Baking Bread Again

Coffee Boys with their tops

Baked bread again this weekend, this time i tried more varieties. I was up till about 4 am and started banging the dough in the kitchen. It was very theraputic with all the violent moves but slightly daunting that someone might rock up at the entrance anooyed with the ruckus i was causing.

This time the dough looked more like what it should be ...smoother and more pliable.. but still not there yet.. well you know they say third time's always a charm. Anyway, i left the dough to prove and started surfing food bloogs and got a recipe from Aunty Yochana's Website for Coffee Boy. I halfed the recipe but even then i knew that there was too much. Made the topping and piped them all over the buns anyway.. They look fine in the picture but when they baked the topping oozed all over the bun and pooled at the base.. hmm not a good thing.. maybe next time i'll quarter it...

Proving Caterpilla Buns

Cheese Buns

This time i added grated Tasty cheese on top. This time the dough was proving alot more.. when i cut them whilst shaping they were tiny and by the time i finished the last one i could see the difference in size of the first one.. wonder if that is normal...Mom requested for cheese buns so i cut a large cube of Cheddar this time and stuffed the bread. Topped it with butter and sugar.

The finished products. Coffee Boy (background) Cheese Buns and the Caterpillars (foreground)

They all turned out to be absolutely yummy. I am so glad that my bread making skills at least with Chinese Sweet Dough is getting along well. Hmm now i think i'll venture into other breads like focaccia and challah.

Don't bake without Baking Powder !

Batter in the muffin tin

It felt like a good time to make chocolate cupcakes and i dabbled in some kitchen work over the weekend. As usual i started measuring out my ingredients and then half way through i realise i had no more baking powder.. i looked up at the shelve and i saw the evil bottle of bicarbonate of soda beckoning me with its sinister grin.. what do i do ? Fell into the trap .. that's what happened.. i substituted the baking powder with bicarbonate of soda. Sigh...

Everything seemed normal, the batter was fine.. into the muffin tray it went even though i was doing cupcakes.. honestly what's the diff.. the former healthier than the other ? pft..

Flat Cupcakes

Whilst they were baking the beauties rose and looked like the perfect cupcakes. Once they were done i took them out and like some bad souffle they started to deflate .. nooo i cried but to no avail... the damage was done.. I ended up with flat cupcakes.. sobz..

Sweet Bread over the Weekend

First Attempt at Chinese Sweet Bread

I had chanced upon a website that had a recipe on Chinese Sweet Bread a long time ago .. trust me it was a really long time ago and i made my dad buy me some milk powder as the recipe called for it. Then there was the whole scare on melamine in milk powder and it kinda put me off. So the milk powder and my bread flour sat in the kitchen for a really long time collecting dust.. okay not really i'm just exaggerating here...

Anyway, one saturday my dad came home at four in the morning and i woke up because lets just say his entry wasn't really discreet. The whole house including Josh was asleep and for some odd reason i just wanted to bake bread.. it's weird that a feeling like that such crops up out of nowhere..

So i took out the recipe, and began measuring my ingredients... bread flour .. check.. plain flour.. check.. and then... milk powder.. er.. a said a little prayer hoping that this batch of milk powder is not tainted with melamine .. pathetic i know .. but hey you can never pray too much..

Then i began kneading and holy moly it was a tough job.. my arms started aching and i started to perspire at five in the morning when the air is pretty still and cool. Hmm a workout i thought to myself..Then i placed the dough in the warm oven to prove and i went into my room to browse other websites and bam ! i fell asleep.. again! .. oops.. didn't expect that but then when i got up at about ten in the morning the dough had doubled in size.. yippee

Proving Caterpillars

So i shaped it and made Hot Dog Bread, a version that is really popular in Asia. The bread was a little hard.. it was still soft but not spongy soft like the bread in the shops .. nevertheless my dad and uncles gave them a thumbs up and i am now determined to get them right!

I got the recipe from Fresh from the Oven

Chinese Sweet Bread

Ingredients

480g bread flour
120g all purpose flour
1 pack rapid rise yeast
110g caster sugar
20g dry milk powder
300ml warm water (about 105F)
1 egg
1 tablespoon salt
60g unsalted butter, at room temperature

Add yeast to warm water in a medium bowl, and set aside for 10 minutes. Make sure the water is lukewarm because if the water is too hot it will 'kill' the yeast. The water is warm if you can leave your finger inside it without cringing. It should froth up and be foamy.

Next, add the bread flour, all purpose flour, granulated sugar and dry milk powder into a large mixing bowl. Slowly mix in the water and yeast mixture with the help of a scraper.

Add in egg and softened (not melted) butter. Mix well and knead to form a smooth and elastic dough.

Okay the dough id first really sticky, i mean seriously it sticks to everything. And the way you knead it is very different to other kneading techniques. Do not add flour just because its sticky. Grab it with your hands and smack it on the worktop (hence the banging noises in the middle of the night) then the dough sticks to the surface so you jab it on both sides with your fingers like your're about to lift it and pull it a little into the air then fold over. Then grab the whole thing (there will be dough stuck to the worktop .. don't worry they'll come out eventually as you keep kneading) and smack it again.

If it sounds too confusing, check out Fresh from the Oven, there's a video

http://novice-baker.blogspot.com/2008/02/pork-floss-buns-for-home-sick.html

After kneading, leave the dough to prove for 1 hour, or till it doubles in size. Try pressing a finger into the dough, it should leave a clear mark when it's ready. The dough is now ready to be shaped.

Let it prove a second time after shaping.

Bake in a moderate oven (180 Degrees Celsius) for 15 to 20 mins.

Enjoy!

Marble Cake

Marble Cake

I had a cousin over the other day and she wanted me to bake something for her. So i thought Marble Cake as i did not want to go down to buy some chocolate. So with the cocoa powder and all the other ingredients that i had at hand, i stepped into my playground. It has been a long time since i stepped into my kitchen given the circumstances of my work. Oh god i really miss baking.. i can barely even describe the feeling of measuring things and beating and mixing and watching the various reactions that take place. After about two hours the cake was ready and there was a wonderful tea time treat for everybody.. especially my cousin...

My Marble Cake

Ingredients

250g self raising flour
250 g softened salted butter
250g caster sugar
250g (about 4 to 5) eggs at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 Tbs dutch-processed cocoa powder
a little milk
1 Tbs condensed milk (optional)

Beat the butter until light and creamy. Then slowly add sugar and beat until pale. Try to use caster sugar as it is finer and thus more easily dissolved into the batter.

Add the eggs one at the time and beat until well incorporated. Then add in the vanilla essence.

Using a spatula or a wooden spoon add in the sifted flour. The batter will be thick and so to loosen it up add a little milk.. say two tablespoons or so.

Add the condensed milk, i think it just gives the cake an extra edge.

Now divide the batter into three parts. Combine two parts and that will be the white of the cake. With the third part add in the sifted cocoa powder and mix well.

In a lined cake tin, take a dollop of white batter and drop in the middle. Then take a dollop of cocoa batter and drop it smack in the middle of the white puddle and tap your spoon all the way down till it hits the tin 'poing'. Then take a dollop of white batter and drop it in the middle sinking your spoon to hit the tin again.

Repeat until all the batter is used up. The end product should look like a mound of bulls eye. You don't have to smoothen the batter as it will heat up in the oven and level itself.

Bake it in a moderate oven (180 Degree Celsius) for 40 to 45 mins.