Condensed Milk Bread (1L Pan)

A small loaf of condensed milk bread baked to a smaller size to adapt to the lower demand after my children have started working.

I love this sweet bread from crust to the crumbs. Soft and fragrant crust just nicely caramelised, and a soft, moist and velvety crumbs that lasted till the third day 😋

🔅Yield: 1 small loaf in a 1 litre pan

🔅Pan size: 17.5Lx10.0Wx9.0H cm 1L

🔅Raw dough weight: 426g

🔅1st proofing: overnight in fridge for about 14 to 15 hours.

Thaw for 50 minutes before shaping.

🔅2nd proofing: 60 minutes.

🔅Baking temperature: Preheat oven to 180℃ for about 10 minutes.  Bake at 180℃ for 12 minutes, reduce to 170℃ for 6 minutes, turn off the oven and let the bread bake for another 2~3 minutes, or till the top is golden brown.

💢The dough can be quite sticky 😉due to the high sugar content.

Ingredients

Keep all the ingredients in the fridge for about 1 hour before working, if the kitchen temperature is close to 30℃

150g superior bread flour #

25g spelt/superfine wholegrain flour

5g milk powder

25g raw sugar

2g instant dry yeast

Pinch of vanillin powder

40g natural yeast/sourdough, 100% hydration*

20g yudane dough^

105g low-fat milk, cold 

10g condensed milk

20g cold water, to be added depending on dough condition

3g low sodium salt

16g unsalted butter, softened

Glazing

About 1/2 tsp low-fat milk, 3g

About 1/2 tsp whipping cream/milk, 3g

About 1/2 tsp of honey, 3g

pinch of low-sodium salt

# superior bread flour can absorb about 5 to 10g more liquid than normal bread flour.

* 40g natural yeast can be replaced by 20g of bread flour and 20g of water + 1/8 tsp instant dry yeast. Let the mixture stand for about 1 hour or more till it doubles in volume, before use. You can also keep the mixture in the fridge overnight and thaw it for 1 hour before use.

^ 20g yudane dough is prepared by combining 10g of bread flour with 10g of very hot or boiling water into a sticky dough. Wrap the yudane dough in cling wrap, cool down and refrigerate before use. Use a silicone spatula to scrape out the sticky yudane dough from the cling wrap.

 

Directions:

1. Knead the dough following your preferred method. 

For my method, you can refer to my recipe Yudane Milk Bread. 

2. After kneading the dough to window pane, shape the dough into a ball, and keep in a plastic bag coated with a little cooking oil. Keep in a second plastic bag before keeping the dough in the fridge overnight.

3. In the next day, remove the outer plastic bag, invert the dough, and let the dough thaw at room temperature for about 50 minutes.

4. While waiting for the dough to thaw, brush the bread pan with homemade non-stick spread, or butter.

5. Turn the dough onto a floured worktop, deflate, and divide into 3 portions.

Shape into 3 balls, cover with a plastic sheet or towel, and rest for 15 minutes.

6. Roll flat a dough, fold in the two wings towards the centre and overlapping each other.

Roll even the dough with a rolling pin, and roll up like a Swiss roll.

7. Place the rolled dough into the prepared bread pans. Spray some water over, and let them proof in a cold oven for about 60 minutes, or till double in volume.

60 minutes later 👇

8. Start to preheat the oven to 180℃ for about 10 minutes. 

About 5 minutes before baking, brush a thin coat of glazing over the top.

9. Bake at 180℃ for 12 minutes, reduce to 170℃ for 6 minutes, turn off the oven and let the bread bake for another 2~3 minutes, or till the top is golden brown.

10. Remove the bread from the hot pan after leaving the oven, and 

rest over a wire rack to cool.

10. After the bread has cooled down, cut and enjoy 😋

Cucumber Pineapple Water Pickle

A simple and fast to prepare mixed fruits water pickle which is light and refreshing in taste. It is light in taste, as it does not have a pungent vinegar smell, only the sweet fragrance of citrus, pineapple and cucumber. Neither does it tasted too salty nor over-sweetened.

It went well with cloying foods like stir-fried radish cake and Chinese rice dumpling 😋

Ingredients

35g raw sugar

100g hot water

100g ice cubes

200g cucumber, cut into small chunks 

4g low sodium salt

2 green limes

1 slice of lemon

50g pineapple , cut into strips 

5g chili , cut into rings

1 clove garlic, cut into thick dice

3g coriander stems, break into 2cm lengths 

 

Directions

1. Add raw sugar and hot water to a clean mason jar. Swirl to dissolve the sugar and sterilize the jar simultaneously

2. Coat salt to cucumber chunks and set side in a bowl.

3. Add ice cubes to mason jar to lower the temperature before squeezing green lime juice and lemon juice. Leave the green lime and lemon in the syrup.

4. Add pineapple chunks, chilli, garlic, and coriander stems to the jar, and stir to mix well.

5. Pour the marinated cucumber chunks into the jar.

6. Cover the opening of the mason jar with cling wrap, and screw the lid to the jar. Shake the jar vigorously to mix the ingredients inside the jar.

7. Refrigerate for about 2 to 3 hours before serving 🥒🍍😋

Walnut Almond Butter Cake (2 eggs)

Another small-portion butter cake recipe that baked in a small oven toaster.

Added roasted walnut chunks and almond powder to the cake for a more nutty aroma. 

I used parchment paper to line the cake pan instead of coating it with butter and flour, as from my past experience, cakes added with almond powder seemed to become stickier to the pan 😉

Yield: one loaf of cake
Pan size: 16x10x5 cm 800ml
Baking temperature: 150℃ for 30 minutes at the middle rack, and increase the temperature to about 160℃ for about 5~10 minutes.

Ingredients
All ingredients in room temperature
Using 55~56g eggs

A
74g unsalted butter, softened
1g rice bran oil/unsalted butter
25g raw sugar
25g fine sugar

B
2 eggs, 110g, beaten with
5g raw sugar
5g fine sugar
Pinch of low-sodium salt

C
40g top/cake flour
30g all purpose flour
20g almond powder, roasted **/top flour
5g milk powder
3g baking powder

D
15g low-fat milk
10g honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract 

E
25g walnut, roasted, break into chunks **

** roast walnuts and almond flour at 150℃ till fragrant, about 5 to 8 minutes.

 

Directions

1. Mix cooled roasted almond powder to the rest of the dried ingredients under [C] using a hand whisk. Set aside.

2. Beat [B] till most of the sugars have dissolved. Set aside.

3. Cream [A] using a hand whisk for about 5 minutes or till pale and light.

4. Gradually combine [B] to [A].

5. Mix [C] from Step 1 to [AB] mixture from Step 4 in a few batches. 

6. Pour [D] mixture into [ABC] batter from Step 5, and mix into a smooth batter.

7. Break about 2/3 of the roasted walnuts of [E] into smaller chunks, and add to [ABCD] batter from Step 6.

7. Line a cake pan with parchment paper, or coats with butter and dust with top flour. 

Pour [ABCDE] batter into the baking pan. Run a chopstick through the batter to break any air pockets.

8. Break the remaining whole roasted walnuts of [E] into halves, and lightly pushed down to the top of the batter.

9. Stand the cake pan in a bigger shallow pan and bake in a preheated oven toaster at 150℃ for 30 minutes at the middle rack, and increase the temperature to about 160℃ for about 5 ~10 minutes to brown the crust. 

Place a small container of hot water in the oven would help to moistened the cake. This step is optional.

Tent the top with aluminum foil if the crust browned too fast.

10.  Remove from the oven toaster and cool over a wire rack for about 10 minutes. .

Transfer the cake out of the pan, and stand over a wire rack. 

Cover the cake with a sheet of cling wrap to lock in the moisture

11.  After the cake has cooled down, cut and enjoy 😊