UFO Bun ????

Whenever I make breads from whatever overseas site, I always have to reduce the water content by 10-15%. If not the dough will not be pliable� very sticky and can�t be formed. Maybe it�s due to the type of bread flour or the humidity in Malaysia.. I dunno..but reducing the water a little bit sure make things better

The site shows that this bun has filling� but I can�t seem to find out what it is. So, I omitted it. Hub said, the topping itself is tasty enough, no need to add in filling. He likes it.. he likes it.. kekekeke


Bun (A)
160 gm bread flour
40 gm low protein flour
1 tsp yeast
� tsp salt
1 Tbsp milk powder
40gm sugar
30gm egg
90gm water (I used 80gm only, add in by the teaspoon if u can still handle it)
30gm butter

Topping: (B)
50gm egg
40gm sugar
1 drop vanilla essence
30gm low protein flour
� tsp baking powder
10gm ground almond
45gm melted butter

Method:
1. Mix everything in (A) together except butter. Knead until dough is smooth and stretchy. (took me half hour by hand, I don't have a bread machine). Knead in butter until well incorporated.
2. Cover and leave to proof until double in size.
3. Punch down dough and divide into 6 portions. Roll each portion into a ball and place on a piece of baking paper, about 5 inch diameter.
4. Let proof until double again.
5. For topping, melt butter and mix with ground almonds.
6. Beat eggs with sugar until sugar dissolves. Add in vanilla essence.
7. Sift flour with baking powder.
8. Combine (5), (6) and (7).
9. Chill until consistency turns thick.
10. When dough balls have doubled, pipe topping starting from the centre of dough, in spiral pattern until it almost covers the top of bun. When baked, the topping batter will later melt down the sides.
11. Bake in 200C preheated oven for 15 minutes.



(From what u can see of my buns, they are a bit burnt, I did 200C for 7 minutes, and they browned, so I quickly turned down to 170C for another 10 minutes, but yet.. **sigh** still brown, very brown. The next time around, I�ll go 180C for 15-20 minutes, it depends on your oven)





Source: http://www001.upp.so-net.ne.jp/e-pan/recipe/recipe.htm

Read More

Orange Raisin Pull Aparts ??????

The topping is very delicious!

This is taken from a Japanese site� Guessing the translation really makes my head scratch..but nevertheless, here�s my adaptation of it.
Whole process, almost 3 hours. Do this if u are not in a rush.

Ingredients
360gm Bread Flour or High Protein Flour
2 tsp Yeast
60gm sugar
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp milk powder
1 large egg
40 ml orange juice
160ml water

40gm butter (room temperature)
120gm raisins

Topping:
40 gm finely chopped walnuts
50gm sugar
1/8 tsp cinnamon powder
Zest from 1 orange
40gm melted butter (not hot!)

Method:
1. Combine bread flour, sugar, yeast, salt and milk powder. Mix and make a well in the centre.
2. In a separate bowl, beat egg, add in water and orange juice.
3. Pour (2) into (1). Mix well. Knead for 10 minutes.
4. Put in butter and knead for another 8 minutes.
5. Put in raisins and knead for another 3 minutes.
6. Cover and proof until dough becomes double. (almost 1 hour)
7. Meanwhile chop walnuts, grate orange zest and mix both with sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
8. Punch dough down and knead it for a while.
9. Rub some melted butter onto palms and take a small dollop of dough (as big as a small lime) and roll into a ball.
10. Dip ball into melted butter. Roll ball on palms.
11. Dip ball onto topping (7).
12. Put ball topping side up onto a 12 inch round baking tray, starting from the rim. Arrange dough balls nicely towards the centre.
13. Wait until dough doubles up again. (almost 1 hour)
14. Bake at 170C for 15 minutes and 160C for 10 minutes.

Read More

Nutty Fruit Loaf ????

This is one very easy bread... no kneading!!! Just mix. (Discovered by accident)

Actually, I got this recipe from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody, and I found that the amount of stuff in the recipe will not produce the same results as the accidental bread she made (Well, hers was a well formed long loaf, mine was a batter type dough and she said she guesstimated the amounts, cos she was cleaning up the pantry, and she used up the ingredients in the pantry to make this loaf.) HeHe... sometimes, we do guesstimate our recipes too, right??? Same goes for my stir fry dishes, it is not accurate to the T... but a guesstimate. I didn't change her amount of liquids to flour, but just added up the amount of fruits and added in nuts... Very nutty and fruity in the end.

I baked this bread few times oredi before I posted this most recent bake.

1st stage ingredients:
1 sachet yeast
1/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups bread flour
1/3 cup melted butter (80 gm)

1. Dissolve yeast in water. Add in milk and eggs. Mix well.
2. Put flour and sugar into a big bowl and make a well in the centre.
3. Pour in yeast solution. Give it a good stir, vigourously for about 2 minutes.
4. Pour in melted butter and mix. Leave to proof for 1 hour or until double in size.

It looks like a batter now, rather than a dough.

Next 2nd stage ingredients.......

2 cups dried fruit, soaked in 1 cup hot water for 1 hour(any type, I used golden raisins, currants, cranberries, apricots, apples, dark raisins) I soaked them while waiting for the batter to proof
1 cup nut & seeds (any, I used, pumpkin seed, walnut, almonds)
2 cups all purpose flour
Some butter and egg yolk.

1. When batter has doubled, add in soaked fruits, discarding extra liquid.
2. Mix nuts with flour.
3. Spoon (2) into the batter by the spoonsful and mix. Put in more (2) and mix until all is used up.
4. Grease baking pans with butter and spoon in dough until 40% full. Slightly less than half.
5. Leave to proof for another 1 hour or until double.
6. Brush top with butter, then with egg yolk.
7. Bake in preheated oven of 170C for 30-40 minutes

Read More

French Toast ???

I learnt to do this when I was a young girl, say, in primary school.

During my confinement, the confinement lady made this for my breakfast, and from then onwards, hubby has been pestering me to make whenever he sees bread around the house

French Toast Recipe

2 eggs

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp sugar

6-8 pcs of white bread (cut into prefered shapes)

Butter

1. Beat eggs, salt and sugar together.

2. Heat a frying pan on low .. put in some butter to melt.

3. Place one piece of bread into egg mixture and lighly coat bread. Do not soak it.

4. Put egg coated bread into pan and fry until golden brown.

5. Add in more butter and fry another batch until finished.

Read More

Split Top Butter Loaf

Split Top Butter Loaf Recipe

Bread loaf
320 gm Bread flour
66 gmWhipping cream
162 gm milk
33 gm honey
16 gm butter
3 gm yeast
4 gm salt
30gm egg

Topping:
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp coarse sugar
Egg

Method:
Knead everything together, except butter for 15 minutes. Add in butter and knead until a thin membrane can be formed when stretched.

Cover and let proof for an hour or until doubled.

When dough has doubled, punch down and knead. Divide into six balls.
Stretch each ball long and flat, roll up. Place rolled up dough into a buttered loaf pan.
Let proof until double again.

Preheat oven to 180C. When dough has doubled, make a long 1 inch deep slit all the way through the centre. Mix butter and sugar for topping and spoon into the slit, trying to push them down a bit. Brush egg onto dough top.

Bake at 180C for 10minutes and 160C for 25 minutes.

Read More

Red Bean Spiral Pau ?????

The first time I saw this type of pau is in Subang SS13 Pasar Malam, where an aunty sold it as Fuchow pau. Then I saw it again from a coffee shop in Kampar, and it�s a franchised pau called Langkap Pau.

I made this in smaller portions, not as big as theirs because my wok is not that big.

Pau Skin Recipe
A) 500gm pau flour (low gluten flour)
100gm sugar
� tsp salt

B)250ml warm water
1 sachet dry yeast
1 tsp sugar

50gm shortening (melted, but not too hot)

Filling
2 cups of sweetened red beans (I made red bean soup the other day, and I boiled extra beans, scooped out 2 cups of beans, cooked to a thick paste in a wok with 1 Tbsp oil and � cup sugar)

2 Pieces of A4 paper, cut into 3 pieces each, and used only 5 out of the 6.

Method:
1) Mix B together and wait for the mixture to froth.
2) Mix A together. Pour B in.
3) Knead until it becomes smooth and doesn�t stick to the side of the mixing bowl.
4) Pour in melted shortening, and knead until the oil is fully incorporated. (It may seem to be very oily, but don�t worry, just knead)
5) Shape into a ball and cover mixing bowl with cling wrap and let sit until dough has doubled. (I knead in a pot, so I just cover up with the pot lid)
6) Punch down and knead. Divide into 5 X 180gm balls.

Assembly:
1. Roll 1 piece of dough into a rectangle about 6� X 8� in between 2 pieces of plastic sheets with the wider side towards you.

2. Remove upper plastic sheet and spread 3 Tbsp of red bean filling onto dough, leaving some space on the edges.

3. By using the lower plastic sheet, roll the dough, swiss roll style or sushi style.

4. Place dough roll with seam side up and fold the ends in.

5. Overturn dough again and place onto a piece of cut up A4 paper.

6. Let sit for 30 minutes and steam on high for 10 minutes.
7. Let cool slightly before slicing pau.

***
To store, keep pau whole. Slice pau before reheating.

Read More

Vegetarian Stuffed Crust Pizza ????

I was given a large oval aubergine/eggplant/brinjal on my trip to the Camerons the week before. My vegetarian colleague had earlier asked me whether I know how to make pizza, and, it had been ages since I last made pizza. So, I�ll make pizza with this aubergine.

Vegetarian Stuffed Crust Pizza Recipe (for two 12 inch pizzas)
Crust (for 2 12 inch pizzas)

Ingredients:
3 � cups High Protein Flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup water
1 � tsp yeast
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Dissolve yeast in water. Mix flour with salt. Pour in yeast mixture and olive oil. Knead until dough is no longer sticky. Leave to proof until double. Punch down and shape into pizza.
**
Well, I kept the dough overnight in the fridge after punching down (no shaping) because I wanted the pizza for lunch instead, and I�ll be waking up late.

Toppings (for 2 12 inch pizzas)

500 gm mozzarella cheese (some grated, some cut into strips)
1 cup tomato pasta sauce
1 red onion, sliced
1 green capsicum, sliced
1 yellow capsicum , sliced
1 big red tomato, sliced
1 big aubergine, sliced and pan fried with a bit of olive oil.
� cup button mushrooms, sliced
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Assembly.
1. Roll out dough, pulling the edges until it�s bigger than the pan.
2. Arrange mozzarella strips on the edges and wrap them up by folding in the edges. Place shaped dough into an oiled pan.

3. Spread 1 Tbsp olive oil onto dough surface evenly.

4. Spread 4 tbsp of pasta sauce onto dough.

5. Arrange toppings starting with the heaviest, aubergine, tomato, onions, capsicum and mushrooms.

6. Sprinkle salt and pepper over pizza. Bake in a preheated oven at 190C for 15 minutes or until the crust is slightly golden
7. Take out from oven and sprinkle on grated mozzarella. Bake for another 12 minutes or until the crust is golden and cheese all melted and golden.

8.Cut pizza while it�s still hot and enjoy the stringy cheese dripping from the sides of the pizza.

****
I made 1 for lunch, and baked another the next morning to bring to work.

****
Crust recipe and tips for baking adapted from annamariavolpi

Read More

Char Siu Bao ???

Cha Siew Pau, Cha Shao Bao, or Char Siu Bao... whatever romanization it is still the same old bbq pork steamed buns.

There�s this Cha Siew Bao in Tanjung Tualang, which the pau skin is the traditional type, yeast raised, and it is called Hainan Pau.
I prefer this type of pau skin to the Dimsum shop types, which are raised by double action baking powder.

My all time favourite cha siew pao is from Kam Ling Restaurant in Kampar. Their filling is just yummy. Super yummy! I�d say this filling that I�ve recreated based on the memory of Kam Ling�s Cha Siew Pau is�� 80% to 90% similar. I didn�t put in chopped coriander, but Kam Ling does. This cha siew filling doesn�t have hoisin sauce in it�. Which is why it just taste different from most recipes� yummy

I used to make pau by just assuming the proportions, and they come out with different textures each time. So, this time, I want to standardize my pau skin recipe.

This is the outcome.

Pau Skin recipe

A) 600gm pau flour
120gm sugar
� tsp salt

B)300ml warm water
1 sachet instant yeast
1 tsp sugar

60gm shortening (melted, but not too hot)

1) Mix B together and wait for the mixture to froth.
2) Mix A together. Pour B in.
3) Knead until it becomes smooth and doesn�t stick to the side of the mixing bowl.
4) Pour in melted shortening, and knead until the oil is fully incorporated. (It may seem to be very oily, but don�t worry, just knead)
5) Shape into a ball and cover mixing bowl with cling wrap and let sit until dough has doubled. (I knead in a pot, so I just cover up with the pot lid)
6) Punch down and knead. Divide into 50gm balls.

Cha Siew Filling Recipe
A)600gm pork
3 soup spoon sugar (Chinese soup spoon)
1 soup spoon dark soy sauce
2 soup spoon light soy sauce
1 soup spoon chinese rose wine (mui gwai lou)
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup water

B)
1/2 cup water
1 heaped Tbsp cornstarch

1 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp oyster sauce

1. Marinate pork with all ingredients in (A) for 4 hours at least. (I do it overnight)
2. Pour pork and marinade into a heavy bottom pan or pot and cook on medium fire until the sauce thickens into honey like consistency.
3. Let cool in pot and chop cha siew into small cubes around 5mm X 5mm.
4. Mix B together. With the same pot that has the thickened sauce in it, pour B in. Bring to a boil and put chopped cha siew in and cook until gravy has thickened and reduced.
5. Put cha siew on a plate and let it cool down. When cha siew has cooled, chill in the fridge.

** this filling can be prepared days in advance and refrigerated. Take note that filling turns saltier after being steamed in the bun.

Assembly:
1. Take a ball of dough weighing around 50gm each, flatten it into a circle.
2. Place a table spoon of chilled cha siew filling into the centre of the circle.
3. Gather sides of the circle carefully and pinch the top together.
4. Place onto a piece of paper.
5. Let sit for 30 minutes and steam on high fire for 10 minutes.

***
By the time I finish doing the last one, it�s more than 30 minutes, so I just prepare the steamer and steam the first few paus. No need to wait.

Read More