Pandan Kaya Bread

This is one lovely loaf of bread that I baked for breakfast last week.
The aroma of the bread filled the kitchen while it was baking in the oven.

Original recipe was adapted from Alex Goh's The World Of Bread. I did some changes to the recipe though.

Recipe :
Those highlighted in red are what I've made changes to.

(A)
300g Bread flour
2 Tsp Instant yeast
45g Sugar (50g Gula Melaka)
1/2 Tsp salt (Omitted)
1/2 Tbsp Milk powder

(B)
30g Egg
60ml Coconut milk (60ml Whipping cream)
1/2 Tbsp Pandan juice
Few drops green colouring (1/2 Tbsp + 105ml Pandan juice, colour omitted)
105ml Water

(C)
20g Shortening (20g Butter)

(D)
130g Raisins (Omitted)

Topping :

30g Butter
30g Sugar (30g Gula Melaka)
60g Plain flour

Mix (A) till well blended. Add (B), mix to form a dough. Add (C), mix well till well blended. Let it ferment for 50-60 mins.

Mix butter & sugar of the topping ingredients till well combined, then add the plain flour & mix to form a crumb. Keep refrigerated.

Divide dough into 15g pieces & mould into balls. Place half the dough balls in a greased loaf tin (L20cm X W10cm X H8.5cm), then put with the remaining dough balls on top of them.

Leave to rise for 45mins, brush with egg wash & sprinkle with topping.

Bake at preheated oven of 175C for 25-30 mins.

* The loaf turned out to be darker as I've used Gula Melaka in place of the sugar. I've replaced the coconut milk with cream as I didn't have any. I thought raisins don't go with pandan so I omitted them. The loaf was not sweet but the aroma was fantastic, we loved the topping part, very crusty while still warm !

Swiss Brown

This is our favourite bread for now.

It's chewy, doughy & I just love the aroma, so floury.

As home-made bread don't keep well in our extremely hot & humid climate, I usually baked 2 loaves & freeze the other for next meal. The only complain I have is that the crust goes soft after it has cooled. So sometimes I pop it into the oven of 120C to heat up for 5 - 7 mins before serving.

Recipe :
Yields 2 loaves

500g Bread flour
8g Instant dry yeast
15g Sugar
10g Salt
310g Cold water
15g Shortening

With an electric mixer & dough hook at low speed, blend the ingredients together for 1 min. Increase speed to medium & mix for another 12 - 15 mins until dough if fully developed.

Transfer the dough onto a flour-dusted work surface & round up the dough with both hands. Place the dough into a large bowl & let it rise in a warm place for 1 hour until the dough doubles in size.

Punch the dough down & divide it into 2 pcs, each about 425g. Round up the dough & roll it into a baton shape. Place dough on a baking tray that's been lined with baking paper.

Prove the dough in a warm place for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 230C. After dough has risen, bake with a tray of water to generate steam for 10 mins. Remove the water & continue to bake for 10 mins or until the bread is golden brown.


* I replaced the shortening with butter. This is a very sticky bread dough. It helps to oil your hands when handling the dough.

Maple Bread

I've always like pure maple syrup, for it's pure flavour & aroma. The syrup we get in KK is usually artificially flavoured & too sweet. Even if there's pure maple syrup, it'll be over-priced.

My brother-in-law was holidaying in Canada two months ago, so finally I got hold of my supply of maple syrup.

I've got this recipe of maple bread from a Taiwanese website quite some time ago. I've tried it before with my limited supply of maple syrup in the past. Now that I've got more, I baked it again last week.

It's sugar free, so flavourful ........

Ingredients :

325g High protein flour
12g Milk powder (I've used Fernleaf)
149g Milk
32g Egg
71g Maple syrup
39g Unsalted butter
3g Instant yeast
5g Salt

In a mixer bowl fitted with a dough hook & on low speed, blend all ingredients, except butter, till well combined. Add butter, turn speed to medium, continue mixing till the dough is smooth & elastic. Round up dough, let rise in a warm place for an hour or until it doubles in size.

After it has risen, punch the dough down. Roll it into rectangle with a rollling pin, roll up tightly & place it into a greased loaf pan. Let rise again for about 45 mins.

Bake in a preheated oven of 190C for 35-40 mins or until top is brown & cooked.

Japanese Sponge Cake (Kasutera)

I recalled many months ago I was trying out recipe after recipe to get the perfect honey cake that's so popular in Taiwan. Their version is baked in a wooden frame, so aromatic, with the addition of their famous Longan honey.

Many of their recipes use SP cake emulsifier, which is supposed to help shorten the whipping time & increase the shape stability for the batter. This is a no-no for me, thats why my honey cake always end up with different texture. Few weeks ago, while I was browsing through my recipe books on Japanese cooking, I found a sponge cake recipe using honey.

This recipe uses no oil, quite similar to the Taiwanese version so I decided to give it a try.

Ingredients :

5 Large eggs
150g Caster sugar
60ml Honey
3/4 tsp Baking powder
90g Plain flour

Grease & flour a 9" square cake tin. Preheat oven to 180C.

In a mixer bowl, beat the eggs until frothy, then gradually beat in the sugar & honey. Continue beating until the mixture is thick & pale & the beaters leave a ribbon trail, about 12 mins.

Sift the baking powder & flour together, then sift them into the bowl.

Gently fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until just combined, then carefully pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin.

Bake for 30 mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Unmould the cake, transfer to a wire rack & leave to cool completely.

* This cake will shrink upon cooling. I'm not sure if it's meant to be this way. Just cut the sides away like I did, u still get to enjoy your honey sponge ! This is a very delicate batter, so be gently when folding in the flour.
This is a very light & aromatic honey sponge cake. I baked it 4 days in a row on that week after I succeeded in the first attempt.

Orange Butter Cake

This orange butter cake was baked 2 Sundays ago when I suddenly had a craving for butter cake, which is so high in fat, but who cares ? Cravings won !

This recipe was given to me by a friend long time ago. I scribbled it on a piece of paper & have kept the recipe since then. So finally I decided to give this recipe a try.

Ingredients :

225g Butter
225g Sugar (reduced from 300g) *
4 Eggs, seperated
275g Flour, sifted
1 tsp Baking powder
Juice & rind from 2 large oranges

Beat butter, sugar & orange rind until light & fluffy. Beat in egg yolks, one at a time. Add flour to the mixture in batches on low speed, alternatively with the orange juice.
In a seperate bowl, beat egg white with a pinch of tartar till foamy, add 2 Tbsp of sugar & continue beating till firm, fold it into the batter. When the mixture is well combined, pour it onto a greased & lined 9" square pan, bake in preheated oven of 180C for 40mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

* I've used 200g of the sugar when beating with the butter, the remaining sugar was used to beat the egg whites. This cake has a great orange flavour, When I sliced the cake after it has cooled down, I noticed that there seemed to be of 2 different shade on it & the texture wasn't really fantastic. However, the cake turned out to be moister the next day ! This cake is not a fluffy type, more to the denser type with tiny 'holes' but moist enough. To me, this recipe is worth keeping, anytime I have a craving for orange butter again :)

Mocha Chiffon Cake

Each time I have a craving for cakes & lazy to go through the hassle of frosting a cake, I'll turn to chiffon cake. Light, fluffy & so easy to make, it can be done in less than an hour.
This time, I added some instant coffee granules to my chocolate chiffon cake batter to turn it into a mocha flavoured one.

Ingredients :
A

42g Plain flour
12g Cocoa powder
3g Baking powder
36g Sunflower/canola oil
5g Cornflour
42g Milk
15g Caster sugar
3 Egg yolks
2 tsp instant coffee granules, dissolved in 1 tsp hot water

Ingredients :
B

3 Egg whites
50g Caster sugar
Pinch of tartar

Combine all of ingredients A in a large bowl, stir till smooth & lump free.
In a seperate dry, clean bowl, beat egg whites till foamy, add tartar & caster sugar. Continue beating till the mixture is thick & glossy.

Fold half the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture to lighten it, then fold the egg yolk mixture back to the egg white mixture, until well combined.

Pour batter into a 18cm tube pan. Bake in a preheated oven of 160C for 35 mins.

Once the cake is done, invert the pan & let the cake cool completely.

* Like my other chiffon cakes, this is baked in a table top oven. I noticed that the heat circulate faster so 160C is good enough, but with a built-in oven, the temperature should be 180C. But of course the temperature should be adjusted according to individual's oven.

Milk & Cheese Loaf

Easter break is over & school's starting. No more lazing around, time to get back to the usual routine. Bread making is one of them, for the most important meal of the day, our breakfast !

Tried a new bread recipe today, a milk & cheese loaf. This is supposed to be a plait but I couldn't cope with the braiding so I gave up & make it into a loaf instead.

The recipe is from Don Yong's Bread Winners :

Ingredients :

500g Bread flour
75g Milk powder
8g Bread improver *
4g Instant yeast
70g Sugar
9g Salt
310g Water
40g Butter

Topping :

Cheddar cheese (grated)

With an electric mixer & dough hook, mix the dry ingredients for 1 min on low speed. Add water & mix on low speed for another min. Increase to medium speed to develop the dough for 3 mins & add the butter. Continue mixing for 10 mins until the dough is fully developed.

Round up dough & place into an airtight container to rise in a warm place for 1 hr until the dough is double in bulk. Divide dough into 50g pcs. Round up the dough & leave for 10 mins.

To braid a loaf, roll out 4 pcs of dough into 20-cm long strips. The strips should be thinner on the ends & thicker in the middle. Place the 4 strips with the tips at one end touching. Weave the strips together to form a braid. This is done by weaving strip 2 over strip 3, strip 4 over strip 2 & strip 1 over strip 3. This is repeated until the braid is completed.

Prove the braid in a warm palce for about 1 hr. brush beaten egg over the surface & sprinkle cheddar cheese over it. Bake in a preheated oven of 190C for 20-25 mins.


* As usual I left out the bread improver. This bread is so aromatic, so milky tasting due to the high content of milk powder in it. The texture of the bread is very chewy too. Besides the cheddar cheese, I also sprinkled some sugar on the top before baking. Verdict from the girls : so yummy ! They've always like bread with cheese so this is a sure winner, packed with milk & cheese, perfect for their breakfast tomorrow morning.
Oh, I've shaped the dough into 2 logs, baked them for 21 mins.

Ciabatta

We had dinner last week at TATU & hubby commented that he loved the bread there & I should make my blommers into little buns & freeze them.

The bread he had looked like ciabatta (pronounced cha-BAHT-ta) to me. This is one bread that I've always wanted to make but have been putting it off because I know this bread dough is not easy to handle, sticky & soft !
So I'm always in a 'to-do or not-to-do' situation. Yesterday, since I was wondering what bread to make, I decided to give ciabatta a try !

The recipe was adpated from Don Yong's Bread Winners :

Ingredients :

500g Bread flour
10g Malt flour *
8g Bread improver *
10g Salt
360g Cold water
10g Olive oil

With an electric mixer & dough hook on low speed, blend the dry ingredients for 1 min. Add water & continue mixing on low speed for 2 mins. Add olive oil & mix on medium speed for 12-15 mins until the dough is fully developed.

Transfer the dough onto alour-dusted work syrface & round up dough with both hands. Place the dough into an oiled plastic container. leave it to rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours until dough is double in bulk.

Remove & place the dough on a flour-dusted work surface. Divide into 3 pcs at 300g each. Dust the dough pcs with flour & gently stretch them lengthwise before placing on a paper-lined tray. prove in a warm, humid place for 20 mins.

Preheat the oven to 230C. Bake with a try of water to generate steam for the first 10 mins of baking time. Open the door of the oven & remove any water remaining. reduce the temperature to 210C & bake for another 15 mins.

* As usual I've omitted the bread improver & malt flour (I don't have it ). This bread dough is indeed very sticky. I even had to oil my hands to make handling easier as I do not want to keep on adding flour to the dough. It's tough for me to shape & stretch the dough gently as the dough keeps getting stuck to my fingers. I still ended up with 3 lengthy pcs of dough but the shape were ugly ! The pc that you see in this post is the most presentable of all (haha !!)
I find my ciabatta on a denser side & not really the porous texture. It was chewy & I liked the flavour of yeast & flour. Wonder when my ciabatta will turn out to be with nice big open crumb ??

Pumpkin Muffins

Oh dear I've been so busy lately, just realized it has been more than 10 days since I last posted !

I've been trying to clear my freezer last week & have not been doing marketing since then. I've thrown away little containers of sauces that I've frozen for later use, since I won't be cooking for a while. There's still 2 containers of pumpkin puree in my freezer, one portion I've made some pumpkin & honey buns , another portion for the pumpkin muffins I'm posting now.

This is the link to the original recipe, from a Hong Kong blog & it's in Mandarin.
I've translated the recipe :

Ingredients :

110g Butter
60g Sugar
2 Eggs
20g Honey
150g Pumpkin puree
90g Flour
30g High protein flour
6g Baking powder
60g Sultanas

Cream butter & sugar until light & fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time & continue beating until smooth. Add honey & pumpkin puree to the mixture, mix until well combined. Add sifted flours & baking powder into the mixture, fold through. Lastly, add sultanas.

Fill muffin cups till 2/3 full, bake in preheated oven of 180C for 20-25 mins.

Easy Blueberry & Apple Bread

I couldn't get enough of apples these few days.

Yesterday, I was trying out a new recipe for an apple cake which looks so light & yummy in the book. However, it was a huge flop, I don't know if it was the recipe or my fault ! I'll give it a try again in a few day's time.
By the time I finished with the experiment, it was 4pm & I started to panic. Why ? Because there's no breakfast for the next day. Apples came to my mind again, so I thought of my Irish soda bread.

This is a very easy food processor recipe which I use quite often when I don't have time to make anything for breakfast.

Ingredients :

2 Cups flour
4 Tbsp Sugar
1/8 Tsp Salt
3/4 Tsp Baking soda
1 1/2 Tsp Baking powder
45g Butter
1 Cup Milk
125g Blueberries*
1 Apple, thinly sliced

In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder & process till well combined. Add butter & process till the mixture resemble breadcrumbs. Add milk to the mixture, process again until the smooth batter forms. Lastly, fold the blueberries & the sliced apples into the batter, leaving some apple slices for arranging on the top. Sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on the top of the apples. Bake at preheated oven of 170C, on the lower rack, for about 50 - 55 mins. I've used a 8x3" loaf pan.

*Bluberries can be replaced with sultanas or dried cranberries.

Black Sesame Chiffon Cake

I always feel lazy at the end of the year due to the cool weather.

But I can't be lazing around the whole day doing nothing. Besides my usual baking schedule, I still spend time baking for ourselves.
But the past week, I've been making double batch of bread to last us for 2 days since I'm left with little time. Yesterday, my buns that were supposed to be for 2 days were all gone so I've to look for a simple recipe for today's breakfast. I settled on chiffon cake, a black sesame version, which does not require long hours.

Ingredients :

85g Flour
8g Cornflour
5g Baking powder
20g Sugar
60g Canola Oil
60g Milk
18g Ground black sesame
5g Roasted black sesame seeds (optional)
5 Egg yolks


5 Egg whites
95g Sugar
Pinch cream of tartar

In a large bowl, combine flour, cornflour, baking powder, sugar, canola oil, milk, ground sesame, sesame seeds (if using) & egg yolks. Stir until smooth & set aside.

In a seperate bowl, beat the egg whites with cream of tartar till soft peaks form, add sugar gradually, beat until firm & glossy.
Fold half the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture to lighten it. Fold the egg yolk mixture back to the egg white mixture until well combined. Pour batter into a 22 cm ungreased tube pan, bake in preheated oven of 160C for 45 mins, until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Once the cake is done, invert the pan & let the cake cool. Run a spatula along the side of the pan to loosen the cake once it is cool.

* I've only used 4 eggs this time as I do not want a very tall cake. The baking time will be reduced by about 5 mins.

Cempedak Muffins

I have a sudden craving for cempedak on Tuesday so was driving around KK looking for it.
I started with Tun Fuad Park after my morning run then off to Foh Sang, no luck with either place & I was told that cempedak is not in season now. I didn't give up & moved on to the Central KK Market & guess what ? I saw a lady unpacking a huge baket full of cempedak.
I chose the smallest one which weighed 2kg, paid her & happily went home.
I didn't tell hubby that I bought a cempedak so when he came home for lunch on Tuesday afternoon, he was asking me about the strong smell in the kitchen. That goes to show that I've not buy any cempedak for a long long time !

To avoid the sticky white sap on my hands, I got Tina to cut the cempedak & removed the seeds. Well, the cempedak that I got was the light yellow type, nothing compared to the gorgeous deep orange type that Terri had !

I always make my cempedak into muffins instead of loaf cake as I like having coffee with little cakes in pretty cases. This recipe was originally a durian butter cake but I've made some changes to make it into cempedak muffins.

This recipe yields 15 standard muffins
Ingredients :

180g butter
120g Caster sugar *
4 Eggs, seperated
150g Pureed cempedak flesh
50g Cempedak flesh, roughly chopped *
180g Self-raising flour
1/2 Tsp Baking powder *
2 Tbsp Milk *

Line muffin tray with paper cases & set aside. Cream butter & caster sugar until light & fluffy. Beat in egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add cempedak & beat until well blended. Fold in flour & stir in milk. Whisk egg whites in a seperate bowl until stiff. Fold into egg yolk mixture until well combined. Fill each paper lined muffin hole to 3/4 full, bake in a preheated oven of 180C for 22-25 mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. I love the aroma of freshly baked cempedak muffins, couldn't resist it, popped one into my mouth shortly after they were out of the oven !

* The original recipe calls for 150g but I've reduced it to 120g. I'll always reduce the sugar content of a recipe by 20% when I bake. I've added extra 50g of roughly chopped cempedak for the bite in the muffin because you get only the smell after pureeing them. Be sure to scrap the pureed cempedak from the beater of the mixer as they get stuck to it due to the stringy nature.
I've also added 1/2 tsp of baking powder to the flour mixture for the muffins to be fluffier. From previous experiences of baking these muffins, I find that 2 Tbsp of milk is not sufficient, so I've added I think another 1-2 Tbsp of it, I didn't measure juz add until the consistency is right.

Please bear with me for the 'lousy' pics that I took as I'm not a good photographer !

Bloomers Again !

A friend, Y, has expressed her interest in bread making today. I'm glad to have found a 'kaki' in bread making. I'm really into bread making, it's so fun watching those bread dough rise. Once you're into it, you can make the same dough into other flavour with different filling, it's so versatile ! I've baked 2 loaves of bloomers again, studded them with dried cranberries (over-studded in fact !) I love making bread with all kinds of dried fruits, they are so yummy, be it cranberries, apricots, figs, sultanas, the list just goes on........ The bloomers today is definitely better than the last time, practise does shape better loaves !



This is a piece of pandan swissroll we had for breakfast today. Pandan spomge made from pure pandan juice & the filling is made with pandan juice too, it's called pandan kaya, no eggs though but it does contain coconut milk, the texture is quite similar to lemon curd. It's actually my Pandan Layer Cake made into a swissroll.

Blueberry Pancakes

These blueberry pancakes are so fluffy, they are good even on their own, without butter or maple syrup. I chanced upon this pancake recipe while surfing the net one day. It has become our favourite pancake recipe since then. The seperation of the egg yolk & white made the pancakes really light & fluffy.
I like my pancakes thick so instead of 12 pcs, this recipe only gives me 10 pcs. Blueberries are only cheap in summer, other time I just use bananas with a dash of pure vanilla. I think apple might be good too, with cinnamon.

Bluberry Chiffon Cake

After drooling at the yummy bakes Mandy had at her blog, I decided I should bake ourselves a blueberry cake too ! Since I still have frozen blueberries in my freezer, I settled on a cake that's on the lighter side, a blueberry chiffon cake.
This chiffon cake recipe is adapted from a Taiwanese blog.

Ingredients :

95g Flour
8g Corn flour
5g Baking powder
20g Sugar
60g Olive oil
60g Milk
5 Egg yolks

5 Egg whites
3g Cream of tartar
95g Sugar

In a large bowl, combine flour, corn flour, baking powder & sugar, add olive oil, milk & egg yolks, stir until smooth, set aside.

In a clean dry bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks form, add sugar gradually, continue to beat until firm & glossy.

Fold half of the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture to lighten it. Fold the egg yolk mixture back into the egg white mixture until well combined. Pour batter into a 22cm tube pan, bake at preheated oven of 160C, bake for 40-45 mins. Once cake is done, invert the pan & let the cake cool down. Run a spatula through the side of the pan to loosen the cake.

* I found the taste of olive oil too strong, so I changed it to canola oil & added 1 tsp of vanilla essence. I've added 100g of blueberries into the batter, fold them in before baking.

Pumpkin Bread

This pumpkin bread is so tender & moist, full of all the goodness that pumpkin has to offer. I like baking with pumpkin, the natural colour of the pumpkin is so pretty & bright.
This recipe is adapted from Celebrity Chefs' Cookbooks, Don Yong's Bread Winners. I remembered buying this book few years ago as a Christmas present for myself because it was then that I discovered that I can bake !!

Ingredients :

500g Bread flour
20g Milk powder
8g Bread improver *
14g Instant dry yeast
110g Sugar
8g Salt
2g Mixed spice
450g Pumpkin paste
100g Eggs (without shell)
70g Cold water
100g Shortening *

With an electric mixer on dough hook & low speed, blend the dry ingredients together for 1 min. Add 150g of pumpkin paste, eggs & water, mix on low speed for another min. Add shortening & mix on medium speed until dough is fully developed. Let rise for 1 hour until the dough doubles in bulk.

Punch dough down, divide the dough into 3 pcs, each 350g & mould round, leave for 10 mins. With a rolling pin, flatten each dough into a sheet 30-cm wide, spread remaining pumpkin paste onto each dough equally, roll the dough up like a swiss roll. Stretch the roll slightly & fold in half, give the roll 2 or 3 twists & place into a tin.

Prove the dough in a warm place for 1 hr or until doubles in bulk. Bake in preheated oven on 200C for 25 mins.

* As usual, I left out the bread improver & changed the shortening to butter. I halved the recipe to make only one loaf. The pumpkin paste can be easily prepared by steaming pumkin & mashed with some sugar until it forms a paste that is easy to spread (add sugar according to your taste).
I find the temperature of 200C too high, I've reduced it to 190C & the bread is done in 20 mins.

Hokkaido Milk Loaf (北海道牛奶土司）

These loaves are baked today, at 3pm

The texture of the bread, so soft I was pulling it like shreds of cotton wool !

These loaves were baked yesterday afternoon


We had Hokkaido milk loaf (北海道牛奶土司）for breakfast this morning & as we couldn't get enough of these wonderful loaves, I baked some again this afternoon for tomorrow's breakfast ! I found this wonderful bread recipe in a Taiwanese blog quite some time ago & fell in love with this tang zhong (汤种） bread. The characteristic of this method of making bread yields soft & cottony bread, no softener is used. The original recipe is in Mandarin, such a long recipe to type in hanyu pinyin so here's the link to the recipe !

I'm seriously not good in shaping my loaves, I made double recipe yesterday, we had 2 loaves, the other loaf I gave it to a friend. Today it's only 1.5x recipe but I made them into smaller loaves in 1 pan, still not very happy with the shapes !

Hubby & the girls like to have the bread with butter & preserves but I prefer it plain, with a cup of coffee for my breakfast...........

Whole Wheat Pretzels

The girls have been bugging me to let them make some whole wheat pretzels in their " My A to Z Recipe Box" that I got for them from Borders in February. The recipes in the box are very simple, kids friendly but still an adult's help is required, after all they are just few year old kids !
Our pretzels didn't quite looked liked pretzels, I was hoping for something like our favourite Aunty Anne's Pretzels ! Sad to say, I've never done well in my Arts class in school, always just managed to pass with a 'D', so our pretzels turned out like I don't know what, I'm not telling who made which among the three of us !!!!
In case anyone might be interested in some dough twisting during the weekends or holidays with their kids, this is an easy recipe to try :

1 1/2 cups Flour
1 tsp Salt
11g Instant yeast
1 1/2 cups Milk
1/4 cup Brown sugar
2 cups Whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp Oil

Milk for brushing pretzels
Course salt, sesame or sunflower seeds

In a large bowl, combine flour, salt & yeast, mix well.

In a pot, heat milk, brown sugar & oil, heat gently until warm (not hot)

Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture & beat with the electric mixer for 3 mins, then add the whole wheat flour & mix well.

Shape the dough into a ball, cover & let rise for 1 hr.
Punch dough down, pull a handful of the dough & roll it into a long snake. Twist the snake & tie in into any shape you like. Place pretzels on baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Brush each pretzel with milk & sprinkle with coarse salt, sesame seeds or sunflower seeds. Bake in preheated 475 F for 20 mins.

* I halved the recipe & made 8 pretzels, each pretzel weighing 50g. The pretzels are not as crusty as those found in shops, I've tried one, it's quite chewy though. I sprinkled the top with cinnamon sugar instead of salt, the pretzels are baked in 220 degree & they are cooked in 12 mins.

Brioche

While the chicken soup is cooking, I started browsing through my recipes for tomorrow's breakfast. The cool weather gave me a good excuse to want to indulge in something fattening, haha....... BRIOCHE
The French make their bread either so crusty without fat or so rich & buttery, I'm into both cos" I'm a great carbo fan, hubby will freak out if he knows about the butter content in this bun !

Ingredients :
400g High protein flour
11g Instant dry yeast
60g Sugar
6g Salt
8g Milk powder
200g Eggs (without shell)
70g Cold water
140g Butter, softened

With an electric mixer on dough hook at low speed, blend the dry ingredients for 1 min. Add eggs & water, continue mixing on low speed for another min. Continue mixing on medium speed for 5 mins. Add softened butter & mix for another 10 mins until dough is fully developed.
Let rise in a warm place for 1hr or until dough doubles in bulk.
Divide the dough into 14 pcs at 60g each & another 14 pcs at 10g each. Mould the pcs into smooth round balls, transfer the large balls into brioche moulds. Use your forefingers to make an indentation in the centre of the large balls & immediately place the small balls on top, press the small ball down into the larger ball to secure the pcs together. Prove in a warm place for 30mins.
Brush the tops with beaten egg. Place the moulds on abaking tray & bake in a preheated oven of 190 degrees for 15-20 mins until glossy & golden.

* The original recipe calls for 1 hr of second proving but in our hot weather, 30 mins is enough. I don't have brioche moulds so I've used the normal tart moulds. I turned the oven temperature down to 180 degrees after 7 mins of baking cos' the colour has already started to turn a golden brown & it took 15 mins to bake the buns. The kitchen was filled with the fantastic buttery aroma, can't help it I ate one just 5 mins out of the oven even though I'm supposed to wait for the buns to cool down first ! Ummmm, so soft & fluffy..........

Blueberry Bagels

The bagels that had just been shaped, ready for proving

After proving, cooking in the sugar syrup

After the sugar syrup bath, ready to be sent into the oven


I was thinking of what to make for breakfast for tomorrow morning, bagels crossed my mind & I still have few packets of frozen bluberries in my freezer, so went ahead with the preparation after we sent the girls to church.

Ingredients :

500g High protein flour
6g Instant dry instant
40g Caster sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
190g Milk
100g Frozen bluberries
10g Butter

Mix all ingredients except butter in a mixing bowl fitted with a dough hook until well combined.
Add butter, continue to mix on medium speed for about 15 mins till smooth (the dough will be dry). Let prove in awarm place for 1hr. Divide dough into 8 pcs, about 105g each, round each dough pc firmly into a ball & place the dough pcs onto a baking trey lined with greasepfoor paper, let them rest in the fridge for 20 mins.
Remove from fridge, make a hole in each ball, like a doughnut , about the width of 3 fingers. Let the dough pcs prove in a warm place for 30 mins. In the meantime prepare sugar syrup with 750g of water & 40g of sugar, bring to boil. I've used my large non-stick pan to do it. After proving, place bagels into the sugar syrup, cook for a min on each side, remove with a slotted spoon, drain on ktchen towel. Place bagels onto baking tray again, brush with egg wash, bake in a preheated oven of 180 degrees for 20 mins.

* When I made the hole on the bagel, I've forgotten about the 3 fingers width, so have only used my thumb, after proving the hole had almost disappeared that's why the bagel looked not quite a bagel, sigh......... after placing the bagel into the sugar syrup, it turned wrinkled, like what Terri had mentioned ! It did smoothen out a little but still slightly wrinkled if you take a closer look. And I've forgotten to eggwash the bagel so it turned out slightly pale. What happened to me today, seemed to be lost......... nevertheless it turned out to be nice & chewy ! This is my second attempt, the third time I'll remember to make the hole for the bagel bigger & to eggwash before baking !