I made a mistake with my breadmaker last night and set it to a “dough only” program rather than a “bake a loaf” one. In that regard, it’s probably fortunate the the timer is broken and we can no longer leave it on overnight or we’d have woken not to the scent of freshly baked bread but to a collapsed and airless dough!

Fortunately, bread dough is a forgiving substance so we were able to salvage the situation. We don’t have bread tins any more but we turned the mixture out onto a greased tray and cooked it in a mound. It turned out flatter and wider than normal but was actually cooked very well. In fact, it had a pleasingly rustic appearance so we might even try it again on purpose.

So, a bit of an accident but still an eminently edible loaf. That’s more than can be said for the time I forgot the yeast, or the time I added too much carrot and ended up with an orange brick. Once in a while, it’s fun to make a mistake, especially if you can recover from it and learn something new.

Tags: bread, cooking, cookery, accidents, discoveries