Mini Chocolate Muffins

Yet another attempt from Dailydelicious blog.  Her bakes just look so tempting that you would never want to skip giving a try. However, I pick those easy ones as I am still a greenhorn in baking. Here is what I derived at:

 These are the mini muffin. Just pop right into the mouth :)

Slightly bigger version.

Here is her recipe:

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90 g	Cake flour
1 tsp	Baking powder
20 g	Cocoa powder
1	Egg
60 g	Sugar
60 cc	Whole milk (just fresh milk from the fridge)
50 g	Butter
25 g	Semisweet chocolate chip
25 g	White chocolate chip (I didn't use this)
	Extra chip for sprinkle on top

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

Sift together cake flour, cocoa powder and baking powder.

Line tins with cupcake papers or use paper baking cup.

In a bowl, cream the butter on the medium speed of an electric mixer, until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy. Add the eggs, beating well. Combine the flours and add in 3 parts, alternating with the milk, on the last portions of flour add both chocolate chips.

Spoon the batter into the cups about three-quarters full. Sprinkle with chocolate chip.

Bake until the tops spring back when lightly touched, about 17-20 minutes. (Be careful not to over bake, the muffin will be too dry). If using mini muffin the baking time will be about 15 minutes.



Chocolate Rice Swiss Roll

It had been a while since I attempted to bake a swiss roll.  I saw the swiss roll made by Happy Flour and decided to give it a go.  Instead of using buttercream (was just too lazy to whip up some), I just whip up some whipped cream and spread on the sponge.  Taste wise was still acceptable although I will have to improve on the rolling skill. 

Here is the recipe from Happy Flour:

Ingredients
3 eggs
55g fine sugar
2tsp cocoa powder
1tbsp milk
1/2tsp chocolate paste
65g cake flour
1/4tsp baking powder
35g veg. oil

butter cream (I used a small pack of President's whip cream instead)
chocolate rice

Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 200C.
2. Warm up the oil, remove from stove and stir in cocoa powder, chocolate paste and milk and leave it aside to cool.
3. Sift the cake flour and baking powder together and set it aside.
4. Use a cake mixer to whisk the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy.
5. Gently fold in the flour until well blended.
6. Pour some batter into the cocoa mixture and mix well.
7. Pour the cocoa batter into the the plain batter and fold until well combined.
8. Spread batter in a lined and greased 10" x 13" tray.
9. Bake in a preheated oven for 10mins.
10.Remove cake from tray immediately and cool on a rack with the skin facing up.

Assemble the cake:
1. Carefully transfer the cake onto a greaseproof paper.
2. Spread the butter cream on the cake.
3. Gently roll the cake by using the paper to lift the cake and guide roll.
4. Wrap up the swiss roll in a greaseproof paper.
5. Rest the roll in the fridge to stabilize it shape.
6. Pour chocolate rice on a tray.
7. Spread some butter cream on the surface of the roll and roll it in the chocolate rice.
8. Slice and serve.



Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

It had been a while since I add a post although I had been baking.  Here is something from DailyDelicious.  She is a very amazing baker despite holding a full time job.   See my bottle of cut-out cookies:

Before I have the time to prepare icing for decorating, cookies were all gone :)  Original recipe from DailyDelicious:

Basic Sugar Cookies

Makes Approximately 36x 10cm / 4" Cookies

 
a pinch of salt

200g / 7oz / ½ cup + 6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, at room temperature

400g / 14oz / 3 cups + 3 Tbsp All Purpose / Plain Flour

200g / 7oz / 1 cup Caster Sugar / Superfine Sugar

1 Large Egg, lightly beaten

5ml / 1 tsp Vanilla Extract / Or seeds from 1 vanilla bean

 

Directions

• Cream together the butter, sugar, salt and any flavourings you’re using. Beat until just becoming

creamy in texture.

• Tip: Don’t over mix otherwise you’ll incorporate too much air and the cookies will spread during

baking, losing their shape.

• Beat in the egg until well combined, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

 

Add the sifted flour and mix on low until a non sticky dough forms.

• Knead into a ball and divide into 2 or 3 pieces.

 

• Roll out each portion between parchment paper to a thickness of about 5mm/1/5 inch (0.2 inch)

• Refrigerate for a minimum of 30mins.

• Tip: Recipes commonly just wrap the whole ball of dough in clingwrap and then refrigerate it for an hour or overnight, but by rolling the dough between parchment, this shortens the chilling time and then it’s also been rolled out while still soft making it easier and quicker.

• Once chilled, peel off parchment and place dough on a lightly floured surface.

• Cut out shapes with cookie cutters or a sharp knife.

• Arrange shapes on parchment lined baking sheets and refrigerate for another 30mins to an hour.

• Tip: It’s very important you chill them again otherwise they’ll spread while baking.

• Re-roll scraps and follow the above process until all scraps are used up.

• Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C Fan Assisted) / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.

• Bake until golden around the edges, about 8-15mins depending on the size of the cookies.

• Tip: Bake same sized cookies together otherwise mixing smaller with larger cookies could result in some cookies being baked before others are done.

• Tip: Rotate baking sheets half way through baking if your oven bakes unevenly.

• Leave to cool on cooling racks.

• Once completely cooled, decorate as desired.

Raisin Bread Loaf

I chanced upon Do What I Like blog by Florence. She has very nice bakes and her video on the Wholewheat Bread Loaf showing how soft the bread turns out the next day tempted me to try the recipe.  Indeed, this is my first homemade bread that taste very close to commercial bread and it remains very soft even on the next day.  As I do not have wheat flour, I made some changes to the recipe (highlighted in red) and made it into raisin loaf.  Excellent recipe to try if you have been looking for something super soft.

Ingredients:

Sponge Dough:
150g bread flour
100ml water
1 tsp instant yeast

Main Dough:
50g cake flour
70g wholewheat flour / 70g bread flour
25g brown sugar / 25g castor sugar
50ml whole milk
30ml - 50ml water / 40ml
pinch of salt
15g butter

Method:
1. Mix all ingredients for sponge dough together till it formed a dough. Prove for 2.5 hours.
2. Add in the rest of the ingredients from Main Dough except butter. (I put everything into a breadmachine, selected white loaf, light crust.  After 10 mins of kneading, add in the butter. Add in raisins after the machine prompts.  Leave the rest of the work to the breadmaker)

Once the mixture is well-mixed add in the butter and knead till a soft dough is formed. I used the bread machine to do this part of the job.
3. Shape the dough into one round piece and rest it for 15 minutes.
4. Punch the air out of the dough and roll it into a flat rectangular shape. Roll it up swiss-roll style. Rest dough for 10 minutes.
5. Repeat step 4 but without resting put the dough into a greased loaf pan. Prove the dough for 45 minutes or till it is 80% full. Once fully proved gently brush the top of the bread with some water and sprinkle some wholewheat flour on it.
6. Bake at 200C for 30 - 35 minutes. Remove bread from loaf pan immediately to avoid bread becoming soggy.

Three types of Buns

I was surfing the net for a recipe on open ham bun and found the one posted by Happy Homebaking.  She is simply a talented baker who uses simple tools to create great bakes. Another one that inspires me!  I decided to give her recipe a try and was amazed at how soft and fluffy the bread tastes. 

Always an excitment to see the bread baking in the oven.  

Hot from the oven.  The three types of buns - sausage, pork floss and kaya.. 

Close up shot of each type:

and a close up to show how soft it is

Very much worth trying recipe.  Here is the recipe from HHB:

Ingredients: (make around nine 60g portions)

150g bread flour
150g cake flour
5g active dry yeast
3g salt
125g milk
1 egg
60g caster sugar
50g butter
(1 egg, beaten, for glazing)

Method:

1. Mix all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add in milk, egg and butter. Mix into a dough.
2. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Knead the dough until the gluten is fully developed (see tip below) and the dough is elastic, smooth and non-sticky. It will take about 25 mins to knead the dough by hand. Initially the dough will stick on to the work surface. Do not be tempted to add more flour or even give up kneading! After continuous kneading, the dough will no longer stick to the work surface.

I just put everything into a bread machine (accordance to the sequence of liquid, flour, yeast). Select "Dough" function.  Add butter after 10 mins.  Let the Dough cycle completes and restart the cycle and beat for another 10 mins.

1. Place the dough in the mixing bowl and cover with a damp towel or cling wrap to seal in the moisture. Allow the dough to ferment(or proof) until double in bulk. This will take about 1 hr. To test whether the dough has been fully proofed, press a finger into the dough and withdraw quickly. It should leave a deep impression and spring back very slowly. For an insufficiently proofed dough, the impression will spring back instantly.
2. Take out the dough and punch out the gas produced. Let the dough rest for about 15 minutes. Cover with a damp towel or cling wrap.
3. Divide the dough into 60g portions. Shape and add fillings as desired. Arrange dough in a greased or lined pan. Let the dough proof for the second time for about 30-45mins. Cover with a damp towel or cling wrap.
4. Brush the top with egg wash.
5. Bake for about 15 minutes in a preheated oven at 190 degC. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

If I can do it, so can you :)

White Loaf

I haven't been successful in using my Breville bread machine to bake a decent white loaf.  Plouging through the usual blogs I frequent, I chanced upon this entry by Small Small Baker and her journey to find a "perfect" bread to use with her machine.  It didn't take me long to get my gears going to derive at the following:

Bread turns out soft and fluffy.  Thought the taste differs from commercial bread, this is still worth a try.  Here is the recipe from SSB:

Ingredients (500g loaf)
300g bread flour
1 tbsp butter (about 14g)
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp instant yeast
175ml water


Method
1. Lift the tin out of the bread machine, fit the kneader blade then add the measured cold water and butter. Spoon in the flour then add the sugar and salt (make sure the flour covers the liquid completely and add sugar and salt in different corners of the tin). Make a slight dip in the centre of the flour and sprinkle in the yeast.
2. Insert the tin into the bread machine. Shut the lid and set to basic white bread, select size of loaf, and medium crust (I choose light crust). Press start.
3. At the end of the programme, lift the tin out of the machine. Loosen the bread with a plastic spatula then turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool.

Oreo Ice Cream Cake

I was browsing through Happy Home Baking blog and came across the Oreo Ice Cream Cake.  As usual, she always has her steps so clearly detailed out and with the very tempting photo, I decided to make my very first ice-cream cake.  Yippee... I made it and for the first time ever in my bakes, my son asked me to make this for your forthcoming birthday next week.  Condition was however that the ice cream has to be Udders and not home made.  Well, I guess this type of no-brainer cakes for an amateur like me works really well, just have to ensure you put in quality ice-cream.

Again, photos were taken with my phone but I will certainly find time to take more professional photos like the other bloggers.  Hop over to Happy Home Baking and the pictures will delight you :)

Top view

I made use of the cream and folded into rose petals for decoration.

Side view

Here is the recipe from Happy Home Baking:

Ingredients
110g oreo cookies (finely crumbled)
40g butter, melted and cool
about 1 tub of ice cream (1.5 ltr)
1 cup Nestle pouring cream (or heavy cream) (I used whipping cream)
150g dark chocolate, finely chopped (I used a bar of Hershey's chocolate, about 137g)

Method:

1. Line the sides of a loose bottom pan with plastic sheets. Set aside.
2. Place oreo crumbs and melted butter in a bowl. Mix thoroughly with a spoon until the crumbs are moistened. Press the crumbs evenly into the base of the prepared pan. Use the back of the spoon, smooth out the crumbs and press firmly. (I put on plastic glove and use my fist to press on it) Freeze the base for at least 1 hour.
3. Soften the ice cream at room temperature. When the ice cream is soft enough, place it in a mixing bowl. With a spoon or spatula, stir the ice cream until it is spreadable. Spoon the ice cream over the oreo base, ensure all gaps are filled. Depending on the depth of the pan, fill it with enough ice cream till it reaches about half to one inche before the rim. Cover with a cling wrap and freeze for at least 2 hours.
4. When the ice cream layer is set, prepare the chocolate ganache. Place cream and finely chopped dark chocolates in a bowl over a pot of simmering water. Stir till the chocolate melts complete. Leave to cool off. (Instead of simmering over pot of water, I put it into the microwave. Heat it up for 2 - 3 mins)
5. This step has to be done as quickly as possible. Spread the chocolate ganache over the ice cream layer. Decorate as desired.
6. Cover with cling wrap and freeze for at least another 6 hours before unmolding. When ready to unmold, dampen a kitchen towel with hot water and wrap it around the pan and hold it there for about 10seconds. Remove the towel and unmold. After unmolding the cake, return it back into the freezer to firm up before serving.

Butter Bun

I am a silent follower of a couple of blogs and recently saw this Butter Bun in Small Small Baker.  It just look too tempting and since my breadmaker has been sitting pretty for the past one and a half year, I thought I might as well give it a try. Yeah.. first attempt was bad as bun was not properly sealed. This resulted in the bun being "fried" by the melted butter that seeped out of the buns.  I wrote to SSB to ask for tips on how to seal the buns properly and thanks to her notes, I managed to bake some decent buns :)

Mine doesn't look as tempting or delicious as what SSB had baked. See her blog. However, it is still soft and was finished relatively quickly.

Here is the recipe from SSB:

Ingredients (makes 25 mini buns)

Dough:
150g bread flour
15g sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/2+1/8 tsp instant yeast (sorry for the funny measurements because I halved the recipe)
90ml water
10g unsalted butter

Filling:
50g butter
10g icing sugar
pinch of salt (I added because I like it a bit salty)

Method

1. Mix the ingredients in the filling. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour so that it is easier to wrap later.
2. Mix all ingredients in the dough except butter and knead until the dough is smooth. (I used the breadmaker, dough function)
3. Add in butter and continue to knead the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic and able to stretch into a thin film without breaking. (I added the butter after about 10 mins and let it knead till the cycle completes. Restart the machine and kneaded for another 10 mins)
4. Place the dough in a lightly greased mixing bowl. Cover with cling wrap and let proof for about 60 minutes.
5. Lightly knead the dough to punch out the gas. Divide the dough into small balls of 10g each.
6. Slightly flatten the small dough, wrap in the butter fillings and pinch to seal well. Roll the balls round and place them in a greased baking tray 1cm apart
7. Cover with cling wrap and proof for another 40 minutes.
8. Brush the top with egg mixture and sprinkle sugar on top.
9. Bake in preheated oven at 180 deg C for 20 minutes.

Baking Journey

My very first baking lesson was at Creative Culinaire in Eng Hoon Road.  It was not terribly expensive and I have my sister to partner me.  It was interesting that I get to learn more about baking and got to bake my first 12 cakes, ranging from Swiss rolls, sponge cake to butter cakes.  I did not get to to next level as my sis did not want to continue. Their classes are conducted in such a manner that two people will work together. Being fussy, I did not want to work with another stranger.

This leads me to sign up an official baking class with Jia Lei at Rochor. Paid $1800 to learn 40 varieties of cakes. I like the flexibility as it was individual and you can choose to go in at anytime you want. I took leave from work and manage to finish in a month. Do I like it? No. The instructor has two dogs that go in and out of the kitchen. I thought that was rather unhygienic.  The bakes were also very traditional. I remember the Chocolate Fudge cake which ended up with a jelly coating. What a disappointment! At the end of the lessons, I was supposed to erceive a certificate (they call it a diploma). Unfortunately, as my last lesson coincide with the Chinese New Year period and they were very busy to bake CNY cookies for sale, they did not have time to print it for me. I was also too lazy to go back to collect a paper which I do not need.  If only I had chosen to go Prima for lesson, I may end up being a better baker now.

It was only by chance that I got to see so many bloggers who are able to produce fantastic bakes with very simple gadgets. I feel ashamed as I have an Ariston Oven, a Kitchen Aid Mixer and a Breville Breadmaker yet my bakes were at no way comparable to these bloggers. These bloggers also did not attend any formal lessons and I gathered I can start learning from the recipes posted. Thanks to all these great bloggers who do not mind sharing.  As indicated in my last blog, I deliberately created a new email and new blog to start "afresh". 

Hopefully, someone will get to my blog one day and tell me "hey, I like what you have posted". :)  I also hope to get time to take nice pictures to post as what I have now are pictures taken from my handphone. I should learn to be more respectful to my blog.

My First Blog

Here is a woman dreaming to be a wonderful baker who can whip up nice pastry items to satisfy the appetite of my three lovely children.  I have been deliberating over and over again for a "perfect" blog name so I can use it to record my baking journey. Finally derived at "Flour at Work" since everything is flour related :)

I took my first baking lesson at Creative Culinaire sometime in Y2008.  This was followed by the purchase of an Oven and Kitchenaid mixer.  However, I did not bake as frequent as I wish I could.  The numerous baking blogs I viewed had never failed to impress me, especially those who own just a table top oven and a handheld mixer. I have everything but did not do as well.  I hope I will be as good one of these days. Wish me luck.