Honey Buns

I am so glad I am now back to my baking routine.

The first recipe I picked up was none other than a bread recipe from a cookbook I bought recently.


It has been quite a long while since I last made any plain, soft buns. While the cookbook provides very clear instructions, with step-by-step photos on how to make the bread by hand, I relied on my bread machine to do the kneading. I am not sure whether I have made any mistake when measuring the ingredients, the dough was rather sticky when I removed it from the bread machine. It took me a few seconds to decide whether I should give it a few extra kneading by hand. I decided against it as I was in no mood to workout my biceps ;')

I left the dough to proof in the mixing bowl and hope that it would be easier to work with after the first rise. The dough was still a little sticky after 1.5hrs of proofing. Knowing that it would be difficult to handle a sticky dough, I dusted my table and my hands generously with flour before shaping them into buns. My younger boy came over and we had fun rolling the rounds on the table. Like me, he likes to play with the dough ;)


I usually prefer not to brush the finished dough with egg wash before baking, as I really don't like the final glossy look. Since this recipe calls for brushing with milk, I though I should give it a try. According to the recipe, the buns have to be baked at 220 degC. However, my oven temperature stabilised at only 200 degC. As a result, the baking time was about 15mins-20mins, slightly longer than the stated time of 13-15mins. I left the bread to bake in the oven and went off to do my chores. I have almost forgotten about it, fortunately, the sweet scent of honey and the heavenly aroma from freshly baked bread prompted me to check on it. By then, it was a little too late, the top surface was overly browned. I tried to rescue the bread by tenting it with a foil and left it to bake for another 5mins.


Other than the almost burnt top, the bread is a winner. The crumb was very soft and fluffy. These buns have got texture that almost resembles those super soft kaya buns we had a week ago at this YY Kafei Dian (YY Coffee Shop).


My kids couldn't wait to taste it and I had to keep telling them to wait for it too cool off, on top of that, they need to give me another 10mins to take a photo of it ;) The buns tasted really good, I will certainly make these again and again.


Ingredients
(makes 9 buns)

300g bread flour
4g (about 2/3 tsp) salt
4g (1 tsp) instant yeast
1 egg lightly beaten plus enough milk to make 200g
50g honey
30g unsalted butter


Method:

1. Place all ingredients except the butter in the pan of the bread machine (according to the sequence as stated in the instruction manual of your bread machine). Select the Dough function of the bread machine and press start. After about 8mins of kneading (the ingredients should form a smooth dough by now, otherwise add in 1 tablespoon of bread flour if the mixture seems very wet), add in the 30g of butter. Let the machine continue to knead the dough. After the kneading cycle has stopped (20mins), Stop and Restart the machine. Continue to let the machine knead for another 10mins.
2. Stop the machine and remove dough from the bread pan. Shape the dough into a smooth round and place in a lightly greased mixing bowl , cover bowl with cling wrap and let it rise till double in volume for about 60 ~ 90 mins.
3. Remove dough and give a few light kneading on a lightly floured work surface. Press out the trapped air as your knead. Divide into 9 equal portions and shape them into rounds. Cover with cling wrap, let the doughs rest for 10mins.
4. Flatten each dough into a round disc and press out the trapped air. Shape and roll into a smooth round ball.
5. Place doughs seams side down on a 20cm by 20cm square baking tray (lightly greased with oil or butter or line it with parchment paper). Loosely cover with a damp cloth or cling wrap and let doughs proof for 45 ~ 60 mins or until double in size.
6. When ready to bake, brush the surface of the dough with milk. Bake at preheated oven at 200 degC for about 15 ~ 20 mins until the bread is golden brown all over. Cover the surface with a sheet of aluminum foil if the surface browns too quickly. Remove from oven, unmold immediately and let cool on wire rack.

Recipe adapted from 简单又好做,小烤箱面包

More about → Honey Buns

THE QUINTESSENTIAL CUPCAKE

the quintessential cupcake: a cherry on top

I was walking down the street one day, holding a tray of these cupcakes when I suddenly heard a voice.

"Good-looking cupcakes!"

An ambulance was parked at the gas station pump getting a fill-up and sitting in the passenger seat with the window open was a man leaning out, smiling and drooling at my cupcakes.

*sigh!*

I said "thanks".

Gone are the days when I would walk by a construction site and get wolf whistles and hubba-hubbas.

here's the tray of cupcakes that the ambulance attendant was so hot, hungry and drooly for...


Nowadays, I turn on men (with the exception of my husband who hates all sweets!) with my baked goods. Well, let's be fair here. I've been known to turn on women with my baked goods too.

You might be wondering why I was walking around town holding a tray of cupcakes? Well, it was parent-teacher interviews that day and I was bringing a tray full of chocolate cupcakes for the teachers' pot-luck dinner! What a fabulous idea! an appreciation dinner where parents bring in pot luck dishes to feed the teachers!

I remember how hungry it can get hanging around the school until interview time and then sometimes being fully booked to the point where you can't even take a pee-break or get a bite to eat!

So I was only too happy to contribute these cupcakes for the teachers that day. I hope they enjoyed them!

I baked up a batch of my favourite chocolate cupcakes with this recipe and frosted with this recipe in a girlie pink buttercream. I employed my new arsenal of chocolate plastic roses , making them as mini as I could to fit atop the cupcakes (not an easy task!) I also sprinkled dragees on others. My favourite cupcake that day was the glaceed cherries I popped on the tops of some. They were picture perfect. The cherry on top evokes the perfect image of a cupcake. They were tasty too!

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from Waves to Forest to Floral

It was a public holiday yesterday, and since the school's exams were over, we couldn't wait to start the ball rolling for our list of outings scheduled for the coming school vacation. Top on our list is the Southern Ridges...a 9-kilometre trail spanning from the Mount Faber, Telok Blangah Hill, Kent Ridge Park before ending at the West Coast Park. I knew I wouldn't have the stamina to complete the entire length of the trail so we only took part of it which links the Henderson Waves to the HortPark.


This photo was taken at the Henderson Waves...a pedestrian bridge that connects the Mount Faber and the Telok Blangah Hill. This unique structure got its name from a series of undulating 'waves' which are made of curved steel “ribs” that rise over and under its wooden deck.


The bridge is 36 metres above Henderson Road and close to 70 metres above sea level, making it the highest pedestrian bridge in Singapore.


The seven 'waves' along the bridge are meant to be shelters...but many kids, including mine, turned it into a slide instead. They had fun climbing up and sliding down the waves. I was expecting to spend a quite morning getting close to the nature, but to my greatest surprise, the place was flooded with throngs of enthusiastic crowds like us. It was as if we were walking along busy Orchard Road!

After the Henderson Waves, we continued our journey to the Forest Walk...which was indeed a very easy walk (if not for the crowd) along an elevated walkway through the forest of Telok Blangah Hill which was not accessable in the past.

Due to the never-ending stream of crowd and the narrow walkways, we hurried along the major part of this trail...stopping only occasionally to admire some creepy crawlies along the way.


In no time, we arrived at the next landmark, the Alexandra Arch...yet another bridge...in the form of an open leaf that spans across Alexandra Road and connects to HortPark.


I would consider the HortPark as the 'jewel-on-the-crown' of our trip yesterday. We were greeted with vast open spaces and many lovely flowers and plants in this huge gardening hub. I was delighted to spot this planter box of portulaca...a stunning flowering plant which I have tried keeping as a container plant several years ago. I love the bright fuchsia flowers, and the white ones looked so pretty too.


There are many types of flowering plants in the garden, I have only posted those that are less commonly seen on the roadsides...a climber plant with huge heart-shaped leaves (the same one we saw at the Children's Garden), bright yellow daisies, more portulaca with ruffled double petals...just to name a few. There were several greenhouses in the park, too bad they are not opened to the public, so, I could only admire the beautiful flowers through the glass panels:(


Besides a few playgrounds catering to the forever energetic kids, there are also many outdoor display plots showcasing gardening concepts and designs...a great place for gardening enthusiasts.


Look at the clever use of old and unwanted kitchen utensils...I never know that a steamboat can be transformed into a flower pot...and look at that rice cooker, wok and frying pan!


It certainly gives me a fresh perspective to container gardening :)


It was a wonderful morning, we had a great time, and that was despite the heat and humidity. Even though I spent the rest of the afternoon resting my sore limbs (in bed!) I have already made plans for us to cover the rest of the trail soon.

More about → from Waves to Forest to Floral

CHOCOLATE ROSE TUTORIAL

so you want to learn how to make a chocolate rose?

Hey hey! I know you're back here for that Chocolate Rose Tutorial...

So you wanna impress your friends and neighbours? Make a cake/cupcake and top it off with a few of these chocolate beauties and they'll be oohing and aahing. In fact, you'll be oohing and aahing. It's so easy!

Are you excited yet?

Have you been playing with your big wad of chocolate plastic since my Mini Chocolate Pumpkin Tutorial?

People have been asking me if they could use white chocolate. Of course you can use white chocolate! You can also tint it with food colouring if you wish too! Do whatever your little hearts desire! The fun part is fooling around with chocolate, in my opinion. You could make so many little figures with it! Just imagine the possibilities!

It wasn't easy taking pictures while working with the Chocolate Plastic. I had a bit of chocolate gunk on my hands and lighting wasn't so good. I had to take the shot balancing the camera in my right hand while holding the rose in my left most of the time. I was too lazy to whip out my cumbersome tripod. I was doubly lazy when I thought of having to move all my gear down to my cheapie cardboard box food porn "studio" downstairs. I ended up photographing everything at the kitchen table.

Remember to have fun with this Chocolate Plastic. I love the stuff. My daughter pops those little chocolate pumpkins in her mouth and exclaims how yummy they are. Fondant is pretty, but Chocolate Plastic is tastier!

There were a lot of pictures in this step-by-step tutorial. There was also a lot of me fiddling with the chocolate plastic, putting it down, picking up the camera, swearing 'cause of the crappy lighting and taking the shot anyway. I'm sure you'll understand...food is my passion and teaching is my occupation. Photography is neither. I know why they call it "F-stop" now. There was a lot of me stopping to mutter the F word.

CAKEBRAIN'S CHOCOLATE ROSE TUTORIAL:

Please check out my Mini Chocolate Pumpkin Tutorial post for the recipe & storage instructions for the Chocolate Plastic.

Roll a handful of chocolate plastic into a ball. I have a plastic-lined board from my Wilton decorating kit that I like to use that creates a smooth surface. You can also use a wooden or marble board. I'm using my fondant rolling pin. In this case, a smooth surface isn't important because you'll be reworking it with your fingers anyway. Roll the chocolate plastic to about 1/8" thickness.

Using a small circle cutter about 1 inch in diameter, cut out 15 circles.

I used my a cutter from my Wilton flower decorating kit for cutting out the circle shapes.
Take a small chunk of the remnants left from cutting the circles and create a small ball about the size of a marble.

Roll the remnants into a smooth ball. If you roll too much, you might have a sticky situation. I just apply light pressure and work quickly. Apparently, I heard from Mark at No Special Effects that he didn't have much luck working with White Chocolate Plastic because of his hot and humid climate. That's too bad. I live in a temperate climate and had no problems with the chocolate plastic melting. Yay for living in Vancouver!


Create a teardrop shape from the ball. Just bring one end to a point. This part of the rose will be your base on which to build the petals. Don't make your base too big or you'll be in trouble later.

Take each circle and, using primarily your thumbs and index fingers, flatten it into petal shapes so that the edges are thinner at the edges. I just rotate the petal while flattening the edges. Don't overwork it and don't try to make it look perfectly circular. Learn to love little imperfections.

1st row of petals (3 petals required): taking one of the prepared petals, wrap the teardrop base so that the tip is mostly hidden. You should be only be able to see a bit of the tip of the teardrop when looking from the top of the rose. Take another petal and overlap the first wrapped petal. This picture shows what you'll have with 2 petals wrapped around the base. Take the third petal and again, overlap the last petal you applied to the base.

2nd row of petals (5 petals required): the key to the second row of petals is that these should stand straight up whereas the first row were wrapped towards the centre. Wrap each of the 5 petals one by one; overlapping the preceding one. Continue in this manner until all 5 are attached. Use your fingers or a cotton swab to adjust the position of the petals, if you wish. This picture shows the first petal applied for the second row.

This picture shows the second row of upright petals.


3rd row of petals (7 petals required): the third row of petals should be curved slightly. Attach each petal as in the previous steps, using your fingers to gently curve the edges outwards. Form each petal one at a time or you'll have the petals sticking to each other in a mangled mess.

This picture shows the rose with the third row of petals almost finished (with 3 curved petals applied). Adjust the third row of petals to look as natural as possible.

The finished chocolate rose will be unique. It's almost impossible to make all your roses look the same. This is a good thing though because it'll look more natural. You can make some roses look like buds, and have others fully blossomed, like the one above. Make your chocolate rose leaves from the leftover chocolate plastic.
Have fun! Tell me how it goes!

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Tart it Up!

This is a very much delayed post. I have been keeping this in my draft box for almost a month. Whenever I wanted to work on this post, some other new and more 'exciting' stuff got into it's way :(


I remembered getting pretty nervous with the recipe as it was my maiden attempt at making crème patissiere or pastry cream as filling for this fresh berry tart. As usual, I tend to shy away with anything that has got to do with the stove. Before I set off to make the pastry cream, I checked the internet to get some idea how to really go about making it. The recipe makes it sound so simple, but I was certain that chances of me getting it right the first time would be very slim. I felt more confident after looking at the step-by-step photos from here and here. Even though I can't read the language in the second website, the pictures speak for themselves.


I was so glad when I managed to 'cook' the pastry cream without burning it...well almost...I must confess that there was just a tiny bit of brown layer at one corner, right at the bottom of the pan ;) The pastry cream was very smooth and not lumpy, most importantly, it tasted very very good! It was way better than any custard fillings which I have tasted before...and I suspect some of those tart fillings that I have tried were made with custard powder. The original pastry cream recipe calls for vanilla seeds, I didn't want to take the risk to put my precious vanilla pods (a gift from vb) to waste, I flavoured the pastry cream with vanilla extract instead.


I always fall back on this same recipe to make the pastry case...primarily because I think it doesn't use as much butter as compared to other shortcrust pastry recipes. The finished tart was dust generously with icing sugar...but it melted away as I was taking photos of the tart. That was because I have left the tart to chill in the fridge while I was doing the cleaning up. The strawberries were as tangy as usual (**sigh**), fortunately the icing sugar helped to make them less sour. The pastry cream greatly enhanced the overall taste of the tart. It was simply delicious...light and refreshing...especially after it was chilled in the fridge. We had it right after dinner, and the four of us finished up 3/4 of the tart. We could have devoured the entire thing, but I insisted that we kept some 'leftovers' just so to make me feel less greedy ;) My husband was full of praises, which was something not to be expected on a 'regular basis". I didn't even have the chance to take a photo of a slice as whatever that was left was gone first thing the next morning.




Ingredients:
(makes one 18cm tart)

Pastry Case:
80g cake flour
20g almond powder
30g caster sugar
40g unsalted butter , soften at room temperature
1 tablespoon (15g) lightly beaten egg

Pastry Cream:
200ml milk
2 egg yolks
40g caster sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon* cornflour
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon* plain flour
10g butter
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

some strawberries, blueberries
icing sugar for dusting

Method:

Pastry Case:

1. Lightly grease an 18cm tart pan, set aside.
2. Toast almond powder at 100 degC for 10 mins. Stirring in between. Let cool.
3. Sieve flour and almond powder, set aside.
4. With a manual whisk, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
5. Dribble in the egg, whisk and mix well.
6. Sieve over the flour/almond meal mixture in 2 to 3 additions into the batter. Fold the mixture gently with a spatula.
7. Form and shape the pastry into a round disc. Roll out the pastry in between 2 sheets of cling wrap or baking paper (I used two sheets of cut-out plastic bags) to about 23cm in diameter.
8. Remove one side of the cling wrap/baking paper. Flip the pastry over the prepared tart pan. Remove the other cling wrap/baking paper. Mould the pastry into the tart pan, smoothing the edges and the rim carefully. If the pastry is too soft to handle, chill it in the fridge for 10~15 mins.
9. Chill the moulded pastry in the fridge for 20mins. (This helps to prevent the pastry from shrinking too much after baking.)
10. Use a fork to poke holes (as many holes as you can) on the pastry surface. Brush the top of the rim with egg wash. Bake in pre-heated oven at 180 degC for 10~12 mins until the edges turned slightly browned. Let cool completely.


Pastry Cream:

11. In a saucepan, bring milk slowly to the boil and remove from the heat.
12. In a mixing bowl, with a manual whisk, whisk egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns pale and thickens. Sieve over the corn flour and plain flour. Whisk until the mixture becomes smooth.
13. Add in the hot milk gradually to the yolk mixture, whisk constantly to prevent curdling.
14. Pour the mixture over a sieve and return it to the saucepan. Heat gently, stirring constantly with a whisk or a wooden spoon until the mixture just starts to boil. When it boils, continue to stir constantly for another 1 minute, the mixture will become very thick and very difficult to stir. It is important to stir the mixture constantly as it cooks so that it thickens but doesn't turn lumpy.
15. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla extract (or other liqueur such as Grand Marnier, Brandy, Kirsch, Rum as desired).
16. Pour into a clean bowl and cover the surface of the pastry cream with cling wrap and set aside to cool completely. This is to prevent a skin from forming. After cooling, the pastry cream will be very thick. When ready to use, just whisk it with a spoon and it will become spreadable.


Assemble:

17. Spread the pastry cream evenly onto the cooled tart case. Arrange strawberries/blueberries on top and dust with icing sugar. Best serve on the day it is made. Keep for one day if refrigerated.

Recipe Source: adapted from (1) Delicious!! Baked Cakes, Ikuko Omori, (2) Fresh Baked by Louise Pickford

Note: for the pastry cream, I only made 2/3 portion as the original recipe is enough to fill a much bigger tart. As a result the amount for the corn flour and plain flour was a little unusal!

More about → Tart it Up!

DART: Many Lessons Learned

The Diet and Reinfarction Trial (DART), published in 1989, is one of the most interesting clinical trials I've had the pleasure to read about recently. It included 2,033 British men who had already suffered from an acute myocardial infarction (MI; heart attack), and tested three different strategies to prevent further MIs. Subjects were divided into six groups:

• One group was instructed to reduce total fat to 30% of calories (from about 35%) and replace saturated fat (SFA) with polyunsaturated fat (PUFA).


• The second group was told to double grain fiber intake.


• The third group was instructed to eat more fatty fish or take fish oil if they didn't like fish.


• The remaining three were control groups that were not advised to change diet; one for each of the first three.
  

Researchers followed the six groups for two years, recording deaths and MIs. The fat group reduced their total fat intake from 35.0 to 32.3% of calories, while doubling the ratio of PUFA to SFA (to 0.78). After two years, there was no change in all-cause or cardiac mortality. This is totally consistent with the numerous other controlled trials that have been done on the subject. Here's the mortality curve:

Here's what the authors have to say about it:

Five randomised trials have been published in which a diet low in fat or with a high P/S [polyunsaturated/saturated fat] ratio was given to subjects who had recovered from MI. All these trials contained less than 500 subjects and none showed any reduction in deaths; indeed, one showed an increase in total mortality in the subjects who took the diet.

So... why do we keep banging our heads against the wall if clinical trials have already shown repeatedly that total fat and saturated fat consumption are irrelevant to heart disease and overall risk of dying? Are we going to keep doing these trials until we get a statistical fluke that confirms our favorite theory? This DART paper was published in 1989, and we have not stopped banging our heads against the wall since. The fact is, there has never been a properly controlled clinical trial that has shown an all-cause mortality benefit for reducing total or saturated fat in the diet (without changing other variables at the same time). More than a dozen have been conducted to date.

On to fish. The fish group tripled their omega-3 intake, going from 0.6 grams per week of EPA to 2.4 g (EPA was their proxy for fish intake). This group saw a significant reduction in MI and all-cause deaths, 9.3% vs 12.8% total deaths over two years (a 27% relative risk reduction). Here's the survival chart:

Balancing omega-6 intake with omega-3 has consistently improved cardiac risk in clinical trials. I've discussed that here.

The thing that makes the DART trial really unique is it's the only controlled trial I'm aware of that examined the effect of grain fiber on mortality (without simultaneously changing other factors). The fiber group doubled their grain fiber intake, going from 9 to 17 grams by eating more whole grains. This group saw a non-significant trend toward increased mortality and MI compared to its control group. Deaths went up from 9.9% to 12.1%, a relative risk increase of 18%. I suspect this result was right on the cusp of statistical significance, judging by the numbers and the look of the survival curve:

You can see that the effect is consistent and increases over time. At this rate, it probably would have been statistically significant at 2.5 years.

I think the problem with whole grains is that the bran and germ contain a disproportionate amount of toxins, such as the mineral-binding phytic acid.  The bran and germ also contain a disproportionate amount of nutrients. To have your cake and eat it too, soak, sprout or ferment grains. This reduces the toxin load but preserves or enhances nutritional value. Wheat may be a problem whether it's treated this way or not.

Subjects in the studies above were eating grain fiber that was not treated properly, and so they were increasing their intake of some pretty nasty toxins while decreasing their nutrient absorption. Healthy non-industrial cultures would never have made this mistake. Grains must be treated with respect, and whole grains in particular.

More about → DART: Many Lessons Learned

Halloween Hair...Snow White

Start with the ringlets like in the base hair post below and finger comb them out and spray them. Let them dry. I put the headband...Snow White's is red. Make sure you remember that. On a normal day I would probably stop here because I love this. However, we are trying to be Snow White, so we keep on going.

So now, take and brush her hair down. I use my fingers and comb them back into BIG ringlets, or waves.

I know it seems kind of redundant to make ringlets and comb them out and re-put them into ringlets, but it is really the only way I know of to make this kind of a wave.

If your daughter doesn't have bangs, I would just pull the hair back into the headband and pull a bit forward...think DJ Tanner from Full House.

More about → Halloween Hair...Snow White