Pumpkin Milk Buns (Chicky Buns)

It's rather sad that I have been so busy lately that I haven't got the time to bake any bread for the family. So I was so thrilled when I managed to bake some cute chicky buns in view of  the coming Easter!

To be frank, these buns are so easy to make! Using a simple straight dough method, these buns were ready in 3-4 hours. I filled them with potato bacon which turned out to be such a hit among the family. 

Recipe for Pumpkin Milk Buns (Makes about 12)

350 g bread flour

112 g peeled steam pumpkin

40 g caster sugar

5 g yeast

3 g salt

150 ml milk

70 ml water

30 g unsalted butter

Method:

• Blend the sweet potato with the water till no lumps and uniform.
• In the mixing bowl, add everything except the butter. Also add in the sweet potato water mixture.
• Knead till not sticky and dough is pulling away from the side.
• Add in butter and continue to knead till window panel stage
• Let proof and double in size.
• Once proofed, punch out air and shape in round balls of 40 g each. Let proof again

Potato Bacon filling: 

2 russet potato, peeled, cubed and steamed

2-3 steps of bacon

1/4 tsp salt

4 tbsp Japanese mayo

1/4 tsp Hondashi powder

2 tsp confectioner's sugar

• Pan fry the bacon till crispy and drain them on paper towels. Crumble them into smaller bits and set aside for use later.
• Once the steamed potato are out from the steamer, add in all the rest of the ingredients except bacon. Mash in slightly so as to mix the seasoning.
• Lastly add in the bacon bits and set aside for filling in the buns.

Assemble the buns:

• Roll the dough portions into a flat disc and place about 1 heaping tbsp of potato filling in the center. Seal and roll round. 
• Repeat till all the dough portions are filled and sealed. Set aside to proof for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 165C about 20 minutes into the proofing.
• Bake in preheated oven of 165C or 25-28 minutes. Low temperature is to prevent the buns from browning and to keep that golden yellow colour on the buns.
• Once baked, remove from the oven and let cool completely before decorations (if desired)
• Place thinly sliced round carrots in the middle of the dough and piped some meted chocolate on the buns to make eyes, feet and nostrils, as seen in the picture.

• Repeat the same for the rest of the buns. 

Note that the filling choice is really up to your preference. You can even do chicken and potato curry, chocolate banana, cream cheese etc.

Hope you all will give this super cute and easy to bake recipe a try. Definitely kids can join in the fun too! Have fabulous easter weekend with these delicious buns!

Happy Baking All!

Panda Buns (Cheddar and Cream Bread Recipe)

So recently I have been seeing quite a number of Japanese bakers coming up with really cute bread bun designs. The bread buns are really so cute that you wonder if they will ever be eaten at all. (Might end up playing with them instead!) Being the practical me, I often question myself when it comes to whether I should spend such time to make these all too cute bread buns. If I ever do it, it'll be considered a luxury! But again, I have been into bento sushi art lately as well, which also consume quite a fair bit of my time....~haiz. Anyway, the Panda Buns I baked are considered easy, plus it is monochrome! Only 2 colours, how hard is that haha! I wanted to use my trusty White Bread Loaf recipe to make this so as to reduce the stress level. But opted to try a new recipe in the end because I'm always keen to new ones! So here is my Cheddar and Cream Panda Buns. 

Okay I admit...I got lazy and didn't read up more about the temperature control part. But it was 10pm and I was ~yawn~, you get the idea. :P And hence the suntanned pandas were borned. :P Or should I say oven-tanned pandas. A friend then alerted me that I should have reduce the temperature to a low 150C, even though it did came across my mind before baking. But the thought of undercooked gooey bread is just too overwhelming that I went ahead with the oven tan anyways....Haiz again~. However, other then that golden hue on these bears, I have to say it did turn out quite well! Agree? (Self-nodding.... -_-")

So if you do want to attempt this out, feel free to use my White Loaf recipe and bake at a low 150C for 30-35 Minutes and see how it turns out. But bear in mind I did not use this White bread loaf recipe to attempt this at 150C, so I cannot advice you on anything. :) OOOooooorrrrr....you can hold that thought, come try out this Panda buns using the same Cheddar and Cream recipe like here at 170C. It's straight dough too,....read on!

Ingredients For Cheddar & Cream Bread recipe (makes 8" x 8" square loaf buns)

350 g bread flour

1 large egg (48-50 g)

100 ml fresh milk

3 slices of Kraft cheese (~60 g)

85 ml heavy cream

1/2 tsp salt

40 g caster sugar

5 g instant active yeast

25 g unsalted butter room temp

1 tsp charcoal powder (I bought mine from Kitchen capers)

1 tsp egg wash (for the eyes and nose to adhere to the dough)

• In a sauce pot, add in the milk, cheddar cheese and cream cheese in. Heat it at medium low heat, and stir well till mixture melts. Set aside to cool before use.
• In a mixer bowl, add in bread flour, egg, salt, caster sugar and yeast. Pour in the cooled cheese mixture.  

• Beat the mixture till the dough comes together. Continue to mix, it will be sticky at first but just continue to mix with time durations of 5 minutes mix, 5 minutes break and repeat. The dough will eventually become less sticky to the touch.

• You can add in the room temperature butter and continue to beat the dough. It will then finally pull away from the sides and become very elastic.

• Remove the dough and grease the bowl. Place the dough back in and let it proof for 1.5hrs or till it doubled up in size. Like seen below:

• Punch out the air and knead the dough a little. Divide out 16 dough portions of 40 g. The remaining dough is set aside for use later.
• Roll the 40 g dough portions round and place them in a 8" by 8" greased square pan.

• Continue till all the dough portions are rolled and placed in the pan. 
• Next you add the charcoal powder to the remaining dough that was reserved earlier. It should weigh about 60 g if I remember it correctly. Knead well till the dough is uniformly black.
• Pinch pinch out about 1.5g to 2 g worth of dough and roll it round. Then place 2 of these small round black balls on the top of each dough portion in the pan. These will be the ears of the pandas.

• Repeat till all the ears are made and placed on top of the buns. 
• Using your finger tip, carefully rub the place where you will be placing the eyes and nose on the buns.

• Preheat the oven to 175C right before you are going to work on the eyes and nose portion of the Pandas.
• Next, pinch about 1 g of the black dough and press it flat till it is oval shaped. Carefully place the oval on the dough top to make the eyes. Pinch a small bit of the dough to make the nose. Note that all these are rough estimate of the dough, I feel it is too much of a hassle to weigh out such a tiny portion of the dough. So just try your best to make a rough gauge on the eyes and nose bread portions. Repeat till all the eyes and nose is made.

• If the buns has already been fully proofed like showed above, bake it in the oven for 26-28 minutes covered with aluminium foil (yes I covered but till browned  :P). 
• Once baked, remove from the oven. Also carefully remove the buns out of it's pan so it can cool over the rack completely before eaten.

I am glad the eyes and ears and noses (except one) were still in tact when I removed the buns out from the pan. :) So the egg wash does help to adhere the dough nicely. I shall make sure I use a lower temperature next time at 150 C and see if it really stays white and pale!

The texture? Let's see....

What do you think? Nice right?! I am pretty please with it myself too! Soft and with a slight bite to it, just like the way I enjoyed my breads. Although it might not be as soft as my White loaf bread recipe, this bread still radiates a nice creamy, cheesy aroma. If you like a stronger cheese, please by all means, use that. And do let me know how it turns out for you. ;) Last but not least, hope you have fun baking these pandas, I know I sure did. 

I can't wait to try out another fun shape...what do you suggest?? 

Okay, I gotta go guys, thanks for reading!

Remember, do what you love and stay happy!

Hokkaido Milk Loaf （北海道面包）

I often asked myself, why have I not attempt to bake one of the top favourite bread loafs around. If you are wondering which one I am referring to...well, it is none other then the Hokkaido Milk Loaf itself. Perhaps I have been waiting for the right Hokkaido milk to come by? ~Excuses Or maybe I needed to explore more in this dairy product. Or perhaps I just didn't quite come up with the right recipe as yet. 

I was perfectly happy with the usual brands on the dairy aisle. It just never occurred to me to try Hokkaido fresh milk. Well, until I got to taste Yotsuba's Hokkaido Fresh Milk. Yup, it was my maiden "encounter" with Hokkaido fresh milk. 

Yotsuba Milk Product Co., Ltd. has been in this dairy business for more then 5 decades which they were established in 1967. Yotsuba seeks safety and top quality milk for their consumer by pledging to value nature status, delivery safety and high-quality goodness. And in order to harvest top quality milk, the company raise their milk cows in a no-stress environment where the animals roam freely in the vast green pasture in Hokkaido. And with the care and attention from the dedicated farmers from Yotsuba, those happy cows produces quality milk. From raw fresh milk, to processing, to packaging and right to the consumers' door steps, every glass of creamy goodness is ensured at it's best quality.

I can understand why the pricing is fairly higher ($6.45 each liter) then the usual milk brands. It having a more superior taste and that unwavering dedication from the company to deliver the best to the consumer. And we all know Hokkaido's magnificent natural environment has always allowed the milk cows to produce one of the finest dairies around the world. Like the Chinese always say, "一分钱，一分货“.

My take after tasting the Hokkaido Milk? Creamier, slight tone of sweetness and still having that clean finishing taste that doesn't leave that sticky mouth feel. 
Yup, I do like it very much. And it goes without saying, I was so gonna to bake with this awesome ingredient.

And so, may I present to you, my very first Hokkaido Milk Loaf using Hokkaido Fresh Milk.

This was actually my 2nd experimental bake using the Hokkaido milk. The latter was a much more successful one and thus I shall be sharing the recipe with everyone. 

I was thrilled the moment I received the fresh milk. Who doesn't? 3 litres of fresh Hokkaido milk right at my doorstep haha!

Wanted to use the milk when they are still fresh, I got to work immediately to bake that Hokkaido bread loaf. And no, don't even think about it. You cannot substitute this recipe with normal milk. Totally defeats the purpose of baking this Hokkaido Milk Loaf recipe in my opinion. 

Did some read up online and found that almost all of the Hokkaido bread recipe uses the "TangZhong" (汤种）method. Never really liked the "TangZhong" method because somehow the bread does not stay soft the following day. So I went ahead and came up with a straight  forward, straight dough method. The result was perfect if I dare say so myself. Comparing the 2 attempts, the latter actually yielded a fluffier and tastier bread loaf.

Ingredients for Hokkaido Milk Loaf (Makes a 9"x5"x4" loaf)

350 g bread flour

40 g caster sugar

5 g instant active yeast

3 g salt

210 ml Hokkaido fresh milk from Yotsuba

30 ml heavy cream

30 g unsalted butter at room temperature

• In a large mixing bowl, add in all the ingredients except the butter.
• Knead it well using the hook attachment, the dough will slowly come together.  
• Knead everything together at medium low speed. Dough will be sticky at first but continue to knead for 5 minutes and break 3 minutes until the dough pulls away from the side of the mixing bowl.

• Add in the butter and continue to knead till it is very elastic and reaches the window panel.

• This is how you can check whether you have reached the window stage, stretch the dough really thin without breaking it and you can literally see through it. 
• Leave the rolled dough in the greased bowl and let proof for 1.5hr or till it is doubled in size.
• Once done proofing, stick a finger in and if the dough doesn't "bounce" back, it is ready. 

• Divide the dough into 4 portions of 150 g. You will be left with about 40-45g of extra dough. You can fill it with Nutella or just wrap it around a hotdog. 
• For the loaf, take one of the 150 g dough portion and roll it out flat into a square shape. 

• Then fold in both the left and right side as shown below:

• Then roll it up from one end (the shorter side) into a swiss roll, then seal up the edge by pinching the dough.

• Repeat with the remaining 3 portions and place it in a greased loaf tin to proof.

• Preheat the oven to 175C while waiting for the bread to rise. When ready, bake in the oven for 28-30 minutes till golden brown.

Remove from the oven and immediately remove the loaf from the baking tin. Else moisture will build up in the tin and the base of the loaf might get all soggy. Slice the loaf only when it has been completely cooled.

Well, I did not exactly slice the loaf this time. Wanted to show the fluffy and fine texture of the bread. And seems like tearing a chunk off does the trick....oops I did it again.

The picture pretty much speaks for itself. In terms of taste, it is richer and milkier then the other plain milk loafs I have made. Since I did add 3 kinds of dairy into the recipe ( Hokkaido milk, unsalted butter and heavy cream), which really boost that milky rich flavour. And I do believe the Hokkaido milk from Yotsuba's Hokkaido Fresh Milk does makes a difference in this recipe verses using a normal milk. 

Hope I have not only persuade you enough to try baking this Hokkaido bread, but also to give Yotsuba Hokkaido Fresh milk a try as well. As I strongly believe the quality speaks for itself. This Hokkaido fresh milk will be available in Fair Price Finest or Xtra at 1 Sept and soon in Cold Storage. I love the fact that it is available in NTUC and not in some Japanese grocer. So go grab yourself some! 

In the meantime, do what you love and stay happy guys

White Loaf Bread

I think every baker not only should have a good banana bread recipe, they should very well have a good white bread loaf recipe as well. Bread is such a quintessential part of our daily meals. Whether it is for a quick morning bite, or an afternoon sandwich, it can also be that toasty bread that wipe clean that stew you have for dinner. Some may think of grabbing those less then 2 bucks loaf off the store shelves. You're right, it is easier, I'm guilty of that sometimes...but frankly speaking, the number of times I buy those in a year, I can use my fingers to count. So think again guys, those bread has additives that we can't even pronounce it properly. :P Home baked are always better for sure...well that is if you have the time to do so. Well, at least the recipe I am posting today is a simple straight dough method with ingredients that you can definitely find in your pantry. Life is too complicated to  have too complicated bakes!

Oops pardon my poor shaping skill to allow that small hole on top. :P But these are the kind of things that happened in the rising process that one is not able to control sometimes. ;P #excuses 

But overall the loaf turned out beautifully. And I'm stoked that it is a straight  dough method! Less waiting! This recipe calls for egg white, which coincidentally I always have some in my fridge. :P Especially after Chinese new year or some tart baking. The egg white helps enrich the dough. It also retains water content to counteract the drying effect when the bread left out at room temperature.

Enough chit chat, let's take a look at the ingredients!

Ingredients for White Bread Loaf

350 g bread flour

90 g egg white

40 g caster sugar

1/2 tsp salt

4 g instant active yeast

155-160 ml fresh milk

30 g unsalted butter, room temperature

• In a stand mixer bowl, add in all the ingredients except the butter.
• Knead it well using the hook attachment, the dough will slowly come together. Continue to knead and eventually it will pulls away from the side of the bowl. That will take about 10-12 minutes. You can stop the kneading for 2 to 3 minutes to have a break in between. 
• Add in the butter and continue to knead till it is very elastic and reaches the window panel.
• Leave dough in a greased bowl, covered and let proof till it doubles in size or for 1hr.

• When it is well proofed, poke in the center. If it doesn't rise back up, the dough is ready to be shaped.
• Punch out the air and weigh out 4 portions of 150 g of dough. Roll round and cover to rest for 5 minutes before shaping. The remaining dough can be used for other small buns, up to your own creation. ;)

• Take a portion of the dough and roll it out flat into a rectangle. Roughly the length of 20 cm by 15 cm. Then fold in the longer sides in as shown below.

• Then roll in from one end like a swiss roll, then seal the edges.

• Repeat with the rest of the 3 dough portions and then place them into a greased loaf tin.

• Cover and let rise till it fills 90 percent of the tin. Remember to preheat the oven to 170C. 
• Then bake in the oven for 28 minutes or till golden brown. Nope, I didn't brush any egg wash.

• Remove from the loaf tin immediately and let cool completely on the rack before slicing.

The result? Nice golden brown skin but still thin. Interior is cotton-candy like texture. Very fine composition, soft and fluffy! I couldn't be more happy!

I couldn't show you enough of the lovely texture. :D And it is home baked! (by you!)

I always like my old school way of enjoying fresh baked breads....kaya and butter! Yummeh :9 

Hope you all will give this simple recipe a try. If this is your first time baking a bread, try this out. ;)

Happy Baking!

Matcha & Kinako Buns and Loaf

I suppose besides Matcha (green tea), Kinako (toasted soybean powder) is quite a popular flavour in Japan and also now in Singapore. Coincidentally I have just fallen in love with Kinako recently. Trying all possible means of incorporating it into my bakes. After my recent posts of "Thick and Fluffy Kinako Pancakes" and "Kinako Tofu Buns with Kinako Crumbles". And now, I created Matcha & Kinako bread, haha! Somebody stop me.

This time I experimented with straight dough method since I didn't have the time to prepare the pre fermented dough before hand. Luckily the bread still turned out great. Soft and delicious. :9 Let's take a look at what we need!

Ingredients for Matcha Dough

280g bread flour
35g matcha powder
35g caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
200ml fresh milk
4g instant active yeast
20g unsalted butter room temp

• In th mixing bowl, add in all the ingredients except the butter.
• Knead it well till the dough comes together and pulls away from th side of the bowl. That will take about 10-12 minutes. You can stop the kneading for 2 to 3 minutes break in between. 
• Add in the butter and continue to knead till it is very elastic and reaches the window panel.
• Leave dough in a greased bowl, covered and let proof till it doubles in size or for 1hr.

Ingredients for Kinako Dough (similar to my "Kinako Tofu Buns with Kinako Crumbles" recipe)

270g bread flour
120g silken tofu, drained overnight in fridge
35g caster sugar
35g Kinako powder
1/2tsp salt
200ml fresh milk
4 g instant active yeast
20g unsalted butter room temp

• In th mixing bowl, add in all the ingredients except the butter.
• Knead it well till the dough comes together and pulls away from th side of the bowl. That will take about 10-12 minutes. You can stop the kneading for 2 to 3 minutes break in between. 
• Add in the butter and continue to knead till it is very elastic and reaches the window panel.
• Leave dough in a greased bowl, covered and let proof till it doubles in size or for 1hr.

Shaping and Baking:

• Once the dough is proofed, punched out the air. 
• Weigh 2 portions of 150 g for both the Matcha and Kinako doughs. So you will have 4 of the 150 g dough.
• The rest of the dough, I weighed out about 30 g of dough portions. Roll round and set aside, covered for use later.
• For the four 150 g dough portions, roll them into long tubes, about 30 cm long each.

• You then braid the 4 dough together. I actually learn how to braid with the Youtube videos here. Try it! And check out mine...ehh not bad for first time haha.

• Preheat the oven and grease the loaf tin. Place the shaped dough into the loaf tin. Let it proof for 1hr or till the dough rises to fill 90% of the tin.

Matcha Cream Cheese Filling:

200 g spreadable cream cheese

25 g matcha powder

40 g confectioner's sugar

• Combine all of the Matcha Cream cheese filling together and mmix well till it is smooth and creamy. Chill the mixture while you work on the dough.
• Next you take one 30 g matcha dough and one 30 g kinako dough. Combine the two doughs together side by side by sealing the edge as show below.

• Flatten the dough and scoop about 1 tbsp of that matcha cream cheese in the middle. Close the dough and seal the edges. Making sure that the matcha and kinako dough is still 50-50 side by side. 

• Repeat till all the dough and matcha cream cheese is used up. Let the buns proof for 40 minutes. I placed a chocolate baking stick over the buns for decoration (optional of course). :)
• Bake the buns in the peheated oven at 175C for 15 minutes till golden brown. Bake the bread loaf (covered) for 30 minutes at 175C.

I made about 6 to 7 buns with the remaining dough if I remember it correctly. :) Remember to remove the loaf from the baking tin immediately once it is out of the oven. Cool all the baked breads on the rack completely.

Showing a little of the matcha cream cheese inside. Slight bitter from the tea powder, sweet and creamy cheese with the soft fluffy buns...yum. :9

Not forgetting the loaf of bread I baked as well. :) It looks pretty good if I may say so myself! :)

Seriously my kind of breakfast. Soft bread, cold butter. Or fluffy buns with some sweet cream cheese filling. Home baked bread is the way to go guys!

Hope you all will give this a try! If you are adventureous enough, perhaps you can attempt the same recipe using cocoa powder in place of the matcha powder. I think it will match up nicely too! 

Happy Baking guys!