Q: What’s the best smell in the world?

A: Freshly baked bread!

Can you see my tot bending down to take a good whiff?

Now, let’s begin at the beginning.

Last year, I got a Lebensstil Bread Maker, which was sadly left in the box for a long, long time due to work, kids, housework, life, what else?

One Sunday evening, I decided: I AM GOING TO BAKE BREAD.

Out came the bread maker out of the box. To be honest, I know nothing about bread makers. Ovens yes, bread makers, no.

As gung-ho as I was, I thought it wise to read up a little and Lebensstil makes it easy for novice bread makers:

Unfortunately, the manual cum recipe book that came along with the bread maker was not as newbie-friendly because all I got were measurements and not instructions.

Lucky for us, YouTube yielded this easy-to-follow video on how to bake a basic loaf with the Lebensstil bread maker. The video also eased my gadget fear as it demonstrated that you could open/close the lid while it’s rising/kneading:

Here’s the control panel, which shows no. 1 (a basic loaf with a light color) and the total time (3 hours and 5 minutes) required to mix the dough, let it rise, knead it and finally, bake it:

The kids had a bit of fun watching the “magic” happen:

Finally, the loaf of bread is ready!!!

I lifted the pail out of the bread maker and let it cool down before turning it out. Ahh…the delicious smell…I really felt like closing my eyes and taking a deep breath the way the actors do it in TV commercials LOL

Anyway, I left the freshly baked bread on the dining table and shooed the kids off to bed.

Ha, the kids tossed and turned and then a little voice said, “Mummy, I am so, so, so, so hungry! I need to eat the bread…” Hahahaha

Out of the room the kids ran, excitedly watching me slice the bread and spread with butter and jam.

Mmm…YUMMY!

P/S Since I used the basic setting, the bread had a rather dense texture. I am going to give it another go, only this time allowing the dough to rise a bit longer. Fingers crossed for a lighter, softer loaf

{ 0 comments }