Makes a 24cm by 12cm loaf
Starter Roux:
1/6 cup (3 Tbsp) bread flour
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup water
Dough:
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/4 tsp (8g) active dry yeast
1 tsp fine sea salt
1 large egg, lightly whisked
1/2 cup whole milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
Melted butter for brushing
Starter
1. In a pot, whisk together the bread flour, milk and water on medium heat and stir it frequently. Continue for about 5 minutes until it becomes a similar consistency to mashed potatoes. Take off heat, transfer into a bowl, cover with cling wrap and allow to cool to room temperature.
Dough
1. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Add the starter mixture, egg and milk then knead together for 5 minutes.
2. Add the softened butter, chopped into smaller pieces to allow for faster incorporation, knead for another 10~ minutes until the dough is smooth
3. Lightly grease a bowl and transfer the dough into it, cover the dough and let rest for 1 hour in which the dough will double in size. Line a loaf pan or baking dish with baking paper.
4. Tranfer dough onto a floured work surface, cut it into 4 equal parts and roll into balls. Roll out each ball to around 12cm by 20cm ovals, then fold in the 12 cm side by about 2cm on each side. Then procede to roll the dough into a log and place each log into the baking dish.
5. Cover loaf pan and let sit for 45 minutes until it doubles again. Preheat oven to 180C.
5. Brush top of the log with melted butter, bake the dough for 35-40 minutes in a 180C oven until the top is golden brown.
