A tale of bread and disasters
Posted by kathryn in Blogging
””:http://kochtopf.twoday.net/stories/2711089/
Who would have thought there’d be a World Bread Day ? Well, according to the International Union of Bakers and Bakers-Confectioners, it’s today. A time to celebrate and honour both bread and the people who make it.
While I’ve made bread heaps of times in the past, it’s definitely not something I do regularly. It takes time and elbow-grease to knead and there are so many fabulous breads available in Sydney, why would you bother?
About two weeks ago, however, an idea took hold in my brain: a gluten-free loaf that would only take minutes to make. I researched, I obsessed, I bragged to Richard about it, I obsessed a bit more, until I had it, THE RECIPE. The gluten-free loaf that would only take 10 minutes to put together and 30 minutes to cook. Gluten-free bread within 45 minutes. Gluten-free bread that even the most basic cook could make. Wow, I’d done it.
Well, I thought I had, because then I actually made the bread: my new, fabulous recipe. And to say it was awful was an understatement. It didn’t rise, it didn’t brown, it was the weight of a lead doorstop. The flavour was awful, the smell was awful, the texture was truly awful. On every single count, by which you judge a loaf, my bread failed. I ate two mouthfuls of a slice and threw the rest away. Richard, not believing it could possibly be as bad as I said, took a huge bite, chewed it twice and then rushed to the bin to spit it out.
No photographs exist of this bread disaster – they were well and truly deleted, while I sulked about the end of my naive bread plans.
So my world bread day is going to consist of eating a slice from a shop-bought loaf and having it with my favourite topping . . . home-made jam.
For a whole lot of bread successes and recipes, take a look at Kochtopf’s roundup or the technorati tag world bread day ‘06 .
16 October, 2006
Comments
I would have loved to see the photos ;
) Happy munching :)Even if you have no photos, you really need to tell us what you used in the recipe that went so wrong so we can avoid it!
Kathryn,
Sadly, I know the feeling.
Hi there Cascabel, sorry the photos were deleted in a fit of pique at the failure of all my plans to change the bread world as we know it. But I can describe it to you – pale, flat and heavy as a rock . . . do I need to go on.
Rebecca – the recipe failed because I naively thought I knew more about cooking than I actually do. It’s most definitely a case of pride before a fall! It did give me an insight into why good gluten-free loaves are so expensive and why they’re so hard to find. The main ingredient I used was rice flour – and the texture and taste by itself is foul.
Kevin, glad to know I’m not the only one!
Ha! That’s unfortunate about your loaf. I’ve definitely experience my share of breads worthy only of being doorstops.
Oh the pain of it!!! It’s so horrible when one is reminded why wheat flour is used for bread making. The gluten really does make it easier! But don’t give up! It is possible to make things for a fraction of the price of the storebought ones.
My dad has been on a glutenfree diet for years but I remember well the gritty awfulness of muffins, cakes, bread that we tried making by simply replacing rice and/or potato flours with wheat. But my mother has come a long way. She absolutely swears by xanthan gum and arrowroot. She buys various gluten free flours and makes a mix to use in place of regular wheat flour. Her mix it very similar to the glutenfree flour substitutes listed at “Ellen’s Kitchen”
http://www.ellenskitchen.com/faqs/glutfree.html
I no longer live in the same city as my parents so have the luxury of being able to use wheat flour to my heart’s content. But I made the following when my dad last came to visit and it came out not too badly:
http://etherwork.net/recipes/glutenfreebread.html
-Elizabeth
Brilynn – doorstop bread is always so disappointing, I suspect it’s happened to most people at some point.
ejm – yes that magic stuff gluten – you really can see why bread makers have been using it for centuries. I’ve been looking at other recipes more recently and it does seem that a mixture of flours is the way to go – thanks for the links, especially to the glutenfree flour substitutes, that’s really useful. I might even have another go. And this time I might even take other people’s advice and not just assume that I know best!
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