Pain de Mie aka Pullman Loaf #BreadBakers

Pain de Mie is the sandwich bread of my childhood dreams, soft inside with very little crust. It makes great toast, grilled cheese sandwiches and it’s perfect for those little finger sandwiches we love to eat at bridal showers and parties.

This is a loaf I’ve been wanting to make for the longest time but I struggled with spending the money for a pan I might not use that often. My fellow Bread Baker Karen came to the rescue by proposing a theme of sandwich bread for this month’s challenge. Now I had a good excuse! And also a forward plan for at least one further use.

When we lived in Brazil, one of my favorite brunch dishes was something they called torta salgada or savory pie. It started with a loaf of sandwich bread that was cut lengthwise instead of in the usual square slices. You could buy it like that in the grocery store, that’s how common torta salgada was!

The long bread slices were stacked one upon the other like a layer cake but filled in between with chicken salad, ham, cheese, tuna salad, salami or sometimes even a combination of fillings. Then the whole thing was topped or covered in softened cream cheese, just like a cake, and decorated with veggies or, my personal favorite, matchstick potatoes. It was chilled then cut slices to serve. Now with my Pullman loaf pan, I’ll be able to make my own torta salgada.

Why is it called a Pullman Loaf? 
According Wikipedia: "The name "Pullman" was derived from its use in the kitchens of the Pullman railway cars. Although the Pullman Company is credited with inventing the lidded baking pans used to create the square loaves, square tin pans existed long before the railroad company. European bread makers began using the pans in the early 18th century to minimize crust. However, George Pullman chose the loaf for use on his railcars for efficiency reasons. Three Pullman loaves occupied the same space as two standard round-topped loaves, thus maximizing the use of space in the small Pullman kitchen."

This type of bread is sold in France as pain (bread) de mie (the soft crumb inside.)

Pain de Mie aka Pullman Loaf 

This recipe is adapted from one on the King Arthur Flour website. I didn’t have potato flour, so I substituted cornstarch, a KAF recommended alternative that came with the caveat that some flavor in the bread would be lacking. To add that flavor back in, I used potato water (water in which washed, unpeeled, cubed potatoes had been boiled till tender) instead the plain lukewarm water in the KAF recipe. I have to tell you that this loaf is wonderful so I don't think I'd make it any other way.

Ingredients
1 cup or 240ml lukewarm potato water
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
3 tablespoons or 37g sugar
4 3/4 cups or 567g unbleached all-purpose flour
2/3 cup or 156ml milk, warmed slightly
6 tablespoons or 85g butter, softened at room temperature
1/4 cup or 28g non-fat dry milk
3 tablespoons or 20g cornstarch
2 1/4 teaspoons salt
2-3 teaspoons canola or other light oil for oiling the dough bowl and the baking pan

Method
Add the yeast and one tablespoon of the sugar to the lukewarm potato water. Set aside for five minutes. It should start to get foamy as the yeast is activated.

In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk together the flour, dry milk, cornstarch and salt. Make a well in the middle and add in the yeast mixture, milk and butter and mix well.

Knead — using your hands or the stand mixer - to form a smooth, soft dough. This dough is very sticky so if you do have one, I suggest at least starting with the stand mixer and the bread hook.

Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and set it somewhere warm to rise for about 1 1/2 hours.

Use a little oil to lightly grease a 13" pain de mie or Pullman pan, including the inside of the lid.

When the first rise time is up, sightly grease a clean work surface and tip the dough out, pressing it gently into a large rectangle.

Fold in one third from the back and then fold in one third from the front, giving you a long tube.

Now fold each side in to the middle to make a fat log.

Ease the log into your pan, seam sides down and press the dough down gently to fill your pan.

Cover the pan with lightly greased cling film, and allow the dough to rise until the top of the middle is just below the lip of the pan, 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the warmth of your kitchen.

Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Remove the cling film.

Place the cover on the pan. Bake the bread for 25 minutes in your preheated oven. Remove the pan from the oven. Carefully remove the lid taking care not to burn yourself.

Return the bread to the oven and bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until it tests done; a digital thermometer inserted into the center will register 190°F.

Remove the bread from the oven, and turn it out of the pan onto a rack.

Cool completely before slicing to serve.

Enjoy!

This month our Bread Bakers theme is Sandwich Bread.  Many thanks to our host Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories. Check out all the lovely recipes we are sharing today

• Eggless White Sandwich Bread by Sneha's Recipe
• Farmhouse White Sandwich Bread by Making Miracles
• Just Bread Sandwich Loaf by A Messy Kitchen
• Pain de Mie aka Pullman Loaf by Food Lust People Love
• Seeded Sandwich Bread by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Sourdough Burger Buns by Cook with Renu
• Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread by Ambrosia
• Sourdough Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread by Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Struan Bread by Passion Kneaded
• Subway Sandwich Bread by Anybody Can Bake

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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