Hokkaido Milk buns filled with Mozeralla and pesto

There was a time when I had so much free time, and to be honest, when I skyped or phoned with my sis in India and sis in Houston, I always used to make fun with them as they will be saying they have too much things to do and have less time etc....and I will be like hi hi look at me I have so much free time especially as Shyama only comes home in the weekend.

But as my friends in facebook will know that the situation is totally different now from February as my MIL passed away suddenly and my FIL and mostly my niece ( she live with my inlaws) come here for lunch everyday to myplace, plus in the evening I go to my fil to make fresh soup for him etc...plus there is their dog couscous whome we all adore and I have him a lot in my place till the niece is back etc.... so all together I hardly have times, especially as you know if you make a bread you need time as it has to ferment etc...

But then I had joined up the group in Facebook which Aparna started  and one always have to make it before 23rd as that day everyone post it on their blog.

So anyway last week I had a whole day to myself ( didn't had to go out at all ) so I planned to bake the bread and I am si happy I did it, it is so soft and so delicious and so easyto make.

I am sure I will be making this recipe with other fillings in the near future too.

 



Hokkaido Milk Bread With Tangzhong

(Original Recipe from 65 Degrees Tangzhong “65C Bread Doctor” by Yvonne Chen, and adapted from Kirbie’s Cravings        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

For The Tangzhong (Flour-Water Roux) 

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

 1/2 cup water

1/2 cup milk

For The Dough:

 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour ( I used white bread flour)

 3 tbsp sugar

 1tsp salt 

2 tbsp powdered milk

2 tsp instant dried yeast

1/2 cup milk (and a little more if needed)

1/8 cup cream (25% fat)

 1/3 cup tangzhong (use HALF of the tangzhong from above)

1/4 tsp salt

25gm unsalted butter (cut into small pieces, softened at room temperature)

I made rolls so I am giving the recipe for the filling.

3 mozeralla balls shreaded  ( although hubby thought I should have used some other really flavourfull cheese)

4 table spoon of grated parmesan cheese.

Couple of spoon of pesto ( I used shop bought sweet pepper pesto)

Combine the indridients for the filling in a bowl and keep.

Method:

The Tangzhong  (Flour-Water Roux):

Whisk together lightly the flour, water and milk in a saucepan until smooth and there are no lumps. Place the saucepan on the stove, and over medium heat, let the roux cook till it starts thickening. Keep stirring/ whisking constantly so no lumps form and the roux is smooth.

If you have a thermometer, cook the roux/ tangzhong till it reaches 65C (150F) and take it off the heat. If  you don’t have a thermometer, then watch the roux/ tangzhong until you

start seeing “lines” forming in the roux/ tangzhong as you whisk/ stir it. Take the pan off the heat at this point.

Let the roux/ tangzhong cool completely and rest for about 2 to 3 hours at least. It will have the consistency of a soft and creamy crème patisserie. If not using immediately, transfer the roux to a bowl and cover using plastic wrap. It can be stored in the fridge for about a day. Discard the tangzhong after that. 

The Bread Dough:

I made this dough in the food processor. This dough can be made by hand but the dough is a bit sticky and can take some time and effort to knead by hand. If you have some sort of machine which will do the kneading for you, use it. Don’t punish yourself. And do not add more flour to make it less sticky either!

Put the flour, salt, sugar, powdered milk and instant yeast in the processor bowl and pulse a couple of times to mix. In another small bowl mix the milk, cream and Tangzhong till smooth and add to the processor bowl. Run on slow speed until the dough comes together. Now add the butter and process till you have a smooth and elastic dough which is just short of sticky. 

The dough will start out sticky but kneading will make it smooth. If the dough feels firm and not soft to touch, add a couple of tsps of milk till it becomes soft and elastic. When the dough is done, you should be able to stretch the dough without it breaking right away.  When it does break, the break should be form a circle.

 Form the dough into a ball and place it in a well-oiled bowl turning it so it is well coated. Cover with a towel, and let the dough rise for about 45 minutes or till almost double in volume.  

Place the dough on your working surface. You don’t need flour to work or shape this dough. This recipe makes enough dough to make one loaf (9” by 5” tin), 2 small loaves (6” by 4” tins) or 1 small loaf (6” by 4”) and 6 small rolls (muffin tins). Depending on what you are making, divide your dough. If you are making 1 loaf, divide your dough in 3 equal pieces. If you are making two smaller loaves, divide your dough into 6 equal pieces.

I made one small loaf and 6 small rolls. So I first divided my dough into two equal pieces first. Then I divided the first half into three equal pieces to make the loaf. The other half was divided into six equal pieces for six rolls.

The shaping of the portions, whether for the loaf or the rolls, is the same.

Roll out each portion of the dough with a rolling pin into an oval shape, about 1/8” thick. Take one end of the dough from the shorter side of the oval and fold it to the middle of the oval. Take the other end and fold so it slightly overlaps the other fold. (See the collage)

Roll this folded dough with the rolling pin so the unfolded edges are stretched out to form a rectangle. Roll the rectangle from one short edge to the other, pinching the edges to seal well. Do this with each of the three larger pieces and place them, sealed edges down, in a well-oiled loaf tin. Cover with a towel and leave the dough to rise for about 45 minutes.

To make the rolls fold them in the same manner described above, but before rolling them up, place some filling on the dough. Roll the dough rectangles carefully and pinch to seal the edge. Place each roll of dough in a well-oiled muffin cup and cover with a towel. Allow to rise for about 45 minutes.

Carefully brush the tops of the rolls and the loaf with milk (or cream) and bake them at 170C (325F) for about 20 to 30 minutes till they are done (if you tap them they’ll sound hollow) and beautifully browned on top. Let them cool in the tins for about 5 minutes and then unmould and transfer to a rack till slightly warm or cool. 

Serve or else store in a bread bin. This bread stays soft and delicious even the next day. This recipe makes enough dough to make one loaf (9” by 5” tin), 2 small loaves (6” by 4” tins) or 1 small loaf (6” by 4”) and 6 small rolls (muffin tins).

I did same for the rolls as described above, but instead of shaping into rectangular in the end process i just added the filling in the middles of each and shaped into a ball.

 



Advocaat Easter Budnt Cakes

If you live in Holland or in Belgium you will know aobut Advocaat it is a creamy liqueur made from eggs, sugar and brandy. It has a smooth, custard-like flavor and is similar to eggnog.

The typical alcohol content is generally somewhere between 14% and 20% ABV.

 

Its contents may be a blend of egg yolks, aromatic spirits, sugar or honey, brandy, vanilla and sometimes cream (or evaporated milk).

Thick advocaat is sold almost exclusively on the Dutch and Belgian market, though in lesser quantities it can also be found Southern German, Austrian and Tyrolean markets.

It is often eaten with a little spoon, while a more liquid version is sold as an export.

 

Thick advocaat contains egg white, and is used as a waffle topping and as an ingredient for several kinds of desserts such as ice cream, custards and pastries. It is also served as an apéritif or digestif in a wide glass with whipped cream and cocoa powder sprinkled on top.

During the winter months I always have a bottle in my fridge, as when ever my in laws came for afternoon coffee I used to serve them after the coffee a drink and mostly for mother in law it will be port or a glass of sherry and sometimes it will be Advocaat, but mostly for father in law it will be advocaat as he loves sweet things.

 

Ofcourse I have never bee a huge fan of Advocaat as in my mind it is too eggy and everybody here will disagree to me saying that eggy taste is just in my mind :-)

 

And while I was thinking what cake to make for yesterday ( sunday coffee) this recipe just came to my attention and I thought why not make use if the bottle of advocaat I have in the fridge and anyway as Easter is comming up , I thought it will be a good idea to decorate with the chocolate eggs and then I will have a cake for Easter in my blog, isn't that clever or not :-)

The cake was really good moist , fluffy and soft.

Ofcourse you must serve with generous dollops of Mascarpone cheese mixed with Advocaat and if you don't have mascarpone at home you can whipp up some double cream and then mox with the advocaat.

I used 2 middle size budnt pand and then really small budnt pan and then made a small round cake with the below mix.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingridients:

4 eggs Large

200 gm powder sugar ( I used 130 gm)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

200 ml oil

200 ml Advocaat

125 gm flour

8 gm baking powder

100 gm corn flour / Corn Startch

Powder sugar for sprinkling

Colored chocolate eggs ( I used M&M)

200 gm Mascarpone Cheese ( if you don't have you can use whipping cream see above for tip)

Couple of table spoon of Advocaat

Few table spoon of butter and flour for coating the pans.

Preheat the oven 175°c ( if you have hot air ovan like me then it is 160°c).

Butter the pans and flour.

Add the eggs into a bowl together with the powder sugar and beat with a electric mix ( i used hand held) frothy/ribbony texture this will take couple of minutes.

Sieve the flour,corn startch and baking powder and keep in a bowl.

When the egg sugar mis is frothy/ribbony texture add the vanilla extrac, then add the oil and give it a good stir with the spoon, then add the Advocaat and stir till everything is mixed well.

Add the flour mix and fold everything till all the flour is mixed well into the batter.

Pour the mix into the prepared pans.

My middle budnt tool 20 to 22 minutes to bake, small ones took 12 to 14 minutes.

When you insert a cake tester and if it comes out clean then you know the cake is done.

Remove from the oven let it cool for couple of minutes and then take the cake sout from the pan and let i completley cool.

Sprinkle the cakes with powder sugar.

Serve with macarpone cheese mixed with advocaat.

 

Red Curry Chicken Balls

I love thai food anf flavours, even though I must admit that it took me couple of years to apriciate fish sauce, years before when a recipe asked for fish sauce I never added as the first time I boought a bottle of fish sauce from the thai store and I opened up to use it I gave a big sniff and I thought I will throw up as I didn't like the strong smell of the fish sauce.

 

But then I started using little by little in dishes and in the end I agree when they say fish sauce is really a essential part of thai cooking.

 

Ofocurse I know this is not a traditional dish I don't think there is anything like this in tahi cusine, but then I am like if you can make strips of chicken using red curry paste then why not make a dish using chicken mince etc...

 

 

 

 

 

 



Ingridients:

For meat Balls:

700 gm chicken mince ( I used meat from chciekn legs as I think if you just use breast the balls are too dry)

2 chillies finley chopped

1 table spoon of corriander

1 table spoon of soy sauce

1 tsp of fish sauce

Pepper powder

2 to 3 table spoon of corn flour for tolling the balls

Little oil for browning the balls

For the Sauce

6 shallots sliced

1 tbsl ginger and gralic paste

3 table spoon thai red curry paste ( less if you want less spicy)

75 ml water

400 ml coconut milk ( I used tinnes)

1 tables spoon fish sauce

100 gm baby corn sliced.

2 to 3 table spoon of corn flour mixed with a little water.

2 table spoon of oil

Chopped corriander and spring onions for garnsih.

Mix all the ingridients for the chicken balls in a bowl except for the corn flour and the oil.

Make small balls ( golf size) from the mix and roll the in the corn flour and keep aside .

Heat in a frying pan the oil and add the chicken balls and fry them till they are brown on every side .

In the mean time make the sauce.

Heat a sauce pan with oil, add the slices onions , ginger garlic paste and fry for few minutes till they are soft, then add the  red curry paste fry for few minutes, add the water and mix well then add the coconut milk.

Add the browned chicken balls and cook for 10 to 15 minutes till the balls are cooked.

Add the fish sauce . Now add the cornflour mixed with little water so that the sauce can get thicken.

Don't add the corn flour full add little by little depending how thick you want to have your saice.

Tip, if you think you have less sauce you can add more water.
Sprinkle with chopped corriander leaves and spring onions and you can serve this with simple noodles or plain rice.

 

 

Nutty,Chocolaty,Swril Sour Cream Budnt Cake

I am glad I have loads of pictures of recipes and baking in my computer as I have not been baking anything latley.
I do have to say I have made this budnt cake couple of times and each time I make them every body here love it.
Ofcourse it is a good recipe as it is from Dorie Greenspan book From mu Home to yours and each recvipe I have made from that book always come perfect .

 





Makes 12 Serving:




For the Swril
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
2 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, finley chopped or 1/3 cup if mini chocolate chips
1/3 cup plump , moist raisins or dried currants
2 1/2 tsp of ground cinamon
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of salt

For the cake
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup sugar ( I only added less than 1 cup)
Grates zest of 1 orange
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter at room temperature
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
Confectioner's sugar for dusting optional

Getting ready:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350° F.
Butter a 9 to 10 inch ( 12 cups) budnt pan, dust the interior with flour and tap out the excess.
To make the Swril
Put all the ingridients in a bowl and stir to mix.

To make the cake:
Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Working in the bowl of a stand mixer or in a another large bowl, rub the sugar and zest together with your fingers untill the sugar is moist and aromatic.
Add the butter . With the paddle or whisk attachment ir with a hand mixer, neat on medium speed for 4 minutes.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each egg goes ine.
beat in the vanilla.
Rduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the sour cream.
Still working on low add the dry ingridient and mix only until they disapear into the batter.

Give the batter a last stir or two with a rubber spatula, then schoop about one third of the batter into the budnt pan.
Evenly sprinkle on half of the swril ùixture, then spoon in the rest of the batter.
Make a shallow indentation with the back of the spoon in the center of the ring of batter and fill it with the remaining swril mixture, then cover th emixture lightly with the batter on the sides of the indentation - the batter probably won't cover the mixture completley and that is fine.

Bake for 60 to 65 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted deep into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Tranfer the pan to a rack and let the cake rest for 10 minutes before unmolding it into the rack to cool to room temperature.
Just before serving , dust the cake with confectioner's sugar, if desired.