Finally Baking Again Regularly

Filled Monkey Bread

Ensaymada donuts.....Whaaaa?!?!

Daring Bakers - Croissants

Why I shouldn’t watch TLC

Calamansi Danishes

Composition

One of the goals I set for myself was to improve my photographer skills.  Some days I am very good at it and other days, I just wonder what I was thinking.  I also have been battling my lighting in the house.  I have a light source but it is not  best one.  Any suggestions is welcome.  Most of my experience in photographer was actually in architecture and very abstract compositions but I had limited experience in product placing.  A couple of Sundays ago, I decided to practice on a stack of pancakes I made.  I made some pineapple pancakes for myself and The daughter.  Note to self….no more Mickey Mouse pancakes for her.  She refused to mess up the face and just ate mine. 

I Almost Got It

Monkey Bread and some Recognition

Nutella au Pain

Guess what was yesterday? World Nutella Day! This day is hosted by Sara and Michelle. As some of you know, I love nutella. How could I not participate. This time I wanted to attack croissants. I decided to make a Nutella au Pain. I also had a book club meeting with my friends and cousin so I figured I would use them as my guinea pigs. I was meaning to crack open my Modern Bakers book by Nick Malgieri. I have been meaning to try all the recipes in the book and I wanted to start with this one.  For the filling I used my homemade nutella recipe. 

3rd Day of Christmas–Soft Pretzels and a Cookie Exchange

I love making bread for Christmas gifts.  When the house smells like bread, it reminds me of the holidays.  Lately, I have been craving pretzels.  The really soft ones that you could dip into cheese or mustard.  I set out to make some.  I found the recipe on Fresh Loaf.  The recipe was adapted from Jeffery Hamelman’s book Bread: a Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes.  I actually have this book and I didn’t realized this recipe was in there. 

Pretzels

(adapted from Jeffery Hamelman’s book Bread: a Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes)

1 Tsp of Instant Yeast

1 Tbl of Brown Sugar

2 Cups of Bread Flour

1 Tsp of Salt

1 Cup of Warm Milk

Directions

1. Place all the ingredients in the bowl and mix until it is fully incorporated.  Do not place the yeast by the salt or it will kill the yeast.
2. When the dough forms a ball and it is quite stretchy, remove it from the mixer and continue to knead it by hand for 5 minutes.
3. Place it in a large bowl covered to allow it to rise.  It took about an hour.
4. When the dough doubles in size, start boiling water in a large pot and preheat the oven to 425F.
5. Shape the dough into little pretzels (I made bows).
6. Let it rise again for 10-15 minutes.
7. Drop it into the water and when it floats to the top, removed from the water and allow it to dry.
8. Once dried, place on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes.  Brush with an egg wash and sprinkle with salt 5 minutes prior removing from oven.
9. Serve (Hot if possible, it is so good)

Btw it didn’t totally taste like a pretzel.  The Best Friend (Girl) and myself could not place the taste until I asked The Husband and he said, it tasted like a bagel duh….I have no idea how that happened. 

I actually served this at a cookie exchange I had with my book club

I’m planning to make for Christmas gifts.  If anyone knows where I could get colored salt, please let me know.   I wanted to be a little festive .

 

Here are some pictures from our cookie exchange.

 

Tomato and Mozzarella drizzled with vinegar and balsamic vinegar.

Stuff Mushrooms with Italian sausage.

I attempted to make fondue

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

Mini Quiches (thanks to Costco)

Here is our spread

Here are the different cookies we had.

Mellow Bakers - French Bread

So I waited for the last possible day to post this last Mellow Bakers Challenge I was able to complete.  It has been such an insane summer, I am suprised how busy I became.  I was happy I tried to make this.  Though it is not the most complicated recipe it is one that I was most eager to try.  French bread brings me back to my childhood.  When we would go grocery shopping, The Mother would always look for the freshly baked french bread.  She was so excited when we found them warm from the bakery.  The bread would never last to make it home.  We would instantly attack the warm crusty bread.  The Mother would create a tunnel, she has always loved the soft inside of the bread while I always preferred the crust.  Between the two of us, we could put away 1/2 of the bread within the first 10 minute.  I got excited to try this recipe.  I was quite surprised that it was a straight dough.  I would think that you would need to bloom the yeast first.  The recipe was good but I think I could add some honey to add a little sweetness.

Mellow Bakers - Bialys

Mellow Bakers- Bialys

Like always, I wait for the last possible second to complete the different challenges I am in.  I vow that one day I will not be rushed to make a deadline and I will completely all three of the breads.  Unfortunately, this month I was only able to complete two of the three breads challenge.  My first attempt was bialys.  For those that doesn't know this type, it is a bagel except for a tougher exterior.   The bread is quite chewy and traditionally topped with onions.  This receipt comes from page 262 from the book Jeffrey Hamelman's book Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes.  The book stated that the dough starts off stiff but I was amazed how stiff it was.  I was slightly scared that I messed up the dough but I knew I had to finish the recipe.  If I made a mistake, I would be able to track down my error.  Though I did make one mistake and I did not prep the onions first.  I should have started the onion filling the day before so it would marinate nicely with the bread flour.  The onions was still a little hard for my taste.  I did opted for sweet onions but I would probably make a garlic version next time.  I have heard quite a few people stating that this was similar to a bagel but I soon realized why.  The texture was nice and chewy.  I may try to make this instead of bagels (especially with my history with bagels).  

Please feel free to join us.

Pastry Boot Camp Recap

Here are the recipes requested to be shared. 

Trissa
.
Pain a la Biere - Beer Bread
(Adapted from the French Pastry School)
480 g of Water
500 g of Bread Flour
250 g of Rye Flour
17.5 g of Sea Salt
8.7 g of Dry Yeast
625 of Fermented Dough (similar to a sourdough starter)
55 g of Potato Flakes (yes potato flakes)
195 g of Water

Directions

1. Use a 20-quart mixer with a dough hook, combine the bread flour, salt, yeast, fermented dough, and rye flour. 
2. While that mixes, mix together the potato flakes and water until it is well mixed.
3. Add the potato to the dough mixture.
4. Slowly add water if needed.
5. Mix the mixture on low for 5 minutes, than go to medium for 2-3 minutes to create the glutton.
6. Let the dough rise for an hour.
7. Once it rises, portion into 350 g pieces and shape into loaves.
8. Brush the dough with the beer mixture (see below).
9. Once they are all covered with the beer mixture, lightly dust with rye flour.
10. Let it proof again for an hour.
11. Cook at 495F for about 25 minutes. 

Beer Mixture
100 g of Rye Flour
180 g of Beer (pick a good one)
5 G of Salt
2.5 g of Yeast

Directions

1. Mix all the ingredients together.
2. Set aside.

Brioche

(Adapted from The French Pastry School)

Poolish

50 g of Whole Milk

5 g of Sugar

60 g of Bread Flour

Dough

Poolish

340 g of Bread Flour

8 g of Fleur de Sel or (Salt if you don't have this)

35 g of Sugar

220 g of Whole Eggs

200 G of Cold Unsalted Butter

Directions

1. 
   
   In the mixing bowl, pour the milk, than the yeast, sugar, and on top the flour.  Let the yeast proof.
2. 
   
   When the flour breaks, add the rest of the ingredients except for the butter.
3. 
   
   When the dough comes together, slowly add the butter.  Do not over add too much but wait until it is almost fully incorporated before adding more.
4. 
   
   Place in a bowl and cover with saran wrap.
5. 
   
   Let is rise for an hour and punch down to remove the air.
6. 
   
   Place in the fridge for 2 hours and than punch down again to remove the air.
7. 
   
   Let it sit in the fridge overnight for the final rise. 
8. 
   
   Form into loaves or desired shape and brush with egg wash.
9. 
   
   Let it proof again for an hour.
10. 
    
    Brush more egg wash and cook at 400F for about 15-20 minutes.

Oggi
Passion - Apricot Pate de Fruit
(Adapted from The French Pastry School)
125 g of Passion Fruit Puree
125 g of Apricot Puree
7.6 of Apple Pectin
29.75 g of Sugar
264.5 g of Sugar (there is two different sets needed)
53.75 g of Glucose or Corn Syrup
2.25 g of Tartaric Acid Solution
4.25 g of Kirsch

Directions

1. Cook the purees to 104F over a stove top.
2. Add the pectin and sucrose and bring to a boil by stirring continuously.
3. Add the glucose
4. Slowly add the sugar.  Once it reaches 223F, remove from the heat.
5. Add the tartaric acid and the kirsch.
6. Pour the mixture into a 1/2 sheet pan lined with parchment paper and a little oil.
7. Once it is set, cut and cover with sugar.

I can't wait to see your take on these recipes.

June Kitchen Bootcamp

For this month, the kitchen boot camp theme is yeast breads.  If you are a follower of my blog, I tend to have a strained relationship with breads, especially yeast breads.  Sometimes it just works beautifully and there are times that it just hates me.  When Jen presented this recipe, the first thing I thought of was milk bread.  For those who don't know what milk bread is, it's very similar to a regular white bread with a very smooth and soft texture.  The first time I had this type of bread was in a Japanese grocery store.  I just called it "Japanese bread" and it took me a while to find a recipe.  I found a bunch of recipes and one of them I wanted to explore was from Corner Cafe. 

Japanese-Style White Bread Loaf (Milk Bread)
(Adapted from Corner Cafe)
350 Grams of Bread Flour
1 Tbl of Milk Powder
30 Grams of Sugar
5 Grams of Salt
7 Grams of Instant Dry Yeast
150 mL Lukewarm Water
30 Grams of Butter, Cubed

Water-Roux Paste (also referred as Tangzhong)
20 Grams of Bread Flour
100 mL Water

Directions

1. First, mix the bread flour and water to create the roux in a small saucepan and cook at a medium heat. 
2. Once the roux forms, remove from the heat and let it cool to room temperature.
3. Sift together the bread flour, milk powder, sugar, and salt into a large KitchenAid mixing bowl.
4. Add the yeast and mix well on medium speed. 
5. Add the roux to the dry ingredients.
6. Once it is well incorporated, slowly add the water until the dough forms a slightly sticky and soft dough.
7. Remove from the mixer and knead the dough by hand until it is smooth and elastic.  During the kneading process, throw the dough onto the work surface a few times to remove the air. 
8. Than knead in the butter until it is well incorporated. 
9. Let it proof in a greased bowl for about an hour.
10. When the dough doubles in size, punch out the air and than divide it into 5 equal portions.
11. Form into balls and let them rest for 15 minutes.
12. Prep 23 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm pan, I used a Pullman pan. 
13. When the dough has properly rested, form it into 30 cm logs and place into the prepared bread pan.
14. Let it rise again about an hour. 
15. Cook the bread at 350F for about 25-30 minutes until it is a golden brown.

Mellow Bakers - Corn Bread

Another challenge for Mellow Bakers was Corn bread.  I know, you must think I was just making the traditional sweet corn bread.  Oh no, it wasn't the case for this it was actually a yeast-based corn bread.  In the book Bread it was on page 139.  Unfortunately, I didn't have the book yet and it is still on order so I had to use a different recipe.  I used Apple Pie, Patis, & Pate's Yeast-Raised Cornbread with Brown butter without the brown butter.  It was an experience because these types of bread intimidate me.  The initial step took about 16 hours.  I allowed the yeast to rise with equal parts of flour to water.  I had to read the instructions multiple times to make sure I got the measurements right.  It only required 1/8Th teaspoon.  That surprised me quite a bit and I wondered if I did it correctly.  I looked the next day and it rose quite a bit.   I was very excited.  16 hours later, I started to work with the rest of the dough.  I did make a mistake in the first two steps.  I added the flour early and I didn't realized that the corn meal needed to soak in the water for 15 minutes prior adding the rest of the ingredients.  I realized that after I added the flour so I let it sit there for 15 minutes.  I added the rest of the ingredients and than kneaded it.  The dough needed to be knead three times and letting it rest for almost 4 hours.  I observed the growth and how the dough changed throughout the whole process.  It amazed me.  Trying this recipe made me realized I just needed to be patient and that I shouldn't be intimidated. 

 

 

Grissini - Mellow Bakers

When I first started to blog, I would hear about these various challenges.  I have always wanted to participate but I would miss when the first month.  This time I decided just to dive in and have a go at it.  I joined the Mellow Bakers.  I have been trying to improve my bread making skills and I thought this was a perfect way to do this.  My first attempt was Grissini from the book Jeffrey Hamelman's book Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes.  Grissini is an Italian bread stick made with olive oil and garlic.  This is probably the easiest bread I ever made.  Especially since I didn't have to wait hours for it to proof.  Automatically, I am very sensitive how the yeast is treated and I was able to put everything in the mixer and let it just rock and roll.  The Daughter adored them and out of the 2 dozen I made, I think only 3 remain.  I think next time, I would try making a sweet version. 

 

 

Please feel free to join us.

Pan de Coco "Cinnabons" (Cocobons)

 

I have been wanted to test this recipe.  I had to all worked out in my head but I didn't have a chance to try it until this weekend.  After I made the some pichi pichi, I had some left over coconut.  I took the coconut and mixed it with some brown sugar and let it set in the fridge for a couple of hours.  I was also doing another experiment by freezing the bread dough and see how it came out so I was able to achieve two test in one bake good :D 

 

Ingredients

* The measurements are up to you and how much you would like to make

1lb of Sweet bread dough of your choice *I used a brioche recipe

Unsalted Butter

Coconut/brown sugar mixture

* Nuts are optional but I couldn't put them because The Daughter is allergic :( 

 

It is all in the assembly!

 

Direction

1. Roll out the dough until it is about an 1/2 inch thick
2. Spread butter until it is covered
3. Sprinkle the desired amount of coconut mix *You may want more than others
4. Roll up the edges until it becomes a log

   
5.  Slice the log about 2 inches thick and lay it in a buttered pan

   
6. Let it rise for about 1 to 2 hours until it doubles in size.  I generally put a clothe over the rolls. 

   
7. Once the rolls look about done proofing, preheat the oven at 350 degrees. 

Bake for about 20-25 minutes, 5 minutes before it is about done pour the coconut sauce over to have it cook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coconut Sauce 

Ingredients

1 Can of Coconut Milk

1/2 Cup of Brown Sugar *Add or less if you like

 

Directions

1. Pour the coconut milk and sugar into a sauce pan and incorporate fully.
2. Bring to a boil and reduce to a medium-low fire
3. Occasionally stir until it thickens
4. Remove from heat and let it cool
   

   

Filling

Ingredients

1 Cup of Grated Coconut

1 Cup of Brown sugar *again up to taste if you like it sweeter or not

 

Directions

Mix together both ingredients and let it sit in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight.

 

Ensaymada, Ensaymada, and More Ensaymada

Ensaymada, Ensaymada, and More Ensaymada

For the longest time, I wouldn't even look at an ensaymada.  I brough flashbacks when The Mother catered and I helped.  I remembered the constant process of buttering the roll, putting cheese, and than pour sugar.  I wasn't exactly the neatest person, so I would have sugar and cheese all over me.  At one point, I even had nightmares about the pastry.  I vividly remember have hundreds of the rolls to make, prep, and package.  My friends used to help but eventually they too would be sick of it.  For many years, I wouldn't eat one.  We would get packages from various family members who had a Red Ribbon or a Goldilocks near by and I wouldn't touch them.  Don't get me wrong, both bakeries did a great job making this but I just couldn't eat it.  I finally started to crave it quite recently.  I still have some issues eating a large one but occassionly I want some for breakfast.  Due to the process and complexity of this, I was very hesitant to make it.  The Mother gave me her recipe and I was able to make it really well but it wasn't up to my liking.  OK I really did not like the dozen eggs that goes into this recipe.  The worse part was that the recipe called for mainly egg yokes.  I didn't couldn't imaging eating something with that many egg yokes.  So my hunt began.  There was requirement I was basing my search on:

1. 
   
   
   Must be Soft
2. 
   
   
   Use less eggs
3. 
   
   
   Used whole eggs (I hated the left over egg whites.  I was eating egg white omletes for months)
4. 
   
   
   Must be light (most recipes produced a heavy dough
5. 
   
   
   Must not be dry
6. 
   
   
   Ability to be kept for more than a day (The Mother's recipe was good but it seem to stale after a day or two)

Would Like:

1. 
   
   
   Spring back when squeezed.  I know that sounds strange but to me that is a good bread recipe
2. 
   
   
   Sweet but not too sweet
3. 
   
   
   Minimal ingredients (I always felt simple produces the best products)

I know it seems like a lot of requirements but I was very particular to the results (ok The Husband was really particular and I agreed to alot of them).  After 5 good tries I was able to get the flavor I wanted and the texture.

*I didn't have to do as many as the pan de sal, I had a basic idea my direction. 

The Husband has always called it a brioche so I tried to use a brioche recipe.  I like it and exspecially the buttery taste but it wasn't exactly what I was looking for.  I wanted the dough to have more moisture. 

I was testing so much, I kinda forgot to take pictures  :D

After my trip to Chinatown and my discovery of tangzhong starter.  I decided to try this method on a sweet bread dough.  Depending on your taste, you might want to find one with more eggs or maybe more sugar.  Instead subsituate some of the water with 70 grams of the Tangzhong starter and it does wonders to recipe.  It soft, fluffy, and light.  I'm not sure how long it will last since it didn't  really stay long around the house but I plan to test that next.