Pain de mie

TIME8 hours MAKES1 loaf PORTION
0.5x 1x 2x 3x

A delicious white sandwich loaf that is perfect for sandwiches and toast. Want to reduce the amount of enrichment? Try my Wholemeal sourdough sandwich loaf, which uses tangzhong to get the same level of fluffiness without the butter.

INGREDIENTS

  • 390g bread flour
  • 90g whole milk
  • 170g water
  • 50g unsalted butter
  • 30g honey
  • 9g salt
  • 90g mature levain

Egg wash

  • 1 egg
  • Splash of milk
  • Pinch of salt

Night-before levain

This levain will take about 10 hours to mature at room temperatures (22-24ºC). Alternatively, you can choose to use mature sourdough starter.

  • 5g mature starter
  • 50g bread flour
  • 50g water

STEPS

Levain

  1. The night before, make the levain; adjust the amount of sourdough starter and the ambient temperature of the levain as needed. You can also choose to forgo the levain and use mature sourdough starter the next morning.

Autolyse

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add flour, whole milk, and water (holding back 25g) and mix on low until just incorporated. Cover and autolyse for 30 minutes to an hour.

  2. Take out the butter, and cut it into 1/2 inch pats. Leave it to warm to room temp.

Mix

  1. To the mixing bowl, add the levain, salt, and remaining 25g of water. Mix on low speed for 4 minutes, scraping the sides down as you go. Then, add the honey and mix for 2 more minutes.

  2. On low speed, add the butter one piece at a time, letting each incorporate before adding the next. Once the butter is incorporated, continue to mix until moderate gluten development(about 8-10 minutes).

Bulk fermentation

  1. Leave the dough in a warm spot to bulk ferment for 4 hours until about 40% larger in size1. Perform 3 sets of stretch and folds at the beginning, 30 minutes apart. When using my proofing box, I like to set the bulk fermentation temperature to 26-27ºC.

Shape and proof

  1. Spray a 9x4x4 inch pullman pan with neutral oil. Tip the dough out into the counter, and shape into a taut ball. Leave to relax for about 20-30 minutes.

  2. Turn the dough over, and fold the top down to the middle, followed by folding the left- and right-hand sides into the middle. You should have an upside-down open envelope. Start folding the bottom up repeatedly, gently rolling it into a long tube (making sure to generate lots of tension in the dough). Transfer to the pullman pan, seam side down.

  3. Cover the pan with plastic, and leave to proof in a warm spot for 3 hours. When using my proofing box, I like to set the bulk fermentation temperature to 25ºC.

Bake

  1. Preheat the oven with a rack on the bottom third to 220ºC.

  2. If baking without the pullman pan lid, brush the top of the dough with egg wash, and bake for 35 minutes. Then, reduce the temperature to 190ºC and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes.

  3. After 20 minutes, vent the oven and remove the baking tray with water. Continue to bake for another 30-35 minutes. The internal temperature of the loaf should be 96-99ºC.

  4. Leave to rest on a wire rack for at least 2 hours before slicing.

NOTES

  1. Due to the dough enrichment, the dough might take longer to rise — simply give it additional time as needed. ↩︎

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