Japanese Milk Bread: Version 2

I made milk bread again.  Although, the recipe I used for the first loaf was very good.  I wanted an even fluffier, soft bread with a slight chewy texture.  I decided to look into other recipes and decided to mix and match ingredients to come up with version 2:

The texture was much fluffier and still slightly chewy.  And god, did it smell GOOD when it was baking. The bread tastes almost creamy compared to the first loaf. So, here's the recipe (this recipe makes one loaf, but the tangzhong mix is enough for 2 loaves):



Tangzhong mix:
1/3 cup flour
1 cup milk

Bread dough:
1/2 cup warm whole milk
3 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons yeast (active is fine)
2 cups bread flour
3/4 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon dry milk powder
1 egg + 1 egg for an egg wash
2 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream
2 Tablespoons butter softened

1. Make the tangzhong by heating 1 cup milk and 1/3 cup flour in a saucepan over low to medium heat.  Whisk the flour and milk until it thickens into a loose paste.  Set aside to cool. 
2. In a medium size bowl, add the sugar to the warm milk and add the yeast.  Stir and let sit until the yeast starts to foam.
3. In a separate larger bowl, mix the flour, dry milk powder and salt.
4. In a smaller bowl, mix 1 egg with 2 Tablespoons of whipping cream.
5. When the tangzhong has cooled, take half of the mixture and add to the egg and cream. You can save the other half of the mixture in a container and put it in the fridge. Stir together and add to the bowl with the yeast. Mix gently and then add to the dry ingredients.
6. Stir the wet and dry ingredients just until a dough ball just starts to form.  Add the softened butter and mix until the dough is no longer greasy or sticky. I usually just forgo the wooden spoon and use my hands at this point.
7. Most recipes want you to turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead.  I found it easier to just knead the dough in the bowl.  Knead until the dough is smooth, about 20 to 30 minutes by hand.  The dough shouldn't be sticky at all.
8.  Add approximately a Tablespoon of oil in the bowl and allow the dough to rise for 60 minutes covered with plastic.
9. Once the dough has doubled in size, divide the dough into 4 pieces.  Roll out each piece into a circle and roll up one edge like you're making cinnamon buns and place it in loaf pan with the seam side down. Allow the dough to rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour covered with plastic.
10. Whisk 1 egg and brush onto the top of the bread before putting it into a 350 degrees F oven for 30 minutes.  Check at the 20 minute mark, if the bread looks like it is browning too fast, cover with a piece of foil. 

The boyfriend and I couldn't resist.  We didn't let this loaf cool before we cut into it and slathered it with tons of butter.  Mmmmm.... butter.  It's probably not the healthiest bread in the world but it's worth making.  This recipe looks like it has a ton of steps but each step is pretty quick, except for the rising of the dough. That always seems to take forever especially when you're hankering for yummy milk bread. I also think the bread flour with the cake flour made a difference in the overall texture. The boyfriend also thought this version was much better than version 1. Enjoy!