Curtis Stone’s homemade white bread

1.Preheat oven to 185C fan-forced. Spray the inside and the underside of the lids of two 10cm-deep, 12cm x 24cm Pullman loaf tins with sliding lids with non-stick cooking spray. If you don’t have Pullman loaf tins, use two 7cm-deep, 12cm x 24cm loaf tins.

2.Combine flour, sugar and salt in a bowl and set aside. Combine milk, yeast and 565gm water in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, add flour mixture and mix on low speed until dough comes together (2-2½ minutes). Add butter and mix on medium-high speed until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl (4-5 minutes). Transfer to a large, lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and rest at room temperature until doubled in size (30 minutes), then knead on a lightly floured surface to rid the dough of any gases. Divide dough in half (about 800gm per half), shape each into a 20cm long log and transfer to prepared tins. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm area until dough rises about 1.5cm from the tops of the tins (30-40 minutes). If you’re using regular loaf tins, let the dough rise until it almost touches the plastic. Remove plastic wrap and stand dough at room temperature for 10 minutes.

3.Carefully slide lids onto tins and bake for about 25 minutes. Remove lids and continue baking until the bread is a deep golden colour (12-15 minutes; you can check the internal temperature with a probe thermometer – it should be 93C-98C). If using regular loaf tins, lightly brush tops of loaves with eggwash and bake uncovered until the bread is a deep golden colour (30-35 minutes). Turn bread out of tins onto a wire rack to cool completely. Homemade white bread can be baked up to a day ahead, then wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature.