Banana Nutella Swirl Bread.

Anything with Nutella is never wrong. 

They won't go wrong, how can that possibly be right?
And the addition of banana.

Yummy.

As I was typing Nutella, the computer actually suggested another word. 

WHAT? You mean Nutella doesn't exist in the dictionary? 
This is pathetic.


Just saying.

Anyway, this banana bread is fantastic.

Moist, soft, fluffy.

................................

with Nutella. 

I use the overripe bananas who people always think that it's too disgusting to be consumed.

Let me tell you something, you are so wrong.

You can use the bananas to make it into a cake, or bread. Or cupcakes.

Or, whatever you can think of.

Never waste these precious. They make the best out of dessert!

Nutella Banana Bread

Yields: 1 loaf

Ingredients:

1 cup + 9 tablespoon - 200grams all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt 

2 eggs, room temperature

6 tablespoon - 85grams butter, melted and cool

5/8 cup - 120grams brown sugar

1/4 cup - 60ml milk

3 bananas, mashed until no lumps

3/4 cup - 85grams nutella 

1 teaspoon rum or vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F/180C.

Grease a loaf pan with butter. 

In a medium bowl, combine butter, sugar, milk, eggs and rum. Mix until just combine. 

In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, powder and salt.

Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix just until smooth.

Add mashed bananas into batter and mix until just combined.

Place nutella on heatproof bowl over a pot of boiling water and stir until it becomes runny.

Alternatively, you may microwave about 20 seconds to soften it. 

Take about 2/3 of the nutella and drizzle over the banana batter. 

Gently fold the nutella using a spatula. Do not over mix.

Carefully pour batter onto prepared grease pan evenly so that the swirl will be even. 

Add the remaining nutella and swirl the batter again.

Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, depending on your oven. 

Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack before serving. 

Or just eat them warm.

FANTASTIC.

By: Black Baker

Bacon Cheddar Pull Apart Bread

Happy belated Easter everyone!


Was so busy during the weekends that I was literally sleepwalking the wholeday.


Just kidding.


Oh ya, my tripod died on me. 
The handle couldn't be tighten.
This means I have to get a new one replaced. 
This means I have to spend money.

FINE.

SIGH.

I did this pull apart bread over the weekends. 
I was actually thinking about it since last week. 

About the cheese.
About the bread.

About the pepperoni.
Originally was with pepperoni.
But I replaced it with bacon.

And it's still great. 
Almost perfect.

The bread was literally screaming 
"EAT ME!!''

And I have to risk my hands to pull out the hot loaf of bread from the tin.
And I nearly burned my fingers.

GREAT.

It's just my hands...
y' know.
Itchy hands.

Bacon Cheddar Pull Apart Bread. 


Ingredients:

2 cups - 254grams bread flour
3/4 cups - 93 grams all purpose flour
(you can use all AP flour instead)
2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1/3 cup - 80grams whole milk
6 tablespoon - 85grams unsalted butter
1/4 cup - 60ml water
2 large eggs, room temperature


Toppings:

1/2 tablespoon oil
12 strips of bacon, cut into bits (about 150grams)
1 cup - 100grams shredded cheddar cheese (or more, if you like.)


2 tablespoon - 28grams unsalted butter, melted
2 cloves garlic, minced


Method:


In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, salt and yeast. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, combine milk and 6 tablespoon of butter over low heat till melted. 
Remove from the stove and add in water.
Let it cool down till about 120F/48C.
Pour the milk mixture over the dry ingredients.
Using a spatula or a pastry scrapper, fold them until just combined.
Using your hands, knead on the bowl and 10 to 15 times until fully incorporated. 
Or if you are using a stand mixer, attach your dough hook and knead the dough on low speed until fully incorporated.
Add the eggs, one at a time, kneading in between each addition so that the eggs are fully incorporated.
Take the dough out of the bowl and begin to knead for about 15 to 20 minutes by hand.
The dough will feel very sticky, you can add about 2 more tablespoon of flour BUT do not be tempted to add more. 
I just stick to the original recipe and did not add any more flour.

If you are using a stand mixer, it should takes you about 5 to 7 minutes.
Knead until the dough is smooth and soft, but still slightly sticky.
Lightly floured your work desk and fold it close until it comes together as a ball.
Lightly greased a large bowl.
Place your dough in the bowl and cover with a plastic/cling wrap. 
Allow the dough to rest in a warm place for about 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours or until it doubled in size.
On a frying pan, 
Heat oil and fry the bacon till golden brown, about 5 minutes. 
Set aside and let cool. 
Take the dough out of the bowl and gently deflate it to remove any gas.
Roll it into a rectangle measuring 18'' x 10''.
Sprinkle your dough with cheese and topped with the bacon.
Trim the edges, discarding any scraps to make straight line along the rectangle.
Cut the rectangle (lengthwise) into 5 equal strips. (2 inch per strip)
Stack the strips atop each other and then cut into 4 equal parts.
Lightly buttered a loaf pan. 
Stack the squares against each other, cut sides down.
(There will be space on both sides)
Lightly cover the pan with plastic/cling wrap and let it proof for another 45 minutes to 1 hour or until it double in size.
Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
Stir together the melted butter and minced garlic.
Place the loaf into oven and bake for 15 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and brush the top of the loaf with garlic butter and return it to the oven and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove pan from oven and let it cool before serving. 



Have a CHEESYYYYY day.

Caramelized Onion with Cheesy Swirl Bread.

I don't understand why my photos turns out so yucky at times. 


The light?  The display? Or I just doesn't know how to photograph nice food. 


I understand why it is not easy to be a food blogger. You have to be satisfied with your photos. You have to make the audience feel that your food is like fantastic.

HOW AM I EVER TO DO THAT?

I just feel like screaming my lungs out. It's frustrating at times. 


I really need to practise alot in this area. Especially photography. 

ok. Back to this topic. I made this bread over the weekends. It's amazing. The only regret I had was not adding enough onions. This bread smells and taste nice. With caramelized onions and cheese bursting in your mouth. It's super yummy. 

Caramelized Onion with Cheesy Swirl Bread.


Ingredients:

200 grams all purpose flour
175 grams bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
A pinch of pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
2 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 cup - 236ml milk, warm slightly
1/4 cup - 54grams

2 red onions
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Pinch of salt

150grams cheese, grated (Whatever cheese you like, seriously)
a little bit more olive oil, about 1 1/2 teaspoon


Method:

Combine flour , salt, pepper, sugar and yeast together.
Add in milk and 1/4 cup of olive oil and mix together to form a dough. 
Take the dough out of the bowl and knead for about 10 to 15 minutes until the dough is smooth and santiny. Place dough in a bowl and cover with cling wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place till double in size. (About 1 1/2 to 2 hours)
Meanwhile, prepare the filling. 
Chop the onions into bite size.
Heat the 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium low heat and add the onions and pinch of salt.
Stir fry occasionally for 30 to 45 minutes until the onions are soft and are in dark brown colour.
Take the pan off the heat and set it aside to cool.
Take the dough out of the bowl and place dough on a floured surface and roll into a rectangle round 9x12 inches. 
Top the dough with cheese then the onions. 
Starting from the shorter end, roll the dough as tightly as possible into a 9 inch log.
Using a sharp knife, cut the log into 9 equal pieces and arrange them in a baking pan, evenly spaced.
Brush the top of the buns with the remaining olive oil.
Cover the pan with cling wrap and let the buns rise in warm place until they doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours. 
15 minutes before baking, preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the buns are golden and the cheese is bubbly.

Simple Wholemeal Loaf : Simple bread to start your day.

What's better then having a simple loaf of bread to start your day?

Smear it with butter, place a slice of ham and cheese..

Or replace with jam ... 


Anyway you like it.

I don't like to eat plain bread. I prefer it with topping. I mean... It's just me you see. 

I'm so excited because I finally got some wooden boards for me to do my photography set up! Yeahh!!

I'm going to get hands on this coming weekend. 

Super super nervous. What if it fails? I spent quite a bomb on that. 


Oh well... Let's just see.

By the time I've finish baking this loaf, it was already late at night. 
It was for next day's breakfast!

Simple Wholemeal Loaf
Makes 1 medium loaf and 1 small loaf


Ingredients:

120 grams wholemeal flour
170 grams bread flour 
1 tsp (4 grams) instant yeast
200 grams water (you may substitue with milk, or half half)
15 grams super fine sugar
1 tsp salt
10 grams of milk powder 


15 grams unsalted butter (softened)


Method:

Combine bread flour and wholemeal flour together.
Add in yeast, sugar, milk powder and salt.
Mix them together evenly till well blended.
Pour water into dry ingredients. Using a pastry scrapper, mix them ingredients together until they are combined.
Take the dough out of the bowl and knead for about 2 minutes. 
Add the softened butter and knead again, combine together and knead for about 15 to 20 minutes until it is smooth.
Dough should pass the window pane test. (Try stretching part of the dough, if it can stretch into thin sheet without breaking it means you have kneaded enough.)
Place dough into a bowl and cover it with a cling wrap.
Let dough rise for about 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours. (Dough should be doubled in size)

Remove dough and give a few light kneading on a lightly floured work surface. Press out the trapped air as your knead. Divide into 3 equal portions and shape into balls. Cover with cling wrap, let the doughs rest for 15mins.

Flatten and roll out each dough into an oval shape (20cm by 10cm). Roll up swiss roll style and pinch the seams in place. Place in a pullman tin, seams side down. Cover the lid and let dough proof for 60mins or until the dough rise up to 90% of the height of the tin.

Bake at preheated oven at 190 degC for about 30mins.

Remove from oven and unmold immediately. Let cool completely before slicing.

Curry Potato Buns.

I'm always trying to improve on my photography.. Always. But it seems that I still have alot to learn. Bit by bit, looking at other people photographs. I am still very new to all this. Trying to handle and understand my camera everytime when I take photos. Still have lots to improve i guess!!

Makes 9 buns

Bun dough:

400grams

20g Sugar

1 tsp Salt

2 tbsp Instant yeast

220ml Cold milk

1 cold Egg (55g)

30g Butter (soften at room temperature)

Fillings:

400g Potato (About 4 potatos)

150g Chicken fillet 

2 cloves Garlic (chopped)

1 large Onion (chopped)

Curry sauce (4 tbsp mix with 6 tbsp hot water)

4-5 tbsp Hot water or more for the mixture if too dry

Salt to taste

Glazing:

1 beaten egg

Method:

Filling:

Cook potatoes in boiling water until just cooked (do not cook till to soggy).

Saute garlic and onion until fragrant, add curry sauce, saute over low heat till aromatic.

Add chicken and fry briefly, return potatoes and add water, mix well.

Add salt to taste and cook for a while. Dish up. Leave to cool completely before using.

Bun Dough:

Mix all dry ingredients and egg together in the mixing bowl and add milk, mix to form a dough. 

Take the dough out of the bowl and knead for about 2 minutes.

Add butter and knead to become smooth and elastic. 

Knead for about 10 to 20 minutes.

Dough should pass the window pane test. (Try stretching part of the dough, if it can stretch into thin sheet without breaking it means you have kneaded enough.)

Place dough into a big bowl, cover with cling wrap and let it proof until double in size. About 1 hour to 1 1/2 hour.

Take the dough out of the bowl and gently deflate to remove air.

Let dough rest for 10 minutes. 

Divide dough into 60g each, roll into ball, rest for another 10 minutes.

Flatten the dough with roller pin and wrap with curry fillings.

Seal the opening tightly and roll into ball and leave it on baking tray lined with parchment paper for second proofing, about 1/2 hour.

Egg wash and bake in pre-heated oven at 180 degrees C for about 15 minutes till golden brown.

Bacon & Garlic Roll Bread

It was a Sunday.. And since I did not make any bread the day before, I decided to make it for breakfast for Monday. Kneading is very therapetic for me. You will feel the satisfaction especially if the bread turns out so soft and fluffy. I read alot of online forums, alot of them says that home baked bread seldom can stay soft till next day. So this round, I brought a bottle of bread softener hoping it will help. Well.. It really does! Actually.. I don't know is it because the hydration level of this bread is high or is it because of the bread softener I use.. But I will use this bread softener again to do another bread ^^ 
This recipe originally use all bread flour.. but I change and added abit of whole wheat flour. 

Makes 7 rolls

Dough:

130g bread flour

70g whole wheat flour 

3g instant yeast 

20g sugar

3g salt

20g unsalted butter (soft)

140g milk

3-4g bread softener (optional)

Filling:

90g bacon (sliced to small bits) 

1 clove garlic (chopped)

Method:

Put the flour, sugar and yeast in a bowl. Whisk to combine, add salt and whisk again.

Pour the milk into the bowl.

Use pastry scraper to mix everything together and knead briefly to bring all ingredients together. 

Take the dough out of the bowl and knead for about 2 minutes. 

Add the butter and knead for another 10 to 15 minutes until the dough is soft, pliable and smooth.

Dough should pass the window pane test. (Try stretching part of the dough, if it can stretch into thin sheet without breaking it means you have kneaded enough.)

Put dough into lightly buttered bowl.

Let dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size. (About 1 hour to 1 1/2 hour)

Filling:

Put sliced bacon into frying pan and put the pan over low heat. Stir until bacon oil begin to come out of bacon. 

Add in garlic and fry until golden brown. 

(**Be careful not to let the bacon dry up.)

Off fire and leave the filling aside

Take dough out of the bowl and deflate it gently to remove air. 

Roll out dough to 20 x 22cm size. 

Scatter bacon filling all over evenly. 

Roll up your dough like a swiss roll. Cut in into 7 pieces and place it into baking tray.

Let it proof for second round about half an hour.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C.

Bake bread for about 12 to 15 minutes. 

Wholemeal luncheon buns.

It's bread again. But this time it's wholemeal bread. Brought a pack of wholemeal flour but have not been touching it. Since I was free yesterday I decided to make some wholemeal bread.. The dough is abit dry, not the unusual dough that I work with.. Not sure is it because of the flour? But this bread texture is not very dry.. 

Wholemeal Luncheon Buns
Makes 10

Ingredients:

100g Wholemeal flour

300g Bread flour

30g Caster sugar

1/2 tsp Fine Rock salt

4g Instant yeast

140g Whole eggs

100g Water

30g unsalted butter, room temperature Filling: 1 canned of spam luncheon meat, cut into cubes Eggwash: 1 Egg For the filling: Place chopped luncheon meat into fry pan and fry until golden brown. Leave it aside. Method: Mix all the ingredients except butter in a mixer using using a scraper. Once all the ingredients are mixed through and formed a dough, add in the unsalted butter. Knead the dough well until window pane stage. Lightly oiled a bowl and place the dough in. Cover it with cling wrap and leave it to proof for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours in a warm place. Lightly knead the dough to form a smooth round ball. Divide the doughs into 10 pcs. Roll each dough into a round ball and leave to proof for 10 mins. Roll out the dough into a round flat shape and place chopped luncheon meat in. Wrap up the buns and place seam side down. Proof for another 30 to 40 minutes. Brush with egg wash. Bake them in preheated oven 190C for 15 minutes.

Cinnamon Bites.

I love cinnamon. I love the smell. I even love it when it combines with bread. I tried making this quite some time ago. It's soft and fluffy. But i think I added abit too much sugar and it's a tad sweet.. But I still think it's nice :) For making bread I don't recommend adding more flour or water. Because when I use the method from Richard Bertinet's bread kneading method, he mentioned that the hydration level is quite high so usually I will just follow the recipe and will not add any more flour.

Cinnamon Bites
Makes 12 rolls.

Dough

130g Whole milk

50g Egg (about 1 medium egg)

5g Instant yeast

85g Unsalted butter, soft

50g  Granulated sugar

5g  Salt

314g  All purpose flour

Filling

100g Dark brown sugar

1/2tbsp Cinnamon powder

45g Unsalted butter, soft

Pinch of salt

Icing

Icing sugar

Milk Mix together egg, and milk. Put the flour, the sugar and yeast in a bowl, whisk to combine, add and salt whisk again. Pour the egg and milk mixture into the bowl. Mix everything together, and knead briefly to bring all the ingredients together. Take the dough out of the bowl and knead about 3 minutes. Add the butter and knead again. Knead for 10-15 minutes or until the dough is soft, pliable, smooth and slightly shiny, almost satiny.  Put the dough into a light buttered bowl. Let the dough rise in a warm place until double in size (can be 1 hour or 1 1/2 hour.) Mix the brown sugar, salt and the cinnamon powder together. Line the 8 -inch baking pan with baking paper. Take the dough out of the bowl, deflate by touch it lightly. Roll the dough into 18 x 7 -inch. Spread the butter over the dough, and sprinkle the brown sugar mixture, press it lightly into the butter. Roll the dough and pinching to seal, and cut into 12 pieces. Arrange the pieces, cut side up, in the prepared pan in even rows. Let the rolls rise for about 1 hour or until doubled in size. (about 30 to 40 minutes) Preheat the oven to 180°C. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Let it cool slightly. Mix the icing sugar with milk add the milk little by little until you get thick but pour able paste.  Drizzle over the Cinnamon buns.

Enjoy while it's hot!

Poolish Baguette.

Poolish. What is that? Poolish is like pre-fermentation.. You will need to let it ferment for 12 to 16 hours before you can use it. I like this baguette. It is different from the normal baguette that we eat. I can't explain but maybe you can try and you will know :)


Makes about 4 big baguettes.
Adapted from King Authur Flour Website.

Poolish

283grams All-Purpose Flour

300grams Water

1/8 tsp. Instant Yeast

Final Dough

606grams All-Purpose Flour

300grams Water

17grams Salt

1 tsp. Instant Yeast

1 lb., 5.2 oz. (all of the above) Poolish

Prepare the poolish the night before baking.  Mix the flour, water and yeast together until the mixture is the consistency of a smooth, thick batter.  Cover and let it ferment overnight at a temperature of around 22 degrees celcius. until mature (about 12 hrs).

The next morning, prepare the final dough by combining the flour, yeast, salt, water and poolish, just until all the ingredients are mixed and well hydrated (I find a dough whisk to be particularly suited to this task). The water should be at a temperature which will give a final dough temperature of around 76oF (more on this in a later post).  I also used less yeast than the Hamelman formula calls for because of the high temperature of my kitchen at this time of year (the higher temperature would shorten the first fermentation time, and hence compromise the flavor, if the quantity of yeast was not reduced).  Depending upon your conditions, you may need a bit more or less yeast.

After the ingredients have been fully incorporated, the dough is mixed by hand for about 10-15 min., until the dough develops a smooth skin which doesn’t tear while mixing. The dough is then placed in a lightly oiled, covered container and allowed to ferment.  This first fermentation is judged complete when the imprint of a finger poked into the dough remains.  In this particular case, the first fermentation lasted 1 1/2 hours.  In addition, the dough was judged to have developed sufficient strength after the hand mixing so that the folding step during the first fermentation.

Once the first fermentation is complete, divide into 4 equal pieces, by weight, and each piece was given a gentle round pre-shaping.  The dough pieces were then covered with plastic and allowed to rest for 20 min.  After the rest, each dough piece was shaped into a baguette and then nestled within the folds of a linen couche.

The shaped baguette dough is then covered with the remaining linen and allowed a second fermentation time of about 1 hr.  The second fermentation is judged complete when a finger press results in an impression that lasts for 2-3 secs.

After the second fermentation is complete, the baguettes are scored with a lame and baked in a 230C oven for 20 min., with steam being supplied during the first 10 mins. via a hand steamer.

 

Ham and cheese ring bread.

I love to bake bread.. I love the kneading process. But I don't really knead. I use the 'throwing method'.. hehehe.. If you know Richard Bertinet kneading method then you will know what I am talking about. I love this bread. It is very soft and taste good. I love the cheese used in this bread. It's Gyuere cheese. This cheese has a nutty smell so i like it alot. If you have the chance you should try doing this. I got this from daily delicious blog.

Ham and cheese ring bread

200 g bread flour

1 tsp Instant dried yeast

2 tbsp sugar

½ tsp Salt

30 g /unsalted butter (Soft)

140 ml whole milk

3 tbsp Mayonnaise

5 slices Ham

30 g Cheddar Cheese (grated)

40 g Gruyere cheese (grated) Put the flour and yeast in a bowl, whisk to combine, add the sugar and salt whisk again. Pour the milk mixture into the bowl, use large spoon to mix everything together. Put the butter in the bowl and rub until all butter is distributed, and knead briefly to bring all the ingredients together. Take the dough out of the bowl and knead, until the dough is soft, smooth and elastic about 10 minutes. Put the dough into a light buttered bowl. Let the dough rise in a warm place until double in size about 1 hour. Line a baking paper in the pan and set aside. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Take the dough out of the bowl. Gently press down the dough and a rolling pin to roll the dough to press the dough into a rectangle, about 25x25 cm. Brush the mayonnaise over the dough then scatter cheddar cheese all over and place the ham on top.  Roll the dough toward you starting at the top, gently pressing as you go to form a tight log. Cut the dough into 6 pieces, then place the dough, cut side down in the prepared pan. Scatter Gruyère cheese all over the top.Let the dough rise until almost double in size. Bake for 25 or until the bread is golden and the cheese is slightly brown.