Project: Panda Bread

So, I stumbled upon this really cute idea for some “Panda Bread” over here at Perfect Pandas: http://perfectpandas.com/2008/01/08/panda-bread/

I have always had a soft spot for Panda bears and thought I would totally wow the nieces or kids in nursery with a fun treat. 

This is what the bread is supposed to look like….

Mine looked more like this….

I wish I had taken a photo of the bread out of the oven before I chunked the gooey mess.  Sadly, I actually tried this recipe twice, wasting much flour in the process.  Now, I did do all of this by hand, I do not have a stand mixer. 

The first time I did as the recipe called to add all the food coloring and cocoa powder after the dough was already mixed up….um can we say wet mess of dough?  I still shudder to think of that green slim on my hands.  Needless to say that recipe for the bread just sucked.  It was tough and hard, burned on the top…..absolute mess. 

The second time I found a recipe for Amish white bread online and divided it up into 3 batches and added the food coloring to one batch and cocoa to the other before mixing everything together.  Everything seemed to be going so well.  When I had to actually roll the dough up in the right order to form the panda face, it all just sort of mushed together.  I knew it wasn’t going to turn out right even before I put it in the oven, but I didn’t want to throw it away… I had worked so hard!

So, it came out and didn’t resemble a panda bear face at all.  It resembled more of a hot mess than anything.  I have a few problems I need to work out before I try this again. 

The different dough has to be soft enough that they can mesh together in the oven, even though they are separate colors and consistencies.  When this 2^nd loaf came out of the oven all the different layers just peeled away from each other.

But the dough also has to be firm enough so you can roll everything up tightly so you don’t lose the shape of the face….

The bread itself was delicious, but didn’t cook in the middle, and was almost burnt on the top….Let me clarify, it was lightly brown on the top, Jake says that isn’t almost brunt…To me it is. 

So I shamefully wowed no one with my cool panda treat. 

Project Panda Bread:  EPIC FAILURE