Wednesday, July 30, 2014

raisin bread | review of panasonic bread maker

I have been making bread almost everyday since I got the Panasonic bread maker. As part of the competition for the Best Cooking Blog category in the Singapore Blog Awards this year, I was asked to use the machine to make a series of different types of bread. Voting ends at the end of July so it is not too late to vote for me! :P
My 4-year-old has been watching me make bread with much interest. Today, I thought I'd make a raisin loaf for the LAM. As I was getting the ingredients out of the cupboard, Aden walked into the kitchen and asked if he could help.

I thought, why not?

And so he did help.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am extremely proud to present Aden's first loaf of bread!
Other than checking the measurements were correct and helping him to place the bread pan in the machine, he did everything himself.

Here's how Aden made bread for the first time!

Into the pan, he added bread flour.
And sugar.
This was followed by the milk powder and the salt.
The last two ingredients to go into the pan were the butter and the water.
I placed the bread pan into the machine.
And closed the lid.

The Panasonic bread maker comes with an automatic ingredient dispenser which not only adds the ingredients (like dried fruit, nuts and cereals) to the bread dough after the first rise, it also distributes them evenly throughout the loaf.
This means that the ingredients are added only after the dough has risen and as a result, they do not affect the rising of the dough.

So Aden put the raisins into the ingredient dispenser.
The machine also has a yeast dispenser. The yeast is added after the ingredients have been mixed so that the salt will not kill the yeast. I think this is very clever.

Aden carefully added the yeast into the yeast dispenser.
He shut the lid shut and selected Menu "1" for a basic loaf.
And pressed the START button.
As you can see, he was really thrilled that he had basically done everything by himself!
Needless to say, I was mighty pleased too because I really enjoy spending time in the kitchen with my little man.

In fact, when Aden was adding flour to the bread pan, he gave out a giggle and said, "I really like cooking, Mommy!" Yes, my heart melted there and then. :)

So we let the machine do the work. And about 4 hours later, we had a beautiful loaf of raisin bread.
I must say that I am really impressed by how easy the entire process was! This machine makes the bread-making process so easy even a 4-year-old can make bread.

Apart from having spent a really nice time with Aden, I am really pleased that we are eating home-made bread now. It is so much more healthy because I know that only the best ingredients will go into my breads with absolutely no additives.
I look forward to making more bread with Aden, and I am also glad to report that Daddy was well-impressed with his bread.
He ate it with, well, Vegemite, of course!

The bread maker is available for sale at: 
Best Denki Ngee Ann, Junction 8, Katong, Court Mega Store, Harvey Norman, Isetan, CK Tangs and Takashimaya.
The retail price is at $329 and above store mentions are subject to stock availability.

Panasonic Singapore 
Official Website
Official Facebook Page


A GIVEAWAY!
The really nice folks at Tovolo would like to share a few of their fantastic products with readers of The Domestic Goddess Wannabe, and as such, I am hosting a giveaway for a Better Batter Tool and a Cupcake Scoop.

Fancy winning one (or all) of these? Here's how to take part!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Giveaway ends on Tuesday, August 12, 2014 at 12:00 a.m. Pacific time. The winner(s) will be selected by random.org and contacted by email. If there is no response after 48 hours, another winner will be selected. Open to residents of Singapore only.

RECIPE
Raisin Bread (Makes 1 loaf, about 6 slices)
Adapted from Panasonic 

Ingredients:
2 cups (250g) bread flour
10g butter
2 tablespoons (24g) caster sugar
1 tablespoon (6g) milk powder
1 teaspoon (6g) salt
190ml water
1 teaspoon (2.8g) instant dry yeast
40g raisins

Method:
1. Place all the ingredients (except for the yeast and raisins) in the bread pan.
2. Add raisins to the ingredient dispenser and the yeast to the yeast dispenser. If your machine does not have these functions, add the yeast to the opposite end of the pan to the salt, and add the raisins after the bread has risen.
3. Choose Menu 1 (for basic loaf) and press START.
4. When bread has been made, allow it to cool on a wire rack to cool completely.




12 comments:

  1. Diana, what a handsome young helper you have! I love that raisin loaf Aden baked. I think I need to borrow him from you one day hee..hee...

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  2. Yep baking bread at home is so fun and I bake almost every day! Just love the smell of bread baking in the oven! Oh and that Tovolo Cupcakes Scoop looks awesome!

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  3. If I win that Tovolo Cupcake Scoop, the first cupcakes I make would be the banana flavored ones!

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  4. And of course I would use the Tovolo Cupcakes Spatula to help me with the banana cupcakes I planned to bake:D

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  5. Mummy's best helper! Thumbs up to Aden !! Very nice loaf

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  6. Hi Diana,
    Need your advice. I followed the steps above for raisin bread but it turned out to to be a bit damp. I m using the same BM. Could it be my raisin used not in room temp? May I know what brand of yeast are u using? I m using saf , very strong yeast smell.. My bread turned out to be white not brown like your. I m using my son milk powder, can?

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    Replies
    1. Heh? How can that be? Saf apparently tends to be very strong smelling. Maybe you can add a little less liquid?

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  7. Hi Diana,
    May I check what type of yeast are u using? I use saf sachet type. My bread has slight dampness n is white not brown like yours, not sure issit because of the yeast used? Can use kid milk powder? Appeciate your help.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Cathy I use Fleischmann's ActuveDry Yeast (have to place in warm water before use) and Bruggerman Instant yeast [Brown Packaging] (just use directly). The first can be found in CS and the second in PH. Store in air tight container in the freezer after opening.

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