Milk Loaf

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The Milk Loaf - a bread of my childhood. 

Back in the land of memory, it always seemed to be made by Warburtons - and it was always round. 

In fact, it was traditionally from the Northern seaside resort of Blackpool. A light-textured bread with a soft crust, made from milk, flour, yeast, salt, butter and sugar. It was always about 7 inches in diameter and weighed in at at 600 gms. 

It was first launched in 1969 by Warburtons as the 'Blackpool Milk Roll'.  However, it goes back earlier than that. Robert Clarke, in 1862,  first baked it in his Yokohama bakery - it suited his customers who enjoyed the lightness of the bread and the bake. 

Let's see how it goes....

INGREDENTS

675 gms strong white bread flour

280 gms semi-skimmed or whole milk (slightly warm)

130 gms slightly warmed water

10 gms crushed sea salt

15 gms soft sugar (soft brown is ideal)

25 gms unsalted butter

7 gms instant active easy yeast

METHOD

Mix the flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl. 

Add the slightly warm water and the slightly warm milk to a jug and stir in the yeast.

Warm the butter and add to the flour mixture. 

Make a well in the centre and add the water / milk / yeast mixture and stir until everything is incorporated and you have a sticky dough. 

Tip out onto a non-floured board and knead for 10 minutes until you have a soft silky dough. 

Place in a light-oiled bowl, cover and place somewhere warm for about an hour or so, until it has doubled in volume. 

Tip the dough onto a lightly-floured board and knock back. 

Consider your containers. You can bake this in normal loaf tins or whatever you have to hand. You'll need to grease them well and taking the dough, use enough to half-fill the containers once the dough has been suitably shaped. 

I have loaf tins but I also have Pullman tins and clamped Milk Roll tins. 

Cover and place somewhere warm for a second proof - until the dough has filled the container. 

Roughly half-fill the Pullman tin. That will allow for growth and expansion. Now, cover with paper or cloth and allow to proof for a second time. When it reaches about an inch from the top, slide on the metal cover and bake. 

The Pullman Tin Milk loaf

And a round bake, a loaf and what's left as a small tin. 

Preheat the oven to 190⁰C. 

Bake on a low shelf for 30 minutes or until the bread is hollow when tapped underneath and golden brown. 

Cool on a wire rack. 

PS - I made a similar loaf a while back

https://breadclub20.blogspot.com/2021/01/milk-roll.html