TBB: Crumpets (p. 433)

Weather has been very very hot lately.. it's getting hotter year by year. So I didn't feel like making these either.. I don't feel like standing by the stove actually...but I didn't have a electric griddle..so no choice.  

Here is the bubbly batter next to the pineapple and pomelo.

I took whatever ring I had.. I think it was too high..but I really can't be bothered to go searching for the other rings.. too hot and humid to want to do that..

Almost ready...  this is the last crumpet that looks decent enough..the rest I either burnt them or flipped them too soon and they lost all the bubbles.. 

You can see from the top, the first batch no bubbles...cos not enough heat. I find that the fire cannot be too low.

Then the 2nd row..the fire too big..and burnt the crumpets..

and the last row..just right.. but I ran out of batter.....

After that I was the only one who tried it plain as I was rushing out of the house almost immediately after making them... Nobody wants to eat them.. I think they are still in the fridge after 3 days...untouched..    Flavor wise is quite nice actually...chewy..  

TBB: Babka (p454)

No left over cake .. I should have read the recipe before I ate up the final 2 slices of pound cake that I made earlier!!  And I couldn't find the almond paste that I bought anywhere in the fridge only to realise that I left it in the office fridge.   I didn't want to bake another cake nor did I have the time to go down to the baking speciality store to buy the almond paste again...   So when I saw I still had leftovers of the Mini Breton, I decided to use them..since they have almonds in them also right?  :p

I used this blender just because it was already on the countertop..too lazy to bring out the other blender. When you live in a tiny apartment, every corner of space is limited, so you'll tend to squeeze everything into cabinet until there is not an inch of space left.. but that also means that when you need something, you will have to remove everything in there to take that piece of equipment out!

Blend into paste that looks like nutella.  I added some rum because it was slightly dry.. I think I should have just used nutella perhaps? 

Moving this log into the pan was not easy!! In the end it was lopsided....one side higher than the other side...because I didn't read the part about overlapping 2"..until after I baked it.. --

Baked & butter glazed.

After I ate a slice, I realised I used salted butter to glaze..it was salty! And not only just used salted butter for the glaze but throughout the recipe! Aiya...  But it's ok..so I have a Babka that is salty-sweet. LOL!  The chocolate filling is quite nice with hint of rum. Overall, I like this bread.  

However, I find that it doesn't keep well overnight..it doesn't taste as good as when it is freshly baked.  

TBB: Irish Cream Scones with Raspberry Butterscotch Lace Topping

Very easy to put together. Moist in the inside and crusty on the outside. Perfect Scones!

TBB: Flaky Cream Cheese Scones

These are very good. With crisp flaky crust and yet tender on insides.  I love them!  Everyone in my family said these are so good.  Plus these are so easy to make. 

Make the scones by hand.. rubbing in method.

I used orange zest and raisins. 

Press into 9" pan and refrigerate till firm.

After cut into 8 x wedges.

Baked.. and Eat. 

Couldn't wait for it to cool down. Just have to eat right away.

BB: Beer Bread

This is a very easy bread to make.  

I wasn't sure what beer to use and had discussion with Jeniffer and Catherine on Facebook as to what type of beer to use.  Finally I decided to use this Kilkenny Irish Beer which my husband said is half-light-half dark (?.. how to describe it correctly? I am not a beer drinker..)  The left over beer I pour into a glass for my husband to drink. I sipped a bit..(otherwise hives will pay a visit soon) and I find this beer quite mild and not too bitter.  

Notice the KA bread flour? 

Ya.. I bought another packet..and this time it was ok..so I used it for this beer bread. 

I had extra sourdough left over so I threw it into the dough as well and mixed together. :p

After mixing and leave to proof

I baked into 2 small boules.

Quite a flavorful and nice bread. Easy to make too. Except somehow I can still taste the beer. There is a slight bitter after-taste of the beer when I eat the bread. Maybe I always eat bread on its own without any butter or jam..so the flavor was more pronounced?  My husband ate some and said it was good. He said the slight beer taste is not really noticeable.  

I need to learn to eat bread with cheese, butter, jam etc.. and not as a snack like I always do.  Actually, I have a very bad habit .. I like to eat the crust of the bread and not in the inside of the bread. :P  Now that I bake my own bread, I force myself to eat everything. Otherwise, I will be eating only the crust and throwing away the insides. I prefer crusty part more...more chewy and crunchy.  That's why I say I like crunchy apples.. crunchy unripe persimmons, crunchy peach, crunchy pears... you get the idea... 

TBB: Whole Wheat Walnut Loaf

I don't know what happened my my bread. Can you see that the bottom of the bread is very dense?  I used baking stone..but still this happened.  This is my first time baking with Whole Wheat flour.  I don't know if it is because it is whole wheat or what.. but this is the first time I baked a bread that feels like cross between a door-stopper and brick. It's so heavy and hard that if you throw it at someone, you can actually hurt that person. LOL!   I also felt like I wasted a lot of my walnuts in this bread.. such a waste because nobody wants to eat it. 

The only person that is eating it is ME! Even though I keep saying it is dense and heavy but I couldn't stop eating it..lol!  It has this flavor that I like and also quite chewy and fun to eat like snack.   But the irony is I am the one who kept complaining about this bread but yet I am also the one who ate the most of it and seemingly quite enjoyed it.  *shrugs*.  It's like a love-hate relationship I have with this bread....lol!    

I bought this flour just for this bread.  Due to the last scare with King Arthur bread flour... I asked my helper to open for me in case there are worms/eggs in there...  esp. when it's expiring in 3 months time..  She's not afraid of worms unlike me. 

  Thankfully it is all clear... :P  

Mix sponge...then i forgot photos in between..

I used this Vital Gluten in case anyone thinks I didn't use this and thus I had that gummy streak at the bottom of my bread. I did also heat up my baking stone for more than 2 hours! 

Waiting for it to be proofed.. oh..maybe is it because I left the dough overnight in the fridge? 

I did notice when it's baking the dough seems to shrink a bit and turned darker.  

Here is the Brick.. .. I mean Bread..  

PS: After 4 days later.. I'm still the only one eating this bread. Somehow strangely, even though I think this bread is a fail but I still like to eat it..and quite addicted to eating it.  Perfect when I feel my mouth is itchy and need something to munch on. Because I am a small eater and have weak tummy, I eat many times a day instead of 3 large meals....so I'm not sure if it is because it is whole wheat or what.. I find it fills up my tummy quite easily and I stay full for quite a while..without looking for food.  Or am I imagining? Maybe all the fibre is undigestable... 

I can't say that I will bake it again though.. but never say never.. !  

BB: Prosciutto Ring

Proscuitto, salami & bacon. 

I bought Hot sopressa but didn't use as I used bacon instead.

Used bacon oil in place of lard. 

The dough was easy to make. I had some sourdough discard and instead of throwing it away, I just mixed into the dough as well..I think about 100g or so. 

All baked. 

Tasted so good! I love the crackly black pepper bits too.

So easy to put together and so tasty.  

Our family finished the bread in just under 1 day. 

Cant' stop eating it ... 

TBB: Classic Brioche

We made this when we made the caramel buns. It's the same recipe. Since this is a Classic Brioche, I guess it's suppose to be plain and eat like a loaf bread?  I wanted to try the traditional brioche shape so I bought the biggest brioche pan..which wasn't very big either.  

So bear with me - if I sound like I am repeating myself all over again. 

Make the sponge...

Pour the flour mixture and leave it for 1-2 hours.

Later mix in the eggs and then butter..and knead till you get stretchy dough.   This stretchy membrane dough is very soft because the weather here is VERY hot.  Everything is melting including me... 

Then proof for 1 hour.. very fast.. cos so humid and hot at our room temperature. 

Then I just dump the whole dough into oil plastic bag. 

I didn't want to take it out to roll again.   I checked the fridge and it puffed up..so I fold inside the bag and then pressed it flat. 

Next morning, I shaped the dough.  I think I am supposed to roll the dough with a smaller side dough and ring it in the centre..but it's not easy to roll a dough that is melting so quickly.  

So I just put a baby dough on top of the mother dough.  The more I look at it, the more it looks like eerrr.....mmmm....  I placed in fridge to proof.  

After 6-7 hours in the fridge proofing, I took out from fridge for it to come to room temperature.

Egg glazed and Into the Oven. Baked for 40mins. I think it is a bit overbaked...I should try 35mins next time. 

Wow.. it ballooned up in the oven.  Lopsided though...hahaha~  

I cannot wait to try, so I broke off the tiny baby brioche to try. 

Next day we eat these for lunch with sunny side up eggs and bacon.

Very soft, rich and buttery.  

  The yellow color reminded me of Panettone.

I should have taken this slice with 2 scoop of ice-cream. 

Delicious ice-cream sandwich ever. :) 

  

BB: Ricotta Loaf

Get all ingredients ready.

Knead for 10mins with mixer. 

The dough looks weird..like it has moon-craters. 

Very hard to handle without breaking apart. I put in the fridge overnight.

Overnight, still looking weird, so I re-rolled again..and it looked alright.

But after proofing at room temperature for 2 hours..the dough looked weird again.

I tried to slash but some parts of the dough came off but I could easily just smear it back again. 

Baked the loaf as instructed. 

The bread tasted like a cross between scone & bread. Tasted good but some what dense and heavy.

I would have preferred if it was made into tiny scones..cos the crust was the most flavorful part, I find. 

This is not like the kind of bread I like. When I think of bread, I think of something fluffy.  It's like how I don't like Banana Bread..and why I prefer Banana Cake.  

  

The next day, the bread is slightly harder and dry.  Another reason why I don't like bread that doesn't last at least 2 days...such wastage because our family won't be able to finish bread in a day.  Plus we like bread cottony soft. 

Or maybe I did something wrong along the way...that caused my bread to turn out like this...?