Otah Bun

I was craving for something savoury last week.  Chwee Kueh came to mind but I was just too lazy to either drive to our popular haunt to buy or even to prepare it myself.   Then I started to crave for Otah.  Yes, this is manageable as I got hubby to drive me to Jln Kayu (the parking there is a nightmare these days).  After trying so many manufacturers, this one is still our favourite.

I am beginning to think that this snack will be the best way to train my little girl in eating spicy food. 

With Otah Bun in mind with the remaining sticks, I went on to look for a straight forward bread recipe.  Too impatient to wait for double the proofing time thus this straight dough method will be the most ideal.

I have got this book for years but never really attempt on any of it.  So perfect opportunity now.

A little crazy to have Otah bread for breakfast as it is a little hard on the stomache in the early morning but what the heck, life is short. 


Source: The world of Bread

What you need:

A
480g bread flour
120g plain flour
110g sugar
10g salt
20g milk powder
15g instant yeast

B
1 egg
291g cold water

C
60g butter

1 egg, beaten (for glazing)

Method:

Combine A thoroughly and add in B.  Knead till full incorporated.

Add C and knead till elastic.

Proof for 45 min or double in volume.

Punch down and weight approx 60g of dough. 

Wrap the otah and let it proof for 10 mins.

Brush egg wash.

Baked at 180 deg for 10 - 15 mins.

Cream Cheese Bun

I haven't been cooking or baking these few days. Partly because I have been out shopping and spending time with family members. All the wonderful stuff right? hehehe... actually I don't really enjoy shopping. I shop for necessity these days.
 
The house modem suddenly broke down. You know how it is like without internet when we are so used to it. So this item was not something that we can procrastinate. Bought a booster but I am now having a hard time getting it to be connected! But at least the internet is now working.
 
I took the opportunity also to get some clothing for the kids especially the warm ones as they had long outgrown them.
 
With the exam getting near, I thought this might be a better time to do some shopping (a way to distress) rather than later as I will be scrambling to get the house neat and tidy and all bills paid off before we head off.
 
Now let's talk about food. While at the mall, after dinner with my parents and sister, we past by a bakery that was famous for their Cream Cheese Bun. Since there wasn't a queue and the tray was just fresh out from the oven, we took the opportunity and bought a few.
 
My daughter was really cute. She was eagerly waiting for the bun to cool down so that she can eat it. Before she took a bite, she makes a comment: "Mom, what happened to the bun? What it is so small now?"
 
We had a good laugh over her comments. She just loves to eat.
 
Anyway, I tasted one this morning, and straight way I didn't like it. I could taste cheap mayo in it!
 
Thus I decided to bake my own!
 

My trial wasn’t a smooth one.  Cooking the Tang Zhong was not a problem, forgetting to put it into the main dough was! 
 
You see, I panicked after seeing how dry my dough, quickly text my dear friend W who is an expert in baking.   While waiting for her to respond, I played the Smart Alec and added milk.  Only when I added in did I realised that I actually forgotten my Tang Zhong. Hahaa no wonder it was dry! 
 
Damaged done, and I didn’t want to throw away the dough as it was a double batch.  So I added in more flour to make it manageable.  The dough raise beautifully and boy am I pleased.
 
Getting the cream cheese wrapped was not an issue as I have chilled it so it was not too soft to handle.  After the final proofing, the cheese actually leaked.  Not all though but some.  Guess I didn’t close the dough properly.
 
Using 190ºC,  I am not use whether it is too hot for the buns as it browns quickly @ 8 mins.  I flipped the buns over and put on another baking tray on it, compressing it a little.  Still my buns didn’t turn out flat like those in the bakery, perhaps I should use more pressure but yet I was afraid the cheese will leak even more.
 

Note: I need to add in approx 3 tsp of cream cheese in order to see more cheese fillings.
 
Verdict: Overall, I won’t rate my experience as successful but definitely it didn’t get a F for it.  Because of my past experience with Tang Zhong,  I believe the fault lies in me with this recipe.

Bye bye cream cheese that tasted like cheap mayo!

Source: ScrumPtious-FlaVours

Tangzhong （汤种）:

Ingredient:

50g Bread flour
250g water

Method:

In a mixing bowl mix the flour and water over low fire, keep stirring until it reach 65°C then switch it off.

Use plastic wrap to cover the dough to prevent the top layer dry up and let it cool down before use.

Dough Ingredients:

456g Bread Flour
120g Plain Flour
12g Yeast
60g Sugar
6g Salt
240g fresh milk
60g Egg w/o shell, beaten
144g Tangzhong （汤种）
60g Unsalted Butter

Method:

Put all the ingredients in a mixing bowl except salt and butter and mix well. 
 Mix to a dough then add in salt and butter and knead to a soft dough.

Take out the dough and shape it round and cover a plastic wrap and let it proof for the 1st time to double in size.

When the dough has proof to double in size divide the dough to 60g each and shape with some raisin into a round shape and proof for the 2nd time for another 15mins 20mins.

Flatten the dough and wrap with cheese filling, put on the baking tray and let it proof for the last time to double size.

Bake at 190°C for 10mins then turn over the bread to the other side and place a tray on top of the bread and bake for another 10mins.

Cream cheese Fillings

 
Ingredients

250g cream cheese

80g icing sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
Raisin

Method:

Beat cream cheese and icing sugar together till it is smooth.

Add in lemon juice

Chill.

Sesame bread

Sis rang to tell me that uncle went to meet up with Papa Jesus.  

I put down the phone with mixed feeling.  Sadness mixed with relief.  On one hand I am glad that he is released from all those pain that he had been sufferring especially the last one month.  He is definitely has good pain tolerance level as he was only diagnoised with Stage 4 cancer a month ago.  On the other hand, I felt sad as he was a happy go lucky uncle that I had.  Always chatty and smiling.

During CNY, he was still looking strong and well and now he is gone.  Life is just so fragile.    I am also glad that I had the honour to feed him with some of my home made food.    He also given all of us a chance to be with him on his last remaining hours.

Good bye uncle, I am sure you are in safe hands now.

******

Been a long time since I last baked bread.   Chosen this Sesame bread as I have a bottle of sesame spread in the pantry as well as organic black sesame powder that LM gave me.  (we used this to bake macaroons the last time and it was heavenly).  Still craving for sesame cream but yet to find time to buy raw sesame to make into sesame cream.  Definitely will do it once kids go back to school.

Done a bad job in spreading the sesame paste and couldn't really form that nice swirl.  Seriously needed more practise to get this right.

Couldn't wait for the loaf to cool down and I had problem slicing the bread.  Perhaps I have to seriously consider getting a bread slicing guide.  I brought this loaf to the wake and received good reviews.  17 hours method works all the time for me.

Note: Even after 2 days, the bread is still soft.

Jaime Oliver's Pizza

We haven’t had such a wonderful Sat for a long long time.


We didn't have to time ourselves to wake up in time for a 10:30am tuition. 

We didn't have to time ourselves to have lunch to hit the 2:30pm tuition.


We spent the morning is a rest and relax manner!


Girl even have time to practise on her piano as we sang side by side with each other while daddy and son was trying to assemble a table. Great bonding time isn't it?


Awesomeness! Just imagine “tuitionless” days!


I didn't do this for my primary school going son FIVE years ago but 5 years later, I am in the same position as I loathed back then.


I hated myself for loading my girl with endless tuition but as I don't know how to relate heuristic maths, analytical science, bombastic Chinese phrases or expressive English to my little girl. For her, I had to sub out every single subjects to others who had kept to pace with the crazy ever changing education system.


Son also started having English tuition as his batch is now under the NEW English teaching system that they don’t even have assessment books for it.


Well, I shall not complain so much or else our kids will not be resilient enough to face the challenges ahead.


For our lunch today, I have chosen Jaime Oliver's Pizza.  

The dough is really soft and extremely easy to handle.  With this weather, proofing was easy peasy. 

Like what they claimed, it is definitely a fantastic, reliable everyday pizza dough.  Besides the poor shaping skill, I am sure even my 10 years old can handle it alone!


Come join us for a relaxing Saturday.

Source: Jaime Oliver

What you need:

1kg bread flour
1 tbsp salt
14g instant yeast
1 tbsp sugar
37g extra virgin olive oil
650ml lukewarm water

Method:

Sift the bread flour and salt together in your mixing bowl.

In another bowl, mix yeast, sugar and olive oil together.  Add in water and mixed briefly.

Pour the liquid into the flour. 

Using a hook beater, bring the mixture together till a smooth dough formed.

Put dough into an oiled bowl, cover with cling wrap and place it under a warm place.  Proof till double in volume.

Pour dough out into a floured worktop, punch out the gas.  Divide into 8 portions.

Let it rest for 10 min and shaped.

Spread pizza sauce and assemble it with your favourite cheeses and toppings.

Bake at 180 deg till cheeses turned golden brown.

Serve immediately.

Chocolate Chip Bread

Is it not cool to bring school books to school? At the age of 15, I am still getting complaints from school about son not bringing textbooks to school.

I seriously can't figure that out?

We were with the counsellor last Tuesday and she asked him what or rather how he wanted me to react to him. After getting all his answers, she popped him a question. Isn't your mom's job hard to do?

No matter how I react, I can never please him.

I wish days I don't have such responsible to him. It is so tiring being his mom.

Just this morning, my friend's husband was telling me that as long as he is provided food, roof over his head and safety, I shouldn't be really bother by anything else. I should take care of my own well being.

I seriously wish it was that simple. Or is it really the parent's role when you have a teen these days?

I don't recall my parents had to deal with all these when they were raising me up!!!! ya,I am sure my son, if he is reading this will tell me that we are from a different era!

Now I fully understand why so many of my friends just refused to have kids! The responsibility is not only great, it is difficult.

Now to keep my well being in control and at peace, I have to live on the memory when he is just a sweet young boy who is absolutely adorable and sweet and patiently wait till this terrible phrase to go by.

As I have some leftover water roux paste, I chose to bake a Chocolate Chip bread . Since I baked for my girl yesterday, so today I baked it especially for my son who has a terribly sweet. (yes, I was baking this when this upsetting email came through).

The dough is especially easy to handle. Unlike the sticky dough that I encountered yesterday, this one was a breeze to handle. I incorporated a tablespoon of chocolate paste just to intensify the flavour.

The texture is fluffy soft. My girl, helper and myself really like it alot.

Now let's hope my little man will too and also remember what I told him today.

I tried three recipes from this book and I am confident that the rest of the recipes will work equally well. Seriously considering to add this book into my collection.

Spinach Bun with Garlic Cheese

First of all, many thanks for all your concern comments and emails. I really appreciated your love.

I promised my girl that I will bake her some buns for her to snack after her swimming lesson on Tuesday but due to lack of sleep for the past days, I simply can’t summed up the energy to do it.

As a child, she was naturally disappointed that I didn’t bake her any buns but she was understanding enough of my health issue and didn’t pester me for it.

I decided to take a day break from the medication as I can't really function without sleep for so many days. Finally I was able to take a nap and feeling a little stronger.

With some leftover bacons left in the fridge and I bought a new pack of cheddar cheese, the perfect combination will to make some Spinach Bun with Garlic Cheese. This is also my first using vegetable as flavouring. We also have spinach and it is really nice to incorporate spinach into bread.

The dough was really tough to handle. It was extremely sticky. I tried kneading it by hand and as well as machine. Being a Chinese recipe book, instructions are normally vague. So I wasn’t sure what they meant by glossy. Decided to just give it a shot, dump the dough into a bowl and let it sit for 30 mins.

I was expecting the worst but voila, it rose nicely!

I should have brown the bacon more so that the oil is “filtered” out before placing it onto the bun.

Overall, I really like the texture. Soft and with the saltiness of the bacon and cheese and a hint of garlic. Sedap!

So a little delayed in my promise but better late than never isn’t it?

Source: Genki Japanese Bread

What you need:

Water roux

50g cake flour
150g water

Method:

Combine and cook till steam appears. Approx 65 Degree.

Done when cake flour mixture thickens to thin batter.

Cool before use.

Dough

250g bread flour
20g sugar
20g butter
10g milk powder
100g water roux starter
60g spinach puree (puree 40g spinach with 80g water)

Fillings

2tsp garlic paste
8 strips bacon, chopped (brown it slightly to remove excess oil)
2 tsp mayonnaise
50g grated cheese

Glaze, beaten egg for brushing

Method:

Combine dough ingredients. Knead until glossy and smooth. Proof for 30 mins.

Punch down and cut dough into 60g each. Roll to shape. Proof for 45 mins.

Pipe garlic paste on top. Sprinkle bacon and grated cheese. Then pipe mayonnaise.

Gently brush with egg glaze before baking.

Baked at 220 deg for 10 mins.

Healthy Rye Loaf

Thanks for all your prayers and concerns. I brought my son to the doctor today and he is now being referred to a heart specialist. Right now his heart beat is okay but just for pre caution, it is better to go for a thorough check.

Now that my mind is more at rest knowing nothing serious ….. I am off to my kitchen. ……….

I have tons of books but most of them, I just adored the pictures and then they are left sitting pretty on the shelves. These days, I have to refrain myself from buying more books.

Being not so proficient in reading Chinese ingredient list, my Chinese recipe books are very limited and generally books that are bilingual are not that worthy.

After trying the milk bread yesterday, I knew this book has some substance. So I am more confident in attempting another recipe. This time round, I chose Healthy Rye Loaf.

There is one ingredient that is missing but nevertheless, I still went ahead with it.

The texture of this dough is “hard” unlike the Milk Bread that I tried yesterday. It also didn’t increase volume too much in the first proof. But shaping this loaf is much easier.

I overlooked not incorporating the walnuts and the raisins in the final kneading thus resulted in my nuts and fruits being loop sided. Doesn’t it look like some freak with two eyes?


The texture is really nice. Soft and fluffy, a sweet tone too. I will increase more raisins next round as I like the soft fruits between bits. I am sure my hubby will like this too as there is nuts!

Perhaps if I have a chance that someone goes overseas, I might seek her/his help to buy me a copy. (yes, I am very lousy with online shopping and when the sites is full of Chinese words, I become paranoid).

Another keeper.

Milk Bread / Semur Daging

Today is day 2 of the school break. Son didn't need to attend training today as he is going for Bread Run, a charity activity organised by the church. I was supposed to go for it as well but he was strongly against me going.

Anyway, I was trying to control my temper for the whole morning. After I settled coaching my girl and our lunch, to distract my attention, I went to bake bread. I chose to half knead by hand and half knead by machine. Definitely a good way to sweat out all the frustration!

The dough rose so beautifully and I was pretty happy with it. After the third proofing, I begin to worry a little. For it doubled too much. Luckily I used a pullman tin so the dough was pretty much contained.

Dump the loaf inside the oven and went on to bring my girl for her eye check. Though my optician felt that it is not necessary for her to wear glasses, he relented as he felt that my girl wasn't train to read small font. I love my optician, he is honest and doesn't recommend when he feels there is not a need.
 

When we got back, I was very excited when I found out the bread baked nicely. The texture was so nice and fluffy with a hint of buttery taste.

I am glad that I modified this recipe as I felt that our milk is not creamy enough.

So care to share with me a slice of my Milk Bread?

Despite my success with the bread, I had a lumpy feel in my throat.

My son blacked out again and fell backwards while I was out. I was told of this accident by my helper. I immediately went on to check on him. He had this nasty big bump at the back of his head.

I am very concern now as this is not the FIRST time. In fact, this is the THIRD time!

Sometime I felt so frustrated with him. Told him to cut down on sweets, chocolate, soft drinks and snacks but he just simply ignored me. It is hard to control a 15 years old as he has his own money to buy whatever he wants. Telling him to eat more for proper meals and he will just ignored me. He will skip breakfasts, skip lunches so that he will have more time to play soccer.

I am so worried about his health. I am worried that he might get diabetes. I even list down the consequences if he caught this disease but all turned a deaf ear.

I have to send him for an overall body check up and hopefully, nothing serious.

Please pray for him. Thank you.

Since I have some beef in the fridge, I chose once again a Malay dish. Never tasted Semur Daging before and I was curious. Another tasty dish that goes well with rice.

Modified from 人气和风面包

Milk Bread
Yield a big loaf (pullman tin 12")

What you need:

500g bread flour
8g yeast
2 egg yolks
200g water
30g butter
60g potato flour
80g sugar
150g fresh milk
50g whipping cream
20g condensed milk

Method

Combine everything and knead till it past window test. Put in a greased bowl and let it, clingwrap and proof for 30 mins.

Take dough out and punch out the gas. Put it back into the bowl and proof another 30 mins.

Divide the dough into 4 portions. Roll to shape and place in a Pullman tin. Proof for another 45 mins or until 1.5 times its original size.

Baked for 20 mins at 200ºC.

Cheddar Cheese Buns/ Brown Sugar Chestnut Pound Cake

I read with interest on the negative feedback about granting domestic helper one off day per week.

It brought me to think about the period when my maternal grandmother was bedridden for a few years. During those days, unless you are rich enough to have servants, having domestic helpers were unheard of.

To ease the burden of my 2nd aunt who was living with my granny then. All my aunties and my mom chipped in, taking turns to look after granny. It was a tough job I won't deny it but somehow people managed.

Thanks to our wonderful policy back then, these days, majority of the household have an average of two kids. I can't help to wonder what will become of me when I become old and immobile. The burden of my two kids looking after me can be quite taxing as there are only two to rotate unlike my mom's time whereby she has got three sisters to help out.

I also begin to wonder having domestic helpers actually created little emperors and empresses for our next generation as well. Take for example my son, he took it for granted that my helper will pick after him. Thus he has got no sense of responsibility that he needs to bring his dirty clothes to the laundry basket instead of throwing them around the house. (yes, he can leave his dirty socks in the study, his dirty school shirt in the hall and his school pants in his room).

We do not condone to such behaviours. We actually told my helper not to pick after him. Having said that, in our helper’s mind, it is her responsibility to keep the house tidy. With the situation getting bad, now my helper fully understood that the more she picked after him, the more he will be become irresponsible. So finally our message is driven across.

Personally I have no issue with helper’s getting day off. My only concern is how she utilised her time and will she be mature enough to ward off bad influence. Having our bond forfeited 50% if the helper goes missing is simply ridiculous.

If the government wants to implement this rule, then make it less accountable for the employee. Why should be we be held responsible for someone’s decision?

In this sense, I think we are not giving a fair deal. It is okay to compare with neighbouring countries but do it whole heartedly. They don't have levy like ours. The monthly levy we give to the government, what has the government done for us?

So who is protecting us?

Hahha… I am getting annoying with all my rambling don’t I?

Let's talk about happy stuff.

I actually glazed some chestnut sometime back, hoping to attempt Mont Blanc. As usual, my slow delay tactic won.

Yesterday I attempt Daily Delicious’s Cheddar Cheese Buns. So today, I decided to bake a cake instead. By now you might have noticed, my cakes are all in a loaf pan that is because I already packed most of my cake tins! LOLz.

This time round, I chose Brown Sugar Chestnut Pound Cake from Daily Delicious again. I am sure the reason is obvious. I have Chestnut in the fridge! Also I find that this baking method is totally new to me.

Texture wise, it yields a really fine crumbs. The fragrant of the brown sugar gives this loaf a total new dimension. I suspect I over baked it for I "squeeze" my batter into a small tin thus resulting for it to bake longer than indicated.

I will definitely attempt this again!

Total verdict: Awesome!

What you need:

100g Unsalted butter
80g Brown sugar
2 Egg yolks

Meringue
2 Egg whites
40g Sugar
A pinch of salt
120g Cake flour
½tsp Baking powder
60g Steamed chestnut, chopped

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 °C

Place the baking paper in to the loaf tin.

Sift the flour and baking powder together. Set aside.

Mix about 1-2tbsp of flour mixture into the chopped chestnut. Set aside.

Beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, add the egg yolks into the batter and beat until combine.

Beat egg whites until foamy, add the sugar, salt and whip until stiff peaks form.

Fold 1/3 of the meringue into the batter, fold half of the flour mixture, follow by 1/3 of the meringue, the rest of the flour and chestnut.

Fold the rest of the meringue to combine.

Put the batter into the tin.

Bake for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 160 °C and bake for another 30-40 minutes or until the toothpick insert into the center of the cake come out clean.

Cheddar Cheese Bun

This morning, I had breakfast gathering with a group of mommies. Its sure been a while since we last caught up with each other.

As the cafe didn't have decaffeinated coffee, I took the more convenient way by having a regular one. Deep down, I know I will suffer tonight.

Surprisingly, I didn't have the urge to visit the toilet which I normally do, my bladder held well this time round. I didn't feel giddy too. Perhaps meeting this bunch of girls makes me laugh so much that I overcome my weakness.

A topic arises during our meeting. If your child and another child talked and some how resulted in some unhappiness. This unhappiness is brought to your attention by your child. Will you confront the other young child and then later on with her mom or will you teach your child another form of method to deal with it?

Words are said and normally forgotten after awhile. Children’s heart is more innocent and pure. Forgiveness is in them. I will let my child learn to solve the matter on her own. For me, as a mother, I definitely won’t get involved, least to say to confront the mother. After all, this is between the kids.

Are you allowed to belittle other's parenting style? Who to judge whether your parenting style is more superior than the other? Whether your child will turned out well, only time will tell isn't it?

After the meeting, I came home feeling lethargic, I just wanted to do something, so I decided to blog read to see whether anything will entice me.

I am a regular reader on Daily Delicious’s blog. This goes back way to when I first started blogging. This lady is just so amazing.

Strangely, I don't know why I never attempted any of her recipes. Perhaps, looking at her well styled photos, I felt intimated.

Thus when VM told me that she tried numerous of her recipes and it all turned out really well. I knew I can no longer procrastinate especially when bread and cheese are my kids’ favourite.

Kneading the dough was a little more tricky than my other bread attempts. I had a hard time as it was very wet. In fact, I took her advice and added in 2 more tbsp of flour.

Finally I kneaded it to the consistency that I think will pass, that is not that sticky. Gathered them up and put into the bowl for proofing. Went on to pick up my girl and then got involved in some stuff and after dinner, to my relief, it rose beautifully.



My Cheddar Cheese Buns didn't turned out as beautiful as Daily Delicious's but don't judge the book by its cover for this is simply delicious!

I should have double the recipe.



Next round, I will glaze the bread to make it easier to top more cheddar cheese as well as giving it a shine.

The bread is soft but hubby said will be nicer if it is a little more salty. Yeap, I forgotten to add salt to the dough!

The texture is still soft after a day and if you give it a toast in the oven the next day, the toppings will be crispy. As good as fresh from the oven.

Dough

270g Bread flour
30g Cake flour
5g Salt
2tsp Instant yeast
50g Sugar
30g Unsalted butter
100g Milk
1 Egg
80g Water

Filling
100g Cheddar cheese (grated)
90g Salad cream or mayonnaise

Topping
Cheddar cheese (grated)
Salad cream or mayonnaise

Method:

Mix together egg, water and milk.

Put the flour, the sugar and yeast in a bowl, whisk to combine, add and salt whisk again. Pour the egg and milk mixture into the bowl.

Use large spoon (or pastry scraper) to mix everything together, and knead briefly to bring all the ingredients together.

Take the dough out of the bowl and knead, you will see the dough will be elastic after about 2 minutes.

Add the butter and knead by using the heel of your hands to compress and push the dough away from you, then fold it back over itself. Give the dough a little turn and repeat. Put the weight of your body into the motion and get into a rhythm. Keep folding over and compressing the dough. Knead for 10-15 minutes or until the dough is soft, pliable, smooth and slightly shiny, almost satiny. But this dough is a bit sticky, use a bit of flour will help (1-2 tbsp)

Put the dough into a light buttered bowl. Let the dough rise in a warm place until double in size (can be 1 hour or 1 hour and a half check often depend on the temperature).

Mix Salad cream or mayonnaise with cheddar cheese.

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Line 2 baking sheets with baking paper.

Take the dough out of the bowl, deflate by touch it lightly.

Cut the dough into 10 pieces roll into a ball and let them rest for 10 minutes.

Flatten each ball with the palm of your hand into a circle. Place a filling mixture in center of each dough round, and gather up edges to enclose filling, twisting edges together and pressing to seal and place it seam side down Repeat with remaining dough and filling.

Let the dough rise until almost double in size, about 30minuts.

Glaze the bun with egg wash. Sprinkle with Cheddar cheese and drizzle salad cream or mayonnaise with before baking.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Multi Grain Loaf

Last night, I was at a baking class conducted in a home. This is my first time attending class in such an environment. As I have astigmatisms, the dim light didn't help at all. It was a warm night, I was literally perspiring the whole session and I should have remembered to bring my bottle of water up.

I like the class size of 4. It makes it cosy and my classmates were nice to help me with notes that sometime were spoken in a different language. Also I love the Red Ruby dessert that was served and that reminds me that I should make a batch to enjoy in such warm weather.

While waiting for the cake to baked, the teacher asked for my age. I was thrown off when she said I am fifty!

For up to now, this is the first time someone over guessed my age. I didn't feel offended at all but rather sad. The stress of parenthood had definitely taken a toll on me and I think I really needed to do something about this.

When I relate this incident to hubby over bedtime, he was laughing so hard.

I have been eyeing on Frozen Wing's Whole grain loaf for days. I knew I had to bake this, for I love multi grain loaf!

I had a hard time locating all the ingredients though. In fact, I went to four supermarkets and yet I can’t complete the list!

This is my first using wholemeal flour to make bread and I didn't know what to expect when the recipe said to beat till smooth and elastic. After 15 mins, I decided that I should give the machine a break before I blow the motor again.

Left the dough to proof while I went to pick up my daughter and I was glad that it did rise after we came home. I didn't divide into 4 as I feel the dough is rather small. Initially I was happy to find out that it fits into my small pull man tin and was hoping that it will fill up the tin and I will get a square loaf but unfortunately, there isn't much rise during the second proofing (so I might have not done this dough properly).

All is not lost as the bread turned out lovely!

I couldn’t resist slicing a slice off and slapping on some butter. Nothing beats a good piece of wholesome goodness before Pilates class!

What you need:

200g wholemeal flour
50g bread flour
2 tbsps sugar
½ tsp salt
1 tsp instant yeast
1½ tbsp rolled oats
1 tbsp flaxseed
½ tbsp spelt flakes (I have problem finding this)
½ tbsp toasted wheatgerm
water 170gm
cold butter 15gm
some sunflower seeds, flaxseeds, instant oats for sprinkling on top

Method:

Put all of the above ingredients except water and butter into your mixing bowl , use a fork to give them a good mix. Using dough hook on electric mixer, pour in water little by little till a dough is formed. Keep on beating for another 5 minutes, add in butter and continue beating for another 15 minutes till dough is smooth.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface, shape into a ball and let proof till double its size.

Divide dough into 3 equal portions, shape them into round again and let rest for another 10 minutes.

Shape each roll into a rectangle and roll it back like a swiss roll, do the same for the rest of the 2 rolls and let them proof in a greased baking tin (23cmx11cmx11cm baking tin) for another 45 minutes .

Bake in a preheated oven at 200ºC for about 30 minutes

Cinnamon Roll

My girl ended her English tuition this week. A sigh of relief for me but surprisingly she has a hint of sadness. Already she is asking me to sign her up for another. I told her that we will do so by year end or next year.

This little one is strange? Most kids dislike having tuition don't they?

After a year with this agency, my girl is still as lost as before. She has difficulty doing her comprehension as well as composition. I actually added another course of creative writing - composition for her in July with another agency. Now at least, she is happily coming to tell me that she passed.

I seriously have no complaints waiting for her outside the tuition centre if it delivers result and boost up my little one's confidence in handling the subject. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t work for her.

She used to do badly for Maths. Ever since I started her on tuition, her confidence level in dealing with the subject improved. She no longer feels afraid to attempt questions.

Most importantly, I love to see her joy on her face each time she announced that she done well or passed on her topical tests. That matters the most to us. Of course if she gets an A, it will be a bonus but for now, a pass is already a big achievement.

The next following two weeks will be on our own. I am going to see how much help I can render to her to at least help her through to this exam.

I don’t recall it was so tough coaching my son on these subjects 5 years ago. Things have definitely becoming more challenging and though kids these days are smarter than us but with a gap of 5 years, does one’s intelligence advances that greatly?

Anyway, these two days, my girl is requesting for packed food for her recess as they are not allowed to loiter in the canteen due to the P6 having their PSLE.

So I am making for her the magical rolls that I spotted in Happy Home Baking. This no knead cinnamon roll originated from Pioneer Woman. Ree gave a comprehensive step by step instruction. (Please hop over to hers to check it out).

I did chill it as I needed to bring my girl for her class. I only started rolling it out after I got home. When I told my hubby I am making No Knead Cinnamon Rolls, he immediately requested for pecans. My family love this nuts and I always try to have a pack ready.



So Cinnamon Rolls with Pecan it shall be, and what better way to do it with no kneading. It was really easy to assemble. Just be sure to flour the surface and your hands. While the second proofing is in process, I went on to take my dinner and got the tray into the oven after I am done with my meal.

The smell is of course heavenly, I couldn’t wait for it to be out of the oven.

Hot, fluffy and yummy!

Next round I will double the cinnamon sugar as we like it a little more wet and a little sweet since I didn't have any frosting on it.

In the meantime, if you are a cinnamon roll fan, you just got to try this one. I am not kidding it is really easy and yummy.

Verdict: It is still soft the next day.

Source: Pioneer Woman

What you need:

Dough:

1 cup milk
50g (1/4 cup) brown sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp Instant yeast
250g (2 cups) + 30g (1/4 cup) plain flour
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp salt

Fillings:

1 tbsp cinnamon powder (I will increase it to 2.5)
50g brown sugar (I will increase it to 150g)
50g unsalted butter (melted)

Method:

Mix milk, sugar and vegetable oil in a pan. Scald (heat until just before boiling) the mixture. Leave to cool for 45mins ~ 1 hour.

Place 250g plain flour and instant yeast in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the above mixture. Stir with a spatula until the mixture comes together to form a thick batter. (If using Active Dry Yeast, sprinkle the yeast into the mixture and let it sit for a minute before adding it to the plain flour.) Cover and let the batter sit for at least 1 hour.

Add in the remaining 30g flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir until the mixture comes together.

Either go ahead to make the rolls or cover and leave to chill in fridge over night or until needed. If left to chill, check the dough and punch it down by folding with a spatula if the dough rises almost to the rim of the mixing bowl. (Note: dough will be more firm and easier to work with if left to chill in fridge).

When ready to make the rolls, mix ground cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl.

Dust the work surface freely with flour. Dust the top and bottom of dough with flour.

Roll out the dough into a rectangular shape. Then roll out as thin as possible. Dust the dough and work surface with flour when necessary.

Brush the rolled out dough with melted butter. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the surface.
Start from the opposite end of the dough, roll the dough neatly in a line towards you. Roll as tightly as possible. Dust fingers with flour if the dough feels sticky. Pinch the seams to seal.

Cut into 1 inch thick slices and arrange on baking pan lined with parchment paper (or greased with butter). Place the rolls close together so that they are almost touching.

Cover and leave to rise for 30mins (1 hour if dough was left to chill over night) or until the rolls double in size. (Note: the rolls can be left to chill in the fridge over night and bake them the next morning. If rolls have doubled in size, bake them right away. Otherwise leave to sit on counter until double in size before baking.)

Bake in preheated oven at 180 ºC for 20mins until golden brown.

No Knead bread

I managed to borrow a book from the library that teaches us to make bread without any kneading.

Of course, I am curious because I am never good at kneading. Besides following Richard Bertinet’s trusted bread recipes and his method of kneading. The rest of the recipes cannot be adapted that well. Thus I still need to attend or see a demo how bread is being kneaded properly. Anyone wants to show me?

With my girl at home, because it is PSLE Oral, I have some spare energy to proceed on with a new recipe that required no kneading.

This method sounded so easy but is really time-consuming and seriously need to plan way ahead.

I started doing the first proof which I can’t deny was really easy. Then I left it in the pot for it to ferment. At this stage still no problem.

The challenges came when the second stage kicks in. First I wasn’t sure whether putting the sticky wet batter on a tea cloth was really ideal. So I left it in a floured bowl to proof.

Let me tell you, it is a big huge mistake. I should really have followed the instruction.

I had a problem getting it to double, so I left it to proof much longer than the required 1 – 2 hours. Okay, finally it doubled in volume.

Next, getting it into the heated pot was another challenge since now I had the dough inside the bowl and it got stuck to it.

Was trying so hard not to deflate the dough.

The bread turned out nicely, isn't it?



The taste is not too bad, and the texture looks fairly okay?



but ...... I had hell getting it off the pot. It got STUCK!!!!! Since I didn't want to damage my pot by scraping it with a metal spatula, but a silicone one just couldn't do the job. In the end, this is the best I can savage.

haiz....



This is not the end.... the hardest will be cleaning this pot.

Will I try again, definitely yes! This time I won't act smart anymore. LOLz.

Enjoy your weekend!

Source: My Bread (Jim Lahey)

What you need:

400g bread flour
8g salt
1g instant yeast
300g cool water (55-65 degree F)
additional flour for dusting

Method

In a pot with lid, stir together the flour, salt and yeast.

Add water and using a wooden spoon mix until you have a wet and sicky dough. Approx 30 sec.

Cover the pot and let it sit in room temperature until the surface is dotted with bubbles and the dough is more than doubled in size. (12 - 18 hours). - slow fermentation is the key to flavour.

Next, generously dust the work surface with flour, with a scraper, scrape the dough onto the work surface.

Using lightly floured hands, lift the edges of the dough in toward the center. Nudge and tuck in the edges of the dough to make it round.

Place a tea towel on the work surface and generously dust the cloth with cornmeal or flour or wheat bran.

Use your hand to gently lift the dough onto the towel. Seam side down.

If the dough is tacky, dust the top lightly with bran or flour.

Fold the ends of the towel loosely over the dough to cover it and place it in a warm spot to rise for 1 - 2 hours.

The dough is ready when it is almost doubled. Gently poke it with our finger, making an indentation. If should hold the impression. If not, let it rise for another 15 mins.

Half an hour before the end of the second proofing, preheat the oven to 240 ºC , at the lowest rack. Place a 5 quart heavy pot in the center of the rack.

Using pot holder, carefully remove the preheated pot from the oven and uncover it. Unfold the tea towel, lightly dust the dough with flour or bran, life up the dough, and quickly but gently invert into the pot, seam side up (BE CAREFUL OF THE HOT POT).

Cover and bake for 30 mins.

Remove the lid and continue to bake for another 15 - 30 mins until the crust is brown.

Using a spatula and carefully lift the bread of the the port and place it on rack to cool.

Stollen

Been so busy that I simply had no time to bake. Initially I wanted to bake my well loved Hampton Fruit Cake but somehow, I just couldn't find the time to do it. Yet I needed something Christmasy for my party tomorrow.

I read about E'Joie's stollen bread and thinking about my last failed attempt at bread making, the stubborn streak in me just didn't want to give up. Thus, seeing the fine weather at this end of the sunny island. I decided to embark on it.

I love anything that has alcohol. Perhaps it is in my blood because my granddad is a good drinker. Surprisingly, the next generation, all can't drink and follow by the next, most of us are pretty alcoholic. LOLz.

The dough started out really wet. I used the machine for a good 15 mins to knead it (is this enough?). I think it passed the window test but when I added in the fruits and nuts. The dough soften to a wet dough again. My gut feel was telling me it is going to flop big time.

I refused to give up. With such good weather, I hope it will give it a good rise. Unfortunately after 2 hours!!!!! of proofing. It only balloon 10%. Darn goes my stollen.

With so much goodies as I have added mazipan, rum soaked fruits and almond. How can I threw this into the bin. I went ahead and baked it nevertheless.

Let's see what my guests had to say tomorrow.

I am definitely going for your class in Jan. This bread making tactic is getting into my nerve.