Milky Loaf

I tried making Milky Loaf from Happy Home Baking's blog today. Since I don't have a bread machine I did it all by hand.

I didn't bother to make sure the egg was exactly 70g, but I picked an egg out of the what we had available that weighed nearest to 70g.

Since I don't like using caster sugar, I used raw sugar instead. Healthier too.

I used the block butter that's cheaper than the spreadable ones. :) However that means that it's salted. Since I only use salted butter instead of unsalted ones, the stuff I make turns out to be delicious nonetheless. Today I opened up a different brand of butter, RollingMeadow. It's so much smother and easier to cut than Classic Farm Butter. Hahahha.... I'm going to buy that brand from now on.

My mum uses Himalayan Rock Salt in cooking, so I use it for baking. It has much better texture and flavour than average table salt. Mmmm.....

Since we don't buy fresh milk (it goes off faster than we can drink it), I used milk powder instead. There's not much difference, really.

I had two 23.5cm x 13cm x 6cm loaf pans, so I cut my dough pieces into 6.


Ingredients:

• 290g fresh milk
• 70g egg
• 50g (caster) sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup bread flour/high grade flour
• 8g yeast
• 80g (unsalted) butter

Method:

1. Mix milk and egg into a mixing bowl, followed by sugar, salt, bread flour and yeast. Mix evenly until you have a dough, take it out and on a clean, flat floured surface, knead for 10 minutes.
   
   
2. Add the butter into the dough, and knead for a further 15~20 minutes.
   
   
3. Flour the mixing bowl you had before, put the dough in, and cover with a damp cloth. Let it rise for an hour or so, or until double in size.
   
   
4. Remove the dough onto a clean, flat floured surface. Punch out the gas, and knead very gently for a bit, until most of the gas is out.
   
   
5. Cute your dough int 3 or 6 equal pieces, depending on the size(s) of your loaf pan. Roll into a round ball, and let it 'relax' for 15 minutes. This is so the dough will be easier to roll out and be shaped.
   
6. On a lightly floured surface, flatten one piece of dough and roll out into a long oval shape. Roll up the dough swiss-roll style. Do the same for the remaining doughs.
   
   
7. Flatten the rolled-up dough and roll out again into a long rectangular shape. Roll it up tightly, and roll it as much as you can (one revolution wise), swiss-roll style for the second time. Do the same for the remaining doughs.
   
   
8. Place the doughs in lightly greased/non-stick bread tin/pan. Let the doughs proof for the second time, until it fills up 80% of the tin/pan. Cover it with a damp cloth, or Gladwrap.
   
   
9. Bake in a preheated oven at 180-190C for 30-35 minutes.
   
   
10. Take the bread out of the pan immediately when removed from the oven. Let it cool completely before slicing.

No Digital Camera ):

My family doesn't have a digital camera... even though I've bugged them for aaaaaaaaaaaages.

That's why I don't have pictures for any of the stuff I bake... awwwwwww.

If you could recommend a digital camera that's really good and suitable, and at a nice price too, please tell me and I'll try get my mum to buy one. :D

Mantou!

Ingredients:

• Flour (all-purpose)
• Water
• Warm water
• Raw sugar
• Brown sugar (the unrefined one)
• 1 teaspoon Yeast

For Poolish:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup warm water
• 3/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon yeast

Last night I prepared some poolish for mantou (steamed buns) that I was going to try and make today.

Unfortunately, we don't have a recipe on the amount of flour and water, so me and my mum improvised.

First, we spread a whole lot of floor on the bench, and chucked our poolish on top.
Knead knead.
Added more flour and made a little well in it, where we poured the water in (yeast and some sugar was dissolved first).

Knead knead, until it was a ball of dough.

Now, for the sugars!!! Add raw sugar to taste, and some brown sugar in the middle of the dough (make a hole first). Knead until the colour is evenly spread out.

Keep adding brown sugar until the dough's a nice caramel colour.

Now, for the muscle training part. :/

Knead, knead, knead, until the lactic acid in your muscle builds up.
You have to knead until it's quite soft.

Set aside, cover with a damp cloth and let it rise for 4 hours, or until double.

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After our dough almost raised the roof, We spread a WHOLE LOT of flour on the bench again.
Now, for more kneading!!! Yaaaaay!!!

Knead until high gluten has developed. You can test this by using the "window pane" method. Click here for an explanation and photos.

Roll the dough into a fat, long snake.
Cut it into sections, depending on how big you want your mantou to be.

I made some square ones and round ones and rolled up ones. :)

Now, set it aside to proof for another 20-30 mins or so. You may cover it with a damp cloth if you wish.

I haven't steamed it yet, I'm typing this as it's proofing. I'll finish it when we've steamed it!!!

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Mum steamed the mantous in a zhinrong... the round bamboo basket things.
They came out BIIIIIIIIIIG and lovely. Big yeast holes. I think I put too much yeast in... next time I'll reduce it to 1 teaspoon. Hopefully it won't have so much holes next time.

I got a Blogger!

Nothing to say except to say that I got a Blogger..... finally after much hesitation.

Hope I can fill this blog up with interesting things... but I gotta think about what to put in first. ^_^

That's it for now!