Wholemeal Sandwich Loaf (汤种 mehod)

It has been so long since I blogged. Too many changes in Drama Mama's life. First I changed job.. Then went to a new company where the laptop is so bulky. Drama Mama is so used to carrying x-series think pad that when she had to carry a T series it is like  boulder to bring home. As such, with no laptop at home, I was not able to blog like I used to.. I no personal laptop.. Multi-functional ma - this is what I call work-life integration.. Anyway, long story cut short, no laptop at home means cannot update my blog... Aiya.. Finally got a laptop now.. :) Can start updating my blog... Wah.. Suddenly I got so many recipe to share with you guys.. Many a times, I happily ate without taking photo.. So smart of me hor..

But nonetheless, I still manage to capture some photos that I can share with all of you :) Let me start with something that I have been trying for many many months ~ plain-o-bread!

Don't know what strike me one day but I decided to make bread. I tried some recipe from allrecipes.com and the bread turned out to be stone! Rock hard stone! It was horrendous.

Can you believe it. I made 2 loaves of hard rock. It did not rise as expected.  OMG!!

Look how short the bread is. 

After that bad experience, I went to search for a method to bake soft bread - those that you can get from Gardenia.. Finally I found this method called Tangzhong (汤种). Basically it is to add in a sponge like starter to your dough. This supposedly made the bread soft and fluffy. Tangzhong is made from cooking 1 part flour with 5 parts water/milk/both till it becomes thick and starchy. I quite like the results, but because I am new with bread making, I am still experimenting with what they call the baker's percentage (wells, that is for another blog altogether on what is baker's percentage.. haha keep you all in suspense.)

Wells here goes the recipe:

For the Tangzhong:

Ingredients (Enough for 1 loaf of bread):

• 25g of Bread Flour 
• 125ml of water / water-milk mixture / milk

Directions:

1. Mix the bread flour into the liquid. Stir till there is no clumps
2. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and cook under medium heat. Stir constantly from preventing the mixture from being burnt. 
3. The tangzhong is ready when you see the mixture thicken and you can draw circles and the circles stay on the saucepan. (i.e. the mixture is not fluid enough to flow back) 
4. Scoop the tangzhong and let it cool till room temperature before you can use to make your bread.

For the Sandwich Loaf: (Adapted from Christine's Whole meal Bread)

(Makes 1 loaf)

Ingredients:

• 180g Bread flour
• 170g Wholemeal flour
• 6g instant yeast 
• 5g salt
• 40g sugar
• 110g milk
• 100g tangzhong (1 serving of the tangzhong made earlier)
• 1 large egg
• 40g butter, at room temperature

Directions:

1. Mix the first 5 ingredients together. Whisk the dry ingredients evenly. Set aside
2. In another mixing bowl, whisk the milk, tangzhong & egg till combine. 
3. In your stand mixer with dough attachment, combine the dry and wet ingredients together and slowly mix it. (I kept my at level 1-2)
4. When all the mixture have combine to form a sticky dough, add in the butter and increase the speed of the mixer a level. Let it mixed for about 10 min until the dough is smooth and not sticky. Slightly oil a mixing bowl. Form the dough into a ball shape and place it on the oiled mixing bowl. Add some oil to the surface of your dough to prevent it from drying. Loosely wrap the bowl with cling wrap / wet towel and place it in somewhere warm and draft free. Let the dough proof for 40min or until double it size. 
5. Once the dough has double in size, punch the dough a few times to get rid of excess carbon dioxide trap in the dough. Cut the dough into 3 equal size and roll them into small balls. Let the dough 'rests' for 15min.
6. Roll each of the balls into rectangular shape, at the shorter side, roll up the dough (like kitchen roll) and place it into the loaf pan. Continue for the other 2 balls. Let it proof for another 35min or until 90% filled on the loaf pan. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 170C.
7. Bake the dough for 30-35min or until the bottom sounds hollow. You can add melted butter on the baked bread straight out from the oven for a softer crust. 

YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MANY ROUNDS OF BAKING THIS BREAD BEFORE I DARE TO SHOW YOU GUYS!!! I keep making and forcing my family and friends to eat them.. Did not want to waste them, but in the end I still had to throw like a couple batches cos they are just inedible. hahaha..

Finally something decent to show you guys

The bread is so soft, just that it did not rise as much as I would hope it would. 

Look how soft and fluffy the bread is :)

I think I am liking the process of bread making. Most likely this will be the first of many posts on bread ;) hahah.. 

Cheesy Bak Kwa Cookie

Do you have this problem: After the whole CNY is over, you still have a lot of CNY goodies left behind.  You get a bit sick of eating them cos that is what you have been eating the whole of CNY at every house you go visit. I know I do.. I still have a pile of CNY goodies at home waiting for me to pound some calories into my body.. And most of them were not even bought by us, they were given by friends and relatives just like most of us. After a while, the goodies are not as tasting as it was in the start of CNY. 

One Sunday, I looked at the bak kwa that was still lying on my table screaming to eat me. I decided to bake it instead. Then I remembered about the Bacon Parmesan Cookies I made the last time, and I thought to myself, what if I used bak kwa instead of bacon? What will the taste be like? So I went ahead to bake them..

Bak Kwa with cheese cookie.. What y'all think about it?

Ingredients (Makes about 90 cookies)

1. ½ cup of Unsalted Butter at room temperature
2. ¾ cup of Shredded Parmiggiano Reggiano
3. 1 Tbsp of Raw Sugar
4. 2 Eggs
5. 3 bak kwa diced into small squares
6. 1 ¼ cups of All Purpose Flour
7. ½ tsp of Baking Soda
8. ½ Tsp of Baking Powder
9. ¼ Tsp of Salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 190C and place some parchment paper on a couple baking sheets, set aside
2. In a small bowl, combine together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside
3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, parmigginao regginano and brown sugar. Add the eggs and mix until you have a creamy mixture
4. Add the dry mixture and mix to combine. Fold in the bak kwa bits.
5. Using a cookie scoop, drop the cookies on the parchment line baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 14 minute or until golden brown
6. Cool for 5 min and serve warm. 

Picture of the cookies right after it is out of the over.. Piping hot!!

Nice?

Packed and ready to be eaten :)

I realise that it is better if you serve them warm then let it cool completely. The melted cheese in the warm cookie has a great aroma and soft texture. I left it overnight and took a bite cold, the cookie just did not taste as nice as it was when it was first out of the oven. 

Hope you like this cookie. Happy CNY :D

Vanilla Cupcake with Vanilla bean frosting - A very blue shower..

My cousin gave birth to a lil boy whom she calls Dylan. Ain't he a handsome boy?!?

 


For his one month old celebration, I made him cupcakes...

I thought it is a nice simple design

Nice right? 

Pineapple Tarts - My Chinese New Year Challenge

It's the time of the year where we start piling up with CNY goodies - either bought by ourselves or received as a gift from friends and relatives. 

I tried Pineapple tarts last year.. It turned out to be nice to see but nothing fantastic to eat.. 中看不中用... There was no pineapple jam at all.. hahaha.. I think I put like 1g of pineapple jam... My cousin was like.. "eh, where's the pineapple? Shouldn't pineapple tart has pineapple?" Hahah.. Too bad.. 

Looks not bad, right? 

This year, I decided to make another batch of pineapple tart.. Finally I think I made it.. Woohoo! I made like a good ~300 in total.. Nearly fainted.. I used 8 pineapples, tons of butter.. Most importantly, I think the rolling of the pineapple jam to the balls is so freakingtedious.. hahah.. Still not enough.. Manage to pack 7 container worth of pineapple tarts. (the remaining I gave out for others to sample). Apparently, I did not baked enough for myself to keep.  But nonetheless I think it was a amazing experience. Maybe I need to bake more next year.. hahah.. 

Closed Pineapple tart

Ingredients:

Pineapple Jam:

1. 3 Pineapples (Preferably Raw ones)
2. 4 pieces Cinnamon (around 5cm each)
3. 1 teaspoon Cloves 
4. ~2 Cup Sugar (It really depends on how sweet is your pineapple to begin with)

Pastry Dough (from The Little Teochew)

1. 400g plain flour
2. 50g corn flour
3. 1/4 (heaped) tsp salt
4. 6 tbsp icing sugar (according to The Little Teochew, it is for the melt in your mouth experience)
5. 300g cold, unsalted butter (do not allow it to soften)
6. 3 egg yolks, beaten
7. 3 tbsp cold water (or iced water)
8. 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
9. For glaze, mix 1 egg yolk + 1 tbsp water

Directions: 

For the pineapple Jam:

1. Remove the skin on the pineapple if you haven't. (I got mine removed by the fruit seller, so no issue here). Cut it into small blocks to put it into the blender. After which, drain off at least half the water away
2. In a wok/pot, add in the pineapple puree, cinnamon, cloves and start stirring constantly under medium to medium high heat. And I do mean constantly because the pineapple will bubble and spurt everywhere when it gained enough heat. Painful! 
3. Slow add in sugar. I suggest putting in 1/2 cup by a time so that it will not be too sweet. Always sample your jam before moving on to the next 1/2 cup of sugar. Stop once you find the sweetness to your liking.
4. Continue stirring until you get a thick and sticky consistency. You need to factor in at high heat the jam will be more fluid. You need a dry looking jam at the end. 
5. Cool the jam (I cooled mine overnight) and roll you jam into balls at 7g each.

For the tart: (~ 90 tarts)

1. Mix the first 4 dry ingredients together. Set aside
2. Cut the cold butter into small cubes. 
3. Using 2 forks, mix the butter and dry ingredients until the butter and flour mixture form small crumbs. 
4. Beat the egg yolks, vanilla extract and cold water together. Slowly pour the wet mixture into the flour/butter mixture. ONLY using your fingertips, gently combine them together with minimum kneading. (You do not want the butter to melt because of your body temperature). Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes in the fridge before use. 

Combining to make the pineapple tart: 

1. Preheat over to 160C. Line parchment paper on the baking sheet. 
2. Roll the dough to about 8mm thick. Using a tart mold, cut out the tart shell and arrange it on the baking sheet.
3. Place the pre-rolled jam onto the tart shell. Glaze it with egg yoke wash. Place it into the oven and baked for 20-25 min until the shells become golden in color. 

My dreamy looking Pineapple Tart (with photo edit)

Nice right? Decide to upload this pic again in another light haha.. 

My dad keep saying that is a lot of jam.. What y'all think?

All the hardwork paid off when my relatives all said that my pineapple tarts tasted awesome.. Some find it a bit sweet though.. haha.. Hard to please all.. Sweet good ma.. 甜甜蜜蜜

To end it all.. Happy Chinese New Year to ALL.. 新年快乐、万事如意、蛇年行大运！huat-ah

Applesauce cake ~ A great way to kick start the new year

Happy New Year!!!!

Been thinking that I should bake something on new year day so that I can get my momentum back in baking. Has been a slack year for year 2012. A bit ashamed for not taking my baking more seriously. After all, I really like to bake and baking makes me happy.. 

Suddenly have an urged to do something apple-ish, so I went to get like 14 apples from my local wet market and started making applesauce. I got my applesauce recipe from Laura Vitale. You can go to her website on applesauce to see how I made mine. 

My first attempt on coming up with a recipe so I am a bit worried in the beginning that it might turned out wrong. But all my worries were for naught when all my colleagues said the cake was deli-cious! 

Some of my colleagues asked for the recipe so here it goes:

Ingredients: 

For the cake:

1. 3 cups of all purpose flour
2. 3 teaspoon baking soda
3. 1.5 teaspoon of baking powder
4. 0.5 teaspoon of salt
5. 0.5 teaspoon of cinnamon powder 
6. 0.5 teaspoon of five spice powder (you can use nutmeg and cloves but I just happen to run out of them, so I substitute it with five spice powder and it turned out pretty well)
7. 1 large orange zest
8. 3 large eggs
9. 170g of unsalted butter at room temperature
10. 2 teaspoon of vanilla extract 
11. 2 cups of apple sauce (you can get the recipe here) 
12. 0.5 cup of milk
13. 0.25 cup of orange juice (basically the juice from the orange of your zest)
14. 0.25 cup of apple juice (you can substitute it with orange juice or milk)

For the applesauce frosting:

1. 1 Cup of applesauce
2. 1.5 Cup of sifted icing sugar
3. 0.25 Cup of butter
4. 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
5. 0.5 Cup of heavy whipping cream (I used the whipping cream with plant extract for better hold)

Directions

For the cake:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180C. Grease 2 9 inch pans with non-stick cooking oil and line them with parchment paper. Set aside. 
2. Mixed the first 6 ingredients into a medium bowl. Set aside. 
3. In a stand alone mixer (with peddler attachment) or a hand mixer, beat the butter till soft and fluffy under medium speed. Around 1-2 min. 
4. Add the sugar and continue beating for another 2-3 min till the mixture become pale and fluffier. 
5. Add the vanilla extract, beat, and add the egg one at a time. Continue mixing till they come together.
6. Changing the mixer speed to low, add in the applesauce and ensure complete mixing. 
7. Add in the flour and the liquids at intervals. Flour - milk - flour - apple & orange juice - flour. Do not over mix else you will get a bread like consistency. Once the mixing is almost done, stop mixing. Use a hand spatula to mix in any flour at the side into the batter. 
8. Evenly distribute the cake batter in the 2 pans and ensure that the cake is leveled. Put it into the oven and bake for 27-32 min (depending on your oven). It is ready when a toothpick goes in without any crumbs coming out with it. Let the cake cool completely before you frost the cake

For the frosting:

1. In your mixer, beat the butter till soft and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and applesuace. Continue beating till well mixed.
2. Slowly add in the sifted icing sugar (1 tablespoon at a time) 
3. Changed the paddler attachment into whisk attachment and add in the whipping cream bit by bit. Whisk from slow to fast and check for consistency. If the frosting is still too watery, add more whipping cream and start from slow speed to fast and check for consistency again. Once the desired consistency has been reached - the frosting is able to form stiff peaks, stop adding the whipping cream and placed it in the refrigerator to store until you need them. 

Putting the cake together:

1. Trimmed the cakes till you have a flat top
2. Add in the frosting on top of one cake and stacked the other on top of the cake. Once completed, you can coat the coat with a layer of the frosting all over the cake. You may proceed with adding decorations according as the celebrations call for.

The Cake after a layer of frosting.. Looks a bit pale.. hahah

What the cake looks like inside.. The apple bits are all over the cake! ^.^

TA-DA!!!

The end result with the decorations - White chocolate wall with some nice fondant figurines. 

I must say that because I used applesauce, the apple taste was not that strong. My colleagues could taste the orange and the spice more. Maybe I used add some real apples as well.. Maybe at the base to increase the apple taste. This will be another time where I decide to make another apple cake. In the meantime, I will continue to back other stuff... Maybe something oriental first.. haha

Nonetheless.. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Bacon Parmesan Cookies

It school holidays now and my niece was at my house over the weekend.. Thought of having some aunty-niece bonding and so I have decided to bake some cookies. A fan of Laura in the Kitchen, I like to use her recipe because it is so easy to follow and so delicious.. yummieh! So I took her recipe on Bacon Parmesan cookies - a savory cookie that I miss eating.. 

My niece had so much fun making them.. Very hassle free and not messy. I must add that this is a kid friendly recipe, something you can do with your kid.. My niece loved the process and wants to bake more with me.. Mission accomplished!

Lil Chef mixing the dough together 

The niece with the cookies ready to be sent to the oven

(Adapted from Laura in the kitchen)
Makes About 2 Dozen
Ingredients: 

• ½ cup of Unsalted Butter at room temperature
• 1 cup of Shredded Parmiggiano Reggiano
• 1 Tbsp of Brown Sugar
• 1 ¼ cups of All Purpose Flour
• 2 Eggs
• 1 tsp of Freshly Chopped Rosemary
• 10 Slices of Cooked Bacon, crumbled
• ½ tsp of Baking Soda
• ½ Tsp of Baking Powder

The original recipe calls for ½ tablespoon of salt. Baked once following the recipe and it was way tooooooo salty even for someone like me. This time round without the salt, It was still a bit salty, might need to lower the amount of cheese as well. 

1. Preheat the oven to 190C and place some parchment paper on a couple baking sheets, set aside
2. In a small bowl, combine together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside
3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, parmigginao regginano, brown sugar and rosemary. Add the eggs and mix until you have a creamy mixture
4. Add the dry mixture and mix to combine. Fold in the bacon crumbles
5. Using a cookie scoop, drop the cookies on the parchment line baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 14 minute or until golden brown
6. Let them cool completely

Cookies... Yay.. Something I like.. 

Cookie.... with a glass of milk.. 

Baked Sardine Puff - A craving satisfied

While driving home from work, I had a strong craving for sardine puff. Wells.... I am on a diet and having a sardine puff is going to throw my dieting off the scale. As such, I decided to make one myself.

I was amaze how simple this is to make.

Ingredients:

For the puff pastry:

• 150g All purpose Flour
• 50 gram Butter (cold)
• 60ml chilled Water
• 1/3 Teaspoon salt
• Egg wash - 1 Egg Yolk + 1 Tablespoon water

For the sardine filling 

• 1 Can of Ayam Brand Sardine (any brand should be fine just that I like this brand and we need the tomato sauce from the can)
• 8 small red onions or 1 large red onion
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1 chili padi
• 1/2 Tablespoon Curry Powder
• l Calamansi lime juice

Directions:

For the puff pastry:

1. Cut the butter into Small chucks
2. Add the flour into the butler and use a knife to cut the butter into smaller pieces. (If you have food processor, that is even better, use it for this step.)
3. Use your fingers to further incorporate the butter into the flour. You should be able to see coarse crumbs
4. Quickly add the chilled water and fold the dough with a spatula. Don't overwork your dough
5. Place the puff pastry into the fridge for at least 15 minutes. 

For the filling (to do after making the puff pastry)

1. De-bone the sardine And smash the sardine
2. Sliced the onion
3. Add all the ingredients And mixed together

Putting everything together

1. Preheat oven to 200C
2. Cut the puff pastry into 25g each. Roll the puff pastry into flat round slightly bigger than the palm
3. Add in the sardine filling into the pastry and fold down the sides
4. Use a fork to poke some holes to allow the air to escape from the puff
5. Apply egg wash onto the surface of the puff
6. Baked the puffs for 20-25 min

Oven toasted Sardine Puff. Not too bad, just a bit toasted on top.. Equally yummy. 

One more photo..

Me having a bite while taking conference call.. Multitasking to the max.. Muahahaha