Monday, 9 February 2015

Pandan Barley Rye Loaf 香兰薏仁黑麦吐司


The pandan leaf lent the sweet aroma; while the barley provided the moisture; and the rye flour added dietary fiber to this delicious bread loaf :)

Yield: 3 mini loaves in a 30Lx10Wx9Hcm mould 

Raw dough weight: 516g

Ingredients 
70g boiled barley pearls 熟薏仁
125g fresh milk 鲜奶
2g pandan leaf (1 leaf) 香兰叶
35g raw sugar 黄糖
1/4 tsp salt 盐
15g beaten egg 蛋液
25g coconut/vegetable oil 椰油/植物油
225g bread flour 高筋面粉
25g rye flour* 黑麦面粉*
1/2 tsp instant dry yeast 即发干酵母

* can be replaced by wholemeal or cake flour 可由全麦或低筋面粉取代

Glazing 装饰
Some beaten egg 蛋液

Direction 
1. Boil barley with candied winter melon strips and pandan leaf.

2. Collect 70g barley pearls and blend with 100g milk and 2g of pandan leaf.


3. Add about 25g of fresh milk to (2) to top up the quantity to 190g in weight.

4. Pour barley milk mixture into the bread pan.

Followed by raw sugar and salt;

15g beaten egg;

coconut oil;

bread flour;

rye flour;

dig a hole, and pour in the instant dry yeast.

5. Place the bread pan into the bread machine.

6. Select "8" Dough Function, and press "Start".

7. When the dough is ready, lift the bread pan out of the bread machine.

8. Sprinkle some bread flour over the surface of the dough, and transfer it to a floured work top. Press down to release the trapped air.
As the dough maybe sticky, it is advisable to handle it with a pair of disposable gloves.


9. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions, about 172g each.

10. Shape the 3 doughs into balls, coat with some flour, and place in the mould lightly coated with butter at both ends, and lined with parchment paper.


11. Spray some water and transfer the dough into a closed oven.  Allow the dough to proof for about 50 minutes.



12. When the tops of the dough almost reach the brim of the loaf pan, remove the dough out of the oven. Start to preheat the oven to 170 degree Celsius.

13. Brush a thin coat of egg wash over the top of the dough.

14. Bake the bread dough in the oven at 170 degree Celsius for about 19 to 20 minutes, or till the top turns golden.


15. Remove the bread from the oven and  lift out the bread onto a cooling rack.


16. Slice the bread with a bread knife when the loaves have completely cool down.




Monday, 2 February 2015

Water Chestnut Cupcake 马蹄小蛋糕


I love this butter cupcake as it has a tinge of water chestnut taste and lots of tiny crunchy water chestnut bits within.
I adapted this recipe from an aged F&N NutriTea sugar cane and water chestnut drink recipe published about a decade ago. I kept the newspaper cutting pinned  to my fridge wall for more than a decade :)

Yield: 10 tall cupcakes or 12 shallow cupcakes

Ingredients
All ingredients at room temperature 
8 pieces water chestnuts 马蹄

185g all purpose flour 中筋面粉
1 tsp baking powder 泡打粉
1/4 tsp salt 盐

120g butter 牛油
130g caster sugar 细糖
1 tsp vanilla essence 香草精

2 eggs, separated 蛋,分开
30g fine sugar 细糖

125g water chestnut drink 马蹄水

Direction
1. Peel water chestnuts and dice coarsely. Set aside.


2. Use the chestnut peel to boil water chestnut drink with pandan leaf and rock sugar. Collect 125g from it.


3. Mix all purpose flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.

4. Whip butter till pale. Add in sugar and continue to whip till light and creamy. This takes about 5 minutes. Set aside.


5. Beat egg whites in a clean and grease-free mixing bowl till frothy. Gradually add the sugar and beat till firm peaks formed.


6. Gradually add in the egg yolks, one by one.


7. Add in the vanilla essence and blend well.

8. Gradually fold the egg batter into the  whipped butter in (4).


9. Sieve in 1/3 of the flour mixture from (3) into the batter. Fold in the flour using a spatula. 
Do not over mix. It's okay to have streaks of unmixed flour as the subsequent mixings will do away with it.

Add in 1/2 of the water chestnut drink from (2).

Finish up the remaining flour mixture and water chestnut drink by adding them alternatively.
In the sequence of
Flour ➡️water ➡️ flour ➡️ water➡️ ️flour


10. Add in the water chestnut bits from (1) and mix well.


11. Pour the batter into the cake mould, tap lightly to level the batter as well as to get rid of trapped air bubbles.

12. Arrange the cupcakes in a baking tray evenly spread out.

12. Bake in the middle rack of a pre-heated oven at 180 degree Celsius for about 35 to 40 minutes, or till an inserted skewer came out clean.

13. Allow the cupcake to cool down before serving.
Keep the unconsumed cupcakes in a fridge :)



Recipe adapted from 

Or online