Lazy AF sourdough shokupan

This project is based on a few different recipes, but I made it my own, because, you know, why learn basics or recipes when you can just do whatever?

Wednesday night – mix up a stiff, sweet levain. But first, get super high and “wing it,” don’t write down what you’ve done, and promptly forget.

Thursday – wake up and find out your schedule is wildly different than you thought it would be. Throw the levain into the fridge and head out for the day.

Later Thursday – pull levain out of the fridge upon returning home around 4? Forget you did that, then start the Tangzhong at like 8:30pm. Let that cool, mix the milk+sugar+salt, chunk up the butter, get everything else ready for the stand mixer. Go lie down, and come back in an hour. Mix everything but butter until no dry flour left, switch to dough hook, and mix on 2 for 3 min. Let it rest for 10 min, then come back and start it up again. After about 3 more minutes, and the dough has begun sticking to the hook, *painstakingly* add the butter. Then stare down the mixer for another 30-40 minutes while the butter gets incorporated and gluten starts to form. once the dough is no longer super sticking to the bowl, dump it out straight into a nonstick loaf pan, do some lazy crap to get it into a shape, cover it with greased cling film, and go to bed.

Friday – force yourself out of bed at 10 because BREAD. Find your loaf very, very risen and jiggly. Bake in a barely preheated oven for 42 min, then egg wash once it comes out (because it was far too jiggly to do before baking).

Weights from Perfect Loaf, mostly:

Levain (attempt to reconstruct)
20g ripe sourdough starter, 100% hydration
20g water
40g KA Bread Flour
10g turbinado sugar

Tangzhong (why use wheat flour when you can use glutinous rice flour?!)
31g glutinous rice flour
122g whole milk

Main Dough
241g KA Bread Flour
79g whole milk
50g egg (actually 45g – one large egg)
49g unsalted butter, at room temperature (oops, salted!)
15g turbinado sugar
6g salt
87g ripe levain (I think I only dug out like 84g)

Anyway, it’s delicious, though I’d like a tighter crumb (LOL) and a sweeter flavor next time.

by jodiesattva