This week, we found out that Channel 4 will be taking the GBBO reigns from now on. I’m really, really upset about it. So is everybody else. To be honest I don’t even want to acknowledge it but it would seem silly to publish a bake off related post the day after the news was announced and not mention it at all. Personally, I’m tempted to just not watch it to make a point. My love for the show may stop me from doing that.. but what if commercial interference turns it into something completely different? This really feels very dramatic. 2016 has been a rough year for bad news.
I’ve been wanting to do a plait thingie with bread ever since I first watched bake off and saw Paul Hollywood slam bits of dough about. Everyone makes it look easy, and I’m happy to report that it is in fact easy. Which I think is a first for me.
I decided to go for a recipe that already existed because playing around too much where bread is concerned is a bad idea, I say this from experience after experience after experience. After a quick scroll through Pinterest, I settled on The Little Epicurean’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Swirl Bread.
My problem, as it always always is when I make bread, was rising. I can never ever get my bread to rise properly, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I’m sure I knead enough, I’m sure I do the warm watery yeasty mixy bit at the beginning properly, but I’m always punished when I check the dough after an hour and it’s supposed to have “doubled in size” but hasn’t grown even a little. No luck on the second prove either.
I left it as long as I possibly could to get it to do something, but eventually had to give up and get them in the oven or I was going to be late for work.
As you can see from the above picture, the round loaf was quite savagely underbaked (presumably due to my rising issue). I literally had about 15 minutes to get to work at the point of taking these pictures so I grabbed the slightly better baked loaf shaped loaf, wrapped it in baking paper and dropped it, still hot from the oven, over to a friend before heading to the office. He seemed to like it so I think I got away with it.
How do you reckon I did this week? And how distraught are you that Channel 4 have stolen GBBO? Hit me up in the comments.
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Cate in the Kitchen 
I can’t believe its going to channel 4!! This is just an appalling state of affairs. Love the look of the bread though, i’d eat it even if it is under baked!
Jennie x
What about rising your dough in the oven? I don’t have anywhere to prove bread, so I just set my oven to around 30’C and left the bowl in there to rise. It took about an hour or so and turned out alright.
This is assuming that you didn’t use the oven in the first place…
I’ve never tried that before!
It might be worth a go if you make bread again!
Uhhhh channel 4 are stealing demons. yuck! And now Mel and Sue are going too, boooooo!! However, though perhaps underbaked, your loaf looks amazing and I LOVE chocolate and peanut butter! Chewy or not, i’d eat it! Alice xxx
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Your bread looks delicious … I love chocolate and peanut butter too! I might have to give that a try someday. I cant believe Bake Off is moving to channel 4, it just wont be the same.
Vicky x
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Talk about perfect! That dough is so smooth and that braided twist – looks amazing! Such a big mistake BBC made losing GBBO, really don’t know what it’ll be like next year, but it definitely won’t be the same 😦
I am so distraught about the Channel 4 news. However, there’s no better flavour combo than peanut butter and chocolate so I bet it tasted incredibly! x
That looks absolutely amazing! I would never have known it was underbaked if you hadn’t said so.
Ha ha perhaps I should have kept it quiet!
Peanut butter IN bread! So interesting. I will have to try it!!