Benito's blog

We are still enjoying the Florida warmth down here in Fort Lauderdale.  Since we arrived there has been rain only one day and there might have been one cloudy day at most.  It has been sunny days after sunny days, I’m not complaining.

We had a dinner party last night with a few of our Canadian friends so needed bread and a dessert.  I’ll post the bread I made in a separate blog post.  One of our favourite desserts to have here is Key Lime Pie.  Years ago when we were in Key West we went to the bakery that supposedly had the best Key Lime Pie in Florida, the Blonde Giraffe.  This was long before I started to bake.  So I decided to bake something I think turned out as well if not better, a lime coconut pie with a Graham cracker crust.

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I prefer this version with its subtle coconut flavour.  If you love coconut, I would change the whipped cream on top to whipped coconut cream.  The finish of the lime zest really gives it the lovely lime scent when you serve the pie and it looks nice as well.

The Graham cracker crust is from Sally’s baking website.  I’ve made a note that I find graham cracker crusts to be a bit too sweet so I’d try reducing the sugar in the future.  I’m not sure if I can eliminate it completely as I believe she says that it is needed to help bind the crumbs together.  I would think that the melted butter does most of that though.

Ingredients - 1 graham cracker crust

• 1 and 1/2 cups (180g) graham cracker crumbs (about 12 full sheet graham crackers)
• 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar (try reducing as this is quite sweet, not sure if can eliminate completely so try using only 20-25g)
• 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, melted

Instructions

1. If you’re starting out with full graham crackers, use a food processor or blender to grind them into fine crumbs. You can also place them in a zip-top bag and crush them into fine crumbs with a little arm muscle and a rolling pin.
2. Stir the graham cracker crumbs and granulated sugar together in a medium bowl, and then stir in the melted butter. The mixture will be thick, coarse, and sandy. Try to smash/break up any large chunks.
3. Pour the mixture into an ungreased 8-inch, 9-inch, or 10-inch pie dish, cake pan, springform pan, or square pan. With medium pressure using your hand, pat the crumbs down into the bottom and up the sides to make a compact crust. Do not pack down with heavy force because that makes the crust too hard. Simply pat down until the mixture is no longer crumby/crumbly. Tip:You can use a small flat-bottomed measuring cup to help press down the bottom crust and smooth out the surface, but do not pack down too hard. If making a pie, run a spoon around the bottom “corner” where the edge and bottom meet to help make a rounded crust⁠—this helps prevent the crust from falling apart when you cut slices.
4. For a baked dessert, pre-bake this crust per your filling recipe’s directions. I usually pre-bake for 10 minutes at 350°F (177°C). For a no-bake dessert, cool the crust completely before using, unless your filling’s recipe instructs otherwise.

Lime coconut filling 

Ingredients:

• 250 ml (1 cup) heavy cream
• 4 tablespoons icing sugar (sub 2 tbsp sugar)
• 5-ounces (1 can) unsweetened coconut milk
• 14-ounces (1 can) sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed or bottled Key lime juice
• Zest of 1 lime, finely grated

To garnish:

• Whipped cream (optional)
• Toasted coconut (optional)
• lime slices (optional)

Instructions:

• In a bowl, using an electric mixer beat heavy cream and sugar until creamy. Add the coconut milk, condensed milk, lime juice, and lime zest and whisk until fluffy and thick. Pour into crust and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to set.
• Before serving, top pie with whipped cream, sprinkle some toasted coconut and/or lime slices (if desired). Slice and serve.

My index of bakes.

I’m still down in Florida for almost another two months. I felt like baking something sweet so I thought that oranges would be a good way to celebrate Florida. I have posted about my sweet roll before, this bake adds orange zest to flavour each component of the rolls, the dough, filling and glaze. I added a hint of cinnamon so that the flavour wasn’t too one note. I don’t have a stand mixer here in Florida so I fully developed the dough by hand. It actually required 1000 slap and folds!

I shared these with our friends in our building and everyone loved them. I will definitely make these again but perhaps increase the cinnamon to 1 tsp. so that it is a slightly stronger hint.

To prevent the layers of the rolls from having gaps, I now add some all purpose flour to the filling.  Because the sugar in the filling is hygroscopic, I have found that the water it draws out from the dough causes the layers to separate when baking.  By adding flour at a 1:4 ratio to the sugar this separation no longer happens.

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Zest of 1 orange in the dough

For 9 Rolls in a 8” x 8” pan

Filling

30 g butter

90 g brown sugar

22.5 g all purpose flour

½ tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp orange zest

Orange simple syrup

100 g sugar

Juice of 1 orange

Zest of 1 orange

Instructions

Levain

Mix the levain ingredients in a jar or pyrex container with space for at least 300% growth.

Press down with your knuckles or silicone spatula to create a uniform surface and to push out air.

At a temperature of 76ºF, it typically takes up to 10-12 hours for this sweet stiff levain to be at peak. For my starter I typically see 3-3.5 times increase in size at peak. The levain will smell sweet with only a mild tang.

Tangzhong

In a sauce pan set on medium heat, stir the milk and flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until well thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool in the pan or, for faster results, in a new bowl. Theoretically it should reach 65ºC (149ºF) but I don’t find I need to measure the temperature as the tangzhong gelatinizes at this temperature. You can prepare this the night before and refrigerate it, ensure that it is covered to prevent it from drying out.

If you plan on using a stand mixer to mix this dough, set up a Bain Marie and use your stand mixer’s bowl to prepare the tangzhong.

Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the milk (consider holding back 10 g of milk and adding later if this is the first time you’re making this), egg, tangzhong, salt, sugar and levain. Mix and then break up the levain into many smaller pieces. Next add the flours. I like to use my spatula to mix until there aren’t many dry areas. Allow the flour to hydrate (fermentolyse) for 20-30 minutes. Mix on low speed and then medium speed until moderate gluten development this may take 5-10 mins. You may want to scrape the sides of the bowl during the first 5 minutes of mixing. Next add room temperature butter one pat at a time. The dough may come apart, be patient, continue to mix until it comes together before adding in more butter. Once all the butter has been added and incorporated increase the speed gradually to medium. Mix at medium speed until the gluten is well developed, approximately 10 mins. You will want to check gluten development by windowpane during this time and stop mixing when you get a good windowpane. You should be able to pull a good windowpane, not quite as good as a white flour because the bran will interrupt the windowpane somewhat. Next add the zest of two oranges, that way they do not interfere with the gluten development. Mix until they are well incorporated in the dough.

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2 - 3 hours at 82ºF. There may be some rise visible at this stage.

Optional cold retard overnight or just 1.5 hours to chill the dough for easier shaping.

Prepare your pan by greasing it or line with parchment paper.

This dough is very soft. Act quickly to roll, spread the filling, and cut before the dough warms and softens further. If it begins to soften, place it in the fridge to firm.

Remove your bulk fermentation container from the fridge, lightly flour your work surface in a large rectangle shape, and the top of the dough in the bowl. Then, gently scrape out the dough to the center of your floured rectangle. Lightly dust the top of the dough with flour, and using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a 15″ x 15″ square or larger rectangle.

Brush melted butter on rolled dough. Sprinkle brown sugar orange spice mix on top.

Starting at one of the long sides of the rectangle in front of you, begin rolling up the dough as you move across. Be sure to tightly roll the dough by gently tugging on the dough as you roll.

Once finished rolling up the dough, divide it into nine 1 1/2″ pieces using a sharp knife. Transfer the pieces to the prepared baking pan and cover with a large, reusable bag, place in a warm spot. I use my proofing box set to 82°F. Final proof may take 3-6 hours, be patient and wait until the dough passes the finger poke test.

Be sure to start preheating your oven about 30 minutes before you feel the rolls will be fully proofed. For me, the final warm proof time was about 3 hours at 77°F (25°C).

Bake

Preheat your oven, with a rack in the middle, to 400°F (200°C). After the warm proof, uncover your dough and gently press the tops of a few rolls. The fully proofed cardamom rolls will look very soft. The texture of the dough will be almost like a whipped mousse. Be sure to give them extra time in warm proof if necessary. If the dough needs more time to proof, cover the pan and give the dough another 15 to 30 minutes at a warm temperature and check again.

Once your oven is preheated, remove your pan from its bag, slide it into the oven, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes.

Orange simple syrup.

While your rolls are baking, prepare the simple syrup. Combine the orange simple sugar ingredients in a saucepan and heat until boiling for several minutes to reduce and thicken. Remove from the heat and let cool until ready to use.

The rolls are finished baking when the tops are well-colored and the internal temperature is around 195°F (90°C). Remove the rolls from the oven and brush on the cardamom-infused simple syrup. Let the rolls cool for 5 to 10 minutes in the pan, then serve.

These are best the day they’re made, and certainly fresh from the oven, but can be reheated in a warm oven a day or two after.

My index of bakes

I’ve been enjoying using Alan’s starter for my baking here in Florida.  I have made an offshoot and I’ve fed it with whole rye.  For this bake I used the rye offshoot starter to build the levain.  My intention was to make the tangzhong with whole wheat but accidentally used King Arthur bread flour so the whole wheat in this recipe is from the 20% in the stiff sweet levain.  I have continued to use about 15% of the flour from the tangzhong, I suspect that it reduces the rise compared to using less but I’ll need to bake more and see if this change is just related to my fully hand mixing and different flours than I am used to at home in Canada.

Rosemary, pepper and potato together are one of my favourite combinations so I decided I needed to try it in a milk bread.  This one didn’t disappoint.

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For one 9x4x4” Pullman pan loaf.

Instructions

Levain

Mix the levain ingredients in a jar or pyrex container with space for at least 300% growth. 

Press down with your knuckles or silicone spatula to create a uniform surface and to push out air.

At a temperature of 76-78ºF, it typically takes up to 10-12 hours for this sweet stiff levain to be at peak.  For my starter I typically see 3-3.5 times increase in size at peak.  The levain will smell sweet with only a mild tang.

Tangzhong 

In a sauce pan set on medium heat, stir the milk and whole wheat flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until well thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool in the pan or, for faster results, in a new bowl.  Theoretically it should reach 65ºC (149ºF) but I don’t find I need to measure the temperature as the tangzhong gelatinizes at this temperature.  You can prepare this the night before and refrigerate it, ensure that it is covered to prevent it from drying out.

If you plan on using a stand mixer to mix this dough, set up a Bain Marie and use your stand mixer’s bowl to prepare the tangzhong.

Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the milk (consider holding back 10 g of milk and adding later if this is the first time you’re making this), egg, tangzhong, salt, sugar and levain.  Mix and then break up the levain into many smaller pieces.  Next add the flours.  I like to use my spatula to mix until there aren’t many dry areas.  Allow the flour to hydrate (fermentolyse) for 20-30 minutes.  Mix on low speed and then medium speed until moderate gluten development this may take 5-10 mins.  You may want to scrape the sides of the bowl during the first 5 minutes of mixing.  Next add room temperature butter one pat at a time.  The dough may come apart, be patient, continue to mix until it comes together before adding in more butter.  Once all the butter has been added and incorporated add the mashed potatoes.  Again, knead until well incorporated.  You will want to check gluten development by windowpane during this time and stop mixing when you get a good windowpane.  You should be able to pull a good windowpane, not quite as good as a white flour because the bran will interrupt the windowpane somewhat. 

To develop by hand, melt the butter and add it with the wet ingredients.  Develop the gluten with slap and folds.

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2 - 3 hours at 82ºF.  There should be some rise visible at this stage.

You can next place the dough into the fridge to chill the dough for about 1.5 hours, this makes rolling the dough easier to shape.  Remember, if you do so the final proof will take longer.  Alternatively, you can do a cold retard in the fridge overnight, however, you may find that this increases the tang in your bread.

Prepare your pans by greasing them with butter or line with parchment paper.  

Lightly flour the top of the dough. Scrape the dough out onto a clean counter top and divide it into four. I like to weigh them to have equal sized lobes. Shape each tightly into a boule, allow to rest 5 mins. Using a rolling pin roll each ball out and then letterfold. Turn 90* and using a rolling pin roll each out to at least 8”. Letterfold again from the sides so you have a long narrow dough. Then using a rolling pin, roll flatter but keeping the dough relatively narrow.  The reason to do this extra letterfold is that the shorter fatter rolls when placed in the pan will not touch the sides of the pan.  This allows the swirled ends to rise during final proof, this is only done for appearance sake and is not necessary.  Next roll each into a tight roll with some tension. Arrange the rolls of dough inside your lined pan alternating the direction of the swirls. This should allow a greater rise during proof and in the oven.

Cover and let proof for  4-6 hours at a warm temperature.  I proof at 82°F.  You will need longer than 4-6 hours if you chilled your dough for shaping. I proof until the top of the dough comes to within 1 cm of the top edge of the pan.

Preheat the oven to 350F and brush the dough with the egg-milk wash.  Just prior to baking brush with the egg-milk wash again.

Bake the loaves for 50 minutes or until the internal temperature is at least 190ºF, rotating as needed to get even browning. Shield your loaf if it gets brown early in the baking process. After 50 mins remove the bread from the pan and bake a further 10 mins by placing the loaf directly in the oven on the rack with the oven turned down to 325ºF. You can brush the top of the loaf with butter if you wish at this point while the bread is still hot to keep the top crust soft.

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These buns are super soft and fluffy get hold up to a fish burger nicely.  The sweet potato gives it a bit of extra sweetness while the tangzhong helps with flavour and freshness.  They are topped with black, white and golden sesame seeds.

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Substitute mashed sweet potato for the mashed potatoes above to make these.

For 8 buns about 65 g each

egg wash: 1 yolk, 1 tbsp milk and a pinch of salt, beaten…

Instructions

Levain

Mix the levain ingredients in a jar or pyrex container with space for at least 300% growth. 

Press down with your knuckles or silicone spatula to create a uniform surface and to push out air.

At a temperature of 76ºF, it typically takes up to 10-12 hours for this stiff  sweet levain to be at peak.  For my starter I typically see 3-3.5 times increase in size at peak.  The levain will smell sweet with only a mild tang.

Tangzhong 

In a sauce pan set on medium heat, stir the milk and flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until well thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool in the pan or, for faster results, in a new bowl.  Theoretically it should reach 65ºC (149ºF) but I don’t find I need to measure the temperature as the tangzhong gelatinizes at this temperature.  You can prepare this the night before and refrigerate it, ensure that it is covered to prevent it from drying out.

Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the milk (consider holding back 10 g of milk and adding later if this is the first time you’re making this), egg, tangzhong, salt, sugar and levain.  Mix and then break up the levain into many smaller pieces.  Next add the flour, I like to use my spatula to mix until there aren’t many dry areas.  Allow the flour to hydrate (fermentolyse) for 15 minutes.  Mix on low speed and then medium speed until moderate gluten development this may take 5-10 mins.  You may want to scrape the sides of the bowl during the first 5 minutes of mixing.  Next drizzle in the melted butter a little at a time, or alternatively add room temperature butter one pat at a time.  Slow the mixer down to avoid splashing the butter at you. The dough may come apart, be patient, continue to mix until it comes together before drizzling or adding in more butter.  Once all the butter has been added and incorporated increase the speed gradually to medium.  Add the mashed sweet potatoes gradually.  Mix at medium speed until the gluten is well developed, approximately 10 mins.  You will want to check gluten development by windowpane during this time and stop mixing when you get a good windowpane.  You should be able to pull a good windowpane.

You can definitely mix and knead these by hand as I did.  I melted the butter and added it with the wet ingredient.  Then follow the instructions instead kneading by slap and folding.

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2.5-3.5 hours at 82ºF.  There should be some rise visible at this stage.

You can next place the dough into the fridge to chill the dough for about 1.5 hours, this makes rolling the dough easier to shape.  Remember, if you do so the final proof will take longer.  Alternatively, you can do a cold retard in the fridge overnight, however, you may find that this increases the tang in your bread.

Line a large cookie tray with parchment paper.  Punch the dough down and then divide into 8 equal portions.  Form each into tight boules.  Place on a parchment lined cookie tray.  Cover them and allow them to fully proof about 4-6 hours, they should pass the poke test.

After about 30 mins of proofing time, whisk your remaining egg and milk and then brush the small boules.

About 30 mins prior to end of final proof preheat the oven to 350°F. 

Immediately prior to baking brush the dough again with the egg and milk mixture.

Bake the buns uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until the internal temperature is at least 190F. Cover if your rolls get brown early in the baking process.

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My index of bakes.

This bake used my offshoot of Alan’s starter, a 80% hydration and all whole rye.  The levain was whole wheat and was stiff and sweet.  What is a bit different about this bake was that I used rye for the first time in a tangzhong, this one again has a 1:2 ratio of rye:milk.  I had a bag of sweet potatoes so decided to add mashed sweet potato to this dough.  Being still in Fort Lauderdale I do not have my Ankarsrum Assistent so fully hand mixed this dough.  

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For one 9x4x4” Pullman pan loaf.

Instructions

Levain

Mix the levain ingredients in a jar or pyrex container with space for at least 300% growth. 

Press down with your knuckles or silicone spatula to create a uniform surface and to push out air.

At a temperature of 76-78ºF, it typically takes up to 10-12 hours for this sweet stiff levain to be at peak.  For my starter I typically see 3-3.5 times increase in size at peak.  The levain will smell sweet with only a mild tang.

Tangzhong 

In a sauce pan set on medium heat, stir the milk and whole rye flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until well thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool in the pan or, for faster results, in a new bowl.  Theoretically it should reach 65ºC (149ºF) but I don’t find I need to measure the temperature as the tangzhong gelatinizes at this temperature.  You can prepare this the night before and refrigerate it, ensure that it is covered to prevent it from drying out.

If you plan on using a stand mixer to mix this dough, set up a Bain Marie and use your stand mixer’s bowl to prepare the tangzhong.

Dough

For hand mixing instructions see the next paragraph.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the milk (consider holding back 10 g of milk and adding later if this is the first time you’re making this), egg, tangzhong, salt, sugar and levain.  Mix and then break up the levain into many smaller pieces.  Next add the flours.  I like to use my spatula to mix until there aren’t many dry areas.  Allow the flour to hydrate (fermentolyse) for 20-30 minutes.  Mix on low speed and then medium speed until moderate gluten development this may take 5-10 mins.  You may want to scrape the sides of the bowl during the first 5 minutes of mixing.  Next add room temperature butter one pat at a time.  The dough may come apart, be patient, continue to mix until it comes together before adding in more butter.  Once all the butter has been added and incorporated increase the speed gradually to medium. Mix at medium speed until the gluten is well developed, approximately 10 mins.  Add the mashed sweet potato and mix until well incorporated.  You will want to check gluten development by windowpane during this time and stop mixing when you get a good windowpane.  You should be able to pull a good windowpane, not quite as good as a white flour because the bran will interrupt the windowpane somewhat. 

Hand mixing 

Into a large bowl add the tangzhong, milk, melted butter, salt, sugar and egg.  Mix well then add the levain, cut the levain into small pieces with your silicone spatula.  Add flour and mix until no dry flour remains.  Rest for 10 mins then slap and fold until the dough has good gluten development.  Stretch the dough on a wet countertop.  Spread about ⅓ of the mashed sweet potato onto the dough, then fold in half.  Repeat until all of the mashed sweet potato has been added.  Slap and fold or stretch and fold until the sweet potato is well incorporated.

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2 - 3 hours at 82ºF.  There should be some rise visible at this stage.

You can next place the dough into the fridge to chill the dough for about 1.5 hours, this makes rolling the dough easier to shape.  Remember, if you do so the final proof will take longer.  Alternatively, you can do a cold retard in the fridge overnight, however, you may find that this increases the tang in your bread.

Prepare your pans by greasing them with butter or line with parchment paper.  

Lightly flour the top of the dough. Scrape the dough out onto a clean counter top and shape it into a batard.  Transfer the dough into your pan and cover.

Cover and let proof for  4-6 hours at a warm temperature.  I proof at 82°F.  You will need longer than 4-6 hours if you chilled your dough for shaping. I proof until the top of the dough comes to within 1 cm of the top edge of the pan.

Preheat the oven to 350F and brush the dough with the egg-milk wash.  Just prior to baking brush with the egg-milk wash again.

Bake the loaves for 50 minutes or until the internal temperature is at least 190ºF, rotating as needed to get even browning. Shield your loaf if it gets brown early in the baking process. After 50 mins remove the bread from the pan and bake a further 10 mins by placing the loaf directly in the oven on the rack with the oven turned down to 325ºF. You can brush the top of the loaf with butter if you wish at this point while the bread is still hot to keep the top crust soft.

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My index of bakes.

Alan’s starter is quite potent and still not getting much of a sour scent to it.  It is living in a ziplock bag in my fridge and I made the stiff sweet levain from it directly without any refreshing and the levain was ready in no time.  I think I’ll figure out how to bring some home and compare it to mine.  Alan if you read this, what is the hydration that you keep your starter?  It is certainly not 100%.

So jackfruit can do a decent imitation of pulled pork for those unfamiliar with this tropical fruit.  So I combined this vegan pulled pork with my formula for sourdough gua bao and must say, it made a decent dinner.  I was a bit apprehensive about steaming the bao without my trusty bamboo steamer, but it worked out using my pasta pot with steaming inserts.

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Overnight Levain

In a large jar, combine all purpose flour, water, ripe sourdough starter, and sugar. Cover the jar loosely and let the levain ripen overnight at warm room temperature (I keep mine around 76°F to 78°F).

Tangzhong

In a sauce pan set on med heat with about 1.5 cm of water, place the bowl of your stand mixer creating a Bain Marie, whisk the milk and flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool.

In The Morning

In a mixing bowl, add the Tangzhong, water, milk, sugar and salt, mix to dissolve.  Add the stiff sweet levain and using a silicone spatula, cut the levain into small pieces.  Add the baking powder, cornstarch and flour.  Mix to form a shaggy dough.  Allow to rest for 10 mins.  On your countertop or with your stand mixer  knead the dough until good gluten development.  Drizzle in the vegetable oil and mix until well incorporated.  If mixing my hand, which I recommend since it is such a small amount of dough, add the oil with the liquid ingredients.  Remove some dough for aliquot jar to follow rise.  Shape into a boule and rest in a covered bowl at 82°F until it has increased by 40%.

Prepare six 4” parchment squares.

Remove the dough to the counter and divide into six equal portions shaping each into a tight boule.  Allow to rest for 10 mins.  Roll out the dough into a 3 × 6-inch oval. Brush the surface of the dough with canola oil and gently fold the dough in half, but make the top folded part a bit longer than the bottom otherwise when steamed they won’t be equal in size. Place on a 4-inch square of parchment paper.

Cover the buns with a damp, clean kitchen towel and allow them to proof until they are 1 ½ times larger,

Cover the filled bao with a damp cloth and place in a warm place and allow them to ferment until they pass the poke test.  Using an aliquot jar they should reach about 100% rise.

Prepare your steamer setup and bring water to a boil.  Working in batches if necessary, arrange buns in the bamboo steamer spacing 2” apart.  Once the water is boiling turn the heat down to medium.  Steam over boiling water for 10 minutes.  Turn off the heat and leave the buns in the covered steamer for 5 more minutes to prevent collapsing.  (I left them in the steamer and on the same stove element turned off). Do not lift the lid of the steamer, doing so will cause a sudden drop in temperature that can cause the buns to collapse or wrinkle or dent.  Remove the buns from the steamer and allow them to cool for 5 minutes before serving.  

Buns can be kept in an airtight container (a resealable bag works great) at room temperature for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Room temperature buns can be reheated in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds or steamed for about 2 minutes, until soft and warmed through. Reheat frozen buns by steaming until soft and warmed through, 10 to 15 minutes.

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Ingredients:(Makes 8)

For the buns:

250g plain flour

2 tsp caster sugar

1 tsp easy-blend dried yeast

½tsp salt

½tsp baking powder

50ml plant milk

75ml water

1tbsp rice vinegar

2tsp sesame oil, plus extra for brushing

2tsp black sesame seeds

For the filling:

2 x 400g cans of jackfruit, I only used 1 can.

1tbsp sunflower oil

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

4cm piece fresh ginger, finely chopped

1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

6 spring onions, 4 thinly sliced

3tbsp soy sauce

2tbsp hoisin sauce

2tbsp maple syrup

1½tbsp rice vinegar

1tsp Chinese five-spice

1 carrot

¼ cucumber

½ red pepper

1. Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Drain the jackfruit and squeeze out any excess water. Heat the sunflower oil in a large frying pan or wok, add the jackfruit and fry over a medium heat for about 10 minutes until golden brown, breaking up the pieces slightly with a wooden spoon.

2. Add the garlic, ginger, chilli and four sliced spring onions to the pan and continue frying for another minute. In a small bowl combine the soy and hoisin sauces, maple syrup, rice vinegar and Chinese five-spice with four tablespoons of water. Pour into the pan, mix to combine, reduce the heat slightly and continue to cook for a further three minutes or so until the jackfruit is caramelized and coated in sticky sauce. Remove from the heat while you prepare the remaining filling ingredients.

3. Using a julienne grater, cut the carrot and cucumber into fine strips. Finely slice the red pepper and remaining two spring onions. Cover and chill until ready to assemble the bao buns.

My index of bakes.

We’re back down in Fort Lauderdale for 2.5 months and Alan was kind enough to share some of his starter with me, thank you Alan.  He also gave me some SAF gold and red IDY along with some whole rye.  Immediately I note how different his starter smells than mine.  Mine is fed 100% whole rye and has a much more sour smell.  This starter is fed KA AP I believe and is much less sour and a bit sweet smelling.

We had no bread so I thought I’d bake using Alan’s starter and to also gradually adjust my Hokkaido milk bread formula.  I’ve decided to use a 1:2 ratio of flour to milk for the tangzhong, this allows me to increase the percentage of flour in the tangzhong from 7 to 15%, the greatest I’ve tried so far.  From what I’ve recently read this should allow a great flavour improvement and texture improvement from the tangzhong.  If I was still using the 1:5 ratio at 15%, there wouldn’t be any liquid left for the dough mix since most if not all of the liquid for the dough would be in the tangzhong.

Despite the instructions below, I fully hand mixed and developed the dough.

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For one 9x4x4” Pullman pan loaf.

Instructions

Levain

Mix the levain ingredients in a jar or pyrex container with space for at least 300% growth. 

Press down with your knuckles or silicone spatula to create a uniform surface and to push out air.

At a temperature of 76-78ºF, it typically takes up to 10-12 hours for this sweet stiff levain to be at peak.  For my starter I typically see 3-3.5 times increase in size at peak.  The levain will smell sweet with only a mild tang.

Tangzhong 

In a sauce pan set on medium heat, stir the milk and whole wheat flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until well thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool in the pan or, for faster results, in a new bowl.  Theoretically it should reach 65ºC (149ºF) but I don’t find I need to measure the temperature as the tangzhong gelatinizes at this temperature.  You can prepare this the night before and refrigerate it, ensure that it is covered to prevent it from drying out.

If you plan on using a stand mixer to mix this dough, set up a Bain Marie and use your stand mixer’s bowl to prepare the tangzhong.

Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the milk (consider holding back 10 g of milk and adding later if this is the first time you’re making this), egg, tangzhong, salt, sugar and levain.  Mix and then break up the levain into many smaller pieces.  Next add the flours.  I like to use my spatula to mix until there aren’t many dry areas.  Allow the flour to hydrate (fermentolyse) for 20-30 minutes.  Mix on low speed and then medium speed until moderate gluten development this may take 5-10 mins.  You may want to scrape the sides of the bowl during the first 5 minutes of mixing.  Next add room temperature butter one pat at a time.  The dough may come apart, be patient, continue to mix until it comes together before adding in more butter.  Once all the butter has been added and incorporated increase the speed gradually to medium. Mix at medium speed until the gluten is well developed, approximately 10 mins.  You will want to check gluten development by windowpane during this time and stop mixing when you get a good windowpane.  You should be able to pull a good windowpane, not quite as good as a white flour because the bran will interrupt the windowpane somewhat. 

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2 - 3 hours at 82ºF.  There should be some rise visible at this stage.

You can next place the dough into the fridge to chill the dough for about 1.5 hours, this makes rolling the dough easier to shape.  Remember, if you do so the final proof will take longer.  Alternatively, you can do a cold retard in the fridge overnight, however, you may find that this increases the tang in your bread.

Prepare your pans by greasing them with butter or line with parchment paper.  

Lightly flour the top of the dough. Scrape the dough out onto a clean counter top and divide it into four. I like to weigh them to have equal sized lobes. Shape each tightly into a boule, allow to rest 5 mins. Using a rolling pin roll each ball out and then letterfold. Turn 90* and using a rolling pin roll each out to at least 8”. Letterfold again from the sides so you have a long narrow dough. Then using a rolling pin, roll flatter but keeping the dough relatively narrow.  The reason to do this extra letterfold is that the shorter fatter rolls when placed in the pan will not touch the sides of the pan.  This allows the swirled ends to rise during final proof, this is only done for appearance sake and is not necessary.  Next roll each into a tight roll with some tension. Arrange the rolls of dough inside your lined pan alternating the direction of the swirls. This should allow a greater rise during proof and in the oven.

Cover and let proof for  4-6 hours at a warm temperature.  I proof at 82°F.  You will need longer than 4-6 hours if you chilled your dough for shaping. I proof until the top of the dough comes to within 1 cm of the top edge of the pan.

Preheat the oven to 350F and brush the dough with the egg-milk wash.  Just prior to baking brush with the egg-milk wash again.

Bake the loaves for 50 minutes or until the internal temperature is at least 190ºF, rotating as needed to get even browning. Shield your loaf if it gets brown early in the baking process. After 50 mins remove the bread from the pan and bake a further 10 mins by placing the loaf directly in the oven on the rack with the oven turned down to 325ºF. You can brush the top of the loaf with butter if you wish at this point while the bread is still hot to keep the top crust soft.

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We are soon departing for warmer climes so our lovely neighbour will be taking care of our mail for us.  So to thank them in advance I like to bake them a loaf of bread.  I decided to bake them a simple Hokkaido milk bread with some whole wheat and extra flavour from toasted sesame seeds.

I recently saw a video that suggested that tangzhong shouldn’t actually be at a ratio of 1:5 flour:liquid.  In fact, you are supposed to get more benefit in keeping the freshness, softness of crumb and flavour from ratios between 1:1 to 1:2.  As well, the flour in the tangzhong should aim to be between 10-20% to really get the taste benefits of the tangzhong.  By decreasing the liquid in the tangzhong it is much easier to increase the percentage of flour in the tangzhong,  When it was 1:5, what I thought was classic, you are really limited in how much of the flour can be in the tangzhong, because you reach a point where there is no hydration to make the dough.  So this is my first bake of a Hokkaido milk bread with these alterations to the tangzhong.  Although I will not have either any crumb photos, nor will I be able to taste this bread, I can say that the dough handled very well.  Although I reduced the milk in the tangzhong, I kept the overall hydration the same.

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50 g toasted sesame seeds.

Instructions

Levain

Mix the levain ingredients in a jar or pyrex container with space for at least 300% growth. 

Press down with your knuckles or silicone spatula to create a uniform surface and to push out air.

At a temperature of 76-78ºF, it typically takes up to 10-12 hours for this sweet stiff levain to be at peak.  For my starter I typically see 3-3.5 times increase in size at peak.  The levain will smell sweet with only a mild tang.

Tangzhong 

In a sauce pan set on medium heat, stir the milk and whole wheat flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until well thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool in the pan or, for faster results, in a new bowl.  Theoretically it should reach 65ºC (149ºF) but I don’t find I need to measure the temperature as the tangzhong gelatinizes at this temperature.  You can prepare this the night before and refrigerate it, ensure that it is covered to prevent it from drying out.

If you plan on using a stand mixer to mix this dough, set up a Bain Marie and use your stand mixer’s bowl to prepare the tangzhong.

Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the milk (consider holding back 10 g of milk and adding later if this is the first time you’re making this), egg, tangzhong, salt, sugar and levain.  Mix and then break up the levain into many smaller pieces.  Next add the flours.  I like to use my spatula to mix until there aren’t many dry areas.  Allow the flour to hydrate (fermentolyse) for 20-30 minutes.  Mix on low speed and then medium speed until moderate gluten development this may take 5-10 mins.  You may want to scrape the sides of the bowl during the first 5 minutes of mixing.  Next add room temperature butter one pat at a time.  The dough may come apart, be patient, continue to mix until it comes together before adding in more butter.  Once all the butter has been added and incorporated increase the speed gradually to medium. Mix at medium speed until the gluten is well developed, approximately 10 mins.  You will want to check gluten development by windowpane during this time and stop mixing when you get a good windowpane.  You should be able to pull a good windowpane, not quite as good as a white flour because the bran will interrupt the windowpane somewhat. 

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2 - 3 hours at 82ºF.  There should be some rise visible at this stage.

You can next place the dough into the fridge to chill the dough for about 1.5 hours, this makes rolling the dough easier to shape.  Remember, if you do so the final proof will take longer.  Alternatively, you can do a cold retard in the fridge overnight, however, you may find that this increases the tang in your bread.

Prepare your pans by greasing them with butter or line with parchment paper.  

Lightly flour the top of the dough. Scrape the dough out onto a clean counter top and divide it into four. I like to weigh them to have equal sized lobes. Shape each tightly into a boule, allow to rest 5 mins. Using a rolling pin roll each ball out and then letterfold. Turn 90* and using a rolling pin roll each out to at least 8”. Letterfold again from the sides so you have a long narrow dough. Then using a rolling pin, roll flatter but keeping the dough relatively narrow.  The reason to do this extra letterfold is that the shorter fatter rolls when placed in the pan will not touch the sides of the pan.  This allows the swirled ends to rise during final proof, this is only done for appearance sake and is not necessary.  Next roll each into a tight roll with some tension. Arrange the rolls of dough inside your lined pan alternating the direction of the swirls. This should allow a greater rise during proof and in the oven.

Cover and let proof for  4-6 hours at a warm temperature.  I proof at 82°F.  You will need longer than 4-6 hours if you chilled your dough for shaping. I proof until the top of the dough comes to within 1 cm of the top edge of the pan.

Preheat the oven to 350F and brush the dough with the egg-milk wash.  Just prior to baking brush with the egg-milk wash again.

Bake the loaves for 50 minutes or until the internal temperature is at least 190ºF, rotating as needed to get even browning. Shield your loaf if it gets brown early in the baking process. After 50 mins remove the bread from the pan and bake a further 10 mins by placing the loaf directly in the oven on the rack with the oven turned down to 325ºF. You can brush the top of the loaf with butter if you wish at this point while the bread is still hot to keep the top crust soft.

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My index of bakes.

For appetizers before dinner tonight I wanted to have some bbq pork gua bao and pork shrimp and chive dumplings.  This was a second try at sourdough gua bao and finally successful.  I’m not sure why the previous attempt at this didn’t work without the hit of IDY because this time the only real change was the addition of sweet potato.  The gua bao will get filled with bbq pork after re-steaming just prior to serving so the filling isn’t in these photos.

For the dumplings I made the filling and obviously filled the dumplings.  I hadn’t actually done this since I lived at home as a child and helped my mother with filling dumplings so over four decades ago.  They turned out quite well considering, but then again, one gets a lot of practice when you’re making enough dumplings to be filled with over a pound of filling.  I didn’t make the wrappers myself, I suspect that the major issue in making them yourself is trying to get really consistent thickness to them in order for them to cook at the same time.  So I didn’t bother making things even more complex for myself when the store bought wrappers are really good and only a couple of bucks per package.

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In a large jar, combine all purpose flour, water, ripe sourdough starter, and sugar. Cover the jar loosely and let the levain ripen overnight at warm room temperature (I keep mine around 76°F to 78°F).

Tangzhong

In a sauce pan set on med heat with about 1.5 cm of water, place the bowl of your stand mixer creating a Bain Marie, whisk the milk and flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool.

In The Morning

In a mixing bowl, add the Tangzhong, water, milk, oil, sugar and salt, mix to dissolve.  Add the stiff sweet levain and using a silicone spatula, cut the levain into small pieces.  Add the baking powder, cornstarch and flour.  Mix to form a shaggy dough.  Allow to rest for 10 mins.  On your countertop or with your stand mixer  knead the dough until good gluten development. Next add your mashed sweet potato, I added 45g or about 29%.  Knead until well developed.  Remove some dough for aliquot jar to follow rise.  Shape into a boule and rest in a covered bowl at 82°F until it has increased by 40%.

Prepare six 4” parchment squares.

Remove the dough to the counter and divide into six equal portions shaping each into a tight boule.  Allow to rest for 10 mins.  Roll out the dough into a 3 × 6-inch oval. Brush the surface of the dough with canola oil and gently fold the dough in half, but make the top folded part a bit longer than the bottom otherwise when steamed they won’t be equal in size. Place on a 4-inch square of parchment paper.

Cover the buns with a damp, clean kitchen towel and allow them to proof until they are 1 ½ times larger,

Cover the filled bao with a damp cloth and place in a warm place and allow them to ferment until they pass the poke test.  Using an aliquot jar they should reach about 100% rise.

Prepare your steamer setup and bring water to a boil.  Working in batches if necessary, arrange buns in the bamboo steamer spacing 2” apart.  Once the water is boiling turn the heat down to medium.  Steam over boiling water for 10 minutes.  Turn off the heat and leave the buns in the covered steamer for 5 more minutes to prevent collapsing.  (I left them in the steamer and on the same stove element turned off). Do not lift the lid of the steamer, doing so will cause a sudden drop in temperature that can cause the buns to collapse or wrinkle or dent.  Remove the buns from the steamer and allow them to cool for 5 minutes before serving.  

Buns can be kept in an airtight container (a resealable bag works great) at room temperature for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Room temperature buns can be reheated in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds or steamed for about 2 minutes, until soft and warmed through. Reheat frozen buns by steaming until soft and warmed through, 10 to 15 minutes.

Make the Filling 

Filling Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
• 1 clove garlic , grated
• 1/8 teaspoon five spice powder
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 heaping cup (180 g / 6.5 oz) homemade char siu , diced (or store-bought char siu) 1.5 cups is better 
• While the dough is resting, combine all the filling ingredients in a small pot except for the diced char siu. Mix until the cornstarch is dissolved fully.
• Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until thickened, so you can draw a line on the bottom of the pot with a spatula, about 1 minute. Take the pot off the heat and let the mixture cool off. Once cooled, add the diced char siu and mix until it is evenly distributed.

Pork Shrimp and Chive dumplings

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 1/2 pound of ground pork
• 1/2 pound of shrimp, shelled, deveined, dried well and chopped into small pieces
• 2 cups of Chinese chives, finely chopped
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons of sesame oil
• 1/4 cup of soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced through a garlic press
• 1/2 teaspoon of white pepper
• Dumpling (水餃) wrappers

Probably do not need the salt, reduce the soy sauce a bit.  

Instructions

• Prepare the vegetable oil. Heat the vegetable oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat for around 7 minutes. Set aside and allow it to cool. 
• Make the filling. Place the ground pork, shrimp, chives, egg, sesame oil, soy sauce, salt, garlic, white pepper and the cooled vegetable oil in a large mixing bowl. Mix, fold, whatever it takes until everything is thoroughly combined. It will feel wet and sticky and that’s okay. Allow the filling to sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes or in the fridge covered until you’re ready to assemble.
• Assemble the dumplings. In a small bowl, add 1/2 cup of water. Wet one of your fingers with water and dab it on the edge of half a wrapper. Add a scoop of filling to the center of the wrapper. With the wet edge on top, seal the dumpling by bringing the dry edge up to touch the wet edge to create a half circle. Do your best to remove any extra air trapped inside the dumpling as you’re sealing.
• Place the dumpling on a baking sheet covered with plastic wrap. Repeat until you run out of filling or wrappers. Keep the dumplings separated on the baking sheet so that they don’t stick to each other.
• Cook the dumplings. If you’re eating the dumplings immediately, cook them in a sufficient amount of boiling water so there’s room for all of the pieces to move around. Allow them to cook under a gentle boil for five minutes. Strain them from the boiling liquid, add them to a hot broth and serve.
• If you’re eating them later on, freeze the baking sheet of dumplings. Transfer them to a storage medium once frozen. They’ll be great in the freezer for up to two months, but I’m sure they’ll be gone before then!

My index of bakes.

So this is the big weekend where I have to have the three layer tropical carrot cake ready.  I baked the cake on Thursday, once cooled fully wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated until this morning.  Today I made the frosting and iced and decorated the cake.  The orange stuff on top is candied orange zest.  My cake carrier unfortunately is a bit to short for this decorated cake so some of the frosting at the center got smooshed.  I would increase the frosting by 50% so I’d have more than enough next time.  I also need to apply more frosting and right to if not past the edge of the cake layers between the layers.  I didn’t do this and it was a bit challenging to get more frosting between the layers to get a clean semi naked look.  Despite that, for me, this was a good bake since I have only decorated a cake with three layers once before so I’m happy with this overall.

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Ingredients

CAKE

• 3 cups all-purpose flour 
• 2 cups sugar 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 
• 3 large eggs 
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
• 1 (8-oz.) can crushed pineapple in juice, undrained about half a 540 mL can. 
• 2 cups chopped ripe banana (might be 2-3 bananas)
• 1 cup shredded carrot, pressed dry 
• 1 cup sweetened coconut, plus more for garnish 
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans, plus more for garnish

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

• 1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, room temperature 
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature 
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 
• 1 (16-oz.) package powdered sugar 453 g
• I’d increase this by 50% so I’d have more than enough frosting. 

According to Better Homes & Gardens, the best way to soften cream cheese is by letting it sit in a warm water bath. This is a quick process, as the cream cheese shouldn't need to sit for longer than 15 minutes. Leaving the cream cheese in its foil wrapper, simply place the block in a bowl of warm water and let the softening begin. Hot water out of the tap works best because you don't want it to be boiling, Cheese Knees notes. You can simply let the block sit until it's soft, or you can flip it every few minutes -- either way, you want the whole thing to be submerged in the water (via The Pioneer Woman).

How to Make It

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and spices. Add eggs, oil, and vanilla extract; whisking until fully incorporated.

Step 2

Fold in crushed pineapple, banana, carrot, coconut, and pecans. Divide batter evenly among 3 well-greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans.

Step 3

Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks, and cool completely, about 1 hour.

Step 4

Prepare Cream Cheese Frosting: Combine cream cheese and butter in mixer and beat until well combined. Add salt and powdered sugar, and beat on low until incorporated, then increase speed to medium high and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Step 5

Assemble Cake: Cut domes off cake layers to create 3 even layers. Place 1 layer on a cake stand and evenly spread 3/4 cup cream cheese frosting across the layer. Place another layer on top of that one and repeat with another 3/4 cup frosting. Add final layer, and spread remaining frosting across the top. Decorate with shredded coconut and pecans.

https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/tropical-carrot-cake

For the orange peel

• 2 oranges
• 200ml water
• 200g caster sugar 
• For the orange peel, carefully pare the zest from the orange (a tool like this would be helpful). Put the water and sugar in a saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Add the orange zest and remove from the heat. Let the zest sit in the sugar syrup until it has completely cooled.  Remove the peel and allow to dry on a paper towel.

Just a note here for the bake time, because I used cake strips the bake time was longer, it took 50-55 mins for the cakes to be fully baked.

My index of bakes.