Black Sesame Potato Buns

These black sesame potato buns are super light, soft and fluffy.  My family and I like so much. I have been making this recipe for many times because it is really very easy and takes a short time for fermentation. Whenever you feel like making them you can just make it. It tastes as good as the cold sponge dough method, and the texture is as lovely.

This recipe is actually made with reference to an earlier post, refer to here.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

A) 200 g bread flour
70 g plain flour
30 g roasted ground sesame (or sesame powder)
1 teaspoon + 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
70 g fine sugar
3 g salt
10 g milk powder
100 g whole egg
*60 g water (room temperature), do not pour all at once, save 10 g - 15g depends on the moistness of your mashed potato
100 g mashed potato (peel off skin and cut into small pieces, steam till soft, then mash)

B) 50 g soft unsalted butter

C) 10 - 15 g roasted sesame

Method:
1) Beat all ingredients (except butter) until form a dough.  Add butter continue to beat until a smooth and elastic dough is formed.

2) Add in sesame , mix well. Shape into a big ball. Put into a lightly greased bowl, cover with damp cloth. Place in a warm place for 30 minutes.

3)  Punch down the dough and expel  the air.  Divide dough into 30 g portion each. Shape them round and arrange them on a greased baking tray.  Rest for 45 - 60 minutes or until double in size.

4) Glaze with egg wash and bake in the preheated oven at  185 - 190 degree C  for 10 - 15 minutes.

Coffee Walnut Butter Cake

I taste coffee, cocoa and walnut, and bite crunchy roasted walnut pieces in fluffy, moist cake. Very nice... there are dimensions when you bite and the fragrance of coffee and walnut goes well together. The moisture of the cake makes it easier to chew and ingest. No time to describe and share more now, gotta have another bite of the cake once more.


Recipe:

Ingredients:

250 g self-raising flour
250 g butter (room temperature)
190 g brown sugar
5 whole eggs (with shell @60 g each)
1  teaspoon coffee emulco
3 teaspoon Nescafe (mix with 3 teaspoon warm water)
120 g roasted walnut (diced)

1 tablespoon  unsweetened cocoa powder

Method:

1)  Preheat oven to 175 degree C.  Grease an 8" x 8" baking tray and line with parchment paper .
2)  Cream butter and brown sugar till soft and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beat till well mixed.
3)  Add coffee emulco and and Nescafe mixture into (2). Mix well.
4)  Fold in flour and walnut.
5)  Divide batter into 2 portions,  one portion add in coco powder and mix well.
6)  Alternatively pour plain batter and cocoa batter into the baking pan until batter is all used up.
7)  Bake for 45 - 50 minutes.

Delicious braised duck with young ginger and vinegar --焖酸醋子姜鸭

This is my best friend's "si fang cai"（私房菜). When  she introduced  this dish to me some years ago, I was not really keen because I only like roast duck. But, but.... after tasted it Oh! It was really awesome! You will love it and drool for more if you are a ginger lover.  In order not to blow the trumpet and boast too much here, the recipe is below and if you really believe me and keen, give it a try and hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Just a friendly reminder, please cook extra rice on that day.

Recipe:

Ingredients:
1 naked duck (about 2 kg -2.200 kg)
500 g- 600 g young ginger
A small bottle  of white vinegar
2 pip garlic - chopped
*1 tablespoon sugar
*1 tablespoon oyster sauce
*1 teaspoon salt
*1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1/2 bowl water or more
some cornstarch water for thickening

* Adjust to adapt to your taste buds

METHOD:
1)  Wash, clean and remove the skin  of the ginger. cut the ginger into big pieces and use the side of the knife to bash each piece lightly .  Marinade with  some salt (about 1 to 1.5 tablespoon) for half an hour. Wash away the salt with hot water and drain.  Put ginger in a bowl, pour vinegar just enough to cover all the ginger. Cover  and leave for two (2) days at  room temperature.

2) Wash and remove  the fat of the duck. Use boiling water to shower the whole duck. Pat dry with kitchen tissue, cut into big pieces.

3) Heat up oil in a wok, saute garlic till light brown and aroma, pour in the duck and fry till the meat has changed the colour (the external of the meat is cooked ), add in ginger and and vinegar (do not pour all the vinegar into the wok at once,  save  1/3 of the vinegar for later use if you find that the gravy/sauce is not sour enough).

4) Add 1/2 bowl of  water, sugar, salt, oyster sauce and dark soy sauce, simmer over low heat until the meat is tender.  Keep stirring occasionally. You may add more dark soy sauce if you want the colour to be darker.  Also adjust your taste liking.

5) Thicken  with some cornstarch . Serve while hot with rice.

Verdict: .best eaten a day after.

Watermelon Look- Alike Raisin Bread

Saw this cute and interesting bread from this link. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diUDQmlOQfI)  I really like it so much and it is truly awesome!  So today I can't wait any longer, I gathered all the ingredients and started.

I always like Carol's recipe because I find it is easier to manage. So this watermelon look-alike bread I had used her Milk Toast basic bread recipe. I am delighted to see the end product - a soft, fluffy and moist texture.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

320 g bread flour

1 medium egg (about 50 g)

3/4 teaspoon  instant dry yeast

50g unsalted butter (room temperature)

1/2 teaspoon salt

20 g fine sugar (I used 30 g)

160 c.c. milk

3/4 cup raisins

green food colouring

red food colouring

Method:

1) Place all the ingredients into a mixing bowl,except butter and raisins. Beat until a dough is formed. 

Add in butter to beat till an elastic and smooth dough is formed.

2)  Divide dough into 3 portions,  1/2 for red (about 300g), 1/4 (about 150 g) for green and the  other 

1/4 (about 150 g) is original (no add colour).

3) Add red food colour to the largest portion of dough and knead until combined, add in 3/4 cup pf raisins until raisins are incorporated into the dough.  Place in a lightly oil container, cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot to rise until doubled in size (about  45 - 60 minutes).

4) Add green colour to one the 1/2 portion of dough.  Cover  with plastic wrap and leave to rise until doubled in size,  The remaining half portion do not need to add colour, also cover with wrap and leave to rise  until doubled in size.

5) Once the dough have doubled in size, place the red dough on the table lightly dusted with flour.  Punch down to remove air bubbles and roll into a log shape.  The length of the red log should be the length of the bottom of the bread pan.

6)  Roll out the white dough with a rolling pin until large enough to completely cover the red log.  Brush some milk on the white dough and then wrap the white piece around the red log.  Make sure the red is covered and pinch the seams firmly to seal .

7)  Roll  out the green piece of  dough until large enough to cover the white log shape. Brush with some milk and wrap completely around the white log, pinch the seams firmly to seal.  Place the log into a greased loaf pan ( I used  5" x 9" x 3"ht). Cover with  plastic wrap and leave to proof for 60 minutes or doubled in size.

8) Bake in a preheated oven at 170 degree C for 35 - 38 minutes. 

9) Remove from oven and demould immediately,  let it cool on the rack.

Does it look like a poster?