The Windsor bread 温莎面包 is a sweet bread that, despite its name, has nothing to do with England, but was born from the idea of a Taiwanese baker: Wang Chuanren.
No one is clear about the reason for its name.
The recipe went viral on Taiwanese blogs and Facebook groups years ago.
Undoubtedly, the dough of Windsor bread is reminiscent of the “fluffy” texture of Japanese pancakes and Japanese cotton cheesecake.
A dough mainly based on flour, water, yeast, and butter.
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Cheap
- Rest time: 1 Hour 5 Minutes
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4 people
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Chinese
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 3 tbsps cake flour
- 2 tbsps sugar
- 1 tsp milk powder (optional)
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 tsp baking yeast
- 2/3 cup water
- 1 1/2 tbsps butter (+ for brushing)
- to taste salt
- to taste powdered sugar
Steps
Mix the flours, add the sugar, salt, and milk powder (optional).
Add the egg yolk and gradually add the water. Finally, add the yeast.
Work the dough and add the cold butter.
Create a ball and let it rest for 10 minutes.
Take the dough, flatten it slightly, and cut it into 8 pieces.
From each piece, make a small ball.
Let the balls rise, covered, for 10 minutes.
Roll out each ball, flip it, roll it up to form small long loaves of 4 3/4 x 3 inches, pinch to close them.
Place the loaves next to each other on a baking sheet, brush them with melted butter, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and bake in a static oven at 320°F for 25 minutes.
“Windsor” is the name of the British royal family; “Saxe-Coburg and Gotha” was changed to “Windsor“.
King George V chose the new name inspired by the town of Windsor and the circular tower of Windsor Castle built by Henry II Plantagenet, which has been the center of the British monarchy for centuries.
