A decadent Shokupan

I started baking shokupan after finding Akino Ogata on social media. Akino was publishing food content on “Princess Bamboo”, because she wanted to learn English. What a way to kill two birds with one stone! She posted about a “Nama Shokupan” which is a decadent treat version of a normal Shokupan, usually eaten in the weekend. Decadent because of the use of cream in this recipe. This makes the bread slightly more indulgent. It was the first real shokupan I have ever baked.

Nama Shokupan is very fluffy and moist, a little bit sweeter than the regular. Nama means raw or fresh, they recommend to eat as it is. Shokupan is our everyday food, but we need something a little bit indulging on the weekend or on a particular day - Akino Ogata

The Recipe

This bread uses the “Yudane” method which requires you to make a hot water roux beforehand. The purpose of the Yudane is to assist the dough to absorb more water: a higher hydration results in a fluffier and softer bread. Ensure that all ingredients are at room temperature before making the dough. I made the Yudane roughly 2 hours before I started making the bread to ensure it was cooled down to room temperature by the time I mixed it through the dough. I bought all the ingredients at my local supermarket and here are some of the ingredients I used:

• For flour, I used a “high protein bread flour” (11.9%)
• I used full fat thickened cream, who does light anyway

To encourage proofing, I created a proof box by putting a measuring jug of hot water in a microwave and put the bowl of dough in there. The only adjustment I made to the recipe is that I baked my nama shokupan for 36 minutes at 170°C instead of 40 minutes at 180°C.

Tools

Here is an overview of the tools I used for this recipe:

• Digital Kitchen Scales
• Stand Mixer: I have this one Kenwood Chef XL Elite KVL6300S
• 1.5 kin Shokupan Loaf Pan: my loaf pan is from the Asai Shoten store in Tokyo and is a non-stick loaf pan. You can find more information on this loaf pan here