My 1st Loaf of Homemade Bread (原來，面包真的佷香。。。)

~ 焙烘蛋糕让人感觉好快乐，而烘烤面包则让人感觉很幸福~

Can't believe i made my 1st loaf of bread!  Though there was a little accident in the beginning process, with my supportive hubby's little intellegence, i managed to overcome it and the bread turn out just as good.  :)

1st time of bread making, the feeling was marvelous and i was completely thrilled when the fresh loaf was out from the oven. 



The loaf looked so lovely and pretty with the golden brown colour and the smell was heavenly.  Till i tasted the bread, i was completely satisfied and i'm telling myself, i am going to make more bread in future!

The loaf was gone pretty fast in 1.5 days, which tell how popular this was in my family.  My two little lovers have it both for their breakfast and afternoon tea-time, then kept asking for more.  My 2yrs old lover's first reaction on her
first bite on it: "Mhmm.....yummy!!"  (LOL...perhaps they have enough cake and they can't wait to welcome this new food).

The four members at home all have our own preference of how the bread was served.  The daddy like to have it with butter & sugar:

My 2yrs old lover like to dip it with her milk:

While the 5yrs old lover like to eat it with ice-cream, reminded me of the ice-cream cart that goes around the neighbourhood during my childhood.

  

And for me, i like to have it with ice-cream too.......a more gready one. (;P) 

But, i prefer most to have it with my home-made strawberry jam.  Wohoo....that was soooo delicious and irressitable!  (Do pardon me for bragging, just can't hold it.  ;P)

Yummy home-made strawberry jam

I have always wanted to try making some bread but was a bit reluctant considering the time required to make a bread.  From start to prepare the dough till get a loaf out from the oven, it would easily take at least 3-4 hours included the resting time for the dough to rise/proof.  Luckily i came across this wonderful quick and easy recipe that is just right for the 1st time bread maker like me.  Frst time doing bread kneading, it was kind of fun.  So get your hands dirty & have some fun doing bread kneading, it was rewarding!              

Ingredients:

• 330g all purpose flour
• 1 TBSP active dry yeast
• 1 TBSP white sugar
• 1 TBSP soften butter
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup of warm water

Steps:

1. Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt with a stand mixer/electrical mixer (using speed 2)
2. Gradually add in the water untill a nice consistence dough is made
3. Add in the soften butter and continue mixing till the dough starts to clean sides of bowl.  Dough should be slightly sticky to the touch
4. Put the dough on the kneading surface with a bit of flour and start kneading to form into a ball
5. Then, leave it on the kneading surface and let it rest for at least 15mins (i rest it for 'bout 25mins), you will notice the dough become bigger
6. While waiting for the dough to rest, preheat the oven to 350F/180C and spray a loaf pan with non-sticky vegetable spray, set aside
7. After 15mins, take the dough and roll it into about 10 inches long
8. Then, devide it in two equal parts and roll it again into 2 rolls of about 15 inches long
9. Connect the 2 rolls at one end, and start braiding them together (just like doing a hair braid)
10. Once done with braiding, put the dough slowly into the loaf pan, bake for about 30mins
11. Remove it from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack for at least 15min before cutting it to avoid gummy inside
12. Then, serve it with anything that you like...butter, milk, ice-cream, jam, are just the fews that my lovers enjoy! 

Notes:

• For a nicer colour bread, you may brush the dough with a lightly beaten egg/butter (i brush it with a lightly beaten egg)
• If you are not rushing, you may rest the dough for 30min.  But according to the recipe owner, there's no significant differences in taste if rest for 15 or 30min. 
• If you wish to skip the braiding, you may just shape the dough into a loaf, put it into the loaf pan, and bake for about 30min

Recipe source: Homemade Bread Recipe