10 min breakfast

It is a fact that homemade bread doesn't keep well, it ages at a pretty fast rate. I will be lucky if the bread I made would stay soft for two days. In order to keep homemade bread fresh, I usually store them in an airtight container...almost right away when it feels cool to the touch. Homemade bread dries up quickly so it is best not to leave them out in the open for too long. For any left over bread that I need to keep for another day, I will even wrap it up with cling wrap before storing in the container.

Yet, there are times when the bread I made didn't turn out soft even on the day it was baked. So besides following the same storing method as above, I will usually toast the bread just before serving. This will make the bread taste so much better. If I were in a hurry, the quickest method is to place a slice of bread over my cup of hot coffee. The steam from the coffee will provide moisture and soften the bread right away.

If we have the luxury of a late breakfast, I would even make a 'grilled' sandwich.

This banana nutella sandwich is made with my two day old banana bread. It is something very quick and easy to prepare, everything can be done in less than 10mins. The most important thing is, it tastes really delicious. Besides nutella, I have also tried it with peanut butter, which is equally good. I 'grilled' the sandwich in my non-stick frying pan, there is no need to add oil or butter. Simply heat up the pan, and grill it. The only thing to note is, the toast browns within seconds, so do check the underside and keep a close watch. Flip the sandwich over with a spatula once it starts to brown. Press it down a little with the back of the spatula, and within the next few seconds, you are ready to serve it.

Do let me know if you have any tips on keeping homemade bread fresh :)

The lure of bread making

There is something magical about bread baking, something that I could hardly express with words...

The mere act of combining the simplest ingredients and kneading them together with your very own hands will set off a chain of magical chemical reactions. As you work your way through the combined mess of ingredients, kneading and stretching repeatedly, will magically transform something shaggy and ugly to something as smooth and soft as a baby's bottom. It is also about the mysterious actions of yeast coming to live, releasing carbon dioxide as it starts feasting on the sugars, causing the dough to rise and expand, all happening under a warm and comfortable environment. The aroma of bread baking in the oven...the moment of satisfaction when a freshly baked loaf emerges from the oven...makes me feel that all the extra effort is worth it. It is such a wonderful and rewarding experience only those who have walked through the entire process would be able to appreciate and enjoy their fruits of labour.

For the past week, I was able to indulge in my favourite past time. I finally got down to made this simple banana loaf bread, a recipe which I have copied down for quite sometime. Yes, my recipes are mostly handwritten as they are mainly copied from books which I borrowed from the library. I use a mixture of English and Chinese, using terms and codes that probably I am the only one on earth who could decipher ;)

As compared to store-bought banana-flavoured loaf bread, this homemade version has got only a slight hint of banana fragrant... it is 'there and yet not there', you know what I mean? Even though this bread is made with the straight dough method, without using any sponge dough or tangzhong, the texture remains soft for two days. Yet, this loaf may not pass a bread making test. I read that it is not the best way to judge a loaf just by its appearance and texture. Although the texture is soft, and the holes on the crumb appear to be evenly spaced out, lots of bread crumbs fell off as I sliced up the loaf. Evidently, I must have over-proof the dough, either during the first fermentation or the second rise :(

I guess, partly because of my repeated failures, I am constantly lured to make the next loaf, again and again. I probably won't give up until one day I am able to churn out a satisfactory loaf from my kitchen.

No cook lunch

The biggest problem of having a hobby is that sometimes it can get out of control.

I treat baking as a hobby, but lately I think it is more like an obsession than an innocent past time. I don't know why, but ever since I picked up this hobby four years ago, my enthusiasm never seems to subside. It is not something bad since my time and effort is well spent on creating homemade cakes and bread for my family. Except for the occasional kitchen mishaps, nothing is gone to waste...

really, nothing is gone to waste...whatever I baked and subsequently consumed have found their way back on my body :_(

Like what my cyberfriend VB once said, at our age, we grow fat even by breathing in air! One of my friends had also warned me that a person will put on weight just by thinking about food!  Now, how do you expect a food blogger not to think about food all the time?! So, once in a while, I make it a point to cut down on my calorie intake and also to 'clear my body'.

While my children slurped up their laska with relish, I prepared a no-cook lunch for myself.

This simple, just toss salad is a complete replica of what was served as a side along a breakfast meal I had at the coffee beans. This combination is easy on the palette even for someone who doesn't like to have their greens raw. What can go wrong with romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, dried cranberries and toasted almond flakes? All you need is just a simple lemon vinaigrette to dress it up.

Throughout our meal, my elder child kept eying my salad, totally green in envy. He told me he also wanted the same thing the next day. I granted his wish and he got to prepare his own no cook lunch the following afternoon. Instead of the lemon vinaigrette dressing, he came up with his own concoction...mashed hard boil egg with mayonnaise. I must say it tasted really good if you don't mind the extra calories! Even his brother who is not a salad person was completely sold. I didn't have chance to take a photo as he was already busy eating while I was clearing up the mess. His salad somewhat reminds me of caesar salad, which happens to be my all time favourite. I am quite inspired by his dish and it is no surprise that I have just placed caesar salad on top of my to-do list :)


Recipe for my lemon vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or salad oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice (adjust to taste, add more if a more lemony taste is desired)
sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste

My Kitchen Lab

In between my bread baking frenzy, I was pretty much involved in conducting experiments with chiffon cakes. It is a cinch to make a chiffon cake...everything can be done within 30mins, and that includes cleaning up. Unlike bread making, even if I ended up with a flat layer of foam board, I don't have to nurse my sore arms and shoulders for the next few days.

Chemistry happens to be my worst subject in school. Many a times, my experiments were not able to yield the desired outcome, even though I followed the steps closely. It is also not uncommon for me to break a test-tube or two, or destroy the test samples. Most of the time I ended up copying the test results from my friends (^^')

So, it is not a surprise when I failed miserably on my first attempted to make a matcha cranberries (my short-cut version of adzuki beans) chiffon. With the newly acquired knowledge that matcha powder tends to absorb moisture from batter (bakes made with matcha powder tends to be on the dry side), I added one extra tablespoon of water into the yolk batter. This small amount caused the batter to become so thin and runny that I had problem folding in the whites. It didn’t help that I beat the whites to stiff peaks, ie when the paddle of my handheld mixer was lifted up the peaks were pointing 90 degree upwards. Naturally, I deflated most of the whites, and the final batter was so thin that it only filled 50-60% of the tube pan. The cake did rise all the way to the brim during baking, but after it was cooled, it shrank at least an inch below the rim. The cake, although edible, didn’t taste good as I have added too much matcha powder, and I have to conclude that cranberries and matcha don't really go well hand in hand :(

Lessons learned: do not play around with the ingredient amount especially when you are making delicate cakes like a chiffon; when forcing a marriage between two different ingredients do not expect a fairy tale ending.

My second experiment with a nutella version needs further ‘analysis’, and probably requires another follow-up experiment before I could draw any meaningful conclusion :_(

My third experiment with a banana chiffon cake was a great success. Well, it is actually not an experiment since I followed the ingredient amount to a T. The only difference is the way I prepared the batter. I did not follow the instructions as stated in the cookbook. This time, I stick to my usual way of making a chiffon…steps that I am already familiar with. For example, the recipe recommends using a mixer to beat the yolks, I choose to do it with my manual whisk. It also recommends beating the whites before the yolks. This is something I won’t follow as I find it troublesome having to whisk the whites again just before mixing it into the yolk batter. Or rather, I worry I would over beat the whites. I didn't even heed the advice of using fresh eggs, even though I have learned that fresher eggs will produce meringue which is more stable. I left it to the cornstarch to work its wonders to stablise the egg whites.

Although the instruction says to beat the whites till stiff, I make it a point to stop whisking once it has reached the soft peak stage. The peaks curl and droop over when the paddle was lifted up. This really makes the folding later much easier. The only problem I faced was, I couldn’t tell whether those tiny lumps in the batter were the whites or were they the tiny chunks of banana (^^”)

The final batter was quite thick and it filled up 80% of the pan. The cake expanded quite nicely during baking, although I wished the batter could climb higher. It didn’t shrink much upon cooling and I was quite satisfied with the height of the cake.

This chiffon cake passed my taste test with flying colours. Besides being so light and tender, it was super moist! I must thank the person who first started baking with bananas! I attribute the flavourful and moist texture of this cake to the sweet, over-ripped bananas. Allow me to exaggerate…it was almost like eating a slice of ‘cloud’. I have bookmarked another 3 recipes from this book (戚风蛋糕秘法传授) and I can’t wait to try them, hopefully my next baking experiment will be as successful as this one. Wish me luck ☺



Banana Chiffon Cake

Ingredients:
(for 17cm or 7" tube pan)
(measurements in brackets are for 20cm or 8" tube pan)

40g  (70g)    egg yolks
20g  (30g)    water
40g  (70g)    vegetable oil
55g  (90g)    banana, mashed
55g  (90g)    cake flour
85g  (140g)  banana, diced
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

110g (180g)  egg whites (cold from fridge)
55g    (90g)  caster sugar
5g     (10g)   corn flour

Method:

1. Sieve cake flour, set aside. Sieve corn flour, set aside. 
2. Place egg yolks, water, vegetable oil, vanilla extract (if using) and mashed banana in a mixing bowl. With a manual hand whisk, whisk the mixture to combine. Sieve over the cake flour and whisk till the flour is fully incorporated and the mixture becomes smooth and sticky. Add the diced bananas and mix to combine.
3. In a clean, dry mixing bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer on low speed until mixture becomes frothy and foamy. Turn to high speed and gradually beat in the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, add in the corn flour together with the last tablespoon of sugar. Beat until the egg whites reaches the soft peak stage.The soft peak stage is reached when the peaks of the whites curl over and droop slightly. The egg whites should appear smooth and glossy. (Do not over beat the whites still stiff, it is better to beat the whites still soft peaks for easy folding with the yolk batter.)
4. Add the beaten egg white into the egg yolk batter in 3 separate additions, each time folding gently with a spatula until just blended.
5. Pour batter into a 17cm tube pan (do not grease the pan). Tap the pan lightly on a table top to get rid of any trapped air bubbles in the batter.
6. Bake in pre-heated oven at 160 degC for 35 mins, (for 20cm pan bake for 50 mins) or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. (When lightly pressed the cake will spring back). Remove from the oven and drop the pan at a height of 20~30cm onto a table top. This action helps to keep the springy texture of the cake when it is left to cool.
7. Invert the pan immediately and let cool completely before unmould. To remove the cake from the pan, run a thin-bladed knife around the inside of the pan and the center core. Release the cake and run the knife along the base of the pan to remove the cake.

Recipe source: adapted from 戚风蛋糕秘法传授 by Noriko Ozawa

My Bread Baking Frenzy

I caught the bug again! Not ordinary flu bug, but bugs that sent me conducting one failed experiment after another, again and again in my kitchen.

I have been in a bread baking frenzy over the past couple of weeks. I got hooked into making different loaf breads, but so far none has met my expectations. First, I made a matcha red bean swirl loaf, using another (烫种) scalded dough recipe. I even put in that extra effort to cook the red beans. The loaf ended up looking very pretty, but failed my taste-test. The texture was too dense! I sensed trouble coming when the dough appeared to be quite stiff while I was kneading it. I blamed it on the recipe, and decided to try it again using the tangzhong, water roux method (汤种). Instead of making swirl loaf, I mixed the red beans into the dough. Everything went well except for the final proofing. I left the dough to proof for 2 hours and it still didn't fill up my pullman pan. I popped it in the oven, hoping the oven spring will expand the loaf a little. Well, the miracle that I was hopping for did not occur. The loaf did not even expand a single bit upon baking. I was left with a short and dense loaf.

You would think I should have given up by now. No, I didn't. I am quite surprised by my own stubborn persistence. Unless you have done it before, kneading dough occasionally by hand is therapeutic to most people, but doing it every time, means a lot of hard work, especially when you have to wrestle with a wet and sticky mess . Despite my aching arms and shoulders, I continued my quest for a perfect homemade loaf. I tried another tangzhong loaf recipe. This time I made a black sesame seeds loaf, thinking that maybe the red beans had 'broken' the bread gluten while I was trying to shape the dough, causing it not to rise well. So since sesame seeds are smaller grains, it would not do any damage to the bread. Alas, the tragic history repeats itself! The loaf came out of the oven dense and short.

After tasting a small piece of it, my elder child remarked, "It tastes like beer." To cover up my embarrassment, I told him 'that's because beer is also made with yeast, your know'. I learned the lesson not to over proof the dough, especially during the second rise, unless I intend to make a tiger beer bread ;) I also finally realised that I am not using the right amount of dough to fill up my bread tin. In order to fill up the tin, the dough should weigh at least 600g, or as a rough gauge, I should follow recipes that calls for flour amount that is at least 300-350g. Since I can't feed the ducks with my bread, I had no choice but to feed the bin, which I deem as one of the most annoying thing that could happen in my baking repertoire!

I was itching to make another loaf this week, but dismissed the idea as I strongly believe the Chinese sayings "祸不单行" or the English equivalent, 'bad luck comes in 3s'. I am glad that I stayed away from loaf bread as I managed to make a decent bread roll yesterday :D

This soft and yummy log is made using none other than the tangzhong method. It is amazing how a single ingredient can make a whole lot of difference. What I am referring to, is those spring onions dotted all over the bread roll. Spring onions smells and taste really pungent when raw, however, just like garlic, when it comes in contact with heat, the aroma that it releases makes it such a delightful experience even though I was standing vigilantly in front of the hot oven, keeping a close watch.

It did take a few extra steps to make these pork floss rolls, but the effort was worthwhile. At least I was rewarded with a tray of edible buns. When my kids got home from school, my elder child wanted to have one right after lunch, but I told him to wait till tea time. These rolls tasted soft and delicious and I noted there was a slight chew to it, probably because of the way the dough is made. We had them for tea and breakfast the next day. The rolls stayed soft over night and they definitely did not taste like beer ;)




Seaweed Pork Floss Rolls (65degC TangZhong)

Ingredients
(makes 6 rolls)

water roux:

20g bread flour
100ml water

dough:

195g bread flour
90g cake flour
30g caster sugar
12g milk powder
6g salt
6g instant yeast
60g egg, lightly beaten
65ml water
75g water roux (tangzhong)
45g unsalted butter

fillings:

chopped spring onions
sesame seeds
seaweed pork floss
mayonnaise

to make tang zhong:

• Place 20g bread flour in a saucepan. Add 100ml water, mix till smooth, making sure there are no lumps of flour. Cook over medium to low heat, stirring constantly with a hand whisk to prevent it from burning. Within 1 to 2 mins, the mixture will start to thicken, stop when you see traces in the mixture for every stir you make with the hand whisk. (Take a look at the video clip here. ) The 65degC tang zhong is ready. Immediately transfer the hot tang zhong into a bowl and cover it with a cling wrap, making sure the cling wrap sticks onto the surface of the mixture. This is to prevent a film from forming on the surface. Leave to cool completely before using it. Measure 75g for the recipe, there will be a little bit of leftover.

to make dough (by hand):

see video here on kneading by hand

• Mix all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and add in the egg and tang zhong. Reserve about 20ml of water and add the rest into the mixing bowl. Mix the ingredients with hand and slowly form into a rough dough. Add in a little of the reserved water if the mixture is too dry.
• Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. Knead the dough till smooth. Add in the remaining water a little at a time, knead well after each addition. (This way, the dough will not be too wet and sticky). Use up all the water. The whole process should take about 10mins.
• Knead in the butter. Continue to knead the dough until it no longer sticks to your hand, becomes smooth and elastic. This should take about another 20 to 30 mins. Do the window pane test: pinch a piece of the dough, pull and stretch it. It should be elastic, and can be pulled away into a thin membrane without tearing/breaking apart easily.
• Place dough in a lightly greased (use vegetable oil or butter) mixing bowl, cover with cling wrap and let proof in room temperature (around 28 to 30 degC) for about 40mins or an hour, or until double in bulk.
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and give a few light kneading to press out the gas. Roll into a round dough. Cover with a damp cloth or cling wrap and let the dough rest for 15mins.
• Roll out the dough into a rectangular shape to fit a 30cmx40cm baking tray (I used a 10" by 14" tray). Place dough in baking tray(lined with parchment paper). Cover and let it proof for around 30~40 minutes.
• Use a fork to poke holes all over the surface of the dough (this is to ensure the bread will not puff up too much during baking). Brush with egg wash then sprinkle with chopped onions and sesame seeds. Bake at 170~180degC for about 15 minutes (do not over bake).

to assemble:

• Remove bread from tray and leave to cool. Invert the bread on a parchment paper. Cut a few slits along the longer edge of the bread, make the slits only half-way through the bread do not cut through. The slits will make rolling up the bread easier.

• Spread a thin layer of mayonnaise on the surface and sprinkle with pork floss. From the longer edge, roll up like a swiss roll. Wrap the bread roll with the parchment paper. Secure and leave it for about 30mins so that the roll can stay in its shape without unrolling. (I tried to tape it down, but the tape couldn't stick onto the parchment paper, so I had to use stripes of paper to secure the roll.) Trim away the edges and cut the bread into 6 portions. Spread the cut sides with some mayonnaise and coat with pork floss.
Recipe source: 65度C汤种面包, 陈郁芬