The Ugly and The Beautiful

This is horrid............

Still horrid......

 Much better........

Much Much Better.....

 The Best of them all........

I have no problems baking new items, but when it comes to bread i fail terribly without a qualm. What do i fail in bread making? Everything if i must say, the texture, the softness and everything else....... After Cathy's post on her Black Beauty, i decided to try baking bread again with the charcoal powder Cathy had so generously bought for me when she was on a holiday in Hong Kong.

I adapted 孟老师的100道面包 recipe and followed the recipe to a T but alas.. the final product is still not what i had expected. 

Surface kinda of hard and thick when i slice it this morning, texture wise there is softness but still felt heavy and dense. I let my bread maker run on 2 dough cycle but it seems that there isn't any use?  I think i should give up totally on my bread making too much disappointment makes me unwilling to bake again sigh....

I'm submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #6 Say Cheese (April 2011) hosted by Jean of Noms I Must.

Black Bamboo Charcoal Bread with Cheddar Cheese Fillings

(adapted from 孟老师的100道面包)

Ingredients

300g bread flour

4g instant yeast

2 tsp black bamboo charcoal powder

20g milk powder

30g sugar

165g water

20g butter, soften

Fillings

100g block cheddar cheese, sliced

1. Mix all ingredients except butter and knead until a soft pliable dough is formed then add in butter and knead until a smooth and glossy dough is formed and  the dough doesn't stick to your fingers.
2. Roll into a ball and place in a large mixing bowl and proof for 80mins.
3. After 80mins is up, move the dough to a pastry mat and punch out the air, then roll the dough into a square and place the sliced cheddar cheese on the dough then roll with the cheddar cheese facing in, then place the dough in a loaf pan or pullman tin and proof for another 80mins. (for pullman loaf, prove until 80% high then cover with the lid and proceed to bake)
4. Preheat oven to 190C and bake for 30mins, remove bread from tin immediately and cool completely on a wire rack.