No Knead Bread Loaf 免揉面包

My last bread making was back in December 2011. Time flies, the bread machine is abandoned for almost 3 years. After reading the news on Penang Health Department found rat droppings, human hair, houseflies at one of the Penang bakery shop, I've decided to make my own bread. Let's warm up with a simple recipe  -  no knead bread.

I found that the bread texture is rough and it tastes a bit dry. I'm keen to experiment some other method the next. Hopefully I can discover a dough that works for soft and springy bread to my liking.

No Knead Bread Loaf 免揉面包

Ingredients:
60 g melted butter
300 g bread flour
150 g water at room temperature
5 g yeast
50 g sugar
4 tbsp milk powder
1 egg at room temperature
Some raisins

Steps: 
1. Add all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
2. Mix up all the ingredients.
3. Cover it up with cling wrap and leave the dough in the fridge for overnight .
4. Take out the dough from the fridge. You can observe the dough is doubled up in size. Leave aside till it warm up to room temperature.
5. Transfer the dough into Tesco brand bread maker and bake under menu 12. You can bake in the oven too (170/180 deg C for 35-40 minutes).
6. Remove the bread from the bread maker/oven, and cool it on a rack before cutting into slices.

Chocolate Bread Loaf

 I rely on the Tesco bread maker for my bread making. I’m kind of lazy to spend time in making buns, so I only make bread loaf most of the time. I have failed many times though. The dough prepared in bread maker does not raise perfectly. It happened to this chocolate bread dough as well. When the bread maker beeping to trigger the dough is done, the dough size did not doubled. I sensed something was not right and felt very disappointed. It was almost 10pm, nothing much I could do. So, I got an idea. I covered up the bread loaf pan with cling wrap and I left the dough in bread maker for over-night.

The next morning at 5am, after feeding my baby, I ran down stair to check the dough. Aha…it raised. Then, I just removed the cling wrap, and let the bread maker proceeded with the baking process while I continued my sleep. When I woke up, the bread loaf was done and cooled. Here it is, my ugly looking bread. It's rough, but not hard, still edible.

Chocolate Bread Loaf

Ingredients:
200ml fresh milk (chocolate flavored)
330gm of bread flour
1.5 tsp of yeast
25gm butter
4 tbsp of fine sugar
1/2 tsp of salt

Steps:
1. Put all the ingredients into bread maker follow the sequence of liquid, semi liquid, and dry ingredients.
2. Select "dough" program.
3. When the dough is ready, proceed for baking. Remark: I continue to let it proof for another 8 hours as the dough has not doubled in size.

Potato Bread Loaf

I'm glad that I can spend some time to make a potato bread today. This is supposed to be potato sweet bun recipe, but due to my laziness, I made it into bread loaf instead. :)

After tasting it, I realized that potato is a good ingredient to replace portion of the wheat flour. With the mashed potato added, the bread has mild fragrant of potato that is not overpowering. Also, the bread is a little bit moist compared to 100% high Protein flour bread. 

Potato Bread Loaf (Use Basic Programme of Tesco Bread Maker BM07)

Ingredients:
80gm fresh milk at room temp
40gm butter
10gm Sunflower oil
1/2 egg, beaten
1 potato (about 140gm), peeled, steamed and mashed
1/4 tsp of salt
50gm of fine sugar
300gm bread flour
1 tsp dried yeast

Steps:
1. Add milk follow by beaten egg, oil and butter.
2. Add flour, salt, sugar and mashed potato.
3. Tap the pan lightly to settle the flour.
4. Add the yeast in small heap in the center of the pan.
5. Lock the pan in the bread maker. Set the program to "Basic" follow by loaf size (1.5lb) and select the crust color.
6. The bread maker will complete the task in 3 hours.

Strawberry Bread

This recipe was shared by a colleague. His wife invested a branded bread maker that is more high-tech than mine. He passed to me a hand written recipe booklet for my experiment. My first choice goes to Strawberry Bread. No specific reason, just the ingredients were easy to get. Since I just bought a non-stick chiffon cake pan, so I just use it to to mould the buns. 

The buns were soft and with mild fragrant of strawberry. You can replace strawberry flavored milk with chocolate milk in order to get chocolate buns. I'll give that a try too.

I'm submitting the strawberry buns to Aspiring Bakers #8: Bread Seduction (June 2011), hosted by Jasmine of The Sweetylicious. 

Strawberry Bread

Ingredients:

200ml fresh milk (strawberry flavored)

330gm of bread flour

1.5 tsp of yeast

25gm butter

40gm of fine sugar

1/2 tsp of salt

some beaten egg.

Steps:
1. Put all the ingredients into bread maker follow the sequence of liquid, semi liquid, and dry ingredients.
2. Select "dough" program.
3. When the dough is ready, divide it into 7 or 8 portions. Mould into balls and put on a greased pan.
4. Let the dough prove for another 40 minutes.
5. Egg-brush the top.
6. Bake at 180 deg C for 12-15 minutes

Purple Sweet Potato Bun

Every time when I step into a hypermarket, I enjoyed myself looking for new ingredients for my cooking. Each hypermarket sure have their unique products. Some have wide variety of spices, and some are more fresh vegetables and fruits.

Last week, I found some fresh fragrant purple sweet potato which I seldom use in my cooking. Since I still have some left over "Pao" flour, I thought of trying to make some steamed buns. I played with the dough and shaped it into different shapes. This is the prettiest among all. 

Purple Sweet Potato Bun


Ingredients:
270gm of purple sweet potato, peeled, cut into chunks,steamed until soft and mashed
60gm fine sugar
500gm pao flour
1 tsp of yeast
10gm Sunflower oil
200ml water

Steps:
1. Put all the ingredients into bread maker follow the sequence of liquid, semi liquid, and dry ingredients.
2. Select "dough" program.
3. When the dough is ready, divide it into small equal portions. Shape it and put on parchment paper.
4. Let the dough prove for 45 minutes.
5. Steam it for about 15 minutes or longer depends on the size.

Coffee Buns (Tesco Bread Maker Recipe)

Since I owned a bread maker machine, I've tried making several types of bread loaf and buns. Not every baking is successful. Supposedly if you follow strictly the steps for the dough preparation using a bread maker, you shouldn't go wrong. But, the secret is in the ingredients, in terms of quality and proportions. For example, the yeast. So far, I tried 2 different brand of yeasts. The first brand results a good raise for dough, and the other one does not. I experimented using both brands of yeasts in several baking for the hypothesis, and it proved that my earlier assumption is right. So, I stick to my reliable yeast.

These coffee buns were made using the poor quality of yeast. Hence it did not raise properly. It's soft and springy while hot, but it's hard while cooled to room temperature. It was a failure. However, I believe with a good quality yeast, you'll get a perfect texture buns. 

Coffee Buns

Ingredients:
300gm bread flour
30gm fine sugar
half tsp of salt
5g of dried yeast
1 packet of 2-in-1 coffee powder
1 packet of raisins
180ml of room temp water
20gm of butter (at room temp)

Steps:
1. Put all the ingredients into bread maker follow the sequence of liquid, semi liquid, and dry ingredients.
2. Select "dough" program.
3. When the dough is ready, divide it into small portions. Mould into balls and put on a greased pan.
4. Let the dough prove for 15 minutes, then flatten slightly and continue to let them prove for 30 minutes.
5. Bake at 190 deg C for 12-15 minutes.

Chinese Steamed Bun - Mantou 馒头

I bought a packet of pao flour a couple of weeks back. Initially I thought of making vegetarian steamed bun with jicama filling. However, I made excuses to delay the pao making. Later on, an idea popped up in my mind to make mantou with the help of the bread maker. Hence, the mantou making process starts...

As you can see, there's room for improvement of my skill in rolling up the 2-color dough sheets. The 2 dough failed to stick together and resulted gaps between it. So, I got the swirled bun, instead of mantou, hehe...

Chinese Steamed Bun - Mantou (Pandan Flavor)

Makes 16 mantou

Ingredients:

500gm pao flour

240ml warm water

6gm dried yeast

50gm sunflower oil

3 tbsp fine sugar

pandan essence

parchment paper, cut into 5cmx5cm pieces

Steps:

1. Prepare the dough in bread maker. Add warm water, sunflower oil, pao flour, sugar and dried yeast in sequence.

2. When the dough is ready, divide it into 2 equal portions.

3. Flour the tabletop, knead one portion with pandan essence.

4. Flatten the original flavored dough into rectangle sheet. Do the same to the pandan flavored dough.

5. Top the pandan dough sheet on top of the original flavored dough sheet. Roll it up tightly.

6. Cut into pieces and allocate each on a piece of parchment paper.

7. Leave it proof for another 50 minutes.

8. Steam over high heat for 15 minutes.

Garlic Bread

 

Broccoli soup seems too plain to serve on its own. So, I paired it up with garlic bread. It will never go wrong to serve garlic bread with Western styled soup. 

Everyone has their own version of garlic bread, so do I. I like to keep my garlic bread as simple as possible. You can see my garlic bread was toasted to perfection. Its flavor is enhanced by roasted garlic, butter and mixed herbs. The texture is so crunchy and it smells fantastic.  Garlic bread and broccoli soup, that was our simple and healthy dinner.

Garlic Bread

Makes 7 slices


Ingredients:
1/2 French loaf
3 tbsp salted butter
1 bulb of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
mixed herbs

Method:
1. Slice the French loaf diagonally.
2. Spread a layer of salted butter to each loaf slice.
3. Preheat the oven at 180C for 5 minutes.
4. Spread the chopped garlic to each slice of loaf and arrange them on baking pan.
5. Sprinkle mixed herbs on the loaf slices.
6. Bake the garlic bread for 8-10 minutes under 170 deg C.
7. Serve hot with your favorite soup.

Prosperity Hamburger

With the home made burger bun, here comes the Prosperity Hamburger. To turn it into a CNY dish, you can serve it with some arrow head chips, that is only available during the CNY season.

Prosperity Hamburger

For the burger bun, refer here for the recipe

The Hamburger (make 4 patties)

300gm minced pork

1 onion, peeled and chopped

1 egg

Seasonings:

1 1/2 tbsp of light soy sauce

dashes of pepper powder

1 tsp sesame oil

Garnishing:

1 tomato, sliced horizontally

some green coral leaves

1/4 onion, sliced

1/2 cucumber, sliced

Cheddar cheese (which I forgot to add)

Mayonnaise or tomato sauce 

arrow head chips

Steps:
1. Marinate the minced meat for 30 minutes.
2. Divide the minced meat with marinade into 4 portions. Shape each portion into patty. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
3. Take out the meat patties from fridge and re-shape it.
4. Heat enough oil in a pan or wok. Shallow-fry the meat patties until golden brown at both side. Serve the meat patties with bun and veggies as burgers.

Burger Buns

I made these burger buns with reference to Alex Goh's "The World Of Bread". Finally I dug out this book of my book cabinet, which is been sitting there for ages. It has a series of fabulous bread recipes. For this burger bun, I followed his ingredients, and I used bread maker to do me the dough. :) How's the texture? Hmm...it's soft and fluffy. I'm loving it! 

Burger Bun

Makes 4 burger buns and a bread loaf

Ingredients:

400gm bread flour

20gm sugar

6g salt

1 tbsp milk powder

2 tsp yeast

250ml water

30gm vegetable oil (the original recipe calls for shortening)

sesame seeds

Steps:

1. Put all the ingredients into bread maker follow the sequence of liquid, semi liquid, and dry ingredients.

2. Select "dough" program.

3. When the dough is ready, divide it into 80gm portions. Mould into balls and put on a greased pan.

4. Let the dough prove for 15 minutes, then flatten slightly and continue to let them prove for 30 minutes.

5. Brush the top with water and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.

6. Bake at 190 deg C for 15-20 minutes.

7. Slices the burger bun horizontally to serve with burger and salad. 

Beetroot Bread

Who said beetroot bread is supposed to be red? My beetroot bread turned out as brown color :P. It looks just like wholemeal bread. Utilizing the breadmaker machine again, I made another loaf of bread with beetroot juice. Oh ya, the measuring spoon at the back was a gift from Anncoo Journal, Thanks Anncoo!

Beetroot Bread  (Use Basic Programme of Tesco Bread Maker BM07)

Ingredients

300gm bread flour

200gm super fine flour

2tbsp of milk powder

2tbsp of sugar

1tsp of salt

2tsp of dried yeast

40gm of butter at room temp

200ml water at room temp

100ml of beetroot juice

some raisins

Steps:

1. Add water and beetroot juice follow by butter.
2. Add bread flour, super fine flour, salt and sugar.
3. Tap the pan lightly to settle the flour. Add sugar and milk powder and salt.
4. Add the yeast in small heap in the center of the pan. Note: Prevent the yeast from salt.
5. Lock the pan in the bread maker. Set the program to "Basic" follow by loaf size and select the crust color.
6. Add raisins in between the proving process. The bread maker will complete the task in 3 hours.

Home Made White Bread

New year, new resolutions. The first thing I learnt in 2011 is bread making. With the newly bought Tesco bread maker BM07, I can now have fresh home made bread for breakfast. So here, I'm sharing with you the first bread loaf that I made this afternoon. It was a successful trial with the recipe provided in the user's guide. I'm so impress with its soft, fluffy and little bit of springy texture. It's quite similar to the "Bengali" bread that I used to have when I was a kid.

Wishing all my fellow friends a very Happy New Year! I hope 2011 is a good start for everyone here! 

White Bread (Use Basic Programme of Tesco Bread Maker BM07)

makes a 700gm loaf

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups of room temp water

1 tbsp of sunflower oil

1 tsp of salt

2 tbsp of sugar

3 1/3 cups of bread flour/high Protein flour/high gluten flour

2 tsp dried yeast

Steps:

1. Add water follow by oil.

2. Add flour, salt and sugar.

3. Tap the pan lightly to settle the flour.

4. Add the yeast in small heap in the center of the pan.

5. Lock the pan in the bread maker. Set the program to "Basic" follow by loaf size and select the crust color.

6. The bread maker will complete the task in 3 hours. 

Milo Banana Paratha

Instead of having cake for afternoon tea, I tweaked the menu to Milo Banana Paratha. This is something that is easy to prepare at home with minimal cost. It's suitable for breakfast or for afternoon tea.

Milo Banana Paratha

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 small banana, peeled and sliced thinly
2 frozen Paratha bread
4tbsp of Milo or Chocolate powder

Steps:

1. Heat up a pan, fry the Paratha bread. When it's done at the bottom side, over-turn it to fry the other side.

2. Arrange banana slices on top of the paratha bread. Fry it for another 1 minute. Sprinkle 2 tbsp of Milo powder and dish out. Continue the same steps for the 2nd Paratha bread.

Hawaiian Tuna Pizza (Tortilla Crust)

My first attempt of pizza making was the meat crust pizza. Although hubby keep on requesting for more, but I take no action. This round I used tortilla for the crust instead of meat. If you like thin crust, then tortilla is a good choice. This is a no fuss recipe that anyone can follow. With the same concept, you can add whatever toppings you like. You can even make a veggies pizza for a healthier selection.

With just a few steps, the hawaiian tuna pizza above is ready for our afternoon snack. The crust is crispy after baking and the melted cheese is just plain yummy.

Hawaiian Tuna Pizza (Tortilla Crust)

Makes 1 tortilla pizza 

Ingredients:

1 flour tortilla, 8 inch
3 tbsp spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce
pineapple cubes
3 tbsp of Mayonnaise tuna
4 cherry tomatoes, halved
about 1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese at room temperature

Steps:

1. Place a tortilla on a baking tray. Spread spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce to within inch of edges.

2. Spread the mayonnaise tuna on the spaghetti sauce layer. Sprinkle with shredded cheese. Top with pineapple cubes and cherry tomatoes. Bake under 180 deg C until the cheese melts. Serve hot.

The Prosperity Cake (Brown Sugar Huat Kuih)

"Huat Kuih" is its Hokkien name, while in Cantonese, it is known as "Fatt Kou". "Huat" or "Fatt" in both dialects carry the meaning of prosperity. The traditional method of making "Huat Koay" requires long hours of fermenting, which bring the result of "smiley face" to the cake after steaming . Can you see the cake is smiling with widely open mouth? Yes, that's the reason the cake has a such auspicious name - The Prosperity Cake. 

This recipe that I got from 妮可斯爽闹厨房 calls for a twist to the traditional way of making "Huat Kuih". Instead of using rice flour and yeast, both are replaced by self raising flour. It simplifies the making process.

The Prosperity Cake (Brown Sugar Huat Kuih) 

Recipe adapted from 妮可斯爽闹厨房
Yields for 3 cakes in 3" diameter ramekin

Ingredients:

130gm self-raising flour
35gm brown sugar
35gm white sugar
25gm coconut cream
100ml hot water

Steps:

1. Bring a wok of water to boil.

2. Dissolve the brown sugar and white sugar in the hot water

3. Sieve the self-raising flour in a big bowl. Mix with coconut cream. Sieve in the syrup slowly and mix until you get a gluey batter.

4. Line paper cups in ramekins. Fill the batter into paper cups. Steam for 20 minutes. If you use smaller ramekin, the steaming time can be reduced to 10 -15 minutes.

Home Made Crepe

My mom used to make crepe for our breakfast. Crepe is very easy to make, and you just need a little bit of oil or oil free if you owned a reliable non-stick pan. The difference is that if you fry in lightly oiled heated pan, you'll get crepe which is lighter in color. While if the non stick pan is oil free, the type of pan cake you get will be like the one I shown in the photo above.

I didn't jot down the actual measurement of ingredients I used for the home made pan cake. I had eggs, wheat flour and brown sugar mixed well with a pinch of salt and adequate amount of water in a big bowl. Then scoop and pour onto a non-stick pan. It'll take just 1 or 2 minutes to pan fry both side. Continue this step until you finish up the batter.

It can be served on its own or with some fresh fruits added as filling. It is a simple and yummy breakfast.