Pain de mie (Sarabeth's Bakery)

This is such a fanciful name for a simple loaf of bread. In French, "pain" means bread or loaf of bread and "mie" means crumb. Pain de mie is the most ideal type of bread for making sandwiches or toasting.

I always wanted to bake this bread when I first read the book, Sarabeth's Bakery: From My Hands to Yours. 

This recipe is brilliant! I'm happy to see my basic loaf being so perfectly "square", soft and delicious for my sandwiches.

 

Here's the recipe from the book, Sarabeth's Bakery: From My Hands to Yours.

1 3/4 tsp active dry yeast
2 tbsp plus 2 tsp granulated sugar
1 1/3 cup whole milk
3 1/2 bread flour, as needed
1 tsp fine sea salt
3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

Sprinkle yeast over 1/3 cup warm milk in a small bowl. Let it stand for 5 min, then stir well to dissolve.

Pour into the mixer bowl, Add 1 cup cold milk and sugar and whisk to combine.

Attach the bowl to mixer and fit with paddle attachment. On low speed, beat in half of the flour, the salt. Add softened butter, 1 tbsp at a time and mix until it is absorbed into the dough. Continue adding enough flour to make a soft dough that cleans the bowl. Replace paddle attachment with dough hook. knead on medium-low speed until smooth and elastic about 6 min.

Butter a medium bowl. Shape dough into a ball. Place in the bowl and turn to coat with butter. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let stand in a warm place until dough doubles in volume about 1 1/4 hrs.

Lightly butter a 14 x 4 x 4 inch covered Pullman loaf pan. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently pressing to deflate the dough, shape it into a 15 x 8 inch rectangle. To shape into a loaf, fold in right and left sides of the dough about 1/2 inch and pinch the seams closed. Folding over 1/3 of the dough at a time, roll up into a pump loaf, pressing the seam closed with heel of your hand at every turn. Using fingertips, pinch the final seam closed. Transfer the loaf to the pan with seam face down. pressing down gently to fit into the pan. Cover the pan, leaving the lid open about 1 inch. Let stand in a warm place until dough has risen to 1/2 beneath the edge of the pan about 1 hr.

Preheat oven at 180°C.

Close the lid completely and bake until top crust is golden brown about 35 min. Do not under-bake or the loaf will collapse. Let it stand for 5 min.

Remove the loaf from pan. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Note: I use 45% of this recipe to make a bread dough that can fit into my square-shaped Pullman tin which is 13 cm x 11 cm x 11 cm. I use 160°C fan forced to bake the bread for 25-30 min.

Happy Baking
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