Sweet condensed milk bread

I made a Japanese-style super-soft milk bread recently. It was made with"Yu-dane" 湯種 or "Tangzong". I am not sure how my wife came across this recipe but this was also dubbed as "Japanese-style milk bread." It does not use Tangzong but uses sweetened condensed milk instead. My wife really wanted to try this recipe. We usually do not have any kind of condensed milk on hand so we ordered some when we had groceries delivered. As shown in the picture a space formed near the top surface. Maybe the secondary and last rising was a bit too much.  Otherwise this was a fine looking loaf of bread. It is not as soft as the previous milk bread but much softer than the regular white bread loaf we make. It has slight sweetness and the texture was great. Toasted and buttered this is great loaf.

My wife also used an egg for the glaze.

The grain of the cut surface shows slightly larger holes than the previous milk bread. This may be due to slight over raising after making the loaf.

One of the reasons this dough rose more vigorously may be this new contraption we got recently. This is called "Brod & Taylor Collapsible electric bread proofer". You just set the temperature which is said to be calibrated to the content temperature rather than the ambient temperature in the box. We interpret this to mean that when set at 81 degrees it is indicating that the bread being proofed is 81 degrees not the overall air in the box. The instructions say it was calibrated at the factory whether its for bread dough, yogurt or slow cooking).

This is collapsible so when it was not in use it flattens for easy stroage. The top has a clear window so that you can check on the progress of the bread dough rise.

Another good thing about this contraption is that it includes a shallow tray which can be half filled with water and provides moisture inside the box. We did not cover the dough but the surface did not dry out or make a crust. My wife is looking forward to using the box to make yogurt.

Ingredients

1 tsp sugar
1 cup milk
2 1/4 yeast (just a note: this is the amount of yeast usually used to make 2 loaves. This may have been another reason the bread rose so much so quickly.)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. butter
3 1/4 cups bread flour
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 egg lightly beaten

Directions
Proof the yeast in the slightly warmed milk with the sugar dissolved. Add the yeast mixture and every thing except the egg to the bowel of a stand mixer. Mix until a dough forms. Knead for 7 to 10 minutes then turn out onto a lightly floured board and form into a ball. Place dough in a greased bowel turning to grease all over. Place in the proofing box set for 81 degree temperature until double in size. Punch down and form a loaf and put into a greased loaf pan. Put into the proofing box again until the loaf doubles in size. Brush the surface with the egg and bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 to 35 minutes until golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

This is a very lovely bread. Nice soft texture and a complex flavor just slightly sweet. The flavor was even better the next day. The texture was a bit denser and moist compared to the previous Japanese milk bread we made. Nonetheless it is a wonderful toasted/buttered breakfast bread.