Black Tea Condensed Milk Loaf ❤️ Feathery Pull-Apart Crumb ❤️ Rich Milk Tea Aroma

🍞Ingredients: Makes one 450g Pullman loaf

Bread flour 270g, sugar 15g, sweetened condensed milk 50g, salt 3g, egg 25g, milk 145g (adjust as needed), unsalted butter 25g, instant dry yeast 3g, black tea bags: 2 bags (for steeping in milk) + 1 bag (finely ground tea leaves added to the dough), 3 tea bags total.

🍞Instructions:

1️⃣Make the milk tea. I took an easy shortcut: heat the milk in the microwave, steep 2 black tea bags until the color turns deep and rich, and chill it in the fridge (or pop it in the freezer to speed things up). Once the milk tea is icy cold, you are ready to mix. Chilling it thoroughly keeps the dough temperature under control.

2️⃣Add all ingredients except the butter and the third tea bag into the mixer bowl along with the chilled milk tea. Mix until it forms a rough ball, then cover and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes (this keeps the dough temperature low and helps gluten develop through autolyse).

3️⃣After 30 minutes, take the dough out of the fridge and mix until it reaches the thick membrane stage. Add the softened butter and mix to 80%–90% gluten development, then tear open the remaining 1 black tea bag, add the fine tea leaves, and mix until the dough reaches the full windowpane stage.

4️⃣Shape the dough into a tight ball, cover, and let it rise for the first proof (bulk fermentation) for about 50 minutes until doubled in size. Dip your finger in flour and poke the dough; the indentation should hold without springing back.

5️⃣Gently degas to release large air pockets, divide into three equal pieces, shape into tight balls, and let them bench rest for about 10 minutes. Roll out, coil, and place into the loaf pan. For detailed shaping movements, check out the loaf shaping video I posted a few days ago.

6️⃣Proof until the pan is 90% full. Bake at 190°C for about 8 to 9 minutes until golden on top, tent with aluminum foil, and bake for another 23 minutes. Adjust the exact oven temperature and time according to how your oven runs. I used a San Neng gold corrugated Pullman pan; if you use a standard pan, adjust your temperature and time accordingly.

7️⃣Tap the pan firmly on the counter right out of the oven, turn the loaf out onto its side on a wire rack, and immediately set it upright to cool.