Peter Reinhart's Challah

I actually made this Challah while back when I saw a post by Marlene Newell on Michael Rulhman's blog. She adapted the recipe from "Artisan Breads Everyday" by Peter Reinhart, which fortunately I happen to own this book as well. Although I make Challah on a regular basis, I never really used Peter Reinhart's book. So this time, I thought I gave it a try. 

I halved the recipe as the original recipe will yield 2 large loafs, which would be too much for our small family. I absolutely couldn't get over how delicious it was, it was really similar to brioche that almost everyone adore. Having said that, you may not too surprise to learn how many egg yolks actually needed for the recipe (I used 5 extra large). The recipe also used oil, which I never really did on my challah. Now you understand why I like it, eggs, honey, oil, no wonder it was that good. I can assure you that from now on I am going to use this recipe whenever I need to bake Challah.  

Tempted, and want to make this Challah? Well, you can either purchase Peter Reinhart's book or books, or go to Michael  Ruhlman's blog for the recipe. Thanks Marlene Newell who made me tempted to try the recipe. If she didn't post this Challah, I would probably never made it! Lastly, thanks to you all for reading this. 

Worth to share with YeastSpotting gals!

Rosemary-Lemon Knot Rolls

This aromatic roll is incredibly delicious, not just delicious it's fragrant as well. If you are a regular reader of my blog, you probably notice that I always attracted to anything fragrant. I can not believe how easy, quick, and no hazle it was to make a such delicious roll, all ingredients were within my reach, and I made it in a flash. As soon as it came out from the oven, I took a few photos immediately so I can share it with you before it really disappear completely. When I type this post, I had already eaten 4 rolls. It was that good! And you must take my word for it. The recipe came from Donna Hay's Rosemary Bread rolls that I have been meaning of making it for such a long time. Like most of you, I too like to adapted the recipe to my own personal taste. Of course you have the choice of using her recipe,  or you are very welcome to use my adaptation. Oh, one last thing, I think I'd double the recipe next time, because if I can eat more then 4 rolls, God knows how many of this roll my husband will eat. Hope you like it.

Rosemary-Lemon Knot Rolls

recipe adapted from Donna Hay's

make 8

2 teaspoons dried yeast (I used SAF Yeast)

1 cup (250ml) water

2½ cups (375g) bread flour

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

a few sprigs of rosemary

For sprinkling and brushing

Zest from half lemon, or more

1/2 tsp finely chopped rosemary

1/2 tsp coarse sea salt

1 tsp olive oil

Place dried yeast, flour, and sea salt in a mixer bowl. Using a spoon mix this ingredients together, then add water, and olive oil. Knead using a dough hook attachment on low speed for 5 to 10 minutes until the dough is elastic. Turn off the machine. Gather the dough into a ball, place it in a lightly grease container, cover, let rest for an hour.

Take the dough out from container, fold onto itself once. Divide into 8 equal portions, roll into ball, place it on a baking sheet, top the middle with rosemary sprig.  Repeat with the rest of the dough in the same manner. Cover the rolls with clean kitchen towel, let rest for an hour. If you want to  shape  it into knot rolls instead of round rolls, check out this video on how to.

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Mix lemon zest, finely chopped rosemary, and coarse sea salt in a small bowl. Set aside.

Just prior to load the rolls into oven, brush each with olive oil, then sprinkle some rosemary-lemon mixture. Bake 15 to 20 minutes until golden.

For YeastSpotting.

Russian Black Bread, For BBB Third Anniversary

Viewing the archives that Karen and Natashya posted on each of their blogs, left me feel on a baking mood, excited and almost a little bit overwhelmed kind of feeling, in a good way though. Those were the lists of bread that BBB had been baking for the past three years.  There were too many delicious sounding bread that I wanted to make, but I knew I had to choose one and concentrated with my choice of making it rather then let my overwhelmed feeling took over my brain, or else I would be late to celebrate this event. 

As some of you might already knew, today is  the Third BBB's Anniversary. I'd like to participate for this celebration by baking what I enjoyed most, bread. I chose a special bread that most captured my mood, and also the one that sounded pretty delicious. Russian Black Bread, hosted by Görel from Grain Doe on August 2009. There were other reasons why I wanted to make this bread. First, I never really made this particular bread before; secondly, I am just starting to really really like baking bread with rye flour;  lastly and most importantly, my father in law loves Rye Bread, it would be nice if I  am able to make a good homemade Rye bread for him each time he comes to visit. 

I used Görel's recipe as directed, but adding cocoa powder, caraway, anise, and black sesame seeds, but omitted the shallots. Since, I couldn't figure out how much cocoa powder I needed, I gambled by adding about 4 tablespoon which was probably a little too much, I was pretty nervous that I could potentially ruined my bread. Gladly, I did not! In fact, my bread came out absolutely beautiful,  it had delicious aroma (thanks to cocoa, coffee, molasses and from the seeds), delicious of course. So, here is to BBB, Happy Third Anniversary!

Meringue Heart With Citrus Curd-Cream For Valentine's Day

For those who doesn't really fond of chocolate, Claire Clark's Meringue Heart might be perfect to serve for Valentine's day.  She serve this meringue with cream chantilly and crushed raspberries, then decorate it with summer berries. Since I see plenty of citrus at the market and they are sweet and juicy, plus inexpensive,  I took the opportunity to make a good use of this fruit. Use any fruit that are in season  in your area, because they will taste at their  best. If you want to splurge a little, go wild, use any kind of fancy exotic fruit you can find, after all, this is a special occasion, and you make it for your love one, right?

Meringue Heart For Valentine's Day

recipe adapted from Claire Clark's Indulge

make 2 hearts

For the meringue

3 medium egg whites

1 tsp lemon juice

6 oz caster sugar (superfine sugar)

Preheat oven to 225 degrees F.

Lightly oil a baking sheet, then lay a piece of parchment paper,  press it down well.

Prepare a piping bag and fitted with 1/4 inch (5 mm) plain nozzle.

In an impeccably clean mixer bowl, add the egg whites, lemon juice, and 1/3 of the sugar. Beat until they form firm peak, add another 1/3 of sugar and continue to beat for another 2 to 3 minutes. Add the remaining sugar, mix just enough to incorporate them.

Transfer the meringue into prepared piping bag. pipe two heart shapes, fill in the center by following the shape of the hearts until full. Starting on the outer side of the heart, pipe another line on top follow the original shape, repeat the process so you will have three tiers that the outside egde is higher then the middle.

Bake the hearts in the center oven for 40 to 50 minutes, until the outside is set. Do not overbake the base,  the least you want is having the center totally dry. Leave to cool on the baking sheet.

Citrus Curd

1 large meyer lemon

5 small (size about 1½ inch diameter) tangerines

3 egg yolk

2 oz caster sugar*

* when in season, citruses are quite sweet. If you think that is too acid, increase the amount of sugar to you liking.

Squeeze out the juice of  Meyer lemon and tangerines (you will have about 1/3 cup of tangerine juice) directly into a sauce pan, add sugar, and bring to a gentle boil.

In another bowl, whisk the egg yolk.

When the citrus juice has come to a gentle boil, slowly pour into the egg yolk, keep whisking while you are doing this. Return the mixture into sauce pan, set the heat to low, and continue to whisk and cook until its thicken enough to leave a trail on the surface of a wooden spoon. Do not let it to become a boil. Transfer to a clean bowl, cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin forming. Cool completely.

To serve

Simply whip heavy cream with a little sugar, then fold in citrus curd. Fill the center of each heart with it, decorate with fruit of your choice. Enjoy!

Semolina - Orange Small Tea Cakes

Simple tea cakes perfumed with orange zest, and orange blossom water to give the cakes a bit of Middle Eastern flavor. They are delicious companion for  tea or coffee, and enjoy them outside with friends or families. I served these cakes with simple vanilla poached kumquats, the syrup from the poaching liquid make the cake even moister, but any kind of poached fruit will be good, or if you don't want the trouble of making poached fruit, simply serve them plain. Delicious nonetheless. 

Orange - Semolina Cake

makes 6 - 8 

2/3 cup sugar

3 eggs

2 tbs butter, melted - cooled

1 tbs (more or less) butter for  the molds

1 tbs orange zest

1 tsp orange flower water

2/3 cup semolina flour

2/3 cup almond meal

2 tsp poppy seeds

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

Preheat ove to 350 degrees F.

Grease each mold with butter, dust with flour, tap excess flour.

Place sugar, eggs, melted butter, orange zest, and orange flower water in a medium bowl, mix to combine.

In another bowl, add semolina flour, almond meal, baking powder, and salt. Mix using a hand whisk, just to combine.  Pour the egg mixture, and fold using  rubber spatula, just enough to incorporate the ingredients together. Divide the batter among prepared molds. Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden. Un-mold, let cool completely on a wire rack before serving.

Pineapple Sweet Buns With Homemade Pineapple Jam

For YeastSpotting!

Ever curious each time you visit Chinese or Japanese market and look at the bakery section, and seeing all those soft and fluffy mouth watering display of bread/bun ? It happen to me all the time. Always  tempted, but never had the courage to buy it, especially after I heard that  the factory made buns are full of unfamiliar ingredients. Luckily, my curiosity ended, when I saw this post. Now, I can always make it in my own kitchen. Thank you Mister. 

As the title suggested, this version of mine filled with delicious homemade pineapple jam. I was surprised to learn that the original pineapple bread was nothing to do with pineapple, nor that the filling contain pineapple. Although, in some cases, you might find pineapple bun filled with red bean paste. Regardless filled or not, pineapple or red bean, it was definitely scrumptious and glad that I made it. 

Pineapple Buns With Homemade Pineapple Jam

make 16 buns 

1 recipe for basic Japanese style sweet bun

1 recipe for homemade pineapple jam, recipe follows

1 egg yolk

1 to 2 tsp milk

sesame seeds for topping, optional

Follow the recipe for  basic Japanese style soft bun as directed through step #3.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment papers. Set aside 

After the dough has rested for 10 minutes, fill each dough with 1 teaspoon pineapple jam, enclose the filling, and shape into a round ball. Place the bun on a baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Cover the baking sheets with clean kitchen towel. Let rest in a warm room temperature for an hour.

Preheat oven to 400 F. 

Make egg wash by combining egg yolk and milk. Brush each bun with this egg wash, sprinkle sesame seeds if desire. 

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

For Pineapple Filling :

665 gr fresh, peeled, and cored pineapple

40 gr sugar

1 stick cinnamon (or, 1 tsp ground cinnamon)

2 whole  cloves

Cut pineapple into a large chunks, puree  in a food processor. Transfer the puree into a medium size pan. Place the pan over medium heat, cook until all liquid evaporated, about 30 minutes. If its splashing to much during cooking, you can lower the heat to medium low, and obviously you also need to adjust the cooking time as well. Once the liquid has evaporated, add sugar, lower the heat to low, cook  and stir from time to time until you have the consistency of a thick jam, about 15 minutes. Take it out from the heat, let cool completely. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic, then refrigerate until ready to use. This recipe make enough to fill 16 buns.

Chocolate Meringue Cake. For Valentine's Day!

Just a simple idea for the Valentine's day. It's surprisingly uncomplicated to make, and unlike most cake that read "cool completely before serving", but, this recipe said, "cool for  30 minutes before cutting serving it". I think I like that!

Chocolate Meringue Cake

recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

make one 9-inch cake

For The Cake:

10 tbs butter + more for the pan

3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

6 large eggs, separated

12 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted

1 vanilla bean, scraped the bean or use 1 tbs pure vanilla extract

1 tbs rum

pinch of salt

For The meringue:

1 cup lightly toasted hazelnut, roughly chopped

4 oz bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

1 tbs cornstarch

4 large egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1 cup superfine sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter  a 9-inch cake pan, sprinkle a little bit of flour all over the pan, tap off the excess. Set aside.

To make the cake: place butter and brown sugar in a mixer bowl, using paddle attachment beat until light and fluffy. Add egg yolk one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the melted chocolate, vanilla, and rum. Mix just to combine.

In another clean mixer bowl, place the egg whites and salt. Beat using a whisk attachment for about 2 minutes or until a soft peak form. Turn off the machine. Mix in about a third of the of meringue to melted chocolate mixture, then gently fold in the rest. Pour into prepared pan, and bake for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile make the meringue: in a medium small bowl, combine roughly chopped hazelnut, chopped chocolate, and cornstarch. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites, and cream of tartar until frothy. With the machine still running, slowly add superfine sugar. Continue to beat for about 8 minutes until stiff peak form. Turn off the machine,  fold in the hazelnut mixture. 

To assemble the cake: remove the cake from oven, using an offset spatula spread the meringue on top of the cake. Return the cake to the oven, continue to bake for another 25 to 30 minutes until the meringue is lightly brown and crisp.

Take  the cake out from oven, transfer to a wire rack and let it cool in a pan for about 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen and release it from the pan. Cool for about 30 minutes before serving.