《宣妈妈食谱》之[大理石面包/Marble bread]

Everyday, I have to crack my head to decide what kind of bread I should make for our breakfast. To make life simple, I always seek a little advice from my daughter. Yesterday, I thought of making a loaf of bread but couldn't decide the flavor. So I asked: “Darling, just pick one, chocolate or matcha?” Without hesitation, she replied ‘chocolate’. Oh my, chocolate loaf bread! A bit too dark and rich. Should I add nuts or grains? No, she doesn't like those. Then, something came to my mind... This marble bread was just an impromptu creation (thanks to my little one :D) by preparing two separate doughs, one with cocoa powder, the other with milk powder. The rest is the same as normal loaf bread making. 

1.

Ingredients: you need to prepare 2 sets of dough, one with the cocoa powder, the other with milk powder; make the 'white' dough first, otherwise, the chocolate dough will mess up with the white dough later.

       high protein flour (bread flour)  --150g x2

       active dry yeast  --2g x2

       cocoa powder/ milk powder --8g

       egg    --20g x2

       butter --10g x2

       sugar --15g x2

       salt     --1g x2

       warm milk (approx. 40°c) --80g x2

  

2.  Add all ingredients (except butter) into the bread mixer. Knead until the dough becomes quite smooth, add in butter. Continue kneading until the dough becomes very smooth and non-sticky. For detailed explanation on kneading, refer to http://xuanmummyrecipe.blogspot.com/2015/06/banana-bread.html steps 3-5

3. 

To check whether the dough is ready for proofing, expand a corner of the dough into a thin layer and poke a hole using your finger. Your dough should look like this. If your dough is inexpansible or breaks without forming holes (not elastic), knead by hand for a little longer. Make sure your dough is smooth and soft (not too dry). 

4.Then, put the dough in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap or damp cloth for the first proofing. It should take about an hour for the dough to grow double. Repeat 1-4 for the chocolate dough.

5.

After the first proofing is done for both sets of dough, take the dough out and knock the air out. Divide each dough into two balls. Cover them with plastic wrap. Rest for 10-15 minutes. This is to stabilize the dough for easier shaping later.









6.

Use a rolling pin, expand a white dough and a chocolate dough into flat layers. Place the chocolate layer on top of the white layer. Roll them tight. Fold 1/3 of each side, press and roll tight. Then, roll from top to bottom. Repeat the same for the other set of dough. 











7.

Put the shaped doughs into a bread container. Leave some space in between, do not place the doughs too close to each other. This is for the doughs to double in size once more (second proofing).

Thesecond proofing should take 45 minutes.  

For detailed explanation on the second proofing, refer to
http://xuanmummyrecipe.blogspot.com/2015/06/banana-bread.html  step 8









8.

After the second proofing, brush some egg liquid onto the surface of the dough. This will make the skin of your bread shine beautifully :)

Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven at 165°c. Then, bake 35 minutes until golden brown. The loaf should sound hollow when tapped underneath. Cool on a wire rack.

                             Beautiful loaf!

                Yummy!!

《宣妈妈食谱》之 [蛋黄豆沙蒸包/Steamed red bean buns with salted egg yolk]

我女儿遗传了我对豆沙包的钟爱。每周一定会惦念着吃豆沙包。最近，我们经常到一家点心店吃点心，他们家各种款式的蒸包都很好吃。“妈妈，你要学着做哦！”（汗！^^）之前家里做的豆沙包只是纯豆沙馅的。最近做了这款咸蛋黄豆沙蒸包，口感确实很不错！朋友们经常问我，豆沙馅是自己做的吗？不是。原因：懒！而且做出来的馅不够细滑。其实豆沙馅要细滑，用油量是不可避免的其中一个重点。我这是眼不见为净，哈哈！

Ingredients:

A) for the dough (to make 8 buns)

       pao flour (if can't find pao flour , use all purpose flour) --200g

       包粉或以中筋面粉取代
       milk powder --12g  奶粉

       active dry yeast --2g  酵母

       sugar --15g  白砂糖

       warm milk (approx. 40°c) --115g  温鲜牛奶

        B) for the filling (to make 8 buns)

        red bean paste --140g  豆沙馅

       1~2 salted egg yolks  咸蛋黄1~2粒

    

Add all ingredients (A) into the bread mixer. Knead until the dough looks smooth and non-sticky. Then, put the dough in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap or damp cloth for the first proofing. It should take about an hour for the dough to grow double.

将所有材料(A)加入揉面机，揉至面团光滑且不黏手。然后将面团置于干净的大碗中，用保鲜膜或湿布盖好，进行一次发酵。面团需发到两倍大，大概需时1小时。

Take the dough out and knock the air out for 30 seconds by bashing and squashing it. Divide the dough into eight balls. Cover them with plastic wrap. Rest for 10-15 minutes. This is to stabilize the dough for easier shaping later.

一次发酵完毕，将面团取出排气。再分成8份揉成小面球。用保鲜膜或湿布盖好，醒面10-15分钟。如不醒面，擀面时面皮会收缩。

Divide the red bean paste and egg yolk(s) into 8 portions. Press the egg yolk into each red bean ball.

将豆沙馅分成八份，揉成小球。再将咸蛋黄分成八份。

Seal the egg yolk into the red bean ball.

将蛋黄压入豆沙球中，揉成小球。

Take a dough ball. Use a rolling pin to expand the dough into a flat round layer. Place the red bean ball (with egg yolk inside) in the middle of the dough. Seal up the dough and place the smooth side facing up. 

Meanwhile, heat up the steamer to about 40°c (do not boil the water). Then turn off the gas. It's for the 2nd proofing purpose.

取一个小面团，用擀面杖擀成圆形的面皮。尽量擀至中间厚边缘薄。将豆沙球置于面皮中间，虎口收面皮，光滑的一面向上。

与此同时，将蒸锅温热至40°c左右，熄火。准备做二次发酵。

Put the sealed dough in a cupcake mould. You can go without the mould by simply placing a small piece of oil paper underneath the dough ball.

将做好的包子生坯放入模具中。也可不放入模具，用油纸垫底。

Place all the dough balls in the warm steamer (keep gas turned off), cover the lid. Proof for 30 minutes. The picture shown is after proofing, you can see the doughs have grown much bigger, at least 1.5 times bigger.

将所有生坯放入已温热的蒸锅里(不开火)，盖上锅盖，进行二次发酵30分钟。图片中的生坯已做好二次发酵，发了至少一倍半。

After proofing for 30 minutes, turn on the gas, boil the water and steam for another 12 minutes (medium heat). When done, do not open the lid immediately. Keep the lid closed for 1 more minute. Then, the buns are ready to serve hot or warm.

二次发酵完毕，将水烧开后中火蒸12分钟。蒸好后别马上开盖，焖一分钟。出锅后即可食用。

The bun texture is fluffy and soft. The egg yolk adds an extra flavour to the bun. We love eating red bean paos! 

发酵是制作包子最重要的步骤。包子发得好，包皮会很松软。咸蛋黄也为此款豆沙包锦上添花，味道好极了！

《宣妈妈食谱》之 [香蕉蛋糕 / Banana Cake]

香蕉蛋糕是我最爱吃的一款蛋糕之一。主要是香蕉烤出来的香气太迷人，制作工序简单，无需打发蛋白。小时候我有个癖好，吃香蕉蛋糕时喜欢蘸着Milo饮料一起吃...绝配呀！每次可以吃很多！脂肪也因此而囤积了不少哈哈...！后来有了健康意识，蛋糕渐渐变成了奢侈品。再后来，自己学会做蛋糕了，偶尔还是会做做吃吃，并把糖和黄油用量减少或以其他材料取代。此款香蕉蛋糕，我用红糖取代白砂糖，用菜油取代黄油，而且用量是正常的2/3，总算是自我安慰吧！但香蕉用量是有增无减的哈！

《宣妈妈食谱》之[牛奶香橙面包 / Orange buns]

My family loves bread. We have been eating bread for breakfast for more than a decade now. Not surprisingly, our dietary habit has influenced our daughter greatly.

One morning, while having normal breakfast, I incidentally grabbed a plastic bread bag and read the nutrition facts label. Then I realized how much additives and preservatives we had consumed indirectly for over a decade! That was when I started my bread making journey. Since then, we hardly buy breads from stores. Yes, I make breads/buns almost every day. Our flour consumption is about 6kg per month.

These orange buns are one of my daughter’s favorite. That’s why I decorated mayonnaise on the buns :) If you like healthier choice, go for sesame seed or almond slice. Orange buns are just a variation from raisin buns. You may also knead in dried cranberries or walnut. This time, I preferred not to knead in the orange peel but roll it in. Take a look and enjoy reading...

  * For making loaf bread, click the link and read step 4
  http://xuanmummyrecipe.blogspot.com/search/label/%E9%A6%99%E8%95%89%E9%9D%A2%E5%8C%85

《宣妈妈食谱》之[蒸芋头糕 / Yam Cake]

     最近经常想起十几年前在老家古晋吃的芋头糕。那时，有位同事推荐一位阿姨做的芋头糕，好吃极了！我们时常团购，一买就是一大盘。现在想起来，好馋啊！之后，我到他乡工作一转眼就是十几年，一直吃不到当年芋头糕的味道。咸中带点辣，虾米量多料足，糕体不硬也不软，而且还能吃到粉粉的芋头颗粒。这就是我要吃的芋头糕！既然找不到梦寐以求的芋头糕了，只好尝试自己动手做。没想到，成品竟也还相当满意哈哈…

《宣妈妈食谱》之[香蕉面包 / Banana bread]

Banana is one of my favorite ingredients in the kitchen. I started searching for the recipes for banana bread last year, but I found out most banana bread recipes were too fatty, and they looked more like ‘cake’ instead of ‘bread’. The ingredients suggested were all purpose flour, baking soda and lots of butter and sugar. By trial and error, my loaf of banana bread finally turned out to be healthier and it had the ‘bread’ texture :)