Bread, Take 2

Okay, I'm not trying that recipe again yet but one from my favorite bread machine baking book by Beth Hensperger.

And it was almost a disaster, too.

I could smell burning and wondered immediately if it was the toxic smell the oil man said would emanate from the basement because of the heating system cleaning. But he'd only been down there a few minutes.

The bread.

I didn't know you could burn bread in a bread machine. But I almost did. See, it rose so high that it was touching the roof of the machine, where there are heating elements. And even though it had only just started to bake, it was already in big trouble.

So I turned off the machine, grabbed my hot pads, pulled out the baking pan, and wondered if the dough would withstand being deflated. I quickly greased a loaf pan, set the oven to preheat at 350F, and transferred the dough to the new bread pan, letting it rise on the stove while the oven preheated. I then consulted my King Arthur flour baking book to see if that was the right oven temp and for how long. It was and my guess is about 45-60 minutes.

On the upside, the dough has risen again (Hallelujah!) and is browning. Maybe too much--with only half the time spent, it looked too brown, so I've foil tented it.

I hope it's better than my last loaf.

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Vienna Bread

2/3 cup water

2/3 cup milk

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces

4 cups bread flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon gluten

2 teaspoons salt

2 3/4 teaspoons bread machine yeast

Place all the ingredients in the pan. Set crust on medium and program for Basic or French; press Start.

When the baking cycle ends, immediately remove the bread from the pan and place it on a rack. Let cool to room temperature before slicing.

Or, if the loaf is too big for your machine after it rises, transfer to bread pan and bake at 350F for 40 minutes!!

Beth Hensperger, The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook