My First Bread - Egg & Butter Buns 鸡蛋奶油卷

Of course, the first thing I am going to mix with my KA mixer is bread dough. I don't know why but when I went to the baking supplies shop the other day before I bought the mixer, I grabbed a packet of bread flour, yeast and a loaf pan with over. I also bought Carol's book when I saw it in Kinokuniya 2 weeks ago.

So, with all the necessary ingredients on hand, I watched in awe the way the mixer knead my dough.

Since this is my first time baking bread, I stayed beside the oven for the whole baking process and watch my bread rise, releasing the aroma that I have waited for so long in my kitchen... 

Egg & Butter Buns 鸡蛋奶油卷
(Adapted from: 烘焙新手必備的第二本書 by Carol 自在生活 )
 ** Make 8 pcs

Ingredients:
270gm High Protein Flour / Bread Flour
30gm Low Protein Flour / Cake Flour
1/2 tsp Dried Instant Yeast
150gm Whole Eggs
30gm Castor Sugar
1/8 tsp Salt
50ml Milk
30gm Butter

Method:
1. Cubed butter into tiny pieces and leave in fridge.
2. Put all the above ingredients except butter into a mixing bowl. (Reserve 30ml of the milk to be added in later.)
3. Using an electric mixer, mix everything together till a dough is form. Slowly pour in the remaining milk making sure that all the liquid are absorb before the next pour.
4. Add in butter and knead till the dough is smooth, shiny and elastic. When pull apart, dough should form a very thin, almost transparent layer.
5.  Leave dough to ferment for 60 minutes at a warm place covered with a wet cloth.
6. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces (~70gm each) and shape into round balls. Leave to rest for 15 minutes.
7. Shape dough and arrange it onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
8. Spray some water onto the shaped dough surface and leave to proof for another 60 minutes in the oven.
9. Take the dough out from the oven and brush lightly with egg and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.
10. Bake in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes at 170c.
11. Leave bread to cool on a wire rack before serving.

The Ultimate Baker's Dream - KA Mixer

After I started baking cakes, I have been eye-ing the ultimate mixer for bakers. The Kitchenaid Mixer.

All these while, I have been using a RM 89 stand mixer from Pensonic. It gave me good results in beating eggs and the normal cake batter. But of course, I really wanna try and lay my hands on bread dough.

Been contemplating to get a breadmaker instead but seriously, a breadmaker only bakes bread.Where else, a Kitchenaid, does what a Kitchenaid do! :)

So, I quietly surveyed the prices around and starting googling for more info and also asking some friends who are in the professional line of patisserie. One of my friend told me to get a Kitchenaid rather than Kenwood because Kenwood has a belt to run its motor while a Kitchenaid has direct heating. Now, don't ask me to elaborate as I really don't know what does it mean.

I found out that purchasing a Kitchenaid in Singapore will be much more cheaper and it cost about $779 for an Artisan at major departmental stores. In KL, the best price I found was RM 2400 nett. Since I have relatives in Singapore and I am going for a 2d1n trip during the Raya holidays, might as well I hand carry back. BUT... My cheapo mixer died on me. Sigh... It just doesn't go beyond the first speed which is so irritating when I need to beat egg whites.

Hubby being the ultimate hubby, knows exactly what I want. He told me not to wait anymore and just buy the Kitchenaid from KL. He said he lazy to carry it back from Singapore. LOL..

So we went surveying and found this. The Kitchenaid Artisan in Candy Red Apple.

Its a bit more expensive than the usual Artisan because it comes with an extra 2.8L stainless steel bowl, a pouring shield, a burnished metal dough hook and cake beater and the usual wire whip. We got a fairly good price after some negotiation.

I also got the Mixer Cover which cost me RM 119 to protect it from dust.

One more picture of my KA mixer...

Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes

I am assigned to prepare the desserts for next Saturday joint birthday party. Cracked my head hard these few days to think what am I going to bake. I need something that can impress people and suit everybody's taste bud from young to old.

Cooling on the rack...

After going through so many recipe blogs, I decided to bake this next Saturday as the birthday cake. I would also bake a Japanese Cotton Cheesecake and a Pandan Chiffon Cake. Then, I would order some of the best Jelly Mooncakes that I have tried and some Teochew Yam Paste Mooncake.

If you want the contact, leave a comment and I will let you know where to get them.

Since I am going to bake this for the first time, today is my first trial. Oh Boy.. The cake taste really soft!!!

I inserted a fine chopstick in the middle to make pumping easier.

When I first pump the custard cream into the cake, I tried and its sweet. After 1 hour in the fridge, its still sweet. But when I try again after 6 hours, the cream taste bland. What went wrong?

Also acts as Hubby's birthday cake...

Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes
(Adapted from: 周老师的美食教室）
**make about 8 square cupcakes

Ingredients:
3 Egg Yolks
1/8 tsp Salt
20gm Corn Oil
20gm Milk
50gm Self Raising Flour

3 Egg Whites
50gm Castor Sugar

Method:
1. Using a hand whisk, whisk egg yolks with salt till salt dissolved.
2. Add in oil and milk.
3. Sieve in flour and mix till a smooth consistency.
4. In a clean large bowl, whisk egg whites till foamy then add in castor sugar in 3 parts.
5. Whisked till soft peaks under lowest speed.
6. Fold the whites into the yolks mixture gently in 3 parts.
7. Scoop the batter into square cups. Each cup about 35gm of cake batter.
8. Bake in a preheated oven at 160c for 15 minutes.
9. When cupcakes is done, remove from oven and let cool completely on a cooling rack.

For the Fillings:

60gm Fresh Whipped Cream
12gm Custard Powder
40gm Milk

1. Combine custard powder and milk then add into the whipped cream.
2. Mix well and pump into the centre of the Chiffon Cupcakes.
3. Chill the cupcakes in the fridge for 2-3 hours before serving to get the best texture.

Aspiring Bakers #9: Honey Yogurt Swiss Roll 蜂蜜优格蛋糕卷

Found some near to expired yogurt in my fridge so as usual, I started flipping my recipe book for some yogurt recipe.

I tried this swiss roll before but forgotten the taste so I decided to try rolling it again today.

Tastewise, its not bad with some aroma of honey.. and some tartness from the yogurt buttercream.

I will be submitting this recipe to Aspiring Bakers #9 - Swiss Rolling Good Times hosted by Obsessedly Involved with Food.

Honey Yogurt Swiss Roll 蜂蜜优格蛋糕卷
(Adapted from: 孟老师的美味蛋糕卷)
**Make a 21cm x 31cm cake pan

Ingredients:
For the cake, 
56gm Egg Yolks
20gm Castor Sugar
20gm Corn Oil
28gm Honey
50gm Cake Flour

100gm Egg Whites
30gm Castor Sugar

1. Combine corn oil and honey in a same bowl and stir over a double boiler till mixture is smooth and flowing.
2. Using a hand whisk, beat egg yolks and sugar together till sugar dissolved.
3. Pour in the honey and oil bit by bit while whisking.
4. Sieve in flour and combine well.
5. In a large clean bowl, beat egg whites till foamy then add in 1/3 of the castor sugar. Gradually add in the remaining sugar and beat till egg whites reach soft peaks.
6. Pour batter into a lined cake pan and smooth out the surface evenly.
7. Bake in a preheated oven at 170c for 12 minutes.
8. When cake is done, remove the cake from the pan and let cool on a wire rack. Remove parchment paper lining the sides to let go more heat.

For the Yogurt Buttercream,
40gm Butter at room temperature
10gm Icing Sugar
10gm Milk
50gm Yogurt (Flavoured or plain are fine)

1. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and icing sugar till light and fluffy. Gradually add in the milk and continue beating under high speed.
2. Add in yogurt spoon by spoon making sure that there are no traces of yogurt before adding in another spoon.
3. Buttercream is ready when its smooth and creamy.

To assemble,
1. Peel of the remaining parchment paper on the cake. The cake should be completely cool by now.
2. Spread yogurt buttercream on the cake evenly.
3. ROoooLL the cake and wrap tightly with a cling wrap.
4. Chill for at least 30 minutes in the chiller before serving.

Aspiring Bakers #9: Organic Molasses Sugar Swiss Roll 黑糖蛋糕卷

When I first bought some Taiwanese recipe book, some of the recipe always ask for "black sugar" aka 黑糖. I saw from pictures of ingredients in the book, its not brown sugar, not cane sugar, not our local gula melaka either. So i started googling. Found some websites that says this "black sugar" is actually Molasses Sugar.

I am still not good in doing sponge cake for swiss roll.

I search high and low initially for "black sugar" but couldn't find any. I went to numerous supermarkets, chinese sundry shop etc etc.. Still no sign of it. But meanwhile, I saw a lot of pre-pack molasses sugar at the organic section or organic shop.

Broken roll... Sigh..

I gave up and bought a pack of molasses sugar to try. When i first open the pack, it smells a bit like gula melaka. When the cake is in the oven, it smells like caramelised sugar. Taste wise, its not very distinctive. People would thought this is a coffee swiss roll because of its colour.

I will be submitting this recipe to Aspiring Bakers #9 - Swiss Rolling Good Times hosted by Obsessedly Involved with Food.

Organic Molassses Sugar Swiss Roll
(Adapted from: 孟老师的美味蛋糕卷)
**Make a 21cm x 31cm cake pan

Ingredients:
20gm Butter
25gm Milk

140gm Whole Eggs
14gm Egg Yolk
60gm Molasses Sugar
60gm Cake Flour

55gm Butter
20gm Molasses Sugar
45gm Milk


For the cake:
1. Melt butter in a bowl with the milk inside over a double boiler or in the microwave.
2. Put the whole eggs, egg yolk and molasses sugar in a large bowl and using a hand whisk, whisk over a double boiler till mixture is warm to the touch.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat eggs mixture till mixture becomes thick, double the amount and pale. You should be able to write a number 8 with your beater and it stays there for a few seconds.
4. Sieve in 1/3 of the flour and lightly fold with a spatula.
5. Sieve in the rest of the flour in 2 parts and fold till mixture becomes smooth.
6. Put some of the flour mixture into the bowl of butter and milk. Stir fast with a spatula till well mix.
7. Pour (7) into (5) and fold lightly and gently till mixture becomes shiny.
8. Pour the cake batter on to a lined cake pan and smooth it out evenly minding the edges.
9. Bake in a preheated oven for 15 minutes at 170c.
10. When cake is done, take it out from the oven, unmould it, and leave it on the wire rack to cool completely.

For the fillings:
1. You can use a hand whisk since the amount is little. Put molasses sugar and room temperature butter in a large bowl. Beat till butter is light and fluffy.
2. Add in 1 teaspoon of milk first and beat till the liquid disappear.
3. Repeat till all milk is use up.

To assemble,
1. Peel of the parchment paper on the cake. The cake should be completely cool by now.
2. Spread molasses buttercream on the cake evenly.
3. ROoooLL the cake and wrap tightly with a cling wrap.
4. Chill for at least 30 minutes in the chiller before serving.

Aspiring Bakers #9: Meat Floss Swiss Roll 肉松蛋糕卷

.
Hubby loves meat floss hence the inspiration to make this roll. Funnily when I first slice the roll up after an hour in the fridge, the mayo taste very sourish. But after 24hours, it taste sweet.

Did u see the mayo oooooooo-zing out?

This swiss roll is perfect when you crave for something sweet, but not too sweet. It has a bit of saltiness from the meat floss and a bit of sweetness from the cake.

Yummy!

I will be submitting this recipe to Aspiring Bakers #9 - Swiss Rolling Good Times hosted by Obsessedly Involved with Food.

Meat Floss Swiss Roll 肉松蛋糕卷
(Adapted from: 孟老师的美味蛋糕卷)
**Make a 21cm x 31cm Cake Pan

Ingredients:
60gm Egg Yolks
20gm Castor Sugar
30gm Corn Oil
30gm Milk
60gm Cake Flour

120gm Egg Whites
40gm Sugar

250gm Meat Floss
Mayonnaise

Method:
For the cake,
1. Beat egg yolks with sugar using a hand whisk till sugar dissolve.
2. Add in oil and milk and beat till well mix.
3. Sieve in flour and set aside.
4. Usng an electric mixer, beat egg whites till foamy then add in sugar in 3 parts.
5. Beat till soft peaks.
6. Fold the whites into tew yolks mixture gently in 3 parts.
7. Pour the batter into a lined cake pan and bake for 15 minutes at 170c.
8. Remove from oven when done and turn out the cake onto a cooling rack.
9. Leave cake to cool completely before proceeding to the next step.

For the fillings,
1. Spread a thin layer of mayonnaise on the cake with skin side down.
2. Arrange meat floss on the mayonnaise.
3. Roll up the swiss roll and wrap tightly with cling firm.
4. Chill in fridge till set.

Baby food: Rice and Millet Porridge (slow cooker)

Relatives have been asking me to start baby on rice porridge so I bought a packet of brown rice and millet.

Using a 1.5 litres slow cooker, I manage to produce a soft, melt in the mouth yummy porridge.

This porridge is not only for babies but can be eaten by adults as well. I ate some of it for lunch with fermented bean curd. So yummy!

The orange thingy are dice carrots and the green ones are peas.

Brown Rice and Millet Porridge
(Yields about 360ml)

1/4 cup Brown Rice
1 tbsp Millet
1 litre of Hot Water

1. Wash brown rice and millet till water turns clear.
2. Put the grains into the slow cooker and pour in 1 litre of hot water.
3. Cook on "auto" mode for 4 hours or "high mode" on 2 hours.

Alternatively, u can use a kitchen timer and manipulate the cooking time.

My baby used to take her brunch at around 10-11am. So what I did was to prepare everything in the slow cooker before I sleep and set the timer to cook at 4am till 9am.

Before serving, add in some frozen puree like carrots or pumpkins for a yummy meal!

Nigella's Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins

I couldn't sleep yesterday night and I was hungry. So this is what I posted on FB at 2.30am.

"I am hungry.. So i got up from bed and whipped up a double chocolate chip muffin in 15min. Wait for it to be done in 20min. Eat in 3min and went back to snuggle in my comforter and beside a loud snoring man..."

That sums up about what happened and  u could see this recipe is really easy to make and taste good as well.

 Its a keeper!

Nigella's Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffin
(Adapted from:The Kitchen 70's)
(Originally from: Nigella Lawson)
**Make about 6 muffins

Ingredients: 
250gm Cake Flour
10gm Cocoa Powder (If you are a chocolate lover, can increase the amount to 20gm)
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Baking Soda

170gm Sugar

1 Whole Egg
90ml Corn Oil
250ml Milk

150gm Chocolate Chips

Method: 
1. Sieve together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder into a large bowl. Add in sugar.
2. Using a measuring jug, combine the egg, oil and milk and slowly pour into the flour. 
3. Add in chocolate chips and mix everything till no traces of flour can be found. (Over mixing is not a good sign!)
4. Bake for 20 minutes in a preheated oven at 180c. 

Aspiring Bakers #9: Lychee Swiss Roll 荔枝蛋糕卷

Ever since I start baking, I have been wanting to try Aspiring Baker's challenge. Last month, it was Bread Seduction which I did not really challenge myself to make my first loaf of bread. Waiting for my trip to Singapore this August to get my KitchenAid.. Hurray!

Look at the lychees bits in there!

So this month, its Swiss Roll month. I did the below recipe twice. Once with fresh Sarawak Pineapples which tasted so delicious that its finish on that night itself before I can wait for the afternoon sun to take pictures in my kitchen.

Feel free to substitute the lychees with any other fresh fruits.

I will be submitting this recipe to Aspiring Bakers #9 - Swiss Rolling Good Times hosted by Obsessedly Involved with Food.

Lychee Swiss Roll 荔枝蛋糕卷
(Adapted from: 孟老师的美味蛋糕卷) 
** 31cm x 21cm cake pan

Ingredients:
60gm Egg Yolks
20gm Castor Sugar
30gm Corn Oil
30gm Milk
60gm Cake Flour

120gm Egg Whites
40gm Sugar

Lychees (cut into small pieces and as flat as possible)

90gm Whipping Cream
10gm Sugar

Method:
For the cake,
1. Beat egg yolks with sugar using a hand whisk till sugar dissolve.
2. Add in oil and milk and beat till well mix.
3. Sieve in flour and set aside.
4. Usng an electric mixer, beat egg whites till foamy then add in sugar in 3 parts.
5. Beat till soft peaks.
6. Fold the whites into tew yolks mixture gently in 3 parts.
7. Pour the batter into a lined cake pan and bake for 15 minutes at 170c.
8. Remove from oven when done and turn out the cake onto a cooling rack.
9. Leave cake to cool completely before proceeding to the next step.

For the cream.
1. Freeze the mixing bowl for about 5-10 minutes before u start whipping.
2. Put whipping cream into the frozen mixing bowl and start whisking using an electric mixer. Gradually increase the speed and beat till mixture turns thick.
3. Add in all the sugar at one time and beat till the creaam is light and fluffy.

Start assembling the swiss roll by turning the skin side down of the cake. Spread the cream evenly and then arrange the lychees on the cream. Next, u can ROoOoOoLLL!!
Wrap the swiss roll and put in the chiller for it to set.

Kuih Lapis 九层糕

This kuih-making process is really driving me nuts. I attempted Pak Thong Koh or Honeycomb Sugar Cake from Table for 2... or More. The first try, the result are amazing. I got double decker honeycombs! But, I pour too little batter into a 12" square tin and the honeycombs effect are not that visible. I made 2 batch of Starter dough and use some and kept the rest in the fridge. I manage to yield 3 portions of Kuih Starter Dough. So I make the first then the second batch a week after. Kept the Starter in the fridge all along. But the 2nd result turns out a disaster. It has no honeycomb. Hubby said it looked like Hokkien "kee kueh". Then I try again by immediately preparing the Kuih Starter Dough. The 3rd result, well, it end up in the dustbin as well. There was only one layer of honeycomb in the middle of the kuih. Sigh...

Then, I attempted Kuih Talam again. The green part was nice. Just nice and very fragant. But the coconut milk part was so soft. Till I need to dig with a spoon. Not sure what went wrong but I decided to let the helpers finish it. I heard they ate it with coconut milk and palm sugar. Something like our local Cendol.

After 3 failed attempts of kuih in 3 days, I went back to my ever reliable Kaya Swiss Roll. Oh My God! Even my swiss roll turns out bad. TWICE.

Never mind. It was then I decided to make Kuih Lapis. First time, it was so soft even after 40 minutes of steaming. It ended up in my helpers stomach. The 2nd time, I forgotten to put sugar and somehow, the recipe I tried was not clear enough so my kuih was hard.

A friend asked me to sprinkle some water around my kitchen with some Pomelo leaves. LOL.

Oh, and all this happened after my hubby use the kitchen to bake a big chunk of Char Siew.

I did not give up and tried again yesterday night. Waited patiently till 4am before cutting the kuih. The end result? It was good. I finished a quarter of the 7 inch round kuih on my own.

I swear my kuih have 9 layers till I unmould it...

Kuih Lapis 九层糕
(Adapted from: 平平凡凡，简简单单) P/S: Ching, if u reading this. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
**Make a 7 inch Round Cake Tin

Ingredients:
130gm Rice Flour (Try to find Erawan brand. Hubby told me its the best)
40gm Corn Flour
40gm Tapioca Starch
170gm Caster Sugar

Coconut milk from ONE grated coconut
Water


Method:
1. Put the greased cake tin into the steamer and bring water to a boil. 
2. Sieve the flour all together into a big mixing bowl. Add in sugar.
3. Add in coconut milk and enough water to make the whole mixture to 900ml. Mix well with a hand whisk.
4. Divide the mixture into 2 portions. One amounted to 400ml(A) and one portion with the remaining 500ml++(B) liquid.
5. Pour a few drops of red colouring into the (B) liquid to achieve desire shade.
6. Start by pouring 100ml of red liquid into the cake tin, steam for 3 minutes.
7. Follow by pouring 100ml of white liquid into the cake tin and steam for another 3 minutes.
8. Repeat step 6 and step 7 till the last layer which is the RED liquid.
9. Steam for another 20 minutes under high heat. Check to see whether the kuih has form by slightly tilting the cake tin. If the there are no liquid, the kuih is done.
10. Remove from steamer and let kuih cool completely before cutting and serve.

Notes:
1. The kuih would be sticky when hot so its easier to cut when cool.
2. I don't think the kuih will turn hard if steamed for an extra 5-10 minutes. So if you are not sure, steam for longer time.
3. Greased the cake tin with some oil or alternatively, line some heat proof cling film under the base and around the tin.