'Au Lait' Bread 欧蕾面包

I came across this "oleh bread" recipe at Sonia's blog. The word "oleh" is her direct translation from its Chinese name "欧蕾". I later found out that "欧蕾" is a direct translation of "au lait" which means "with milk" in French. Anyway, I bookmarked it straightaway as the texture looks super soft and fluffy, like those sausage rolls I used to have when I was a kid. This is a simpler version of pain au lait I presume which usually involves making a yeast starter that has to be let to ferment for about six hours. I've not tried baking pain au lait so I can't compare but this "oleh bread" is really delicious - milky, buttery, so soft and fluffy...

The dough was quite sticky (apparently it's normal as stated in the recipe), so I used a mixer with a dough hook attached for kneading. I had to use a spatula to scrape the dough off the sides of the mixing bowl to form a ball. The dough stiffened a little after an hour of rest which made shaping easier...phew...

Cute little au lait buns fresh out of the oven...

Ingredients:
From Nasi Lemak Lover
A:

• 300g bread flour
• 36g caster sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 18g milk powder

B:

• 180g cold water
• 24g egg white

C:

• 1 tsp instant yeast

D:

• 48g unsalted butter - softened at room temperature

Directions:

• Mix together A in a mixing bowl.
• Pour the cold water and egg white into the dry mixture. Mix to combine.
• Add yeast. Knead.
• Add unsalted butter, knead till elastic. The dough will be sticky, do not add more flour to the sticky dough!
• Form a ball and let rest for 1 hr.
• Knead/ fold dough a few times to re-distribute the air. Let rest for another 30 mins.
• Shape dough and add your filling of choice.
• Bake at pre-heated oven at 180℃ for about 25 mins.

Feel free to add whatever filling you like. I made some with tuna and corn filling.

Ingredients:

• 1 can (130g drained weight) tuna in brine - drained
• 1 can (165g drained weight) corn - drained
• 2 tbs Kewpie mayonnaise
• A dash of lemon juice
• 1 tbs Japanese sesame dressing
• Salt to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Chocolate and peanut butter...nom nom nom