A Step-by-Step Guide to Shaping Your Milk Bread

When we published our Japanese milk bread recipe earlier this month, our Test Kitchen worked with Alessandra Gordon, owner of Seattle-based purveyor Ayako & Family, to create a simpler version of the one the she remembers from her childhood in Japan. The adapted method cuts out a few steps in the shaping process, but the result is a loaf as soft, white, and tender as any. What that the modified recipe doesn’t include, however, are a few tell-tale signs of a more traditional technique: a few vertical seams and a jelly roll–like pattern on the bread’s surface. For home cooks who want to go the extra mile, use the exact same recipe (find that right here), but follow these steps below once your dough has completed its initial proof and is ready to punch down and shape.

Punch down proofed dough.

Divide into six pieces and shape each into a ball.

Flip one ball over so seam side is facing up. Then, roll out dough so that it forms a 5x4" rectangle about 1/2" thick.

With your fingers, roll the dough up lengthwise into a jelly roll, making sure that the corners meet the edges of the dough. (It doesn’t need to be rolled tightly, but it should be rolled evenly and symmetrically.)

Situate the jelly roll so the seam side is facing up, and then pitch the seam so its sealed. Repeat with remaining balls.

Take both ends of a rolled log, and bring them together so it forms a gentle U shape. Repeat with remaining logs.

Liberally butter two 9x5x5" pain de mie pans and lids or 9x5" loaf pans. Place three logs in alternating directions in each pan.

At this point, you can return to the recipe, picking right back up where it says to cover the pans with plastic wrap and return them to warm spot.