Golden Sweet Potato Bread

Ingredients:

55g Cooked Golden Sweet Potato(room temperature)

110g Coconut milk + 1 egg

65g Pandan Water/plain water

3/4 tsp salt

5 tsp Soft brown sugar

240g Bread flour

40g Wholemeal flour

1 Tsp Instant yeast

Soft bread mode 1 light crust  750g. 2.55hr

Method:

1. Cut sweet potato into small pieces 3x2x1cm..or any sizes (purpose is to enable potatoes to soften faster). Put water enough to cover the sweet potatoes and cook  approx. 5-10min or until it is soft. Once potatoes is soften . Off fire. Remove potatoes from water. Use a fork to smash potatoes while it is hot. Set aside to cool.

2. Blend  1-2 pandan leaves with half cup water. Filter the fibre or squeeze out the pandan water and set aside. 

3. In the BM baking tin, add coconut milk,egg, pandan water, mashed sweet potatoes, salt, sugar, and flour in sequence. Make an indentation on the flour and add in the instant yeast. Then cover the yeast with some of the flour. 

4.  Set "Soft Bread", "Light" crust, weight 750g. My bread maker take 2hrs 55min. 

5. When the bread is ready, there will be a continuous beep sound. Remove tin and shake out the loaf onto a rack and leave to cool. Appro. 1-2 hour. Slice it and serve.

You may like to try this too :
Pumpkin Bread
Sundried Tomatoes Bread

Soft Bread

Ingredients:

225gm water included 1egg

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 3/4 teaspoon sugar

1.5 tablespoon olive oil

280g bread flour

45g Wholemeal flour

1 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast

Method:

Directions using Bread Maker:

1)Place water, egg,  salt, sugar, oil, breadflour and wholemeal into the tin of the bread machine (according to the sequence as stated in the instruction manual of your bread machine). Make an indentation on the flour and add in the instant yeast. Then cover the yeast with some of the flour.

2) Select "Soft Bread"  "Function 1" with "Light" crust. Select weight 750g.  Press "Start". My BM soft bread cycle is 2 hrs 55 mins.

4)When the loaf is ready, there will be a continuous beep sound. Remove tin and shake out the loaf onto a rack and leave to cool. Appro. an hour. Slice it and serve. 

The above is the leftover bread from yesterday dinner and I used it to make pizza bread for breakfast .

Simple step:

1. Spread tomatoes paste over a slice of bread. Lay some ham on it. Sprinkle some mozzarella cheese.

2. Put into toaster oven for 10mins or when the cheese turn light brown as per the picture. Serve.

Sundried Tomatoes Loaf

The combination of the sundried tomatoes make this bread a very nice and perfect bread in my opinion. Daughter said " tastes like foccacia". You can just eat it on its own without any spread and it still taste good. The aroma of the bread is so good when it was baking  that one would feel like eating it immediately it is out from the BM😊. This is also why I like making bread at home. During the baking process, the whole house is full of the aroma of bread.

Although I have added Rye flour and Wholemeal flour, the bread is soft and light and chewy. The kind of bread that I like.😊 Next round I will add some herbs into the dough. 

Ingredients:

190gm water included 1egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon olive oil

210g bread flour

20g Rye flour

30g Wholemeal flour

1 teaspoon instant yeast

Some chopped sundried tomatoes

Method:

Directions using Bread Maker:

1)Place water, egg,  salt, sugar, oil, breadflour, rye and wholemeal into the tin of the bread machine (according to the sequence as stated in the instruction manual of your bread machine). Make an indentation on the flour and add in the instant yeast. Then cover the yeast with some of the flour.

2) Select "Dough" function and let it knead for 15mins. After 15min press "Stop"  and hold for few seconds to stop the function.(My BM dough function complete cycle is 25min)

3) After 15min dough function, select "Soft Bread" "Function 1" with "Light" crust. Select weight 750g.  Press "Start". My BM soft bread cycle is 2hours 55mins.

While the BM is working the dough, use a chop stick place across the opening of BM and close the cover Leave the chopstick there for 15-20mins.  The cover will not close completely and it leave a gap to let out some heat.  You may omit this process. After 15-20mins, remove the chopstick, close the cover completely and let it function as usual.

4) Just before 2nd beep, approximate at 1 hrs 40min,  by now you would see the dough proof till quite high. Remove the dough and place on a floured working board. Gently spread the dough flat with your cleaned hand like you are making roti prata. Remember to oil your hand so that dough will not stick on your hands. Spread some chopped sundried tomatoes on the dough.  Quickly roll the dough and put it back into the BM without the paddle and let it continues to cook  until the loaf is ready.

Note: This process should not take longer than 2 mins. 

Note: Remove also the paddle. 

5)When the loaf is ready, there will be a continuous beep sound. Remove tin and shake out the loaf onto a rack and leave to cool. Appro. an hour. Slice it and serve. 

Traditional Mooncake

Pastry Ingredients:
175g Hong Kong Flour
45g 100%Groundnut oil
100g Golden Syrup
1/2 + 1/8 tsp Alkaline water

Eggwash :
1 eggyolk + 2tsp eggwhite + 1 tbsp water + 1/2 tsp groundnut oil. Mixed well and strained.

Filling :
550g Readymade  Lotus Paste
50g Melon Seed
See notes 4 for custard filling

Methods:
Pre heat oven 175°C
Lay parchment paper on a baking tray.

I am using 68g mould. Made 12 small mooncakes.


1. Place syrup in a bowl. Add alkaline water. Stir until combined. Add oil and continue to stir until combine. Set aside.

2. Sift flour into a big bowl. Add the syrup mixture into flour. Using a spatula combine them into a soft dough. Wrap the dough into a plastic bag or cling wrap and let it rest in fridge for at least an hour. I rest mine in fridge for half a day and sometime overnight.

3. Combine lotus paste  with melon seed. Mix them well combined. Divide the lotus paste filling into 47g. Shape into balls and set aside.

4. After the dough has rested, divide the dough into 21g. If you are new to mooncake making, you can use 25g. But the thinner the pastry is, the better the results.

5. Take a pastry ball and flatten it with your palm(please wear glove for hygiene purpose). Place a lotus ball in the middle of the flatten dough. Wrap the lotus filling inside the pastry and roll it into smooth ball. See notes 1.

6. Place the mooncake ball onto the baking tray laid with parchment paper. Use the mooncake mould and press over it gently, then release the mooncake on the tray.  Continue the rest until they are all done

7. Bake the mooncakes in 175°C for 10mins until you see the side is lightly brown as shown in the picture as follow. Remove from oven and let the mooncake cool down for 10min to half an hour. I prefer half hour.  See notes 2.

8. After 10mins or  half hour, eggwash the mooncake with a brush. Return to oven and continue to bake for another 10-15mins or until it is golden brown. See notes 3

Some notes:
1. As the dough is only 30% of the filling, so this will need a little patience to slowly move the pastry dough in order to cover the whole lotus filling. Patience will make perfect 😊 and you will be very happy when you see the results.  Making mooncake is a way of training your patience.😊😊😍. Wrapping process is important to prevent "elephant" leg after baked. Pay more attention and you will be rewarded with beautiful mooncakes.

2. I have done spraying water and without before first bake. However, I do not see any different. So, I will do without the water spraying for traditional mooncake. Unlike custard mooncake, spraying water is a MUST. Spraying some water onto mooncake before bake will prevent mooncake from cracking during baking due to the filling expanded.

3.  Be gentle when eggwash. For mooncake, thin eggwash is better than thick. So, for here it is NOT the more the merrier😊. Less is better😊.

This is the result of too generous with eggwash. The pattern was still very clear after 1st bake. However, 2nd bake after eggwash due to generousity of eggwash, the print of the pattern expanded and became blurr. No worries,  the taste of mooncake is not affected. It is only the look is ruin. 😐

4. I have tried wrapping a piece of homemade custard  into the lotus paste. This combination made very perfect mooncake and it tasted really good. The portion is lotus paste 32g and homemade custard 15g. This become the healthier version of salted eggyolk. For alternative and healthier choice 😊.

Enjoy! Share with me if you have use this recipe. I would be happy to see your mooncakes.😊

You may like to try this recipe too :
1. Snow-skin Mooncake

Baked Custard Mooncake

Have wanted to make baked custard mooncake since last year. Finally today I fulfill that "dream". 

Viewed through many blogs, both English and Chinese, and also You Tube.  This is my Baked Custard mooncake.

Custard Filling:

25g soften butter

60g caster sugar

3 egg yolks

1 tbsp homemade condensed milk 

100ml coconut milk

20g plain flour 

15g custard powder

10g tapioca flour 

In a bowl, combine flour, custard powder and tapioca flour with a whisk.  In another bowl, use a wooden spoon, stir or beat the butter and sugar until it form a light creamy texture. Add egg one at a time and beat until combined. Add in condensed milk, coconut milk and mix them well.  Sift flour mixture into the egg mixture and mix until well combined. 

2. Pour the mixture into a bowl and steam over medium heat for 25 mins. Stir every 5 mins during steaming process.  Set aside for mixture to cool a little.

3. While the custard is still warm, wear a  powder free vinyl glove and knead or press custard until smooth. Then wrap it in a plastic bag or cling wrap. Chill it in the refrigerator for over night or minimum half hour before use.

Pastry:

110g soften salted butter

68g icing sugar
20ml groundnut oil

1 whole egg

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

230g all purpose flour 

38g custard powder

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 sea salt

Egg wash :

1 egg yolk + 2 tbsp water + 1 tsp milk, mix well and strained.

1. In a food processor pulse function, cream butter , oil and sugar into light creamy texture. Add beaten egg and vanilla essence and sea salt, then continue pulse function to well combined. (You may use hand whisk or mixer)

2. Sift plain flour, custard powder and baking powder into a big bowl. Add the butter mixture into flour mixture and mix them will a spatula until it form a soft dough. Wrap dough into a plastic bag or wrap with cling wrap and let it rest in the fridge for at least an hour. I rest mine for half a day. 

3. Divide the custard filling into 20g each and pastry dough into 36g each. Shape each into balls. Set aside. Note: for baked custard, in order to have crispy custard, the pastry need to be thicker. Therefore, filling is less than pastry unlike traditional mooncake.

4. Take a pastry ball and flatten it with your palm(please wear glove for hygiene purpose). Place a custard ball in the middle of the flatten dough. Wrap the custard filling inside the pastry and roll them into smooth ball. 

5. Prepare some plain flour in a plate. Roll the round mooncake on the flour. Shake away any excess flour. Place the mooncake ball onto the baking tray laid with parchment paper. Use the mooncake mould and press over it gently, then release the mooncake on the tray.  Continue the rest until they are all done.

6. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Spray some water onto the mooncakes just before putting into the oven and bake for 10min. Remove the mooncake from oven. Turn oven temperature down to 175°C. Allow the mooncakes to cool slightly on the tray for 10 mins. Brush eggwash onto the mooncakes. Return the mooncake into oven and bake for another 15mins.  The cooling process is necessary to prevent the filling expand and pastry crack. As I did not wait for 10mins. So they crack during 2nd baking. Lesson learnt.

This is after 10min after first baked, the colour was a little more pale before eggwash. 

Enjoy!😊 Share with me if you have use this recipe. I will be glad hear from you.😊

You may like to view my other posts:

1.Purple-sweet-potato-snow-skin-mooncake

2. Traditional Mooncake

Ginger and Lemon

A friend shared this ginger and lemon paste that keep him and family away from doctor. I was curious and asked him how he make the paste. After trying this home remedy,  find it is good for me. The ginger help me to clear the wind from the stomach and at the same source of vitamin C. Daughter likes it too. Ever since I learnt this new remedy, daughter and I have been drinking ginger and lemon water daily. Sometimes we add honey into the drink but most of the time we drink it without honey. Thanks to this brother who shared his home remedy that all can benefit from it. 

Few months ago we were away for family trip. 2 days after we touched down, 3 out of 4 in the family were down with sore throat  and unwell. As you know when we are in unfamiliar place or oversea, it is not easy to find clinic to visit doctor. Instead of looking for clinic, we went to the nearby supermarket and grap lemon and honey and ginger back to our apartment.  There was no blender at the apartment. Still we can have ginger lemon honey drink. We sliced the ginger and lemon and place them into  cups  and pour boiling hot water into the cups then add the local honey and drink. We recovered from sore throat within 1 or 2 days without medication. So throughout the trips we continue to buy lemon and ginger whenever we go supermarket and drink ginger lemon water.😊

Ingredients:

Old ginger about 3 fingers size (appr 100g-120g)

1 lemon

1/4 cup cold water

Method:

1. Wash the ginger and lemon. I scrub the surface of lemon with salt, rinsed, and soak with vinger added with water for 10mins. 

2. Slice ginger and lemon to small pieces and place into a blender. Add cold water. Blend until it become a soft paste. 

3. Store into a cleaned dry container and keep in fridge for use. 

4. Each time use a clean and dry spoon to scoop a spoon and add with warm water and drink. It is a good source of vitamin C and ginger help to remove wind from stomach. You may add some honey if you like it sweet. I drink just as it is. 

Enjoy!😊

Carrot Cake

几天前，公主在互联网上看了胡萝卜糕说"I am craving for carrot cake" . 她已經好久没吃蛋糕了。今天去了超市买了3个胡萝卜。 午饭后， 做了这些胡萝卜小蛋糕。希望能为公主打打气!😊😊😊

I have been wanting to make western carrot cake. Today, I finally fulfill my dream. 😊

Ingredients :

1 cup plain flour (150 g)

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon(will reduce to 1/4)

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg*

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger *

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup finely grated carrot (approx. 140 g)

1 teaspoon orange zest (optional)

1/2 cup soft dark brown sugar (80 g) (will reduce to 1/4 cup 40g)

1/2 cup vegetable oil (100g /120ml)

2 eggs

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (60 g)

2 tablespoons raisins or sultanas (28 g)

You may replace nutmeg n ginger with 1/2 allspice. 

*Spices was replaced.

Method : 

Line paper cups into muffins tray

1)Preheat oven to 175°C. 

2)Grate carrot. And zest an orange (optional). Set aside.

3)Sifted flour, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground ginger (or allspice), baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk a little and set aside.

4)In a separate bowl, add in soft dark brown sugar and vegetable oil. Whisk to combine. Stir in eggs one at a time. 

5)Pour the dry ingredients into wet mixture all at once. Fold until combined.

6)Fold in grated carrot, chopped walnuts, and raisins or sultanas. Use a ice-cream scoop to scoop into papercups. 

7)Bake for 25 minutes, or until an inserted satay stick or wooden stick comes out clean.

Note: You may pour the mixture into baking tin and bake for 45-55 minutes.