Around a month ago, i finally hauled back a second-hand breadmaker (Kenwood BM250) kindly donated by two friends as their family prefers handmade bread and the machine had been lying idle in their home for ages!
Now, i am not so much a bread person and find bread-making a chore compared to cakes, cinnamon rolls etc! However, making bread using a breadmaker is supposed to be extremely fuss free; with mixing, kneading, rising and baking all taking place within the same device! Read further to see whether it is true or not!
The recipe i found online for sweet bread (cranberry, almond and pecan bread) was rather straightaway; just to need to prepare the ingredients according to the loaf size you want and put them into the bread pan, in the order they were listed.
Piece of cake (pun unintended) for someone who has been baking for quite a few years; the water goes in, follows by plain yogurt, bread flour, salt (bottom left), sugar (top right) and instant yeast. As i didn't have almond flour, i changed to bread flour instead. For the yeast, i made an indentation in the middle of the bread flour and poured it in.
Indicate the menu (in our case, it would be menu 4), the loaf size and the crust colour. Personally, i prefer a darker crust as i enjoy crispier edges! The second final step - press the start button.
Let the kneading begin!
There's still a final step - prepare the nuts and fruits! I am not keen on cranberry and pecans and opted for raisins, walnuts and any other remaining nuts / seeds in the fridge! Do mix them in a separate bowl using a teaspoon of bread flour; this would deter them from staying at the top, bottom and sides of the bread.
You still can't add in the fruits and nuts when the kneading continues. Wait for about 20 minutes after pressing start or when the machine starts to beep loudly.
-beep - beep - beep - time to add in the fruits and nuts! When i first tried out the recipe, i followed strictly to the quantity as indicated but found them too little for my liking.
Hence, what you see above was a lot more; easier three to four times the original quantity on the recipe book! After you are done, just close the lid and it's now a waiting game of over 2 hours for a one-kilo loaf.
Done! As i would do things like watch videos, listen to music in my bedroom while waiting for my bakes; i have the tendency to set a timer on my phone as the beeping sound isn't loud enough for my hearing-damaged ears.
Remove the pan; remember to wear gloves as the handle would be freakish hot!
Shake out the bread onto a cooling rack; it's important to follow this step. There's once i asked my sister to help me remove the pan from the breadmaker as i was in town and when i arrived home to take out the bread; condensation had set in, resulting in dry-textured bread.
Easy? Definitely although the time taken could be exhausting, especially if you have plans to go out. My parents love the freshly made bread that's dotted with a generous amount of fruits and nuts though and i have been making full use of the breadmaker by utilising it at least once a week! Should it break out; there's a high likelihood i would buy a replacement.
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