Friday, April 15, 2011

Bread Bread and More Bread

Seems like I have abandoned my blog again. :( I am stuck in a busy and vicious cycle. Even though I am baking every weekend, by the time I clean up my kitchen, it will be time for bed and get ready for another week of work. Sometimes I do get a little depress over this. Finally I am here again after about 4 weeks.

I have been baking bread during these 4 weeks. Why did I keep on baking bread?? First, I love bread and I have it for breakfast every weekday morning. Second, the bread that I baked just doesn't seem to be as fluffy as what I bought in the bakery. Sometimes I do get soft bread but it's just not the fluffy kind. More dense to be exact. I don't know if my expectation is too high. But to me, I feel that I have yet to succeed in bread making. I will keep on trying. This process just simply has too many variables and unknowns. Maybe this is the third reason. It is challenging.

20th March - Butter Cinnamon Roll from here


For this bun, I forgot to leave the dough to double in the second proof. After shaping it, I sent them into the oven straight away. So blur. Luckily it is still soft and nice just that it is not fluffy.

I am sure if I did not forget that step, the standard will be closer to my dream bread.

27th March - Sweet Bun with hotdog from here


This ugly looking bun is the result of me acting smart when I am not. Slap myself. I prove the dough overnight because I don't want to spend so many hours in the kitchen on Sunday. On Sunday, I took out the dough, shape it and bake it. Terrible mistake. I should have thaw it first but I am afraid that the dough will be over proof. Sigh. I think I won't try this method again until I got more specific instructions on how to carry this out correctly from a trusted source. Anyway, this bread has a scone-like texture. It still taste decent after toasting. Far from my dream bread.

3rd April - Sweet Bun with hotdog


I am tired of failure. So this time, I decided to be obedient and follow the above recipe step by step. And finally, I got a bun that is close to my dream bread, just that the fluffiness is still shy of those bought ones. But this bun is good enough to make me happy for the whole day.

10th April - Wholemeal Bun (Using Tangzhong)

I forgot to take picture of these plain wholemeal bun. After hearing so much about Tangzhong method and how it can retain its fluffiness for three days, I decided to try it. But sad to say, it did not come out right. Quite soft but not exactly fluffy. Luckily it tastes good when it is toasted with cheese.

I am taking a break this week from baking bread. I think I will bake muffins instead. :) But... I will be back.