White Velvet Batter Bread

I’m not sure what the copyright laws are for posting recipes from a cookbook.  If you go to the link here you can find the same recipe just online.  Please try it and tell me how you did.  It took me two tries to get the recipe where I thought it was pretty good.  The bread ended up tasting pretty delicious, like a creamy white bread.

Step 1: Proofing the yeast

·        Both times I tried this it worked just fine.  The yeast became nice and foamy.  On the second attempt, I made the water a tad warmer, 110° instead of 105°. 

Step 2: Mixing the batter

·         The recipe starts out simple enough with mixing wet ingredients and a little bit of flour with the yeast mixture.

·         Next you add the rest of the flour.  The recipe says your dough will be sticky.  Here is what my first attempt looked like:

Not so great and definitely not sticky.

SIDE NOTE: I live in a high altitude climate, 4500 ft. Through the internet I learned that 

bread baking reacts differently at high altitudes, meaning recipes usually have to be 

adjusted for liquid, amount of sugar, and usually require higher baking temperatures.

·         In round two, I added a total of 5 extra tablespoons of water to the batter, about one tablespoon with every half cup of flour.  This time it was definitely sticky, hopefully not too sticky. 

Step 3: Panning and Rising

·      The dough was supposed to double in size within 40 minutes.  It took me 80 minutes last time I made it.  When researching “why isn’t my dough rising” I came to the conclusion that my kitchen was probably too cold.  

  

       FUN FACT: Cold dough will take twice as long to rise as warm dough. 

(I learned that this week as well)

     

     I heated my oven to the lowest setting then turned the oven off and opened the door to get my kitchen nice and warm.  I must just have a cold, drafty kitchen because even with a warm oven it still took 80 minutes to rise.  Look at how lovely they are. They do kind of look velvety (is that a really word?).

Step 4: Baking

·         With my first attempt, after baking 43 minutes at 350° the dough looked dark brown so I took it out.  The internal temperature was only 175°, where it should have been 200° and the loaf still looked doughy when I pulled it out of the can.

·         Try number two, I cooked it for 45 minutes at 375°, the internal temp reached 200° and the dough was fully cooked when I pulled them out.

Step 5: Tasting

·         This bread had a nice creamy texture to it. The taste was similar to standard white bread.  Not too much flavor but seems like it will be a great base for adding fun mix ins.

RECIPE #1: COMPLETED AS A SUCCESS

(at least the second time through)