Sweet Orange Bread

I have been trying out the functions (Regular, Firm & Soft) from the bread maker. Up until now, I only managed to try out a few white and milk loaves following to the recipes from the instructions manual.

Since my only bread supporter in the house prefers and likes conservative plain breads, I normally do not make anything which is too adventurous for him, lest my bread will be left untouched. Yesterday, I was surfing for simple bread machine recipe and I stumbled upon this and thought that I should give it a try for a change.

Eventhough the recipe calls for using plain water and 2 tablespoon of orange juice concentrate, I modify a little bit by using just normal orange juice. I am not sure whether it will make a difference for the outcome.

Ingredients:
(yields a 1lb loaf)

1/3 cup plus 1 tbs orange juice
1 1/3 large eggs
1/3 tps grated orange zest
1/8 tps salt
2 cup bread flour
1 1/3 tbs instant dry milk powder
2 1/2 tbs sugar
1 tbs butter
1 1/3 tps dry instant yeast

Method:

1) Place all the ingredients according to the sequence as shown above or as per the bread machine's manual instructions.

2) Choose the function "Soft" or "Sweet Bun". The process of my machine is Rest:20 mins -> Kneading: 14-19 mins -> First rising: 49 mins -> Stir down & 2nd rising: 20 mins -> Stir down & 3rd rising: 25-30 mins -> Baking: 42-52 mins.

3) When done, unmould immediately and cool on wire rack.

Outcome:

While it was baking, the whole house was so refreshingly fragrant with strong bread and orange smell. The smell made us scurrying to the kitchen a few times to check it out! When I unmoulded the bread, I felt that the crust was slightly darker and harder than the normal soft bread and I guessed it should be due to the orange juice and zest. When I cut it this morning, I found that 1 cm into the skin layer was a bit dry to my taste. I might want to add 1-2 tablespoon of orange juice to find out whether this will help the next time. When I sliced through the 2nd slice from the skin, it was perfectly soft. I got a good munch into it and was delightful to find out there is a slight hint of orange taste within the bread!