Pan de Yema Oaxaqueno

Ingredients

• 500 g strong white bread flour
• 120 g caster sugar
• 7 g instant dried yeast
• 10 g fine salt
• 2 tsp aniseed
• 10 egg yolks
• 2 whole eggs
• 60 ml warm milk, plus a little more if needed
• 100 g unsalted butter, softened
• 1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp milk, for glazing
• 3 tbsp sesame seeds

Before you cook

• Take the eggs and butter out of the fridge an hour ahead so they come to room temperature.
• Crush the aniseed roughly in a mortar to release its scent.
• Line two baking trays with parchment.

Steps

1. Whisk the flour, sugar, yeast, salt and crushed aniseed together in a large bowl.
2. Make a well in the centre and drop in the yolks, the whole eggs and the warm milk.
3. Bring it together with your hand into a shaggy, very stiff dough, adding milk a tablespoon at a time only if it refuses to come together.
4. Turn the dough onto a work surface and knead it for 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
5. Work the softened butter in a little at a time, kneading for another 8 minutes until the dough is glossy and no longer greasy to the touch.
6. Put the dough in a clean bowl, cover it and leave it somewhere warm for 90 minutes, until doubled in size.
7. Knock the dough back and divide it into 8 equal pieces.
8. Roll each piece into a tight ball on an unfloured surface, cupping your hand over it until the surface is taut.
9. Set the balls well apart on the lined trays.
10. Press your thumb straight down into the centre of each ball to make the deep dimple that marks this bread.
11. Cover the trays loosely and prove for 60 minutes, until visibly puffed and light to the touch.
12. Heat the oven to 180C fan.
13. Brush the loaves gently with the egg glaze and scatter sesame seeds over the tops.
14. Bake them for 22 minutes, until deep golden and hollow-sounding when tapped underneath.
15. Cool them on a rack for at least 20 minutes before tearing one open.