I Made Bread

 I love baking!

Some of my earliest memories are of helping Mom make apple pie and a Victoria sponge on Sunday mornings. While the oven was on for the roast, Mom would bake to use up the space in the oven. I remember her saying that it was a waste to heat the oven just for the meat!

When I was in my teens, it became my job to make the apple pie; apparently, my pastry turned out better than my Mom's!

When I had my own kids, I used to bake at least once a week. I found that the snacks and sweets here in Japan were too sweet. Also, the more I read about the obesity problems in the West, the more concerned I became about our health. By making cookies, cakes and occasionally bread, I could control what ingredients went in. One ingredient that is used in commercial snacks is high fructose corn syrup. It's one of the ingredients that the body can't use; it's converted into fat by the liver. Excess amounts of it lead to obesity, fatty liver and diabetes. 

Baking was my go-to thing to do when I got stressed. Measuring, mixing, pouring, waiting and of course eating the end product would relax me. One time, Hisao came home, and I had spent the afternoon baking 4 different kinds of cookies. The first question he asked me was, "Who upset you?" 

I used to bake for my students, for Halloween and Christmas. I stopped a few years ago as it was getting too much for me. But for the few years I did, I enjoyed the challenge.

Recently, however, I haven't taken time to bake. Sometimes I might make a cake or a few cookies, but I haven't really tried anything new. The other day, I came across a YouTube channel of a Japanese lady baking bread and cakes. I watched a few of her videos; she had English subtitles, which helps, and because she's in Japan, the ingredients she uses are easily available.

I decided to try her Garlic Cheese Bread. A simple, no-knead bread!

This is how it started.

Water, yeast, sugar, oil, skim milk powder.

Add the bread flour

Add the flour and mix to make a dough.

Let the dough rest, then stretch it out, let it rest again.

After stretching the dough a second time, it has to prove. This is where I realised that I hadn't watched the video carefully. The proving time was 2 hours. I somehow missed that bit of information when I first watched the video.

It wasn't a big problem. I had taken my computer to the dining area, so while I was waiting for the bread to prove, I messed around on my computer. I also washed dishes and cleaned part of the fridge!

After the dough had doubled, it had to be rolled out.

It worked; the dough doubled in size.

Once it was rolled out, I put a mix of butter, garlic and parsley on it and sprinkled it with shredded cheese, a lot of cheese! Then cut it into strips; each strip is then rolled up and put in a muffin tin.

Before baking.

The dough has to prove again and then be baked.

The finished bread.

They were really nice. The only problem is that the recipe makes just six buns. I'll have to double the recipe next time.

I think I should try some other easy breads. I know that they aren't that good for my diet, but I get so much joy out of making them.  I was actually dancing around the kitchen when I saw the dough had doubled in size. I was so happy that it worked!