Fig and Orange Zest Quickbread

Wow, it's been almost a year since I last blogged! :O

Anyways, I got this recipe off from Nestle NZ's Hottest Home Baker show.

It was originally Fig and Aniseed, but since we don't have aniseed I substituted it with orange zest.
Didn't have any run, so I just used 1 tsp of vanilla essence instead.

It looks yum!

Ingredients:

Filling

• 100g dessert figs, stems removed and cut very finely
• 25ml dark rum
• ½ tsp of aniseeds, lightly bruised with a pestle and mortar to release the flavours
• 25 g butter, softened
• ½ tsp cinnamon

Dough

• 200g plain flour
• 15g sugar
• 15g baking powder
• Good pinch of salt
• 30g butter, softened
• 100ml milk
• ½ egg

Apricot Glaze

• 4 tbsp apricot jam
• 3 tbsp water

Method

1. To make the filling mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, ensuring that the figs are not stuck together and you have a paste. Cover and set aside.
   
   
2. To make the dough sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces and, using your fingertips, rub into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. In a jug, whisk together the milk and egg and pour into the dry ingredients. Using a wooden spoon, mix together to form a soft dough. Tip it out onto a floured surface and knead for 10-20 seconds.
   
   
3. Take the dough and shape it into a square. Using a rolling pin, roll out on a lightly floured surface into a approx 25cm square.
   
   
4. Spread the filling evenly on top of the dough sheet, leaving about 1cm free at the bottom edge. Brush the bottom edges with the egg wash, then tightly roll up the dough to form a log, as you would for a swiss roll. Using a sharp knife, make a single lengthwise cut down the middle of the loaf and right the way through, open the lines of dough and filling to face you.
   
   
5. Take the two strands, one in each hand, with the cut side of each strand facing up and twist them around each other. Press the ends firmly together so they do not unwind during baking. Place the twist on a baking tray lined with nonstick baking paper. Place into the preheated oven set at 210°C.
   
   
6. Bake for approx 25 minutes. Turn the tray halfway through baking to ensure even colour.
   
   
7. Meanwhile, prepare the glaze by placing apricot jam and water into a small saucepan and bringing to the boil, stirring constantly. Strain through a sieve.
   
   
8. Remove loaf from the oven and brush with the hot apricot glaze before setting on a wire rack to cool.

A few more images where I didn't twiddle with the lighting on Photoshop...

Taro Bread Buns

Well, let's just say that I was browsing this website yesterday and I found a yummy looking recipe that mum wanted me to make.

So that aside, I've started mixing and kneading the dough. But for some reason, the dough was quite hard to and firm even though I added some extra water. It was hard work kneading it, and I managed to get the gluten development somewhere like medium, before the lactic acid in my muscles couldn't take it anymore. So now it's under the bright sun, yeast reproducing and fermenting. :)
We haven't had a sunny day like this ages, so why not take advantage of it? Today's also Election Day in NZ, my parents are going to vote for National while my bro (he's 18 this year) is going to vote for Act. I'm not 18 yet so I can't vote. But even if I could, I wouldn't know who to vote for.

I still have yet to cook the frozen taro that's sitting in the fridge.....

I took lots of photos so I'll post some of them up now. :)

Since my mum's got a cold, so her throat's not feeling so good, I cut the sugar back 20 grams.
I decided not to glaze the buns with eggy milk.... it was too much of a hassle.

Ingredients:

• 180g water
• 1/2 tablespoon yeast
• 320g bread flour
• 80g cake flour
• 80g sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon milk powder
• 1 egg
• 40g butter (room temperature)

Method:

1. In a clean bowl mix your flour together. Add the yeast, sugar, salt and milk powder to the flour and mix well until evenly distributed.
   
   
2. Beat the egg in a separate container/bowl before adding to the dry ingredients. Add your water slowly and mix to form a dough.
   
   
3. When you have mixed all the ingredients and cannot see any more flour, add your butter in now. Continue kneading until high gluten development.
   
   
4. Place your dough at a warm place (around 28℃) and let it rise for 2 and a half hours.
   
   
5. Punch the dough down and remove from the bowl.
   
   
6. Divide into 12 pieces, each should be around 60 grams each. Mould the dough pieces into a round shape.
   
   
7. Roll it out with a rolling pin to a oblong shape. Spread the mashed taro on it.
   
   
8. Roll the taro-dough slab up rightly, and cut in the middle, but not completely through. Squash it flat so it has a nice spiral purple-dough pattern.
   
   
9. Brush with eggy milk (or omit) and sprinkle with sliced almonds.
   
   
10. Leave for second proofing at 38℃ for about 55 minutes.
    
    
11. Bake at 190℃ for 15-20 minutes.
    

I'll update some more as I finish making/baking it!

Ingredients

Cake flour/weak flour/soft flour

Bread flour/strong flour/hard flour
Flour combined

Add in the dry ingredients

Dry ingredients combined

Add in the egg and water

Formed a dough

Add in the slab of butter

All ingredients combined and kneaded

Dough ready to rise
Outside under the sun rising The taro packet Back of the package
Mashed taro (with sugar and butter)
The dough in 12 pieces
Roll it out!
Spread the taro mash up

Roll it into a swirl...
Cut it in half, but not completely through

Squashy

All ready for second proofing

Wow~ mouth watering!

Dekita!!!! Dad got sneaky and ate one already!

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.