Pineapple Jam Buns

A little overbaked 🤦‍♀️ luckily it's still soft and enjoyed by my family 😅

Okay dun laugh, it was supposed to shape something like curry puff, but look at this LOL

Recipe: HERE
Easy dough to handle, nice soft and yummy

What you need:

500g bread flour
85g sugar
85g butter
30g milk powder
2 eggs
1tsp salt
12g instant yeast
19-ml fresh milk
beaten egg, to brush before baking
butter to brush the buns after done baking

Method:

1. In a breadmaker pan, add in eggs and fresh milk, followed by salt, sugar, milk powder, flour and yeast. Start the machine on dough function. After 5mins kneading, add in butter. Let it continue doing the job of kneading plus the first proofing
2. Remove dough from the pan and transfer to a lightly floured surface
3. Knead for a few times to release air bubbles. Make into 50g balls
4. Flatten each ball with a rolling pin and put filling at the centre. Shape as you like
5. Proof again until doubled in size about 30 to 45mins depending on the surrounding temperature, covered with damp kitchen towel
6. Preheat oven at 180degC for 20mins (do it during the last 20mins of the second proofing), brush buns with beaten egg and bake for 25 to 30mins until the tops are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped
7. Remove from oven, transfer into a cooling rack and brush the tops with butter

Can be made as plain buns and/or with filling of choice
This time I made mainly with pineapple jam and custard filling

Recipe for pineapple jam: HERE, and for custard HERE

Pineapple Balls (Enclosed Pineapple Tarts)

My fourth cookies for Chinese New Year
Of course, pineapple tarts! But this time, I made the enclosed version, pineapple balls, and I had fun making them

I usually always prefer the open tarts, easier and faster to prepare. Tried to make into balls once previously but I got cracked balls. And the process was more tedious. But this year I just wanted to try again, and this time I enjoyed it. The dough was easy to handle and the whole thing was a breeze. Of course, it's still more time consuming than open tarts, but it's a nice feeling when I saw those round balls out from the oven, no cracks :)

UPDATE:
Baked these precious balls again for Chinese New Year 2017, and brushed only beaten egg yolk for glaze and it looked much more beautiful. So happy! :)

I used the most talked about recipe recently, from Sonia of Nasi Lemak Lover
Love it! So melty, milky and yummy combination of the sweet pastry and tangy pineapple filling
Only one downside to me was the appearance, it couldn't give me golden balls. Instead they were whitish and pale. After some thoughts, my guess was I shouldn't have mixed the egg yolk glaze with fresh milk, and also I should have baked without fan. Okay, lesson learnt, must take note of that the next time I bake this recipe again :)

What you need:

350g butter
100g sweetened condensed milk
510g plain flour
2 egg yolks

1 egg yolk + 1 tsp milk, for glaze
(I will omit the milk next time)

700g pineapple jam filling, roll into 8g balls

Method:

1. Cream butter and condensed milk til light. Add in egg yolk one at a time, beat til combined
2. Mix in flour, mix til the dough becomes soft and not sticky
3. Roll the dough into 10g balls
4. Flatten a piece of dough ball, make a dent at the centre and place the pineapple jam ball on it. Bring the edges of the dough together and pinch to seal. Roll it in between palms to make a perfect ball shape
5. Make a pattern on the balls if desired (I didn't do it) and brush with egg wash
6. Bake at 165degC for 23mins (fan forced) (mine was 170degC for 30mins but I still got whitish pale balls, I will off the fan the next time I bake this again)
7. Cool completely before storing them in an airtight compartment

I am submitting this post to Cook & Celebrate: Chinese New Year 2016 hosted by Yen of GoodyFoodies, Diana of The Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids

Melt In The Mouth Open Pineapple Tarts - Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Okay, done posting with my Valentine's Day indulgence, I'm back to Chinese New Year goodies LOL

 A must bake every year, this was some postion of my second batch :)

 

I used my mum's recipe I ever did back in 2011
I reckoned that her recipe is more suitable for closed pineapple tart. It turned to be too crumbly for open tart, hence I did a little modification to the ingredients and also the making process and it worked well for open tart :)

What you need:

For the pastry dough:
200g cold butter, cubed (original recipe used room temperature, I used SCS salted)
300g plain flour
25g corn flour (closed tart: 50g)
2 egg yolks
2 tbsp + 25g milk powder (closed tart: 2 tbsp)
50g icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For egg wash:
(whisk with fork)
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp fresh milk

Method:

1. In a bowl, mix in both sifted icing sugar, plain and corn flour. Add in butter cubes and rub in with fingertips til resembles breadcrumbs
2. Add in egg yolk, vanilla extract. Wet you hand (til really wet) and use to knead til forms soft dough (do not over knead). Wrap in cling wrap and keep in the fridge for about 30mins
3. Remove from fridge and roll dough til about 5mm thick. Shape with cookie cutter as preferred and place in lined cookie sheets
4. Egg wash them and place pineapple paste ball on each of the pastry
5. Bake in preheated oven of 175degC for 25-30mins til pastry is slightly browned on the edge
6. Remove from oven and transfer to cooling rack
7. Make sure it's cooled completely before storing into containers

For the pineapple paste, I used the same recipe as what I used last year
I found it was too sweet, so this time I reduced the sugar
I made 4 big Morris pineapples and found 300g of sugar is sufficient

Yummy pineapple tarts. Such a torture, knowing that it's high in calories yet it's so addictive LOL


This post is linked to "My Treasured Recipes #5 - Chinese New Year Goodies (Jan/Feb 2015)" hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders and co-hosted by Charmaine of Mimi Bakery House

This post is also linked to the event, Cook & Celebrate: CNY organised by organised by Yen from Eat your heart out, Diana from Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids

 

Oh btw, jumping to another topic, but still Chinese New Year related, a couple of days ago, I received a surprise from SCS. It's the recipe book so highly on demand now, with a box of delicious pineapple tarts
Thank you SCS, I will definitely will give the recipes in the book a try :)

 

 

Lastly, just want to share my must have Chinese New Year's Eve dinner :)

Just a small portion as it's only for 4 of us - well, the pic below only showed half of it, though LOL

 

 

 

Fried taukee and fried golden ingot wanton :)

 

 

 

Last but not least, Happy Chinese New Year 2015, everybody! Gong Xi Fa Cai! :)

 

 

 

 

THB #37 Fresh Pineapple Cashew Nut - Upside Down Cake

I have been a lousy blogger lately. Missed out many bakes from many events. Never did any update for close to a month. School holiday. Ridiculous hot humid weather. Plus over a week away from Singapore. All equal to l.a.z.y hahaha...

Anyway, I do not want to miss this one bake today. Why? Because I have chosen it! LOL
It's for the event The Home Bakers (THB), a baking event initiated by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours - which by the way I have missed quite a few *grin*
Well, actually, I have baked #32 and #33 a few weeks ago. I will post and link it in THB's site - if allowed :)

Back to this bake...
Original recipe used macadamia nut but it suggested cashew too, so I chose the latter
I love upside down cake - always. Cake and fruits together, soft, sweet and moist - what's not to like?
This cake is no exception. Every bite burst with the juice from the fresh pineapple cuts, so sweet, soft and moist cake thanks to the syrup. Yum!
It's a cake with fine texture - love it! The crunch from the nuts is a not to be missed added bonus
An addictive sweet treats!

I baked half recipe using a 8" round pan

What you need:
(full recipe)

Fruits layer:
3 tbsp unsalted butter
2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar (I used dark brown sugar - this explained my dark looking cake LOL)
1 tbsp light corn syrup
1/2 ripe pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into 6 to 8 slices 1/2 inch thick
1/2 cup unsalted macadamia nuts or cashew nuts (I used cashew)

3 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup cake flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (I omitted)
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup fresh milk

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 175degC
2. To make the fruit layer: In a heavy 9" ovenproof skillet (I used non stick pan and quickly transferred the caramel onto 8" round baking pan), melt the butter over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and corn syrup and cook, stirring constantly, until the sugar melts and the mixture is bubbly. Cut the pineapple slices crosswise into 3-inch pieces and immediately arrange the slices in the caramel in one layer. Place the nuts in the gaps between the pineapple slices
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and granulated sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and vanilla, and beat well. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, nutmeg and salt. Stir to blend. Beat the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture alternately with the milk in 2 additions. Spread the batter evenly over the fruit layer
4. Bake for 35 to 40mins (mine was 25mins), or until the cake is golden brown and a skewer inserted and comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 2 minutes. Then turn upside-down onto a serving plate. Serve warm or at room temperature, cut into wedges

This recipe from the book Coffee Cakes by Lou Seibert Pappas is another keeper. I reckon it will be nice with other kind of fruits, too

 

 

This bread is the 37th bake for The Home Bakers - hosted by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours, where we bake from the book Coffee Cakes by Lou Seibert Pappas

 

 

And since this cake used butter, I'll also submit this post to Little Thumbs Up organised by Bake For Happy Kids, and My Little Favourite DIY, hosted by Jozelyn from Spice Up My Kitchen at this post. You may post anything you make using butter as one of the ingredient! :)

 

My Last CNY Bake: Cheesy Pineapple Tart (Enclosed Version)

Another late posting for CNY this year, last one, trust me :)
After this I will say bye bye to CNY stuff LOL

I somehow always prefer baking open face pineapple tart than enclosed type. It's more time consuming, more patience required, too. But this recipe calls for enclosed, so I just followed. Still need to improve in how they look :P

I've been wanting to try this recipe since last year, but only now I had the time
This is not the melt in the mouth type, but it does yield soft kind of cookies, too
Very tasty especially with the addition of cheese in it, but Abby, the pineapple tart lover, still prefers the open face no cheese melt in the mouth kind
But other than her, the rest of the family likes this addictive munch :)

Recipe is from one famous baker in Indonesia, Ny Liem

What you need:

A
150g butter
60g icing sugar
2 egg yolks
1 egg white

B
150g parmesan cheese powder

C
Mix together and sift:
25g full cream milk powder
300g plain flour

D
3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
grated cheddar cheese

Method:

1. Beat A til creamy, add in B, beat for a while
2. Add in C gradually while stirring with wooden spoon
3. Shape dough into balls (about 3/4 tbsp. each). Flatten each ball and add in filling (pineapple jam balls 1 tsp each) at the centre and close, shape into balls
4. Brush with egg yolk, and sprinkle cheddar cheese on top
5. Bake in preheated oven of 150degC for 20 mins til golden brown

 

 

I used the same recipe as HERE for the pineapple jam filling

The taste and texture develops overnight. It was a little too crispy when eaten fresh out from the oven. I prefer to have it the next day when the cookie has softened

Still as addictive as the rest of the recipe, but those love only melt in the mouth type, you can pass this one :)

Will I bake using this recipe again? Mmmm.... I don't think so. As much as I enjoy eating it, I would just stick to the melt in the mouth kind, at least I won't disappoint Abby :)