Friday 12 August 2011

{5 Recipes} Assorted Handmade Bread Using Tangzhong Method

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I have never thought of one day I could write a long post base on my homemade bread because firstly I am not good in baking or handing anything with yeast especially "bread". But Sherie's homemade bread and her lovely Guest Post changed my view and doubts on bread making totally. With her easy to follow recipe, I managed to make all these Assorted Buns and 3 different flavour of Bread Loaf within a week all using TangZhong, or water roux method.

So I hope this can be a useful post for those who do not own a bread machine at home but yet interested in making some homemade bun/bread. Furthermore I also included some step-by-step photos in order to boost up your confident in trying out some of the recipes with your family during coming weekend.


CHEESE AND MAYO BUN


This is my 1st bread making session after about 3 years and I am so glad that I actually takes the courage to try out this Guest Post RECIPE by Sherie two weeks back. As you can see from the photo on the left, the texture of the cheese bun is so soft and fluffy for a handmade result. And with Sherie's detail explanation and step-by-step photos it actually simplify the process and boost up a lot of my confident.

Recipe adapted from Sherie, Maameemoomoo, 1/2 a food blog, HERE.

Ingredients: (makes 8 buns)
350g Bread Flour
10g Milk Powder
6g Instant Dry Yeast
50g Sugar
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 Egg(60g), lightly beaten
120g TangZhong (refer to the tangzhong recipe below)
125ml Fresh Milk
30g Unsalted Butter, soften

Toppings:-
Japanese Mayonnaise
Smoke Slice Sandwich Cheese/Shredded Cheese

Method:-
1. Mix all the ingredients (according to your recipe) in your mixing bowl for about 3 minutes and make sure that all the dry ingredients are incorporated.

2. Next turn the sticky dough out on to lightly floured surface. Stretch the dough by pushing the front half away with one hand.

3. Fold the stretched part of the dough back on itself, give it a quarter turn and repeat for 5 more minutes, until the dough has been turned full circle several times and is a smooth and elastic ball.

4. Place the kneaded dough back into the lightly floured mixing bowl and leave it in a warm place to prove for about 45 minutes to an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

5. Divide dough into 8 pieces. From the 8 pieces, further divide each dough into 3 pieces. Then roll each pieces to 15 cm long rope.

6. Place the rope side by side and start plaiting. (refer to the step-by-step photos above)

7. Continue to plait until you reach the end. Place the ends together and tuck them neatly under the bottom of the plait. Repeat for the remaining 7 pieces.

8. Place the completed plaited bread onto baking sheet that has been floured. Let doughs proof for 45 minutes or until double in size.

9. Squeeze or spread ample mayonnaise on the each of the bread doughs before topping them generously with grated cheddar cheese.

10. Bake at the preheated oven at 175c for 18 - 20 minutes until the bread is browned. Remove immediately.



MATCHA AND CHESTNUT LOAF



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Matcha and Chestnut combination is always one of my favourite when comes to baking. If you have follow this blog you will notice the "Japanese Steamed Matcha Cake" and "Matcha and Chestnut Chiffon Cake" where I have incorporate these two ingredients. So with the same concept I tried to replicate mum's favourite "Green Tea Bread" from BreadTalk. Although the colour of the bread is not as "green" as those from BreadTalk but the texture is definitely light and fluffy which we all loves.

Ingredients: (makes 2 loaf of bread, 17cm x 8cm x 6cm)
350g Bread Flour
10g Milk Powder
1 - 1.5 Tablespoons Matcha Powder
65g Sugar
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
7g Instant Dry Yeast
1 Egg(60g), lightly beaten
120g TangZhong (refer to the tangzhong recipe below)
125ml Fresh Milk
30g Unsalted Butter, soften

Topping:-
100g Ready-to-eat Roasted Chestnut

Method:-
1. Combine all dry ingredients such as flour, milk powder, salt, sugar and instant yeast in a bowl and mixed well.

2. Make a well in the center add in wet ingredients such as beaten egg, tangzhong and soft butter and and slowly stir the mixture till it form a sticky dough by adding the milk to it.

3. Next turn the sticky dough out on to lightly floured surface. Stretch the dough by pushing the front half away with one hand.

4. Fold the stretched part of the dough back on itself, give it a quarter turn and repeat for 5 more minutes, until the dough has been turned full circle several times and is a smooth and elastic ball.

5. Place the kneaded dough back into the lightly floured mixing bowl and leave it in a warm place to prove for about 45 minutes to an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

6. Test your proofed dough by pushing your floured finger deep into the risen dough whereby it will leave an indentation that does not spring back.

7. Punch the risen dough with your fist to deflate it, re-shape the dough into oblong shape and let it rest for 5 minutes.

8. Divide the rest dough equally into TWO portion(mine was about 400g per portion), flatten one portion of the dough into a rectangle, scatter some roasted chestnuts on the dough and fold 1/3 of the top part down and follow by 1/3 of the bottom up. (refer to the step-by-step photos above)

9. Lastly tuck in both side of the flatten dough and seal the shaped dough with your finger tips.

10. Place the loaf in an oiled and lightly floured pan for second proofing of 45 minutes to an hour or until the dough rises just above the top of the tin.

11. Bake bread in preheated 175 degree oven(or as per instruction) for about 20 - 25 minutes. The bread should be well risen, golden brown and sound hollow when tapped with fingertips.

12. Remove the loaf IMMEDIATELY from the pan and leave to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.



CHOCOLATE CHIP BREAD LOAF



I used to buy Chocolate Bread loaded with chocolate chips from supermarkets which my boy loves. But now with my new hobby on bread making I able to bake my very own Chocolate Chips Loaf which is quite well-received by those who tried and it really makes me feel those kneading and proofing time is worth working on.

Ingredients: (makes 2 loaf of bread, 17cm x 8cm x 6cm)
350g Bread Flour
10g Milk Powder
1.5 Tablespoons Valrhona Cocoa Powder
70g Sugar
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
7g Instant Dry Yeast
1 Egg(60g), lightly beaten
120g TangZhong (refer to the tangzhong recipe below)
125ml Fresh Milk
30g Unsalted Butter, soften

Topping:-
100g Mini Chocolate Chips

Method:-
1. Refer from the Matcha And Chestnut Loaf above. Replace the chestnut on "steps 8" to mini chocolate chips.



CHEESE AND SAUSAGE BUN



Cheese and Sausage Bun is always one of the popular pick among kids and adults. Here upon reading a related bread post from Rasa Malaysia and Food-For-Tots, I decided to try using the basic water roux dough method which I am practicing with to make some Sausage Buns for our breakfast. And on top of that, I also use the same dough to make some Cheese and Mayo Bun and Mayo and Spring Onion Bun too.

Ingredients: (makes 8 medium assorted buns)
175g Bread Flour
5g Milk Powder
3g Instant Dry Yeast
30g Sugar
1/8 Teaspoon Salt
30ml Beaten Egg
60g TangZhong (refer to the tangzhong recipe below)
60ml Fresh Milk
15g Unsalted Butter, soften

Toppings:-
Mini Sausage
Japanese Mayonnaise
Chopped Spring Onion
Smoke Slice Sandwich Cheese

Method:-
1. Refer Steps 1 to 5 of the Cheese And Mayo Bun recipe above.

2. Divide dough into 8 equally portions (mine was about 50g per portion for this recipe).

3. For Plain Sausage Bun: Roll one portion of the small dough into oblong shape with width around the same length as the mini sausage. Place the sausage at the top part of the flatten dough, roll the dough with sausage toward your direction and place it with seal side facing down on a paper case.

4. For Plait Sausage Bun: Roll the dough into an oval shape, place the sausage in the middle and top it with half a slice of sandwich cheese, cut both side of the dough into strips. Fold the strips alternating the left and right over the sausage. (refer to the step-by-step photo above, or click HERE for more detail.)

5. For Mayonnaise and Onion Bun: Roll the dough into an oval shape about 12cm x 5cm and roll the flatten dough towards your direction starting from top down. Place the seal side facing down on a paper case. After the 2nd proofing, use a scissor to snip an line on the proofed bun and top with generous amount of Japanese Mayonnaise and sprinkle with some chopped spring onion.

6. Proof all the prepared bun for at least 45 minutes or dough double its size before baking in a preheat 175 degree oven for about 15 - 20 minutes depending on the size of the bun.

Note:-
~ You can use this plain dough recipe to make different fillings of bun according to your preference.



BLACK SESAME LOAF WITH CRANBERRY



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This was the first bread that I wanted to make when I first saw it over at Sherie's website @ Maameemoomoo (original recipe HERE). The texture, fragrant and topping of this bread look similar to one of the cranberry bun that I always buy from the bakery near my area.

And after a few attempts on making those loaf and buns shown above, finally during National Day holiday I managed to make this together Celes from Celestial Delish. And this is definitely one of our favourite homemade loaf using freshly grind black sesame powder.

Ingredients: (makes 2 loaf of bread)
350g Bread Flour
10g Milk Powder
40g Black Sesame Seed Powder
65g Sugar
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
7g Instant Dry Yeast
1 Egg(60g), lightly beaten
120g TangZhong (refer to the tangzhong recipe below)
125ml Fresh Milk
30g Unsalted Butter, soften

Method:-
1. Refer from the Matcha And Chestnut Loaf above. Replace the chestnut on "steps 8" with 1/4 of chopped dried cranberries and repeat the same procedure on folding and adding of cranberries again before resting the dough for 2nd proofing. (in order to have more evenly spread out fillings, I did the folding and fillings steps twice)

2. Bake in pre-heated 175 degree oven for 25 minutes, remove loaf IMMEDIATELY from the pan and leave to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.



TANGZHONG / WATER-ROUX METHOD



Tangzhong, or the water-roux method(烫种法) is the best method if you are looking for some way to retain the soft and fluffy texture for homemade bread which can stay fresh for up to five days. Thus by incorporating tangzhong into your bread it will give bring a soft and fluffy bread that has fine crumbs and springy texture.

For your information, the flour-to-water ratio for tangzhong is always 1 (bread flour) : 5 (water). For instance from the recipe shown below you can make a batch of approximately 150g tangzhong.

Ingredients: (able to make 2 loaf of bread with 350g bread flour)
25g Bread Flour
125ml Water(could be replaced by milk, juice or 50/50 water and milk)

Method:-
1. Mix flour and water in a small saucepan until without any lumps.

2. Cook over medium low heat, stirring consistently with a egg whisk or wooden spoon to prevent the mixture from burning while cooking.

3. The mixture will thicken up (takes about less than 2 minutes) while cooking, so once you see “lines” appear in the mixture or it starts to form a dough. It is done.

4. Transfer the cooked dough into a clean bowl and cover with a cling wrap sticking onto the surface to prevent it from drying up.

5. Cool it completely before use. (I have tried using it while lukewarm and it works well too)



TYPES OF BREAD FLOUR AND INSTANT YEAST



For the recipes above, I have tried using both "Red Man" and "Prima Flour" BREAD FLOUR which turns out equally good with price ranging from S$2.80 - S$3.00 depending on the supermarkets. Whereas for the INSTANT YEAST I have do a swap on my last two recipes from "Bake King" to "Saf instant"(comes in a box of 5 packets each weighing 11g) upon recommended by Sherie and a few baking friends.


BREAKDOWN OF TIME SPENT 

FOR MAKING THE BREAD


I am sure some of you are just like me, whenever we scan through any bread related recipes we are always hesitate to try out the recipe due to the long proofing hours. But physically what it required is about only 15 - 20 minutes of hands-on such as preparation plus kneading of the dough(for those without bread machine at home) whereas the rest of the time taken is more for proofing of the dough. Below is the breakdown for your reference:-

~ Preparing Tangzhong/Water Roux: 3 minutes

~ Preparation plus Kneading: 15 minutes

~ 1st Proofing: 45 - 60 minutes or double it's original size (you can do other household chore while waiting)

~ Shaping: 5 - 7 minutes

~ 2nd Proofing: 45 - 60 minutes or double it's original size
(Check the dough after 45 minutes by pressing it lightly with a fingertip, it is ready when the dent springs back slowly. But if the dent stays as it is, the bread is overproofed.)

~ Adding Toppings/Baking Time: 20 - 30 minutes depending on the recipe.


Lastly I hope you would like this "lengthy" bread post and if you need more inspirations on bread making you can also refer to all those wonderful Bread Entries in "Aspiring Bakers #8 Bread Seduction (June 2011)" at this link HERE.


43 comments:

  1. U are one impressive woman, friend. Really.

    In just a couple of days, you churned out so many loaves.. together with so many step-by-step pictorials! The effort is mammoth and you did it all in 1 post. Bravo.

    Again, i have to say this, i'm so glad that you took the plunge and now, there's homemade bread for you and your family whenever you want! xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Parsley Sage12/8/11 9:43 am

    Cheese and sausage bun, please!  All of them look amazing though :)  So yummy and they're not really that scary for a non-baker like me :)

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  3. Oh wow - that's so amazing. I always curious making bread using tang zhong. It seems complicated, however your recipe makes it easy. Gonna bookmark and try this one for sure!

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  4. wow...i was once inspired by television drama about baking "the baker king" and now I read your post I want to pursue my baking thank for this wonderful post.

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  5. Simply WOW!  Ellena, you became a professional baker!  I'm so impressed by your post and this will be a bookmark for future (ahem, one day I will be a baker just like you. ;-) ).  I can see how much you spent for this post and I really appreciate you shared this post!  Great job Ellena!!!!  All of the bread is beautiful and delicious!!!

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  6. WOW love the step by step photos, if you didn't mention it, I wouldn't know those were your first few attempts! All the breads look so "pro"! And I can tell you put a lot of effort into taking those photos!

    Btw, small question about the black sesame powder. for 40g of powder, did you use a food processor to grind them up? Cos I heard that the seeds become oily very quickly and I've yet to make anything black sesame even though I've been dying to!

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  7. I think you are a natural baker! The bread all look so light and fluffy! just perfect! The chocolate one is my fave!

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  8. Withlovebylil Bub12/8/11 4:13 pm

    is it ok if i don't use milk powder? 

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  9. Thanks peachie :) I am still a learner.

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  10. Thanks Janine, I still have a long way to learn from those expert baker :)

    Yup I use a food processor to grind the sesame seeds(i fried on low heat till fragrant, cool then grind). Have to grind fast so that i won't be oily, fried another time to make it more fragrant cool and store in air tight container. Over here we can also get pre-grind sesame powder too :)

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  11. No No Nami, I am still a learner when it comes to bread baking. But this is indeed a quick and simple recipe to follow. All you need is the proofing time :)

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  12. Thanks Linda,
    Do share with us your bake once you have tried it ok :)

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  13. come come Parsley, try it out and let me knw how it goes :)

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  14. Friend, indeed I am glad i invited you to do the guest post on Mayo bread. It is because of that wonderful post of yours, I could come out of all these buns and loaves :) Thank you so much!!!!

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  15. Wow what a selection.Great ideas and looks fanatstic;)

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  16. Not good in baking? How can it be? It looks like you can open a bakery already - they all look bakery-standard, no kidding!

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  17. All of them look amazing!  I love making bread at home with TangZhong method too!   I'm really inspired to try more new flavors!  :)

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  18. Hi Withlovebylil, yup u can omit milk powder. Mb can add some custard powder if u wish :)

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  19. Thanks thanks. But i still have lot more to learn from those "Bread master" :)

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  20. Bee | Rasa Malaysia19/8/11 6:49 am

    Ellena - OMG, you can open a bakery now. :)

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  21. I'm learning & looking for bread recipe... haha ha!
    So this page is bookmarked!
    Tq for sharing the recipe & tips + a step by step pic with us ellena - I know that a hard & fun work
    Amazing & good looking bread!! ;) 

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  22. Thanks Amy, I am sure yours will be better and tastier than mine :)

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  23. No no Bee, I still have a lot more to read up and learn on bread making :)

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  24. Elies,

    I am sure you will enjoy the process of making as well as the end products. Homemade is always the best :)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Wow... went through both your bread posts. That's a very good collection.
    I'm beginning to bake bread on a regular basis now and those will come in handy.
    Wonder what made you keep all the posts and not posting them before this.
    Your breads look good and it's hard to believe that you're not good with handling yeasts and breads

    ReplyDelete
  26. Hi Wendy, thanks for your kind words. These bread recipes (those featured in the 2 posts) are all made after I learnt the tangzhong technique from a guest post about 3 weeks ago. And I thought perhaps I can share what I learnt with those who loves to try hands-on on homemade bread.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Hi ellena would love to try ypur cheese and hotdog bun recipe. Looks so good! can I ask using a teaspoon or tablespoon to measure, how many spoonfuls of yeast and sugar is it in your recipe? TIA!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi sorry for the late reply as I have miss out this :( Emmm it's quiet difficult to measure small amount using teaspoon or tablespoon. Unless you measure the amount once and re-measure it using spoon and you note it down for future reference. HTH :)

      Delete
  28. Hi Ellena,

    Love to try your bread making, they look yummy...

    I tried baking strawberry bread from some website but i failed... My bread turns out to be wet in the centre and hard on top.. They didn't put any yest , they only included plain flour, baking powder & sode

    Wonder is my oven can't bake bread or I missed out anything .. So sad

    Alice

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Alice,

      Bread without yeast is not bread. It is actually cake bread i suspect. Perhaps your oven temperate is too high or you put on the wrong rack of the oven which cost the top to get burnt and inside uncooked.

      Delete
  29. Hi,

    I'm a newbbiemin baking. May I ask why is there 120g tangzhing method and 350g bread flour? Do I use the bread flour to make tangzhong method ? Wanna try this today so hope to hear from u soon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi there,

      Sorry for my late reply. 120g of Tangzhong is separated from the 350g bread flour as in you have to make the tangzhong separately using another recipe.

      Delete
  30. Ok, and after that, I justadd the tangzhong into the mixture, right ? thanks a lot !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can read the tangzhong recipe in another page. Cook, cool it and add it into the dough mixture. Knead well and let it rest to proof to double the size.

      Delete
  31. How to make 60g TangZhong? How much bread flour and water?
    Do you have any recipe for breadmaker to make the breall roll/dough?

    Mrs Yang

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Mrs Yang,

      You have to refer to the TangZhong recipe in another separate post here http://cuisineparadisekitchentips.blogspot.com/2011/08/water-roux-method.html

      Nope I don't have breadmaker recipe but you can google online for some related recipe :)

      Delete
  32. Thanks so much for putting this together.

    The step by step photos are excellent. I made my first Hokkaido loaf last weekend. It was so exciting to see the big puffy bread. And that first taste was amazing - I have been going "Yaaay! now I can make Bread-Talk bread"

    And now I'm on to making my second batch today. Waiting for the first proof. Can't wait to have some tonight!

    Meng

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Meng, thanks for letting us know your experience in trying out the recipe and I am glad it works well for you :) Do share with us your bakes over at our facebook page if you have took some photos of them too.

      Delete
  33. Hi Ellena,

    Discover your website now and wondering whether you would be able to teach me how to measure yeast as it is not easy to measure small amounts such as 6g in your recipe.

    Others advise me to estimate. Or do you use an electronic scale?

    thanks.

    ling

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Ling, I use digital scale for the measurements but from what I Google, 1 teaspoon is about 3g of dried yeast. So for 6g you could use roughly around 2 teaspoons. HTH :)

      Delete
    2. Hi Ellena,

      Thanks. for your advice. I should have thought about googling. Not a very season user of computer.

      Now I can finally get on to make bread....

      I enjoy many of your posting. With pics, it gave me an idea of how my things should look like.
      Thanks once again.

      blessings,
      ling

      Delete
  34. Why do my bread taste sour?? I uses the same instant yeast brand as urs and same proofing time.. My bread taste super sour. Pls help!!

    ReplyDelete
  35. Based on the steps described, seems like you are using stretch and fold method rather than the traditional kneading. Does the bread taste as good as based on traditional kneading ?

    ReplyDelete

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Regards
Ellena (Cuisine Paradise)

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