Red Bean Loaf

i have always loved red bean and ever since i started experimenting on bread, i yearned to bake my own loaf. i have bought some red bean paste from daiso even before cny and finally gotten a chance today, to experiment with hhb's milk loaf recipe!

but sigh, i guess i have to spend more time practicing on my rolling of dough in the swiss-roll style.. was quite upset with the 'looks' after i sliced the loaf, all the red bean paste has apparently 'sunk'.. while rolling the dough, i really have no idea on how to prevent the dough from 'shrinking'! i just can't get the hang of it and couldn't spread my red bean paste properly.. if only i could tape the four corners of the dough up! =P well, hope i can do a better job on my next attempt, perhaps without dividing the dough into 3 portions so that i can tighten up the 'swiss-roll' with more 'rolls' or could also try making them into small buns (like 'ah pan' buns)

apart from it's looks, this milk loaf really tastes wonderful. its light & fluffy.. not too sweet and suits my liking. i really want to give credit to hhb, who has managed to find this versatile recipe and shared it on her blog with all of us.

here's the photos & recipe;

the red bean paste i used

final proofing in pull-man tin
removed from oven after 30 minsunmould from tin
after slicing...

Ingredient
(original recipe from here)

143g fresh milk
35g egg
25g caster sugar
5g salt
250g bread flour
4g instant yeast
38g butter (unsalted)
200gm red bean paste

How I did it:

1. Cream together sugar, salt and butter using a large metal spoon
2. Add in the lightly beaten egg and mix well.
3. Then add the flour, yeast and followed by milk.
4. Stir the mixture by hand until dough forms a ball and remove from mixing bowl
5. Knead by hand until gluten is fully developed and the dough is elastic, smooth, non-sticky and can be stretch into a thin layer without tearing easily (it took me 30mins)
6. Let dough proof in room temperature in a mixing bowl, covered with cling wrap for 60mins
7. Remove dough and punch out the gas. Divide dough into 3 equal portion. Roll and shape into balls. Let the doughs rest and relax for 15 mins. (this 'relaxing' time is needed so that the dough will be easier to roll out and shaped)
8. On a lightly floured surface, flatten one dough and roll out into a longish shape. Roll up the dough swiss-roll style. Do the same for the two remaining doughs.
9. Flatten the rolled-up dough and roll out again into a long rectangular shape. Roll up tightly, and make as many rolls you can, spread red bean across the dough and roll up the swiss-roll style for the second time. Do the same for the two remaining doughs.
10. Place doughs in lightly greased bread tin/pan. Let the doughs proof for the second time, until it fills up 80% of the tin/pan. Cover with cling wrap.
11. Bake at pre-heated oven at 180 deg C for 30 mins.
12. Unmould the bread immediately when removed from the oven. Let cool completely before slicing.

Pineapple Tarts

I have spent my last weekend before cny, making pineapple tarts (my 4th cny item) and more kueh lapis for my family =D

Here's the recipe that i have adapted from florence's blog ;

Ingredients: (85 pieces)
Pastry
Plain Flour 340g
2 tbsp Icing sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Cold butter 200g
1 Egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
5 tsp ice cold water
1/2 tsp baking powder
1kg of pineapple paste (red man)

Egg glaze: Lightly beat 1 yolk with 1 tsp water

Method:
1. Lightly beat egg yolk with vanilla essence.
2. Sieve flour, baking powder and icing sugar into mixing bowl. Stir in salt and blend well.
3. Put all butter into flour mixture and cut up butter into small pieces with a knife in the flour.
4. Use rubbing-in method to rub in butter into the flour until it is bread crumbs like.
5. Add egg yolk and ice water into flour and use a spatula to blend well to form a dough.
6. Put dough into freezer bag and refrigerate for 1 hour. (Not in the ice-box)
7. Roll pineapple paste into small balls and refrigerate for 1 hour as well
8. Remove dough & pineapple paste from fridge and roll dough into equal sizes and stuff it with pineapple paste.
9. Egg wash and bake at 200C for 20mins or until the golden brown.



As i have used up 2kg of my pineapple paste, i used the remaining dough and made it into a 15cm tall gingerbreadman for my colleague adeline.. who craze abt it all the time.. haha =D

Here's some photos of my 2nd attempt of kueh lapis;

Corn Flakes Cookies

It's the first time i made two types of cookies in a day.. and could say it's indeed tiring! *Sweat* Well, this is the 3rd item i wanna try for cny this year. Recipe is adapted from Florence's blog.. could say its a very yummy cookie and i will add this to my list for next week's baking! It's not too sweet and suits my liking :) After rolling the 100 pcs of dough.. i am simply exhausted.. haha..
Corn Flakes Cookies
(Makes 100 pcs)

Ingredients:

220g butter (room temperature)
100gm caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla essence
150g cake flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
100g cornflakes (i put them into a plastic bag and 'smashed' them into small pieces)

Method:
1. Sieve flour together with baking powder and baking soda.
2. Cream butter with sugar and salt till creamy.
3. Add in the egg yolk and vanilla essence and cream till well combined.
4. Fold in the sieved flour mixture and cornflakes. Mix till you get a soft dough.
5. Divide dough into equal pieces and shape into small round balls.
6. Glaze with egg wash & Bake at 175C for 18 - 20 minutes or till golden brown.

Almond Cookies

I stumbled upon aunty yochanna's almond cookies recipe and decided to give it a try... hoping to get the right recipe for cny :) Although i already reduced the sugar content by 10%, i still find it too sweet. Perhaps will reduce to 100gm for my next attempt :) And i have add on butter to enhance the taste and replace vanillin powder with vanilla essence.. Hmmm.. its not those melt in the mouth type of almond cookies recipe that i have been hunting for, but tastes very light & crispy :) As my weighing scale can only measure 20gm minimum, i did not weigh the dough into 7gm each as per aunty yochanna's recipe.. and tried based on estimation to roll them into the same sizes.. it took me abt hour to roll the dough into 70 pcs..

Almond Cookies (makes 70 pieces) Ingredients:

150 gm. ground almonds
230 gm. plain flour
150 gm. caster sugar (used 120gm icing sugar)
1/4 tsp. vanillin powder (optional) (used vanilla essence)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. bicarbonate of soda

150 ml. cornoil or sunflower oil (used 75gm olive oil and 75gm butter)
1 egg yolk for glazing

Method:
1. Sieve flour, icing sugar, baking soda and baking powder together 3 times.
2. Add in the almond powder and mix well.
3. Make a well in the middle of the flour & almond mixture. Pour in the butter & oil mixture and mix till a dough is formed. If dough is too dry, add in corn oil by teaspoonful.
4. Roll the dough on a floured surface and roll into a small dough.
5. Glaze with egg wash and bake on a lined pan at 175C for 15 - 25 minutes or till colour is golden brown

Kueh Lapis

Hubby and I love kueh lapis and i yearned to bake one for our first cny.. but was always taken back by the skill level that i have.. haha.. but after thinking thru, indeed a journey of a thousand mile begins with a first step and i will never know if i can succeed unless i give it a shot isn't it? hehehe

With blessings, I managed to find a recipe online that yield lesser egg yolks (which was what i am looking for!) The layers are not very even & on the timing baked on each layer, it could have been more consistent. hope i will be able to improve on it next round =] It's a very rich and tasty cake. I am going to make some for my family and guests this cny!

Here's my recipe;

Kueh Lapis (Fit a 8 inch by 6 inch baking tin)

Ingredients:

250g butter at room temperature
120g caster sugar

10 egg yolks
1 tbsp rum
2 tbsp condensed milk

4 egg whites
30g sugar

66g cake flour
1/4 tsp baking powder

Method:

1) Preheat oven to 180C, line the baking tin with parchment paper and make sure it's nicely fitted.
2) Cream butter and sugar till creamy and pale in color (used mixer for this).
3) Add in egg yolks one by one, making sure that it's thoroughly combined before adding in the next egg yolk.
4) Add in rum, condense milk and mix thoroughly.
5) Whisk egg white till big bubbles are formed and add in sugar in 3 parts. Whisk till soft peak.
6) Fold in egg white into the butter mixture, alternating with the flour (sieved with baking powder). 7) Using only the top heat of your oven, grill empty baking tin for 1 minute, remove from oven and spoon the batter using a ladle into the tin. Spread evenly and grill for about 5-8mins or till brown. Repeat this layer by layer till finish. 8) For the final layer, bake the cake using top & bottom heat for 15 minutes.
9) Remove from oven, un-mould the cake immediately and leave to cool on wire rack.
10) Slice and serve.

Nutella Loaf

Its another attempt on bread again! hee - it could quite addictive.. to knead.. to feel the change in texture of the dough.. and then to see it rise, the outcome is very satisfying =)

Using the same recipe as sweet corn loaf, here's the final product! I actually wanted to twist it but i have some difficulty doing so.. and after the 'rise' in the oven, the appearance of my nutella twist loaf look quite ordinary.. will try to master the technique of better rolling & twisting on my next few attempts, haha. Putting looks aside, it tastes really great!! believe this recipe is definitely a keeper! Yumz yumzz =)

After 20 mins in the oven

Sweet Corn Loaf & Buns

Kneading can really destress! Could say it's much better then the 'destress buns' selling at action city! Grinz~

While looking thru my kitchen cupboard, there is still a pack of corns in stock! and i gotten the idea to make some corn buns (for my colleagues tomorrow) as well as a loaf (for me & hubby) for breakfast!

It's my first attempt baking a loaf of bread.. and by using the 'pullman-tin' that i have bought from phoon-huat.. i am quite excited about it. (i was wondering when and why i need to cover the tin... and only to realized i have to cover it before placing into oven in order to produce a square loaf instead of a bloomed loaf of bread.. got reminded of the old kopitiam days.. when such tins were placed into those big big ovens.. hehehe)

Using the same recipe as ytd (i have doubled the recipe's portion to make the loaf and buns), just that i fold in the corn after the final proofing...I must say, it's such an encouraging bake! My heart is filled with much delight when i saw the final product :)

Corn Loaf
(same recipe as ytd, fit a 7.5 inch x 4.5 inch pullman-tin) I have also extended the baking time to 40mins

Glazed with egg mixture

After 40 mins in the oven

Removed from pullman-tin immediately

After cooled & flipped over

Can't resist the temptation to slice it!!

Corn buns
(same recipe as ytd, but using a rectangle tray & some muffin cups)

Removed from oven

'tau-sa-pia' ?? they are corn buns i placed on muffin cups! haha
a little handbag for u? haha

My First Sweet Buns!!! =D

Happie New Year to everyone! May all reap folds of fruitfulness in this blessed year ahead and all the best days in 2008 shall be the worst for 2009!!!

I am overjoyed with my first beautiful achievement in 2009!! My first sweet buns!!

I adapted the recipe from hhb's blog.. which was linked to this web ; as there is a statement from step 1 saying that "Remember separate the yeast from salt and sugar to avoid the dehydration" ... i thought for quite awhile of how to get it done. And finally decided to mix the sugar, salt together with butter & egg first before adding on the dry ingredients.. and also hand-kneaded the dough instead of using the electric mixer.. hee it was a great success!! hubby has swept off half the buns within minutes! and started to give me all sorts of ideas.. to add on cheese, sausages, ham, cranberries, red bean, chocolate etc in my future attempts...which i will certainly try them out with the milk loaf recipe =D

Here are the photos & recipe!

Ingredients:
(makes into 20 buns that fit exactly onto a 20 inch round tray)

150g bread flour
150g cake flour
5g instant yeast (1 and 1/4 teaspoon)

3g salt (1/2 heap teaspoon)
60g caster sugar
50g butter

125g milk (used HL milk)
1 egg (lightly beaten)

(1 egg, beaten for glazing & some olive oil for mixing bowl & baking tray)

Method:

1. Cream together sugar, salt and butter using a large metal spoon.
2. Add in the lightly beaten egg and mix well.
3. Then add the flour, yeast and followed by milk.
4. Stir the mixture by hand until dough forms a ball and remove from mixing bowl
5. Knead by hand until gluten is fully developed and the dough is elastic, smooth, non-sticky and can be stretch into a thin layer without tearing easily (it took me 30mins)

First Proofing
6. Place the silky and supple dough onto a glass or ceramic mixing bowl (i have lightly coated the bowl with olive oil) Cover with plastic wrap, topped with a damp towel to retain moisture and allow the dough to ferment until double in bulk (it took me an hr)

2nd Proofing
7. Take out the dough and press out the gas produced during the proof. Let it rest for about 15 minutes. Roll out the dough to a thickness of 2cm. Divide the dough into small pieces. Try to divide the dough as even as possible, so that the bread won't come out some part burnt while other part are not even cooked.

Final Proofing
8. Arrange them in your baking tray (lightly coated with olive oil), let it rest again for about 15 mins (be sure to cover with plastic wrap, topped with damp towel as well)

9. Brush the top with whole egg mixture
10. Preheat an oven to 190C. Bake for about 15 mins. If desired, dip the bread with maple syrup, condensed milk, or chocolate sauce, or simply just with milk. (for me, i ate it with strawberries! hee)

final round of proofing!

Its almost done!!!Removed the 'Mask' !

Glazed with egg mixture
Removed from the oven!

Season's Greetings! (lady's kisses / x'mas cookies / banana & choc muffins / konnyaku jellies)

Wow! Its a pre-x'mas tea party tml and everyone is supposed to bring an item each.. =) i m bringing pastries and konnyaku jellies! =D

Lady's Kisses (almond cookies sandwiched with nutella)
Comparing to my previous attempt, i have used caster sugar & ground almond powder!

Xmas's Cookies

Ingredients: (makes about 36 pieces)
100g butter, softened at room temperature
80g caster sugar
1 egg yolk
180g cake flour
20g corn flour

Method:

1. Sift cake flour and corn flour together and set aside. Line baking tray with parchment paper, set aside.
2. With an electric mixer, add in sugar to the butter in 2 ~3 additions and cream till the mixture turns pale and fluffy.
3. Add in egg yolk and mix well.
4. Add sifted flour mixture in 2 ~ 3 additions, stir with a spatula to form a soft dough.
5. Place dough in a plastic bag and flatten with rolling pin.
6. Refrigerate the dough for about half an hour.
7. Remove dough from fridge. Roll out dough on slightly floured work surface and cut out with slightly floured cookie cutters. If the dough appears to be a little to hard and breaks into pieces while rolling, leave it at room temperature for a few minutes. The dough will soften up and can be rolled easily.
8. Bake at pre-heated oven at 175 degC for 15 ~ 20mins.
9. Let cool and store in air-tight container.

(Recipe adapted from Happy Homebaker's blog)

Banana & Chocolate Muffins

Ingredients: (makes 16 muffins)
275g plain flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large bananas, about 450g
100g brown sugar (original recipe calls for 125g brown caster sugar)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
50ml semi-skimmed milk (I used low fat fresh milk)
75g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
50g chocolate chips

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180degC (350 degF). Line muffin pans with paper muffin cases.
2. Sieve together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a mixing bowl. Mix in the chocolate chips. Set aside.
3. Peel the bananas and mash with a fork in a bowl. Add in brown sugar, egg, milk and melted butter. Mix until well combined.
4. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients. With a wooden spoon or a spatula, gently fold all the ingredients to form a wet batter. Stir gently, using only a few strokes and mix until the flour are incorporate into the batter. DO NOT Over mix. The batter should appear lumpy.
5. Spoon batter into paper muffin cases. Bake for 20mins until muffins turn golden brown or a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
6. Let cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or cold.

Konnyaku Jelly

Ingredients: (makes 32 jellies)
250gm of Red Man Konnyaku Powder
1 teaspoon of Red Man Kiwi Seeds
1 can of Longans
1250ml of water
Jelly moulds

1. Soak kiwi seeds in water for 20mins, remove floating seeds and husks.
   
2. Pour the Konnyaku Powder and Kiwi seeds into water gradually and stir till boiling.
3. Turn off the flame and keep stirring for about 5 minutes, till the bubble dissipates and the Konnyaku Jelly solution becomes clear.
4. put the pieces of fruits in the moulds, then pour the Konnyaku solution into the moulds for 3 times, every time pour 1/3 of the mould.
5. Chill to set the moulded Jelly solution in the refrigerator for 3 hours before serve.

All ready for tml's party!!