lye bread

Its appearance is truly remarkable! The brown-red crust is shiny and glossy, and the black sesame filling appears at the cut, resembling a flower. The crust is slightly chewy on the outside, yet soft and fluffy on the inside, and the sesame filling is fragrant and rich. It's like a homemade pastry made by our elders—simple yet flavorful, a true home-cooked delicacy. The sweetness of life is all in this bread.

Ingredients

400 grams of high-gluten flour
100 grams of low-gluten flour
20g butter
8 grams of salt
4.5g dry yeast
310g milk
30g milk powder
40g black sesame powder
20g coconut powder (Optional. Or adjust to the same weight of black sesame powder.)
40g egg liquid
10g condensed milk
20g butter
30g milk powder
20g sugar
30 grams of cooked walnut kernels

Steps

Combine all the filling ingredients and stir until combined. Set aside. If you don't need a black sesame filling, skip this step.
Mix the dough: Place the dough ingredients in a bread pan and mix until the dough is about 80% formed. The key is to control the temperature of the dough, never exceeding 28°C. Use ice water in the summer and warm water in the winter.
Let the kneaded dough relax at room temperature for 5 minutes.
Divide the dough into 80g pieces, roll into balls, and let them rest at room temperature for 5 minutes, or in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 2 hours.
Shape and roll: Roll the dough into a shape that is larger at the top and smaller at the bottom. Spread the filling on the narrow side and start rolling from the narrow side, tightening the sides while rolling to prevent the filling from leaking out.
After rolling, place in the freezer for 30 minutes (where ice cream is frozen). Importantly, do not cover the raw dough with anything.
Tool preparation: prepare a drying net, gloves, and a bread cutter. Because baking alkali is weakly corrosive, wear gloves throughout the process and cover the baking tray with oilcloth/oil paper for protection.
When freezing bread, prepare 1000 ml of warm water, add 40 grams of baking soda, stir well and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Bake the bread immediately after it is soaked in lye water. Preheating the oven is very important. Otherwise, the bread will bubble and wrinkle.
Soak the bread dough in lye water for 30 seconds on each side, then remove and let it rest for 1 minute. I added a picture of the pumpkin lye bread in this step because I forgot to take a picture.
Baking: Use a bread cutter to quickly cut two diagonal cuts in the soaked bread dough (a slightly deeper cut will make the crack look better and more beautiful), and put it in the oven immediately within 1 minute, otherwise the bread will bubble and have wrinkles that affect its appearance.
Bake at 200°C for about 20 minutes, until it turns reddish brown. Be careful not to burn it.