Caramelized Hokkaido Breadsss-8.jpg — Caramelized Hokkaido Milk Bread

w/ White Chocolate, Chestnut, & Espresso.

Ingredients:

Caramelized Milk

Milk 565g
Sugar 168g
Baking Soda 1 tsp

Caramelized Hokkaido Milk Bread

Makes Roughly two 5x7” Loafs of Bread

Tahzong

Caramelized Milk 75g
Water 50g
Bread Flour 30g

Dough

Bread Flour 685g
Caramelized Milk 280g
Yeast 1 Tbsp
Salt 5g
Eggs 2 ea
Butter, Room Temp 85g
Espresso Freshly Grated

White Chocolate Ganache

Milk 135g
White Chocolate 225g
Nutmeg 1/2 tsp
Salt 2 tsp
Vanilla Extract 1 Cap
Lemon Juice 1 ea

Method:

Making the Caramelized Milk:

Caramelized Milk-2.jpg — Cooking Sous Vide

cooking through the process of heating up *water* to a *controlled temperature* by the use of a **circulator** over an *extended period* of time. These *controlled temperatures* result in much more *accurate cooking*.
Vegetables are cooked through all the way yet perfectly crisp while meats such as steaks, are cooked to your desired temperature *every. single. time*.
Foods that are to be cooked sous vide should be *vacuum sealed* with the use of a **cryovak machine.** Not only does this keep water from leaking into your food, it also keeps aromas from escaping tonights dinner.

Caramelized Milk-3.jpg — Caramelized Milk

In a large stainless steel mixing bowl, mix together milk, sugar, and baking soda until throughly combined.
Pour milk into your mason jar and **cook sous vide** for 10 hours at 85C. Remove and cool down with the use of an ice bath.

White Chocolate Sauce

Over medium low heat, warm up milk until just simmering. Pour hot milk over white chocolate and whisk until the chocolate is fully melted and sauce is smooth. Season with nutmeg, vanilla extract, salt, and lemon. Allow to cool.

Caramelized Hokkaido Milk Bread

Tahzong

an essential in every bakers arsenal, the **Tahzong** is a *water/ milk, flour roux* used in bread making in order to get a *lighter* and much *fluffier* product, most commonly seen out in *Milk Bread* or *Japanese Hokkaido.*
To make the Tahzong, combine water, caramelized milk and flour together over medium heat. Cook until paste begins to form. Roughly 1-2 minutes.

Caramelized Hokkaido Milk Bread Continued

Start off by dissolving the yeast in a warm water/ milk mixture that is no cooler than 105 F yet no hotter than 110 F. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes.

In a stand mixer, combine the yeast mixture and flour together. Over medium speed, kneed the ingredients until it begins to come together, roughly 1 minute. Add Tahzong and eggs and continue kneeding. Over the next few minutes, add in room temperature butter 21g at a time. Kneed just until the dough becomes smooth and elastic with a slight sticky touch, this entire process should take 10 minutes.

After the dough has formed, allow it to rest in a lightly oiled bowl covered with a damp cloth for 1 hour. If the time presents itself retard the process by allowing the dough to rise covered under refrigeration over night, furthering gluten development and flavor.

After the time has elapsed, punch down the dough and divide it into multiple oval log shaped pieces. Now, using a rolling pin, thin out the dough to roughly a 1”inch rectangle sheet of dough then fold it over itself by performing a three part fold.

Next, grab the shortest side of the dough and roll the dough into itself, once again creating an oval like log. Repeat until all logs have been folded then place them into a lightly butter bread pan. Allow the dough to rise again by resting it for 1 hour. In the meantime, pre-heat the oven to 350 F.

Once dough has risen, lightly brush the top with an egg wash/milk mixture and bake it at 350 F for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown with sides that pull away from the pan. If using a cake tester, it should come out fairly clean when inserted. Alternatively you can use a thermometer and cook the bread until it reaches an internal temperature of 195 F.

Assembly:

When the bread has finished cooking, remove it from the oven and grate espresso beans over the top followed by a healthy pinch of finishing salt and chopped chestnuts. Finish by drizzling the white chocolate sauce over the bread. Cut and serve by the slice.