MILK LOAF

An amazing, rich, very soft and so tasty loaf of bread, courtesy of the WI ladies. Apart from using whole milk instead of water, it also has a higher fat content, making the texture incredibly soft and irresistibly delicious.  You could use semi skimmed, but I followed the original recipe, from the days when those WI ladies had never heard of semi skimmed.

I have adapted the recipe to use dried yeast and you can imagine the original used fresh yeast. 

But use dried active yeast [not quick]

Pre heat your fan oven to 210C and lightly butter a baking sheet.

1 lb strong plain flour

1 teaspoonful salt

3 oz butter

½ pint lukewarm whole milk

1 level tablespoon dried active yeast 

some extra milk to glaze

Add the yeast to the warm milk  and leave until frothy, with half a teaspoon of sugar.

In a medium mixing bowl, [or like me, a mixer with a dough hook] place the flour, salt and butter then rub in the fat until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the frothy milk and knead for ten mins.

Cover and place in a warm spot until double in size - about 1-1½ hours.

Transfer to your work surface and knock back then knead again until firm. Shape as a loaf, or divide into 12-16 pieces to make soft rolls.

I shaped the above into a long tapered loaf. Leave to rise, lightly covered with cling film.

Brush the top of the loaf or rolls with a little more milk. Make three or four deep slashes with a lamé or very sharp knife then bake in your hot, pre heated, oven for about 25 mins. 15-20 mins for the rolls, depending on their size.

Just lovely. But then I never doubted it would be. I loved the very soft texture. It keeps well too.