Should enriched doughs pass the windowpane test?
I'm trying to make the nan-e qandi recipe from Hot Bread Kitchen; recipe re-printed here. It contains sugar (honey) and a fair amount of fat, with full-fat milk for hydration and over a stick of butter in ~850g dough. It is rather low hydration, and also contains sugar and baking powder.
The recipe says to knead for 5min, and that it should pass the windowpane test. I make a lot of bread, but mostly from lean doughs. I don't think I have ever attempted the windowpane test in an enriched loaf, and I would not expect it to "work" due to all the fat. Generalizing, Should heavily enriched doughs like this be expected pass the windowpane test? E.g., brioche, challah, ...?
As I expected, my first attempt at this dough did not pass the windowpane test after reasonable effort. I also attempted to let it rest for a time e.g., as suggested here, then knead again, but it still pulled apart readily. If this dough should pass the windowpane test, I'll attempt more precision next batch...
Best Answer
Yes it should - sort of.
Your observation is right on point, a very rich dough will tear more easily. (I did the same experiment once myself.) But it will still show some characteristics of the windowpane test: it will stretch smoothly and the "pane" should be very even, not show streaks of thicker and thinner areas. Note that the temperature of your dough and thus the consistency of your fat may have an influence as well. While warm doughs with soft fat will be very stretchy, cool doughs (made with cold ingredients and little yeast for an overnight cold raise) can be less cooperative.
If you are familiar with how a "ready" non-enriched dough looks that passes the windowpane test, you will probably recognise the same smoothness in an enriched dough anyway, without performing the test.
For this specific recipe, I guess it's the very low hydration that makes the windowpane test difficult and the dough prone to tearing, not the fat.
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Quick Answer about "Should enriched doughs pass the windowpane test?"
Yes it should - sort of. Your observation is right on point, a very rich dough will tear more easily. (I did the same experiment once myself.) But it will still show some characteristics of the windowpane test: it will stretch smoothly and the "pane" should be very even, not show streaks of thicker and thinner areas.Should all dough pass the windowpane test?
If your pizza dough is well kneaded then it should pass the windowpane test. It is a simple pass or fail test. If you stretch your pizza dough so thin that it lets light through then it's a pass. If your dough rips before it gets this thin then it's a fail.Why is my bread not passing the window pane test?
This either occurs because the dough contains too much water for the flour. There is not enough gluten available in the flour, so the dough cannot bond to itself properly. As the dough matures it becomes able to retain more water.How do you know when enriched dough is kneaded enough?
The Poke Test \u2013 Give that ball of dough a firm poke with your finger. If the indentation fills back quickly, you're good to go. If it stays looking like a deep dimple, continue kneading.Do enriched doughs take longer to knead?
All that is virtuous or spartan about bread quickly disappears when butter, sugar and eggs are kneaded into the sticky dough. Enriched dough requires a little more work than normal bread might, and takes longer to rise, but it's well worth the effort.75: How to do the windowpane test PROPERLY - Bake with Jack
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