Sunday 29 September 2013

Banana Waffle using L'Equip Waffle Maker


Yield: 2x17cm round waffles 

Ingredients 
150 g all purpose flour
1 tsp rice flour
2.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
235g low fat milk
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract 

2 ripen bananas, sliced thinly

Direction
1. Mix all purpose flour, rice flour, salt and baking powder together using a hand whisk.

2. Pour in the milk, egg and vanilla extract to mix into a smooth batter.

3. Heat up your waffle iron to desired temperature and pour in enough batter to cover the lower iron.

4. Place a few slices of banana on top of the batter.

5. Top up a new layer of batter to cover the banana slices. Close the iron and let it cook till ready, or till not much steam came out of the iron.

6. Transfer the waffle to a plate and serve with golden syrup, whipped cream and slices of banana. Enjoy :)


By cutting the banana into small bits and added to the batter, it can be pan-baked into banana pancakes :)

Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com -banana waffles 

Saturday 28 September 2013

Black Sesame Crust Pizza





Pizza crust with black sesame seeds - only available in my kitchen. This is what made home edition pizza different from store bought one.

As the dough of pizza crust is slightly drier or firmer than bread dough, I prefer to hand knead it to using a bread maker. This is my first attempt in letting the bread maker do the strenuous job. 

Yield: 3x25 cm round pizza 

Ingredients
Tomato Spread
1.5 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp raw sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/8 tsp dried oregano 
1/8 tsp dried basil
1/8 tsp black pepper powder
1 tbsp hot water

Black Sesame Pizza Crust

150g full cream milk
1 egg
25g raw sugar
1/4 tsp salt
20g olive oil

250g bread flour
30g glutinous rice/all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp instant dry yeast
1 tbsp roasted black sesame seeds*

* Seal the black sesame seeds in a plastic bag, and crushed the black sesame seeds using a rolling pin before adding into the bread maker.

Toppings
170g grated mozzarella cheese
20g grated Parmesan cheese
12~15 button mushrooms, sliced
1/4 yellow onion, coarsely chopped 
1 can spicy tuna, 150g
1/4 green capsicum, sliced
2 pineapple rings, diced

Or your preferred ingredients


Directions
1. Mix all the tomato spread ingredients together into a smooth paste. Set aside.

2. Pour all the pizza crust ingredients, following the sequence listed,  into a bread maker. Select "Ferment Dough" function and start the process. The process, which includes kneading and 1st proofing,  takes about 1 hour 30 minutes.



3. After the program ends, transfer the dough to a floured work top.  Flatten with your palm to get rid of the trapped air in the dough.


4. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions (about 170g each). Shape them into balls, lightly coated with flour. And let the doughs rest for 15 minutes in a covered plate.

5. Take out a dough ball, flatten it and rolls into a 20cm diameter round base.

6. Transfer it to a lightly floured baking tray. Press a shallow 'ditch' about 1 cm from the edge using your finger.



7. Spread tomato paste from (1) over the base, and top up with toppings, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Repeat the steps for the remaining 2 doughs.



9. Bake the pizza in a pre-heated oven set at 210 degree Celsius for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the the edge becomes slightly brown. Place at middle rack of the oven.

10. Cut and serve warm :)



Thursday 26 September 2013

All-Natural Marble Pound Cake


This recipe uses meringue to replace baking powder; and lemon juice to replace cream of tartar. If you brew soya milk at home, you may save the pulp and add 10g to the batter. The pulp helps to lock the moisture in the cake :)

Yield: 1x16cm round cake

Ingredient A
100g unsalted butter, softened
30g fine sugar
2 yolks
90g top flour
10g soya pulp (optional)
2 tsp cocoa powder
2 tsp hot water

Ingredient B
2 egg whites
1/2 tsp lemon juice
40g fine sugar

Directions
1. Line a 16cm round cake tin with non-stick parchment paper.

2. Loosen the top flour by using a hand whisk. Set aside.

3. Mix cocoa powder and hot water into a smooth paste. Set aside.

4. Cream the slightly softened butter to pale colour by using a hand whisk.
Add in 30g of fine sugar. Continue to whisk the butter cream till the cream can form a pointed tip at the end of the whisk.


5. Add in egg yolk, one at a time, to the butter cream. Ensure the yolk is completely blended with the cream before adding the next yolk.

6. Mix the soya pulp to the butter cream, if you are adding. You may skip this step if you are not including soya pulp in the recipe.

7. Add in the flour, in three separate portions, to the batter. Mix using a whisk or spatula. Mix by scrapping the bottom and turn the batter up to the surface in a circular motion.
Continue to stir the batter till it becomes slightly glossy.




8. To prepare the meringue, first whip the egg whites in a clean mixing bowl using an electric hand whisk in high speed. Add in the lemon juice and 40g of sugar when the egg whites become frothy.

9. Continue to whip the egg whites mixture till soft peaks formed. The tips of the egg whites are slightly bent.

10. Transfer about 1/3 of the meringue to the yolk batter in (7). Mix well.

11. Return the mixture from (10) to mix with the remaining meringue in (9). Blend well.


12. Take about 1/4 of the batter to mix with the cocoa paste in another mixing bowl.

13. Pour the two batters in alternating pattern into the cake tin. Tap the cake tin to set the batter and to remove trapped air.

14. Run the spatula in circular motion to create a whirlpool effect in the batter. Tap the cake tin to level the top.


15. Start baking the cake in a pre-heated oven set at 160 degree Celsius for about 45 to 50 minutes, or till an inserted stick came out clean.
You may place a small container of water at the bottom of the oven to keep the cake moist.

16. Allow the cake to cool down for about 20 minutes before removing it from the tin.
You may want to loosely cover the cake with a food wrap to minimize moisture loss.


17. Cut and serve :)



Recipe adapted from Carol's “烘焙新手必备的第一本书” page 162-4.

Wednesday 25 September 2013

Pumpkin Crust Pizza 南瓜面皮比萨


Yield: 3 x 25cm round pizza

Ingredients
Tomato Spread
1.5 tbsp tomato paste 番茄酱
2 tsp sugar 糖
1/8 tsp salt 盐
1 clove garlic, chopped 蒜蓉
Dash is oregano powder 
1 tbsp hot water 热水

Pumpkin crust
280g all purpose flour 中筋面粉
1/2 tsp instant dry yeast 即发干酵母
1 egg (about 50g) 蛋
20g fine sugar 糖
1/4 tsp salt 盐
20g olive oil 橄榄油
70g cooked pumpkin paste 熟南瓜泥
80 g full cream milk 全脂牛奶

Toppings
150g shredded mozzarella cheese
12 button mushrooms, sliced
1/4 yellow onion, coarsely chopped 
12 cocktail sausages, sliced diagonally
1/4 green capsicum, sliced
2 pineapple rings, diced

Or vegetables of your choice :)

Directions
1. Mix all the tomato spread ingredients together. Set aside.

2. Steamed 70g peeled raw pumpkin till soft


3. When the cooked pumpkin is still hot, mash it using a fork

4. Add all the pumpkin crust ingredients, and half of the milk into a mixing bowl.

5. Mix all ingredients using hands or a mixer. Slowly add in the remaining milk.
                            Or

6. Turn out the dough and continue to knead on a work top till the dough is smooth and elastic.


7. Place the dough into a container lightly coated with oil. Sprinkle some water onto the dough. Cover the dough with a lid and let it proof for about 1 hour, or till its size double.


8. While waiting for the dough to proof, you can prepare the pizza toppings .

9. To test whether the proofing is complete, coat your finger with flour and insert it into the centre of the dough. If the gap stays, the proofing is complete.

10. Sprinkle the dough top with flour, and turn out the dough to a work top. Press down the dough to release all the trapped air

11. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions, about 173g each. Shape them into balls and place them back to the container, cover with a lid, and allow them to rest for 15 minutes.


12. Take a dough ball and roll it out into a round flat base. Place the base in a baking tray lightly sprinkle with flour. Press a shallow 'ditch' about 1 cm from the edge.


13. Apply the tomato spread to the base and arrange the pizza toppings on top. Finally top with shredded mozzarella cheese.



14. Bake the pizza in a pre-heated oven set at 200 degree Celsius for about 15 to 18 minutes, or till the edge of the base becomes golden.


15. Cut and serve warm :)