Adzkuki, Matcha and Milk Loaf

I love Japanese pastries and bread. Their bread is always so soft and plush, like eating a milk-scented cloud. The Japanese have a knack for making absolutely beautiful pastries- their cakes and bread look exactly like how they should- like pastries from an alternate and perfect universe. I mean, their bread look more bread-like and their cakes more cake-like than seen anywhere else, and I am absolutely in awe of them.

This bread is Japanese inspired, and is made from my favourite Hokkaido milk loaf recipe with some matcha powder kneaded into half of the plain dough. I make the plain milk loaf frequently and is my absolute favourite home-made bread. It is so soft and milky and smells slightly sweet and very lovely. It keeps for days as it uses a “water roux” which is essentially milk and flour cooked together to form a paste, and this paste, which keeps the bread moist,  is incorporated with the bread dough.

I make the swirls by separating the dough into 2 portions, and add 2 tablespoons of matcha into one of the portions. It takes abit of kneading to incorparate the powder but eventually it will be combined and the dough will be a beautiful jade green. Let the dough proof then deflate them and separate the 2 portions into 3 little balls each. Flatten a plain dough and a matcha one, then lay the matcha dough on the plain dough. Roll it out into a long rectangle and spread some adzuki paste on it, then roll it up from the short end like a swill roll. Repeat with the others and you’ll end up with three rolled-up doughs. Place them in a loaf pan, let it proof until doubled then bake as stated in the recipe. I know, sorry for the very wordy explanation, it’s much easier to understand with illustrations or photos, I promise the next time I make a loaf I’ll take some pictures!

The recipe for the milk loaf is from here.