Pandan Raisin Buns

Salam to all,

It was 9.30pm when I composed this entry.  Current temperature abt 10 deg celcius.  Its getting a little cold at night and in the early morning.  Really love the day part these past few days, blue skies with bright sunshine.  I have to turn on the fan in the afternoon though as it does get scorching hot in this house.

Lights were off a little early today....abt 8.15pm as hb starts work at 7am tomorrow.  As for Jannah, she must be tired today.  She fell asleep quite easily and must have dozed off at abt 8.30pm just now, I can hear her snores hehehez.  She had  a fall on the pebble foot path and bruised her knee earlier, trying to chase me bcos she thought that I was gonna leave her behind when I wanted to go to the supermarket haiiizzz.

Anyway, made this buns today.  Second attempt at using the water roux method.  I know how to make the water roux now without over cooking it hehehez.  I added raisins to the original recipe of these buns.  Have to agree with Yat that the buns turned out so soft & fluffy and the pandan aroma makes me want to eat these buns non stop ahakkkss.  They are only for me and Jannah as hb wont even touch anything that comes out of the oven green @_@

Source : Yat @ Easybakes
Adapted From : CMG @ Dapur Tanpa Sempadan


BAHAN-BAHANNYA (Ingredients)
190 gram tepung roti ( 190 gm high protein flour)
70 gram gula halus (70gm fine sugar)
1/4 camca teh garam (1/4 tsp salt)
6 gram instat yeast (6gm instant yeast)
1/2 camca teh bread improver (1/2 tsp bread improver - I omit)
1 kuning telur ( 1 egg yolk)
50 gram santan kelapa (boleh letak susu segar) (50gm coconut milk - I used fresh milk)
1/2 camca teh pes pandan (1/2 tsp pandan paste)
80 gram water roux (80gm water roux - recipe below)
30 gram mentega (30gm butter - room temp)
Kelapa kering secukupnya (desiccated coconut for topping)
50g kismis (50g raisins) - I added.

CARA MEMBUATNYA : (Method)
Satukan semua bahan di atas kecuali kelapa kering, dalam breadmaker. Pilih setting untuk DOH dan tekan ON, tunggu hingga siap. (Mix all ingredients in a bread maker except dessicated coconut & choose the dough setting. Wait 1.5 hours for the dough to be ready) - I added the raisins when the breadmaker beeps, indicating to add the dry ingredients.

Keluarkan doh, tumbuk untuk membuang udara. Bahagikan kepada 9 bahagian sama besar, kurang lebih 50 gram setiap satu. (When dough is readsy, remove it from the BM & punch out air. Divide dough into 9 equal portion abt 50gm each)

Bulat2kan dan susun dalam tin yang telah disapu mentega (mat guna tin 8 inci x 8 inci x 2 inci).(Round each dough &place into a greased square pan)

Biar naik sekali ganda, kurang lebih 50 minit. Sapu permukaan doh dengan putih telur dan tabur dengan kelapa kering rata. Bakar dalam oven yang telah dipanaskan pada suhu 180c selama 25 minit atau hingga kuning keemasan.Sejukkan sebelum dihidangkan. (Let the dough rise for abt 50 minutes, glaze the top with egg white & sprinkle dessicated coconut on top. Bake for abt 25 minutes in a 185C preheated oven. Cool & serve.

Water roux
50 gram tepung gandum(50gm multi purpose flour)
250 ml air (250ml water)

Method
Satukan air dan tepung gandum, kacau rata dan masak dengan api kecil sambil dikacau hingga pekat, matikan api, sejukkan. Boleh digunakan, simpan baki dalam peti sejuk, boleh tahan selama 3 hari.

(Mix water & flour in a saucepan, stir well & cook over small flame until it thickens and then let cool before using) (Leftover can be kept in a fridge for abt 3 days)

 Nothing much going on here today......same old same old.  Gonna continue sitting at my dark,dinghy corner and surf the net until I get tired and goes to sleep I reckon.....hehehez.  Have a great week ahead ;)  TTFN.........

Hot (Without) Cross Buns (Tangzhong Method)

Salam to all my dear friends ;)

I must have misplaced my blogging aura or must have wiped it cleaned when I was busy cleaning the house the other time.  It really made me disappear for awhile from my space here *grins*.  Nonetheless, I am thankful that I still have visitors coming to my blog despite me being David Copperfield and sometimes McGyver too ahakkksss :ppp.  A big thank u to al that still do visit my humble blog despite it is only updated when I have the mood *shy*  I've been wanting to share photos of me and Jannah when we went to the Hot Air Balloons Night Glow show last 2 Saturdays....yup yup last 2 Saturdays and I still havent got any motivation to do it.  I hope to do it soon before the photos become too stale hehehehez.

Let's talk abt the hot cross buns.  I made these buns not in celebration of Good Friday nor Easter.  Made it just bcos hb wanted to eat them.  He asked me to get some from the supermarket the other day and I said that I will make them for him instead.  Can u believe it, I said that I will make them instead...ahaakkkss.  Yes, it kinda feel like ages since I bake anything for us.  Seems, I am not a fan of anything with cinnamon, I've never eaten a hot cross bun before.  I asked hb, traditionally the crosses are made of icing or just tasteless flour?  He said its tasteless flour......just how the nannas and mommas from DownUnder traditionally made them.  Hb said not to do the crosses but to add crescent moon instead.  I said, the crescent might just spread when I bake the buns and will make the buns ugly hehehehez (reason cos I didnt want to make them :ppp).  Hb said nevermind the crosses or crescents then bcos they are not the ones determining the taste of the buns.  Phewwww that made my job easier.  One less step for the buns...yeayyy!!

This is also the first time that I ever used Tangzhong or Water Roux for my buns.  I had to dump the first tangzhong mixture bcos I cooked it until it turned solid.  It was hard for me to determine the cooking time as I couldnt get any 'lines' on the side of my pot since I was using an anodised pot.  When I was cooking the tangzhong, nothing seems to be sticking to the side of the pot. I googled again on how to make tangzhong and found out that another method was to cook the mixture on medium fire for 2-3 mins until it reaches 65 deg C.  That was so much easier to follow hehehehez.  There's still a couple of pieces buns leftover today, hb had one and said that they are still as soft as how he tasted them yesterday.

Source : Christine @ Christine's Recipe


Ingredients: 
350 gm bread flour
35 gm sugar
5 gm salt
56 gm whisked egg, plus extra for egg wash
7 gm milk powder, optional
125 ml milk
120 gm Tangzhong
5 to 6 gm dried instant yeast
30 gm butter, softened at room temperature
100 gm raisins
1/2 tsp mixed spice, or to taste (I added 1 tsp cinnamon powder instead)


Flour paste: 
4 Tbsp plain flour
2 to 2 1/2 Tbsp water

Method: 
Add all ingredients (except butter) into a breadmaker, first the wet ingredients (milk, egg, tangzhong), then followed by the dry ingredients (salt, sugar, milk powder, mixed spice, bread flour, yeast). (Remark: I used to make a small well in the bread flour, then add the yeast into it.)
Select the “dough” mode (please refer to the manual of your breadmaker and select the kneading dough program). When all ingredients come together, add in the butter. Knead until the dough becomes elastic. (Note: my breadmaker has an alert function to remind me of adding fruits or nuts. If your breadmaker doesn’t have any function like this, just put in the raisins 5 to 8 minutes before ending the kneading process.) Then let the dough complete the 1st round of proofing in the machine, about 40 minutes, until doubled in size.
Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Transfer the dough onto a clean floured surface. Deflate and divide into 12 equal portions. Knead each into a ball shape and place on the baking paper, at least 1cm apart. Cover with a cling wrap, let rest in a warm place for about 30 minutes, or until doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 190C/375F.
To prepare flour paste: Combine 4 tablespoons of plain flour with 2 tablespoons of water. Stir to a smooth paste, then gradually add a little bit of water at a time if it’s too thick. Spoon into a piping bag and cut away the tip, or fitted with a fine nozzle.
Brush whisked egg on the surface of buns. Pipe flour paste over tops to form crosses. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until golden.

Ingredients of tangzhong (湯種 The amount is enough to make two loafs):
50gm/ 1/3 cup bread flour
250ml/ 1cup water (could be replaced by milk, or 50/50 water and milk)

Method of making tangzhong:
Mix flour in water well without any lumps. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring consistently with a wooden spoon, whisk or spatula to prevent burning and sticking while you cook along the way.
The mixture becomes thicker and thicker. Once you notice some “lines” appear in the mixture for every stir you make with the spoon. It’s done. You get the tangzhong. (Some people might like to use a thermometer to check the temperature. After a few trials, I found this simple method works every time.) Remove from heat.
(I used a thermometer and cooked it for 2-3mins until the temperature reaches 65 deg C.)
Transfer into a clean bowl. Cover with a cling wrap sticking onto the surface of tangzhong to prevent from drying up. Let cool. Chill in fridge for several hours. (I chill it overnight.) Then the tangzhong is ready to be used. (Note: When you are ready to use the tangzhong, just measure out the amount you need and let it rest in room temperature for a while before adding into other ingredients. The tangzhong can be stored up to a few days as long as it doesn't turn grey. If so, you need to discard and cook some more.)

It's public holiday today, the sun is shining brightly.....I wish I was at the beach enjoying the beautiful day ;)  We are just too lazy to drive to the beach, as it will take abt 2 hrs to get there and we didnt plan it ahead anyway.  Just gonna relax at home for now.....TTFN!!!

Tortoise Bun ~ Not??

Salam to all,

A few nights ago, before Jannah went to bed she said to me "Mama, Jannah nak makan roti senyum lah."  Hmmmzz I was surprised that she still remembers the bun that my sister bought for her when they went to Johore together.  Jannah had poor appetite when she was in sg, my sis had to resort to buying cute buns to make Jannah eat.

I simply cant remember what the bun looks like.  I know that they bought it at a bakery called Seasons, located at City Square, Johore Bahru.  The only thing that I can remember about the bun that it has the chocolate filling with a smiley face ahakkksss :D  That's why they called it 'roti senyum.'

Last night, I showed Jannah this cute tortoise bun photo that was featured at K1's Blog.  She happily laughed at it and said yes that's the roti senyum that she wanted. Not only she saw the cute tortoise bun, she also saw the Elmo Macs and asked me to make them also o_O!!  No recipe from K1 though, so I used the basic sweet bread recipe from CMG and shaped the bun like tortoises.  Even though it's not as cute as I wanted it to be, I know my customer was happy eating it. 

Pssssstttt Jannah gobbled 2 at once and was laughing cheekily while eating the bun.  She bite on one of the legs and start laughing like Bart Simpson "Ahhhaaa kan dah kodong kaki."  Bite on the bumbum and said "Ahaaaaa kan dah kodong vontot"  A moment later she pretended to cry saying "Booohoooo kura2 sakit, Jannah dah makan."  LOLzzz it was really fun watching her eat ;)  After eating those 2 buns, she was jumping and dancing to Hi5 & Yo Gabba Gabba on telly....I'm pretty sure that she managed to burn all those calories from eating the 2 buns.

Tortoise luv....too much smoochies until the eyes and lip liner smudged hehehez :D

Didnt expect them to grow too much when baked.  These 2 got their faces smacked to the side of the baking tray thus the black faces ahakkksss!!!

Source :  CMG @ TiffinBiru

Ingredients (Dough) : Makes 6 Tortoise Buns
250 gm high protein flour
50 gm caster sugar
1/2 tsp fine salt
10 gm milk powder
1/4 tsp bread improver
1/4 tsp teh bread softerner
30 gm egg (lightly beaten & weighed)
6 gm instant yeast
20 gm butter
125 ml water

Chocolate Filling :
I used Callebaut Dark Chocolate Callets or you can use any Dark Chocolate Chips or any Chocolate filling of your choice.

Method :
Mix yeast with warm water and set aside until it bubbles.
Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the rest of the ingredients except butter.
Mix till a dough is formed and knead in the butter until you get a smooth dough.
Proof dough for 50 mins or until doubled in size.
I used my Breadmaker.

To shape the tortoises :
Punch dough down
Divide into 6x60g for the body, 6x12g for the head and make 4 little balls each for the legs and 1 tail.
Shape each portion into a round ball.
Make an indent in each ball for the body part and place 1 tablespoon chocolate chips (or more or less to taste).
Cover the chocolate with the dough and roll to seal all seams and attach all the legs and tails.
Score the back of the tortoises with a knife.
I melted some choc chips and used a toothpick to draw the eyes and smileys.
Place tortoises on baking sheet coated lightly with cooking spray. Cover with a cling wrap and let it rise for another 45 minutes.
Once proofed, brush the top with the remaining egg + 1tblsp milk and bake in a preheated 190 deg C oven for 25 mins.

Brush with butter once the buns are out of the oven.

 

Alhamdullilah, not suffering from any toothache yesterday and today.  Dental appointment booked for next Wednesday.  Hoping that everyone is in the pink of health too ;) Take care.....TTFN

 

Coconut Icing Custard Scroll

Salam everyone,

I've been wanting to do some baking since last week but the mood wasn't there.  Wanted to make something that has custard filling.  So, I asked if hubby likes buns with custard fillings.  His answer was...."Ohh yummmzz....will it have any icing?"  Doh!!  I just don't understand it.  Kiwis just love to have their buns with icing or cream topping.  I am so used to the savoury buns which are sold in the bakeries either in Singapore or Malaysia.  Really love the chicken floss or curry buns and if I were to choose any sweet buns it will always be with custard, red bean or kaya filling with no icing topping of course.

The idea of making this custard scroll came when I used to buy them at a bakery here.  When I first came to NZ abt 7 years ago, I wasn't very good at baking or cooking.  As years gone by, I've learnt how to bake and cook through many trials and errors and the internet of course ;)  The high end bakeries are usually owned by Kiwis and products are usually quite expensive.  Buns with funny names like bee stings, sunshine or the not funny ones like cream donuts and custard twists will usually be slopped, slapped and topped with thick icing or cream and are usually very, very sweet and expensive of course!!  One item might cost a minimun of $2.80 and up to $5.00 each.  The cheaper bakeries are usually owned by either Cambodians or Chinese, their bakes are not as good but cost abt 50% cheaper than the high end bakeries.  One thing that turns me off the cheap bakery is the smell.....urggghhh I just can't explain it hehehehez.

Source : CMG @ Dapur Tanpa Sempadan

Ingredients (Dough) :
250 gm high protein flour
50 gm caster sugar
1/2 tsp fine salt
10 gm milk powder
1/4 tsp bread improver
1/4 tsp teh bread softerner
30 gm egg (lightly beaten & weighed)
6 gm instant yeast
20 gm butter
125 ml water

Method :
Mix yeast with warm water and set aside until it bubbles.
Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the rest of the ingredients except butter.
Mix till a dough is formed and knead in the butter until you get a smooth dough.
Proof dough for 50 mins or until doubled in size.
I used by Breadmaker.

Roll the dough into a rectangular shape.
Spread the custard filling.
Roll the dough tightly like a swiss roll.
Seal the ends and cut into 12 equal pieces.
Arrange in a baking tin and proof for another 45 mins or until doubled in size.

Once proofed, brush the top with the remaining egg and bake in a preheated 190 deg C oven for 25 mins.  Let custard roll cools down before icing it with the coconut icing.

Source : Rima @ Bisousatoi
Vanilla custard
3 egg yolks
1 / 4 cup sugar
1 stick vanilla bean
1 cup UHT milk (I used fresh milk)
15gr corn flour
1 tbsp Salted butter

Method
1. Mix the egg yolks, sugar, corn flour, stir until well blended and pale yellow in color.
2. Heat the milk and vanilla bean until almost boiling, remove vanilla bean, pour half of the boiled milk into the beaten egg + sugar + corn flour, stir, then pour back into remaining milk , reheat, stirring constantly until custard thickens, remove from fire, add butter, stir until well blended, let it cool bef putting into piping bag.

Coconut Icing
125gm icing sugar
6 tsp fresh milk
Enough dessicated coconut.

Method:
Mix icing sugar with milk until its of pouring consistency.
Pour the icing sugar on the custard scroll and topped it with the dessicated coconut.

Blogger now redirects blogspot.com to blogspot.co.nz all the time for me.  Does anyone knows how to stop it from doing that??  I now have to add /ncr at the end of blogspot.com all the time now and its kinda irritating....haiizzz :( 

Strawberry Cream Cheese Bun

Weather for Te Awamutu today

Season :
Summer
Forecast :
Clear
Temp : 27°C | 17°C
Current :
Moderate Fog After Midnight
Temp : 16°C

Salam, Kia Ora...

I was accompanying Jannah in her room during her bedtime earlier to make sure she goes to sleep and at the same time, I was cropping these photos.  Saw her still playing around with her blankie and pillows and tossing around not going to sleep, after half an hour.  So, I turned off the laptop and pretended to sleep with her.  While pretending, I went off to sleep for real ZZzzzzzz ahakkkssss....

Woke up at exactly midnight just now and packed hb's lunch.  I wanted to pack earlier but the chicken was still warmish and thought that I can do that after Jannah went to sleep. Instead, it was me and I didn't even know when did Jannah went off to sleep.  

Anyway, I was clearing the fridge and found some cream cheese, left over from making the butter cheese cake.  Oh me oh my, how long ago was that :ppp hehehez.  It was still good, no moulds and shouldn't be wasted.  I thought of attempting this bun's recipe.  Verdict : I should have used CMG's sweet bun dough recipe instead, as this bun recipe is a little dry and salty but soft enough with yummy strawberry cream cheese filling.  Oh well, trial & error ;)

Source : Hidehide's Home Cooking Recipe.

Ingredients (for 1) 18cm (7 inch) ring pan
Bun Dough
bread flour salt sugar instant dried yeast warm water egg butter	200g 3g (0.5 tsp) 20g 4g (1.3 tsp) 100g (Abt 30 degrees C) 20g 20g (Bring to room temperature)

Filling
strawberry (puree) cream cheese sugar cake flour	50g 50g 20g 10g

Topping

almond slices

Note : I added 1/2 tsp of bread improver into the bun dough and also added a few drops of pink food colouring to the cream cheese filling.

Method :

I used the breadmaker for the dough.  Just dump everything into the breadmaker and choose 'dough only' setting and let the breadmaker do the hard work ;)

1. Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water. Stir to dissolve the yeast. Leave for 15 minutes.
2. [Kneading]
   Put the flour, salt, sugar, butter in a large bowl. Pour the foamed yeast and egg.
3. Bring the ingredients together to form a sticky mass.
4. Transfer to a kitchen table and knead the dough for abt 10 mins until the dough is smooth, thin & elastic.
5. Shape the dough into a smooth ball.
6. Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl.  Leave to rise in a draught-free place for 50-60 minutes, or until 2.5-3 times in size.
7. Press a finger into the dough. If indentation remains, the dough has properly risen.
8. [Knocking back]
   Knock back the dough by punching it gently. Turn out the dough.
9. Fold the dough into thirds and divide the dough into 8 equal portions.
10. [Shaping]
    Flatten the dough.  Put the filling 15g in the center.  Gather the dough up around the filling.
11. Put the dough in the lightly greased pan and leave to rise for 40-50 minutes, or until 2 times in size.
12. Brush the surface with beaten egg. Sprinkle with the almond slices.
13. Bake at 180 degrees C (356 degrees F) for 25 minutes or until golden.

Going back to sleep, nitez nitez everyone.....

Me Te Aroha...With Love,

Anie ;) 

Sausage Rolls

Weather for Te Awamutu today

Season :
Summer
Forecast :
Chance of Rain
Temp : 29°C | 18°C
Current :
Partly Cloudy After Midnight
Temp : 23°C

Salam, Kia Ora...

Oh me, oh my its so freaking hot today, it was so hot also yesterday :(  We have 3 fans running, 1 fan each.  Hb whom is not a fan of fans (fans = electrical fan) hahahaz XD even turned the fan on.  As for little madame Jannah, she and her blanket cant be separated.  She just cant sleep without her blanket and she was so sweaty that her pillow was wet.  I had to remove her clothes as well as her blankie when she was fast asleep.

Jannah had a dip in her little pool yesterday and today to cool off.  Yesterday, she didn't want to leave the water even though her fingers and toes have turned into prunes & raisins and apart from being cold and shivering haizzz.  It was easier to lure her out of the pool today with the sausage rolls...hahahaz.  I supposed she had enough bcos she was in there for almost 2 and half hours.  This kinda weather isn't doing any justice to my face either.  I have pimples popping out, as if I'm going thru puberty again....but I don't feel like a teenager at all booo hooo @_@

Other than having pimples popping out like nobody, nobody but you.  Errmmm no....like nobody's business I mean, we also lost our appetite.  Too much drinking water and juice I supposed, these sausage rolls were our dinner just now.  Jannah, being the cheeky one like she has always been, only ate the bun and left the sausage behind, as usual she asked for rice. Sorry bubbah no rice again today......

Source : CMG.  Thank CMG for sharing this recipe ;)

Ingredients
250 grams bread flour (high protein flour)
50 g caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 g milk powder
1/4 teaspoon bread improver
1/4 teaspoon bread softener
30 g egg (Break an egg, lightly beat it and only use 30g)
6 grams of instant yeast
20 g butter
125ml warm water (use room temperature tap water if using BreadMaker)
14 stick chicken sausage (I only had 10)

Garnish
Sesame seeds
Egg Wash (Use the leftover egg and add 1 tblsp milk)

Method

1. Combine all ingredients for the dough in a container, except for the butter and mix well.  Add butter and continue to knead until dough becomes elastic.  Then shape it into a ball and let the dough rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in size.
2. Bread Maker - Put all the ingredients into the bread maker, select the dough only setting and press "ON" and let the bread maker do the hard work for u :)
3. Blanch the sausages in hot water, dry them with paper towels and let them cool down.
4. Once the dough is ready, punch the excess air and roll it into a square shape and divide the dough into 14 equal pieces.  (I only divided them into 10)
5. Use 1 piece of the dough to wrap the sausage.  You can click here for the step by step on how it is done.
6. Arrange them on a baking tray that has been lightly buttered or lined with baking paper.
7. Proof for a further 45 mins.
8. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seed.
9. Bake for at least 10 mins in a 190 deg C oven.

It's almost midnight and its still hot.  I've yet to iron hb's uniform.  Perhaps I'll sleep first and iron them when its cooler in the morning before he goes off to work tomorrow ;)


Good night everyone....yawwnnzzZZzzz


Me Te Aroha...With Love,
Anie ;)