Spanish

Pan de Molde de Sésamo · Spanish Seeded Sandwich Loaf

Bread flour + milk + butter + egg + yeast + sugar + salt, mixed in the Thermomix, bulk-fermented 90 minutes, shaped into a tight loaf, coated with a sesame-seed crust, second-proofed 45 minutes, and baked in a pullman loaf pan at 180°C for 35 minutes. The sandwich bread that a serious Spanish kitchen makes when commercial sliced bread isn't good enough — tender, slightly-sweet, structurally sound, with a crackling sesame crust on top. Teaches the enriched-dough sandwich bread archetype (milk + butter + egg) + the Thermomix bread workflow + the seeded-crust finishing technique.

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Bread · Pan de Molde · Sandwich Foundation
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None (bread) · Contains dairy + eggs
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1 × Pullman loaf (~800 g) · 14-16 slices
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25 min + 90 min bulk + 45 min final proof + 35 min bake = 3 h 15 min

The Sandwich Bread That Makes a Serious Kitchen's Sandwich

Commercial sliced bread is an industrial product designed for a specific purpose: long shelf life + uniform slicing + low cost. It's not what a serious kitchen serves when sandwiches matter. A homemade pan de molde (literally 'mold bread' — referring to the Pullman loaf pan's rectangular shape) is the sandwich bread that respects the filling. Tender enough to bite through cleanly, structural enough to hold wet fillings without falling apart, flavorful enough to stand alongside quality ingredients.

This is an enriched dough — meaning it contains milk, butter, and egg in addition to the standard flour + water + yeast + salt of basic bread. The enrichments do three things: (1) they tenderize the crumb (milk proteins + butter fat both interfere with gluten tightening, producing a softer final bread), (2) they flavor the bread (dairy sugar + egg yolk fat + butter lactones all add flavor dimensions), and (3) they extend shelf life (the fat coats the gluten strands, slowing staling). Sandwich bread should be softer + slower-staling than country bread; enrichment is the mechanism.

The Thermomix TM6 handles the dough mixing beautifully — bread mode + 5 minutes of kneading + the dough is ready. No stand mixer needed. The TM6 also integrates the temperature-controlled yeast bloom (35°C, speed 1, 2 minutes) + the mixing seamlessly. Total Thermomix work: 8-9 minutes from first ingredient in to dough-out. This is one of the recipe families where the TM6 is genuinely the best tool — not just because Pablo loves it, but because it does the job equal-or-better than stand-mixer or by-hand methods for enriched-dough bread.

The seeded crust is the Spanish touch. Most US sandwich breads are bare-topped. A proper pan de molde in Spain typically has either sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, or a mixed seed coating on top. The seeds do two things: they add visual elegance + a textural pop at every slice. The technique is simple: before the second proof, the shaped loaf gets brushed with egg-wash + pressed into a bed of sesame seeds on a shallow plate, then placed into the loaf pan. Bake as normal. The seeds toast during the bake + become crisp + fragrant.

This recipe completes the Batch 7 breads-gap triad: pita (fast + high-heat) + pan payés (long-ferment + moderate-heat) + pan de molde (enriched + TM6-workflow). Three different bread-family techniques in one batch; library now has complete pedagogical coverage of Spanish-Mediterranean bread-making.

Ingredients

for 1 × Pullman loaf (~800 g) · 14-16 slices

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Everyday

The Dough Base

500 g bread flour — King Arthur Bread Flour
180 g whole milk at room temp (warmed to 35°C if cold)
1 large egg at room temp (~50 g)
50 g unsalted butter, softened + pliable — Organic Valley or Vermont Creamery
30 g granulated sugar
7 g (2 1/4 tsp / 1 packet) instant yeast (SAF Instant is serious-kitchen default; Red Star or Fleischmann's Rapid Rise is Tier A acceptable)
10 g (2 tsp) fine sea salt

For the Seeded Crust

1 additional egg (for egg wash)
1 tsp milk (for egg wash)
40 g (~3 tbsp) sesame seeds — white OR black OR mixed; raw (they toast during bake)
Optional: pinch of salt + sesame mixture (like a proto-everything-bagel seasoning)

No Limits

The Dough Base (Tier B)

500 g Grist & Toll bread flour or Anson Mills Glenn bread flour
180 g Clover Sonoma creamline whole milk
1 local-farm egg (Coconut Grove farmers market)
50 g Vermont Creamery cultured butter OR Échiré AOP butter
30 g Wholesome organic cane sugar
7 g SAF Instant Yeast
10 g Sal de Ibiza fine-crushed

For the Seeded Crust (Tier B)

1 local-farm egg for wash
1 tsp Clover Sonoma milk
40 g mixed seeds: 20 g white sesame + 10 g black sesame + 5 g poppy seeds + 5 g flax seeds — deeper visual + textural complexity

Mise en Place

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Butter softened at room temp (30 min out of fridge is usually enough) — pliable but not melted
Milk at room temp or warmed to 35°C
Egg at room temp (cold eggs slow the yeast)
Dry ingredients weighed together (flour + sugar + salt)
Yeast weighed separately
Pullman pan greased lightly with butter + dusted with flour — or lined with parchment sling
Plan: start 14:00 → bulk 15:30-17:00 → shape + seed 17:00-17:10 → final proof 17:10-17:55 → bake 17:55-18:30 → cool until 19:30 → sandwich at dinner 20:00

Method

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Phase 1 · Mix + Knead — 8 minutes (Thermomix) OR 12 min (stand mixer) OR 15 min (by hand)

Into TM6 bowl: 180 g milk + 1 egg + 30 g sugar + 7 g yeast. Set to 35°C, speed 1, 2 minutes . This gently warms the liquids + blooms the yeast.

After warm-bloom: add 500 g flour + 10 g salt directly to the bowl. Lid on, TM6 bread mode (knead icon), 5 minutes .

After 5 min: open TM6 bowl. Dough should be rough-coming-together. Add 50 g softened butter in 4-5 pieces.

Close TM6 bowl. Bread mode, 3 more minutes. Dough should become smooth + elastic + slightly tacky but not wet.

If dough seems too dry at the end of 8 total min: add 1-2 tsp milk + knead 1 more min. If too sticky: add 1-2 tbsp flour + knead 1 more min.

Windowpane test: pinch a small piece + stretch. Should form a translucent window without tearing. If it tears: knead 1-2 more min.

Stand mixer alternative: same sequence, dough hook at medium speed, 5 min + 3 min after butter.

By-hand alternative: same sequence, 8 min initial knead + 7 min after butter = 15 min total.

Phase 2 · Bulk Ferment — 90 minutes

Transfer dough to a lightly-oiled bowl (1 tsp EVOO).

Turn dough once to coat in oil.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap or a shower cap.

Bulk ferment at room temperature (~24°C) for 90 minutes.

Dough should double in size + feel airy. Poke test: press finger 1 cm into dough; should partially spring back.

Phase 3 · Shape — 10 minutes

Turn bulk-fermented dough onto a lightly-floured surface.

Gently flatten into a rough rectangle approximately 10 cm × 23 cm (matching the pan's internal length + half the pan's internal width).

From the short end, roll the dough tightly into a cylinder. Tuck in any straggling dough at each end.

Pinch the seam tightly along the length of the cylinder.

The rolled cylinder should fit cleanly into the Pullman pan (seam-side down after seeding).

Phase 4 · Egg Wash + Seed Coating — 3 minutes

In a small bowl, beat 1 egg + 1 tsp milk (egg wash).

Pour the 40 g sesame seeds onto a shallow plate (slightly wider than the rolled cylinder).

Using a pastry brush, egg-wash the top + sides of the rolled cylinder (not the bottom).

Pick up the cylinder + roll it through the seeded plate, pressing gently to adhere seeds to the washed surface.

Transfer the seeded cylinder, seam-side DOWN, into the greased Pullman pan.

Phase 5 · Second Proof — 45 minutes

Cover the seeded cylinder in the pan loosely with plastic wrap (don't let the wrap touch the seeds — it'll pull them off).

Proof at room temperature (~24°C) for 45 minutes.

Dough should crest 1-2 cm above the pan rim (for open-top bake) OR fill 80-90% of the pan (for lid-on bake).

Poke test: press finger 5 mm into dough top; should partially spring back.

Meanwhile, pre-heat oven to 180°C / 356°F during the last 25 min of proof.

Phase 6 · Bake — 35 minutes

Gently remove plastic wrap from the proofed loaf.

If using Pullman lid: place lid on pan (produces flat-topped loaf; press lid onto pan firmly).

If not using lid: proceed as open-top (produces domed loaf).

Transfer to middle rack of preheated 180°C oven.

Bake 35 minutes.

If using lid: remove lid at 25 min + continue 10 more min (for the final browning).

If not using lid: if top is browning too fast (darkening past desired), tent loosely with foil at 20 min.

Loaf is done when: internal temperature 90-92°C (poke thermometer into the center), bottom sounds hollow when tapped, crust is deep golden brown with visible seed-toast.

Remove from oven.

Phase 7 · Cool + Slice — 1 hour minimum

Remove loaf from oven.

Cool IN pan 10 minutes .

After 10 min: remove from pan by tilting + gently sliding out (or lifting if using parchment sling). Transfer to cooling rack.

Cool COMPLETELY on rack for 1 hour minimum (1.5 hours is better).

Do NOT slice while warm — the internal structure is still setting + you'll get gummy crumb.

Once fully cool: slice with a serrated bread knife. Thickness: 1 cm for sandwich bread; 1.5 cm for toast.

Store in a cloth bag or in the pan covered loosely for 4 days at room temp. Freezes excellent — slice + bag in freezer-safe bags; toast slices frozen directly from the bag.

Timeline

T-195m Mise all ingredients + prep pan
T-195m TM6 — add milk + egg + sugar + yeast; warm speed 1, 35°C, 2 min (blooms yeast)
T-193m Add 500 g flour + 10 g salt; knead program 5 min
T-188m Add 50 g butter in pieces; knead program 3 more min
T-185m Dough transferred to oiled bowl; bulk ferment 90 min at ~24°C
T-95m Bulk done (doubled). Turn onto lightly-floured surface. Flatten into 10×23 cm rectangle.
T-90m Roll the rectangle tightly into a cylinder from the short end; pinch seam.
T-85m Egg-wash the top + sides of the cylinder; roll in sesame seeds on a plate.
T-80m Transfer seam-side down into greased Pullman pan.
T-80m Second proof 45 min until dough crests 1-2 cm above pan rim (if using lid: dough should fill 80-90% of pan).
T-35m Pre-heat oven to 180°C
T+0m Bake 35 min. Internal target 90-92°C.
T+35m Out of oven. Cool IN pan 10 min; then TURN OUT onto cooling rack.
T+60-90m Cool completely (1 h minimum) before slicing