Ikea BRÖDMIX FLERKORN Multigrain Bread Baking Mix

Disclaimer: I have not been paid to promote any products, I bought this mix myself on our last shopping trip because I was curious and thought I'd share 😊

Hi Honeys
Is there anything better than the smell of freshly baked bread wafting through from the kitchen? I haven't baked my own bread in what feels like ages, and when I do I use a good strong (unbleached & usually wholegrain or multigrain) bread flour, yeast and my trusty little hand mixer with the dough hooks,  so far it's always turned out really well :)

During our last trip to Ikea (my happy place) I spotted a new (new to me anyway) product that claims to be a mix to make a multigrain bread and only requires the addition of warm water, which you add to the carton and shake!  No kneading! Just add hot water and shake carton for 45 seconds it says on the pack. I was intrigued :)

Given the choice I'd rather make things from scratch but the photo on the box looked lovely, I love multigrain/wholegrain anything so I thought, why not give it a try?

First I'd like to say that I didn't think this through.  I really have no strength in my hands/arms and painful shoulders, so the shaking of the carton was going to be a problem but I did try honeys. 

OK, back to the beginning :)  I read the instructions on the back of the pack, then I re-read them :) Before opening the pack, I gave it a shake to mix up the ingredients since they'd have settled.  I then carefully opened the pack, and measured out 600ml of (warm) water from the kettle.  I had boiled the kettle and let it cool a little. 

Warm water is needed to activate the yeast, I'm guessing here because it doesn't say so on the pack, but bread needs the yeast to be activated to rise, right?  Now, this is where it got difficult.  According to the instructions on the pack, the water is to be added then the mixture has to be shaken (while still in the carton) for around 45 seconds.  This is not easy to do with arthritic shoulders, dear ones. 

I did try though, and very quickly gave up (ouchie, seriously ouchie) and fetched a wooden spatula and tried to mix it with that. No luck there either. Still lots of powder mix at the bottom of the carton which wasn't mixing.  I then thought I'd tip the whole mixture into a bowl and fetch my little hand mixer, with the dough hooks and do the job properly. 

I kneaded the mixture with the mixer until the last of the powder had been combined.  Then, as per the instructions on the carton, popped the mixture/dough into a bread tin.  I used a liner in the tin to make removing the loaf easier later. 

It was then to be allowed to rest, in order to rise, for 45 minutes.  I allowed it almost double that time and I can't honestly say it rose very much at all.  Not to be beaten, I thought I'd put it into the oven to bake anyway.

It was to be baked at 220c for 60 minutes.   So, following the directions, even though I didn't think it stood a chance of turning into anything resembling bread at that stage, I put it into the oven and baked it for 60 minutes.  Guess what honeys?  I took it out of the oven, turned it out onto a cooling rack and it looked like this.....

The verdict:
I didn't expect this bread to work, I really didn't, but work it did :) It cuts easily and it has a crust,  you can "tap" the outside of the loaf (just as you can with a "bloomer" loaf.)  It has a very dense consistency, so I don't think I could eat more than a little at a time but it does taste lovely.

Hubby tried it and he liked it too.  He said it reminded him of the German organic Rye bread I buy for him.  He said he really likes the taste and had no problem with it being very dense, he says the inside is soft and he likes that it has an outside crust.  He's suggested it would be great with a light topping such as a little Primula cheese spread or even just a little drizzle of olive oil over sliced tomatoes.      

So, there we have it honeys, The bread experiment has been a success :)  Would it have worked as well if I hadn't used my little hand mixer with its dough hooks to help it along?  I really don't know.  All I do know is that my shoulders are not up to shaking a heavy carton, even for 45 seconds :)  If you're curious about this bread you can find details here.

What about you honeys? Have you tried the Ikea bread mix? Do you make bread at home?  How do you make it? do you use your oven or a breadmaker? Till next time dear ones, sending hugs xx
ps: When Hubby looked at my photos earlier he said the bread mix (before it was baked)looked like haggis! Made me giggle and I wanted to share :)

Edit:  I have since tried the Ikea Muffinsmix Citron (a delicious lemon flavoured muffin mix) and you can read about how it worked out here.  Thank you for visiting, huggles always xx