Peacock-shaped bread

WHITE CHOCOLATE AND ORANGE PEACOCK BREAD 

I set out to make The Great British Bake Off Series 4 contestant Ruby Tandoh's white chocolate and orange peacock bread from Episode 2 for yesterday's Don't Call Me Chef column. Here are the links to the episode on YouTube and the recipe from the series website.

I knew I would make a bread and when I saw the peacock-shaped bread, that was the recipe I wanted to try.

Shaping and decorating the peacock

I had to watch bits of the episode a few times to understand how the peacock was shaped. It wasn't complicated but because of the large amount of instant yeast in the dough, it got puffy too quickly in our warm weather. You can bet that I completed this bread way before the show's alloted four hours was up. However, I only managed to fit eight feathers on the body although the recipe called for nine. (The last feather got baked on its own and eaten almost as soon as it came out of the oven.) 

Screen grab of Ruby's peacock bread

Still, I think the peacock didn't turn out too badly. Comparing it against Ruby's (pictured above), it looks almost alike. I probably adorned it more than I should have, and it could have done with a little more browning on top. But all in all, I'm happy with it.