Today I was making ‘An Pan’, that is a Japanese sweet bread roll filled with Sweet Azuki (Red Bean) Paste. Suddenly my ‘laziness’ kicked in and I wanted to make something easier. So, instead of wrapping the Azuki paste with the dough, I rolled it, placed it in a loaf tin, and baked it. OMG!!! Look at the result!

Loaf Tin

I used 21cm x 11cm Loaf Tin

Ingredients

1/2 cup Warm Milk
1 to 2 teaspoons Dry Yeast *1 teaspoon takes longer time to proof
1 & 3/4 cups Bread Flour *and extra for kneading
4 tablespoons Caster Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 Egg *lightly whisked
20g Butter *melted, plus extra to grease loaf tin
1 cup (or more) Sweet Azuki (Red Bean) Paste *Tsubu-an OR Koshi-an
1 tablespoon Mirin for glazing *You can save some Egg and use it for glazing

Method
  1. Make Sweet Bread Dough. Place Warm Milk and Dry Yeast in a bowl, mix gently and set aside.
  2. Combine Bread Flour, Sugar and Salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in the yeast mixture, Egg and Butter. Mix well to form a soft dough. Knead for 2 to 3 minutes, gradually adding extra Flour as required, until smooth and elastic.
  3. Cover with a plate or plastic wrap, and set aside in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Grease a loaf tin with Butter.
  4. Turn the dough onto lightly floured surface and roll out to a large long rectangle with the width same as the length of the loaf tin. Spread the Sweet Azuki Paste.
  5. Tightly roll up and place in a greased loaf tin. Set aside in a warm place for about 45 minutes.
  6. Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush Mirin (OR saved Egg) over the top for glaze, but this is optional. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. When the top gets too dark, cover with a sheet of foil.
  7. Remove from loaf tin to wire rack to cool.