My Favourite Seeds

After making the Por Lor Pau last week, I attempted them again as I was not very satisfied with ‘pineapplle skin’. However, this batch didn’t turn out any better. Disappointment aside, something did turn out well – the bread.

Once again, I used the Hokkaido Milk Loaf recipe, but adapted it to make a black sesame loaf. I have always been fond of using sesame seeds in my baking, so when I bought a bottle of ground sesame ‘powder’, I wanted to see what I could do with it, and this bread recipe came just in time.

Below is my adapted recipe. Click here for the original recipe from Schneider.

Black Sesame Milk Loaf

270g bread flour
30g cake flour
15g milk powder
40g sugar
4g salt
2 tbsp ground black sesame
5g active dry yeast plus 20g water
Half a beaten egg(about 26g)
70g single cream
110g fresh milk

1) Dissolve yeast in water. Set aside for 5-10 mins, stir to dissolve yeast.
2) Mix flours, milk powder, sugar, salt and sesame in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and add in yeast mixture, egg, cream and milk.
3) Using the paddle attachment of the mixture, mix on low speed until the mixture starts to come together in a ball. Switch to dough hook and knead dough on Speed 2 until soft and elastic, about 10 mins.
4) Round the dough into a ball and place into an oiled bowl. Cover with cling wrap and let rise for about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
5) Punch dough down, then cover and rest for 10 minutes.
6) Shape dough into a loaf and place in a greased/lined 8” by 4” loaf tin. Cover with cling wrap and let rise until dough has risen to about double the height, about 45-60 minutes.
7) Bake in a pre-heated 180C oven for about 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Turn the bread out onto a wire rack to cool.

The above method is based on using a stand mixer. If you’re kneading by hand, at Step 3, mix everything with a wooden spoon to form a slightly stiff dough. Then turned onto a floured worktop and knead until smooth and elastic. Proceed as for Step 4 onwards.

If you like asian-style breads, this would be the recipe to try, for it's soft and moist, and its softness lasts beyond 2 days, which is pretty good considering this is made without any commercial bread improvers.