Showing posts with label Pumpkin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pumpkin. Show all posts

Thursday 15 October 2015

3 Recipes Using Hokkaido Fresh Milk

Hokkaido is well-known for its delicious dairy products, beautiful scenery and fresh seafood. In fact I still miss the Hokkaido Fresh Milk which I had couple of years back during my Japan trip. The good news is now you can find Hokkaido Fresh Milk without traveling to Japan.

Hokkaido Fresh Milk is as good on its own or you can pair it with breakfast cereal, granola, cakes and pastries or even use it to create quick desserts, bakes or even Japanese favourite "royal milk tea". In this article I will be sharing 3 fool-proof recipes which can be easily done in less than 20 minutes.

Thursday 30 October 2014

[Fall Recipes] Mini Apple Cheesecake & Pumpkin Parmesan Scone

[Fall Recipes] Pumpkin Scones, Pumpkin Madeleine and Mini Apple Cheesecake with Salted Camera l Sauce
Every year during the month of October, we love to get our hands on some Fall Recipes such as "pumpkin" related bakes like Pumpkin Scones, Pumpkin Chiffon Cakes, Pumpkin Pie or some comfort casseroles for Halloween Party as well as Thanksgiving dinner. 

This October we are featuring two pumpkin related recipes over at Bake King recipe website which are Mini Apple Cheesecake (serve with salted caramel sauce) and Pumpkin Parmesan Scones.

Monday 20 October 2014

[Fall Recipes] Pumpkin Madeleine - 南瓜玛德琳蛋糕

Pumpkin Madeleine
This week we will be sharing another fall related bake (more recipes here) using pumpkin to make Pumpkin Madeleine which is a fusion recipe between American and French. Since my family prefer lighter version without adding of too much of those usual spices like nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, all spice and etc; I only toss in a decent amount of cinnamon powder to lift up the taste.

Thursday 16 October 2014

[Fall Recipes] Pumpkin Apple Bar - 南瓜苹果蛋糕

Pumpkin Apple Bar
I love Autumn especially with its comfort food like casseroles and pies which warns the body when the weather is getting cooler. And with pumpkin hogging the limelight in October, we would love to share some related recipes featuring this seasonal ingredients too. Between from the selection of pumpkins available, our favourite are the Blue and Butternut pumpkin. What about yours?

Friday 28 March 2014

Pumpkin Red Bean Balls vs Gula Melaka Steamed Cake with Sweet Potato

Assorted tea snacks for Bake King March recipes
March is coming to the end and this month my baking project with Bake King features some quick and easy Asian tea snacks such as Pumpkin Red Bean Balls and Gula Melaka Steamed Cake with Sweet Potato. Pumpkin Red Bean Balls has a very soft texture when bite and it pairs well with the sweet red bean paste which makes it sort of like the Mochi (Japanese rice cake made of mochigome).

Friday 29 November 2013

Our Thanksgiving Feast - Roast Chicken With Cranberry And Macadamia Stuffing plus Pumpkin Pie

Thanksgiving is a time of the year where everyone in the family to get together to have meal and give grateful for things like family, friends, food and etc. To be frank this is my first year preparing Thanksgiving feast for the family and instead of the usual baked “turkey” I decided to swap with something smaller. So for this year, I prepared Roast Chicken with Cranberry and Macadamia Stuffing together with medley of colourful vegetables. And I also made our all-time favourite Pumpkin Pie with buttery crust for dessert.

I am thankful that this feast was able to complete and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner as planned. It was because during the preparation (if you have read about the mishap (here) on my Instagram (@cuisineparadise)) my old build-in oven (12 years) actually fused off while I was preheating it for the bakes. But thanks God with my Samsung microwave convection oven I am still able to prepare the dishes with slight changes or else I won't be able to know what to do. 

Thursday 21 November 2013

Recipes Using Samsung Smart Oven (MC32F606) - Part I

I have been using my microwave and built-in oven to help me with my daily food preparations for the past 10 years. And just recently, I received a new Samsung Smart Oven from Samsung that comes with Microwave, Convection, as well as Slim Fry features. On top of that, it also has a range of pre-set smart features such as sensor technology, high-quality cooking performance and a sleek aesthetic, all designed to provide convenience for busy households.

Sunday 27 October 2013

Fall Recipes Using Pumpkin For Halloween

Halloween is a yearly celebration observed in a number of countries which falls on October 31. Although we don't really celebrate Halloween through the traditional trick-or-treat party but for the past three years I have being sharing some Halloween Themed Recipes during this time of the year. For this year instead of the usual savory dishes I decided to bake some sweet treats (cakes) for our afternoon tea.

And since Pumpkin is one of the most common ingredients for Fall recipes, I decided to use it to make my favourite Pumpkin Cheesecake (mini version) and Pumpkin Chia Seeds Chiffon Cake.

Monday 2 September 2013

[4 Recipes] Quick and Easy Meal With Bosch MSM6 ErgoMixx Hand Blender

With the new gadget Bosch ErgoMixx Hand Blender added into my kitchen pantry, I decided to work on a lunch menu to test out its features and functions to blend, process and whisk. In this post, I will be sharing four recipes using those functions which I am quite happy with the end results.

Actually before using the hand blender I did a Google search on it's review; and I am pretty distracted with some of the negative reviews on it's universal cutter and blender. But all those worries were put in vain after I tested out the blender with the recipes shown below. Now I am glad that I can easily handle small amount of ingredients using this reliable blender.

Friday 17 May 2013

Omurice and Pork Cutlet With Japanese Curry

Curry (カレー) is one of the most popular dishes in Japan and it is often make into Curry Rice (カレーライス), Curry Udon (thick noodles) and Curry Bun. The ingredients used for Japanese curry are vegetables like onions, carrots, potatoes and meat such as beef, pork, and chicken. Sometime you could also find Katsu-karē / Tonkatsu (カツカレー) which is a breaded deep-fried pork cutlet served with curry sauce too.

For this recipe I have combined 3 of our family favourite such as Omelette Rice, Japanese Curry and Deep-fried Pork Cutlet into one dish and we just simply love this dish even though we are having it second time for this week.


OMURICE AND PORK CUTLET WITH JAPANESE CURRY


Although we have a mad rushing week but finally the mid-year school examination has ended (on Thursday) and now we can start counting down for June school holidays. And also since I could not help my kid to sit for the exam, all I can do as a mum is to prepare his favourite food to shower my love and encouragement to him during this stressful week.

I know there are many mothers out there sharing the same thoughts as me during this stressful exam month but I believe we would get it through and enjoy the sweet moments with our kid(s) no matter how good or bad they scored for the exam.  After all family support and love are also one of the greatest secret to score well too. 


(Serves: 2-3 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 25 - 30 minutes)

Ingredients:
  • 2 Servings Of Cooked Rice
  • 2 Pieces of Butterfly Pork Cutlets
  • 1/2 Cup of Breadcrumbs
  • Oil For Deep-frying

  • Japanese Curry
  • 3 Medium Potato, cut into 1" cubes
  • 1 Medium Carrot, cut into 1.5 cm chunks
  • 1 Medium Onion, diced
  • 100g Of Pumpkin, cut into 1.5 cm chunks
  • Half Chicken Breast Meat (optional), cut into chunks
  • 1/2 Tablespoon of Cooking Oil
  • 700ml Boiling Water
  • 3 - 4 Cubes of Japanese Curry Sauce Mix

  • Omelette Skin
  • 2 Eggs (55g each)
  • 2 Tablespoons of Fresh Milk

Method:-

For Japanese Curry:-
1. Saute diced onion with 1/2 tablespoon of cooking oil till soft and fragrance.

2. Stir in chicken breast (lightly marinated with 1/2 teaspoon each of light soya sauce, cooking wine, cornflour and dash of ground pepper) add cook for 30 seconds before adding in carrot and potato.

3. Give the mixture a quick toss, pour in 700ml of boiling water and bring it to boil. Lower the heat and simmer the mixture for about 7 minutes, add pumpkin and continue to cook for another 5 - 7 minutes until all the vegetables are cook to your preference.

4. Remove the pot from heat. Slowly stir in 3 - 4 cubes of Japanese Curry Sauce Mix till dissolved.

Tip:
~ I would advise you to taste the curry after adding the 3rd cubes and decide whether would you still like to add in either half/whole of the 4th curry cubes to suit your preference.

~ I use 2 curry cubes each from the above sauce mix so that the curry will taste better with the sweet and hot mixture, but you could also use just 1 type instead of two.

My boy loves this type of deep-fried pork cutlets which could be purchased from any of those Hainanese Scissor Cut Mixed Vegetables Rice Stalls in Singapore which cost around S$1.00 - S$2.00 each depending on it's size. For this quick recipe, I marinate the pork cutlet with egg and cornflour together with other seasonings and coat with a layer of dried bread crumbs before deep-frying it till golden brown.

You can find the recipe on how to make this deep-fried pork cutlet as well as how to use it to create dishes such as Hainanese Pork Chop Rice and Pork Katsudon at this post here.

For Omelette Skin:-
1. Lightly beat 1 egg with 1 tablespoon of milk till combined. Pour mixture into preheated grease pan and tilt the pan to coat the base. Cook until eggs are almost set but still a little runny in the middle (refer to the photo label no. 4 above).

2. Remove the pan from heat spoon about 1 serving of cooked rice (1/2 cup) on the omelette (refer to the photo label no. 5 above). With a spatula, flip one side of the egg omelette over the rice mixture

3. Slide the wrapped omelette rice to the edge of the pan and flip the pan against the plate for the omelette to land upside down on the plate.

4. Shape the omelette rice using kitchen paper towel and repeat steps with remaining portion of the rice and egg.

Depending on your preference, you could served the curry together with the omurice rice and pork cutlets or serve them in separate plates. For me, I love everything to be on the same plate and with decent amount of curry sauce to go with it. What about you?


Other than Omelette rice, you could also served the Japanese Curry with some cooked spaghetti or penne for quick meal idea. And if you have any interesting ways of pairing Japanese Curry, please do share with us by leaving your comments/suggestions in this post. Thanks.

Lastly, have a great weekend and hope you enjoy making this quick and easy Omurice with Japanese Curry for your family and loved ones too.


Monday 29 April 2013

[i-Love Mama Healthy Meal] i-Love Mama Bento

Photo Credit:- iWeekly (I周刊)
Finally after a few weeks of preparations (like designing and preparing of bentos for approval, practicing, lasing and etc) we managed to complete our two i-Love Mama Healthy Meal recruitment roadshows; 1st (Tampines Giant) and 2nd (Sheng Siong Supermarket) that were hosted by Mediacorp artiste Pornsak and Y.E.S 93.3FM deejay Siau Jia Hui!

Although in between there were some hard times dealing with the coordination and etc but eventually we were all thankful that everything went on smooth and we did have fun to be in part of their i-Love Mama Healthy Meal recruitment roadshows. More photos of the roadshows could be found at our Facebook Page HERE.

Wednesday 9 January 2013

Pumpkin Granola Bar

My family loves granola and our my favourite granola supply come from "maameemoomoo" who always surprise us with her innovative flavoured granola like honey, pumpkin and chocolate. And since we have missed out Sherie's pumpkin granola during Halloween orders, I decided to try making something similar to satisfy our craving. So with a twist and some research which I Google, I manage to bake some decent Pumpkin Granola Bar instead.

Although my granola bar might not taste as good as Sheri's but at least I happy with the end result and also it's a challenge for me to bake something with such a long ingredients list too.

Saturday 17 November 2012

Pumpkin And Meat Porridge Using Cuisinart Hot And Cold Blender

Continue from my last experiment on using the new Cuisinart Hot And Cold Blender for my Broccoli And Spinach Soup I would be sharing another quick one-jug recipe on Pumpkin and Meat Porridge which I did a few days back while my boy was not feeling well. Indeed this new blender comes in handy for cooking porridge to feed from 1 - 4 person without having the hassle to stand beside the stove and keep checking the porridge to make sure it is not overflow or overcook.


PUMPKIN AND MEAT PORRIDGE


This innovative blender helps to cook porridge especially those type that is suitable for baby between 6 - 15 months. It is so easy to prepare as what you need to do is to add all the ingredients into the blender, press STIR, to COOK/SIMMER till the porridge is ready to be served.

 Although my boy is neither a baby nor toddler but this type of comfort porridge is always great to whet the appetite of those who are not well or just recovered from sickness. Moreover you could also control the texture of the porridge by adjusting the amount of water/broth used.


(Serves: 2 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 30 minutes)

Ingredients:
  • 120g Chicken/Pork Fillet, cut into 1.5" cubes
  • 80g Pumpkin, cut into 1.5" cubes
  • 30g Carrot, cut into 0.5" cubes
  • 1/2 Cup Uncooked Rice
  • 600ml Water or Chicken Broth
  • 1 Century Egg(optional), cubes
  • Garnish with Fried Shallot, Ginger and Chopped Spring Onion


Method:-
1. Rinse the rice in a few wash, pre-soaked it in water for 30 minutes (preferably) before cooking. Drained well and set aside.

2. Using the Cuisinart Hot And Cold Blender, add in chicken, pumpkin and carrot cubes into the glass jar together with 1 teaspoon of oil. Set timer to 30 minutes and press the STIR button (on the right side) to stir the mixture regularly to avoid burning.

3. Through the hole on the press-on lid, add drained rice and water/chicken broth into the glass jug and bring it to boil using HIGH heat. (it takes about 2 - 3 minutes)


4. When the mixture comes to boil, change to LOW and cook the mixture for 7 - 10 minutes before switching it to SIMMER and continue to cook until end of the cycle.

5. Once everything is cooked, PULSE it a once or twice if you prefer a smooth texture for the porridge.

6. Ladle the porridge between serving bowls, top with some century egg, fried shallot and spring onion. Serve hot.


So you see, after about 30 minutes of cooking time from scratch you are able to enjoy a bowl of delicious homecook porridge using whichever ingredients that you prefer. And moreover the best part is, when you get home from work, you just need to put everything in the blender and with a touch of button your meal will be ready by the time you finished your shower.



UPCOMING CUISINART RECIPE


Black sesame paste is one of the common dessert found in dessert chain outlets such as Ah Chew Desserts, Dessert Hut, Er Gu Dessert (二姑糖水) and etc. Consuming of black sesame paste is also believed to nourish the blood, lubricate the intestines and clear "wind" in the stomach. So stay tune for the upcoming recipe soon!

Sunday 8 April 2012

{Lunchbox} Easter Chicky Bento

Happy Easter Sunday! I hope you would like this Easter Bento post that I have prepared you. Since our family would be attending Sunday church service plus a house warming event, I won't have enough time to prepare something special for my boy on Easter, therefore I decided to make this Easter Chicky Bento for him yesterday.

For this bento I have used 3 cleaned empty egg shells to act as food containers instead of the usual bento paper/silicon case. And with these shells, I have created some Easter theme such as "3D Pumpkin Rice Chick", "Hard-boiled Egg Chick" and "Artificial Egg".

Wednesday 1 February 2012

Braised Bee Hoon With Pumpkin & Prawns

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With Chinese New Year(CNY) celebration still going on until next Monday, 06 February 2012(the fifteen day of Chinese New Year). Most households are still in the festive mood on preparing auspicious CNY dishes with ingredients such as Abalone, Mushrooms, Black Moss, Sea Cucumber and etc.

In this post I am using simple ingredients such as rice vermicelli, pumpkin(金瓜 - 金玉满堂), prawns(嘻哈大笑) and mushrooms to prepare a very colourful and auspicious New Year noodle dish for the family.

Wednesday 21 December 2011

Roast Chicken with Portuguese Seasoning for Christmas

Christmas is just 5 days down the road and everyone is busying preparing Christmas menu and bakes for the coming festive gatherings. This year Christmas is early for us as I have prepared a hearty Roast Chicken with Portuguese Seasoning together with some roasted vegetables for a hearty family meal.

My mum was excited while preparing this dish together with me in the kitchen as this is her first hands-on roasting dish. And she was surprised that it was actually so easy to get everything done within less than 10 minutes and just pop it into the oven and we could enjoy the yummy roast after 2 hours time.

Last two week my brother has bought back some of my favourite MasterFood Herbs and Spices during his holiday trip to Sydney. And these will come in handy for me to prepare some quick and hearty meal within short time. For this post I would be using Portuguese Chicken Seasoning which brings together the flavours of lemon and chillies to create traditional Portuguese Chicken at home and this sure come perfect during Christmas season.


ROAST CHICKEN WITH PORTUGUESE SEASONING


Nothing beats a Hearty Roast like this during Christmas season while you could enjoy quality time with family and friends and at the same time do away with a fuss free cooking hassle in the kitchen.

These are the 3 types of MasterFoods seasoning and herbs using in this recipe but you could always choice to use your desire brand of similar products.


(serves: 4 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 1 Hour 30 minutes)
Ingredients:
1.2 - 1.4kg Whole Chicken
1 Tablespoon MasterFoods Portuguese Seasoning
1/2 Teaspoon of Sea Salt
1/2 Tablespoon Olive Oil

Side Dish:
2 Medium Potato, peeled and cubes
300g Pumpkin, washed and cubes
1/2 Teaspoon MasterFoods Chilli Flakes
1 Teaspoon MasterFoods Italian Herbs
1/2 Teaspoon Olive Oil
1 Teaspoon of Soft Butter

Method:-
1. Trim the extra fats, emptied and cleaned the cavity, removed the head, neck and feet. Rinse and pat dry using kitchen paper towel.

2. Place chicken in a big bowl, brush olive oil evenly around the chicken before rubbing the Portuguese Seasoning all over the chicken include the cavity of the chicken and under the skin layers.

3. Sprinkle with salt and set aside in the roasting tray while preparing the side dish.

4. Mixed potato cubes and pumpkin together with the remaining ingredients(except butter) in a bowl and toss till well combined.

5. Stuffed some pumpkin cubes into the cavity and tie both kegs together with unwaxed kitchen string(can be found in Daiso outlets) and arrange the remaining vegetable mix at the side of the baking dish and top with dots of butter.(refer to the 6th photo above)

6. Place the chicken in preheated 180°C fan-forced oven and roast for about 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours or until juice run clear when thickest part of chicken is pierced with a skewer.

7. To get an nice even colour for the roast, turn the chicken around after 30 minuets interval during the baking time or basting chicken frequently with pan juice.

8. When done remove chicken from oven, cover it loosely with foil and stand for 10 minutes before serving it with steamed rice, pasta, or salad green.

This is my boy's portion of the roast chicken drumstick together with some roasted vegetables and steamed rice. Although we had added chilli flakes to the roasted vegetable but the taste was still mild as the sweetness of the pumpkin have yet blend in well with the seasonings.

Indeed this is a very simple and hearty meal which you could prepared anytime of the year even if it is not during Christmas. Here is another link of the roast chicken which I have prepared during last year's Christmas, Roasted Chicken With Brown Rice And Chestnut Stuffing.


YULE CHOCOLATE LOG



This year Christmas I have baked a Yule Chocolate Log which is something different from the previous years whereby we only had Gingerbread man, Christmas Cupcake and Fruit Cakes. This Yule Log is made with simple chocolate swiss roll recipe which used only flour, egg and sugar.

Do stay tune for the upcoming recipe soon. Cheers and enjoy the Christmas Roast!!!!

Wednesday 19 October 2011

{Halloween Special} Jack O' Lantern, Black Cat Pumpkin Soup, Eyeballs Fettuccine And Death By Chocolate

Halloween is the celebration typically held on 31st October each year where this date marked the end of the summer and beginning of the cold winter which was often a time of death. As usually this year you could also join in some Halloween event at some of the tourist attraction such as Universality Studios Singapore, Halloween Horror Nights(here), Sentosa Spooktacular (here), FrightFest@Singapore Flyer (here) and etc.

This is the second year (read last year post, here) I cooked Halloween theme dishes despite that we don't actually celebrate this festival. Same as last year I have cooked a creamy pumpkin soup but with fusion of Asian and Western ingredients. And for this year we have a set Dinner Menu that comes with salad, soup, pasta and dessert with Halloween theme decorated.

Friday 26 August 2011

{5 Recipes} Assorted Homemade Bread Part II

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First of all, sorry for not being able to update more posts for the past few weeks as I was very busy with work, upcoming events as well as my boy's school term examination. But despite of all those busy days, we also starts to enjoy making our daily Handmade Bread(Part I, HERE) which I would like to share with you some of the modified recipes that I have tried and tested.

When it comes to Handmade Bread, I think the most difficult part will be on the mixing and kneading of the dough. Personally I find it quite tedious to knead till the stretchable membrane stage which sometime takes about 20 - 30 minutes using hand instead of mixer or bread machines. But these hard work will payoff when your get to see your soft and fluffy bread that is well-received by the family. As for those who still cannot achieve that stretchable stage for your dough or having problem/unsuccessful Bread even though you follow all the steps to the dot, please do not give out. I am sure with more practice and proper guidance from those of your friends who had succeed, you too will be able to overcome the problem soon.


HOKKAIDO MILK LOAF



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I still remember vividly, a few years ago this Hokkaido Milk Bread(北海道牛奶土司) is one of the popular bread recipes circulate among bakers and I first notice this recipe at Angie's Recipes HERE which using a different method. And I have never thought after few years later, I would able to  try out this popular bread using Tangzhong(烫种) method.

Although we might not be able to get hold of Hokkaido Milk to make this milk bread but definitely with any brand of full-cream fresh milk that we have in the local supermarket we can also bake  a similar milk bread/bun that is soft, fluffy and fragrant to taste. And if you love anything with "milk" taste, this is sure to be a "MUST TRY" recipe for you.

Recipe adapted from Christine's Recipes, HERE.

Ingredients: (makes 2 loaf of bread, 17cm x 8cm x 6cm)
220g Bread Flour
50g Extra Bread Flour, set aside for kneading
50g Caster Sugar
3g Salt
1 Tablespoon Milk Powder
5g Instant Yeast
92g Tangzhong(烫种)
30ml Beaten Egg
50ml Whipping Cream
30ml Fresh Milk
25g Unsalted Butter, soften

Toppings:
1 Tablespoon Dried Cranberry And Raisin Mixture
1/2 Tablespoon Mini Chocolate Chips
1 Laughing Cow Cheese Wedge

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 stir in wet ingredients such tangzhong, beaten egg and soft butter then follow by milk till it form a sticky dough.

3. Next turn the sticky dough out on to lightly floured surface. Stretch the dough by pushing the front half away with one hand, knead and constantly dust with the extra bread flour that is set aside.

4. Fold the stretched part of the dough back on itself, give it a quarter turn and repeat for 15 - 20 minutes, until the dough has been turned full circle several times and is a smooth and elastic ball. (Knead until stretchable and pass the window panel consistency)

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 divide it into 4 equal portion and let it rest for 10 minutes.

8. Roll out each portion of the dough with a rolling pin into an oval shape. Fold 1/3 from right and left edge to the middle and press down. Turn seal downward.

9. Roll flat and stretch to about 15 - 20cm in length, scatter with desire toppings and with roll from the top far end towards you. With seal facing down place in the loaf tins and repeat the same procedure to the next 3 portions.

10. Prove doughs for another 45 minutes or at least double the original size. Brush dough with egg wash and bake in pre-heated 175 oven for about 20 - 25 minutes depending on the size of the loaf/bun.

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



BAMBOO CHARCOAL AND MILK LOAF



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Get this idea from a bread post that I saw from Cathy's Joy website on her "Moo Moo Bread". Initally I was thinking about making something similar to hers but since we are using a totally different recipes, I ended up having a checker design rather than moo moo. This is the 1st time I am using 2 coloured dough and I think I have sort of over knead it as the texture seems to be a bit dry after a few hours later. But overall it still taste good with that extra dose of almond flakes on top.

Ingredients: (makes 1 loaf)
135g Bread Flour
*40g Extra Bread Flour, set aside for kneading
5g Milk Powder
3g Instant Dry Yeast
30g Sugar
1/8 Teaspoon Salt
30ml Beaten Egg
60g Tangzhong(烫种)
60ml Fresh Milk
15g Unsalted Butter, soften

Colour Dough:
3/4 Teaspoon Bamboo Charcoal Powder

Toppings:
Egg Wash
Almond Flakes

Method:-
1. Refer Steps 1 to 4 of the Hokkaido Milk Loaf recipe above.

2. Divide dough(about 400)into 2 portions weighing, 200g each separately.

3. Slowly knead Bamboo Charcoal Powder into 1 portion of the dough (200g) for a few minutes till colour is even.

4. Place both the kneaded doughs into two 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. 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.

6. Punch the risen doughs with your fist to deflate it, re-shape the two doughs into oblong shape and cut each dough into 5 equal portion and let it rest for 10 minutes.

8. Roll each individual portion of the doughs into an oval shape about 10cm x 5cm, roll the flatten dough towards your direction starting from top down. Further divide the rolled dough into half and set aside. Repeat the same process for the remaining doughs.

9. Arrange the cut doughs(10 plain doughs and 10 black doughs) into a grease loaf tin in alternate colours of two layers. Prove the loaf for about 45 minutes or double its size.

10. Brush dough with egg wash, scatter some almond flakes and bake in pre-heated 175 oven for about 20 minutes. Remove loaf IMMEDIATELY from the pan and leave to cool for at least 30 minutes.



PUMPKIN CINNAMON BUN



Since I have some left over pumpkin in the fridge from making pumpkin soup. I decided to try out this Pumpkin Cinnamon Bun from one of the Chinese website known as "袅袅烘焙香". Since we are using a different cooked dough recipe, I have changed a bit on the original recipe which I replaced her "scalded-dough" to water roux method and cold water to cold milk.

Indeed this is a very sticky dough to knead till smooth and elastic as we have added to 3 liquid items such as water roux, mashed pumpkin and cold milk. I think out of the doughs that I have kneaded so far, this is the most difficult dough to knead as it took me about 30 minutes or more. And sad to say the final result is not very good, from the step-by-step photos below you will notice that the 2nd proofed dough seems to sink after the egg wash and the surface texture became crumpled too.

Recipe adapted from 茄子, 袅袅烘焙香, Pumpkin Bread HERE.

Ingredients: (makes 6 buns)
170g Bread Flour
30g Extra Bread Flour, set aside for kneading
30g Caster Sugar
1/8 Teaspoon Cinnamon Powder
1 Tablespoon Milk Powder
4g (1 Teaspoon) Instant Yeast
65g Tangzhong(烫种)
60g Mashed Pumpkin
75ml Cold Milk
30g Butter, soften

Topping:
Sesame Seeds, optional

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

2. Make a well in the center stir in wet ingredients such tangzhong, mashed pumpkin and cold milk till it form a sticky dough before mixing in the soft butter till well combined.

3. Next turn the sticky dough out on to lightly floured surface. Stretch the dough by pushing the front half away with one hand, knead and constantly dust with the extra bread flour that is set aside.

4. Fold the stretched part of the dough back on itself, give it a quarter turn and repeat for 15 - 20 minutes, until the dough has been turned full circle several times and is a smooth and elastic ball. (Knead until stretchable and pass the window panel consistency)

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 divide it into 6 equal portion and let it rest for 10 minutes.

8. Roll each portion of the doughs into an oval shape about 12cm x 5cm, roll the flatten dough towards your direction starting from top down. Place the seal side facing down on a greased tin. Repeat the same process for the remaining 5 doughs.

9. Prove prepared buns for about 45 minutes or double its size. Brush dough with egg wash and bake in pre-heated 175 oven for about 20 minutes.

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



PANDA BREAD



Finally gets to lay my hand in trying out this cute Panda Bread which I adore very much.The original recipes from the internet called for 3 different coloured dough to distinguish between the face, features and background. But here using my reliable "Milk Bread" recipe which we love, I only used black and plain dough for this design. 

But as you can see from the photos below I didn't quite get the wrapping steps correct which cause my Panda Bread to be out of shapes for its ears and eyes.

Recipe adapted from Not Quite Nigella, HERE.

Ingredients: (makes 1 loaf, 20cm x 10cm x10cm high)
220g Bread Flour
*50g Extra Bread Flour, set aside for kneading
50g Caster Sugar
3g Salt
1 Tablespoon Milk Powder
5g Instant Yeast
92g Tangzhong(烫种)
30ml Beaten Egg
50ml Whipping Cream
30ml Fresh Milk
25g Unsalted Butter, soften

Colour Dough:
100g Knead Dough
1/2 Teaspoon Bamboo Charcoal Powder

Method:-
1. Refer Steps 1 to 4 of the Hokkaido Milk Loaf recipe above.

2. Divide dough(about 540g)into 2 portions weighing, 100g and 440g separately.

3. Knead 1/2 Teaspoon of Bamboo Charcoal Powder into the 100g of dough for a few minutes till colour is even.

4. Place both the kneaded doughs into two 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. Punch air out of dough and prove for another 10 - 15 minutes.

6. 1st Layer: Use 90g plain dough for the face and 2 pieces of 30g bamboo charcoal dough for the eyes and fill the hollow of the eyes with 30g plain dough. (refer to the photo above)

7. Roll another 100g of plain dough over the 1st layer of patterned dough.

8. 2nd Layer: Divide the remaining bamboo charcoal dough into 2 pieces (20g each) for the ears and place another 70g of plain dough to fill up the hollow between the ears. (refer to the photo above, last row)

9. Wrap the rest of the plain dough all around the patterned dough, place dough into a well-greased loaf pan and cover it with a lid and prove for 50 – 60 minutes or till double its size.

10. Brush dough with egg wash and bake in pre-heated 175 degree oven for about 20 - 25 minutes. Remove loaf IMMEDIATELY from the pan and leave to cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting.



WHOLEMEAL CRANBERRY WITH MULTI-GRAIN LOAF



I love Wholemeal Bun/Bread with either assorted nuts, dried fruits or multi-grain toppings. So making this wholemeal loaf is something which I look forward to at least once or twice a week. Before attempting this recipe, I have read a few posts mentioning that wholemeal dough is rather more tricky to handle by hand compared to plain dough. So after much hesitation, I finally get myself ready to make my favourite Wholemeal Cranberry With Multi-Grain Loaf.

Although the dough was rather sticky but thank God I already have some experience in kneading the pumpkin dough so I was rather mentally prepared to knead longer for this. To my surprised the dough became more and more manageable after about 15 minutes or kneading and finally it works out after almost 30 minutes of turning, folding, stretching and turning. And I am glad  that I have made the decision to try out this bread as it is so light, fluffy and delicious with those dried fruits and multi-grains hidden in between the layer of the wholemeal loaf with a slight crisp outer crust. MUST TRY!

Ingredients: (makes 1 loaf of bread, cm x 8cm x 6cm)
110g Bread Flour
*30g Extra Bread Flour, set aside for kneading
100g Wholemeal Flour
5g Instant Yeast
30g Caster Sugar
60g Tangzhong(烫种)
30ml Beaten Egg
70ml Fresh Milk
25g Unsalted Butter, soften

Toppings:-
60g Chopped Dried Cranberry And Raisin
1 Tablespoon Multi-grain Toppings

Method:-
1. Refer Steps 1 - 6 of the Pumpkin Cinnamon Loaf recipe above.(this wholemeal dough is very sticky compared to the rest, but just keep on knead and you will get the same smooth and elastic dough result)

2. Punch the risen dough with your fist to deflate it, re-shape the dough into oblong shape and divide it into 4 equal portion(about 115g each) and let it rest for 10 minutes.

3. Roll each portion of the doughs into an rectangle shape about 15cm x 5cm, scatter each dough with some chopped cranberry and raisin roll the flatten dough towards your direction starting from top down.

4. With the seal side facing up, flatten and into another rectangle then roll dough towards your direction starting from top down again. With seal side facig down, place dough in grease loaf tin for 2nd round of proofing (around 45 - 60 minutes) or until double in size.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for the remaining 3 doughs.

6. Brush final dough with egg wash and scatter evenly with multi-grain and bake in pre-heated 180 degree oven for about 25 minutes.

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


Lastly I hope that you won't get bored with this 2nd "lengthy" post on bread making but instead this will strengthen/boost up your confident in making Homemade Bread for your family which you gets to control what you like for your ingredients to suit their taste buds.

For more PHOTOS on these HANDMADE BREAD, please refer to the facebook link HERE.


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