CHARRED CHILLI BUTTER GARLIC BREAD

Garlic, spice and all things nice. Trust me.

Welcome to the first issue of Unfiltered Flavours+!

We had to start off with a bang, so here’s a wonderful recipe for you to bake this weekend, though the weather is a bit hot and it was definitely raining on and off at the time of me making this!

If there’s one thing about me, I’m going to load up on warm bread when I eat out. There’s just something so good about a beautiful baked bit of bread. Teamed with a butter? And that’s genuinely me already 75% satisfied. 

I think I’ve gone a little bread mad after spending a week in Greece last month. I loaded up on so much bread, olive oil and Greek salad! It’s a funny one though, because I felt as quick on my feet as ever. One heavy meal in England will have me out for a few hours, but I guess it’s all down to the quality of produce right?

What is Tangzhong?

Now I love a garlic bread, but I love doing things my way and if I’m hosting for my loved ones I like to pull out all the stops and make this chilli butter garlic bread. The dough is PILLOWY soft and that’s thanks to the popular Chinese method, Tangzhong. It’s used in a lot of Chinese baking, especially when making milk bread. Typically, you’ll use a mix of flour, milk and/or water. 

With this method you cook a small percentage of your flour and liquid to pre-gelatinise the starches. In simple terms by cooking the flour and milk/water together you allow more water into the dough without it becoming too sticky to handle! More hydration = a softer, fluffier bread! Not only does it yield super soft bread, but it will also keep your bread fresher for longer. I don’t really think that matters for this recipe because it won’t last that long