After some trial and error I finally cracked the recipe for a soft white loaf using only EF FiberFlour. The answer was to add gluten, so trial and error ended up with 12% to 13% of the weight of the flour, with 80% hydration. I was aiming to make a version of shokupan (Japanese milk bread) which I bake a couple of times a week, but the lack of starch in FF means the yudane or tangzhong (a percentage of the flour gelatinised with boiling water to extend softness) doesn't gel. I did give it a go, though, just out of curiosity, but the loaf remained moist and soft even without the yudane – not as fluffy as some shokupan, which is often very springy, but good enough for me. It has the same crumb texture as a bakery's regular white sandwich loaf, but it's as flexible as a slice of shokupan.
So this is it:
400g EF FiberFlour
50g gluten powder
360g warmed milk
15g butter
7g salt
7g baking powder (I might omit this next time and see what happens)
15g yeast
1 egg
I did the initial kneading in a bread machine (my finger joints aren't what they used to be) and finished it off by hand. No second proofing: just shape and leave to rise for an hour. I also used the bread machine to bake it, but as I don't use the programmed loaf settings and just treat the machine as a dough mixer and mini oven, I don't know how this would work with a rapid or regular white loaf programme. Anyway, the dough rose to the top of the pan, which was indicative of the kind of crumb I was going to get. I think the temperature of the bread machine (Tower Pain et Delices) is about 350F/ 175C, and I baked it for 40 minutes, so if I were using an oven I'd probably stick with that.
As bread machines make ugly loaves, I might bite the bullet, clear out all the baking kit from my big oven, and do a proper job in a Pullman loaf tin.
That sounds like a clever workaround for a shokupan-style loaf using EF FiberFlour—great to see creative baking solutions; you can also check your SASSA status check here.
What a fantastic and thoughtful recipe! You've clearly put a lot of time, care, and experimentation into perfecting this soft white loaf. well if you need any help regarding medical billing https://medicalbillingservices.company/, feel free to visit here.
That’s awesome you cracked the code with EF FiberFlour! Adding 12-13% gluten and hitting that 80% hydration really made a difference. I totally get how the loaf isn’t as fluffy as shokupan, but sounds like it’s got that perfect soft, flexible texture. Sometimes simplicity wins—especially when you’re looking for that sandwich loaf feel. By the way, if you ever need some extra advice on baking or other topics, SEO Migration Services has some great resources!
I updated this a while ago but the system doesn't appear to have accepted it. In brief: I tinkered a bit more and got a better loaf – for my taste, anyway – at 350g of flour to 50g of gluten powder, with 290g - 295g milk and two tablespoons of dried skimmed milk. (Frequently used in Asian milk breads for a more tender crumb.) All other ingredients remain the same.
The extra milk takes it over 80% hydration, but that's to allow for the dried milk, which is optional, and there's a bit of leeway with all measurements anyway. If you skip the dried milk, stick with 280g of liquid milk. I let the dough prove for the full cycle in the bread machine after kneading this time, then punched it down and reshaped it for a second proving for another hour to 90 minutes at room temperature, because my machine doesn't have a proving-only option. When fully risen, the loaf is the same size as the 400g one, and I can slice it as thinly as I want without it falling apart.
If you want thin slices for fancy sandwiches, I'd recommend a slice cutting guide that holds the loaf snugly and has plenty of depth, At normal loaf height, it's a bit too soft to slice evenly without side support that goes all the way to the top. It also has a tendency to burn like brioche when toasted, especially when cut thinly, so very thick doorsteps are the way to go for toast, Japanese-style. I also tested thin slices in a single-slice camping toaster, the clamshell type that you place directly on a heat source, i.e. with the slice folded in half around the filling and crimped shut by the device, and it needed careful watching because it burned far faster than a regular thin/ medium sliced white bread. But it was worth the effort!