A pullman loaf, or pain de mie, can be used just as you would any other loaf of bread. But it has some other uses as well. If you're not familiar with it, it is a loaf baked in a straight-sided pan with a lid on top so that the loaf is perfectly rectangular and the slices perfectly square. It is the classic French sandwich bread, soft and fluffy yet, with its tight crumb, quite sturdy.
It's for those who like uniformly shaped sandwiches or cutting tea sandwiches into squares, triangles, or rectangles with a great deal less waste. The first thing I used a pullman loaf for years ago was pinwheel tea sandwiches (slice the loaf horizontally, spread on the filling, roll up, wrap, chill, slice into pinwheel sandwiches).
I lost the lid to my pullman pan years ago, but I've come up with a way to "make-do," which you'll find in step 5 of the directions below. It came in handy when I got on that Pain Perdu - French Toast kick recently and another search for the lid came up empty. It's my very favorite bread for French toast ...
and for grilled sandwiches, for two reasons: 1. the taste and texture of the bread, and 2. because four of them fit perfectly on my square griddle!
Of course, you could just make my recipe and bake it in a regular 9x5 loaf tin and enjoy the delicious bread with a crowned top! Tell me your thoughts on Pain de Mie.
Pullman Loaf - Pain de Mie
(Makes one 9x4x4-inch/1.5-pound/680 grams loaf)
3 1/2 dip-and-sweep cups (17.5 ounces/496 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons (25 grams) sugar
2 teaspoons (7 grams) instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons (9 grams) salt
1 cup (8 fluid ounces/237 ml or grams) water or half each milk and water
2 tablespoons (1 ounce/28 grams) unsalted butter
1 large egg
1 In a 2.5- to 3-quart mixing bowl, measure or weigh the flour. Take out 1/8 cup and set aside for kneading and shaping. Whisk in the sugar, yeast and salt.
2 In a 1-cup glass measure, measure the water, or water and milk; heat in the microwave until hot but not boiling. Stir in the butter until it is melted. Check that the temperature of the mixture is very warm (120 to 130F/49 to 54C), but not over 130F/54C.
3 Make a well in the center of the flour, then add warm liquid and egg to the well. With dough whisk or large spoon, slowly stir until combined. Knead gently in the bowl with one hand until the dough comes together.
4 Scrape dough onto very lightly floured (from that reserved 1/8 cup) work surface and knead gently for about 10 minutes, using some more of the reserved flour as needed, until smooth and bouncy. Place it in a lightly oiled (I use 1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil) 2-quart glass measure (makes it easy to tell when dough has doubled) and cover; let rise for 60 to 90 minutes, until doubled in size.
5 Grease well a 9x4x4-inch pullman pan and lid* with solid shortening (I use 2 teaspoons of Crisco).
* I lost the lid to my pullman pan years ago, so I do this: Pull off a 12x8-inch piece of aluminum foil and shape it to the top of the loaf pan. Grease just the center part that will cover the top of the loaf pan. Then when it's time to put the lid on, I put that preshaped piece of greased-in-the-center foil over the top of the pan, place a 13x9x1-inch quarter sheet pan on top of the foil, then place a "heavy object" on the quarter sheet pan. I thought of a foil-covered brick, but it seemed too heavy and bulky. Next thought, my tortilla press, but it's too heavy for this task. Almost went with a couple of all-metal tools from the garage, but then I remembered my Cast Iron Heat Diffuser and found that it weighed about 1.5 pounds. Perfect!
6 Turn risen dough out onto lightly floured surface, flattening gently to break up any large bubbles. Press into a 9-by-12-inch rectangle. Fold in short ends of dough until piece is about 6 inches long. Roll from one rough edge, pinch seam to seal and roll gently to form a tight log the length of pan.
7 Place seam-side down in prepared pan and press dough into pan so that it reaches sides, ends and corners. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until about 1/2 to 1 inch from the top of the pan, about 60 minutes. At the 30-minute mark, preheat the oven to 375F/190C/Gas5 for at least 20 minutes.
8 When the dough has risen to about 1/2 to 1 inch from the top, remove the plastic wrap and slide the greased lid, or place the lid substitute, onto the pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for an additional 5 minutes, until golden brown, shrinking from the sides of the pan, and bottom of loaf sounds hollow if tapped. Remove immediately from pan and let cool on wire rack for at least 1 hour before slicing. Wrap well as soon as bread has cooled thoroughly. Store at room temperature.
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Jean
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44 comments:
Who knew? Geometry has come to the culinary table. Or rather I’m just learning about it. And where else would such broad knowledge and penetrating insights come to light but in your kitchen, Jean? Would never have guessed this was a French innovation. German maybe. Probably not gonna cross the pond any time soon to Panera’s, unless they change the product name to eliminate “pain.” Me, I’m into spherical cuisine. E.g., roll yeast bread into dough ball, consume. Yeah. Pretty pedestrian. But if I ever develop a yen for tea squares, I shall add a protractor and T-square to my silverware drawer.
Thanks, Sully. I love *good* bread as slices or rolls or whatever. I suppose you could roll up a slice of this into a ball if that's what you like! No protractors or T-squares in my kitchen, but I *do* keep an 18-inch aluminum ruler there and find uses for it all the time.
I haven't bake any pain de mie in a long time. Yours turned out bakery perfect, Jean.
Thanks so much, Angie. I keep debating whether to buy a new pan with a lid!
Thank you for the recipe I have seen those pans at king arthur flir never sure what 5hey were used for.once it cools down some I will try it
Cathy
Hi Jean Thanks, I have always wanted to make one of these but as I do not have a pan, I usually just skipped over the recipes, now I know what to do. Thanks
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That's super, Cathy! I think you'll have a lot of fun with it! But, yes, when it cools down.
Thanks, Esme. I had a lot of fun figuring out what I could use as a substitute for the lost lid!
"Pain de mie,"sounds great Jean.A,"pullman," loaf though. In the halcion days of steam trains in the, 1920s Pullman coaches were used on luxury trains. Have you seen the Agatha Christe film, The Orient Express? That train left from Victoria Station London and travelled to Istanbul, passing through Paris and Athens. Pullman coaches were used. A version of The Orient Express continued until 2009 departing from Victoria Station. You and Mr Delightful would have enjoyed that journey right across Europe. Apparently the cuisine was Cordon Bleu. Take care, Tony
Thanks, Tony! Yes, I think we would have enjoyed that very much. Saw a television show years ago of David Suchet (Hercule Poirot) taking the journey. Only thing lacking as I recall was an ensuite shower.
Pain de mie is my favorite bread! As you stated, it’s perfect for grilled sandwiches, but I also love using it for several other things. There is no other bread that has that texture. Your recipe is incredibly different from mine, not just a little. I’m going to try yours. I think I got mine by combining several that include the King Arthur recipe. I’m so excited to give yours a shot.
David, I'm so excited to have you try it! Do let me know how it turns out for you. It's the perfect amount of dough for the 9x4x4-inch pan (with lid or "makeshift" lid!).
Very nice and most refined for those delicate, afternoon tea sandwiches. I like the idea of making all the elements of an afternoon tea. (Well, you never know when a dowager duchess or two might visit.) I must admit that I've never made this kind of loaf. I think that's because when I was little, all bread in the shops looked like this and it imprinted on me that this was bread from a shop and not bread you should bake. Incidentally, I'm not sure that I buy the story that flat-topped bread was chosen for Pullman trains because it could be stacked up more easily in a small, on-board kitchen. But, maybe....
Phil, thanks! You know, I'm not sure about that train story either. Some stories just get passed on for so long they have total acceptance but little to back it up. Maybe we'll find some old photos?
Your loaf looks amazing and now those without lid could use this method, thanks for sharing..
I love learning about new things - Pullman loaf is not something I've heard of. I imagine it would make delicious sandwiches. Thanks for linking Jean.
I'll have to share this with my resident baker! Although I'm on a temporary carb-calming binge (or lack thereof, rather). Not totally bailing on the bread -- but easing back. I love it too much!
Nora, thank you so much!
Perfect for tea sandwiches, Gail, thank you!
I love it too much, too, Jeanie! Thanks.
i love the sound of that phrase - dip and sweep:) But give me measurements (in grams) every time ... How fascinating to have such regular-shaped bread. clever if you want a perfect sandwich.
Glad you like that phrase, Sherry! Yep, I'm with you—grams all the way!
Making bread is a favorite. Definitely going to print your recipe. I always enjoy the food selections you share, and thanks for sharing with Pictorial Tuesday. Have a great week.
Thank you, Peabea! Bread and pie are my favourite things to make.
Thanks so much for linking up at the #UnlimitedLinkParty 121. Pinned.
Thanks, Dee. Much appreciated.
A lovely bread, yet new to me. I hope to make some bread in the winter months. Thanks so much for sharing at Love Your Creativity. Happy weekend.
Thanks so much, Linda!
Phil, thank you. Yes, there is some perfectly awful grocery-store bread baked in this shape and called sandwich bread. That would put one off, wouldn't it?!
The saying where there is the will, there is a way would certainly apply to your bread baking. Good for you to come up for a way to use your Pullman pan without its lid.
Thank you, Karen! 😁 I meant business that day!
I have been wanting a pain de mie pan for ages and this will tip the scale in favor of ordering one. I have very fond memories from childhood of my home town bakery and this shaped bread. Think they may have called it sandwich bread. I was enamored of the shape even then, maybe 80 years ago. This was the ultimate bakery when you think of a small town institution. On a Saturday the lines were out the door and if you didn’t call in a pre order, you were probably out of luck. Even today, I measure everything I bake to their standards.
Jean, CONGRATS! Your post is FEATURED at the #UnlimitedLinkParty 122!
Nancy, I'm intrigued by your story and would love to hear more about that "small town institution" bakery! You should definitely get this pan. I carefully devised the recipe to exactly fit the 9x4x4. I hope you'll try it soon.
Thanks so much, Dee! Much appreciated.
Jean, I just ordered the pan and also a round ridged one. The bakery of my dreams also made a cinnamon loaf in a round ridged shape. I guess I would need two to dupe that but I’ll make do. When I make brownies, I leave the walnuts in big pieces because that how Dorners did it. If you put something in you should know it’s there. My country aunts and cousins would come to our house early on a Saturday morning (dropped off by their working menfolk) to wait til it was time to go into the city to shop. We always had a big bakery order of pastries, donuts etc along with coffee. We had a big happy home with a lot of coming and going. Someone once asked my father if our house was a girls school.�� Thank you for being you. I love to bake and you inspire me to do even more.
All my gluten free bread is that shape but smaller and it only really tastes nice if I toast it. I've tried making my own but it's too much hassle for the amount I'd eat. Thanks for joining in with #pocolo
Thanks, Suzanne. Making bread that only one person is going to eat seems like a hassle, but if you slice it, divide it, freeze it, then thaw a small number of slices at a time, it's very worth doing.
I am going to make this loaf. I will freeze what I don't use.
Thank you, Betsy. Enjoy!
Hi Jean
I made my first pain de mie over the weekend with success. I can’t say great success because of a small hiccup that didn’t interfere with the final outcome. With all my experience, I fell for the rookie mistake of not closely monitoring when using new equipment. My dough was over exuberant and went way over the top of the pan in less than an hour.. I had to deflate it before putting on the lid. At the end of baking, one end of the lid was pushed up a bit so was a bit uneven. The bread itself was delicious. Fine crumb. It looked very like yours. We had the first slices with butter and blueberry butter from our local blueberry farm. Mmms all around. It toasts beautifully too. I don’t easily admit defeat so I’ll try again.
Nancy, thanks so much for the update! I've been waiting! Yes, you've got to closely monitor that second rise, that's for sure. I calculated all my ingredients carefully to make sure the loaf would be exactly right for that pan. My first loaf was too small, but the second was perfect. Yes, you can't "admit defeat" when you just got the new pan! Let me know how the second loaf goes.
Jean, the second loaf turned out to be perfect in every way. I didn’t mention before that I make the dough in my bread machine. I think this step gives the dough a head start so I should have factored that into the second rise. This time I put the lid on when it was about three quarters of an inch or more from the top of the pan. The lid stayed on and I had a perfectly square loaf. This bread is so good. It also made excellent grilled cheese sandwiches. I am very glad I finally got the pan. Your endorsement was the key, I trust your judgement. Looking forward to more kitchen adventures!
Nancy, thank you so much! I only ever recommend things I actually use myself. In case you've missed my pan-greasing remarks, I recommend using Crisco solid shortening for this pan. I was making my sourdough in it (minus the lid) for a long time, greasing the pan with olive oil, and it eventually became "sticky" from it. Cooking sprays will also cause a similar gooey buildup on some pans. I join you in "looking forward to more kitchen adventures!"
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