This saffron spiced milk bread should be part of a bread sommelier course in my humble opinion. It is ideal for studying flavor, aroma, texture and pairings. I recommend it with a thin layer of butter perhaps accompanying a roobois tea, or for a Singaporean-style ice cream sandwich (use vanilla ice cream to let the bread shine) or my favorite, gobbled up plain after taking photos of it. The bread is a bit spendy but so special and delicious that I think it’s worth it. Between the 1/4 tsp saffron threads and two eggs — one for the dough and one for the wash — you’re looking at about $4 right there.
Saffron is the stigma of the crocus sativus flower and it’s mostly grown in Greece, Iran, Morocco and India. Each saffron crocus flower produces just three threads of saffron and they have to be harvested by hand. To me, saffron tastes both honeylike and woody, but it is described with numerous other adjectives: earthy, sweet, floral, grassy, and even mushroomy. While I encourage you to try the recipe with saffron, the bread will still be awesome if you skip it. The same applies to the other spices and dried fruit in the dough; I thoroughly enjoyed the test bakes with only steeped saffron. And actually you may also notice the amount of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, raisins/currants and candied orange peel is relatively low so as not to drown out the saffron flavor.
As with many milk bread recipes, this uses a tangzhong to make the bread pillowy soft and resist staling. Wrapped in plastic or beeswax wrap, this bread will stay quite soft for a week or longer. Tangzhong is the Chinese term for pre-cooking on the stove some of the flour and liquid in a bread recipe. This is done with anywhere from 4 to 10% of the total flour, and in this recipe it’s 8%. The tangzhong flour-to-liquid ratio is around 1:5. Similar to yudane, this process gelatinizes the starches in the dough and allows it to hold more moisture. Here are additional Breadtopia recipes (seven to-date) that use this technique.
If you make the sourdough variation of this recipe, you’ll build a sweet stiff levain that is quite large. This is to favor the yeast in the starter to help ferment this sweeter dough and encourage caramelization of the crust. This experiment with regular starter versus a sweet stiff starter explains this in more detail if you’re interested. Even with this special starter build, the sourdough variation still ferments quite slowly. If possible keep the dough warm, in the low 80s Fahrenheit. My first test bake with a slightly underdeveloped sweet stiff levain (not quite doubled) took 43 hours from mixing to oven, all at room temperature — daytime in the proofer at 80°F, nighttime out of the proofer in the mid-60s. With a more-than-doubled sweet stiff levain and the proofer set to 80°F, the next sourdough test bake took only 12 hours from mixing to oven.
Equipment: This dough is scaled for a small Pullman pan, which is 9x4x4 inches or it can be baked freestanding as a braided bread. I also baked one test dough in a medium USA pan 9x5x2.75 inches and this was an okay fit despite the smaller volume. Note the different bake times for the loaf (35-40 minutes) versus the braid (25-30 minutes).
Saffron Spiced Milk Bread
Saffron infused milk bread with spices, currants, and candied orange peel is ultrasoft, fragrant and flavorful. Make it with yeast or sourdough and enjoy the bread for a week or longer as the tangzhong method makes it resist staling.
Total Time
1 hour, 35 minutes
Ingredients
Yeast
- Tangzhong
- 160 grams milk (2/3 cup)
- 30 grams bread flour (1/4 cup)
- Yeast and Saffron Bloom
- 1/4 tsp saffron threads (~ 0.25 grams)
- 12 grams sugar (1 Tbsp)
- 30 grams hot milk (2 Tbsp)
- 2 tsp instant yeast (1 packet, 7 grams)
- Final Dough
- 337 grams bread flour (2 2/3 cups)
- 48 grams sugar (4 Tbsp)
- 6 grams salt (1 tsp)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon (2.6 grams)
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg (0.3 grams)
- 1/8 tsp ground clove or 2 whole cloves, ground (0.3 grams)
- 56 grams oil, light olive or avocado (4 Tbsp)
- 1 egg
- All of the Saffron and Yeast Bloom
- All of the Tangzhong
- 28-42 grams milk (2-3 Tbsp)
- 20 grams dried currants or chopped raisins (2-3 Tbsp)
- 20 grams chopped candied orange peel (2-3 Tbsp)
- to brush on the dough: 1 egg and 1 Tbsp milk beaten together
Sourdough
- Sweet Stiff Levain
- 60 grams bread flour (1/2 cup)
- 30 grams milk (2 Tbsp)
- 18 grams sugar (1 1/2 Tbsp)
- 24 grams sourdough starter (~1 1/2 Tbsp)
- Tangzhong
- 160 grams milk (2/3 cup)
- 30 grams bread flour (1/4 cup)
- Saffron Bloom
- 1/4 tsp saffron threads (~ 0.25 grams)
- 12 grams sugar (1 Tbsp)
- 30 grams hot milk (2 Tbsp)
- Final Dough
- 265 grams bread flour (2 cups)
- 30 grams sugar (2 1/2 Tbsp)
- 6 grams salt (1 tsp)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon (2.6 grams)
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg (0.3 grams)
- 1/8 tsp ground clove or 2 whole cloves, ground (0.3 grams)
- 56 grams oil, light olive or avocado (4 Tbsp)
- 1 egg
- All of the Saffron Bloom
- All of the Tangzhong
- All of the Sweet Stiff Levain, torn into 5-6 pieces
- 0-14 grams milk (0-1 Tbsp)
- 20 grams dried currants or chopped raisins (2-3 Tbsp)
- 20 grams candied orange peel, chopped (2-3 Tbsp)
- to brush on the dough: 1 egg and 1 Tbsp milk beaten together
Instructions
- The yeast version of this recipe takes 4-5 hours from mixing to oven, while the sourdough version needs about 12 hours from mixing to oven in warm temps (low 80s), and this is on top of the 8-10 hours for the levain to ripen the night before.
- Instructions are given for a small Pullman pan loaf (Yeast Variation) or a four-strand braid (Sourdough Variation), but you can do either shape for either variation.
Yeast Variation
- Tangzhong Prep
- In a small saucepan on the stove, whisk the 160 grams milk and 30 grams bread flour. Turn the heat to low-medium and cook until thick like pudding, stirring constantly. Take off the heat and set aside to cool a bit.
- Yeast and Saffron Bloom
- Combine the 12 grams sugar and 1/4 tsp saffron threads in a mortar and grind with a pestle until powdery. You can use your fingers or a spice grinder if you don’t have a mortar and pestle.
- Add the powder to the 30 grams hot milk to steep the saffron.
- When the mixture has cooled to less than 115°F, and just before you mix the final dough, add the yeast and whisk to hydrate it. The concentration of sugar is quite high and I worried it might be harmful to the yeast, so I mixed it into the dough immediately.
- Dough Mixing
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and ground cinnamon, nutmeg and clove.
- Pour in the oil, egg, bloomed saffron-and-yeast mixture, and tangzhong.
- Mix on low speed, scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for several minutes, adding the 28-42 grams additional milk as needed. Aim for a supple dough that wraps around the hook.
- Add the currants and orange peel and mix until thoroughly incorporated.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl or straight-walled container.
- First Rise
- Let the dough rise until it has doubled in size. This takes about 2 hours in a proofer set to 80°F. At cooler temps, expect the dough to need longer to rise.
- Shaping for a Small Pullman Pan
- On a clean work surface, divide the dough in four pieces. Roll the pieces into balls and let them rest about five minutes.
- Grease a small Pullman pan.
- With a rolling pin, roll the dough balls into long rectangles that are about 3 1/2 inches wide to fit in the pan. Roll up each rectangle into a tube.
- Place the rolled tubes in the Pullman pan, seam down, alternating the direction of the swirls. This encourages more loft in the bread.
- Cover the pan.
- Final Proof
- Let the shaped dough rise again until it almost reaches the rim of the pan. This takes 1.5-2 hours in a proofer set to 80°F. At cooler temps, expect the dough to need longer to rise.
- Bake
- Brush the dough with the egg-milk wash.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Brush the dough a second time with the egg-milk wash and place it in the oven.
- Bake for 30 minutes uncovered and 5-10 minutes more with aluminum foil tented over the crust to keep it from getting very dark. The internal temp should be over 190°F when the bread is done.
- Turn off the oven, take the bread out of the pan and return it to the oven for 5-10 minutes more to firm up the base and sides of the loaf.
- Let cool at least an hour before slicing. Store in plastic or beeswax wrap.
Sourdough Variation
- Sweet Stiff Levain Build (the night before)
- Knead the bread flour, milk, sugar and sourdough starter into a small dough ball.
- Press this into a small jar, mark the level, cover and let ripen until it is at least double in size, approx 8-10 hours.
- Tangzhong Prep
- In a small saucepan on the stove, whisk the 160 grams milk and 30 grams bread flour. Turn the heat to low-medium and cook until thick like pudding, stirring constantly. Take off the heat and set aside to cool a bit.
- Saffron Bloom
- Combine the 12 grams sugar and 1/4 tsp saffron threads in a mortar and grind with a pestle until powdery. You can use your fingers or a spice grinder if you don’t have a mortar and pestle.
- Add the powder to 30 grams hot milk to steep the saffron.
- Dough Mixing
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and ground cinnamon, nutmeg and clove.
- Pour in the oil, egg, bloomed saffron mixture, tangzhong, and sweet stiff levain torn into 5-6 pieces.
- Mix on low speed, scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue mixing. Add the additional milk only if needed. Aim for a supple dough that wraps around the hook.
- Mix in the currants and orange peel until thoroughly incorporated.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl or straight-walled container.
- First Rise
- Let the dough rise until it has doubled in size. This takes about 9 hours in a proofer set to 80°F. At cooler temps, expect the dough to need longer to rise.
- Shaping a Four-Strand Braid
- On a clean work surface, divide the dough in four pieces. Roll the pieces into balls and let them rest about five minutes.
- Prep a baking sheet with parchment paper and an oiled piece of plastic wrap.
- Lightly oil your work surface and roll the dough balls into tubes, 12-14 inches long.
- Flour a large work surface, and label it like a clock by drawing in the flour with your finger: 12, 3, 6, 9. See this YouTube video and the Photo Gallery below for more details of the instructions below.
- Arrange the dough strands in a cross, pressing the ends in the center to join them. Work the strands in the following pattern, repeating until the braid is complete:
- 12–>5
- 6–>12
- 9–>4
- 3–>8
- Pinch and tuck under the ends of the braid, transfer to the baking sheet and cover with oiled plastic wrap.
- Final Proof
- Let the braided dough rise again until has expanded quite a bit (see the Photo Gallery). This took 2-3 hours in a proofer set to 80°F. At cooler temps, expect the dough to need longer to rise.
- Bake
- Brush the dough with the egg-milk wash.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Brush the dough a second time with the egg-milk wash and place it in the oven.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes. When done, the internal temp should be over 190°F.
- Let cool at least an hour before slicing and store in plastic or beeswax wrap.
