Purple Sweet Potatoes Loaf

What's your favourite color? Mine is always purple and red. Ever since I'm a little girl I always like the color of red. Well, at that time I just find that red is pretty sharp and when we wear something red, we really stands out. Then, when I slowly grow up, I find that purple is nice too. I'll like my parents to paint my room purple, buy me purple towels, a purple bag etc...haha! I just find it's a romantic color. Don't you think so? (^o^)

So, when comes to baking, color is also very important. (this is what I think so lah..;p) Refer back to my older post, I usually have sharp colors in my bakings! And today, a warm and romantic one, Purple Sweet Potatoes Loaf with dried Cranberries.

An easy "quick" bread recipe founded! And of course it has a super soft texture until the next day!
This recipe does not need any pre-fermented dough or Tang-zhong. Scroll down to have a look at the ingredients..:))

(Recipe calls for a 7.5"x3.5" loaf tin)

Ingredients:
(A)
200g bread flour
10g milk powder

(B)
20g castor sugar
2g fine salt
1/2 tsp honey
65g purple sweet potatoes (cooked & mashed)
85g cold water
25g beaten egg
4g instant yeast

(C)
25g butter (room temperature)

(D)
some dried cranberries or raisins

Method:
* Mix together all ingredients (B) in a bowl. Slightly whisk with a whisker.
* Transfer the mixture into a mixing bowl and add in ingredients (A)
* At high speed mix them all together into a dough then add in butter (C). 
* Continue to beat at high speed until you get an elastic dough, until you can pull the dough to almost see through texture without breaking it.
* Add in dried cranberries or raisins (D). Mix well.
* Cover and let prove for 30 minutes.
* Punch the air out from the dough and divide into 3 equal portions
* Slightly roll out the 3 portions with a rolling pin and roll up like a swissroll.
* Place into the prepared greased loaf tin (7.5x3.5")
* Let prove till 80% of the tin (about 45 minutes)
* Bake at 180'C for 30 minutes
* Remove the loaf from the tin once done and let cool completely before slicing.

Oh, don't you like the color? Beautiful!!

Happy Baking!

Homemade Beef Burger

Nothing beats homemade food! This was my first attempt on making our very own burger buns and the result is awesome. And that I have to share this recipe with you, a very easy and thumbs up recipe indeed! 

We had this for dinner yesterday and everyone thought that the buns were store bought...hehe! *so proud of my self* (thick skin ^^)

Alright, dinner was served....Homemade Beef Burger, yeah! all homemade except the salad lah...I have no courage to plant them yet..LOL!!

Beef Burger with Garden Salad

Ingredients for the Buns:
60g condensed milk
15g beaten egg
170g cold water
2g salt
5g instant yeast
300g bread flour
5g milk powder
20g softened butter

* a little white sesame seed

Method:
~ Mix well condensed milk, egg, cold water and salt in a mixer. (just mix them at medium speed for 2-3 minutes)
~ Add in flour and milk powder and mix them into a dough
~ Finally add in the butter and knead into a fine dough until you can pull the dough to almost see through texture without breaking it. (Note that the dough is a little soft here)
~ Cover and let prove for 30 minutes
~ Dust some flour on the work surface and hands. Transfer the dough to the work surface.
~ Press down the dough to let the air out. Divide the dough into 60g each or smaller it you prefer.
~ Round them up. Spray some water and dust with some white sesame seeds.
~ Place them onto the prepared pan lined with parchment paper. Let prove for 1 hour.
~ Bake at 180'C for 10-13 minutes (please adjust to your own oven's temperature) 

Well, as you can see below here (before and after) the buns were done. If you want to make mini buns, you should divide the dough into 30g each instead. 

Ingredients for the Beef Patty:
500g minced beef (90% lean meat)
1 beaten egg
1 large onion (finely chopped)
1/2 cup Crushed Soda Biscuits
3 tbsps Worcestershire Sauce
a little salt and black pepper to taste

Method:
~ Mix all ingredients above in a large bowl
~ Make into patty about 0.5" thick (size depends)
~ Use a wax paper in between each patty when chilling for easier separation.
~ Keep chill for at least 30 minutes before frying with some olive oil.

** The patty can be store in freezer for a week in an airtight container.

Hope you like this recipe!

Walnut and Dried Cranberries Milk Buns

Manage to bake some buns today after a not-so-long break...haha! Yeah, kind of lazy since last bakes but I'm back, back to my HQ (my kitchen la...)

I'll like to share this delicious soft buns with you because I find this recipe is rather easy (not to mention the time consuming la) compare with those with starter dough or tang zong. 

Recipe adapted from My Mind Patch Please refer to her blog for reference.

I have been baking this recipe from this blog for quite a lot of times and I love it!! T

This time with the same recipe but I've added some other ingredients into it and made them into a flower shape...hehe! Nice or not?? ^^

  

Walnut & Dried Cranberries Milk Buns

After the first proofing, divide the dough into equal portions, place some dried cranberries and toasted walnuts on top

 Roll it up from the inside and pull down the side of the dough and seal at the bottom to make a ball

 After the last proofing cut the edges with a sharp knife, rub some egg wash on top and place a small walnut in the center if you like

 And for my super hot oven, I just bake at 160'C for 20 minutes, and my super soft buns are ready to be eaten!

Please refer to the original author for details, The Mind Patch

Cheers!

Chicken Curry Bread Pot 咖喱面包窝

What a BIG bun huh?!! It is really BIG..haha! (see the 2nd pic) Too big that my hands can't manage to grab the whole bun! Wonder what's inside? Scroll down and you'll see...(^o^)

See how big it is here....Opps! the cracked top..:(( The bread was too soft that I've accidentally cracked it while removing it from the baking pan.

Yeah!! Chicken Curry was hidden inside this BIG bun! (sorry for the bad images here, the light was too dim when I took these pictures)
This is how they served the Chicken Curry with bread back in my hometown.

I'm sorry too that I've forgotten to take some pictures on how I wrapped the Curry Chicken with the bread dough. But it was rather easy, just need to be careful and gently not to tear the bread dough apart.

Recipe and method for the bread,... please refer to honeybeesweets blog.

* Cook the curry chicken with some thick gravy and wrap with an aluminium foil (seal tight)
* Rub some butter on a 10" round cake pan or lined it with a parchment paper.
* Roll out the ready bread dough into a round shape (enough to wrap up the foiled Curry Chicken) with a rolling pin, thickness about 2". Slightly roll a little thinly the sides of the bread dough.
* Place the rolled dough on top of the wrapped Curry and seal at the bottom.
* Place into an 10" round cake pan
* Brush some egg wash on top of the bread (do not skip this because we want the bread top to be a little shinny and crispy)
* Bake at 170'C for 45 minutes
* Once done, cool slightly and remove from the pan and serve.

Recipe for Chicken Curry....please refer to my older post on Steamed Spare-ribs Curry.
Replace the spare ribs with chicken or any other meat. Then reduce the amount of water so that you'll have a thicker gravy for easy wrapping.
* Wrap up the curry with some gravy with aluminium foil, seal tightly to avoid any leaking when baking.

Ta-da...it's time to serve. We had this for dinner last few days, and I'm going to make this again for our coming party end of this month. ^^
This was my first attempt though, and I got it right! Yay!!! And I'm glad everyone loves it..:))

Here are some braided buns with the same bread recipe which I've done earlier. Love the texture, and they were still soft the next day!

Happy Baking!

Sweetcorn Fritters 玉米黄金脆饼

Chinese New Year is around the corner, what are you baking this lunar year? I didn't bake much as those are the old recipes that I've done years ago. Maybe there'll be a new one but it's still under my testing list. Will be posting soon if it's successful ya..^^

For now I'll like to share this simple yet yummy recipe that I've googled. It's really simple and it takes only 20 minutes to cook this. 

 
As you see the picture above is quite tempting right! This recipe came to my mind as I have a big pack of sweetcorn given by a friend in my freezer. These are the organic sweetcorn and they are super sweet!! Last night I've just steamed some of them with added butter and salt..and you know what?! They are so sweet and I just can't wait to mix these sweeties with other ingredients.

I've got this recipe somewhere from the web, not sure which website already because I've been searching lots of them and I didn't even bother to jot down. At the end, I just remember some of it here and there..haha!
So here it goes with my own version of sweetcorn fritters. (Yes, I did remember the name..LOL)

Ingredients:
100g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp fine salt
1 egg
alittle black pepper and white pepper to taste
150ml fresh milk
200g frozen sweetcorn

 **serve with anything you desire. I just like to eat it as its own.

Method:
~ Mix all ingredients together into a batter
~ Heat up some oil and spoon a full tablespoon into the hot oil and pan fry both sides until golden brown and crisp.

That's it! Super easy right!!

The texture is soft and fluffy inside and crispy on the outside. This was my 1st try and I never thought that my hubby likes it so much as he is quite picky. He asked for more!!! (happy me!!)

Cheers!

Tuna Buns

Today will be my last bake in 2014. A simple Tuna Buns for today's lunch! I'm not really in the mood of baking or cooking these few days as it keeps raining everyday and floods everywhere near east coast of Malaysia. So sad to hear that the numbers of victims increasing everyday and we, those who stay west can't do much for them. I'll pray hard and may god bless the victims and their families.

School holidays have been extended to another week due to the rain and floods here. That means my daughter will be resuming school only on the 12th of January 2015. Hmm....another week huh....I'll take that week to boost up my energy for baking and cooking!! So stay tune, there might be something coming up then...^^"

Tuna Buns

Recipe makes 7-8 buns
Starter dough:
230g Bread flour / High protein flour
5g instant yeast
160-170g water

~ Mix them well with a mixer then let proof for 1.5 hours

Bread dough:
20g egg (beaten)
60g castor sugar
1/4 tsp salt
25g cold water
2.5g instant yeast
100g bread flour / High protein flour

30g butter

Fillings:
1 small can of tuna mayonnaise

~ Add in the above ingredients (except butter) into the starter dough
~ Mix well till a dough form then add in butter, continue kneading to form a smooth and elastic dough
~ Divide into 60g each, knead into long strip, then fold into desire shape.
~ Place them onto prepared tin or paper cups. Let proof for another 10-15 mins or until double in size
~ Brush with egg wash and put filling on top
~ Bake at 190'C for 15 minutes.

 The texture are super soft as you can see the picture I've shown above. You can make this with other fillings for example sardines or even chicken curry. Good to serve for breakfast, lunch or tea!

Lastly, I'll like to wish everyone here a very Happy New Year and lots lots more interesting bakes to come in 2015!!

Happy New Year!

Cheers!

Soft Buns

Breads...Buns..they are so delicious and yet satisfying especially when they came just right out from the oven. I like the process of making though...by pressing and kneading the dough...hehe! Difficult to explain here but once you try it you'll know...kind of addicted..LOL!!

Here a super soft dough recipe that my sister had share it with me lately. Love it so much and I'll like to repost it and share it with you!

Yeah, bread making is fun but the time consuming is...Urgh!! But when you see the result of your making, you will say.."Yes! I'll make this again tomorrow"!..haha! Am I right? ^^"

Here's the link below that my sister had shared....

http://mymindpatch.blogspot.com/2014/11/sweet-milk-buns.html?m=1

Have fun!!

Red bean Buns

Sardine Buns

Mini Sausages Buns

Cheers!

Plain Buttery Buns

The weather is bad these few days. There were thunder storms and heavy rain yesterday, not a good one though. And now there is lightning and I think there'll be a heavy pour later. Well, although the weather is not good but it doesn't really bother me. I still have the mood to bake. Warm bread fresh from my oven really warms my day..:)

Yes, this week's post will be bread. "No more cakes!!"..the eaters have been complaining about it..haha! Alright then,  plain buttery buns it is! 

How do they look? Beautiful huh?! These babies are so soft and fluffy!!

Plain Buttery Buns (makes 16 minis)
Ingredients:
1 tbsp dry yeast
150ml milk
1 tsp fine salt
4 tbsps castor sugar
500g bread flour
4 eggs
200g butter (diced)

Method:

~ Dissolve yeast in milk with salt and sugar. Use an egg whisk to beat until bubble forms.

~ Add in flour and eggs. Use a dough hook and knead for about 5 minutes at high speed.

~ When a dough forms, add in butter and continue to knead at high speed for another 8-10 minutes.

~ Try to stretch the dough (as shown above). When the dough is elastic, cover and let prove for 1.1/2 hours.

~ Preheat oven at 180'C.

~ Punch down, and shape into small balls.

~ Place on the prepared tray and brush with beaten eggs.

~ Bake at 180'C for 20 minutes. 

These buns are so good when serve with jams or you can eat it plain with a cup of your favourite drink.
my daughter loves it, she gobbled up 2 once they are out from the oven.

Cheers!

Simple Danish Cinnamon Rolls

2nd post as I promised...:p

Quite a simple one which I found from a recipe book I got last few weeks, "tea time treats from Chef Wan".

Don't really remember when I had a cinnamon roll but this sweet dough is always my favourite. It really goes well with my favourite long black. Yummy!

Ingredients for Puff pastry:
300g plain flour
1 tsp salt
100g butter
70g vegetable shortening
4-6 tbsps cold water

Method:
~ In a bowl, sift together the flour and salt.
~ Add in the butter and shortening and mix well with a fork.
~ Slowly pour in the cold water and mix into a soft dough.
~ Wrap with cling film and chill in refrigerator for 1 hour.

Ingredients for the filling:
1 tbsp butter (melted)
50g castor sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
*raisins

Method:
~ Preheat the oven to 200'C. Prepare the tray with baking papers.
~ In a bowl, mix together sugar and ground cinnamon together.
~ Roll out the child pastry into a 25x35cm sheet, 1 cm thick. Repeat this rolling for few times.
~ Spread the cinnamon mixture all over the pastry sheet. Sprinkle with raisins.
~ Roll the pastry up from one side until the whole sheet is rolled up like a swissroll.
~ Cut the roll into 2.5cm thick slices.
~ Arrange on baking tray. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Cool and serve with maple syrup.

A good alternative to the layered pastry is puff pastry. You can buy prepared puff pastry from the supermarket.
The outcome is satisfying, light and crunchy. I really enjoy them over the afternoon tea.

Cheers!

Steamed Wholemeal Banana Mantou 麦粉香蕉馒头

Dear readers, I'm back with a simple recipe. I'm not doing much in my kitchen lately because I'm busy with my daughter's scedule. Her school exams are coming soon, and as usual, I'm worry and stress...:((

Being stress in my daughter's exam is really useless, I know but what to do, it just comes naturally. I guess all mums out there are the same...hehe!

Right, here's a really simple recipe I created, hope you like it as much as I do.

Steamed  wholemeal banana mantou, 麦粉香蕉馒头.

 Ingredients:
400g Pau flour (low gluten flour)
100g wholemeal wheat flour
2 tsps double action baking powder
11g instant yeast
120g castor sugar
40g shortening
100g mashed bananas
180-190ml water. (may not need all)

Method:
- Mix all ingredients together except water with an electric mixer using a dough hook.
- Add in water slowly and continue to mix at high speed until a soft dough form.
- When the dough form, stop adding anymore water and continue to mix at high speed for about 5 minutes.
- Transfer dough onto flour dust surface and divide into 50g small pieces.
- Roll out dough as shown above.
- Fold up like the above and place on a cut baking paper.
- Arrange in the steam bamboo tray and let them double the size before steaming. (about 15 minutes)
- Steam at high heat for 12-15 minutes.

These mantou are so soft and fluffy that you can just eat it by its own. Spread some kaya or jam, they taste just as good as you want.

Look at the inside, don't they look soft and fluffy to you? With the light banana aroma, these buns are just too good to resist.
Try them out and let me know, I'll like to hear the comments from you....^^

Cheers!!