My Bread Feels Inadequate!

HappyIdiotTalk

OK thought I'd have a crack at something different with the bread maker today. Decided on some dinner rolls (think thats what they were called - cant be bothered to fetch the recipe book from the kitchen).

This is what they should look like (sorry about the small images, had phone on wrong settings):



You cant really see it in the image but there are some cottage loaves in there, braids, knotts, loaves and a three ball thing. However when I shaped mine and left them to rise they kind of spread out liked they'd melted and lost most of their form:



They were actually very nice when cooked though, very impressed with myself actually. These one's (below) were a bit over done, but the second batch went in on a lower temp and shorter time and were really quite good.



So why didn't they keep there shape?

The only deviation I made from the recipe was to use the bread maker to make the dough rather than doing making it by hand in a bowl. I suppose it doesn't really matter what they looked like in the end as they were really nice. But it would have been good to have them come out properly shaped!

troll35

Your bread was fine. I hope they tasted as good as they looked.

They didn't turn out like the picture because the publishers will have used all sorts of 'tricks' to ensure that the pictures they show always look the bees knees. The person baking the goodies for the pictures will also probably bake huge quantities just so that they can get a few photogenic ones.The 'perfect' bread rolls were probably baked a few minutes after shaping so that they retained their shape.
We also baked bread today. I was looking back through an old photo album and I found a picture of the kids with a harvest loaf (shaped like a wheat sheaf) and I thought brilliant, that's what we would do today. The shaped loaf looked great but after it had risen most of the detail had merged together...ah well it tastes fantastic. I didn't take any pictures though.

AussieLass

I have no idea but I ventured into bread rolls for the first time a couple of weeks ago and your's turned out so much better than mine.

pigpen

Very inspirational!!! They look good enough to me..

I am being brave and venturing onto bread rolls next week when the chillies go back to school.. I am fairly certain they'll prefer rolls in their pack ups to sliced bread!!

D&DD

Well I think they look lovely!!
Did the dough have butter in it? I find when I use an enriched douch i.e with egg or butter they tend to spread out a bit rather than stand up

HappyIdiotTalk

:rotfl:Just realised looking at the pictures this morning that the before and after pictures are of both trays! Trust me though the original tray was similarly blobbed.

Anyway sorry for replying this morning, ended up chatting with OH and then went to bed after posting this.

troll35 wrote: »

Your bread was fine. I hope they tasted as good as they looked.

They didn't turn out like the picture because the publishers will have used all sorts of 'tricks' to ensure that the pictures they show always look the bees knees. The person baking the goodies for the pictures will also probably bake huge quantities just so that they can get a few photogenic ones.The 'perfect' bread rolls were probably baked a few minutes after shaping so that they retained their shape.
We also baked bread today. I was looking back through an old photo album and I found a picture of the kids with a harvest loaf (shaped like a wheat sheaf) and I thought brilliant, that's what we would do today. The shaped loaf looked great but after it had risen most of the detail had merged together...ah well it tastes fantastic. I didn't take any pictures though.

That makes me feel better, and makes sense! I was wondering though if it could have been because I didn't knock the dough back enough. It still felt a bit spongey after I'd done that, is that what its supposed to feel like? Might have another go at the weekend as they are worth the effort.

Thanks for the kind words AussieLass, Pigpen and D&DD, most appreciated! And yes they did have butter in them, and milk too. Bit naughty, but well worth it. Might have spolit myself though!

thriftmonster

My friend's brother is a photographer that did a lot of food styling shots and they do all sorts to make it look good eg spray with hairspray for glaze etc as Troll35 said

I thought yours looked great. Recently I have been experimenting with rolls shaped in bun tins ie 3 little blobs to make a clover leaf - which does stop spreading as much. (cos mine spread all over the place - I'm very impressed with yours.)