Soft Basic white bread (with water roux method)

The greatest challenge with home baking our own bread is to get the bread to be as soft as possible without using any artificial emulsifiers that store-bought breads brands use. The Japanese milk bread turned out extremely soft and became a big hit with the family. I decided to try the water roux method for making a basic white bread and I have read that soya flour is a natural emulsifier and can be used to make bread softer  (add up to a maximum of 20% of the total flour) without changing the taste/colour of the bread. I had measured the ingredients this morning before going to work and placed them in the bread machine and set the timer. It was most wonderful to come home to the aroma of freshly baked bread and what a treat it was to spend Friday night dinner time together with the rest of the family and enjoy the softest home-made white bread ever! So here is the recipe...

You will need:
The water roux for a small loaf made as shown here
1 and 1/4 cups warm water (more or less)
3 and 1/4 cups strong white bread flour
1 tbsp soya flour
1 tbsp/30g butter/vegetable oil
1 tbsp sugar
1 and 1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp milk powder
1 tsp active dried yeast








Make and cool the water roux to room temperature. Mix the roux with warm water without any lumps. The total liquid amount will come to 1 and 1/3-2/3 of a cup. Please be aware that the flour to liquid ratio can vary due to lot of reasons. So adjust according to your need. Pour the liquid into the bread pan. Reverse the order given here if your bread machine instructions say to start with yeast first.



Place the flours over the water so that all the liquid is covered. Place sugar, salt, butter and milk in the four corners of the pan. Make a shallow indentation in the middle and place the yeast. Make sure that the yeast does not touch the liquid.

Set to Basic/normal medium crust and remove after the baking cycle to cool on a wire rack.

You can hand knead the dough and bake in a conventional oven. Mix all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add the liquid little bit at a time and make a soft firm dough. Knead the dough gently for 20 mins until smooth and stretchy. You can knead for 5 mins at a time taking a break in between. But the total kneading time should be a minimum of 20 mins. Cover the dough and let it raise for 1 hr in a warm place. Punch out the dough and shape it into a loaf and place it in a greased loaf pan. Let it raise for another 45 mins to 1 hr and bake at 180 degree Celsius for 40-45 mins. If you thump the bread on the bottom, it should sound hollow. If not pop it back in the oven for another 10 mins. In a convection oven place the bread in the middle rack to avoid over cooking on one side.

This did turn out to be the softest home-made bread ever! Hope you enjoy yours soon :)