Friday 31 July 2015

Cranberry Sweet Milk Bun 蔓越莓炼奶面包


Thinking of baking a bread to celebrate SG50🇸🇬, and this is a subtle one - no sharp contrast of red and white, but a pastel colour combination. More harmonious I think ^^
Using my popular sweet milk bun recipe to bake this sweet, soft and tangy bread. Added beetroot powder to give the bun a pastel pink centre scattered with bits of dried cranberries. The bread was baked at low temperature to give the crust a soft, smooth and shiny sheen. 

Yield: 9 small buns in a 20cm square pan
Raw Dough weight: ~522g
Temperature & Baking time:
Oven preheat to 180 degree C
Reduce and bake at 160 degree C for 10 minutes 
Further reduce to 150 degree C for 10 to 12 minutes 
Appliances:
Whirlpool Breadmaker BM1000

Ingredients A
Use fridge-cold ingredients if possible
150g cold fresh milk 冷牛奶
20g condensed milk 炼奶
40g raw sugar 黄砂糖
1/4 tsp salt 盐
25g beaten egg 蛋液
30g cold unsalted butter 冷无盐奶油

Ingredient B
225g bread flour 高筋面粉
25g top/cake flour 低筋面粉

Ingredient C
3/4 tsp instant dry yeast 速发干酵母

Ingredient D
1/4 tsp beetroot powder 甜菜根粉

Ingredient E
20g dried cranberries 蔓越莓干
Cut into bit size.


Directions
1. Line a 20cm square pan with parchment paper. Set aside.

2. Pour ingredient A into the bread pan.


3. Mix ingredient B before adding on top of ingredient A. 


4. Dig a hole in the centre of the flour, and pour ingredient C in.

5. Select "kneading" function and press start. The process will take about 1:30 hour to complete.


6. After the program ends, let the dough sits in the bread pan for about 20 minutes.
As cold ingredients have been used in this recipe, they slowdown the proofing process. Therefore, needs the extra time for the dough to rise taller.

After 20 minutes,

7. Invert the dough out of the bread pan and onto a floured work top. 
Press down the dough to release the trapped air. 
Wear a pair of disposable gloves to handle the rather sticky dough.



8. Divide the dough into 1/3 and 2/3. 


9. Set the 1/3 portion aside, and further divide the 2/3 portion of the dough into 9 pieces, about 41g each


10. Shape the doughs into 9 balls by pulling down the sides and seal at the base. Lightly coat the individual dough ball with flour and place in a covered plate. Let them rest for about 15 minutes, or till you finish preparing the cranberry balls later.



11. Take the 1/3 dough and knead in the ingredient D, the beetroot powder. 




12. Roll out the beetroot dough into a flat dough. Spread ingredient E, the cranberry bits, over the beetroot dough. Roll it up and divide into 9 portions. Shape into balls. 




Cover with a lid and let the beetroot dough rest for 5 minutes.


13. After the rest, roll out the milk dough balls from (10) and wrap a beetroot ball in each of them. Shape into balls and coat with a layer of flour. Place in the prepared baking mould. 







14. Spray a few pumps of water over the dough. Transfer to a closed and warm oven to proof for 35 to 40 minutes.




15. Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius for 10 minutes.

16. Apply a coat of fresh milk over the dough evenly.


17. Baked at lower rack of the oven at 160 degree Celsius for 10 minutes.

Reduce temperature to 150 degree Celsius and continue to bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or till the top slightly brown.

End of baking. 


18. Unmould the bread by lifting up the parchment paper and onto a wire rack to cool down before serving. Enjoy 😄






For a twist - cheesy crust


1. Before baking, apply a thin coat of egg wash over the top.

2. Sprinkle shredded white cheddar cheese over.

3. Bake at 170 degree for about 20 minutes at lower rack of the oven.

4. After baking finish, apply golden syrup glaze over the hot crust. Mix 1/2 tsp of golden syrup with 1/4 tsp of hot water as the glaze.


Wednesday 29 July 2015

Orange Peach Butter Cake 香橙水蜜桃牛油蛋糕


While searching online for peach butter cake recipes, I found most of the sharings were either mousse or spongecake with cream recipes. I was delighted when I browsed through the recipe shared by Happy Home Baking. The recipe has a healthier ingredient list - using yoghurt and fruit juice instead of a butter-rich content.
I reduce the original recipe quantity by 1/3 as I prefer a smaller cake to a 7" cake. Although the cake has a healthier list of ingredients, it is still a high calorie dessert. Eating in moderation is more ideal :)


Yield: one loaf of cake
Mould size: 21Lx10Wx6.5H cm 


Ingredients
All ingredients in room temperature 
100g unsalted butter 无盐奶油
80g fine sugar 细砂糖
60g beaten egg 蛋液
2 tbsp orange juice 橙汁
2 tsp orange zest 橙皮削
130g cake flour 低筋面粉
1 tsp baking powder 泡打粉, 3g 
80g Greek yoghurt* 浓优格乳
Some canned peach slices 水蜜桃片

* I replaced 10g Greek yoghurt by peach purée in my second baking.



Directions
1. Lightly coat a silicon pan with butter.


2. Mix cake flour with baking powder and set aside.

3. Rinse, pat dry, and slice the canned peach slices. Set aside.


4. Beat softened butter for about 1 minute.  Add sugar in a few batches, continue to beat till light and fluffy.
If the softened butter becomes too soft or glossy, return it to the fridge to chill for 2 to 3 minutes. Over-softened butter is unable to trap air.



 
5. Add in beaten egg in a few batches. Mix well before each new addition.


6. Combine orange juice and zest to the batter.


7. Fold in half of the sifted flour mixture.

8. Add in the yoghurt and mix well.

9. Fold in the remaining flour mixture till well combined.
Do not over mix to prevent getting a tough texture.


10. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Bang the mould a few times against the worktop to get rid of trapped air bubbles and to level the batter.


11. Arrange peach slices over the top.


12. Bake in a preheated oven set at 180 degree Celsius for about 40 to 45 minutes, or till an inserted cake tester came out clean.
Bake at middle rack.


13. Transfer the cake to a cooling rack.


14. Mix 1/2 tsp of golden syrup with 1/4 tsp of hot water. 

15. Apply the golden syrup glaze over the hot cake.



16. After the cake has cooled down, cut and serve :)


My second baking with a shorter baking time of 45 minutes. So the crust colour is lighter. The previous baking time was 50 minutes and resulted in a darker crust colour and a drier cake :)


Adapted from a good recipe by the happyhomebaking.blogspot.com
with great appreciation :)