The smell of freshly baked bread = Happiness and sweet memories.
Peter, a friend said, " Indeed, the smell of freshly baked bread brings back memories from 50 years ago as it spread throughout Gaya Street and we knew that the bread was ready and waiting in the morning".
My husband also has good memories of running to the Hurst's bakery before school and he could still remember the smell of those freshly baked bread down the road which was only a stone's throw away from his home, Claughton road. 😁
Making bread as a beginner for the 1st time can be frustrating for those who failed due to sticky dough, failed rises and a dense loaf or a motivation for those who succeeded in producing an aromatic, tasty, light , bouncy, well risen loaf. Since we are all different, each of us takes failure differently. Those who failed miserably may end up " Never again" to try while others with challenging attitude may keep trying until they succeeded.
In 2001, I bought a Kenwood bread maker for the first time from Singapore at an offer price, just to satisfy my curiosity of how a bread machine can bake a bread automatically! Though it did bake a bread but the bread was not tasty and appeared very dense and heavy. At that time there was no video to show how to bake a bread or any no other recipe book where I could turn to, for help except the pamphlet with brief instructions that came with the bread machine.
This bread machine followed me whichever country I resided. I had even tried with "Hovis" bread flour when I was in UK but still not up to the par level of the taste I was looking for. So I gave up and the machine ended in my store as a "White elephant".
As years gone by, due to high tech, our handphones kept updating and by the time I retired, there were so many bread making made easy videos, shown in U-tube. Those bread looked so delicious and tempting. That's the time, I took out the bread machine again to bake a bread. Unfortunately the machine which was kept in the box for years became faulty. 😞
I tried to send for repair at the household appliances repair shop but was informed that it was not worth the repair as the cost would be almost the price of an updated brand new bread machine.
Hearing this, I decided to leave the machine with the handyman as discard item and never bake bread any more.
Another few years passed and recently in year 2025, my former classmate Jerry posted me a few photos of his successful sourdough bread and other artisan bread that he had baked.
The bread looked so good that they inspired me to start making bread again. 🤣
Making your own bread is a rewarding process and my hubby loves the aroma of freshly baked bread spreading from the kitchen to the whole house.
After watching the video, I started to explore more of these " No Knead " Artisan bread and gave it a try which turned out well.
My 1st" No knead" Artisan bread
15th Jan 2026.
Such successful outcome motivated me to bake more bread especially different types of bread such as Italian, German, European and Poland bread recipes.
20th Feb 2026
My 1st successful Polish bread using Faux bread starter which I divide the dough into two.
The U-tube video of this Polish bread recipe must have a protected link because it won't allow me to share their video here but you can still see their recipe in U-tube called "Meisterhaftes".
Pour 200mls warm water in a small bowl.
Add 1 tablespoon sugar+ 5gm dry yeast.
Stir well till fully dissolved.
Add 150gm flour and mix well.
Cover and let it aside to rest for 20mins.
Prepare a clean bowl of 350flour + 1 teaspoon of salt.
Make a "well" in the center and pour in the prepared "Faux bread starter" over it.
Add 120ml warm water to mix well.
A shaggy dough is what we want. 😂
Cover to rest in warm place for 20 mins
I suggested you watch their video to understand what I am trying to say because visual aids can make you understand better.
The smell of the bread was so flavourful and they taste delicious.
I ate it with cream cheese. So yummy. 😋
My hubby likes the Polish Bread the most. It's Pull and Fold technique and the use of faux bread starter is very easy to make. This bread is tasty, soft and fluffy . Even the skin of the bread was soft which suits elderly like us😁
After my Polish bread, I went on to try a more complicated bread like the Sourdough bread which I never succeed before.
Initially I used my medium size oven to bake my bread but as time goes by, I learnt that the air fryer can also bake bread especially small loaf. Air fryer is fast, more convenient and save cost where electricity is concerned. And the bread always turns out nicely.
The only bread I failed despite numerous attempt was the sourdough bread. Since I couldn't get those sourdough starter right, I gave up trying until I saw in U-tube, how a bread starter can also be made from fruit water yeast by Stepheno. I was curious to see if they really work at all and craved to experiment them. So I decided to give it a go. 😅
Bread using Apple water yeast starter
The steps looked so simple and easy that inspired me to try.
Looks promising!😜
At last I can claim myself, a victory for this sourdough bread with natural yeast.
This is my 1st Bread using using fruit water yeast instead of commercial yeast as starter!
My Honest Comment?
Wow, I am surprised and wasn't expecting it to turn out so good! The texture and taste were good.
Hubby likes it and requested to repeat recipe 🤣.
After a few successful bread, I kept exploring for different bread to try. 🤭
I followed exactly from utube video by Aroma von Brot. Have a look at their videos but just in case you can't find their link, have a look at any Ciabatta recipes will help.
To be honest, after my successful first bread of Simple "Lazy" Artisan bread, was motivated to try another level of bread recipe such as Polish, European bread.
From the mistake I had encountered, I would like to share with you some tips given by my friends who had baked their bread successfully,
- Start from the simplest and less likely to fail bread recipe, to motivate us to make more bread and the "No Knead , No wait " Artisan bread recipe is the best to start with but even the bread turned out beautifully, it was dense inside when I made them. After trying so many types of bread recipes, I like the most is the
Italian Ciabatta bread. Unfortunately my hubby prefers the Polish bread more. Since we are all born with different preferences, we are thankful to our Good Lord for allowing us to have choices 🙏
- Never use tap water which had chlorine in it can kill the yeast. Use bottled drinking water or mineral water.
- Give time for the dough to rise. Dough rises better in a warm kitchen. When it's so humid especially in our country, the dough will rise faster compared to a rainy cold day. The dough should rise at least double it's size before baking.
-Use warm water, not hot as it can kill the yeast. Cool water is also not advisable as it will not activate the dough properly, therefore the dough will not rise properly.
Overall, the happiness experienced when my successful bread was ready for the first time, is really a profound, sensory, deep rewarding feeling. It's like magic, transforming flour, water and yeast into a golden, delicious and fragrant loaf of bread.😂💓🙏
That's all for my topic of the day...Happy baking!😊
