Pain de Mie

In French "pain" means bread and "mie" means the crumb, or interior, of the bread, which is what this practically crustless bread is all about. It has an extremely thin crust and a dense but very soft inner portion. In addition to typical bread ingredients such as flour, yeast, and water, pain de mie usually contains milk and butter, and, in some cases, milk powder and eggs, giving it a higher fat content than many other breads. Without this high fat content, however, the bread would lack the soft suppleness that many consider its defining quality.

The best bread for thin-slicing, this butter- and milk-rich loaf is baked in a special lidded pan, often called a Pullman pan. The lid ensures that the baking bread won't expand too much, keeping it very close-grained-and thus totally non-crumbly, and easy to slice. The lid is placed on the pan during the final stage of rising, and is left in place for part or all of the baking process. As a result, the loaf does not develop a hard, thick top crust during baking. Additionally, the lid prevents the loaf’s top from rounding, resulting in a bread which is flat on all sides.

Due to the denseness of its crumb, pain de mie holds up well to slicing and toasting, and can also carry toppings without falling apart. It is therefore commonly used to make toast as well as hot and cold sandwiches.