Pull-Apart Milk Pullman Loaf ❤️ Single-Proof Method, Beginner Friendly

This recipe is perfect when you are short on time, and the results are every bit as good. Besides saving time, a single-proof Pullman loaf has the bonus of a fine, tender crumb structure.

🍞Ingredients: (For one 450g Pullman loaf pan)

Bread flour 270g, icy cold heavy whipping cream 30g (my cream is very thick; if yours is thinner, hold back 15g of liquid and add gradually), icy cold milk 130g (flour absorption varies, so hold back 10g and add as needed), half a cold egg (about 25g), milk powder 10g, sugar 35g, salt 3g, instant dry yeast 4g (or fresh compressed yeast 9g), softened butter 25g.

🍞Method:

1️⃣ Place all ingredients except the butter into the mixer bowl and mix on low-medium speed for about 5 minutes (adjust for your stand mixer) until a relatively smooth dough forms.

2️⃣ Place the dough in a container, cover with plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge for a 30-minute cold autolyse (this prevents the dough temperature from getting too high).

3️⃣ Take the dough out of the fridge and knead in the mixer for 1 to 2 minutes until it stretches into a thick membrane, then add the softened butter. Mix until it reaches the full windowpane stage.

4️⃣ Divide the dough into 3 equal portions, shape into tight balls, cover with plastic wrap, and bench rest for about 10 minutes.

5️⃣ Perform a double roll-and-coil shaping and place into the loaf pan. Proof in a warm, humid place until 80% to 90% full in the pan (I placed a bowl of hot water in the unheated oven and swapped the water twice).

6️⃣ Bake at 180°C on the lower-middle rack for 33 minutes, tenting with aluminum foil after 6 to 7 minutes (adjust baking time according to how your oven runs).

7️⃣ Tap the pan firmly out of the oven, unmold immediately, and cool on a wire rack.

🔆Helpful Tips:

1. The butter must be softened at room temperature, neither rock-hard straight from the fridge nor melted into liquid in the microwave. Room-temperature softened butter emulsifies smoothly into the dough for the best crumb.

2. As the weather warms up, controlling dough temperature is critical. Never chase a windowpane at the expense of overheating your dough. Do not skip the 30-minute chill in the fridge.

3. Flour water absorption varies, so hold back 15g of liquid and add it gradually as needed.

4. Regarding ingredient order: to keep the yeast from touching the salt and sugar directly, I usually add liquids, salt, and sugar at the bottom, cover with flour, and place the yeast on top of the flour.