Super Soft Black Sesame Bread (Tangzhong method): Bread Machine

I begin to bake bread more than 10 years ago. The most challenging part of baking a homemade bread is to retain its softness for a few days. There are a lot of different recipes that claim to be able to retains its softness, however, it fails to meet my expectations. Since I am a health conscious person, I will ignore all the recipe that call for bread improver. I have tried to use DOE (design of experiment) to tweak the recipe, however, the softness of the bread is still not able to last more than a day.

I am so happy that I come across with this recipe of using TangZhong method. Finally, I found a method that does not need to use bread improver and yet giving the softness that I want. A fresh bake bread is so soft, springy and fluffy. Thanks a lot for the inventor, Yvonne Chen 陳郁芬 who wrote a book entitled "65'C 湯種麵包" (Bread Doctor).

Since TangZhong solution needs to prepare in advance, it is important to plan the baking job earlier. Unlike Sponge method, TangZhong solution can last for 2-3 days. Normally, I will prepare it a day earlier and use everything in my recipe. The ratio of water with flour is 1 part to 5 parts and it is important not to over cook the mixture as high temperature may destroy the gluten in the flour. I will usually mix the flour and water until homogeneous before heating the mixture using medium heat. Continue to stir the solution using a whisk until the mixture is thicken and and you can see formation of lines during stirring. Remove from heat immediately and quickly transfer it into a bowl and cover it before putting into a fridge. If you have a thermometer, the batter is ready when the batter reaches the temperature of 65'C. It is believed that at 65'C, the gluten in the flour and water mixture would absorb the moisture and become leavened. When TangZhong is added into other ingredients of the bread, the bread dough will be heightened and produced softer bread.

Ingredients of TangZhong

25 g of bread flour (slightly less than 2 tbsp)

125 ml water

Ingredients of bread
250 g bread flour
2 tbsp of sesame powder
2 tbsp of sugar (ignore this is your sesame powder contains sugar)
2 tbsp milk powder
150 g TangZhong (use all the tangzhong that you made above)
1 1/2 tsp yeast
1 large egg
75 ml water (the amount of water is varies by different type of flour)
3 tbsp butter (cut into small pieces, softened in room temperature)


Prepare TangZhong
1. Using a whisk, combine the flour and water until the form a homogeneous mixture.
2. Heat up the mixture using low heat and continue to whisk until the mixture forms a thick solution.
3. If you have a temperature, remove the batter from the heat when the temperature reaching 65'C.
4. Immediately, transfer the batter into a bowl and cover it.
5. Refrigerates it for at least 24 hours before use it in the recipe.

Prepare the Bread
1. Add all the ingredient in the bread machine. Follow the instruction of your bread machine.
2. Go for 'white bread' setting. You may use '1 lb' setting to bake this bread.
3. At the end of around 3 hours, you will get a soft and fluffy bread!!!