Baked in a rectangular pullman tin, this bread is the best type of bread for a grilled cheese sandwich or your signature British high-tea sandwiches.
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It looks similar to the soft and doughy store-bought sandwich bread, but it won’t taste like it. The store-bought bread is usually clunky, doughy and filled with enhancers and added chemicals. This one doesn’t. Even though we use some addition, you’ll know what they are. This recipe makes a very good, firm-yet soft carrier for a grilled cheese sandwich (see two nice recipes below), the base for killer peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and a high-quality bread for your high tea sandwiches with egg salad, salmon and whatever else you can think of.
This recipe calls for flour, water, salt, yeast, sugar, butter and dried milk powder, which makes it an enriched dough. It is going to feel and react a bit different than a regular dough. The sugar, butter and milk powder will make the dough initially more sticky, but it will feel softer as you knead it. And with all the additions, it will result in a rich, delicate bread. For grilled cheese, the added sugars in the sugar and dairy will help supercharge the caramelization in the pan.
Tangzhong
This recipe uses a Japanese technique, called tangzhong. A tangzhong helps build and retain more moisture, without any additional ingredients. And it is so, so, much better. It uses a little bit of milk, water and flour, and you cook these ingredients before you add to the rest of the dough. It results in a significantly softer bake. It is by no means needed – leave it out if you want. Simply add the flour, and liquid (replace the milk by water one-for-one) to the rest of the liquids.
Pullman Loaf Pan
This recipe for a sandwich bread uses a so-called Pullman tin. It is a square baking tin with a lid, and we use enough dough to fill the complete pan, and give it the signature square look. This is the one I use: it is heavy and durable, and retains heat like a champ.
The process is similar to baking my other breads on here. The specific skills are the tangzhong, and the use of a pullman tin. By the way – use the tangzhong for breadrolls and cinnamon rolls to truly take these to the next level.
With that said, let’s create some sandwiches.
Sandwich Bread
Equipment
- Stand mixer optional
- Scale, small and large bowls
- Cling wrap tea towel or bowl lid work too
- Bench knife or scraper
- Small non-stick milk pan
- Whisk, spatula
Ingredients
For the Tangzhong
- 75 grams water
- 75 grams milk
- 30 grams flour
For the dough
- 575 grams bread flour Strong flour preferred, otherwise all-purpose
- 100 grams dry milk powder
- 25 grams softened butter unsalted
- 25 grams sugar
- 12 grams dry yeast
- 12 grams salt
- 250 milliliter water
Instructions
The tangzhong
- Add the flour to the milk and water in the small over medium heat.
- Using a whisk or better, a silicon spatula, make sure all the flour is incorporated and not lumps remain.
- When the mixture heats up, it thickens. Using the spatula, stir and make sure you scrape the bottom and sides of the pan.
- The mixture will be ready when it has a grey, glossy shine and it is thick as a paste. Yvonne Cheng's recipe calls for cooking at 65°C/150°F, so when it is a paste and warm, it is done. Don't let it boil. At this point, it smells pretty bad, but that is normal.
- Take the pan off the heat and leave to cool for 10 to 15 minutes.
The dough
- This dough, with the butter, tangzhong, milk powder and sugar, will be quite sticky at first. A stand mixer will help you power through the sticky phase, but it will be possible to knead by hand. It comes together in a less sticky dough in a matter of minutes.
- In your bowl, add all of the flour, the sugar, milk powder, salt and yeast. Add the cooled tangzhong, water and softened butter. With the mixer on low (the first setting on a KitchenAid), mix all ingredients together. After 3 minutes, and all ingredients have come together in a coarse but cohesive mess, increase the speed and knead for about 10 minutes. It is ready when you lift the mixer and the dough stretches but doesn't rip. If it rips easily, just knead a bit more.
- Leave the dough for 5 minutes to relax. After 5 minutes, knead for 30-45 seconds more. Now, the dough feels different: silky and soft. Grease a large bowl with neutral oil, place the dough in the bowl and cover with cling wrap. Leave to prove for about 60 minutes, or until the dough has doubled in size.
- When you prove, make sure to never place the bowl directly on heat (like on the pre-heating oven, radiator or sun) as this will create a crust. If your house is cold or it is winter time, it may take longer. This is no issue. Actually, the longer you can leave it, the better as it enhances the flavor. If you leave it for longer, spread a little bit of neutral oil on the top.
Shaping
- When the dough is ready, slowly tip it over on a clean work space. Resist the urge to pull the dough out of the bowl to preserve the gluten you have built.
- Using your fingertips, carefully prod the dough, pushing out some of the air. It is called 'knocking back', but don't actually knock it. You will have a rectangular shape after you're done.
- Grab the far right corner, pick it up, stretching it slightly, and fold towards the center of the rectangle. Repeat with the left corner. Work your way down to the bottom corners.
- Pick up the dough on the far end and fold over on itself. Roll it further creating a roll, rolling towards yourself. That in itself is enough, but if you want to create more tension in the bread, cup the dough from the back with your fingers close to the counter top. Slowly move your fingers towards you. The dough will roll, but grab the counter top and the skin will stretch a little bit with every move. Place away from you, and repeat for a few rolls. Pick up the dough roll and stretch a little bit so the roll is evenly distributed in the pullman loaf pan. Place in the pan.
- Cover the pan with a plastic bag to prevent a draft. Do not use the lid yet, because you won't be able to see when the prove is ready. Leave for roughly 45 minutes or until the dough reaches about 3/4 of the top edge of the pan.
- Preheat the oven on 225°C/425°F.
- Carefully slide the pullman loaf cover on the pan and place in the oven. Bake for 28 minutes.
- The bread is ready when it is golden brown. Place on a cooling rack to cool off completely. It will continue to lose moisture so it will shrink a little bit. To preserve a neat top, flip it on its side when you're cooling it.
Using the Loaf for Grilled Cheese
- For an grilled cheese, there are two ways. One is in a frying pan or on your flat top if your stove has one, and one is using an electric grill.
Stove top
- Heat a heavy frying pan or your flat top on medium heat. Slice two thick slices from your sandwich loaf. Spread butter on one side of one of the slices. Place butter-side down in the pan, and put as much cheese as you can bear on the top. Place the other slice, without butter, on the top. Alternatively, use a good mayonaise. Use a hamburger press or something else heavy to press it down: this increases the surface of the sandwich touching the hot grill and maximizes caramelization. Don't walk away from it. The sugar and milk in the bread turns this bread dark real quick.
- The cheese will start to melt and ooze out. This is good. We want that. This will get all nice and crunchy and is a treat in and of itself.
- When your bottom slice is nice and brown and crispy, spread butter on the outside of the top slice. Turn the whole sandwich around and press it down using the weight.
- When the second slice is brown and crispy, you're good to go. Repeat until full.
Electric grill
- Get yourself a good electric grill. I recommend this this little piece of art. It is a cleaner and quicker way of making the sandwich, yet it will lack the crunchy, caramelized cheese of the stove top version. In Holland, we call this a tosti, and we eat it like this, or with ham, and always with ketchup or curry sauce.
- Plug in the grill and allow it to heat. Slice two regular slices of bread and spread butter on one side of both slices.
- Place one slice, butter side down on the grill. Load up with cheese, ham, salami, et cetera. Place the second slide, butter side up, on top. Close the grill and press to make sure it closes.
- The bread is ready when steam comes off and the bread is dark and crunchy.