In the search for the perfect low carb slice of bread, I made a second attempt at baking a loaf of coconut flour bread. If you have been following along, coconut flour is a very healthy alternative to processed, refined and bleached wheat flour.
The first loaf didn't fare too well. The recipe called for it to bake for 30 minutes. Since it wasn't any bigger, taller, than when I slid it in the oven, I left it in there a bit longer. That was not the solution to what I thought was a problem. This particular bread doesn't rise, for lack of yeast, and by the time I took it out of the oven it was, well, really done and really dry.
Not to be outdone, I gathered all the ingredients and set out to conquer the beast. This time I used my electric hand mixer, rather than my wire whisk, to blend everything together. It looked much better than the first batch so I figured that may have been part of the problem.
My mind began to pilfer through its files to something most of us learn as children. Dark things absorb more heat than light things. The only loaf pan I have is an old black metal one. I decided that was probably why the first loaf was rather crusty/crunchy, it absorbed more heat than necessary from the black pan. With the knowledge of that scientific fact, I concluded that the baking time could be reduced.
All the ingredients were blended to perfection, with no lumps, and I scraped it into the black loaf pan. The oven was ready and after placing the pan in the oven, I set the timer for 25 minutes. By this time I was feeling quite smug because I was determined to get it right.
The timer went off, I opened the oven door and was pleased with what I could see. Nice golden brown bread. I took a knife and inserted into the top, pulled it out and it was clean, sorta kinda. I remember the first loaf was still rather spongy on the top so I thought it would probably firm up when it cooled. The recipe said to remove the loaf from the pan and cool it on a rack.
My wire rack was at the ready, on top of the stove. For some reason, I thought it best to flip the bread out of the pan upside down on the rack. Wondering how best to accomplish this task, I decided to place the rack on top of the pan, then flip the whole kit and kaboodle. Since the pan was still hot, I suited up with my oven mitts. My oven mitts are older than Methuselah and don't look much better either.
I make the flip and the top of the loaf exploded through the wire rack all over the stove. I'm thinking that probably wasn't the right thing to do, it needed to be right side up. Still armed with my mitts, I carefully pick the loaf up to turn it over. I dropped that S.O.B. ( son of bread), it hit the rack and broke into two pieces. I think I muttered something at this point.
On further inspection, the top of the bread wasn't done. I placed each piece of the bread puzzle on some paper towels and tossed it in the microwave. After a short nuke session, it still didn't look much better. With that, I got out the aluminum foil, tore off a large sheet, slammed the bread puzzle pieces together, wrapped it up, threw it back in the oven and turned the oven off.
In the end, it wasn't too bad. The seam melded itself back together, but rather than take any chances with the middle still being a little moist, I put it in the frig.
I'm much better with a hammer and nails so I'm going to hang up the oven mitts for awhile. Besides, I don't think Martha Stewart will be calling me any time soon for a guest appearance.
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