Wu Pao Chun Loaf with a Japanese Twist

Some of you might have come across the Wu Pao-Chun milk loaf by now.  A recipe that has been popular with quite a few Asian food bloggers recently.  I caught the bug too and gave the original recipe a try here.  The results are satisfying and I like the recipe for its simplicity.  One that you can rely on when you realised too late that there's nothing for breakfast tomorrow.  Pop everything in the bread maker and you will wake up to a freshly made loaf the next morning!

This one here is a variation of the original recipe.  The inspiration came from Baking Taitai who spiced up the plain milk loaf with matcha (green tea) and white chocolate chips.  I didn't have any white chocolate chips on hand but i had white chocolate Toblerone, and yes you can guess what happened :))  Apart from that, I added some craisins for the color and tang to cut through the entire sweetness.

Quite an enjoyable breakfast it made even when eaten on its own. The bread was creamy from the addition of chocolate, lightly scented with a fresh green tea fragrance which reminded me of green tea latte and the cranberries provide some bite and a tangy flavor.  

I noticed the dough took longer to rise than the original recipe, just have some patience and wait until it doubles its size.  The other thing that puzzles me is there was some shrinkage, i suspect it was because i removed the loaf immediately after i took it out of the oven,  i am wondering if its because the loaf was still very soft when it was hot and it got a little compressed when the pan was inverted!

Recipe
Inspired By: Baking Taitai

Ingredients

• 290g bread flour
• 10g matcha powder
• 14g sugar 
• 1 tsp salt
• 15g unsalted butter
• 1 tsp instant dry yeast
• 198g milk
• 1/2 cup craisins
• 3 triangular pieces of Toblerone 400g

Steps

1. Mix all ingredients (except butter, chocolate and craisins) into a dough using low speed, then use medium speed to knead it into a shiny and smooth texture.
2. Add in the unsalted butter, then knead it using medium speed until it forms dough that can be stretched into a thin, translucent membrane.
3. Mix in white chocolate and craisins.
4. Proof the dough for about 60 minutes. (Until about double the size)
5. Punch dough down and allow dough to rest for 10 minutes.
6. Roll into a rectangular shape with one side not longer than length of pan/tin that will be used for baking.  Roll up dough like a swiss roll from the shorter side.
7. Turn dough 90 degrees.  Roll it into a rectangular shape again as in step 6.  Roll up dough like a swiss roll again.  Seal seams and place in pan.
8. Place it on the baking tray and go for final proofing for another 50 minutes. (I used a Pullman tin for a 450g loaf and put it to bake when it was 90% full .  I baked it uncovered)
9. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 30 – 35 minutes
10. Remove the bread from the pan after 5 minutes and cool on rack to prevent sweating.  

Note:  I combine all the ingredients (except chocolate and craisins) and let my breadmaker handle steps 1, 2 and 3 using the Sweet Bread program.  The Sweet Bread program will beep signalling the point to add in ingredients like raisins or nuts.  Add in chocolate and craisins at this point.  I stopped the program once its reaches the Rise stage.

This post is linked to the event Little Thumbs Up (June 2014 Event: Butter) organised by Zoe (Bake for Happy Kids) and Mui Mui (My Little Favourite DIY) and hosted by Jozelyn Ng (Spice Up My Kitchen)