I have lots of pandan plants at home. So, what better way than to make use of them to bake my bread. They give a very aromatic smell and the colour of the green is so sweet that it was a joy eating them. I used many pandan leaves in this bread; in fact 30 leaves in all. Though the juice is dark green, after mixing it with milk, the colour turned pastel thereby giving the bread a pastel green.
Ingredients
- 500 g bread flour
- 100 g castor sugar or you may reduce the amount slightly. (You may use brown sugar.)
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 3 tbsp milk powder
- 2 tsp yeast
- 100 ml pandan juice (from juicing 30 pandan leaves with some water)
- 170 - 180 ml lukewarm milk
- 2 eggs at room temperature, 1 for the dough and the other for brushing the dough balls before baking.
- 50 g butter at room temperature
Method
- Makes 2 loaves; one 450 g and the other 700 g.
- Prepare the pans. Grease the pans (8 inch x 4 inch x 4 inch and 9 inch x 4 inch x 4 inch) and line my pan with parchment paper for easy removal of the baked loaves.)
- First of all, activate the yeast - add a bit of the sugar to some of the lukewarm milk, stir the milk to dissolve the sugar and then sprinkle the yeast onto it. Stir.
- Once bubbles have formed (after approximately 10 minutes), the yeast mixture is ready for you to start making the loaves.
- Pour about 90% of the lukewarm milk into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add more of the milk if the dough is hard.
- Pour in the pandan juice.
- Pour the yeast mixture into the mixing bowl.
- Break the egg into the mixing bowl.
- Add the rest of the sugar.
- Add the salt.
- Pour in the flour.
- Add the milk powder.
- Start kneading until a dough ball is formed. Once that is achieved, add the butter.
- Continue to knead until the butter is incorporated into the dough.
- Continue to knead until the dough passes the window pane test.
- Oil a bowl.
- Transfer the dough into the oiled bowl, cover the bowl with a cling wrap and put a wet towel over the cling wrap. Let the dough proof until it is double in size.
- Slightly flour the table top. (I like to oil my table top.)
- Transfer the dough onto the table top. Punch down the dough.
- Roll the dough out into a long rectangular shape (horizontally).
- Cut the dough into 2 pieces, 1 of 450 g and the other 700 g.
- Shape them into balls.
- Take 1 dough ball. Press it down and spread out into a rectangle; the length according to the length of your pan.
- Roll up the dough and place it into your pan. Repeat the same with the other dough.
- Cover the pan with a cling wrap and let the doughs proof until double in size.
- Break an egg into a bowl and add a tablespoon of milk to it. Mix.
- Brush the doughs with the egg mixture just before baking.
- Bake the doughs in a pre-heated oven at 175 deg C for 30 minutes.
- Remove the loaves from the pan immediately after baking and let them cool down on a wire rack.
