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Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Yoghurt Loaf 半优酪土司

Another great recipe adapted from 周老师的美食教室𥚃的"天然手作麵包101道". If you can read Chinese, I strongly recommend getting this recipe book. Its packed with lots of great recipes and a DVD tutorial. 

Yoghurt loaf bread is a mild flavored, non greasy, flexible sort of bread most suitable for making sandwiches. Home made yoghurt / white loaf tends to be darker in color as compared to commercial made ones, which are pale or almost white as some are made with bleaching additives. The higher the gluten in the flour mixture the darker the color of the bread. This is more so when the bread is free from milk.

The adding of white vinegar or lemon into the bread mixture can also be used to create an whiter looking bread for better appeal. To me, nothing compares to bread in its natural form and shade.

Conventionally, loaf bread is baked in a lidded bread mould mould but in this case, I am opting for making one without the lid.  When the dough is given more room to proof to its fullest, it tends to produce a softer and fluffier bread while at the same time saving electricity with shorter baking time and lower heat.


Yoghurt Toast
(Recipe for 1x900g Toast)

(A)
200g Water
140g Plain Yoghurt
6g Instant Dry Yeast
575g Bread Flour
30g Castor Sugar
6g Salt

(B)
30g Unsalted Butter

Method

Combine all the ingredients (A) into the bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook and mix with lower speed until all ingredients are well combined.

Add (B) butter and continue using the mixer to knead with medium speed for another 15-20 mins. With little amount of fat and oil content, the dough tends to be sticky and tacky to handle. The dough breaks easily and is smooth as those pack with lots of fats and milk.  Once you are able to stretch the dough to a thin membrane before breaking, it is considered ready for proofing. The normal window pane test may not work so well here.


Transfer the dough to a slightly greased bowl, cover bowl with either cling wrap or cloth. Allow the dough to proof under cooler room temperature not lesser than 20 Celsius degrees for 3 hours or until doubled in size. This method helps to produce a softer finer texture bread. When you are short of time, the conventional way of proofing the covered dough in a warm place (under 28 celsius degrees) for shorter proofing time of 1 hour may still be used. 

Test the readiness of the dough with a finger lightly dusted with low gluten or cake flour. The dough is ready when the dough remain indented after the finger pokes into it.

Punch down the dough. Divide dough into 5 equal portions and mould it round. Let it rest for another 10 mins.

Lightly dust the work top with bread flour, using a rolling pin, roll out each dough into a  long rectangle. Roll up the the rectangular dough like a roulade and place in a well greased 14x25x10cm bread loaf pan. Tuck the ends down. 

Repeat the same for the balance dough. I only managed to place 4 rolled bread dough into the pan. The balance 1 roll of roulade, I place it into a miniature bread mould.

Lightly cover the dough with cling wrap and prepare the dough for the second proofing under normal room temperature of not more than 28C degrees for 1 to 1-1/2 hrs or until double in size.

Preheat the oven 20 minutes before baking. 

Lightly sprinkle some water over the top and bake at the lowest rack at 180C degrees for 35 - 40 mins.

Place a sheet of aluminum paper if the top browns too quickly during baking.

Remove from oven, unmould the bread from pan and place the bread loaf sideway on the cooling rack.

Monday, May 11, 2015

Multigrain Rye Bread 杂粮裸麦面包

Looking back my bread baking history, I have never tried making Rye bread until last week when my buddy friend came over to visit me in Jakarta. She has so much love for eating bread that she has no qualms about eating it over and over if she were to be served with bread everyday.

All thanks to her encouraging support and feedback that I finally get to experiment making this almost 'no knead' sort of bread. I have adapted this recipe from Alex Goh's Magic Bread book. A wonderful recipe with minimal fuss and shorter preparation time. 


杂粮裸麦面包
Multigrain Rye Bread


Ingredients
(A) 80g Bread Flour
       55g Boiling Water

(B) 200g Bread Flour
         60g Wholemeal Flour
         60g Rye Flour
           8g Salt
           4g Instant Yeast

(C)  1 Tsp Golden Castor Sugar
       210g Cold Water

(D)  30g Water
        15g Sunflower Seeds
         30g Flaxseeds
         20g Rolled Oats
         20g Pumpkin Seeds



Directions

Combine boiling water from (A) with bread flour until well blended to form a dough. Cover and set aside to cool. Store into refrigerator for at least 12 hours before using.

Mix (D). Set aside for 30 mins.
Combine all ingredients from (B) into the bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook and mix until all ingredients are well combined. Add (C) and continue kneading to form an elastic dough. Add in (A) and continue kneading on slow speed until well combined. Add more water wherever necessary.

Add in (D), and mix for another 5-10 mins until well incorporated.

Transfer the dough to a slightly greased bowl, cover bowl with either cling wrap or cloth and allow the dough to proof for an hour or until the dough doubled in size. 

Punch down the dough. Divide dough into 3 equal portions and mould it round. Let it rest for 10 minutes.

Mould it round once again. Arrange the dough onto a greased baking pan and sprinkle the surface with water and thereafter coat the surface with some bread flour and allow to proof for another 40 mins to 1 hour.

Cut a few lines across the  top of the bread with a sharp knife.

Bake the bread in a preheated oven at 200C degrees for 25 mins.





Vegan Ang Ku Kuih with Mung Beans Filling

Here is another of my childhood food I am extremely fond of.  Split mung beans and coconut are the two common fillings used in making Ang Ku Kuih. I will gladly eat either one or both flavors. 

Thanks to my Singapore buddy who bought me a recipe book filled with lots of my favored  childhood desserts, and she was so sweet to also get me the correct plastic mould to the making of the kuihs. 

Some recipes suggested adding shallots while frying the mashed mung beans. Personally I am rather pleased to have it without, plus it is considered vegan when cooked without using garlic, onion and shallot.  to The preparation of the mung bean fillings may seem a bit tedious but once I tasted the delicious fillings in the kuih, I decided that the extra work has paid off. 



Ang Ku Kuih (Vegan)

(Skin) 
300g Glutinous Rice Flour
200g Orange Sweet Potatoes, peeled & cubed
25ml Pandan Juice, 

80ml water
75ml Coconut Oil, Orange Red Food Colouring
Banana Leaf (Cut into rectangles to fit size of the ang ku mould)

(Filling)
300g Split mung beans, (w
ash and soak overnight. Drain)
2 Pandan Leaves (knotted)
150g sugar 

3 tbsp coconut oil


Directions


Steam mung beans on pandan leaves for 30 mins or  till soft and mushy. Discard pandan leaves. Mash the beans (while its hot) until fine paste.


Combine the mashed beans, sugar and coconut oil in a wok. Stir continuously over medium heat until mixture thickens and almost dry. Set aside and allow the mixture to
cool.

In a separate pot, boil the sweet potatoes till softened. Mash it into fine paste while hot.

In a mixing bowl, combine food colouring with 80ml water. Add in glutinous rice flour, mashed sweet potatoes and pandan juice and knead into smooth dough. 

Flatten a piece of dough to a round thin disc. Put a ball of fillings at the centre and wrap skin over fillings to seal it completely.

Lightly dust the ang ku kueh mould with glutinous rice flour and press the dough into the mould.

Unmould the kueh and place on top of a piece of banana leaf.  Steam Ang Ku Kueh over medium heat for 8-10 mins.

Set aside and brush the top with coconut oil.

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Chocolate Condensed Milk Bread 巧克力炼奶面包

After seeing a recent posting by Nasi Lemak Lover on Japanese Condensed Milk Bread, I immediately bookmarked this as my next bread project. I love reading her blog and has gotten lots of inspiration from her works.

I have made some adaptations to this recipe since I have only chocolate flavored condensed milk during the time of baking. And also, I have added yoghurt and potato flakes hoping to get a even softer bread texture.

巧克力炼奶面包 
Chocolate Condensed Milk Bread

Ingredients

(A) 
300g Bread Flour
5g Instant Dry Yeast
30g Soft Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Potato Flakes
1 Tbsp Natural Yoghurt
22g Chocolate Flavored Condensed Milk
180g Low Fat UHT Fresh Milk

(B)
30g Salted Butter

(C)
30g Chocolate Flavored Condensed Milk
30g Salted Butter, room temperature

Decoration
Almond Flakes 
Chocolate chips, dried fruit (optional)
Icing Sugar (Optional)


Directions
  • In a mixer fitted with dough hook, combine all ingredients (A) together to form a  rough dough. Adjust the input of liquid milk whenever necessary. Add in butter (B) and continue kneading until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. Once the dough is able to stretch to form a window like thin membrane without breaking (window pane test), transfer the dough into a lightly greased bowl and cover with cling wrap.
  • Place the bowl in a warm place to allow the dough to proof and rise until doubled in volume. To ascertain readiness, poke a floured finger into the dough. When the dough springs back immediately, it is under proved and needs more time to proof further.
  • While waiting for the bread's proofing, mix ingredients (C) thoroughly and set aside for later use.
  • Once the dough has doubled in size, gently deflate the dough with your hand. Mould the dough round. Allow to rest for 15 mins. 
  • Roll the dough into a 36x40cm rectangle and using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 12 equal strips.
  • Brush the condensed milk and butter mixture (C) liberally on the first strip of dough and stack another strip of dough over it. Brush the mixture on the top surface 2nd layer of the dough again and stack the 3rd strip over it. Repeat the process until the 4th strip had been stack up. Set aside. 
  • Apply the same process for balance 8 strips of cut dough until you get another 2 complete stacks of dough. For each completed stacks of dough, cut each dough into 4 equal portions thus you would have 12 portions in total.
  • Transfer and arrange each portion horizontally into a greased 7" round baking pan, or any baking pan of your choice. I only filled the pan with one layer of the dough and use the balance bits on 'greased' muffin cups. You may also try squeezing everything into one baking pan by stacking on two layers (if you have sufficient portions to completely fill up the 2nd layer).
  • Cover with cling wrap and leave it to proof until almost doubled.
  • Apply egg wash and sprinkle your preferred toppings over the top.
  • Bake in a preheated fan assisted oven at 170 deg C for about 30-35 minutes (7" round baking pan) or 15-18 minutes (muffin cups) or until brown.
  • Remove the bread from baking pan once cooled. Sprinkle with icing sugar.