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! ;)