Sunday, August 8, 2010

Avocado Bread Loaf

Since I am again hooked on bread baking, I guess my readers out there will be seeing a lot more bread post now (hope that's not a bad thing!). I am always looking for new and interesting bread recipes to try out....incorporating new ingredients into the dough. So as the title tells it all, I had made Avocado Bread Loaf this time! Sounds weird I know, who would ever thought of putting avocado into breads?! Well, I guess I am the first maybe, but it ain't all bad I assure you. In fact, it's not bad at all! To think that this creamy fruit provides nearly 20 essential nutrients, including fiber, potassium, Vitamin E, B-vitamins and folic acid. They also act as a "nutrient booster" by enabling the body to absorb more fat-soluble nutrients, such as alpha and beta-carotene and lutein, in foods that are eaten with the fruit. Interested to know more about this wonderful green superfood? Head over to here to read more about it. ;) As for my bread...ta-da!
In case you are wondering what are those lumps on top of the loaf...they are just crispy sweet crumbs I added as toppings. :) And yes, I came up with this avocado bread recipe myself, so please bare in mind that this is purely an experiment (successful one though, yah!) I carried out for my own interest. And since I have only made this once only, I do hope that people that are willing to try this one out will let me know how it work out for them. :) Good luck!!

Starter Dough,
Tang Zhong"湯種":
25g bread flour + 125g water, slow cook at low fire till it yields a creamy mayo like consistency

Ingredients for Avocado Bread Loaf:

1 ripe avocado's fresh, about 125g
330 bread flour
125g cake flour
70g honey
100g tang zhong (from above)
1 tsp instant active yeast
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
80ml fresh milk
30g butter, room temperature
Method:
  • In a small pot, cook the starter dough ingredients with low fire till the mixture comes together. Remove from fire and set aside to cool completely before use.
  • Mix all ingredients in main dough except for butter together in a large mixing bowl to form a soft dough. Place on work area to knead or mixer to do the kneading. Knead the dough till it is not sticky, about 20 minutes.
  • Add the unsalted butter in and continue to knead till the dough is shiny and elastic. To test if the dough is ready, pull a small piece off and stretching it with your fingers. If dough is very elastic and pulls to almost see through without breaking, then it's done.
  • Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap and allow to proof for at least 90 minutes to 2hrs.
  • Divide the dough into 4 equal portions, roll round, cover and let rest before shaping.
  • Roll a portion of the dough into a flat oval shape using a rolling pin. Then roll it up at one end like a swiss roll. Place it in a greased bread tin (10cmX10cmX25cm). Repeat with the rest of the bread portions.
  • After shaping, cover the dough and continue proofing for another hour. Preheat oven to 180°C.
  • Bake in the oven (covered) for 42 to 45mins till done. Let loaf cool in tin for 5 minutes before unmoulding. Then remove from tin and let cool on rack completely before slicing.
Despite the "risks" I was taking, I was still hopeful that the bread will turn out well. And lucky me it did. (good thing I didn't waste the ingredients!) The dough wasn't too hard to handle and it proofed well. I was kind of bad with the shaping and thus the funny looking shape of the loaf top. :P
The loaf turned out soft and yes, believe me, delicious. ;) As for any evident taste of the green fruit...no. In fact, come to think of it, avocado has no distinct taste, it's pretty bland in taste. So it naturally does not contribute any flavoring to the loaf itself. However the loaf did has this slight tint of light green color from the avocado which I think is so nice!
Need I say more? I wished I had made more though...perhaps next time. ;) The taste is just like any other white bread, but knowing that it contains a lot more nutrition than those off the shelf white loaf, it just makes me smile in every bite I take. ;D
Love the softness of this loaf...a fun & successful experiment done well. I guess you guys just have to try it for yourself to know what I mean. ;) Okay...it's already pretty late in the night now and I do need to get some Zzzzs.....well at least I know I will have a yummy bread for breakfast tomorrow! Okay, take care all and have a wonderful nice long weekend! ;)

17 comments:

Hearty Bakes said...

Looks soft and fluffy! Love the crispy crumbs.

Bakericious said...

Bee Bee, the bread looks so soft, I wish I can ve a slice :)

joyceyvonna said...

Wow! This is so unique. I've never seen heard or made avocaodo bread before...awesome. I might try it sometime! And just a question, what kind of milk is it? (ex: skim, low fat, whole) and is this the same milk you use for all your recipes? thanks!

busygran said...

Nice, soft and fluffy! Goes well with butter and kaya! Yum!

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Thanks Jessie, yeah biting the swerc crumbs at the top was like a small bonus, lol!

Come over place Jess, I will you 2 slices plus a cup of kopi to go with it, heehee

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Hi Jo,
I used fresh wholemilk. ;) do let me know how your turn out yah? Happy baking!

Hi busygran! Sure sure, kaya and butter, my fave too!

Tricia said...

Congratulations on a successful try out!!! The bread looks really good.

I love avocadoes.

mr. pineapple man said...

you have a lot of fun recipes! Great blog!

Angie's Recipes said...

Why didn't I think of using avocado in the bread-making before??!! That's an awesome idea! The bread looks super elastic and soft.

pigpigscorner said...

Looks so soft! I made avocado cake once, yum!

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Thanks Tricia! It would be great if you try this recipe out. However, it does not have any avocado taste in it because avocado has not much taste in the first place.

Thanks mr. Pineapple man! You too have one interesting blog yourself! Thanks for dropping by, hope to see you around. ;)

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Thanks Angie! Hope your avocado bread will turn out great too. Happy baking!

Thanks pigsigscorner! Really? Must be really creamy and yummy. I too have this avocado cheesecake recipe that I have been waiting to try out.

Anonymous said...

You have a great blog! I've had lots of success with your bread recipes and want to say thank you!!

Unfortunately I have not been able to make this avocado bread. I've tried it a few times and the bread comes out densed. The dough rises slowly but doesn't have a 'fluffy' texture to it. The moment I put it into the oven, the dough "dies", it stops rising and stays that way until it is cooked. Do you have any idea why this happens? Is it because of the high fat ratio as avocado is all fat? Thanks!

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Hmmm...anonymous, I really don't know what went wrong. It's really hard for me to track the problem just by your comment. Next time try checking your yeast, temperature and the elasticity of the dough (do not over knead). Good luck

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the feedback. I know the yeast works well and I usually use the bread machine to knead the dough cos I'm lazy =) I'll give it another try and let you know.

dilek said...

When and how did you add avocado?

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Hi dlikes, it's under method 2nd sentence, which it says add all the ingredients for the main dough. U can just dump the avocado flesh in, no meshing necessary.