MILK LOAF

MILK LOAF

An amazing, rich, very soft and so tasty loaf of bread, courtesy of the WI ladies. Apart from using whole milk instead of water, it also has a higher fat content, making the texture incredibly soft and irresistibly delicious.  You could use semi skimmed, but I followed the original recipe, from the days when those WI ladies had never heard of semi skimmed.

I have adapted the recipe to use dried yeast and you can imagine the original used fresh yeast. 

But use dried active yeast [not quick]

Pre heat your fan oven to 210C and lightly butter a baking sheet.

1 lb strong plain flour

1 teaspoonful salt

3 oz butter

½ pint lukewarm whole milk

1 level tablespoon dried active yeast 

some extra milk to glaze

Add the yeast to the warm milk  and leave until frothy, with half a teaspoon of sugar.

In a medium mixing bowl, [or like me, a mixer with a dough hook] place the flour, salt and butter then rub in the fat until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the frothy milk and knead for ten mins.

Cover and place in a warm spot until double in size - about 1-1½ hours.

Transfer to your work surface and knock back then knead again until firm. Shape as a loaf, or divide into 12-16 pieces to make soft rolls.

I shaped the above into a long tapered loaf. Leave to rise, lightly covered with cling film.

Brush the top of the loaf or rolls with a little more milk. Make three or four deep slashes with a lamé or very sharp knife then bake in your hot, pre heated, oven for about 25 mins. 15-20 mins for the rolls, depending on their size.

Just lovely. But then I never doubted it would be. I loved the very soft texture. It keeps well too.