Baking with Kids

It seems like I am running into this dangerous situation that I will probably abandon this blog for good. It also doesn't help that we will be away for most part of the year-end school holidays.

I have been wanting to write up this post since last week, but only managed to upload some photos. I can draw up a long list of excuses to justify my tardiness, but I don't think this is fair, especially to those of you who come visit my blog regularly...my thousand apologies!

To make things worst, this post is not something new...it is just an 'extension' from my previous post ^_^"'


Whenever both my kids are at home on a weekdays, we would always make it a point to make homemade pizza for lunch. As usual we made two pizzas...one of them had to be my kids' all-time-favourite, the Hawaiian pizza...with lots of ham and pineapples as toppings.


The other pizza dough was topped with "whatever I can find" ingredients....mushrooms, green peppers, cherry tomatoes, black olives and some left over minced meat.

I made the dough using a new recipe from a cookbook I bought several months ago. There are two basic pizza dough recipes to choose from....thick or thin crust. From this cookbook, I learned that the difference between the two depends very much on the ratio of the bread flour to plain flour used. The greater amount of bread flour will produce a thicker and more bread-like crust since bread flour has got a higher gluten-level. I have also read that some traditional wafer thin crust pizza will use only plain flour, I have always thought that all pizza doughs are made with bread flour, how ignorant of me! For the thick crust recipe a lot more bread flour than plain flour (5:1) is used, whereas the thin crust recipe uses much less (1:2). I went for the thick crust pizza this time.

While I was gathering the ingredients for the dough, my younger kid came along and offered his help...and upon his request, I let him do the mixing. Since my hands are free, I took the chance to take a video clip of the entire mixing process :)




The crust was not as thick as I thought it would be. I was expecting something like a thick focaccia...probably because I have rolled it out too thin. I must say we pretty like the texture, not too thick and yet not too thin! Just to let you know I very much prefer my "whatever I can find" pizza to the ham and pineapples version ;)



Ingredients:
(make two 10" pizza dough)

250g bread flour
50g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
1/2 teaspoon dried mixed herbs (optional)
1 tablespoon olive oil
180ml lukewarm water


Method:

1. Place bread flour, plain flour, salt, yeast and dried mixed herbs (if using) in a mixing bowl. Mix well with hand. Make a well in the centre and add olive oil and water. Using your hand, gradually work the ingredients together to form a soft dough.
2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 10-15mins until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. Shape dough into a round ball and place in a lightly oiled mixing bowl. Cover with cling wrap and leave to rise for 1 hr or until double in size.
3. Turn out the risen dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knock it down to release the air. Give it a few gentle kneading. Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Shape into two balls, cover loosely with cling wrap and let the doughs rest for about 10mins.
4. Roll or press out each portion to a round, about 12" in size. Place dough on baking tray lined with parchment paper or on a greased pan.
5. Spread some pizza sauce over the dough to within 1 cm (0.5 inch) of the edge. Arrange a layer of grated cheese (I used grated mozzarella), followed by preferred toppings. Sprinkle the top all over with grated cheese.
6. Bake in a preheat oven at 220 degC for 15-20mins or until the crust has turned golden and the cheese has melted. Serve warm.

Recipe source: adapted from 美食新煮张, 手工面包&三明治

Wordless Wednesday: Homemade Pizza...Want Some?

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Breakfast Scones

I made scones for breakfast again...this time I didn't forget the baking powder ;)


I tweak the same basic scones recipe a little, and added in some bacon and rosemary to turn them into savoury scones. I took home some rosemary sprigs from the States last summer, and one of the sprigs has rooted and has since call this place home. Although I wouldn't say it is growing extremely well, I am just as pleased that I can have a constant supply of this fresh herb all year round :)

Instead of cutting the dough into rounds, this time I made them into wedges. Simply because, with my limited knowledge and for being a culinary idiot, I have long since developed this 'mental block'. I like to associate those rounded ones with biscuits...and I feel more comfortable to call them scones if they are shaped into triangular wedges.


The scones were really really good when eaten warm and fresh out of the oven...soft, fluffy and flaky. On the next day, I warm them in the oven before serving...the texture was a little dry. I don't remember having this problem the first time I made the basic scones. It was only while writing up this post, I learned that since scones contain little fat, they dry out pretty fast and are best eaten on the same day. Another finding...apparently triangle wedges will yield crunchy edges but tend to dry out more quickly then rounds.


So how can one have freshly baked scones in pajamas without sacrificing the extra hour of sleep just to get up to prepare them? Here's a useful tip I have learned, the dough can actually be made ahead, cut into rounds or triangles and refrigerate overnight, then bake them the next morning. The shaped doughs can even be freeze ahead.

What a great way to get your scones and your sleep ;)

The recipe I have posted here may look very long, complicated and even intimidating to some, but these scones are really not hard to make. I have had a couple of failed attempts trying to make biscuits/scones, so I added in as many tips as possible in this recipe so that anyone who are keen to give it a try will get it right the first time.

Happy home baking!


Rosemary and Bacon Scones

Ingredients:
(makes 6)
250g cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
50g cold unsalted butter (cut into small pieces)
1 teaspoon caster sugar
1 egg plus enough fresh milk to make up 140ml
3 strips of bacon, chopped into small chunks
1 sprig fresh rosemary, roughly chopped
*egg wash (mix 1 egg yolk with 1 tablespoon fresh milk)

Method:

1. Pan-fry bacon chunks over low heat, until brown and crisp. Drain off any excess oil and set aside to cool. Remove leaves from the rosemary sprig and roughly chop them.
2. Lightly beat the egg and add enough fresh milk to make up 140ml of liquid. Leave to chill in fridge.
3. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. Add in salt and sugar and whisk the dry ingredients together. With finger tips rub the COLD butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (It is important that the butter be cold so when it is cut into the flour mixture it becomes small, flour-coated crumbs. Due to our hot weather and my warm hands, I use a fork to cut the butter into the dry ingredients. If the butter starts to melt away during this process, stop and place the mixing bowl (with the mixture) in the freezer for 10-15mins to prevent the butter from melting further. Continue the process when the mixture is well chilled.)
4. On hot days, you may want to chill the mixing bowl (with the mixture) in the fridge for 30mins before you proceed to the next step. On cooler days, you may skip this step, if you are as impatient as I am.
5. Mix in the bacon and rosemary. Add the egg & milk mixture all at once and stir with a fork until just combined. The mixture will be sticky, moist and lumpy. Gather up the mixture and place it on a lightly floured surface and give it a few light kneading (not more than 10 seconds) so that it comes together to form a dough. Do Not over work the dough. (Only mix the dough until it comes together. Too much kneading will cause gluten to develop, and the resulting scones will turn hard and chewy. Mix only until the ingredients come together into a combined mass.)
6. Place dough in a plastic bag or cover it with cling wrap. Keep dough in fridge for about 30mins. (The objective here is to keep the dough cold to prevent the butter from melting so that there will be little bits of dispersed butter in the dough. During baking, the heat will cause these tiny bits of butter to melt into the dough and leaves pockets and layers in the scones for them to rise nicely. If the butter melts or softens before baking, the resulting scones will be hard and flat.)
7. Remove dough from fridge and set it in the centre of a baking tray (lined with parchment paper). Dust hands with some flour and pat out into a round disc about 1 inch thickness (avoid using too much flour or pat the dough too flat). Dip a dough scraper in flour and cut the dough into 6 wedge-shaped pieces, press down firmly without twisting or sawing. This will help to shear the dough cleanly allowing the scones to rise higher. Do not pat the cut edges of the scones, otherwise it will not rise nicely. Dip scraper in flour after each cut.
8. For soft-sided scones, move the wedges slightly apart leaving just a small gap in between so that the sides are almost touching. For crisp-sided ones, place them 1 inch apart, these will not rise as high as those that are baked close together. Brush the tops with the egg wash.
9. Bake at preheated oven at 200degC for about 13 - 15 minutes or until the tops are lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center of the scones comes out clean. The texture of the interior should be light and soft (Note: over baking will cause the scones to become dry). Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Serve warm, with butter if you like.
   
   Recipe source:adapted from 爱上做面包, 德永久美子

Wordless Wednesday: My Kitchen Mishap

Rosemary and Bacon Stones...I have meant to make Scones and they became rocks...I totally forgot about the baking powder!

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Happy Mid-Autumn Festival

I have never thought that I would venture into making baked mooncakes. I chickened out after going through the ingredient list for making traditional baked mooncakes ^_^"


I was glad that I managed to get hold of this "Y3K cookbook, Mooncakes". Besides the snowskin mooncakes, I was happy to learn that I could actually try my hand at making mooncakes with flaky pastry! I nailed down this 'Apple Allure' flaky pastry mooncake recipe since I had all the ingredients on hand. Making the doughs was a breeze, but I had a hard time trying to figure out the correct way of wrapping/rolling the water dough with the coloured oil dough. Even though there are several photos to illustrate the steps, certain parts of the instructions is quite vague. In the end, I went about making it with my gut feel. I am not sure whether I did it right as the finished mooncakes appeared slightly different from those illustrated in the cookbook.


These tiny morsels are no bigger than 2", my tween is able to pop one into his mouth without getting choked. I used ready-made pandan lotus paste but I think it would taste better with yam paste. Since this is my maiden attempt, I am rather satisfied with the taste and texture. On the other hand, I think I could have done better. I probably didn't roll out the dough thin enough so the skin is not as flaky and definitely not comparable to those store-bought Teochew style mooncakes. Nevertheless, I felt a great sense of achievements when I left them to cool on the rack.

八月十五送你一個月饼
含量：100%祝福
配料：
100克快乐枣
兩把关心米
300cc友情水
作法：用幽默扎捆
保质期：一辈子
保存方法：珍惜

中秋节快乐!

Flakey Pastry Mooncakes

Ingredients (makes 16 pieces)

filling:
400g pandan lotus paste
80g melon seeds

water dough:
70g plain flour
5g icing sugar
25g shortening
35ml water

oil dough:
75g plain flour
40g shortening


Method:

1. Filling: Mix pandan lotus paste with melon seeds. Divide into 30g portions, shape into rounds and set aside.
2. Water Dough: sieve together flour and icing sugar into a mixing bowl. Rub in shortening with fingertips until the mixture becomes crumbly. Add in the water and mix to form a soft dough. Cover with cling wrap and set aside.
   
3. Oil Dough: Sieve plain flour into a mixing bowl. Add shortening and mix with hand to form a soft dough.
   
4. Divide oil dough into 3 portions. Add food colourings to each dough and knead to form pink, yellow and green doughs. Roll each dough into a square, about 5" by 5".
   
5. Roll the water dough into a square about 10" by 10". Place the oil doughs in the centre of the water dough. Start with pink, then place yellow dough over the pink dough, overlapping end bit of pink dough. Place green dough over the yellow dough, overlapping end bit of yellow dough. Refer photo no. 1 below.
6. Fold both sides of the water dough over the oil doughs. Cover and let rest for 20mins. Refer photo no. 2 and 3.
7. Flatten all sides and roll out the dough. Turn over and roll flat. Starting with the pink side of the dough(refer photo no. 4 above), roll up Swiss roll style to form a cylindrical log. Cut off excess parts from both ends and keep aside. Cut the dough into 16 equal portions.
   
8. For each portion, flatten to form a round disc. Roll to about 5cm in diameter.Wrap the filling with the dough, seal the seams and place it downwards on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
   
9. Add some green food colouring to the excess dough in step 7 and use it to make leaves. With the pointed end of a chopstick, press the top of the dough to create a slight dent that resembles the surface of an apple. Place the leaves over the dents. Bake at 180degC for 15-20 mins until baked through but not golden. As the finished mooncake will be very soft, let cool on the baking tray for about 5 ~ 10mins before transferring to a wire rack. Let cool completely.
   

Recipe source: adapted from Y3K cookbook - Mooncake.