Milk Bread

Ingredients:
-2/3 cup heavy cream
-1 cup, plus 1 tbsp milk
-1 large egg
-1/3 cup sugar
-1/2 cup cake flour or all-purpose flour
-3 1/2 cups bread flour
-1 tbsp active dry yeast
-1 1/2 teaspoon salt
-Egg wash: 1 egg whisked together with 1 tsp water
-Simple Syrup: Equal parts sugar and hot water.
Turmeric/Honey/Lemon mixture – 2 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp honey and 1/2 tsp turmeric, juice from a small lemon. Heat ingredients in a small sauce pan until well incorporated. Set aside.
Instructions:
1. In the bowl of a mixer, add ingredients in the following order: heavy cream, milk, egg, sugar, all-purpose flour, bread flour, yeast, and salt. Use the dough hook attachment, and turn on the mixer to “stir.” Let it go for 15 minutes, occasionally stopping the mixer to push the dough down into the bowl. If you don’t have a mixer and would like to knead by hand, extend the kneading time by 5-10 minutes.
2. After 15 minutes of mixing, the dough is ready for proofing. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and place in a warm spot for 1 hour. I proofed the dough in my oven (I heated the oven to 300 degrees, turned the oven off, put the bowl on the middle rack and then closed the oven door). Again, let proof for one hour.
3. In the meantime, grease two baking vessels on all sides with butter. I used a standard loaf pan and a 9-inch round cake pan.
4. After the hour of proofing, put the dough back in the mixer and stir for another 5 minutes to get rid of air bubbles. Dump the dough on a lightly floured surface, and cut it in half. I made a loaf with one half of the dough and made buns with the rest.
Loaf: I cut the dough in half again and shaped the two halves into two long pieces. I brushed each piece with the Turmeric/Honey/Lemon mixture and braided them. Then, I placed the loaf in the baking pan.
Rolls: Cut the other half of the dough into eight pieces. Shape each piece into a knot and place in the pan.
Once shaped and in the pan, let the dough rest for another hour.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush the risen dough with egg wash. Bake the loaves for 23-25 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush the buns with sugar water to give them a really great shine, sweetness, and color.