Easy Eggless Flower Bread

This flower bread happened by chance! I was desperate to bake my own bread. However, I had not yet purchased a loaf tin, nor did I have a big baking tray (haven't yet found a round one for my microwave). But, when there is a will there is a way. So, we baked it in our flower shaped aluminium cake tin!

With this bread, I resumed baking after 14 years. Read more about it here.

This bread is ideal for tea time. Blame it on our excitement, we enjoyed it with a generous layer of butter and it vanished from the table in few minutes! Despite all the hard work, all I got of the bread was one petal. But that also proves the bread was indeed yum.

Well, without anymore bak bak, let me get onto the recipe.

Ingredients (Made a six petal flower bread)

All purpose flour/Maida - 1 Cup 

Instant Dry Yeast - 1 tsp

Sugar - 1 tsp

Salt - 3/4 tsp

Lukewarm milk - 1/2 Cup

Lukewarm water - 1/2 Cup

Clarified butter/Desi Ghee - 1 tbsp + 1/2 tbsp for brushing

Milk - 2 tbsp, for milkwash

Method 

1. In a bowl, take sugar, yeast and add lukewarm water. Cover and rest for 10 minutes for the yeast to activate. Do not move or uncover the bowl while resting. Also, the water should be lukewarm. Too hot or cold water won't activate the yeast and the bread won't rise.

After 10 minutes, the yeast rose and looked like this. 

2. In a separate vessel (since I don't have a big working board, my humble Paraat which I used to knead the chapati dough came handy) take the maida.

3. Add the salt and mix well.

4. Knead a soft dough using lukewarm milk. Preparing the dough is an important step and thankfully, my MIL volunteers for the job and completes it to perfection. She knead the dough for a good 7-8 minutes. The dough started sticking but she continued to knead and we eventually got a soft dough.

5. Add 1 tbsp desi ghee and knead the dough well so that the ghee gets absorbed. This gives a very soft texture to the bread. In fact, we do this even with our chapati dough. Make the dough into a ball. 

6. Cover the dough with a moist cloth and keep in a warm place undisturbed for 2 hours to prove. 

Our dough doubled beautifully after 2 hours.

7. Take the dough in the Paraat and knock off the excess air. 

8. Grease the tin.

9. Put the dough in the greased tin and make small cuts with scissors to give the shape of petals. 

10. Cover with a damp cloth and keep for proving for another 30 minutes.

11. Give milk wash.

12. Bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes.

13. Loosen the sides with a knife and smear ghee while the bread is still hot.

14. Cool for 15 minutes. Cut into petals and enjoy with butter!