Pain de mie au yaourt

( Yoghurt bread )

Recently, people seem to be switching from white sliced breads to the more complex textures and flavours of traditional or sourdough breads. It’s one of the few trends that I absolutely understand, however there are occasions when nothing beats a soft and fluffy white bread roll or sandwich bread. As the title of the recipe suggests, this bread is made with yoghurt, giving it a creamy sour flesh that is slightly denser than white bread, and a thin, velvety crust. It’s the perfect alternative to traditional breads with their hard crusts and sometimes pungent sourness that can be a little overwhelming for some.

Makes 1 loaf

Poolish

1 g (¹/₃₂ oz) dried yeast

100 ml (3½ fl oz) cold water (20°C/70°F)

100 g (3½ oz) plain (all-purpose) flour (‘0’/T55)

Dough

100 g (3½ oz) plain (all-purpose) flour (‘0’/T55)

2 tablespoons honey

50 g (1³/₄ oz) Greek-style yoghurt

4 g (¹/₈ oz) fine salt

2 g (¹/₁₆ oz) dried yeast

10 g (¼ oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature

Egg wash (for buns)

2 eggs

pinch of fine salt

L To make the poolish, follow the method. Once prepared, cover and set aside at room temperature for 3 hours, or until the poolish triples in volume.

L To make the dough, put the flour, honey, yoghurt and poolish in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment and knead on low speed for 5 minutes, or until the dough comes together. Cover the bowl with a cloth and set aside for 20 minutes.

L Add the salt, yeast and butter to the dough and knead for 10 minutes on low speed until well combined, then increase the speed to medium and knead for 2–3 minutes, or until the dough comes away from the side of the bowl. To check whether the dough is ready, use the ‘windowpane’ test. Remove the dough hook, cover the bowl with a cloth and set aside in a warm place to prove for 1 hour, or until doubled in size. Using your fist, punch the dough down to remove the gas bubbles.

L This dough can be baked as a single loaf or divided into balls for hamburgers or hot dog buns. If making a loaf, lightly grease a 15 x 25 cm (6 x 10 in) bread tin. Shape the dough using the balling method. Put the balled dough into the tin and set aside in a warm place to prove for 1–2 hours, or until approximately tripled in size. If making buns, divide the dough into 120 g (4¼ oz) portions for long buns (for hot dogs); 80 g (2³/₄ oz) portions for hamburger buns; and 40 g (1½ oz) portions for small slider buns. Once shaped, place the buns on a baking tray lined with baking paper, cover with a cloth and set aside in a warm place to prove for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

L If cooking the loaf, preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Cover the tin with a flat tray, then weight it down with a cast-iron pan or similar (the heavier the better). Bake for 40 minutes, then remove the top tray and weight, tip the loaf over and remove the tin and bake for another 15 minutes, or until golden. Leave to cool for 1 hour before slicing.

L If cooking the buns, preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Meanwhile, to make an egg wash, lightly beat the eggs and salt together in a small bowl. When the buns are ready, brush them all over with the egg wash. Bake for 10–12 minutes for the larger rolls and 7–8 minutes for the small slider buns, or until golden. Unlike layered doughs used for croissant or puff pastry, brioches and breads cook quickly and have a tendency to dry up, so if you respect the temperatures, the colour is actually a very reliable way of deciding if your bread is ready.

tip

The main characteristic of pain de mie is its dense, white flesh, which is achieved by adding a fat to a traditional bread dough. As always, I recommend that you experiment with the recipes I have listed in this book. For a different result, why not try replacing the butter (fat) in this recipe with the same amount of soft blue cheese or creamy mascarpone.