Pain de Mie

Ingredients

• 500 g Type 55 flour
• 155 ml water, at approximately 26°C
• 155 ml whole milk, or substitute milk powder at standard proportion below
• 30 g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for the tin and lid
• 18 g caster sugar
• 10 g fine salt
• 7 g dried yeast, or equivalent fresh yeast

Method

1. 1
   Combine flour, water, milk, sugar, salt, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix on a low speed until a rough dough forms, then increase to medium speed and mix until the dough is cohesive and beginning to develop structure. Continue until the dough passes the windowpane test: a small piece stretched between the fingers thins to near-translucency without tearing, indicating full gluten development.
2. 2
   With the mixer running on low, add the softened butter in small pieces, waiting for each addition to be fully absorbed before adding the next. Once all butter is incorporated, increase to medium speed and mix until the dough is smooth, supple, and carries a faint gloss. This is where the bread lives or dies: butter added too early disrupts gluten development and produces a crumbly, uneven crumb; incorporated too late or too fast, it leaves streaks and weakens structure. The dough should clear the bowl sides cleanly and feel silky to the touch.
3. 3
   Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, cover, and bulk-ferment at 26°C for 45 to 60 minutes. After 20 to 30 minutes, perform one fold: stretch the dough outward from four sides and fold each flap to the centre. The dough will feel noticeably more taut and resilient after the fold.
4. 4
   Generously butter the interior of the lidded tin (moule à pain de mie) and the underside of its lid. Divide the dough and round it into 3 or 4 equal balls, or shape the full piece into a single tight cylinder. Rest the shaped pieces, covered, for 15 minutes on the bench; they will relax slightly but hold their shape.
5. 5
   Place the dough balls side by side in the buttered tin, or lay the cylinder centrally. The dough should fill the tin to approximately one-third of its depth. Cover and proof at 27°C for 70 to 80 minutes. The dough is ready when it rises to precisely 1 cm below the upper edge of the tin — no higher. At this point it will appear domed, smooth-surfaced, and will spring back slowly when pressed with a fingertip.
6. 6
   Heat the oven to 195°C. Slide the lid firmly shut on the tin and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. The closed lid constrains expansion into the rectangular mould and holds steam against the crust, keeping it pale and thin. When the baking time has elapsed, the loaf will feel firm and solid when the tin is lifted and gently shaken; it will have pulled fractionally from the tin sides.
7. 7
   Unmould the loaf immediately onto a wire rack. If the crust appears very pale, return the bread, lidless, to the oven for 5 minutes. The loaf must rest at a minimum of 4 hours, and preferably overnight, before slicing; slicing warm bread compresses the crumb irreversibly. The cooled loaf will sound hollow when tapped on the base.