{foodie 60631} Pain De Mie

Pain De Mie is a wonderfully versatile bread that is easy to make but does require a Pullman Pan. This specialty pan creates a close-grained, tender bread with a thin crust which is ideal for hor d'oeuvres, toast, sandwiches and especially French toast. For the best results, weigh the flour instead of measuring by volume. In this recipe the dough is made in a bread machine and then bake in the oven. Allow a total of about 3 hours from start to finish.

Ingredients

Makes 1 loaf

1 1/2 cups whole milk

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1 large egg, beaten

20 oz. unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon instant yeast

In a bowl weigh out flour, add yeast, sugar and salt and stir to combine. Scald milk and melt butter in scaled milk and cool to room temperature. Pour milk mixture into bread machine. Add flour mixture then pour in beaten egg. Set machine to dough setting and press start.

When the bread machine has finished, transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and shape the dough into a log to fit the Pullman pan. Butter the Pullman pan and place the dough into the pan flattening the dough to fit into the corners. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise a room temperature until just below the top of the pan (about 45 minutes). Remove the plastic wrap and gently slid on the lid of the pan and let rest another (10-15) minutes.

Bake bread in a 350F oven for 20-25 minutes. Remove the lid (be careful as it is HOT) and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes until the loaf is golden brown. Remove loaf from pan and cover it loosely with a kitchen towel as it cools.