I'm late with my We Knead to Bake bread for March and I finally made it today. Better late than never they say, and I have to agree.
The chosen bread for March, for the We Knead to Bake #15 was Japanese Melon Pan. This bread intimidated me because I've only made simple and straightforward knead - prove- punch -shape - prove - bake breads so far and this recipe involved more. There was a cookie and there was a bread and the two had to be combined to make a bread.
Suddenly it was April and the group was gearing up for the new bread for the month and I realised I had better get on with the Japanese Melon Pan no matter how scary it looked. Here is Aparna's recipe and I have followed it exactly. I didn't have lemons so I left out the lemon zest in the cookie dough.
As it turned out it wasn't so difficult after all. Yes, it is a fiddly recipe with different parts but on their own they were easy to manage. It was a hot sweltering day and that didn't help - but ultimately the Japanese Melon Pan turned out quite all right.
The outer surface has a crunchy cookie with sugar crystals and the inside is a soft bread. This unusual combination did make me wonder what this would taste like. I'd make the bread considerably sweeter. That's about the only change I'd make to the recipe as I don't see this bread combining with anything else. This one you will eat on its own.
I don't know if I will make these again - it will depend on how much the hubby likes them. I'm glad I did attempt them though. Bread making is an exciting journey and even if every bread made doesn't come out looking fabulous or being to my taste, it's still worth a try. How else will I learn?
We Knead to Bake #15
Marathon Bloggers Project 52