Softest Sweet Potato Milk Bread Loaf
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
- 30g/1oz. bread flour
- 125g/4flozs. milk
-
30g/1oz. butter
-
100g/3.5ozs. sweet potato, steamed
- 170g/6ozs. milk
- 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 50g/1.7ozs. sugar
- 400g/14.1ozs. bread flour
- 2 teaspoons instant dried yeast
- 1.5 teaspoons salt
- 1 egg mixed with 1 teaspoon water for egg wash
- Pumpkin seeds, sesame seed mix
Step 1 - First make the tangzhong mix. Whisk the flour and first lot of milk together in a saucepan. Heat gently until it reaches 65C/149F. You will need to whisk this while it is heating so that it stays smooth. Add in the butter and whisk together.
Step 2 - In a food processor, whiz the sweet potato, milk together, turmeric, egg and sugar. Add this to the tangzhong mix and mix to combine well.
Step 3 - In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook mix the flour and yeast. Add in the sweet potato tangzhong liquid and mix until combined. Then place the dough hook on the lowest setting and knead for 8-9 minutes or until you get the window pane effect. This is where you can gently stretch the dough so that it becomes thin enough to see through without breaking it.
Step 4 - Grease a large bowl and cover with cling film and place it in a bowl of hot water for 40 minutes or so replacing the hot water 2-3 times (I do this in colder weather to make sure that it rises). It should increase to three times its size. Knead the salt into the dough.
Step 5 - Preheat oven to 170C/338F. Grease a large, deep loaf tin (mine was 23.5x15x9cm). Flour a surface and divide the dough into three equal portions. Roll out with a rolling pin keeping the width of the rolled dough around the same as the baking tin. Roll up like a Swiss roll and place seam side down in the tin. Repeat with the other two pieces. Allow to double in size. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with pumpkin seeds and seed mix. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from tin after baking and cool on a baking rack.