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Plain Chinese Steamed Buns
(Makes 12 buns)

Sponge Starter:
1/3 cup lukewarm water
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2 teaspoon sugar
Dough:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (for lighter texture use 3/4 cup all-purpose flour plus 3/4 cup cake flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil (or melted lard or vegetable shortening)
Enough lukewarm water to create a smooth dough, approximately 1/2 cup

You'll also need:
A steamer
12 3"x3" waxed paper square

Directions:

·  In a large mixing bowl, mix together all the sponge ingredients and let it stand about 30 minutes (up to 2 hours)

·  Once the sponge is ready (it should puff up and have holes on the surface), add the flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, salt, sugar, and oil to the sponge bowl.

·  While your dominant hand is stirring the dough, add lukewarm water to the mixture a little bit at a time with your non-dominant hand. (Do I have to be this specific about the hand thing?) The moment you feel you can get a smooth dough that wipes the bowl almost clean, stop adding water.

·  Knead the dough right in the bowl, if you don't want to clean your kitchen counter afterwards. But if you need room to groove, feel free to dump the dough onto a large surface and let go of all your kneading inhibitions.

·  Once you have a smooth, satiny dough (after about 3-4 minutes), put the dough back into the mixing bowl, if you took it out, and cover tightly with a piece of plastic wrap. Let it rise for 3 hours in a warm spot.

·  You have three hours to get ready, so prepare your steamer and make the waxed paper squares.

·  After three hours, sprinkle the remaining 1 teaspoon of baking powder all over the surface of the dough and knead it in, lightly but well.

·  Roll the dough into a long log and cut into 12 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a ball by pinching and stretching. Place each dough ball, seams-side down, on a piece of waxed paper.

·  Cover the buns with a kitchen towel and let them rise once more for 30 minutes to an hour. You know the buns are ready when they have puffed up and the tops look smooth and taut.

·  Gently lower the buns into the steamer, positioning them in such a way that allows for expansion. They should not touch each other or the sides of the steamer.

·  Steam the buns for 10 minutes. Remove the buns from the steamer and let them cool under a kitchen towel.

Tips:

·  Make sure you don't over-hydrate your dough. It's better to err on adding too little water as you can always add more. Adding too much water will pretty much ruin the whole thing. You could try to salvage the dough by adding more flour, but that would just cause the dough to be tough. It's not possible to prescribe an exact amount of water as this has to do with the particular brand(s) of your flour and the moisture in the air on the day you make these buns.

·  Make sure the water is lukewarm, about 85 degrees F.

·  Make sure the yeast isn't too old.

·  Make sure the piece of plastic wrap covers the entire opening of the dough bowl. Exposure to air will cause the dough to develop a tough skin on the surface.

·  Make sure you leave the dough to rise in a warm spot.

·  After the first rise, work the baking powder into the dough thoroughly. This will help the finished buns to have a smooth surface.

·  Make sure the kitchen towel covers all the buns during the second rising.

·  When you lower the buns into the steamer, grab onto the corners of the waxed paper squares, not directly on the buns as you will deflate them.

·  Do not steam over high heat. Make sure the water is gently boiling over medium heat when the buns go in. Make sure the bottoms of the buns do not touch the water.

·  Don't let the moisture collected on the lid of your steamer drop on the buns.

Answers:

·  Yes, one tablespoon of yeast. It may seem like a lot of yeast per roughly a total of 2 cups of flour. However, when you start the process with a sponge starter, the fermentation has already started before you mix the dough. This is different from the no-sponge method wherein the dry yeast is added to the dough at the same time as the other ingredients. A sponge starter is a good way to ensure reliable and quick rising.

·  Yes, these buns freeze beautifully.

 yes they can be filled..

 

vincent

 

For those of you following baguette quests, a new "Best Baguette in Paris" has been named:  M. Frank Tombarel at his boulangerie Le Grenier de Felix, 64 Avenue Felix Faure (XVeme).

We have high hopes that Janedo can quickly make a trip there to learn his secrets.... :>)

Happy Baking!

PANDESAL PILIPINO BUNS

 

PANDESAL PILIPINO BUNS

Serves 24

Ingredients

• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup sugar + 3 tablespoon sugar
  
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons softened butter
• 1 tablespoon vegtable oil
• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons yeast
• 3 tablespoon breadcrumbs just enough to rools the bread

Directions

·  Combine the water, evaporated milk and milk and heat in the microwave for 35 seconds. Run tap water over the egg for 30 seconds to warm it.

·  2

Add all ingredients (except the bread crumbs) in the order suggested by the manufacturer.

·  3

The dough is supposed to be somewhat sticky (when I made this recipe, it was not sticky but it turned out well anyway).

·  4

Spray two baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray; preheat oven to 375 degrees.

·  5

When the dough is ready, scoop out a small amount (about the size of an ice-cream scoop) and roll in bread crumbs in an oval shape; place on baking sheet.  1 inch apart

·  6

Cover and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled.

·  7

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden brown.

happy eating

 

 

VINCENT

- 500g all purpose flour
- 80g ground almond
- 20 cl evaporated milk 
- 6 eggs room temperature
- 250g sugar
- Powdered sugar
- 125g butter
- 1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
- 1/2 tsp of salt

Heat milk. Add the butter, sugar and salt. Stir until all is dissolved. When cooled, add yeast.

Sift in flour and add about 1/2 to the milk mixture. Mix until smooth and add the egg, beat well. Add the remaining flour mixture and stir until all is smooth. Cover with a damp towel and allow to rise, about 1-2 hours.

Put dough onto a floured surface and roll out to about 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into 2 or 3 inch squares and let stand 20 minutes before frying.

 Heat oil in deep fryer to 360 degrees. Fry four rectangles at a time for 2 to 3 minutes turning beignets as they rise to the surface. When golden brown, remove with a slotted spoon onto paper towels to blot excess oil. Dust with powdered sugar and eat immediately.

 

* I find the beignets more tasty when using 150g of unsweetend dessicated coconut instead of the ground almonds

So I have been learning to bake bread.  I did NOT buy a bread machine, which I did consider for a while.  I was thinking about what would be easy, simple, less time consuming.  But when it came down to it, I just didn't like the constraints of a bread machine.  The loaf pans are so small, sometimes square, and the whole paddle thing just leaves me cold.  I had a bread machine when I lived in Germany.  I used it and hated it. It dumbed me down and I never understood the whole process of bread baking.  This made it impossible to troubleshoot or use anything other than the basic settings. 

Now, without a bread machine, I am so happy.  I feel like I have found a new hobby [that hopefully won't make me TOO fat!] and it is very exciting to create such wonderful works of edible art.  The breads that I have made so far, that have been successful, are a half-white, half-wheat loaf that is very nice, and would be great for sandwiches, cinnamon toast, and just about anything else.  The other loaf I have made that needs a bit of work is the artisan bread.  I have managed to get the right size, rise, and color...but need to work on the scoring and taste. 

Next I will try making a huge starter in the fridge and flavor it with some sourdough starter I already have.  Another really interesting thing I am doing, is using the bread mixes I am getting delivered.  Hodgson Mills makes some great mixes, but I don't use them as is.  I use them as additives to my breads for more flavor and the dough conditioning properties.  I could buy dough conditioner, but this is much more fun to experiment!

I also am working with gluten, and this addition is particularly helpful up here in the mountains.  I am at almost 8000 feet, so the high altitude is also a challenge.  But I am figuring it out as I go.

Thats it for now. Will post my recipes soon.

A while back, Julie J was asking for advice on how best to crush cardamom for her Finnish cardamom buns. As soon as I saw the recipe, I knew I had to try it! And finally, this week, I got the chance.

I'm not sure if this is how the buns are supposed to look. I pretty much guessed about how much of an indentation to make for the butter. And as I was inserting butter into the thumb holes, I completely forgot about sprinkling extra sugar on top as per Julie's instructions. But I did think of using some inferior apricot jam on two of the buns. It turns out that this is a great way to use and improve apricot jam! I decided to make a 3-strand braided loaf as well. And then when I was placing the buns on the tray and worried that they were too close together, I shaped 4 of the rounds into snakes and braided them together into a smallish 4-strand round loaf.

Did I take my advice to use the coffee grinder to crush the cardamom? Ha! That would have been too easy. I used the mortar and pestle. Remind me to use our big sharp knife next time. The mortar and pestle is way too labour intensive and leaves rather large chunks of cardamom behind. Or perhaps I will follow my own Fresh Loaf advice to use our coffee spice grinder. Luckily, large chunks of cardamom taste good and are soft enough that we aren’t risking getting broken teeth... and the crumb is beautifully soft and moist. Absolutely delicious with or without extra butter! (The extra butter is really unnecessary! But oh so good!)

• Julie J's Finnish Mother Inlaw's recipe
• my take on Finnish Cardamom Bread recipe

-Elizabeth

 

edit: link to JulieJ's pulla recipe fixed.

We celebrated St. Patricks Day with a traditional dinner!

Mom's Irish Soda Breads.

Traditional Corned Beef Dinner

Dessert:   Buttermilk cake with Irish Tea Fondant/Glaze

One of our family....Sweet Katie Girl wearin her Green!

Happy St. Patrick's Day from our Home to Yours!  

Sylvia

hello,

new guy here from NJ! i am new to baking and look forward to learning about bread from all the cool and knowledgable members here. my first goal to achieve is to create a tasty and nice looking baguette, sourdough, and raisin walnut. also id like to learn bagels, dinner rolls, and sandwich/hoagie rolls! i have the BBA book and just recently purchase the PR whole wheat book. look fwd to learning as much as possible! below is what i baked on sunday.

 

 

PR Whole wheat trisitional bread, very good first try

 

this one is the king authors whole wheat bread recipe that is printed on the back of the flour container...pretty dry and probably will not make again however very easy and quick to make.

 

first baguette using gold medal all purpose flour. i used the technique posted by
dmsnyder about anis bouabsa. however, my oven temps were way off. the position of the bakingstone was not in true 480-500 degrees, it was much less. mucho thanks to youtube user nothernsourdough for posting technique on how to shape bread!

 

 

this was a soudough baguette. i used the italian culture from sourdo.com and this was a same day bread. next try, i will increase the sourness...

 

 

this is another sourdough baguette. during the shaping i totally messed it up. thinking of tossing it, i decided to just reshape it. i was surprised that it had the most rounded shape and oven spring, but crumb was not as airy. i think the rise was most likely from the oven increasing the temps? it was my last bake before pizza so i cranked the oven up.

 

 

 

family photo

 

 

a pic of my pizza

 

 

 

 

I had a craving for carrot cake the other day.  It was one of those cravings you try to ignore, but in the end you submit because, like it or not, you did not try all that hard to avoid it in the first place.

Submitting to my desire also gave me the opportunity to play around with a recipe.  I always enjoy that!  I did not just want carrot cake, I wanted carrot cupcakes, and I did not just want carrot, I wanted carrot coconut.  I do not bake with coconut often because my husband, and main test subject, dislikes the texture of it.  Did I say dislikes?  I mean loathes. 

Regardless of the likes of my husband my mind was set on carrot coconut, so on the way home from work I picked up a few things and set to work.

 

The original recipe for the carrot cake is my father's.  It is an excellent, moist, and very dense carrot cake, but I knew with all the eggs and oil it would make a very poor cupcake.  Besides, I hate getting a cupcake with a greasy liner!  Yuck!

So, I made some modifications, such as reducing the eggs, replacing some of the oil with applesauce, and adding some buttermilk to thin the batter and to add a slightly tangy note to the cakes.   Adding the coconut helped add moisture along with the grated carrots, so in the moistness department I figured I was good.

 

The original cake calls for 1 teaspoon of baking soda for a 9″x13″ cake which is quite dense.  I wanted fluffy cupcakes that would dome proudly inside the liners so I added an additional 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder.

My modifications resulted in tender, moist, flavorful cupcakes with a slightly chewy texture from the shredded coconut.  Even my husband, who avoids coconut like the plague, said they were pretty tasty ... coconut aside. 

 

Carrot Coconut Cupcake   Yield 24

1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup shredded coconut

Heat the oven to 350F and line your cupcake pans with paper liners.

In a large bowl combine the sugar, eggs, oil, applesauce, buttermilk, and vanilla.  Blend until smooth and well incorporated.

In a smaller bowl sift the dry ingredients, then pour the dry onto the wet and whisk until the dry ingredients just moisten.

Add the shredded carrots and coconut and fold gently, making sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Fill the cupcake liners 1/3 of the way full.  Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, or until the center of the cupcake springs back when lightly pressed. 

 

Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for three minutes, then turn onto a wire rack to cool the rest of the way.

 

I frosted my cupcakes with a simple cream cheese frosting. 

Cream Cheese Frosting   Enough to decorate 24 cupcakes

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 - 8 oz bar of cream cheese, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Blend the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until well mixed, about five minutes.  Add the vanilla and blend to combine.

Add the powdered sugar and blend on low until the powdered sugar is moist, then blend on high for thirty seconds to remove any lumps.

Store frosted cupcakes in the refrigerator. 

Enjoy! 

Posted on www.evilshenanigans.com - 3/17/2009

I've never made bread dough and always thought it required a special gift to make. After hours of browsing, I finally found this great website and decided to give a try. Lesson 1 gave me the basics about the ingradients. That made me jump straight to lesson 2 to officially break the ice.

This is the rising dough :

The result was great!

As you can see, the bread was very yummy :)