Print

Leopard milk bread (Leopard Print Loaf)

Sliced leopard bread on a white cutting board.
Print Recipe
Save Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 1 review

Leopard milk bread is a soft, buttery loaf with a leopard print pattern hidden inside. White, light-cocoa, and dark-cocoa doughs are rolled and nested so that every slice reveals brown spots on a pale crumb. It bakes into a tender milk loaf that is as fun to make as it is to serve.

Ingredients

Scale

For a loaf bread pan 8 x 4 inches (20 x 10 cm)

For the white dough:

  • 8 teaspoons (25 g) cornstarch
  • 1 cup (250 ml) whole milk
  • 3 1/2 tablespoons (50 g) salted butter
  • 1/3 cup + 1 teaspoon (70 g) granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon (3 g) instant dry yeast
  • 3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour

For the dark chocolate dough:

  • 2 tablespoons (15 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tablespoon (15 ml) whole milk

For the light chocolate dough:

  • 2 teaspoons (5 g) unsweetened cocoa powder 
  • 1 teaspoon (5 ml) whole milk

*Don't you have the correct baking pan on hand right now? Try this simple Cake Pan Converter!

** If needed, please refer to Baking Conversion Charts.

Instructions

  1. In a saucepan, pour in the milk, vanilla, salt, and cornstarch, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook the mixture, stirring constantly with a wooden spatula, until it thickens. Add butter and stir until smooth. Let it cool down for 30 minutes.
  2. Place the flour, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a hook attachment and pour the milk mixture over the dry ingredients. Mix into the dough using a low speed. Knead by hand until the dough is smooth and shiny.
  3. Divide the dough into two parts. Reserve one part (it will be the white mass) and cover it with a cloth to proof until doubled. Divide the other part of the dough into two parts: one bigger and another smaller.
  4. Add 2 tablespoons (15 g) cocoa powder mixed with 1 tablespoon milk to the smaller part of the dough, and knead by hand until the dough is homogeneous and colored. Set aside and cover it with a cloth to proof it until doubled. It is a dark chocolate dough.
  5. Add 2 teaspoons (5 g) cocoa powder mixed with 1 teaspoon milk to the larger portion of the dough, and knead until smooth. Set aside and cover with a cloth to proof till double. It is a light chocolate dough. Alternatively, place each dough in a glass bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and proof at room temperature until doubled in size, about 1-1.5 hours.
  6. Deflate the dough and divide it into 7 balls: 2 big and 5 small. Divide the chocolate dough into 7 balls: 2 big and 5 small ones. Repeat the same procedure with the dark chocolate dough to get 2 big and 5 small balls. The size of the balls depends upon the final weight of each part of the dough; divide it accordingly.
  7. Take a ball of chocolate dough and roll it using a rolling pin into a flat oval shape (aka a long tongue). Its length must match the length of the loaf pan. Then roll the dough like a Swiss roll.
  8. Take a ball of dark chocolate dough and roll it into a flat oval shape (aka a long tongue), keeping it the same length as the baking pan. Then place the roll of dark chocolate dough in the center of the oval and wrap the dark chocolate dough, without fully covering it.
  9. Repeat for the rest of the chocolate dough, making sure the big balls of chocolate dough match the big balls of dark chocolate dough. The same is with tiny balls.
  10. Using a rolling pin, roll a ball of white dough into a long tongue shape. Wrap the chocolate roll with the white dough, fully covering it. Repeat with the remaining white dough.
  11. Take a roll of the white dough and gently roll it by hand into a long log, about twice the size of the baking pan. Repeat it for the rest of the white dough. Cut each long log in half. Place the rolls, alternating their ends, into the greased loaf pan or a pan lined with parchment paper.
  12. Cover the pan with the cloth and let it rise till double. Heat the oven to 340°F (170°C). Brush the bread with milk and bake it for 30-40 minutes. Remove the bread from the loaf pan and let it cool before cutting.

Notes

  1. Use a kitchen scale for accurate, repeatable results.
  2. Bake the bread in a toast mold (aka a Pullman loaf pan with a lid), if desired.
  3. Instead of milk, use an egg wash.
  4. Make-ahead option: let the three doughs proof covered with plastic film in the refrigerator for 12 hours. Proceed to shape the dough, proof it a second time, and then bake.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://www.bakinglikeachef.com/leopard-milk-bread-2/