PlayDough

I have always thought that I will have to make two separate doughs in order to produce a dual coloured marble bread. Which also means that I will have to use the bread machine to knead one dough, while I work on the other manually. It will be impossible to get the bread machine to knead both doughs as there will be at least a half hour lapse between the two doughs, no?


Thanks to this Chinese cookbook on bread making that I found the way to get around with the problem. All I have to do is to knead the dough just like any other bread recipe. After the bread machine completed the kneading cycle, I divided the dough into 3 equal portions. Don't be lazy, use a scale to weigh the dough so that you get three equal portions. For one of the doughs, I kneaded in half a teaspoon of green tea powder...the 2nd portion I added in one teaspoon of cocoa powder (it was supposed to be half teaspoon, but I used the wrong measuring spoon!!). The 3rd portion I left it plain. It was not too difficult to knead in the powdered green tea/cocoa...just a few gentle kneading should get the powder fully integrated into the dough. I didn't follow the recipe on the flavourings as it uses green tea, curry powder, and a red ingredient which I am not sure what it is.


The three dough were then left to rise in separate bowls. After they doubled in size, I shaped them into rounds and left them to 'rest & relax' for about 10mins before they were shaped into long ropes. The doughs were quite easy to handle...except for the plain dough which was still a bit sticky after the first proofing. The three long ropes were then plaited.


After the braided dough was left in the tin to proof...I noticed something wasn't right. The plain dough started to tear away as the dough expanded. Since I couldn't do anything at this stage, I sent it to the oven to bake after the second proofing.


This was how the bread looked like when it was unmold! I though it should be added straight to my list of kitchen disasters ;,(

It was so disappointing!


I only felt sightly better after I sliced the bread...at least the swirls and marbling effects were quite interesting.


and each slice of bread has got it's own unique pattern! The texture of the bread was excellent...soft and light. Even though I could taste the cocoa powder in it, the bread tasted really plain on it's own. The taste was not very different from any of those plain store-bought sandwich bread. The flavour from the green tea powder was so subtle that you won't know its existence if not for the colour.

So, have you been wanting to try out a colourful bread all this while? If the answer is positive, why wait?!



Marble Bread

Ingredient:

300g bread flour
30g caster sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 & 1/4 teaspoons (5g) instant yeast
180g water

20g unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon green tea powder
1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder

Method:

1. Place water, sugar, salt, bread flour in the pan of the bread machine (according to the sequence as stated in the instruction manual of your bread machine). Make an indentation on the flour and add in the instant yeast.
2. Select the Dough function of the bread machine and press start.
3. After about 8mins of kneading, add in the 20g of butter. Let the machine continue to knead the dough. After the kneading cycle has stopped (20mins), Stop and Restart the machine. Continue to let the machine knead for another 10mins.
4. Remove dough from the bread pan. Divide dough into 3 portions (about 170-180g per portion).
5. On a lightly floured surface, take one dough and knead in the cocoa powder. Repeat the same with the second dough with the green tea powder. Place the doughs in 3 separate bowls, cover with cling wrap and let them rise till double in volume, about 60mins.
6. Remove doughs and give a few light kneading for each dough. Press out the trapped air as your knead. Shape into balls and cover with cling wrap, let the dough rest for 10mins.
7. For each dough, flatten and roll out into a oval shape about the size of 30cm by 15cm. Roll up, lengthwise, swiss roll style to form a long rope.
8. Plait the three long doughs. (It is not necessary to plait very tightly). Pinch and seal the ends tightly. Place the plaited dough into a pullman tin* (well greased). Tuck the ends down. Cover the lid and let dough proof for 60mins or until the dough rise up to 90% of the height of the tin.
9. Bake at preheated oven at 180-190 degC for about 30mins.
10. Remove from oven and unmold immediately.

Recipe adapted from 孟老师的100道面包
*size of my pullman tin, about 7.5" x 4" x 4"