Monday, October 5, 2009

Best Doughnut & Apricot Bread






It is very "dangerous" if I made this doughnut alone at home because i will end up stomach all the doughnut. It could happen.

I have been thinking of making doughnut lately because my dotter get hooked up with JC or Big App doughnut. Everytime when we had tea outside, she always look forward to have two pcs of doughnut- it would be a pink flavored/colored strawberry doughnut & chocolate creamy doughnut. Very fancy & colorful doughnut. Don't worry, that are so many to choose from. You name it, they have it. However, I don't really like those fancy doughnut. I love old fashioned plain doughnut coated with sugar & eat it with strawberry jam. I hate sweet or greasy doughnut. The high end doughnut produced by those 2 chain is not greasy, but it still sweet for me.

Thanks to my hubby, he agreed to help deep frying the doughnut. So, I have decided to go ahead to make those really lovely yummy sinful little doughnut. Oh yeah, you can see from the pics, it looks lovely isn't it? My gal told me, that is the best doughnut she ever had. =P

I made some very healthy apricot & oatmeal bread for breakfast. Very flavorful though it is heavy due to the rye & wholemeal flour. I should eat more of this instead of the doughnut....ehhehehehe......

Mei Sum Hong Kong Moon Cake





The definition of "best food" or "good food" for every one is very different. However, the "best food " in my definition is always refer to the most basic food. Do you know that, to cook the most simple food & to make it taste good is very difficult. Example, to stir fry vegetable. It is so easy to stir fry, but you need the skill to cook it just right. The same principle is applicable to bread making.

The best moon cake in my definition is : it got to be really traditional, old fashioned, the lotus must be very smooth but not oily & the sweetness must be just right. I have moon cake that stuck in my mouth or too sweet. Besides, mid autumn festival is so traditional. It always remind me of my grandma. It is a very important festival for the Chinese.By far, the very traditional Mei Sum Hong Kong moon cake is THE moon cake as per my definition. Look at the wording on the moon cake. Oh my goodness, it is so old fashioned, just remind me of the 80s or 90s.........I really got to thanks my friends in Hong Kong for sending us the lovely & nostalgic moon cake.

I have tried some very innovative or creative fusion moon cake, it taste good though it is not my cup of tea. Got to give some credit to the creative mooncake manufacturer too.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Pizza Breakfast




Today, I woke up early & use the sundried tomato & basil wholemeal bread to make mini pizza for breakfast. Guess what? The result is just excellence as I had imagined.
The ingredients for the mini pizza: red bell pepper, onion, mushrooms & cheese.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Orange Tea Cake


















Just don't know why recently I love to bake those zesty zingy citrus cake. It just great for tea time. So, we baked
a)Iced orange cake - light tea cake made with canola oil
b)Madeira orange cake -rich butter cake using premium Denmark butter


Those Two cake was baked at the same time. We used the same citrus syrup to glaze the cake. It is very easy to make the citrus syrup, just mix 2-3 tbsp of orange/lemon juice with 75g of icing sugar. then you will have this lovely zesty citrus syrup. Pierce some hole on top of the cake surface, then just pour the syrup on top of the cake. The cake will soaked up the yummy syrup. You can omit the syrup if you think it is too sweet. But, it does compliment the cake. Yummy~ This citrus syrup is very versatile, you can use it for any other butter cake.
Orange Madeira Cake-Adapted from Rachel Allen – Bake! Recipes


Ingredients:
175 g butter - softened
175 g caster sugar
3 beaten eggs
finely grated zest of 2 oranges
225 g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 teaspoons freshly squeezed orange juice

For the topping 1#: 75 g icing sugar and 4 tablespoons of some more of that orange juice

Or

Butter cream topping 2#: 50g butter, 100g icing sugar & 1tsp of orange liquor (optional). Some toasted walnuts peaces to be sprinkled on top of the butter cream as decorations.

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 170°C. Lightly grease a loaf tin, lightly flour the pan & tap it off.
2. Cream the butter & sugar in a large bowl or in an electric food mixer until soft & fluffy.
3. Add the eggs in three stages, beating well between each addition, then add the orange zest.
4. Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold in with the orange juice. Stop when all the flour is incorporated. Transfer the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and smooth the top.
5. Bake in the oven for 50-55 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
6. Allow to stand in the tin for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. For the topping 1#, sift the icing sugar into a small bowl and stir in just enough orange juice until it is soft but not runny. If you want the icing to stay just on the top of the cake, place the cooled cake back in the tin and spread the icing over the top. You may find it easier to dip a spoon or table knife in boiling water to spread the icing more easily. Allow the topping to set and cut into slices to serve.
8. For the topping 2#, cream butter, then add in the icing sugar, beat until fluffy, add in the liquor (optional). Spread butter cream topping on cooled cakes with a knife/spoon. Sprinkle the toasted walnut on top of the cake.

Here is another recipies for Iced orange cake (the round cake in the pictures):
Adapted from Rachel Allen


Cake:
100 g butter
2 eggs
1 orange, finely grated zest only
100 g caster sugar
100 g icing sugar, sifted
125 g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder

Topping:
100 g icing sugar
1-2 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice


Method- Cake:
Preheat the oven to 175C.
1) Butter and flour the sides of a 20cm cake tin and line the base with greaseproof paper. 

2) Melt the butter gently in a saucepan and set aside. 

3) Using a hand-held whisk, beat together the eggs, grated orange zest and caster and icing sugar for a few minutes until light and fluffy.
 Stir in the melted butter and sift in the flour and baking powder. Fold it all together gently. 

4)Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin, smooth the surface and bake in the oven for 35–40 minutes or until golden and set in the centre and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. 

5)Place the tin on a wire rack and allow to stand for about ten minutes before removing the cake carefully from the tin.  

Method – Topping:
1)Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and stir in just enough orange juice until it is soft but not runny. 

2)When the cake is cool,  spread the icing over the top.



I like the Madeira orange cake too. The premium butter gave the cake a very rich & in depth buttery creamy texture. Yum Yum...........the side effects is: must work out more......LOL

My Kid Chocolate Chips Cupcakes





That was a mini project with my kid last weekend.It is good to know how to bake & cook. This will keep the little one occupied & develop a passion for cooking which is good.

My gal just like me, she love to bake. Seriously,every time when she see me baking, she DEMAND that she wanted to help. After she "helped" me, I will be even more busy..LOL. I just let her do some simple decoration & mixing the cake better. She will be very happy with a smile from cheek to cheek. Just let her had her fun. That is the important thing.






































Refer to basic cupcake recipes:
http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/276270/Rachel-Allen-s-lemon-cupcakes

With modification;
Omit the lemon zest
Add 1tsp of real vanilla essence
Add handful of chocolate chips- about 80g with the flour.

Wholemeal Bread - Tomato & Basil





Hi, today I am back with bread talk again. Since there is still some sundried tomato left (half a jar) & the sweet basil in the garden is waiting for trimming. So, I have decided to make a tomato flavor wholemeal bread. Okay, my hubby pruned some sweet basil from the small garden. Wash it & cut it. Then, I diced all the sundried tomato.
Took out my rye flour ferment (24 hours) ahead before baking.

Four basic ingredients: Flour + water + yeast + salt. Then, add in the rye flour ferment/sourdough. You can see the rye flour ferment in the pictures.It will give the bread more flavor due to the long & slow fermentation. Lastly, add in the sundried tomato & basil. The dough is quite wet, but it is fine, just work on it on the marble table. Then, put the dough to rest for one hour. You can see the dough is slightly red in colour (yes~ the tomato). Finally, shape the dough, rest for another 45 mins, go into the oven, then it is done.

However, the bread is kinda heavy & dense because of high ration of wholemeal flour was used. Of course the rye flour will make the bread even dense. But this bread is definitely full of flavour. This is consider a heavy bread for me. You really need to chew it ....chew it hard.....chew it harder.....It guarantee won't stick to your teeth. A few tiny pieces make me feel so full. It is definitely a healthy bread. By the way, the healthiest food normally doesn't taste as "good" as the regular one. Eg, a healthy fried rice with lean chicken breast meat compared to a regular fried rice with roast pork (there is always some fat attached to the pork).I will use a lower ratio of whole meal flour next time.

Oh yes, in order to make the heavy wholemeal bread more delicious. I woke up slightly in the morning to make breakfast, French toast. It taste great. Tomorrow I will wake up earlier to use the bread to make mini breakfast pizza. Can't wait.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Olive, Sundried Tomato & Basil Bread





This is my 1st attempt to make the "Olive, Sundried Tomato & Basil Bread". This is made by olive dough. In order to make it taste good, I bought an extremely good quality extra virgin olive oil (fruity flavor) which is made in Italy. It did not need to be the most expensive one. The sun dried tomato is from Italy too. Of course, the basil is from my little garden. These three make perfect bread.

We love this bread so much that we could finish all 16 buns in 3 days. Me, my hubby & my kid ate 3 just after the bread was done (after 1 hour of resting). Please remember you shall not eat bread just after it was done because it will cause digestive problem. Then, we eat it for breakfast & teatime. Then, it is gone. It couldn't even last for a week. Love it~