What often does the trick when we're having problems with WiFi/ our PC/ our Cell Phone etc etc?
A simple reboot; and how often don't we forget about that!
We all need a reboot from time to time; whether it's a day at the beach, in the mountains, simply going for a walk around the neighbourhood, listening to music, meditating, digging in the garden; whatever takes your fancy!
Having an 89 year old in the home, we're still a tad hesitant about going out with Covid still around, so my reboot often happens in the kitchen, as baking and cooking really is the best kind of therapy!
I was inspired to try my hand at some bread art, so I paid Granny Google a visit for advice, but I will have to reboot like this again, as my effort was not as successful as I wanted it to be, but I will tell you where I think I went wrong.
A big thank you to the amazing foodie Anna Gabur who creates the most gorgeous works of bread art and was the inspiration behind this, my first attempt.
It really is so satisfying seeing raw ingredients turn from a real mess into something delicious and beautiful.
Basic Bran rich Bread:
- 4 cups Stoneground Wheat Flour
- 1/2 cup Bran flakes
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Brown Sugar
- 10g Instant dry Yeast
- 2 Tbsp melted Vegan Butter
- 350 ml Lukewarm Water
Mix all dry ingredients except yeast in large mixing bowl.
Make a well in the centre and place yeast in hollow.
Mix butter & lukewarm water and pour onto yeast.
Knead till a smooth ball is formed & place into round oiled bowl.
Leave to rise in a warm place and turn out onto floured baking paper.
For proving the bread dough, I used my Wonderbag which is a proudly South African invention; a fabric bag that cooks soup, stews or beans to perfection with only using gas or electricity to kickstart it, and I quote:
The Wonderbag is a simple but revolutionary non-electric slow cooker developed for women cooking over open fires. After bringing a pot of food to the boil and placing it in a foam-insulated Wonderbag, the food will continue cooking for up to 12 hours without additional heat. Because the pot spends a fraction of time on the fire or stove, Wonderbag cooking reduces by 70% the amount of wood, charcoal, and other dirty-burning fuels used in the home. This saves hours of time and labor, and improves indoor air quality and overall health.
Mistake number one
My dough was too soft so my loaf spread and became too flat, but I was determined to still try my hand at this art.
Cover dough in flour ensuring you create a smooth canvas before scouring the round dough into segments with cotton thread; this helps with getting evenly sized and spaced wheat stalks.
Mistake number two
I did not work the flour in enough so my canvas looked quite messy!
Hubby's Stanley Knife was the perfect tool to scour the dough with.
Bake at 180°C, initially with steam by placing a bowl of boiling water into oven for 20 minutes, remove water and continue baking a further 30-40 minutes.
The smell coming from the kitchen drew everyone inside and we all tucked in; it was deliciously crusty on the outside but soft and spongy inside.
Vegan Butter Curls
All in all, a great reboot for me plus the family were happy; but I will be trying my hand at bread art again to try and perfect this art form!
How do you reboot and recharge yourself?
Original Content by @lizelle
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That is gorgeous! My friend in the village, who has written a book about bread - actually, look for it: Hester se Brood published by Jacana, tells me that the wetter the dough, the lighter the bread. I have found that with my rolls,too, havingtsken her advice. Oh, and Hester used baskets to bake her bread and in a wood fired oven.
Wow, Hester's bread sounds amazing, baked in baskets and a wood fired oven, must be delicious!
I'm going to make this again, you should see those bread artists' work, absolutely gorgeous!
I will look for this book though, just love homemade breads!
Thank you Fiona:)
What a fabulous post! I've never seen such pretty, artistic-looking bread! 😍 And I've never heard of a Wonderbag, either! 😮 The bread is almost too lovely to eat! ...almost, but not quite...! 😋
Ah thank you @thekittygirl, I didn't know where to start and how to slice it, but we certainly could not resist this bread so tucked in and broke off the triangles! Definitely making it again;)
That scoring looks beautiful! Was it all done free hand? It may taste spongey but I bet it was delicious! Fresh bread always is delicious, and yours certainly look like it!!!
Nothing like fresh bread not so! Yes it's all freehand but the segments really help with getting them more or less even. My next one will be better! Thanks for the nice feedback:)
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It may not have turned quite as you desired, but it looks wonderful to me. It would still be beautiful without the extra artistic efforts.
That WonderBag is a pretty awesome product. I have seen similar techniques before, but not a ready-made product for sale to perform such a task.
Thank you @lizelle so much sharing this recipe.
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My mom bakes often bread herself and it is always delicious.
I believe that yours was delicious too, but I would never have thought that a bread could look beautiful 😍 ... almost too beautiful to eat 😋
Great piece of kitchen art work @Lizelle 😊
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I've got a long way to go to get it to what it really should look like, but I'm happy with my first attempt, thank you for the kind words and the beer, tip & investinthefutur vote, really appreciate it!
Homemade certainly tastes best not so!
To me it looks perfect 😊
It was a pleasure for me, @Lizelle, you're most welcome 😁
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BEER.Hey @lizelle, here is a little bit of
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BEER.That is an awesome looking loaf of bread. You say it didn't turn out quite right, but I think it looks fantastic.
There is nothing quite like the smell of fresh baked bread. I have a bread machine and, though it definitely bakes bread, the smell isn't nearly the same as what it is coming out of the oven. Awesome stuff.
Thank you so much @wwwiebe, not too shabby for a first attempt but you must see the loaves some of the master bread artists are making, unbelievably beautiful, I'll keep on trying when I need a reboot again;)
You're right, it just smells so much better coming from the oven!
This was freehand? Oh, you are an overachiever! A tasty looking creation! I cannot believe that was done in a bag. I have never heard of that!
I love how you reboot!
Upped and reposted
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Awe thank you so much @dswigle, you are very kind! I had to do an edit as I realised the bit about the Wonderbag was misleading; I only proved the dough in it, could not bake it in there.
I'm gona perfect this art yet, you should see how the master bakers paint with their bread dough!
That makes me feel better! I'm always amazed at these culinary skills you possess!!
When I see stuffs like this, what comes to my mind is having a taste. I love your reboot process, mine is to sit and play my guitar. I love doing that outside, in a place that's not noisy and a little breezy.
I tend enjoy every note I play when I pluck the strings and then feels it on the surface of my skin through the breeze that blows on it.
That's my reboot process.
Nothing like music to soothe the soul not so especially when you're playing the instrument! Thanks for the nice feedback, appreciated!
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Woo what an ingenious invention! I've never heard of the wonderbag. I read the article because I couldn't understand how you could cook in a cloth bag? I was surprised, I imagine it was a woman who invented it. It is always from needs that great inventions arise! Your bread looks very good. How long did you leave it in the wonderbag?
Thank you so much for your nice comments, I let it prove about 1 - 2 hours in the Wonderbag and then baked it in the oven.
That was your first effort at 'art bread'? It looks really, really good to me!
Just an over all successful reboot I'd say!
Thanks @bigtom13, I'll need a reboot soon again and will get it right!
Thank you so much for your support!
I really loved this, I've been looking forward to making bread these days, so I think that when I'm completely healed, it will be one of the first things I do, even if you've had some mistakes, the truth is that I think it looks beautiful and delicious!
Thank you for your kind words @fmbs25, hope you're feeling much better already, sure your family must be missing your creations?
Oh that final picture of the slice of bread was too much - I must make bread now it looks so beautiful and delicious!
Glad you have something to give you a reboot!
For a reboot I like going on a photography adventure out in nature, exploring and feeling that sense of awe and wonder!
That's also one of my favourite ways of rebooting but we've been very restricted during lockdown, thank you for visiting @porters:)
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That looks wonderful and your platting is very nice!
Thank you @rem-steem, so kind of you!
Its supper skill, I like the design.
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, got a long way to go to get it perfect though, appreciate your support!
bread art, ah, that is just brilliant
Thanks @stevenson7, gota try again though, to get the pattern looking more pronounced!
Looking forward to that one then 😊
An excellent job, especially on your first try. Bread making gets easier with practice on how the dough should feel when you kneed it. Amazing design you carved into the top of the dough.
The wonderbag is a wonder. :) I never heard of one before.
Thank you @redheadpei, I was just a tad disappointed that it spread so much and was quite a flat loaf, but will try again!
The wonderbag is amazing and a great energy saver.
I would say this looks too good to eat but...Bread, you know? Bread and butter. So...Yeah, wouldn't last ten minutes. 😂
Yep, it didn't last too long, but I'm not 100% happy with the look, gona try again till I get it right though! Thanks for the visit to my kitchen;)
It looked ok to me, but then again, most bread does. 🙂
Looking beautiful and delicious!!
Thank you @rynow, it was delicious but I'm going to have another go as it doesn't look nearly as gorgeous as the master bread artists!
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Freshly baked bread! There is no better smell!
Oh you're so right there, it's simply the best of all oven bakes! Thanks for popping in @bengy, nice seeing you.
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Thank you!
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BEER.This is fantastic!!! From its look, it's really inviting even though I have never tasted such before. This is a bit different from the way we make ours in Nigeria, plus the ingredients you used to make it.
I'd love to see how you make bread in Nigeria, I'm sure it tastes just as good though, nothing like homemade not so!
Yes, it taste well too, but the one you shared is richer than the common bread here @lizelle
Thanks for your response!
Wow...this is awesome, it makes the bread so inviting. 😋
I'm hoping it turns out better next time though, thanks for stopping by!
Woooow, this looks so beautiful!! I will show it to my dad, he loves making home bread.
Nothing beats homemade bread, one good thing that came from lockdown is that we hardly ever eat store bought bread! Hope your Dad gives it a try:)
Yeah! Everyone in my house have all learned to cook.
I can imagine the load smelled and tasted as good as it looks. But the Wonder Bag. That's really a cool invention. 👍😁
Nothing like the smell of hot bread in the oven not so, the Wonderbag really is a wonderful invention, thank you for stopping by @inalittlewhile!
My pleasure. Thanks for the great content!
Thank you for supplying the recipe and the info. about the bag. I'm checking it out now ... wow.
Thank you so much, the Wonderbag really is wonderful;)
For your first attempt, I think it turned out very well! Nice design!
Thank you so much, I'll definitely be trying this again;)
A perfect partner for a good soup and salad.
So right @justinparke! Thanks for popping in again;)