Japanese Style Bread with raisin and cheese

                                                                                                                                                                            Ingredients of Tangzhong                                                   50gm/ 1/3 cup bread flour

250ml/ 1cup water (could be replaced by milk, or 50/50 water and milk)

Ingredients of bread:

• 350gm/ 2½ cups bread flour
• 55gm/3tbsp+2tsp caster sugar
• 5gm/1tsp salt
• 56gm egg (equals to 1 large egg)
• 7gm/1tbsp+1tsp milk powder (to increase fragrance, optional)
• 125ml/ ½cup milk

120gm tangzhong (use half of the tangzhong you make from above)

5 to 6gm/2 tsp instant yeast

30gm/3tbsp butter (cut into small pieces, softened at room temperature)

Fillings:

Raisin

cheese, to taste

Method of making tangzhong:

1. Mix flour in water well without any lumps. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring consistently with a wooden spoon, whisk or spatula to prevent burning and sticking while you cook along the way.
2. The mixture becomes thicker and thicker. Once you notice some “lines” appear in the mixture for every stir you make with the spoon. It’s done. You get the tangzhong. (Some people might like to use a thermometer to check the temperature. After a few trials, I found this simple method works every time.) Remove from heat.
3. Transfer into a clean bowl. Cover with a cling wrap sticking onto the surface of tangzhong to prevent from drying up. Let cool. The tangzhong can be used straight away once it cools down to room temperature.  Just measure out the amount you need. The leftover tangzhong can be stored in fridge up to a few days as long as it doesn't turn grey. If so, you need to discard and cook some more. (Note: The chilled tangzhong should return to room temperature before adding into other ingredients. )
4. Method of making bread:
   1. Combine all dry ingredients: flour, salt, sugar and instant yeast in a bowl. Make a well in the center. Whisk and combine all wet ingredients: milk, egg and tangzhong, then add into the well of the dry ingredients. Knead until you get a dough shape and gluten has developed, then knead in the butter. Mind you, it’d be quite messy at this stage (That's why I used a bread maker). Keep kneading until the dough is smooth, not sticky and elastic. To test if the dough is ready, you might stretch the dough. If it forms a thin “membrane”, it’s done. The time of kneading all depends on how hard and fast you knead.
   2. Knead the dough into a ball shape. Place in a greased bowl and cover with a wet towel or cling wrap. Let it proof till it's doubled in size, about 40 minutes (Note: the time will vary and depends on the weather. The best temperature for proofing is 28C.
   3. Transfer to a clean floured surface. Deflate and divide the dough into four equal portions. Knead into ball shapes. Cover with cling wrap, let rest for 15 minutes.
   4. Roll out each portion of the dough with a rolling pin into an oval shape. Sprinkle bacon and cheese evenly as much as you like. Roll from the upper, shorter end down to the bottom. Flatten the dough with your rolling pin. Then roll once again. The seals face down.
   5. Arrange the rolled-up dough in a greased or non-stick loaf tin . Leave it for the 2nd round of proofing, about 40 minutes, or until the dough rises up to 3/4 of the height of the tin inside.
   6. Brush whisked egg on surface. Bake in a pre-heated 180C (356F) oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and tin. Transfer onto a wire rack and let cool completely. Slice to serve or place in an airtight plastic bag or container once it's thoroughly cooled.                   (Adapted from Christine's Recipe)

Soft Plain Roll

I follow exactly the recipe and the direction..and the result..fantastic!

Ingredients

Overnight Poolish:

150g bread flour

150g lukewarm water

0.5g (1/8 teaspoon) instant yeast

Main Dough:

250g bread flour

100g cake flour (or plain flour if desired)

15g milk powder

50g caster sugar

6g (1 1/4 teaspoons) salt

5g (1 1/4 teaspoons) instant yeast

1 egg, lightly beaten

75g (approx.) lukewarm water, adjust as necessary

50g butter, cut into small cubes

Preparation

1. For the poolish, mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl together until incorporated . Cover with cling film and let it prove for about 1 hour in a warm place , then place into the refrigerator to chill (preferably at 5°C but not strictly, a couple of degrees off is still fine) for at least 16 hours  it should be bubbly at this stage. Let poolish return to room temperature, about half an hour, before using.

2. Sift bread flour, cake flour, milk powder, caster sugar and instant dry yeast onto the working surface and mix well. Form the flour mixture into a well and add lightly beaten egg, room-temperature poolish and salt, then gradually add just enough lukewarm water to form into a slightly sticky, soft dough. Knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. (You can do the kneading in a breadmaker if you own one.) If you are kneading by hand, the dough also needs to be thrown onto the working surface once every few minutes between kneading to improve the dough structure. (I usually just pick up the dough to about head-high and throw it down onto the working surface 10 to 20 times every few minutes between kneading.)

3. Finally knead in the room-temperature butter, a cube at a time, until incorporated. (In many cookbooks, they mentioned that the dough at this stage should be able to be pulled and stretched into membrane – “window pane test”, but it’s hard to achieve with hand kneading because the dough does not heat up as much as when using machine. I usually stop kneading when the dough stretches like chewing gum when pulled!) Form the dough into a round ball and let it rise in a warm place (preferably at about 26°C – 28°C) until at least double or nearly triple in size in a large greased bowl, covered with cling film (should take about 1 hour in optimum warm temperature, longer in winter months). To test if the dough has risen properly, dip a finger into bread or plain flour and poke down into the center of the dough as far as your finger will go and pull out again – the hole should remain if it is ready. If the dough springs back, then it is not ready, continue to prove further.

4. Punch down, knead briefly and form into a ball shape. Then divide into 12 or 16 equal portions. The easiest way is to first divide equally into 4 larger portions first, then divide each of these again into thirds (for 12 portions) or quarters (for 16 portions) each. Form each into balls and let rest for 10 minutes.

5. Shape and fill the buns according to recipe. Place all finished buns on a greased baking sheet, lightly cover with cling film, and let rise in a warm place until double in size (about 1 hour in warm weather, longer in winter months).

6. Brush with egg wash if the recipe calls for it and bake in preheated 190°C oven for about 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Soft Plain Rolls

To shape plain rolls (for 12 portions):

1. Follow preparations as above up to step 4. Roll each dough ball into carrot shape of about 15cm long . Roll out using a rolling pin to about 30cm length , then roll up from the wider end like shaping a croissant

2. Place the shaped rolls evenly apart, sealed ends down, on a greased or lined 30cm × 25cm slice tin or baking tray , lightly cover with cling film, and let rise in a warm place until double in size. Brush with eggwash (using one lightly beaten egg) and bake in preheated 180°C oven for about 22 minutes, or until golden brown.

(Adapted from cornercafe.wordpress)

Mexican Bun

Every time we went to Giant mall..hubby and kids must ate this.... at malaysia we called as roti boy...hahha..today onwards, they don't have any reason to buy it  again! Umi will bake!

Mexican Paste Topping
50g butter, softened
50g caster sugar
1 egg
50g plain flour
http://cornercafe.wordpress.com/
[Preparation]
1. To prepare the Mexican Paste: Cream softened butter and sugar until pale. Beat in egg to combine. Stir in flour until smooth. Transfer to a small freezer/snack bag with a tiny cut at one corner for piping (or use a piping bag fixed with a 1/2cm or smaller round nozzle).

375g bread flour
100g plain flour
35g milk powder
75g caster sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 sachet (7g or 2 1/2 tsp) instant dry yeast
1 egg, lightly beaten
150ml (approx.) lukewarm water, adjust as necessary
40g butter, cubed
Water-Roux Paste
25g (just under 2 tbsp) bread flour
125ml (1/2 cup) water
* Water-Roux is basically 1 part bread flour to 5 parts water.

[Preparation]
Water-Roux
Mix flour and water in a small saucepan. Cook over low to medium heat, stirring continuously until it reaches 65ºC. It should have thickened to a paste at this stage, that is when you stir you can see the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat, place a cling film over the paste and leave until lukewarm, or room temperature, before using. (Alternatively if you don’t have a thermometer, cook as before until it starts to thicken, then continue to cook for about 1 more minute before removing from heat.) This water roux can be kept in an airtight container after cooling in the refrigerator for 1 day if not used immediately. However DO NOT USE if it turns grey in colour, that means it has gone bad.

For the Bun Dough:

1. Sift bread flour, plain flour, milk powder, caster sugar and salt onto the working surface. Add instant dry yeast and mix well. Form the flour mixture into a well. Add lightly beaten egg and lukewarm water roux and mix in. Gradually add just enough lukewarm water to form into a slightly sticky, soft dough. Knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. During hand kneading, the dough also needs to be thrown onto the working surface once every few minutes between kneading to improve the dough structure. (I usually just pick up the dough to about head-high and throw it down onto the working surface 10 to 20 times every few minutes between kneading.)

2. Knead in butter until incorporated. (In many cookbooks, they mentioned that the dough at this stage should be able to be pulled and stretched into membrane, but it’s hard to achieve with hand kneading. I usually stop kneading when the dough sticks to the work surface and stretches like chewing gum when pulled!) Form the dough into a round ball and let it rise until double in size in a large greased bowl, cover with cling film (should take about 1 hour in warm weather, longer in winter months). Optimum room temperature for this first prove is 28°C with a humidity of 75%. To test if the dough has risen properly, dip a finger into bread or plain flour and poke down into the centre of the dough as far as your finger will go and pull out again – the hole should remain if it is ready. If the dough springs back, then it is not ready, continue to prove further.

3. Punch down, knead briefly and form into a ball shape. Then divide into 16 equal portions. The easiest way is to first divide equally into 4 larger portions first, then divide each of these again into quarters each. Form each into balls and let rest for 10 minutes.

 

4. Shape and fill the buns according to recipe. Place all finished buns on a greased baking sheet, lightly cover with cling film, and let rise until double in size (about 1 hour in warm weather, longer in winter months). Optimum room temperature for this final prove is 38°C with a humidity of 85%.

5. Bake in preheated 190°C oven for about 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
(Adapted from, cornercafe.wordpress)

Wholemeal Loaf

110 gm milk
45 gm whisked egg
100 gm Tangzhong/ Water Roux
40 gm sugar
5 gm salt
200 gm bread flour
150 gm wholemeal / whole wheat flour
6 gm instant dry yeast
40 gm unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

Add all ingredients (except butter) , first the wet ingredients (milk, egg, tangzhong), then followed by the dry ingredients (sugar, salt, bread flour, wholemeal flour, yeast). (Note: I used to make a small well in the flour, then add the yeast into it.)

When all ingredients come together, add the butter.  Knead until the dough becomes elastic.

Let the dough complete the 1st round of proofing, until doubled in size, about 40 minutes.

Transfer the dough to a clean floured surface. Deflate and divide into 3 equal portions. Knead into ball shapes. Cover with plastic wrap, let rest for 15 minutes at room temperature.

Roll out each dough ball with a rolling pin into an oval shape. Roll up the dough and seal tightly . Seal faces downward. Roll out each portion to 30cm in length with your rolling pin . Seal faces upward and roll into a cylinder shape . The seal faces down . Arrange the rolled-up dough in a greased or non-stick loaf tin. Repeat this step for the other two portions. Leave it for the 2nd round of proofing, about 40 minutes, or until the dough rises up to 4/5 of the height of the tin inside. Close the loaf lid. (Remark: If your tin doesn’t have a lid, just brush a bit of whisked egg on surface.)

Bake in a pre-heated 170C / 335F oven for 30 to 35 minutes. Remove the loaf from the oven and tin. Transfer onto a wire rack and let cool completely. Slice to serve or place in an airtight plastic bag or container once it's thoroughly cooled.

Adapted from christinesrecipes