Rewena Paraoa (Maori bread) For BBBabes

Phew, I finally made my Rewena Paraoa (Maori bread) For BBBabes, I am very late, but I made it. If nothing was wrong with my starter on the first day, or second day, I could have made it before the deadline, which was yesterday, the 29th. I do hope Lien will forgive me for this, as I promised her that I will participate.

I started to make my starter on Sunday afternoon, I followed the recipe to the letter, and was full of hope. Monday evening, nothing happened to my starter, no bubbles, not even one tiny bubble. I saw that my starter turned into somewhat bluish color, and some liquid pooling around the edge. I was worried, and I thought about dumping the whole thing and just start over. Then, I decided to see if the whole starter was actually turned blue, I was so glad it didn't. So, I discarded the top layer including the liquid around the edge, and transfer the bottom layer into another glass jar. I was full of hope once again. But then,  lost my hope (again) the next day as nothing was happened, once again. I was surprised why didn't I just give up?. Perhaps, I was in a state positive mind, which was pretty bizarre considering how easily I give up with things that doesn't work or difficult to do. This time, I told myself maybe miracle would happen on Wednesday! So, on Wednesday morning,  as soon as I got up, I checked my starter. Voila, my starter greeted me with smile. Those bubbles were the pretties I've ever seen in my life (I am exaggerating). I made the bread immediately.

Now, since I discarded some of the starter due to that disturbing color, I did not have the exact amount as needed in the recipe (330 grams). When I knead the dough it was a little bit on the drier side, I assumed that this occur because of the amount of starter I used. To resolved this, I added a little bit of water a spoonful at a time. I didn't really remember how much water it was, as I just went by the feel of what I think was the right dough consistency.

As for the stenciling, I used my fava bean leaf for pattern, then cover it with black sesame seeds. it turned out pretty good. This is probably not the traditional way of making your Rewena Paraoa though, I am sure Lien wouldn't mind that I played around a little bit with the design. 

Texture was really great, as chewy as I like it, with its nice open crumbs, tasted really really delicious  with hint of potato and perfumed with rosemary, so what not to like? 

I'd like to thank Lien for introducing this wonderful Maori bread, thank you. To view for full recipe, please visit Lien at Notitie Van Lien.  

For BBBabes and YeastSpotting!

Blueberry and Sour Cream Muffins

This recipe was given to me on a piece of paper by an old friend of mine, that unfortunately, I have no idea where the recipe came from. I do remember that she got the recipe from her friend, and her friend got it from hers. My guess,  this recipe was passed from friend to friends. Since this is truly a delicious muffins, I pass along this recipe to all of you. I hope you like it.

Blueberry and Sour Cream Muffins
yield 18

150 g butter, softened at room temperature

150 g brown sugar

2 eggs

300 g sour cream

200 g all-purpose flour 

1 tbs baking powder 

60 g roll oats

312 g fresh blueberry

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Line muffin tins with paper cup. Set aside.

Sift all-purposed flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Beat  butter, brown sugar, and sour cream until fluffy, add egg one at a time. Scrape the side of the bowl from time to time if necessary. Turn off the machine.

Using rubber spatula, a or wooden spoon, fold in flour, and roll oats. Then, gently mix in blueberries (so you won't break them). Do not over mix.

Divide among prepared muffin paper cups, bake for 20 - 25 minutes until a tooth pick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Japanese Sweet Bread Filled With Azuki Bean Paste

Our heart still filled with sadness from what has happened in Japan in the last few days.  We all know, it will take years to rebuilt the country, even more years, if that, even possible to erase those horrid images. Despite all that, we shall not lose our hope!

Today, I made Japanese sweet bread filled with Azuki bean paste, one of the many wonderful recipe this country has contribute to our world cuisine. It is through its simplicity, subtleness, and the delicate presentation, Japanese food captures and wins many of our hearts.

Japanese Sweet Bread Filled With Azuki Bean Paste

recipe adapted from Corner Cafe,  Jude, and from Kristy for shaping

1 recipe for basic Japanese sweet dough

1 recipe for Azuki  bean paste  (I chose chunkier version)

milk for brushing

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

Fill a muffin pans with paper cups. set aside.

After the dough has rested for 10 minutes, take one piece of dough, flatten it slightly, then fill with 1 to 2 teaspoons Azuki bean paste. Enclose the filling, then, either go to Kristy's blog on how to shape, or make a simpler one by shaping them into a round ball. Place the bun directly on a paper cup. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Cover muffin pans with clean kitchen towels. Let rest in a warm room temperature for an hour. Reserve any leftover paste for other use.

Preheat oven to 400 F. 

Brush each bun with milk, bake for 12 to 15 minutes until golden.  

For YeastSpotting.

This sweet bread is truly delicious, it so soft, and airy, and texture is pretty delicate. The Azuki bean paste is so delicious, that I wish I could have filled each bread with more then 2 teaspoons.

Stacey's Clementines Olive Oil Cake

I love everything about this cake, the intense yellow color, the fragrant that the citruses give followed by subtle taste of  olive oil, and lastly, the amazingly moist and delicious crumbs,  almost like eating good pound cake. Oh, not to mention the fact that it really feels less guilt of eating it too. If you are a person who enjoy eating cake more then  three times a week (me), then this is a bliss, if you know what I mean.

The recipe comes from Stacey, who once convinced that she didn't like to bake. Not anymore, in fact, she quite likes to bake. She has recipes that she tweaked from other fellow blogger, her favorite restaurant, or most impressively the one she created herself. This Clementines and Olive oil cake is one proof of her creativity. 

As many of recipes I adapted from others, I couldn't help but adding my own twist by adding a little bit of poppy seeds in it. I hope you will like this cake as much as I do. 

Stacey's Clementines Olive Oil Cake

recipe adapted from Stacey's blog

yield 1 loaf cake

1½ cups all-purposed flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt (I used 1/2 teaspoon)

1½ tablespoon poppy seeds, optional (Stacey recipe doesn't have poppy seeds)

3 clementines, zested

zest of 3 clementines

1¼ cups sugar

2 eggs

3/4 cup mild Italian olive oil (I used Spanish extra virgin from TJ's)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 

Brush a 10 inch (4½-inch x 10-inch) loaf pan with olive oil, lay a piece of parchment paper on top, oiled the paper as well. Set aside. 

In a medium bowl, add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, poppy seeds, and clementine zests. Mix well, set aside.

Peel the clementines, place them in the food processor bowl. Process to make a puree or pulpy juice. Measure 2/3 cup of this pulpy juice, set aside any left over for other use (I drank it). Return the pulpy juice to  food processor, add sugar, eggs, and olive oil. Whirl a few seconds until well blended. Pour this mixture into dry ingredients. Using rubber spatula, mix just enough to incorporate the ingredients. Do not overmix. 

Pour the batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes until tooth pick inserted in the middle comes out clean, it's okay if a few crumbs cling to it. Cool completely, serve the next day if you can wait that long. Which, I doubt that will happen.

Cassava (Yuca) Buns

I've made bread using potato, sweet potato, purple potato, pumpkin, butternut squash, but never made cassava bread. For such a long time I have been meaning of making it, but there was always something get it my way. Actually, most often, the steam cassava would get eaten, or tuned into another snack. This time though, my mind was set, and as soon as my cassava ready to be mashed, I immediately prepared the ingredients, this way I wouldn't change my mind again. Glad I finally did it!

The verdict? Faintly hint of cassava was a little disappointment, but then again, in my opinion, cassava itself is almost tasteless if eaten alone. I am not saying that this bun wasn't good. In fact, it was pretty delicious, the texture was tender just like brioche, although not as rich. So, here is the recipe of my first trial on cassava or yuca buns.

Cassava (Yuca) Brioche

makes 12

3 ½ cups all-purposed  flour

2 cups mashed Cassava root, read note below

1 tsp salt

3 tbs sugar

1 ¼ tsp osmotolerant  yeast (I used SAF)

2 large eggs, lighlty beaten

1 cup water

3 tbs unsalted butter

Confectioner's sugar for serving, optional

Place the flour, mashed cassava, salt, sugar, and the yeast in a mixer bowl, stir using a spoon until well mix. Add eggs and water. Knead using dough hook on low speed for 10 minutes. Add butter in three  additions, continue to knead until butter well incorporated, and the dough is elastic and smooth, about 5 minutes more.

Gather the dough into round ball, place it in a large container. Cover with plastic wrap, let it rest for an hour, or until double in size.

Take the dough out from the container, fold into it self once. Let rest for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, brush brioche molds with butter, place them on a baking sheet. If you don't have the mold, you can use muffin tin.

Divide the dough into 12 equal sizes, about 86 to 88 grams each. Shape into roundball, and place it in prepared brioche mold. Repeat until you use up all dough. Cover with a clean kitchen towel, let rest for another hour until double in size.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Bake in the middle rack for 17 to 20 minutes, until nicely brown. Un mold brioches, and let cool on a wire rack. If desire, sprinkle with confectioner's sugar before serving. It's delicious to serve with any kind of jams.

Note:

To make mashed cassava, first you have to peel the tough outer layer bark from the tuber, cut the tuber into a large chunks, then steam until very tender (but, not until mushy). Let it cool completely at room temperature, mashed using food mill, potato masher, or simply using fork will work as well. Please don't use food processor as this will make  gooey, wetter, even rubbery bread.
  

If you never tried cassava or yuca before, and want to learn more about it, Saveur has good article and recipe that you can read.

For YeastSpotting.