Super Soft Pumpkin 'Milk' Bread (Tangzhong / Yu-Dane Method Inspired!)
Guys this is life changing. I have been wanting to try making some sort of super soft and bouncy bread using the infamous tangzhong or yu-dane methods for quite some time now. From what I understand, both methods use a technique of gelatinizing(?) parts of the bread flour using either hot water or boiling, which results in a dough that can hold moisture a lot better.
Now that I am typing this I think my version is actually gravitating more in the yu-dane direction of things, but I used a more ‘lazy’ and not very accurate method anyway, so I highly suggest you check out asian recipe creators who have mastered this technique already! I will 100% do the same and experiment with this type of baking too, because WOW IS THIS BREAD GOOD LET ME TELL YOU!!
and now here is my take on tangzhong / yu-dane for this:
Super Soft Pumpkin ‘Milk’ Bread
Ingredients:
(makes a small loaf of about 15cm or 5’’ length)
for the tangzhong / yu-dane starter:
15g light flour (wheat or spelt)
1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup hot water (just off the boil)
for the general bread dough:
80g warm plant milk
1 tsp dry active yeast
25g + 1 tbsp sugar (I used coconut sugar but you can use regular as well)
45g pumpkin puree
125g light flour (again, wheat or spelt)
a pinch of salt
15g vegan butter (room temperature)
a pinch of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice (optional)
for the syrup wash:
some plant milk (preferably not super cold)
a little bit of liquid sweetener
Instructions:
Combine the ingredients for the tangzhong / yu-dane starter and stir until a sticky paste forms.
Push that paste up onto the edge of your bowl, so that in case it is still hot form the boiling water, it won’t touch and kill the yeast you are about to add. Now add your lukewarm plant milk, yeast and 1 tbsp sugar to the bottom of your bowl and stir to combine.
After letting the yeast bloom* for a few minutes, add your remaining dough ingredients except for the vegan butter and knead into a soft dough. (You also want to incorporate your paste, that is still sticking on the edge of your bowl here.)
Once you combined everything into a dough, add your vegan butter as well and knead again until all of the butter is absorbed and incorporated.
Now cover your bowl with a clean and wet kitchen towel and either let it rise overnight in the fridge or for about 1-2 hours in a warm space until doubled in size.
Once your dough has doubled in size, knead it again on a floured surface (the dough will be rather sticky, so a floured surface is necessary here as it will enable the dough to absorb just as much flour as it needs to be kneadable!) and if you placed it in the fridge overnight, let it rest for a couple more minutes to let it warm up to room temperature before forming into a loaf. You can also prepare your syrup wash now.
Now roll out your dough, fold in the sides and then roll it into a little roll to form a loaf. Add this loaf to your floured or lined loaf pan and let it rise for a final hour in a warm place, while also brushing it with your syrup wash from time to time. You also want to preheat your oven to 175°C at this point.
Once the dough has risen for a final time and your oven is preheated, bake your little loaf for about 30-35mins or until golden brown.
Let your baked loaf cool down completely before cutting into it and then you are pretty much done! *
I have a soft spot for this bread. (Get it? Soft spot. I am sorry omg lol)
*Notes:
Blooming yeast is a way of activating dry yeast and seeing if it is still alive. Once the yeast is combined with the lukewarm liquid and sugar it is supposed to form air bubbles after a few minutes. That way you can check if your yeast is still working.
The bread is best consumed fresh but you can also easily cut it into slices and freeze them or store it as a whole in an airtight container for up to a few days I would say.
Did you make this recipe?
leave a comment or tag me on Instagram @choartemi