at room temperature.

This recipe makes 10 Petit Pains au Lait. They’re best eaten the same day, though you could warm them up and serve the next day.

Melon Pan - We Knead to Bake # 15

Melon Pan is a Japanese sweet bread. These soft spongy mildly sweetened buns have a crunchy cookie layer on the top and the two textures is what makes them really special and unique. 

I love how attractive they look and they were just as delicious.
The ingredient list and the method maybe long but the bread was really easy to make and it is totally worth the effort. And here's a link to a very helpful video of how this bread is made.

Thanks to Aparna for choosing this wonderful bread for the We Knead to Bake group. 

Melon Pan

For an eggless recipe just substitute the egg with 1 tbs yogurt or milk.

Ingredients:

For the bread dough:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tbs milk powder

1 tsp instant yeast

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup cold water

1 egg, beaten 

1 tbs sugar

25 gms butter

For the cookie dough:

1/3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

a large pinch of salt

60 gms butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup castor sugar

1 large egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp lemon zest

castor sugar/ granulated sugar for dusting

Method:

Bread Dough

Whisk together flour, powdered milk, yeast, and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer or in any large bowl. In another bowl, beat the egg and cold water together with a fork until well blended. Add this to the flour mixture in the bowl.

Using the dough hook, knead on low speed until it all comes together as a dough and then on medium speed until you have a somewhat stiff dough. Add the sugar and again knead well.

Now add the butter and knead (first at slow speed and then on medium) until the butter is completely incorporated into the dough and the dough becomes smooth and elastic. The dough should be well-kneaded to develop the gluten.

Shape the dough into a round, and place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let it rise until doubled (about an hour or so).

Cookie dough

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat till combined. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and add this to the bowl. Also add the lemon zest. Beat together  just until combined.

Shape the dough into a cylinder  and wrap tightly in cling film. Refrigerate the dough until required.

Bread dough

Once the dough has doubled in volume, take it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Lightly grease your baking sheet or line it with parchment. Deflate the dough gently and divide it into 8 equal portions.

Shape each portion into a smooth ball. Work with one portion and keep the others covered so they don’t dry out.

Take the cold cookie dough and slice the cylinder into 8 equal portions. Use two pieces of plastic sheets or cling film to flatten the cookie dough. Place one slice/ round of cookie dough on a piece of plastic sheet/ cling film. Cover with another piece, and using a flat bottomed pan, press down on the dough to flatten it, until it is reasonably thin but not very much so.

Carefully take a ball of bread dough (it will have puffed up a little so don’t deflate it), and place the circle of cookie dough on top of it. Gently press the cookie dough edge to the bread dough ball so that it covers the top and sides of the ball, but leave the bottom open. Gently, holding the covered bread dough by the underside, press it into some sugar. Then using a the blunt side of a knife, mark the top of the cookie dough side of the bread roll with a diamond pattern. The pattern should be deep enough (otherwise it will disappear when the bread rises and bakes) without cutting through the cookie dough layer into the bread.

Place this on the greased or parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat this with the remaining cookie dough and bread dough balls. Let them rise for an hour.

Bake them at 180C (350F) for about 25 minutes, until the tops of the Melon Pan just start turning brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool thoroughly.

Melon Pan are best eaten the day they are made.

Focaccia Caprese - We Knead to Bake # 13

Though I do not have a lot of bread recipes on the blog, I do bake them often and rather enjoy the whole process.  'We knead to Bake' is a group started by Aparna last January and I've been following all the breads that they have baked through the year. I'm super excited about being a part of the group and this is the first bread of the year.

I was really happy to see the bread we would be baking, first of all focaccia is a wonderful bread and secondly this one had all my favorite things on it. I wanted to bake the bread the day it was announced, but it took me a while to find really good mozzarella and fresh basil. And for the first time I did not cut down on the oil, rather used it quite generously and it made such a difference.

This time I used a shortcut and used my Kitchen Aid to knead the dough. I can't believe I never did that before. Making bread has never been easier! 

The bread baked beautifully and it was fabulous fresh out of the oven. It was soft and spongy and the cheese all melted and gooey and the flavors were just amazing.
Recipe has been adapted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen from The Kitchen Whisperer.

Focaccia Caprese

Ingredients:

For the dough:

2 tsp instant yeast

1 1/2 tbs sugar

3 1/2 cups bread flour/ all purpose flour

 (I used all purpose flour and added 1 tbs vital wheat gluten to it)

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup oil (preferably olive oil)

1-1 1/2 cups warm water

A little more olive oil for brushing the dough

For the topping:

4-5 tomatoes, sliced thin

1 6-7" round piece of fresh mozzarella, cut into thin slices

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips

For the herbed oil:

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil

1/4-1/2 tsp red chili flakes

1/2 tsp finely minced garlic/paste

salt to taste

Basil leaves for garnishing

Method:

Herbed Oil:

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk them together. Keep aside.

Dough:

Take the flour, sugar, yeast, salt and oil in a bowl and mix to combine. Add 1 cup of warm water and mix with your fingers to form a dough. Add  more water if needed. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead until you have a soft elastic dough, that us just short of sticky. Shape into a round and place in a well oiled bowl turning the dough around so it is coated. Cover and let it rise till almost double in volume. This should take about an hour.

**I kneaded my dough in my KA mixer using the dough hook. I set it at speed 4 and mixed for about 8 minutes until I had a smooth dough. You can also use a food processor.

After the dough has risen, divide it into two equal portions. Place the dough into a greased pan and press and spread the dough with your fingers until they are approximately 11” by 7” in size. The shape does not really matter as the focaccia is a rustic bread, but try to get it evenly thick. Cover and let rise for about 20 minutes.

Generously brush the surface of the bread with olive oil and use your fingers to create evenly spaced 'dimples' all over the surface of the dough.

Bake at 210C (410F) for about 18 to 20 minutes till it is almost done and is beginning to turn golden brown. Take the Focaccia out and turn up the heat of your oven to 230C (450F).

Lightly drizzle some of the Herbed Oil over the Focaccia and then evenly arrange some slices of mozzarella all over the bread, leaving very little space between them. Top the cheese with the tomato slices and sprinkle the chopped basil over this. The topping should cover most of the surface of the bread.

Drizzle some more Herbed Oil over the topping and return the bread to the oven. Bake the Focaccia for 5 to 8 minutes or until the cheese has just melted. Remove from the oven and garnish with fresh basil leaves.

Cut the Focaccia into slices and serve while it is still hot. 

This recipe serves 4 if served alone or 6 if served with a side.

This bread is being yeastspotted!