Pain au Lait: The Taste of French Childhood

Whether gracing supermarket aisles in mass-produced form or playing a starring role on the shelves of the most upmarket boulangeries across France, pains au lait can be sold plain, sprinkled with pearl sugar or studded with chocolate chips. Thanks to their slightly sweet taste and soft texture, they are a firm favourite with French schoolchildren, but in fact are very versatile buns that have many more uses.

The art of making bread is deeply entrenched in French culture, with the concept of sharing or breaking bread with friends and family regarded as a symbol of goodwill and generosity. After all, this is a country where many people would like to see the iconic baguette recognised as a “culture treasure” by the United Nations, and there is an artisanal bakery on virtually every street in every village, town and city across the nation. Breads have traditionally played their part in every French meal, and as such the pain au lait has profound significance within French cuisine.

Translating into English as “milk bread”, pains au lait differ from breads like baguette as they are made from an enriched dough using milk (of course), some sugar, eggs and a small amount of butter as well as yeast – in taste and texture they are similar to a brioche or the UK's Eastertide hot-cross buns, but not as rich as they don't contain as much butter. Primarily regarded as a kids' food in France, they are often served as an indulgent breakfast bread with butter and jam and accompanied by hot chocolate, or as a goûter – an after-school snack – filled with chocolate spread.

Accor pastry chef Sarah Ifrah Ohana has shared her foolproof recipe for deliciously soft, buttery homemade pains au lait, golden and crisp on the outside and light as a cloud inside; follow her instructions and you'll achieve the perfect texture and flavour in your homemade milk buns.

Ingredients for a dozen rolls

• 180 ml milk
• 110 g eggs (~4 eggs)
• 15 g yeast
• 500 g flour
• 50 g caster sugar
• 10 g salt
• 130 g butter

Method

• Using a mixer at speed 2, combine the milk, eggs, yeast and flour.
• Add the sugar and salt until the dough begins to pull away from the bowl.
• Increase the speed to 4 and add the butter, little by little.
• Continue to mix until the dough is smooth and shiny.
• Let the dough rise until it has doubled in volume, punch it down, then divide into 12 equal portions (about 55g each).
• Let them rise for about 40 minutes. 
• Spritz the rolls with water, milk or egg wash (an egg yolk plus a dash of milk), score the tops and bake at 180°C (350°F) for 12 minutes.

Split open each milk bread roll while still hot and stuff it with the filling of your choice. Et voilà! Your snack is ready…

Pains au lait rolls are so easy to make that Chef Sarah has a couple of suggestions for what to do while the yeast works its magic: these delicious spreads pair superbly with the hot milk bread rolls after they come out of the oven. A chocolate crémeux or a classic caramel sauce... You might just have to try both sweet treats to decide which flavour combination you like best!

Ingredients

• 600 ml double cream
• 60 g caster sugar
• 250 g egg yolks (~12 eggs)
• 250 g dark chocolate, grated

Method

• Bring the cream to a boil.
• In a separate bowl, combine the egg yolks and sugar.
• Make a custard and pour over the chocolate.
• Mix and let cool, placing cling film directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming.

Ingredients

• 180 g caster sugar
• 110 g liquid glucose or golden syrup
• 3 g sea salt flakes
• 300 ml double cream, warmed
• 50 g milk chocolate
• 200 g slightly salted butter
  

Method

• Melt together the sugar, glucose and salt, and cook until a lovely amber colour is obtained.
• Remove from heat and pour in the warm cream to stop the cooking.
• Incorporate the chocolate and butter.
• Let cool with cling film directly on the surface.

If you're up for a gastronomic adventure, experiment with more ways of cooking and serving your delicious pains au lait. Here are five tempting ideas that the whole family will love, ending with a couple of more sophisticated serving tips best suited to more mature palates.

• Short on time? Serve your pain au lait stuffed with cheese for a savoury snack at lunchtime.
• Make memories with your kids by adding pain au lait into a fruit trifle to eat for afternoon tea; line the dish with the bread and add layers of jelly, custard, cream and seasonal fruit. Popular and tangy options include rhubarb and strawberries.
• Avoid waste by using stale pain au lait to conjure up a comforting bread-and-butter pudding. 
• Substitute sourdough for the yeast; just cover the dough and leave it to prove overnight before the final cooking stage. 
• For a thoroughly grown-up taste, add cardamom, a couple of tablespoons of ground espresso and good-quality, semi-sweet chocolate chips into your dough; eat them hot and fragrant out of the oven (just be careful that the chocolate isn't too hot) with coffee or strong black breakfast tea.

Hone your artisan breadmaking techniques with the following handy tips from expert pastry chefs. 

• Brush each risen bun with milk or egg wash before the final prove. Use a pastry brush to do this and don't drip the mixture on the baking tin or your gourmet bread will come out like omelette. 
• Buttery pains au lait are perfect for serving at celebration meals like Thanksgiving dinner in the USA or Christmas lunch in the UK; simply sprinkle sea salt on top to counteract their slight sweetness. 
• Bake individual rolls for at least 20-25 minutes until they are golden on top; the final cooking stage for a loaf will take around 30-35 minutes.
• When the bread is golden, take it out of the oven but leave it on the baking tray for at least 10 minutes to finish cooking before transferring it to a cooling rack.
• Pain au lait is best eaten the day it's made, but you can freeze any leftovers to prevent waste; wrap them well and reheat as needed at 180°C (350°F) for about 5 minutes.