100 % Whole Wheat Bread using Tangzhong

Had I not been this excited, I probably would have postponed posting about this awesome loaf until tomorrow. but i wanted to share it with you while the excitement is still on. so here it is for you, my 100 % whole wheat bread using TangZhong or water roux method. 

A while a back I had baked another loaf using the same TangZhong method. Hokkaido Milk Toast. Remember ? even then I had gone gaga over how soft and awesome the loaf was. but that loaf different. it was with all-purpose flour and had a zillion of other things like butter, milk and heavy cream to make it what it was... heavenly.. i would say but you can choose your own adjective.. this loaf on the other hand uses none of those gorgeous stuff... it is a humble loaf made of whole wheat flour, honey, olive oil, some seeds and nuts.. which despite the presence of whole wheat flour is moist and not very dense. (Thanks to TangZhong !) It is a sweetish bread which can be served with soup for a filling but light dinner or simply slathered with butter or jam for a hearty breakfast.

I adapted the recipe from King Arthur Flour and used tips to convert the loaf into a Tangzhong one from Simply a Food Blog. Basically, the idea of the TangZhong method is to mix 1 part of the total flour for the bread with 5 parts of water (by weight) at 65°C (149 °F) to form a paste/wet dough. At 65°C, the gluten in the flour and water mixture absorb the moisture and become leavened. Thus, when the TangZhong is added into other ingredients of a dough, it heightens and produces a fluffier bread. In order to incorporate the TangZhong method into a bread recipe, one simply has to make the Tangzhong with 5% by weight of the total flour and the 5 parts of liquid (by weight) and reduce the flour and liquid in the original recipe by the quantity used to make the TangZhong. Since I do not have a weighing machine i relied on online conversion tools to go back and forth between cups, grams and tablespoon measures of whole wheat flour and at the end did a bit of rounding of figures. I was a little worried, but thankfully the rounding off did not ruin the bread. I ended up with a nice, soft, fluffy loaf which even my little one did not refuse. there isn't anything that i would change about this recipe except maybe i'll glaze it with milk next time. I just forgot to glaze this time.

100 % Whole Wheat Bread Adapted from: King Arthur Flour

ingredients for the TangZhong 2 1/2 tbsp whole wheat flour 1/4 cup water 1/4 cup milk for the dough 3/4 cup (+ 2 tbsp) water 2(+1) tbsps olive oil 1/4 cup honey all of the TangZhong that you prepraed 3 cups Whole Wheat Flour 1/4 cup of a combination of sesame seeds, flax seeds and walnuts 1 1/2 tsp ginger powder 1 1/2 tsp salt 1 1/2 tsp instant yeast   for glaze milk  references  the method (using bread machine) for the TangZhong  Whisk the flour, milk and water together until there were no lumps. then placing the saucepan over medium heat and stirring continuously, cook the roux until it begins to thicken and stable lines begin to form in the TangZhong, about 2-3 minutes. if you have a thermometer cook the TangZhong till it reaches 65 degrees C and then take is off the heat.then switching off the heat let the water roux rest for at least 2-3 hours, until it cools completely.  for the dough Put all the ingredients for the dough in the bread machine pan and program it for the dough cycle. 10-12 minutes down the line, feel the dough with your hand. it should be smooth. add some more flour if it is sticky and a bit of oil or water if it feels lumpy. I used the Sunbeam bread machine and adjusted the quantities of flour, oil and water as mentioned in the brackets.  once the machine beeps at the end of the dough cycle, shape the dough the way you like, place it in a well greased loaf pan, cover and let it rise until doubled in volume, about 1 -1 1/2 hours. (since i love the way the Hokkaido bread looks, i divided the dough into 3 parts and shaped it the same way as my Hokkaido Milk Toast. but that isn't mandatory.) once the dough has proofed, glaze the loaf with milk and bake it in a preheated oven at  375 degrees F for 30-35 minutes, until the surface looks golden brown. let it cool before slicing.  references  references  Revealing the Ultimate Secret of TangZhong, Simply a Food Blog  Hokkaido Milk Toast with TangZhong, Ma Niche

This loaf is being yeastspotted.