Condensed Milk Cotton Toast

Let's first make the sponge dough by pouring 400 grams of high-gluten flour into a bowl.

Add 240 grams of water.

Add 5 grams of yeast and stir evenly.

Knead into a dough by hand; it's fine as long as it forms a ball, don't overdo it.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate to ferment for more than 12 hours, and the sponge dough will be ready (adding 75% of the sponge dough can make bread).

Take out the fermented sponge dough and cut it into small pieces.

Place into the bowl of the stand mixer, add 120 grams of high-gluten flour, 30 grams of beaten egg, 1 gram of yeast, 60 grams of small ice cubes, and 104 grams of condensed milk (the condensed milk replaces all the sugar, making the bread taste more milky).

First, mix on speed 2 until well combined, then beat the dough on speed 6–7.

Knead the dough until it reaches the early development stage.

Add salt.

Add the softened butter.

Knead the dough again.

Knead the dough until it reaches the fully developed stage, where you can stretch out a thin, elastic 'glove membrane' (this kind of resilient and extensible membrane can hold the carbon dioxide produced by the yeast, resulting in light and fluffy bread). The total kneading time should be controlled within 15 minutes, and the dough temperature should not exceed 26 degrees Celsius.

Take out the dough, give it a few gentle slaps, and shape it into a ball.

Cover with a lid and let it ferment at room temperature for the first time until it doubles in size (about 40 minutes).

The well-fermented dough.

Press to release air.

Divide into six equal parts.

Separate and reunite, cover with plastic wrap, and let rest at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Take out a piece of dough.

Roll out.

Flip over, three folds.

Roll out again to about 30 cm in length.

Press the bottom thinly.

Roll up from top to bottom.

One embryo is fine.

Put them in the toast box one group at a time, in order.

Place it in an oven that won't be turned on, put a bowl of hot water at the bottom to help with fermentation, at a temperature of about 38 degrees and humidity of 85%.

Let the dough ferment until it is 80% full (about 40–60 minutes, observe the dough's condition).

A knuckle's distance away from the mold.

Preheat the oven to 160°C, middle rack, bake for 25 minutes (adjust the temperature and time according to your oven's behavior).

Fresh out of the oven, brush with butter while hot to lock in moisture.

Alright.

Finished product image.

Soft and fibrous, with a rich milky aroma.

Finished product image.