Egyptian Cream Bread

This bread is recommended to use fermented butter for a more prominent fragrance.
First, cut the decorative butter cubes. Each butter cube is 1.5 grams. Each bread uses 6 cubes, so a total of 96 cubes are needed.
Use chilled butter, which is of appropriate hardness for cutting. After cutting all the cubes, keep them separate and not stuck together.
Put them in the freezer. When using them, they have a certain hardness, which is convenient for pressing into the dough.

Except for salt and butter, add all other ingredients into the stand mixer. Set the machine timer for 7 minutes and beat until a coarse film can be pulled out.

Add butter and salt, manually wrap them into the dough and turn it over for better absorption.
At this step, measure the temperature by the way. Before the dough is fully beaten, the dough temperature should not exceed 24 degrees Celsius. Later, the temperature will continue to rise.
If the temperature exceeds 24 degrees Celsius, take it out and seal it and freeze or refrigerate it to cool down for about 30 minutes before continuing to beat.

Set the machine timer for 5 minutes. Different flours have different resistance to beating. Different temperatures may result in a difference of 1 to 3 minutes.

After taking the dough out of the mixer, shape it into a round. The optimal dough temperature is between 24 and 26 degrees Celsius.
At 26 degrees Celsius, seal it and let it relax for about 30 minutes.

After relaxation, move it to the workbench without damaging the smooth surface.
Weigh the total weight and then cut it into 16 equal portions.
Everyone may add different liquids, so the weight may vary. Mine is 80.9 grams per portion.

Sift a layer of dry powder to prevent sticking. After shaping it into a round, the surface will be smoother and more beautiful. It will not be stuck and torn, nor will it be bumpy or pitted.
Relaxation is equivalent to semi-fermentation. If the dough is filled with a lot of air, you can gently pat it to release the gas.

Pull out a smooth surface and shape all of them into rounds.
At 26 degrees Celsius, seal it again and let it relax for 20 to 30 minutes.

Sift dry powder on the surface of the relaxed dough to prevent sticking. Gently flatten the dough with your hand. Arch the back of your hand to form a hollow with your palm.

Gently roll the dough with a rolling pin to make it round and of uniform thickness.
The diameter is 11 – 12 centimeters. The overall thickness is roughly equivalent to three one-jiao coins.

Leave some space and place them on the baking tray. The size of the baking tray is 30 by 40 centimeters.

Put them in a fermentation box at a temperature of 32 degrees Celsius and a humidity of around 80% for fermentation. The picture shows the state after fermenting for a while.

Ferment until the volume doubles in size and thickness. Brush a layer of whole egg liquid evenly on the surface. After brushing all of them, use a brush to ensure even application. Otherwise, the parts not brushed will not be colored, and the parts with multiple layers of brushing will have a darker color.

Press the frozen butter cubes into the surface for decoration.
Press them all the way down. There are 6 cubes for each bread.
Then evenly sprinkle a layer of coarse granulated sugar!

Put it into the preheated oven. Preheat the air circulation oven at 180 degrees Celsius. After putting it in the oven, adjust the air circulation oven to 160 degrees Celsius and bake for 13 – 15 minutes.
Adjust it specifically according to the condition of your own oven. Just follow the temperature and time you usually use to bake 80-gram small breads.

Take it out of the oven when the color is evenly baked. Immediately shake the tray after taking it out of the oven and let it cool.

Out of the oven. The granulated sugar particles on the surface of the bread increase the sweetness. The bottom is fried by butter and has a delicious aroma. It has a good appearance and is very appetizing.