Marmalade Muffins

It's dead easy to make these muffins! The recipe is from thepioneerwoman site where lots of excellent recipes and great photos could be found..

Although the original recipe is called 'good morning muffin' but I thought it could be good at anytime of the day..so I respectfully decided to call it different from the original as seen. As for the result, I could say that sometimes you don't have to make much effort to get such a wonderful thing out of the oven !


Here is my adapted recipe (makes 12 muffins)

2 cups self-raising flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
a pinch of salt
2 tbsp vegetable shortening
2 tbsp butter
1 cups orange marmalade
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 eggs

Topping:

5 tbsp demerara sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
10 g melted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Sift together the flour,salt and baking powder. Place in a mixing bowl.
Use a pastry cutter to mix in the shortening and butter.
Mix marmalade, orange juice, egg and vanilla in a small bowl. Pour into dry ingredients.
Mix all ingredients together gently, using fewer than 10 large strokes.
In a small bowl, mix topping ingredients.
Fill muffin pans with batter. Sprinkle topping ingredients over each muffin.
Bake for 20 to 22 minutes until done. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack. Eat warm or at room temperature.

Olive and Onion Bread

I meant to make 'Olive Pie' that I've seen the recipe on Culinary Saint but I failed to handle with a dough done according to the original recipe which was far too dry and stiff to gather and knead on the early step..so I ended up adding more water and made the dough look rather like bread than pie. Anyway, I stuck to the original recipe for the remaining steps !

As expected, the outcome looked nothing close to the original one ( which called 'pie' ) but I was still pleased with my work and prefer to call it bread, not pie...

Ingredients:

240 g bread flour
60 g whole wheat flour
1+1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
3 tbsp olive oil
180-200 ml lukewarm water
1/4 cup black olives
dried mint
dries parsley
1/4 onion, chopped

Method

1. Mix 1/2 cup of water, sugar and yeast in a small bowl, leave until bubbles appear on surface for 10 minutes. Stir the flours and salt in a mixing bowl, add the yeast mixture, olive oil and the remaining water to form a ball , then knead very well for about 15 minutes until you have a very elastic, not too thick dough. Let it stand for about one hour. Add the herbs, chopped onion and olives. Knead again to make everything incorperated, gather the dough into a ball and shape it into an oval shape. Place it on a baking tray, cover and let it rise for 20-30 minutes.

2.Preheat the oven to 200 Celsius, when the dough is ready, brush the top with olive oil and make 3 slashed on top, then bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, reduce the temperature to 180 Celsius and bake for another 15-20 minutes until you get a golden , brownish color. Cool on a wire rack before slicing and serve.







































PS. This bread will also be posted to yeastspotting hosted by Susan of Wild Yeast..

Sesame Wine Cookies

I've seen these cookies posted on Culinary Saint's blog which the word 'wine' simply got my attention.. Since the post doesn't have much of explaination,so I kind of followed through the recipe using my own common sense..

The method is dead simple while the taste appeared to be interesting ! It's slightly sweet and crispy, yet there's something about it that couldn't be explained.. And I decided to call it differently from the original,'sesame wine rusks' because I found the texture ( of what I got) is more like a cookie than a rusk..

In my opinion, this is another interesting recipe worth your try !

Ingredients:

300 g self raising flour
75 ml red wine
75 ml canola oil
5 tbsp vegetable shortening
1/4 cup sugar
1 scant tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup sesame seeds

Method

Mix all ingredients but the sesame seeds in a bowl, knead the dough very well and then make dough into small rings (6 -7 cm diameter) or any other shape or size you like and finally dip them into the sesame seeds (on one side only).
Then place them onto a baking tray and bake them in a preheated oven at 190 degrees Celsius for 25-30 minutes.Remove from the oven, let them cool on wire rack.

Orange-scented Raisin Cardamom Pastry Rolls

It took me a while to overcome many distractions and laziness and get back to blogging..so many things so little time !

Now talking about these pastry rolls, I got inspired by this post from Kelly of Sass&Veracity which is interesting that having cardamom as an ingredient for the dough.. anyway,I chose to make it in a different shape with a different filling since I was not in the mood to play with chocolate !

As a first try of making a pastry dough, although it's not as good as Delifrance's ones but I thought it was considerably good and the filling was a real satisfaction !

The recipe

For the pastry…

1 lg. eggs
6 tbsp. warm water
1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
2 c. all-purpose flour, sifted
1/4 heaped tsp. salt
2 tsp sugar
1 c. unsalted butter, divided
3/4 tsp ground cardamom

For the filling…

50 g sugar
2-3 tbsp orange zest
handfuls of raisins

1 egg+milk for egg wash

In a small bowl, beat the eggs well. Add the warm water (105-115 degrees F) and sprinkle over the yeast. Stir to dissolve the yeast and set aside for 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, sift the flour and add the salt, sugar, and cardamom. Cut 1/4 c. of the cold butter into small cubes and mix it into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter, or with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Make a well in the center of the mixture and pour in the yeast liquid. With a wooden spoon, working from the center and circling outward, incorporate the flour gradually until it is all combined. With a floured hand, knead the mixture in the bowl into a smooth dough, about 2 minutes. Form a ball and cover, allowing it to rest int the fridge about 20 minutes.

While the dough is resting, with a rolling pin, beat the remaining cold butter between sheets of plastic wrap until it is soft and creamy and set aside.

On a very lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a loose rectangle, about 3/8″ thick. With an offset spatula, spread butter over 2/3’s of the rectangle. Fold the unbuttered third of the rectangle over the center third. Then fold the remaining buttered third over the other two. You now have three layers of dough with butter in between two of them.Turn the dough so that the long side is perpendicular to you. This is a quarter turn. Roll it into another rectangle, about 1/4″ thick. Fold it into thirds exactly as before but no butter is added this time. Complete 3 more turns. Sprinkle it very lightly with flour, wrap well in plastic and refrigerate at least 2 hours.


Toward the end of the chilling time, make the filling by rubbing sugar and zest together with fingertips.Set aside.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Roll the chilled dough to 3/8″ thickness and a rectangle about 25″ x 10″. Spread the filling over the dough. Sprinkle the raisins over the filling.Beginning at the nearest long end, tightly roll the dough away, creating a cyliner. Cut the dough with a pastry cutter into 1-1.5 inches pieces, Place the pieces ( cut-side up) on a parchment covered baking sheet. Cover and let it rise for 45 minutes. Brush with egg wash and bake for 15-18 minutes, turning the pastry once in the middle of the baking time. It should be well-puffed and very deep brown when it is done. Allow it to cool for few minutes on the baking sheet before moving it to a rack to cool a bit more before serving.































PS. This will also be posted to yeastspottng, a bread making event run by Susan of Wild Yeast which this week specially hosted by Zorra of kochtopf

Mini Green Tea Melon Buns

Melon buns ( also known as melonpan) are inexpensive, sweet bakery products popular in Japan, Taiwan, and China made from an enriched dough covered in a thin layer of crispy cookie dough. Their appearance resembles a melon, such as a rock melon.They are not traditionally melon flavored.

Melonpan and pineapple bun from Hong Kong are very similar. By comparison the Japanese style is lighter in weight and taste, slightly dryer and has a firmer outer layer (including top cookie crust) which resists to flaking unlike its Hong Kong counterpart which should be treated with care as the top cookie crust tends to flake easily. The Hong Kong version is also more moist and is generally soft on the outside and inside and has a stronger butter pungent.

I was thinking about how to use up my green tea powder that had been left unused for ages and honestly, bread was not really in my mind since I actually planned to make either cake/muffin or cookie..But then I saw this melon buns posted on happyhomebaking which was just the right time and I undoubtedly fell in love with those lovely photos, so I got myself an answer what to do with the green tea powder !

As for the outcome, the bread was sooo soft,light and fluffy while the topping was crispy and a bit crumbly..it's a nice combination in one bite though! Anyway,there is one thing I could have done to make it better is to add more green tea powder into the dough because I couldn't really taste it from the bread while there's a mild flavor of green tea in the topping..

PS. I will have this post submitted to yeastspotting this week at Susan's blog..



Mini green tea melon buns ( adapted from here )

Ingredients:(makes 12 buns)

Bread Dough:

160g bread flour
30g self-raising flour
1.5 tsp green tea powder
30g caster sugar
a pinch of salt
1/2 heaped tsp instant yeast
100ml warm milk
10g milk powder
1 eggyolk
10g unsalted butter, softened

Pastry topping:

45g unsalted butter, softened
35g icing sugar
1 egg yolk
10g milk powder
70g self-raising flour
1.5 tsp green tea powder

Method:

1. Srir together the flours,green tea powder, yeast, sugar, milk powder and salt in a mixing bolw. Add in the yolk and milk. Using a dough hook ,mix the ingredients to form a soft dough. Add the butter and mix until incorperated. Knead on medium speed for about 15-20 mins. Then finish up by hand kneading for another 5 mins until the dough is smooth and elastc.

2.Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with cling wrap and let proof for about 60-90mins, or until double in bulk. While the dough is proofing, prepare the pastry topping. Beat butter and sugar until light and pale, add in the egg yolk and beat well. Add the cake flour, green tea powder and milk powder. Mix with a spatula until flour mixture is fully incorporate. Gather to form a soft dough. Divide dough into 12 equal portions roll into rounds. Place doughs in a tray and let the dough chill in the fridge for at least 30 mins.

3.Punch down the bread dough and knead lightly, then divide into 12 equal portion. Roll into rounds. Remove chilled pastry dough from the fridge. Take a piece of pastry dough and roll out in between 2 layers of cling wraps, big enough to cover the bread dough then place it over a bread dough, wrap the pastry dough around the bread dough, leaving the bottom 2 ~ 3 cm uncovered. Place doughs in paper muffin cups, cover loosely with a damp cloth or cling wrap and let dough proof for 25 - 30mins or till the dough reaches almost to the rim of the paper cup.

4. Bake in the preheated oven at 190 degC for about 15 mins. Rotate the buns halfway into baking to ensure even browning. Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack before serving.

French Silk Chocolate Cake

I was on duty to make a cake again and this time I chose to indulge everyone with chocolate..

The cake base is a sponge which I adpated from the recipe I used for my white forest cake and the french silk filling is from bakingdelights which I've made before and I remembered how darn good it was, so there is no doubt why I remade it !

I made my cake a bit more interesting by using a caramel syrup to brush over each layer before the filling which gave the cake mild flavor and scent..Also I sprinkled some cocoa powder and grated chocolate over the top to increase a chocolatey taste and it simply worked well..

As for the result, it's certainly worth being my Copper Anniversay cake !!

Ingredients :

The cake base :

80g sifted self-raising flour
30g cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 large egg, seperated
120 g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla
50 ml milk
30 g butter,melted
some caramel syrup to brush

The french silk filling :

1 cup unsalted butter
1 heaped cup caster sugar
1/3 cup good cocoa powder
2 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs

Method :

1. Make the filling, cream the butter and sugar until very fluffy and well combined. Carefully blend in the cocoa and vanilla. Beating at highest speed add one egg. Beat for about 2 minutes.Repeat with each egg, beating very well after each addition. Whip until very fluffy.Chill for 4 hours before using.

2. Meanwhile, make the base, line the 8" cake tin with parchment paper.Preheat the oven to 350f. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Beat/whisk the egg white at a high speed of a mixer until foamy, the gradually add sugar, few tbsp at a time, then continue to beat until a peak stage. Add the yolk, one at a time, to the white and beat until the mixture have reached a ribbon stage.

3. Add the vanilla and mix to incorperate. Divide the flour mixture into few portions and add a portion at a time into the egg mixture using minimun speed. Mix until just combined, then slowly and gently pour the warm mixture of milk and melted butter into the batter. Now using spatula to gently fold everything until incorperated. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 25-30 minutes until the top springs back when touched. Cool on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes before turning it out to cool completely.

4. To assemble : Slice the cake into 2 layers. Brush the top of bottom layer with the syrup, then spread about 1/3 of the filling over. Place the top layer over and brush with the syrup before frosting the whole cake with the remaining filling. Decorate as required and leave the cake to set in the fridge for few hours before serving.

Cappucino and White Chocolate Muffins

I made these muffins a week ago but couldn't manage to have it posted until now !

The recipe ( adpated from here )

2 cups self-raising, sifted
1/3 cup plus 2 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp ground espresso bean
4 tbsp milk powder
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
100 g coarsely chopped good quality white chocolate

Method :

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees . Whisk together all the dry ingredients except the white chocolate in a mixing bowl.In a seperate bowl, mix the milk, egg and melted butter until blended ,then pour into the dry ingredients mixture and stir until batter just moist (don't overmix). Fold in the white chocolate chunks.

2. Fill the batter into 12 greased muffin cases. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let them cool in pan. Remove muffins from tins to cool.