单反篇

最近老大好像对摄影越来越有兴趣，每次参加学校的摄影活动他都会向摄影协会借个单反相机，通常他只把相机摆在一旁，这回却看他一有空就那出来把玩。这可是一件好事。我个人认为摄影是一项很好的爱好，通过摄影能培养孩子的想象力，提升审美感。对性格木纳，害羞，做事 粗枝大叶的老大来说，我希望借助摄影活动可以让他多接触事物，培养观察入微的能力，进而学会从不同的角度观察与判断事物。

不过我对摄影可是门外汉哦。。。我只会用我哪八岁高龄，半傻瓜相机拍照。。。而且我只会用自动功能， 其他一概一窍不通！

这次趁他把单反相机借回家，我试着用它拍了我的最新之作：奶酥面包。效果不是很理想，那是必然的，因为我把单反当傻瓜相机来用啦！还有就是单反超重，没有三脚架真的不行，没一会儿，手臂就感到很酸。有点杀鸡用牛刀的感觉。。。因为我又不是什么专业美食博客，觉得还是用普通相机就ok啦。

一直都想做这个65度C汤种奶酥面包，终于特地买了一包干椰丝，为的就是喜欢面包上那毛茸茸的效果。汤种做的面包绝对是好得没话说，口感绵软，放两天也不会老化。不过奶酥馅口感不是很好，吃起来有点沙沙的感觉，不太能适应这种口感。干椰丝倒是起了锦上添花的作用，而且还很香，之前我还以为干椰丝是没味道的呢！面包在烤箱烘烤的过程中，厨房一直飘忽着一丝丝面包的麦香味，夹杂着一阵阵令人难以抗拒的椰香味。满屋子的面包香，花钱是买不到的，这或许就是烘焙的乐趣所在吧！

I know, one shouldn't count their chickens before they are hatched, but I couldn't help but keep counting mine:) I took up a one-off home based assignment recently, and with the little extra income that I will be expecting, I have been thinking of saving it up for a digital slr...as a birthday present for my elder child who has shown increasing interest in photography. To get a feel of a dslr, I took the opportunity to play with the camera which he borrowed from school. After a 5 mins crash course, I gave up trying the learn how to use it! The first three photos in this post were taken with the dslr, but they don't look like they were taken with an expensive camera...of course what can I expect if I had used it just like a point-and-shoot? All I could manage was set the camera to the 'flower' aka 'macro' mode and clicked away ;)

I don't know much about food styling, composition, etc...everything is done by 'gut feel'...so please bear with me for my sub standard photography skill. I feel so ashamed of myself for using a good camera but producing something that is as good as taken with an idiot proof one(^^!)

Back to the bake of the week...yes, yet another tangzhong (water roux) bread buns! This time, the buns were wrapped with a cream-like filling made with butter, icing sugar, egg and milk powder. The bread buns didn't fail me, they were soft and yet had a very slight chew to it. It was the first time I baked something with desiccated coconut and I was totally taken aback by the wonderful aroma when the buns were baking in the oven. I really didn't know that desiccated coconut would smell that good!

We don't really like the cream filling though...the texture was a little 'sandy'...likely due to the milk powder. My younger son suggested that the next time I were to make them again, I should wrap the buns with grated coconuts mixed with that 'brown sugar' (gula melaka or palm sugar) we bought from Malacca...I know exactly what he was talking about :)

This shot above was taken with my faithful, eight year old camera. It looks quite similar to the first picture...but the one taken with the dslr has got a better or more shallow depth of field, creating a softer feel to the image. Anyway, as long as my compact camera is still alive and kicking, I will stick to it, unless one day, I make it a point to brush up my photography skill, otherwise I won't do a dslr camera justice...

最后这张是用我的老爷相机拍的。。。乍看没什么不同，仔细一看还是有区别的，用单反拍的， 画面比较柔和，比较能突出主题／焦点。我还是会继续用我的老爷相机啦，我这种懒人还是用傻瓜相机比较适合！




65度C汤种奶酥面包 (milk butter buns)
(makes 9)

tang zhong (water-roux):
25g bread flour
125ml water

bread dough:
210g bread flour
56g cake flour
20g milk powder
42g caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
6g instant yeast

30g egg, lightly beaten
85g water
84g tang zhong (water-roux)*

22g unsalted butter

filling:
70g unsalted butter
30g icing sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
30g egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon corn flour
80g milk powder

some desiccated coconut


Method:

to make filling:
* Beat the butter with icing sugar, salt, until light and pale. Dribble in the beaten egg, mix well after each addition. Sieve over the corn flour and milk powder. Mix with a spatula until just combined. Do not over mix. Divide the mixture into 9 portions (the mixture is quite wet and sticky), use either an ice cream scoop or scoop with a measuring tablespoon and place on a plate. Let the mixture chill in the fridge until needed.

to make tang zhong:
* Place 25g bread flour in a saucepan. Add 125ml 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. 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.

to knead dough by bread machine:
* Place water, egg, tang zhong (use 84g), sugar, salt, bread flour, cake flour, milk powder in the pan of the bread machine (according to the sequence as stated in the instruction manual of your bread machine). Make an indentation on the flour and add in the instant yeast. Select the Dough function of the bread machine and press start. Leave the lid of the machine open (this is to prevent over heating). After about 10mins of kneading, add in the 22g of butter. Let the machine continue to knead the dough. After the kneading cycle has stopped (20mins), Stop and Restart the machine. Continue to let the machine knead for another 20mins. Remove dough from the bread pan. (Note: refer this post for instructions on how to knead dough by hand.)

* Place dough in a lightly greased (use vegetable oil or butter) mixing bowl, cover with cling wrap or a damp cloth and let proof in room temperature (around 28 to 30 degC) for about one hour, or until double in bulk.

* Remove the dough from the bowl and give a few light kneading to press out the gas in the dough. Divide the dough into 9 equal portions (60g each). Roll each dough into smooth rounds, cover with a damp cloth or cling wrap and let the doughs rest for 10mins.

* Remove the chilled filling from fridge.

* On a lightly floured work surface, roll each dough into a round disc (I used my hands). Press out any trapped air as you flatten the dough. Wrap each dough with one portion of the filling. Pinch and seal the seam tightly. Brush top with some water, then coat with desiccated coconut. Place dough seam side down on a greased (or lined with parchment paper) baking tray. Space doughs two inches apart to allow them to expand. Cover with damp cloth or cling wrap and leave doughs to proof for the second time for about 40mins, or until double in size.

* Bake in pre-heated oven at 180 deg C for 15 mins or until golden brown. Remove from oven and transfer to wire track to let cool. Once cool, store immediately in an airtight container.

Recipe source: 65度C汤种面包, 陈郁芬