Marbled Loaf Bread

5.0 from 6 reviews

Author: Anita Jacobson

Courses: Bread

Cuisines: Japanese

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 40 mins

Total Time: 1 hour 40 mins

Serves: 1 loaf

Ingredients

• 150 gram warm milk (38 Celsius or 100 Fahrenheit)
• 4 gram active dry yeast
• 5 gram sugar
• 300 gram bread (or all purpose) flour
• 25 gram sugar
• 4 gram salt
• 1 egg
• 30 gram unsalted butter (*)
• matcha paste (5 gram matcha + 2 teaspoon water)
• chocolate paste (5 gram cocoa powder + 2 teaspoon water)
• egg wash (1 egg + 1 teaspoon milk/water)

Instructions

1. Mix together warm milk, active dry yeast, and 5 gram sugar. Let it sit until foamy, about 15 minutes.
2. Whisk together bread (or all purpose) flour, 25 gram sugar, and salt (if using unsalted butter) in a mixing bowl.
3. Once the yeast solution is foamy, make a well in the flour mixture, crack the egg into the well and pour the yeast solution. Knead until soft, elastic, and non-sticky. If the dough feels too tacky (sticky), add a bit of flour (@10 gram increment). It is common for yeast dough to be tacky at first, but if your persist, at about 10-15 minutes of kneading time, the dough should have formed enough gluten to make it more elastic and less sticky. So try not to add flour at the very early stage of kneading.
4. Add butter into the dough, knead again until the dough is not oily. It should take another 10-15 minutes.
5. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions. Keep one portion plain. Take one portion and add matcha paste, knead until the dough has a uniform green color. Take the last portion of dough and add chocolate paste, knead until the dough has a uniform chocolate color. Shape each portion into a ball. Place in a large plate (or baking tray) lined with parchment paper, set them aside from each other so they don't touch and transfer color from one dough to another. Cover with a wet kitchen towel/saran wrap. Proof until the volume is doubled, about 1 hour in a warm kitchen.
6. Grease one 9" loaf pan with butter/oil.
7. Punch each dough to release air bubbles, and knead for 2 minutes. Shape each dough into a log slightly longer than the length of loaf pan.
8. Place three logs of dough side by side and braid. Place the braided bread dough into the greased pan. Cover pan with a wet kitchen towel/saran wrap, and proof again until the dough rise to the top of the pan, about 1 hour in a warm kitchen.
9. Preheat oven to 180 Celsius (350 Fahrenheit). Brush the top of the bread dough with egg wash. Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes. If the bread already develop a pretty golden brown crust before 35-40 minutes (this is usually around 25 minutes in my oven, yours might be different), tent the bread with a piece of aluminum foil so the final top crust won't be too browned (or even charred).
10. Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then gently run a knife along the edges to loosen the bread. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

• (*) If using salted butter, increase amount to 34 gram, but don't use the 4 gram salt.