more bread!

Earlier this week, my relatives from Malaysia made a brief stop over in Melbourne and I took them to DFO (shopping outlet) after class where they shopped until they were kicked out! Instant A+ if shopping was an actual subject. In between waiting and running errands, I spent some time in a book store and picked up Bread Revolution: Rise and Bake by Duncan Glendinning and Patrick Ryan. I initially wanted it for the bagel recipe, but the more I read it in store, I liked how simple everything was explained. 

I baked two potato and rosemary loaves and was pretty happy with my first attempt! It was soft and had a slight bite to it and was exactly the same the following day despite not adding any additives to it. It had a thin crust straight from the oven but became soft when it cooled. This was my fault because I was careless and forgot to lower the temperature to suit my oven and fell asleep when it was baking (!) Thankfully, a friend messsaged me at the right time saving my bread from being burnt. Flavour wise, I'll need to put more rosemary and roasted garlic because I could barely taste it.

Whilst waiting for the bread to prove, I also made the dark and white mini muffins using salted dark chocolate instead of chocolate chips. Interestingly, the picture in the book was different to the recipe. I was surprised it contained no sugar because natural yogurt was used and it's quite sour. I did make a few amendments to it but l will try again with the original recipe next time. 

Edit: 03/11/14 The bread stayed soft for 3-4 days and made a great toast as well. I tried the original muffin recipe today and didn't like it. Possible misprint error??

bo lo bao

Another Asian bakery bun ticked off the list! When I was a kid I used to always wonder why they were called bo lo bao (pineapple bun) when it didn't taste or have any pineapple inside. Apparently it is named like that due to the look of the bun especially when additional carvings are made on top of the cookie crust prior baking. The usual bakery I go to don't carve their buns, so I didn't bother.

Bo lo bao reminds me of the Japanese melon bread in which a cookie crust is placed on top of the bun prior baking. Some of the issues on baking this type of bread is explained in Yakitate!! Japan during the melon challenge. I think it was on the lines of the different optimum temperatures of the bread and cookie thus the cookie will either be under baked or the bread becomes too dry. Therefore Kazuma Azuma, decides to bakes them separately and sandwiches the cookie to the crust with whipped cream prior serving. Combining the two components together later helped maintained the softness of the bun and the crispiness of the cookie. (Japan #58 has been produced in real life too.) 

Fortunately, the problem doesn't apply to the HK version, but the topping does get soft and moist the day after. But if you have leftovers, not to worry! Cut them in half, pop them into the oven until the crust crisps and enjoy with a slab of butter in the middle. 

Serve with some milk tea for a proper Hong Kong style 下午茶 (afternoon tea)!

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HK style pineapple bun (bo lo bao)  (菠萝包)     makes 10 regular or 20 mini buns

method and topping adapted from Phoebe's More Than Bread

bread

250ml milk (or 2 heaped Tb of milk powder + water)

60ml cooking oil

80g caster sugar

pinch of sea salt

1 tsp bread improver (optional)

450g bread flour

1 3/4 tsp dry yeast

topping

60g unsalted butter, softened

80g raw sugar

100g plain flour, sifted

10g custard / Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted 

1/4 tsp baking powder, sifted

1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda, sifted

1/2 large egg, beaten

1/2 large egg, for the glaze

Place bread ingredients into the bread machine bowl according to manufacturer instructions. Set to 'dough function' (30 mins knead, 60 minutes prove)*. Add a tablespoon of water or two if the dough appears to be dry after a few turns.

Meanwhile, make the topping. Put all ingredients into a food processor and pulse until combined. Form a ball, wrap with cling film and refrigerate until required.

Transfer dough onto a lightly floured surface after the first prove. Gently flatten dough and divide into 10 x 86g or 20 x 43g** dough pieces. Shape them into small balls and transfer to a lined baking tray. Ensure there is ample space for the bread to rise. Cover and leave to prove in a warm place until dough doubles in size***.

Roll bun topping thinly in between two sheets of cling film**** when the second prove is almost finished. Use a cookie cutter about the same size as your bun and cut out rounds.

Lightly brush bread tops with beaten egg and gently secure the cut out topping. Brush with beaten egg again.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celcius for 10 - 15 minutes or until crust is golden and crunchy. Transfer to a cooling rack immediately. 

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*Alternatively, combine all dry ingredients and form a well. Combine all wet ingredients and gradually pour into the dry ingredients to form a rough dough. Transfer onto a lightly floured surface and continue to knead until smooth. Leave in a warm place until doubled in size - this is the first prove.

**I find that the dough does not rise as well if I divide them into small pieces. I recommend making the regular sized buns (86g dough).

***For the second prove, I put them in a 28-30 degrees Celsius oven for 40 - 60 minutes. Brush with beaten egg every 20 minutes.

****Topping will crumble if it is too cold, take out 5 minutes prior using.

carrefour potato buns

I came across this old blog post by Jane the other night and I remember how popular these potato buns were in Malaysia. When they were in the oven, a distinctive aroma filled the store and once they were out, people started to huddle around the bakery with their supermarket trolleys. Steamed filled the bags whilst the staff packed and handed them out. It was tempting not to eat them then and there. 

Back then, my grandma was a big fan of these fluffy, soft textured buns and we were tasked with buying a dozen pack if we went down to the supermarket. We didn't even buy them when we went back last year, but I felt like making some since the cross on top makes them look like hot cross buns. But, I didn't quite like how the cross came out so I will just make and pipe some real custard on next time.

I read how adding mashed potato in bread dough can make it too moist, so I changed the method a little. Instead of boiling/steaming the potato, I nuked it resulting in a drier texture. Perhaps adding 10g of custard powder into the bread dough also helped absorb some liquid? To nuke potatoes, use a fork and poke multiple holes on both sides. Nuke on both sides for 1 minute (1000W) and 30 seconds more thereafter until it is soft enough to cut through with a fork. Allow to cool before peeling and leave the potatoes in small chunks as it will be fully incorporated when it is kneaded in. Whilst nuking, the potato will make funny sounds, but don't worry (too much) about it exploding.

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potato buns     approx. 1.2kg dough; makes 30 small buns
adapted from Vivian Pang's Kitchen 

I don't know why they are called 'potato buns' when potato doesn't even make up the majority of the ingredients. Maybe it is because when they are shaped, they resemble little washed baby potatoes?

600g bread flour
70g caster sugar
1 tsp sea salt
4 tsp dry yeast
1 large egg + enough milk to make up 300ml
10g custard powder (optional - if adding dissolve in some milk first)
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste (optional)
80g cooked potato (see above for instructions)
60g cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

custard cross
50g custard powder
15g bread flour
10g milk powder
water

Place above ingredients into the bread machine bowl according to manufacturer instructions. Set to 'dough function'.

When dough is ready, lightly dust the bench with bread flour and divide dough into 3 equal strands. Gently stretch them out and further divide into 30 x 40g dough pieces. Shape them into small balls and transfer to a lined baking tray. Cover and leave to prove until dough doubles in size*. 

Meanwhile make the custard mixture for the cross. Mix custard powder, bread flour and milk powder with enough water to form a pipe-able paste that is not too runny. If you accidentally added too much water, add in some bread flour. Transfer to a piping bag with a small tip.

When dough is ready, brush tops with beaten egg and pipe the cross pattern on top. Bake at 175 degrees for 15 minutes or until tops are golden brown.

*It was quite chilly when I made them so I proved them in an oven heated at around 30 degrees for 1 hour. Every 20 minutes I brush the tops of the dough with beaten egg.

power of the yeast

I finished my last exam for my BA just last week and I'm currently waiting for the uni system to update my status so I can enrol into my Masters. But for now, I get to enjoy the rest of November and the entire summer off. So far I have been successful in keeping myself relatively busy by swimming - something I randomly decided to pick up again during my exam period after a 6-7 year break. Other days I spend time doing things I normally do.

To make up for not using the bread machine during the exam period, I've used it thrice this week alone. Last night I adapted my current waffle recipe (meringue method) into a yeast waffle. By using bread flour and yeast, the waffle was better in terms of flavour and texture. These taste best freshly made, but if you have leftovers, just nuke them in the microwave or toast them in the oven.

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yeasted pandan & coconut waffles      makes 6 using the breville waffles creations appliance

200ml coconut milk (the full fat variety please), warmed

a few drops of pandan paste

50g unsalted butter, melted

100g caster sugar

large pinch of sea salt

1 large egg, beaten

handful of desiccated/shredded coconut (optional)

200g bread flour

1/2 tsp bread improver (optional)

2 tsp dry active yeast

If you have a bread machine, just add the ingredients in the order according to manufacturer's directions. Set the machine to the 'dough' function (30 minutes kneading, 60 minutes proving). Cook waffle mixture on a hot waffle iron according to manufacturer's directions. I like to use the 'darker' setting.

If you don't have a bread machine, just combine the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another. Make a 'well' in the dry ingredient bowl and stir in the wet ingredients until thoroughly combined. Cover and leave in a warm place until mixture doubles in size. Cook as above.

sausage buns

This bread baking thing is turning out to be better than I had expected. Upon request, I tried making those sausage buns that you can see through the glass windows of a typical Asian bakery. Sometimes it's covered with some cheese (and dried parsley). Other times, they are just plain with a golden shiny top. 

Spiraling the dough is a little tricky at first, but the work process gets somewhat smoother towards the end. These were some of the first ones I made, from right to left. It's still not perfect, but it's getting there!

Now that I can make them at home, no bakery is going to get my pocket change on these again.

red beans

I saw the ads for Samsung Malaysia's mini-series, Wind Chimes in a Bakery before I left, but totally forgot all about it when I returned home. Well, until I saw Swee San's post the other night. But instead of reminding me to watch the series, I went to bake the red bean buns instead - which is probably much more important (haha). The smell of bread out of the oven is amazing and this is the reason why I try to bake bread at least once a week now.

I adapted the sweet tosca bread recipe from the Nordic Bakery Cookbook again since I got a delicious soft loaf from it last time. This time I made sure not to burn the top! Once I got the bread machine going, I tended to the pot of simmering red beans which is somewhat low maintenance. After the first prove, I divided the dough into 20 (un)equal pieces and scooped out the same quantity of red bean paste; 25 grams per bun. Shaping, wrapping, flattening and cutting the buns and into the oven at 28C for the second prove for 1 hour, whilst glazing with beaten egg 3 times at 20 minute intervals. With the last glaze, a sprinkle of black sesame seeds in the center before baking at 175C fan forced until golden brown all over. Yum.

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red bean paste     makes approximately 800g 

adapted from my old recipe which I adapted from Cooking Guide DS

250g red beans

150g raw sugar*

cold water, as required

Wash the red beans and soak in a bowl of cold water overnight. Drain beans and wash again.

Place beans in a small saucepan and top up with water. Bring to the boil and drain. Top up with more cold water and bring to the boil. Lower the heat to medium and let it boil/simmer for approximately 15 minutes. If the scum disturbs you, skim it off. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for another 15 minutes. The water should be just below the top layer of beans. Add the sugar and stir. The water should just be covering the top layer of beans and should be thickened. Simmer for a few minutes more, stirring consistently to avoid burning. 

Transfer mixture into a thermomix/food processor and process until smooth. Transfer into a bowl, allow to cool slightly and cling wrap, ensuring it touches the red bean paste to avoid it forming a dry layer. When completely cool, refrigerate or freeze for future use.

*Thinking it would be sufficient, I actually put 50g of sugar into the pot first. But after I processed it, it was lacking in flavour so I gradually added 100g more whilst it was still hot. The sugar amount, more or less is a personal taste. The original recipe uses a 1:1 ratio of beans and sugar. 

pizza night

We have pizza night every once and in a while at home. Pizza night meaning ordering pizza from the local joint on the phone and depending on the weather, walking or driving down to collect them. 

But hey, since we got a bread machine, might as well use that!

Instead of the usual flavours, I tried to recreate the pizza my aunt bought from a pub on Little Collins Street. Baby spinach, sliced mushrooms, ricotta and pineapple were scattered over the thin and crisp base and, I'm sure there were garlic and parmesan as well. Unfortunately, the one I made at home was quite bland compared to the one bought, but the flavours were rectified with Korean chilli flakes and a crack of sea salt for the mini spinach and ricotta pizza I was saving for later.

After two medium? and mini sized pizzas, there is still enough dough to make a couple more mini pizzas! I think I will try making a dessert pizza.