This month’s Bread Baking Babes bread is the Bee Keeper’s Pan de Mie. Tanna chose it for us to bake. Quoting her, “I’ve already made twice. If I start to describe just how superlative this bread is with every glorious descriptive that is in the thesaurus you would think I exaggerate but I swear to you as the whole grain person of all time, this is as close to white bread as I can come and I can’t get enough of it.”
A Pain de Mie is a French soft white sandwich bread. “Pain” means “bread” in French and “la mie” refers to the soft crumb. So Pan de Mie literally translates as Bread of the Crumb! Pan de Mie has a tighter crumb, and is sweeter unlike most French breads. It also keeps fresh longer because of the milk and butter in it. The bread is usually baked in a Pullman pan so it doesn’t form a crust. This makes it very good for regular and French toast, sandwiches, canapes, grilled cheese, etc.
I’m not sure why this bread is called a Bee Keeper’s Pan de Mie. Perhaps it is because of the honey used to bake it. This particular recipe is adapted from Martin Phillip’s recipe at King Arthur Flour. Martin Phillip, King Arthur Flour’s head baker, created this recipe for the 2016 Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie. The original recipe is written to fit a 13-inch Pullman pan. I have a 9-inch Pullman pan so I cut down the recipe by 1/3rd and that worked. I also added some whole wheat flour to the mix. Please see the original recipe if you want to bake a larger loaf.
King Arthur Flour’s bakery loaf is infused with lavender and chamomile. They suggest heating the honey and milk to a simmer, then pouring it over 2/3 tbsp each dried lavender and chamomile leaves. Then steep overnight in the refrigerator, strain and adding to the dough.
I don’t particularly like the taste or flavour of lavender but I enjoy chamomile as tea. I had both on hand and thought I would try it. I’m happy to report that the lavender and chamomile are not strong but just lend a light floral note to the bread. Everyone in my home enjoys a white bread and this one was definitely a hit, even with the floral flavour. If you choose to use the dried flowers, you will have to steep them in warm milk the night before making the bread.
Bee Keeper's Pain de Mie
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup lukewarm water
- 1 1/2 tsp active dried yeast
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 2/3 cup milk
- 65 gm unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2/3 tbsp dried chamomile flowers (optional)
- 2/3 tbsp dried lavender (optional)
Instructions
- If using chamomile and lavender, then warm the milk the night before making the bread. Pour the warm milk over dried chamomile and lavender flowers. Refrigerate overnight to let the flowers steep in the milk and release the flavours. The morning before making the bread, take the milk out and strain the dried flowers out. Let the flavoured milk come to room temperature before using it to knead dough.
- Mix together the lukewarm water, honey and yeast in a small bowl. Let it sit for about 10 minutes till frothy. Put the frothy yeast and all the other ingredients in a large mixing bowl and knead by hand or in processor or stand mixer. Knead until you have a soft, smooth and elastic dough.
- Shape the dough into a ball, place it in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and allow it to rise for 90 minutes. Halfway through the rise, fold the dough onto itself four times to gently deflate it and add strength.
- In the meanwhile, lightly grease the base and lid of a 9" Pain de Mie pan (Pullman loaf pan).
- Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently deflate it and pat it into a 7.5" x 8" rectangle. With the long side facing you, fold the bottom third of the dough up to the centre and then the top third over (like a business letter). Now fold the dough in half lengthwise, and seal the edges with the heel of your hand.
- Now, the shaped dough should be about 9-inches in length to fit the Pullman pan. Place the dough seam-down into the pan. Press it evenly into the corners. Put the lid on the pan and close all but an inch or so in order to monitor the loaf as it rises.
- Let the dough to rise until it's just below the lip of the pan. This should take about 60 to 90 minutes. At the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 220C (425F). Close the lid of the pan completely, and put the pan in the oven.
- Bake the bread for 25 to 30 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for an additional 5 minutes. The loaf should be a deep golden brown on all sides. Remove the loaf from the oven and, after 5 minutes, turn it out onto a rack to cool completely. Do not slice the loaf until it has cooled down completely.
The Bread Baking Babes are –
Bread Baking Babe Bibliothécaire – Katie
Blog from OUR kitchen – Elizabeth
My Kitchen In Half Cups – Tanna
Louise Persson says
Thank you for the recipe for the 9” pan. I plan to give this a try.
Aparna Balasubramanian says
Looking forward to seeing your bread, Louise.
Tanna says
Devine! Everybody enjoyed, that makes my day. You really got a gorgeous loaf: lovely tight crumb and crust.
I think it might be called Bee Keeper’s because Martin keeps bee’s and he created this recipe especially to take it to France for the competition.
Aparna Balasubramanian says
Thank you Tanna, for a lovely bread for us all to make. That’s the explanation then, I didn’t know that.
Karen says
Gorgeous bread. I actually used chamomile tea bags!
Aparna Balasubramanian says
Thank you, Karen. I had the flowers, both gifts from friends so I used that.
Kelly says
Cutting down by a third was a good call! You ended up with an absolutely perfect loaf. I did half and it was a little sparse to fill the pan.
Aparna Balasubramanian says
I found that suggestion on the King Arthur flour website and it worked.
Elle says
That’s a great sized loaf and I love that you used both the lavender and chamomile for flavor and scent. Beautiful crumb, too.Interesting that it should keep well, too, but I don’t think we will have it around that long…to delicious.
Aparna Balasubramanian says
Thank you Elle. I was happy the floral flavour was very mild. My research on the net says the bread keeps longer than other French breads, but like you said, it was gone too quickly so we’ll never know now. 😀
Cathy says
Your photos are lovely! I can picture you sitting at the breakfast table eating a slice spread with peanut butter. Yum! I had to laugh at your description at the beginning. I am seriously enjoying this bread as well.
Aparna Balasubramanian says
Thank you Cathy. I liked it so much I’m planning to bake a whole wheat version.
Katie says
Peanut butter sandwiches! Toast! Looks yummy!
Aparna Balasubramanian says
Thank you. I’m very partial to peanut butter sandwiches or toast.
Taml says
I’m not sure why, but my dough comes out very crumbly even after the second rising. The end result is good.
Any thoughts or suggestions?
Aparna Balasubramanian says
Perhaps your dough was drier than ideal. Try increasing the liquid a little in the recipe so your dough is soft and supple after kneading.