The last post was supposed to be the last of the breakfast series posts, but I decided that I had one last favourite to share. These lovely honey whole wheat rolls. I love them because they are healthy, fluffy and simply delicious. My little one loves them! I’ve made them plain, and have also successfully incorporated raisins and chocolate chips in the dough to make raisin rolls and chocolate chip rolls. The best part? These rolls freeze very well. I freeze the extras and pop them into the toaster oven on busy days to get fresh hot rolls.

Do you want to find out how to make these breakfast rolls? I’ve shared the recipe at The Best Blog Recipes so hop on over now!

I received a photo, followed by a voice message while at work today. The voice message was my daughter asking me to make her the bread in the photo – some raisin roll. A second message soon followed with “instructions” from her on how I should make the bread. “Mama, you need to put some flour, then put some blueberries, then put some oil and more flour. Then I can eat it for breakfast.” I think she thought the raisins in the bread were blueberries. Her bread won’t rise for sure – no yeast.

My bread-making journey has many twists and turns. If you were to ask me to bake bread two years ago, I probably would have cringed. Now, it’s something I do every other day. It wasn’t always easy. The first time I tried to make bread, I used a wooden spoon. I may have overmixed/undermixed or punched the dough too hard because the bread turned out rock hard. And I had aching arms.

A couple of months later, I came across the book Artisan Bread in 5 minutes and tried using the no-knead technique. Results were much better, but I had to plan in advance as the dough needs to sit in the fridge for a couple of hours. And sometimes, my fridge was just too cluttered to hold a box of dough. It is a good book though. I highly recommend it.

This year, my mom suggested that I buy a small bread machine. “So that you can make healthy bread for the little girl!” She says. I declined – there were just too many unused appliances at home (The juicer I bought 3 years ago is still sitting in its box). She insisted. We bought the machine. Surprisingly, the breadmaker ended up as one of the most frequently used baking/food appliances in the house. I use it at least 2-3 times a week. At first, I used it to make boring loaves of bread. Then I experimented with slightly more interesting loaves of bread. Now I use the bread-machine to help me in kneading and proofing the dough, before I shape it into various shapes and forms. The possibilities are endless and I love it!

When I was a young girl, this cheese bread was one of my favourite breads from the local bakery. I hardly see it these days. Now I can make this at home easily. The first rise of the dough was in the machine, and there after, all I needed to do was to shape it and let it rise for a little while more, sprinkle on some cheese, sugar and sweet mayonnaise and into the oven it goes! I used a water roux in the dough as it helps to keep the bread soft for a longer time, without the addition of artificial additives!

Old Fashioned Cheese Bread

 

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Ingredients

Roux

• 70ml water
• 20g bread flour
• 1 egg yolk

Dough

• 120 ml water
• 30g caster sugar
• 5g salt
• 295g bread flour
• 20g unsalted butter
• 1¼ tsp active dry yeast

Topping

• 1 egg
• ¼ cup light cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 - 2 tsp caster sugar
• Some sweet mayonnaise

Instructions

Roux

1. Combine roux ingredients in a small sauce pan.
2. Cook roux over low heat, stirring continuously.
3. Once ingredients come together, and the roux becomes a paste, turn off the flame.
4. Place roux in a bowl and cover with a piece of cling film.
5. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Dough

1. Add chilled roux, dough ingredients (except yeast) to the pan of a 1 or 1.5 pound bread machine. Make a well in the ingredients and add the yeast.
2. Set the machine to the dough setting mode. When the machine beeps, remove the dough. (Dough can be made by hand, or using a standing mixer with a dough hook.)
3. Divide dough into eight equal portions and shape them into balls.
4. Cover the dough balls with cling film for about 10 - 15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, grease a 8 inch square baking pan and line it with baking paper.
6. Flatten a ball of dough your hand, and roll it up so that it resembles a cylinder. Stretch the ends of the cylinder so that it is almost the length of the pan.
7. Place it at one end of the pan, and repeat with the other 7 balls of dough.
8. Cover lightly with cling film and allow the cylinders that are placed beside each other to rise till twice its original size.
9. Preheat the oven to 190ºC.
10. Brush some beaten egg on the bread, and sprinkle on cheese and sugar.
11. Drizzle some mayonnaise diagonally across the bread.
12. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes. If bread browns too quickly, cover with aluminium foil after 7 - 10 minutes.

3.2.1255

Have you participated in the Cook’s Illustrated magazine giveaway? You have until 30 Oct!! Just comment in the post here!

This post is shared at some of these blogs!

Two weeks ago, my mother went for a class to learn how to make steamed red bean buns. A few days later, she tried to replicate the recipe with not-so-successful results. The bread of the buns tasted weird, and the red bean filling was grainy. Needless to say, she was rather discouraged even though we tried to render support by eating a few of the buns.

So on Saturday, in preparation for Mother’s Day, I decided to make my version of steamed red bean buns. I combed through many variations of making red bean paste and pau dough, and came up with my own variation. It was a success! True, it was much work making the red bean paste from scratch and it required some forward planning, something that is not my forte. But the results were rewarding – especially when the red bean paste actually tastes like red bean, and not some sweetened mush that you buy in a packet.

My husband participated in the making of the buns too! His favourite activity? Making animal faces. He became very popular with my daughter after she saw this little piggy. His effort disappeared in a couple of minutes though, as my daughter declared that she was going to eat the piggy soon after she saw it.

So you’ve decided that you want to embark on the journey of making your very own steamed buns? Here are some photo tips.

1. When straining the red bean paste into the bowl, immerse the sieve into the red bean water. This will help remove the skins. After straining the paste twice, you should get a water red bean paste mixture.
2. When squeezing out excess water, be careful not to squeeze out too much water. The paste should not be crumbly, and you should be able to form indentations with a spoon or finger.
3. When mixing the red bean paste with sugar, the paste will become more fluid and glossy. Mix until you obtain the thickness of paste that you desire.
4. The completed red bean paste should look like this.
5. 

1. Ensure that your yeast is active. It should foam like shown in the picture.
2. After kneading in the mixer (or by hand), the dough should be smooth and should not be sticky. Shape it into a ball and allow it to rest.
3. It should triple in volume.
4. Knead the dough gently and divide the dough into 14 equal pieces (my pieces are not very equal). This dough handles very easily.
5. Enclose the red bean paste filling by forming little pleats and pinching the dough towards the centre. This forms the base.
6. Ensure that your buns are spaced at least 2 – 2.5 inches apart as they will expand when they steam.

So now you are ready to try to make your own steamed buns!

Steamed Red Bean Buns (Tau Sar Pau)

 

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A recipe on making steamed red bean buns (tau sar pau) from scratch! Make your own red bean paste (tau sar) and sweeten it according to your taste.

Recipe type: Bread

Cuisine: Chinese

Serves: 14

Ingredients

Red Bean Paste (Tau Sar)

• 1 cup of red beans
• ¾ to 1 cup of sugar

Dough

• 3 tbsp sugar
• ⅞ cup warm water
• 11/2 tsp dried yeast
• 3 cups Hong Kong flour
• 11/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp shortening

Instructions

Red Bean Paste

1. Soak red beans in water overnight. The water should cover the red beans.
2. Pour away the water used to soak the red beans.
3. In a large pot, add the soaked red beans. Add water to the pot - it should be about 1 inch above the red beans.
4. Bring to a boil over a medium flame and turn off the flame. Allow it to stand for about 10 minutes. Pour away the hot water.
5. Fill the pot once again with water till about 1 inch above the red beans.
6. Bring to a boil and then turn the flame down.
7. Simmer for about 1 hour, or until red beans are soft.
8. Sieve the red beans and water into a large bowl.
9. Using a metal spoon, mash the red beans in the sieve, leaving only the red bean skins behind. Repeat till all the red beans are mashed and skins removed. Wash the sieve.
10. Sieve the red bean paste and water through the sieve to remove any bits.
11. Using a cheesecloth bag, squeeze out excess water from the red bean paste and water mixture.
12. Put the paste into a metal pot over medium heat. Add sugar (according to your taste) to the paste and stir in a back and forth motion till the sugar dissolves. The paste will become more fluid.
13. Continue to stir in a back and forth motion until you reach the desired thickness for your paste.
14. Optional: If you'd like your paste to be more glossy, you can fry your red bean paste in 1-2 tbsp of vegetable oil after the last step.
15. Allow red bean paste to cool to room temperature. Keep in fridge until required.
16. Shape red bean paste into 1 oz balls and set aside till dough is ready.

Dough

1. In a bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water.
2. Sprinkle yeast on the surface of the water and allow it to foam (about 10 minutes).
3. Meanwhile, sift flour and baking powder into the bowl of a standing mixer prepared with a dough hook.
4. Add shortening.
5. When the yeast mixture foams, add it to the flour mixture in the mixer bowl.
6. Knead the dough using the mixer for about 5-7 minutes, until it is smooth and does not stick. (If using hands, this step takes about 10-12 minutes).
7. Remove dough from the mixer bowl and shape it into a ball.
8. Place in a large clean bowl and cover with cling wrap.
9. Allow it to rise in a warm place till it triples in volume.
10. Remove from the bowl and knead it slightly to remove some air.
11. Divide the dough into two portions and roll each portion into a log.
12. Divide each log into 7 equal pieces.
13. Shape each piece with your palm till it is a 10-12cm in diameter circle.
14. Add a ball of red bean paste to the centre. Enclose the red bean paste by forming neat pleats and folding towards the centre. Place the folded side on a piece of small baking paper.
15. Repeat till all the dough and paste has been used up.
16. Let the buns stand for about 15 minutes before arranging them in a bamboo steamer. The buns should be about 2 inches apart as they will expand.
17. Steam for 10 minutes.
18. Serve hot or cool to room temperature and freeze.

3.2.1230

This simple raisin bread is made from the challah dough recipe that can be found here. The result is a soft and fragrant sweet breakfast or teatime bread. I especially enjoy it when it’s lightly toasted, with a little extra butter spread on top. The bread may look complex but I assure you that this dough is really quite easy to handle and shape.

Raisin Challah Loaf
Makes 1 Loaf
Adapted from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Ingredients:
1 pound of challah dough (recipe found here)
1/3 cup raisins
Butter for greasing cookie sheet
Egg wash (1 egg mixed with 1 tbsp water)
White sesame seeds

Method:

1. Grease a cookie sheet.
2. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1 pound piece.
3. Dust with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides.
4. Using a rolling pin and just a little flour, roll out the dough to the thickness of 1/2 inch.
5. Sprinkle with raisins and roll into a log, starting from the longer end.
6. Roll the dough between your hands and stretch it to form a single long thin rope with a tapered end.
7. Starting with the thick end of the rope, form a coil on the prepared cookie sheet. Tuck the tapered end under the loaf.
8. Allow to rest for 1 hour 20 minutes (40 minutes if you are using fresh dough).
9. Ten minutes before baking, preheat oven to 350ºF.
10. Brush the loaf with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
11. Place near the centre of the oven and bake for 25 minutes.
12. Allow to cool before slicing or eating.

Challah is the bread served traditionally in Jewish cultures. It is very fragrant thanks to the addition of butter and eggs, and is also mildly sweet from the added honey. Challah is versatile enough to be substituted in most recipes requiring brioche dough and it contains half the amount of eggs so why not try baking some?

The recipe below is adapted from one of my favourite bread books – Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I think the brilliant part about their recipes is that one does not need to knead the dough nor punch it down after it rises. Also, a larger batch of dough can be made and stored in the fridge, ready to use whenever you want. How convenient!

Challah Dough
Makes about 4 pounds of dough

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups lukewarm water (105ºF to 115ºF)
1 1/2 tbsp granulated yeast
1 1/2 tbsp salt
4 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
7 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour

Method for mixing dough:

1. Mix yeast and warm water in the bowl of a standing mixer and leave it for 5 minutes.
2. Once yeast starts to foam, add in salt, beaten eggs, honey and butter and mix well.
3. Mix in the flour without kneading using a dough hook.
4. Transfer dough to a container with a non air-tight lid and leave in a warm place to rise for approximately 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours.
5. Dough can be used immediately or stored in the refrigerator for 5 days. After 5 days, freeze the remaining dough.

Method for making challah loaf:

1. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1-pound piece.
2. Dust the surface of the piece of dough with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the four sides of the dough.
3. Elongate it to an oval and drop in into a greased loaf pan.
4. Allow it to rest and rise for 1 hour 20 minutes (for refrigerated dough) or 40 minutes (for fresh dough)
5. 10 minutes before baking, preheat oven to 350ºF.
6. Brush the top of the loaf with egg wash made from one egg and one tablespoon of cream.
7. Place the bread on a rack in the centre of the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top is a nice golden brown.
8. Allow to cool before slicing.

I didn’t have a kugelhopf pan but figured this star bundt would work as well. Nordic Ware makes such great bundt pans. They only need slight greasing and they hardly ever stick. Not to mention they ensure that your cakes/breads bake evenly. And no, I’m not paid to do a promotion for them here. It’s just that good things are worth sharing.

Kugelhopf
Fills a 11-12 cup bundt pan
Recipe adapted from Gourmet, 2002

Ingredients:
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
2 tbsp warm water (105–115°F)
1 cup whole milk
7 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces and softened
6 tbsp granulated sugar
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup dark raisins
4 tbsp rum
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest
1/2 oz almond slivers (for decoration)
1 tablespoon confectioners sugar (for dusting)

Method:

I looked through my shelves recently and realised that there were cookbooks I owned, from which I have never tried a single recipe from. I was determined to conquer at least one recipe from each book (so that I could have the excuse of buying more books), and decided to start on a bread making book – Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day.

I bought this book because of it’s interesting descriptions, good reviews, and of course, the hope that bread making could indeed be that simple. Well, I was fooled. It didn’t take five minutes a day. But having said that, the book does offer simple and versatile bread recipes, most of which take shorter time than traditional recipes. I decided to try the basic recipe – boule. The boule, otherwise known as an artisan free-form loaf, serves as the basic dough from which a dozen other breads can be made from. After mixing, the basic dough can be kept in a lidded container in the fridge for up to a week. Whenever you feel like making bread, you simply need to pull and cut out a piece of dough, and shape/make it into whatever fanciful (or simple) bread you desire. Using the basic recipe, I was able to make baguette, pita, and the lovely sundried tomato and parmegiano bread pictured above.

Boule:
(makes four 1 pound loaves)

Ingredients:
3 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tbsp yeast
1 1/2 tbsp coarse salt
6 cups unbleached all purpose flour

Method:

1. Warm the water to about 100 – 110 degrees F. Add yeast and salt to the water in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add all the flour at once and mix with a wooden spoon or a mixer with a dough hook. No kneading is neccessary.
3. When all the flour is incorporated and the mixture looks uniformly moist, transfer the dough to a lidded container.
4. Allow the dough to refrigerate overnight, or at least 3 hours.

Sun-dried tomato and Parmegiano Reggiano Bread
(Makes 1 loaf)

Ingredients:
1 pound of Boule dough
Olive oil for brushing the dough
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and roughly chopped
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Cornmeal for pizza peel

Method:

1. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1-pound piece. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter turn as you go.
2. Roll out the ball into  a 1/4 inch thick rectangle. Use flour to prevent the dough from sticking to your working surface.
3. Brush the dough with olive oil. Scatter the sun-dried tomatoes evenly over the dough and sprinkle the cheese over the tomatoes
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4. Starting from the short end, roll the dough into a log and gently tuck the ends under to form an oval loaf.
5. Allow to rest and rise on a cornmeal covered pizza peel for 1 hour.
6. 20 minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F, with a baking stone placed on the middle rack. Place an empty broiler tray below the rack.
7. Brush the top of the loaf lightly with olive oil and slash parallel cuts across the loaf using a serrated bread knife.
8. Slide the loaf directly onto the hot stone. Pour 1 cup of hot water into the broiler tray and quickly close the oven door.
9. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until deeply browned and firm.
10. Allow to cool before slicing or eating.