Bread Pudding

This bread pudding recipe was adapted from the Caramel Bread Pudding posted at All Recipes. It turned out well considering that this is my first attempt and I'm amazed at how easy it is to make one.

The original recipe:
6 slices of overnight bread
235ml hot water
220g brown sugar
4 eggs lightly beaten
475 ml warm milk
100 sugar
3ml vanilla extract
1g ground cinnamon
0.8g salt

[1] Cut the bread into cubes and spread them inside the baking dish.
[2] Melt brown sugar with hot water and pour over the bread. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes.
[3] Combine the rest of the ingredients and pour over the bread. Press down the bread.
[4] Bake at 180 degrees for 50 minutes.

Changes I have made:
[1] Added 10% more bread
[2] Reduced the sugar by 50%
[3] Double the cinnamon
[4] Topped with dried fruits consisting cranberries, wolfberries, light and dark raisins.

Can't wait to make my second pudding, this time to top with fresh fruits!

Banana Cake

My most successful Banana Cake bake was a recipe from my economic class back in Secondary School. I have misplaced that recipe and since then I was not able to recreate that unforgettable fragrance, texture and taste again. This cake recipe comes from Healthy Eating and it is still not what I'm looking for. Nevertheless, it is indeed a healthy version. The ingredients....

75g butter, softened
110g fine sugar (I reduced to 80g)
1 egg
225g plain flour
2 level tsp baking powder
4 ripe bananas, mashed
50g walnuts, crushed
Rind of one lemon/orange (optional)

[1] Whisk butter, sugar and egg.
[2] Whisk in the rest of the ingredients.
[3] Bake as a loaf at 180 degree for 50 minutes, OR in muffin tin for 15 - 20 minutes

Simple Fried Rice

I stirred up a simple fried rice for lunch this afternoon....I start by browning some chopped onions with a dash of sugar. Once the onion turned fragrant, I pour in half a cup of frozen vegetables together with some ham squares. Then I add some light soy and stir in a few tablespoons of water and let it simmer till the vegetables are softened. Next, I pour in the loosened cooked rice and add a little dark soy for colour. When all the ingredients are well-mixed, I stir in a few drops of sesame oil. As a finishing touch, I garnish it with some dried seaweeds. Preparation and cooking time: less than 30 minutes.

Chinese Steamed Buns

Before steaming...



After 10 minutes of steaming.

Another attempt at making mantou. I used plain flour which works as well as bread flour... coming from Recipes For Keeps.

I reproduce the recipe here:

500g plain flour (or pau flour)
1 tbsp of cocoa powder (for the chocolate swirl)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp instant yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp vegatable oil
250 lukewarm water

[1] Mix all dry ingredients, oil and water to form dough.
[2] Divide dough into two (add cocoa powder into one) and knead till smooth.
[3] Rest the dough till double in size.
[4] Punch out the air, roll out the two dough and roll them like a swiss roll.
[5] Cut place place the buns on a small paper and let them rest for 30 minutes.
[7] Steam at high heat for 10 minutes.

Green Tea Mantou

The inspiration to make Chinese Steamed Buns comes from Simon Law's Journal. The buns turn out pretty well except for water marks at the top due to condensation of the lid (how do I overcome this?) Some of the buns were stuck with each other because they doubled two times its original size after steaming!

Ingredients:
300g bread flour
3/4 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp green tea powder
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
Pinch of salt
175 ml warm water
1 tsp instant yeast
8 square parchment papers

1. Mix sugar, salt and water and let it rest.
2. Add oil and mixture (1) to flour.
3. Knead mixture into dough till smooth and elastic.
4. Divide dough into two. Add green powder into one and knead till the colour becomes consistent.
5. Roll out the doughs and place the green tea dough at the top.
6. Roll them like a swiss roll and cut them into 8 pieces.
7. Place each piece on the parchment paper and let it rest for 20 minutes.
8. Steam buns for 15 minutes at high heat.
9. Remove buns and switch off the heat.

Potato Croquettes

This is my second attempt at making potato croquettes. The first time I had tuna fillings but this time I use minced chicken meat. As I did not chill the croquettes (no patience!) so they turned out pretty soft after baking.

Oatmeal Raisins Cookies

I have started to make cookies again primarily because they make quick and easy snacks. The other reason is because purchased cookies tend to be very sweet/salty and oily.

This recipe is obtained from Happy Home Baking with slight changes on my part.

Ingredients
150g plain flour
150g quick cooking oats
0.5 tsp baking soda
100g fine sugar
50g raisins
1 small egg
125g sunflower oil
4 tbsp HL milk

[1] Combine the dry ingredients.
[2] Whisk the wet ingredients.
[3] Add [2] to [1] and mix well.
[4] Spoon into tin and bake at 200 degree for 15 minutes.

Milk Bread

To increase my calcium intake, I have been making milk bread for the past weeks. Nevertheless, this is one bread that I could eat it on its own. Just place the ingredients accordingly in the breadmaker and you get a freshly-baked loaf in over 3 hours!

Ingredients
245 ml HL milk
10g margarine
350g bread flour
1 tbsp milk powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp dried yeast

Black Sesame Muffins

(Made without baking powder)



I make these muffins from Angie's Recipe twice and on both occasions, they turned out more like cupcakes because the interior was very fine as you can see. As for the black sesame, I used those from Daiso at $2 per pack (grinded) which I add them to my bread too.

Ingredients
80g butter
60 sugar
1 egg
3-5 drops of vanilla extract
50 ml milk
100g cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
3-5 tbsp black sesame

[1] Beat butter & sugar till fluffy.
[2] Mix in egg, vanilla extract and milk.
[3] Shift flour and baking powder and fold into mixture.
[4] Fold in black sesame.
[5] Spoon into tins.
[6] Bake at180 degree for 30 minutes.

Oatmeal Walnut Bread

Quick cooking oatmeal is not my favourite even though they make healthy breakfast. That's why, a big pack of it is still sitting in the cabinet. I have made oatmeal cookies before and this is my experiment with oatmeal bread. I used a recipe for wholemeal bread and substituted the wholemeal flour with grinded oatmeal. I added more water as the oatmeal tends to absorb more liquid. And that makes it easy to knead too.

Banana Walnut Loaf II

Another attempt at making this quickbread. I think I'm more successful this time, at least there were no air pockets. The texture is almost cake-like.

Steamed Carrot Cake

Now how often do you come across a baking book with English, Chinese and Malay text, pretty pictures and full of local flavours? Rare, isn't it? While, I came across such a gem [Steamed Cake by Wong Kee Sum] in the Library and decides to test the recipes.... This recipe is easy to follow, the resulting cake has soft and fine texture and it tastes great!

Ingredients
250g butter
150g sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
200g grated carrot
230g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder

[1] Beat butter and sugar till fluffy.
[2] Add eggs one at a time.
[3] Add vanilla essence.
[4] Fold in sifted flour and stir well.
[5] Add grated carrots and mix well.
[6] Steam for 60 minutes.

Banana Walnut Loaf

Whenever we purchase bananas, I cannot resist making something out of it. This time, its a quickbread with recipe (reduced sugar version) from Happy Home Baking.

Red Bean Buns

I received a bottle of home-made red bread spread from my mother recently and decided to make red bean buns. I made the sweet bun dough using the breadmaker and took over after two rounds of "resting". The buns were incredibly soft and light after baking - we ate all 7 little buns and craved for more...

Ingredients for sweet bun dough
150 bread flour
50 cake flour
15g sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp yeast
130g milk
15g unsalted butter

Garlic Bread

A loaf of garlic bread for breakfast....what a fresh aromatic start to a new day!

Ingredients
235 ml water
15g butter
7g milk powder
10g sugar
9g salt
2g dried parsley
6g garlic powder
410g bread flour
8g dried yeast

I reduced the salt and sugar and used freshly chopped garlic.

Apple Cake

I have baked a similar cake before (with cinnamon added) but this time, I decided to try a new recipe. I chanced upon this recipe and was motivated to test it out because the outcome looks good based on the picture posted. Furthermore, I have never baked a cake using this method before. Well, it was sure hard work since it did all the beating manually. As you can see, my version does not look that great. It was also not the fluffy-soft sort of cake that I expected. Rather, the texture reminds me of banana yogurt cake. Nonetheless, this is one of those recipes that is worth a second look.

Ingredients
2 eggs
165g sugar (I used 100g)
225g self-raising flour (I used plain flour with 1 tsp baking powder)
180 ml milk
45g butter (I used Flora light margarine)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 medium apple, cored and sliced

[1] Beat egg white till firm peak. Then, beat in sugar, 1 tsp at a time, till smooth and glossy.
[2] Beat in egg yolks.
[3] Fold flour and milk-butter-vanilla mixture with metal spoon in batches. Start and end with flour.
[4] Pour mixture in baking tin and arrange apple slices on top of batter.
[5] Bake at 190 degree for 30-35 minutes. (I took 50 minutes)

Brioche Bread

This soft-buttery bread originates from France and I understand that some are baked with sweet and savory fillings. I made a loaf using the breadmaker.

Ingredients (for 500g)
130ml milk
1 egg
80g melted butter
350g bread flour
1 tsp salt
30g sugar
1 1/2 tsp easy blend dried yeast

Simply add the ingredients in the bread pan in the order listed.

Banana Yogurt Cake

I cannot remember where this recipe comes from. The cake was very moist and the icing was nice.

Ingredients for cake
125g margarine
175g sugar
2 eggs
2 ripe bananas (mashed)
200g plain yogurt
200g plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking power

Ingredients for icing
200g cream cheese
55g icing sugar

[1] Combine cake ingredients and bake at 180 degree for about 40 minutes
[2] Combine icing ingredients and apply on cake.

Hokkaido Milk Loaf

I made this late last evening for breakfast today. The texture is cake-like and very soft. You can also smell the swirling rich milk fragrance in each mouthful. Very nice!

The recipe comes from Angie's Recipes and I reproduce it here for easy reference.

Ingredients

540g Bread flour
60g Cake flour
10g Dry active yeast
30g Milk powder
80g Sugar
9g Salt
1 pc Egg
250g Fresh milk
150g Whipping cream (heavy cream)

I baked half the suggested portion and used programme 4 of my Kenwood BM250 breadmaker for this bread.

Basic White Bread

This is the first product of my breadmaker, a Kenwood BM250. This breadmaker is easy to use and looks nice in its white and silvery form.

Add the ingredients to the pan in the order listed below and wah-lah, it produced a loaf in 3hrs 15mins. I can't wait to try the delay timer feature.

245ml water
1 tbsp vegetable oil
350g bread flour
1 tbsp skimmed milk powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp easy blend dried yeast

Banana Muffin

I made one huge banana muffin based on the recipe in Joy of Baking. Instead of plain flour, I used cake flour and I also omitted the eggs. The muffin turned out okay except for the very moist interior.

Banana Yogurt Cake

The original recipe comes from Cookbake Legacy and I changed it a little to suit what I can find in my store!

Ingredients
100g margarine ( I used Flora Light)
100g fine caster sugar
167g cake flour
2/3 tsp baking powder
2/3 tsp baking soda
2 medium-sized eggs
70g mashed banana
150g plain yogurt (I used Marigold low-fat version)
crushed almond

[1] Cream margarine and sugar ttill light and fluffy.
[2] Add one egg at a time to [1].
[3] Add yogurt and mashed banana and mix till combine.
[4] Stir in flour mixture and pour into baking tin.
[5] Sprinkle crushed almond.
[6] Bake at 180 degree for 30 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.

Sweet Buns III

Another attempt at making sweet buns based on the recipe posted by Happy Home Baking. Two raisin buns, two cheese buns, two nutella buns (topped with sesame) and two spicy pork floss buns, our favourite! (topped with crushed almonds).

Pork Floss Bread

This receipe comes from Happy Home Baking. Very nice! I baked these for 2 consecutive days.

Cinnamon Rolls

A cinnamon roll recipe comes from “三个模型的巧思", a chinese baking book. Here are the ingredients:

(A)
400g bread flour
75 g sugar
4 g salt
6g Instant yeast
230g milk
50g butter, melted
30g egg

(B)
10g cinnamon powder
60g sugar
50g rasins
40g walnut pieces (I used almond pieces)

(C) optional
10g egg white
70g icing sugar

[1] Combine all dough ingredients (A). Knead till smooth and elastic.
[2] Let it rest till 2.5 times its original size.
[4] Knock down and cut into 9 pieces and shape into balls.
[5] Let it rest for 20 mins.
[6] Roll each dough into rectangle and spread (B)
[7] Place 3 rolls horizontally and let them rise to the brim of the tin. (I baked them differently)
[8] Bake at 200 degree for 25 minutes
[9] Combine (C) and pipe over the cooled cinnamon rolls.

Cinnamon Oats Cookies

I simply love these cookies. They were easy to make - no chilling is required. And the oats, they are healthy, crunchy and delicious! The recipe comes from My Kitchen: My Laboratory. I reproduced it here for easy reference.

Ingredients
180g plain flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 to 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
60g castor sugar
30g light brown sugar
90g baby oats (I used instant oats)
125ml sunflower Oil
1 egg (beaten)

1) Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Mix in sugar and oats.
2) Mix together oil and egg and add to [1] to form a dough.
3) Shape into balls (about 1 inch) and flatten them.
4) Bake at 180 degree for 15 to 20 mins or until golden brown.
5) Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Chips Cupcakes

I have a teeny weeny problem - we (two) are unable to finish our cakes, cookies and breads. A standard loaf of bread took us at least two days, a loaf of cake about a week. Not to mention cookies (15 pieces) which can take up to 2 weeks! What to do, we are "small" eaters. So this time, I decided to bake cupcakes instead. The recipe is meant for pound cake but I baked them in paper cups. Yep, they are gone in no time!

Chocolate Banana Cake

A rich, moist and luxurious cake.... recipe from the Joy of Baking. For my version, I reduced the sugar slightly and lined the top of the batter with sliced bananas. As you can see, the sliced bananas were forced to one side during baking and one of them nearly drowned!

Cheese Bread

I repeated the recipe for Victorian Milk Bread. This time, I rolled in some cheddar cheese...

Marble Pound Cake

I have always wondered how the swirl and twirl in the Marble Pound Cake is achieved. When I chanced upon a recipe at Tecnicolor Kitchen, I decided to make it. I did not follow the recipe to a "T" but the outcome is not too bad, by mine standard : )

Marble Breads

The inspiration to make these breads comes from Happy Home Baking.

Parker House Rolls

Another recipe from "Bread: Baking by hand or bread machine" by Eric Treuille & Ursula Ferrigno. I played with the dough and shaped them according to my fancy and so none of them are shaped like Parker House Rolls!

Ingredients
560g strong white flour
2 1/2 tsp yeast
2 tsp salt
250ml milk
2 tsp sugar
60g unsalted butter
2 eggs

[1] Warm milk, sugar and butter. Cool and beat in egg.
[2] Mix flour, salt, yeast and add [1]
[3] Knead till smooth and shiny (about 10 minutes) and rest, covered, until double in size.
[4] Knock back the dough and rest for 10 minutes
[5] Shape and let it rest until double in size.
[6] Brush top with butter and bake at 220 dgree for 15-20 minutes.

Walnut Bread

This recipe comes from the book "100 great breads" by Paul Hollywood. I baked it last evening for breakfast today. It is soft and moist, and taste healthy!

Ingredients
350g wholemeal flour
150 strong white flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
30g fresh yeast (reduce by 25% if using dried yeast)
40g unsalted butter, melted
60ml walnut oil
300 ml water
150g walnut pieces

[1] Mix all ingredients (except walnut) for 4 minutes and then knead dough for 5 minutes.
[2] Rest dough for 1 hour.
[3] Add walnut pieces, knead, shape into two balls and rest for 1 hour.
[4] Bake at 220 degree for 30 minutes

I have breads for breakfast ever since I can remember. Personally, bread-making is both therapeutic and practical. I hope to become healthier too through using natural ingredients in my breads.

Sweet Buns II

I repeated the recipe for sweet buns and topped the little buns with shredded cheddar cheese mid-way through the baking.

Victorian Milk Bread

It has been quite a while since I felt busy outside work. Busy making bread that is.... this recipe comes from the book "Bread: Baking by hand or bread machine" by Eric Treuille & Ursula Ferrigno. This bread tests your patience, it took nearly 4 hours! The result is as you see on the photos.

Victoria Milk Bread

Ingredients:
2 tsp dried yeast
1 tsp granulated sugar
350 ml tepid milk
500g strong white flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
Egg glaze, made with 1 egg and 1 tbsp milk

[1] Mix sugar and milk
[2] Place flour, salt, yeast in a bowl.
[3] Make a well in flour mixture and add the milk mixture.
[4] Knead for 10 minutes till smooth and elastic and let it rest for 45 minutes.
[5] Punch out the air and let it rest till double in size.
[6] Shape into an "S", place into the baking tin and let it rest for 1 hour.
[7]Glaze with egg and bake for 45 minutes at 200 degree.

Almond-milk Bread

This recipe comes from the book "The handmade loaf" by Dan Lepard. The fine texture was accompanied with a nice smell of natural almond.

Almond-milk loaf

Ingredients:
250g plain flour
250g strong white flour (bread flour)
1 1/2 fine sea salt
150 skinned almond
20 caster sugar
325g water at 20 degree
2 tsp fresh yeast, crumbled

Instant Oat Muffins

Another attempt at making muffins... and am pleased that this time they looked better and were firm on the inside. I repeated the recipe for apple muffin, instead of chopped apples, I replaced 80g out of the 280g of plain flour with instant oat meal (blended until fine)

Sweet Buns I

I made these buns using the recipe from Happy Home Baking. They were soft and fluffy when you eat them on the day itself. However, they became quite firm the next day when I had them for breakfast. Nevertheless, they were still my best-looking buns so far!