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爱做面包的太阳花
Apr 29, 2021
Buns
Classic Old-Fashioned Pull-Apart Bread (Recipe by Ai He Zi You)
经典的老式面包，方子来自爱和自由
🍞 Formula & Measurements
- •Sponge: Bread flour 210g
- •Sponge: Cake flour 90g
- •Sponge: Sugar 24g
- •Sponge: Instant dry yeast 6g
- •Sponge: Water 240g
- •Main dough: Bread flour 210g
- •Main dough: Cake flour 90g
- •Main dough: Sugar 96g (reduced to 65g for less sweetness)
- •Main dough: Salt 7.5g
- •Main dough: Milk powder 24g
- •Main dough: Beaten egg 90g
- •Main dough: Water 42g
- •Main dough: Butter 72g
If you haven't tried this bread yet and miss the nostalgic taste of childhood bakery rolls, you must make this classic old-fashioned bread. It is delicious. Follow the recipe step by step and you cannot go wrong. You will be rewarded with wonderful flavor and fond memories.
🍞Ingredients:
Sponge (starter dough): Bread flour 210g, cake flour 90g, sugar 24g, instant dry yeast 6g, water 240g.
Main dough: Bread flour 210g, cake flour 90g, sugar 96g (I don't eat very sweet things, so I reduced it to 65g), salt 7.5g, milk powder 24g, beaten egg 90g, water 42g, butter 72g.
Topping: Melted butter for brushing.
Detailed steps: See Photo 6.
I made two small adjustments:
1. Based on my personal taste, I reduced the sugar a bit.
2. The original recipe uses a rectangular pan with 6 coils, while I used a square pan, so I divided the dough into 9 equal pieces and shaped 9 coils.
💡 Baker's Q&A & Troubleshooting (25)
Distilled from Author's NotesQ:How wet should the sponge be? Following your formula, mine came out very wet and I don't know if I should move to the next step. Waiting online!
A:It is supposed to be a bit wet. Check the reference photos. Do you live in a very humid area? If so, your flour might already have higher moisture content. It is very dry where I live, so the hydration in this recipe works just right for me. Oh, did you just mix the sponge? Yes, it starts out wet! Leave it to rise for two hours until tall and bubbly, then check the internal web structure.
Q:Can I replace the cake flour with all-purpose flour?
A:Yes, you can. You can even use 100% bread flour, which I have tried before. Using all bread flour gives a slightly chewier texture with more feathery shred, while blending in cake flour makes the texture softer and more tender.
Q:Can I replace the sugar with honey?
A:I haven't tried substituting honey in this recipe. If you want to try, I suggest replacing only part of the sugar first. I was surprised by the sugar amount at first too, but thinking back, the bakery bread we ate as kids really was quite sweet. Thanks for the feedback, so happy to hear it!
Q:Can I use a sugar substitute? That's a lot of sugar and I'm trying to lose weight.
A:You can keep part of the real sugar to feed and activate the yeast, and replace the rest with a sugar substitute.
Q:The crust on mine turned out quite hard. Did I bake it for too long? Thank you!
A:It could be baked a bit too long, or the dough might not have been kneaded to full gluten development. Keep at it!
Q:Should the water for the sponge be warm or cold, and does the sponge need to reach the windowpane stage? Thanks!
A:Use cold water in the summer and slightly lukewarm water in the winter for the sponge. It does not need a windowpane; just mix until it comes together into a ball. You only knead to the full windowpane stage after combining it with the main dough.
Q:Can I leave out the milk powder if I don't have any?
A:Yes, just omit it if you don't have any.
Q:Can the sponge be cold-fermented in the fridge overnight? If so, how far in advance should I take it out the next day? Thank you!
A:Yes, it can stay overnight, similar to old dough (pâte fermentée). If chilling overnight, don't let it rise too much at room temperature before putting it in the fridge. The next day, you don't need to bring it back to room temperature; you can use it straight from the fridge.
Q:Thank you for sharing such detailed instructions! I followed your recipe and steps to make both this old-fashioned bread and a Pullman loaf, and both succeeded!
A:❤️❤️❤️ Thank you so much for the feedback!
Q:Can I use 100% all-purpose flour?
A:No, using 100% all-purpose flour won't work well; the texture will turn out like steamed buns (mantou).
Q:What is bread flour? Can I use regular flour, high-gluten flour, or cake flour at home?
A:Bread flour is high-protein flour used for bread. Cake flour is low-protein flour generally used for cakes.
Q:The crust on mine turned out quite hard. Did I bake it for too long? Thank you!
A:It could be baked a bit too long, or the dough might not have been kneaded to full gluten development. Keep at it!
Q:Can I leave out the milk powder if I don't have any?
A:Yes, just omit it if you don't have any.
Q:Can I replace the sugar with honey?
A:I haven't tried substituting honey in this recipe. If you want to try, I suggest replacing only part of the sugar first. I was surprised by the sugar amount at first too, but thinking back, the bakery bread we ate as kids really was quite sweet. Thanks for the feedback, so happy to hear it!
Q:What are the dimensions of your baking pan?
A:It is a 26x26x6 cm Sanneng square baking pan.
Q:Should the water for the sponge be warm or cold, and does the sponge need to reach the windowpane stage? Thanks!
A:Use cold water in the summer and slightly lukewarm water in the winter for the sponge. It does not need a windowpane; just mix until it comes together into a ball. You only knead to the full windowpane stage after combining it with the main dough.
Q:If I don't have milk powder, can I skip it or replace the water with milk?
A:If you don't have milk powder, you can just skip it and keep the liquid amount the same.
Q:How wet should the sponge be? Following your formula, mine came out very wet and I don't know if I should move to the next step. Waiting online!
A:It is supposed to be a bit wet. Check the reference photos. Do you live in a very humid area? If so, your flour might already have higher moisture content. It is very dry where I live, so the hydration in this recipe works just right for me. Oh, did you just mix the sponge? Yes, it starts out wet! Leave it to rise for two hours until tall and bubbly, then check the internal web structure.
Q:About how long does the sponge take to ferment?
A:It is much faster in the summer, around 2 hours should be enough. In the winter, it takes 3 to 4 hours.
Q:Can the sponge be cold-fermented in the fridge overnight? If so, how far in advance should I take it out the next day? Thank you!
A:Yes, it can stay overnight, similar to old dough (pâte fermentée). If chilling overnight, don't let it rise too much at room temperature before putting it in the fridge. The next day, you don't need to bring it back to room temperature; you can use it straight from the fridge.
Q:Is bread flour the same as high-protein flour?
A:Yes, bread flour is high-protein flour.
Q:What temperature and for how long should I bake it?
A:Bake at 180°C for about 30 minutes. The original recipe is in Photo 8, sorry if the text in the photo is a little hard to read!
Q:Can I use a sugar substitute? That's a lot of sugar and I'm trying to lose weight.
A:You can keep part of the real sugar to feed and activate the yeast, and replace the rest with a sugar substitute.
Q:Reading the comments got me confused. How come bread flour, cake flour, and all-purpose flour are all mentioned? Shouldn't bread be made with bread flour?
A:The creator of this recipe wanted a softer, more tender bite without overly strong chewiness, which is why part cake flour is blended in with the bread flour.
Q:Looks fantastic and super soft!
A:Yes, it is super soft and fragrant because it is brushed with melted butter right out of the oven. This recipe is wonderful, and I have been making it for years.
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