UPDATED POST ON 5-OCTOBER-2014

Please scroll down towards the end for the preparation of Fujisan Bread..a type of bread prepared using the Danish Pastry Loaf.

INTRODUCTION

While I was doing this Danish Pastry loaf yesterday, it reminded me of one attempt to prepare croissants about 15 years ago. I started to regret to prepare this bread loaf. As expected, it get messier and messier and it become so messier that I may have to refer to you the original website for the procedure of preparing the dough after first proofing and the pleating process….(Subsequent Notes on 5-10-2014: I have finally prepared some croissants using some pastry margarine and if you are interested you can refer to: Home Made Croissants (家居自制牛角包）)

I  have obtained this recipe from the website (Stick Danish Loaf (6 x 6 x 20 cm)).

Not to discouraging my readers, you need to psychologically prepare for the messy attempt as the butter melts very fast. It take a longer time to prepare this bread because you may need to chill the dough to let the butter harden before you can proceed. If your butter is leaked, the messiness starts. You have to repeat the process a few times until the dough is very thin. However, you can always used pastry margarine to prepare this… Chances of success will be much higher.

However, once you take the first bite, you will not regret of preparing this bread. For readers who are residing in countries where the weather is colder, it may be easier to prepare this…At time, i am thinking, how I wished my kitchen is equipped with air conditioner.

As usual, I can’t get hold of recipe of this so called “Danish” pastry loaf from Holland or Denmark website, just like I can’t find recipe of “German cookies” from German website. In my humble opinion, there is a possibility that it originates from Asia (most likely Japan) rather than Europe since most of the recipes came from Japan website.

It is a buttery and aromatic soft bread and can be found in recent years in Singapore and Malaysian bakery. When I was shopping in a supermarket in Singapore yesterday, I saw this bread and its aroma making me taking a bold step to try making this bread.

If you have never taste the bread before, it is a softer, bigger version of croissants.. You can either cut into pieces or like croissants, you can eat on its own. The family loves to tear the bread and eat on its own.

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Recipe adapted from: Stick Danish Loaf (6 x 6 x 20 cm)

Servings: Prepare a 9” x 4” x 4” Loaf

• 100 grams of cake flour or top flour
• 300 grams of bread flour
• 50 grams of butter, melted
• 60 grams of sugar
• 120 grams of fresh cream for whipping
• 5 grams of salt
• 10 grams of yeast
• 2 whole eggs
• 150 grams of butter (cold) – for second proofing) (PASTRY MARGARINE can be used )

STEPS OF PREPARATION

• Lightly greased a loaf tin of 9”x4”x4”

• Melt the butter and let it cool slightly. Add in eggs and cream. In a bowl of a standing mixer, sift in all the flour, add sugar and yeasts, stir until well mixed.  Add the liquid mixture. Use  a tablespoon to lightly stir it to make it look like a paste. Transfer the bowl to the standing mixer, use medium speed to knead it until the dough is smooth and leaves the side of the bowl. This will take about 20-25 minutes. If it is too sticky, add some bread flour tablespoon by tablespoon. If it is too dry, add additional milk teaspoon by teaspoon. Once done, transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Shape it into a round ball, covered with a clingy wrap and let it proof until double in size.

• Once it doubles in size, transfer to a lightly floured surface. Use a rolling pin to roll into 32cm x 20 cm. Cut a thin slice of butter and place on top on half of the dough. Cover the dough using the the half. Seal the edges of the 3 sides. (Your can also refer to my croissant lamination in this post : Home Made Croissants (家居自制牛角包）)

• Use a rolling pin to roll into 40 cm x 20 cm gently and as carefully as possible.  Fold the dough into 1/3 of the size overlapping each other. If the butter is too soft, you will need to chill the dough for 5-10 minutes until the butter hardens. (Your can also refer to my croissant lamination in this post : Home Made Croissants (家居自制牛角包）)

• Once the butter harden again, roll it out into 40 cm x 20 cm and fold the dough into 1/3 size again. Repeat the same procedures for at least 3-4 times. If the butter is too soft and start to leak, you will need to chill the dough until you can handle. After 3-4 times, divide the dough into 2 portions or 3 portions or 5 portions with the ends of one side intact. (Your can also refer to my croissant lamination in this post : Home Made Croissants (家居自制牛角包）)

• Pleat the dough in the best possible shape you like. Transfer to the lightly greased loaf tin. Let it proof until double in size and covered with a wet towel or clingy wrap.

• Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 200 degree Celsius. Once second proofing is done, bake in the oven at 200 degree Celsius for 30-45 minutes until it becomes golden brown. Timing is for your reference and it depends very much on the shape of the height of your bread.

• To ensure that the bread is properly cooked, I will advise readers to be more systematic by inserting an oven thermometer into the bread. If the internal temperature reached 90 degree Celsius, the bread will be cooked. Since this is a bread with wet dough and rather high, this is the best precautionary measure. Otherwise, a skewer test can be performed prior to taking out from the oven.

PREPARATION OF FUJISAN BREAD

Do not asked me why the name of this bread is called Fujisan Bread. I am equally puzzled and the only thing I can think of is that it was usually dusted with icing sugar and the top part of the bread resembles the snowing Mount Fuji in Japan.

I have seen the bread sold in Singaporean and Malaysian bakery at quite a hefty premium.. I do not know the name until recently I saw some Facebook bread group’s member who posted such a bread. I goggled and managed to get some recipes from some Chinese website.

After analysing the recipe , I found that it is almost the same as the above Danish pastry loaf recipe though some called for the use of condensed milk.

Since I have some pastry margarine sitting in my self and I do not foresee preparing croissants again in the near future, I have decided to prepare this bread. There is no changes in the recipe except that I am using pastry margarine rather than pure butter.

I am very happy with the lamination of bread and obviously pastry margarine is definitely much easier to work with as compared to butter in our hot water of Singapore and Malaysia.

• Based on the recipe above get ready the dough. Once all laminating have been done, use a knife to cut the dough into small strips with about 1 cm  x 20 cm long. Take two strips and plait the stripes. seal both end and round the plaits with the ends sitting at the bottom. Place the bread dough on a muffin or other desired  baking cups. Let the bread proof until double in size.

• Once the bread double in size, egg wash the bread and bake in the pre-heated oven of 200 degree Celsius for 12-15 minutes. Baking time will depending on the size of muffin cups. The bigger the muffin cup, the longer will be the baking time.

CONCLUSION

Unlike my other post, I dare not to tell you that this is a simple assignment. It can be messy in hot weather if you are using butter, but do not be deterred to trying it if this is your favourite bread.. Rest be assured that this is a fluffy, aromatic and buttery bread and your efforts will be paid off once you took your first bite.

However, it will definitely much easier if you are using pastry margarine and you will impressed your friends the beautiful lamination in the bread.

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

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