Bread - #greatjonesandcobakeoff

So today was the second event of the #greatjonesandcobakeoff.  It was bread week.

My SIL had asked me to make Hawaiian bread so I decided to take a stab at it.  This is what it was supposed to look like.

This is what mine looked like.

It tasted okay -- not quite the way it was supposed to, but not horrible.  I think I'll try a different recipe next time.  I'm not great on these soft breads.

Here's the recipe I used.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup canned pineapple juice (room temperature)
• 1/2 cup warm milk (100 – 110°F)
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 2 whole eggs, lightly beaten
• 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fine salt
• 2 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) instant yeast
• 4 1/2 cups (20 ounces) bread flour

I made a few mistakes.  One, that I seem to make a lot, is that I didn't read all the instructions or comments -- it would have saved me trouble and would have turned out better.  I didn't realize there was a difference between instant yeast and active yeast.  So instead of following the instructions to combine the yeast with the warm milk and juice prior to mixing, I mixed everything together.  It  took nearly 3 hours for my bread to rise.  Another mistake (again because I didn't read the directions thoroughly) was that I didn't brush the rolls with the egg/water mixture before the final rise.  I don't think it made a huge difference but again, another thing I didn't do.

Next time I'll probably use a different recipe since it seems many of the other recipes include ginger.

One thing I want to work on this year it baking better bread.  I need to step up my game, that's for sure.

Snow??

 Picture from the office ..

this was supposed to show the snow capped mountains ... but you can't see the hills.  Ah well.