Month: October 2010

Bread Baking Frenzy!

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The boy loves bread. He would usually have a couple of pineapple buns from Bread Top when he’s hungry or a couple of slices of raisin toast at home! He has been asking me to make bread at home so that we won’t have to buy it anymore. And so I did!

I made two of his favourite types of bread : Po Lo bun (pineapple bun) and Raisin bread !

I suspect my yeast is not working anymore, as my bread hasn’t been proofing on both occasions. Sadly. haha So the bread has turned out denser than I hope, but it was still yummy! (: Gonna buy new yeast and try it again!

the recipes I used were easy to follow and really quite quick besides the time needed for the dough to proof. other than that, you will be able to eat the bread within 35mins of it being in the oven! How good is that? hehe so here’s both the recipes! Hope you all will enjoy it as much as I did!

Po Lo Bun

(Adapted from Kitchen Corner, I doubled the recipe)

For the bread :

300g bread flour

2 tbsp milk powder

1/2 tsp salt

60g sugar

2 tbsp beaten egg

2 tsp yeast

140g water

30g butter

For the polo pastry :

100g plain flour

50g sugar powder

2 pinch of salt

2 tbsp beaten egg

60g butter

Steps :

  1. Knead all the bread ingredients with the dough hook mixer for 15 minutes then proof for one hour.
  2. Punch out the gas and divide it into 8 portions then rest for 15 minutes.
  3. Make the polo pastry: beat the butter until pale and fluffy then gradually add in sugar powder, salt and milk powder.
  4. Gradually add in beaten egg till everything combine.
  5. Gently fold in plain flour, don’t over mix the pastry. You might find it too sticky, add a little flour but not too much.
  6. Divide it into eight portions. I let it sit in the fridge for half and hour. (it would be much easier to handle later on)
  7. Take a polo pastry on the left hand and a dough at right hand. Push the dough into the polo pastry from outside to inside by turning the palm of your left hand until 3/4 of the dough has place inside the polo pastry. (follow the photos show at the original website)
  8. Place the dough seal side down and egg wash it then use a sharp knife gently draw chequer pattern on the pastry surface.
  9. Let it proof for 1 hour then bake at 170 degrees C preheated oven for 25 minutes (till the top is golden brown).

Raisin Bread

(adapted from Table for 2 or more)

Gorgeous recipe and I just added raisins after punching out the air of the dough (:

Bread loaf :

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

75g raisins (or more if you like to have more fruit in your bread)

Topping :

1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp coarse sugar
Egg (to brush)

Method:

1. Knead everything together, except butter for 15 minutes. Add in butter and knead until a thin membrane can be formed when stretched. (I couldn’t really get this consistency!)

2. Cover and let proof for an hour or until doubled. (Mine didn’t, sadly, but i still gave it a good punch haha)

3. When dough has doubled, punch down and knead. Mix in the raisins and 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.

4. 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.
5. Bake at 180C for 10minutes and 160C for 25 minutes.
Give them a try! (: You definitely won’t regret it! hehe

FREEEEDOM!

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I’m back and I’m free!

Free to do what I love to do most: Cook and bake! The past two weeks have been crazy to say the least. I was relying on just 2-3hrs of sleep a day just to complete the last 3 assignments for the semester. Thank goodness I don’t have exams! haha So I crashed almost immediately after I handed in my last assignment. But only recovered a couple of days ago!

One of the first things I wanted to do was of course BAKE! (: Had so many recipes I wanted to try. I had cravings for green tea and it has always been my favourite asian flavour for desserts. My second is black sesame! My day wouldn’t be complete without a cup of hot green tea.

So I why not combine them together right? AWESOME AWESOME idea! (: I came across this recipe on Delicious Coma while blog hopping and I was thrilled and excited to give it a try!

and boy was it yummy! The cupcake was the softest texture I ever got and the green tea cream cheese icing just compliments it SO WELL! My housemate actually said that it’s the best one he’s had so far! WOO! haha.

So here’s the recipe I adapted from Delicious Coma ENJOY!

Black Sesame Cupcakes

6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup black sesame seeds
1 large egg, room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 cups (155 g) all purpose flour
1/2 cup PLUS 3 Tbsp milk

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C. Line a mini cupcake pan with 12 baking liners.

2. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan on the stove over medium heat, stirring them constantly, until they are fragrant (about 2 minutes). Crush toasted seeds with a mortar and pestle until they are the texture of damp sand and set aside (I cut carried away and was crushing them for almost 20 mins!). Separately, sift the dry ingredients into a medium bowl; set aside.

3. Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the ground sesame seeds, egg, and vanilla and beat until combined. Alternate the dry ingredients and milk (i.e. beat in 1/3 of the dry ingredients, add 1/2 the milk and mix well. Add another 1/3 of the dry ingredients and the remaining milk, and the remaining flour). Mix until batter is smooth.

4. Fill cupcake liners until they are about 2/3 full (I put the batter in a piping bag and pipe them into the liners). Knock out any air that is in the batter after filling the liners. Bake for 15 mins or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from pan as soon as safely possible. Cool completely before frosting as desired.

Matcha Cream Cheese Icing

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), room temperature
2 cups (8 ounces) powdered sugar, sifted (more if needed)
10 ounces cream cheese, room temperature and cut into small pieces
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 to 4 tsp matcha (green tea) powder (I used 4 cause I really like it!)

1. Sift powdered sugar and matcha together into a small bowl.

2. In a larger mixing bowl, cream the butter, powdered sugar mixture, and vanilla until thoroughly blended. Add the cream cheese, a chunk at a time, beating after each addition (just enough to work it in).

3. Pipe it on the cupcake how you like it. Sprinkle some toasted black sesame on top.

4. DONE!

Forever 18.

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Turning 18, in my opinion, is one of the milestones of life.

I remember when I turned 18, it was my first year here in Melbourne, and it was also my first birthday away from home. It was bitter sweet, almost. Thank God that I had friends who love me and made my day very very special and unforgettable. So, to me. Having a celebration when you turn 18 is almost crucial! (: It signifies you becoming an adult (I know, not as huge as turning 21, but nonetheless important!) and definitely deserves a good dinner and a huge cake!

A huge cake was what I made for Peiwen for her 18th birthday during the last weekend! To be honest, I was very very nervous. Big cakes are definitely not something I am good at, not to say, I rarely make them. So I was really brave to decide on making not just a big cake, but a layered cake that, to me, is the most complex thing I’ve ever done! And.. it was HUGE! haha I got a shock after I assembled it, at how huge it was!

As “tall” as Peiqi’s hands!

Just shy of Peiwen’s hand haha

The original name of this cake is called the Heaven and Hell cake. I know. Not a very attractive name. But it’s only cause the two flavours of cakes in this recipe is an angel food cake and a devil’s food cake, held together with a peanut butter mousse. haha. So it does make sense yea? But when it was assembled and when I was helping to cut it into smaller portions, only one thing came to my mind: Reeses. So I decided to change the name to Reeses Choc-White cake (:

Thankfully, it was well received by everyone, and most importantly, the birthday girl (: So happy birthday once again! Hope you had an awesome time!

Cutting the cake was nerve-wrecking for me. I didn’t know if the layers were going to be distinct, or it was going to be a while mess inside. So with my fingers and toes crossed…

not very uniform in the height of each layer. but the layers are pretty distinct, right? haha Or just me and my self-encouragements. haha. ah wells. anywho! Here’s the recipe I’ve adapted from Food o’del Mundo

Reeses Choc-White Cake

Ganache
1 3/4 lbs (795 g) dark chocolate melts
1 1/3 c (315 ml) heavy cream

Place the chocolate in a medium-sized bowl and set aside.

Bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan and when it begins to bubble up, pour over the chocolate and let sit for 5 minutes. Gently stir, starting in the middle and working your way outward, until the cream and chocolate are completely mixed. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.

Angel Food Cake
1 1/2 c (235 g) confectioners’ sugar
1 c minus 2 Tbls (120 g) flour
2 Tbls cornstarch
1 1/2 c (355 ml) egg whites
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/8 tsp salt
1 c (200 g) sugar
2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 325F (160C) and line the bottom of a 10″ round cake pan with ungreased parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, sift together confectioners’ sugar, flour and cornstarch. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt until frothy. Increase speed to medium-high and gradually sprinkle in sugar, then extracts, beating until stiff peaks form.

Sift half of the flour mixture over egg whites and fold until just combined. Sift over the remaining half of the flour mixture and gently fold until no streaks remain.

Pour batter into prepared cake pan and bake until top of cake springs back when touched, 45–50 minutes. Transfer cake to a rack and let cool.

My angel cake turned out to have a very crispy outer layer, not sure if it’s cause I did something wrong, but it did add this crunchy texture to the cake which actually was pretty good! (:

Devil’s Food Cake
3/4 c (155 g) unsalted butter
1 1/2 c minus 3 Tbls (185 g) flour
3 Tbls cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 c (355 ml) coffee
3/4 c (70 g) cocoa powder, sifted
2 c (250 g) sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs, room temp

Preheat oven to 350F (175C). Grease a 10″ round cake pan with shortening and dust with flour to coat. Shake out excess flour and set pan aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

In another medium bowl, whisk the coffee and cocoa powder until smooth. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the shortening, sugar, vanilla, and eggs with a handheld mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, 2 minutes. Alternately add the flour mixture and the coffee mixture to the bowl in 3 stages, beating to combine after each addition.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean, 30–35 minutes; transfer to a rack and let cool completely.

Peanut Butter Mousse
1 lb (455 g) (2 8oz packages) cream cheese, at room temperature
3 c (710 ml) smooth peanut butter, at room temperature
2 c (315 g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 c (235 ml) heavy cream

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, peanut butter, and confectioners’ sugar on medium speed until smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Put cream into a large bowl and beat on high speed until stiff peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, fold 1/3 of the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining 2/3rds. Cover and chill until ready to use.

Assembly

Using a serrated-blade knife, slice each cake horizontally into 2 layers. Place 1 layer of the devil’s food cake on a cake stand and spread 1/3 of the peanut butter mousse over the top. Top mousse with a layer of the angel food cake and spread with half of the remaining mousse. Repeat with the remaining devil’s food cake, mousse, and angel food cake. Wrap cake in plastic wrap and freeze for 2 hours.

Stir ganache (heat it in the microwave, if necessary, at 10 second intervals. Be sure to stir well) until smooth and pour over the top and sides of the cake, smoothing with a palette spreader if necessary. Refrigerate the cake for 2 hours before slicing.

Happy 18th Birthday !

So tell me dearest readers, how did you celebrate your 18th birthday?