Fresh from the oven!

Before filling the puffs and after filling it.
Was on a baking spree today, abit tiring but alot of satisfaction. The bread and pastry came out just fine. Not as fine as the top artisan but at this stage it is just fine. taking it step-by-step, have to learn to walk before you run. After today, i realise my kitchen was quite incomplete but nevertheless i am able to finish what i wanted to bake today. I tried out cream-puff, tuna buns and red bean paste buns.

Recipe for cream puff.
for the choux pastry:
200ml milk
90g butter
1/2 tsp salt
120g sifted flour
4 medium sized eggs

Put the milk, butter and salt into a saucepan and bring it to the boil. when it starts to boil remove from heat and throw in the flour all at once and start stirring with a wooden spoon until it is smooth (until here is quite easy). return to heat and keep stirring until it forms like a soft pastry dough. remove from heat and let it cool down a little. Now to work your arm muscles. add one egg to the mixture and stir hard until combine, it is hard in the begining but keep on stirring until it is mix through then add the other eggs one at a time, each time allow it to be mix through. now the paste is ready to be put on to a tray lined with baking sheet. i just scoop out with a tablespoon, if you want you can use a piping bag to do this. it makes about 15 'puffs'. Bake it at 200C on medium shelf until it puff up, some goes like a balloon, then bake it at 170C until it is cook, about 20 minutes i reckon. i did not look at the time, i just check with a skewer. it should be light and hollow.

For the filling, it is your canvas. the puff goes with anything sweet. i filled mine with custard, jam and lemon filling. make sure the puffs are completely cooled then cut open a gap in the middle to spoon in your fillings. sprinkle icing sugar on the cream puffs and serve.

My second batch i tried out the basic sweet bread recipe from the net.

Recipe:
210g milk
1 egg lightly beaten
400g strong flour
60g castor sugar
50g salted butter
2 tsp bread improver (optional)
2 tsp yeasts

The fillings: i made mayo-tuna for half of my buns and red bean paste for the other half.

the tuna filling i used, half of a large onion diced finely, and 2 cloves of garlic diced finely. A can of tuna in spring water, drained really well and i used japanese mayo, the amount of mayo is really up to you. combine everyhting together.

the red bean paste i made in advanced and kept it in the fridge. contact me for the red bean paste recipe. i can't remember it now hehehe. (*@>@*) embarassed...

Measure out the ingredient and put everything in a large mixing bowl. I started kneading with a bowl scrapper to bring everything together. when it is mixed to turn it out onto the lightly floured table and work on my kneading skills again. if it gets too sticky add a llttle flour again. but becareful not to add too much, your bread will get hard when it is baked. work the gluten until it no longer sticks to you hands. Dust the bowl with some flour and let the dough proof in it until it has doubled. cover the bowl tightly with cling wrap. The proofing time depends on the temperature, the best proofing temperature i think is about 30-35C. After it has double, degas it (just push down the dough with your fist) then divide the dough into 15 portions and rest it for a while so it will be easier to work on. take one portion of the dough and roll it out into a triangle shape, put some tuna filling at the base and start rolling from the base. this makes it look like croissant. for the red bean paste i just filled it up the normal way. flatten the dough and wrap the roll the red bean paste that has been rolled into a ball. Rest the buns on the baking tray lined with baking paper for 30-40 minutes or until it has risen again. Now glaze it with a lightly beaten egg to make the baked buns shiny and retains it moisture better (can keep longer before it goes hard and terrible). If you like you can sprinkle some sesame seeds on top of the glazing. I used poppy seeds for the tuna buns and sesame seeds for the red bean paste buns.

Baked the buns at 200C for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. It is important not to over bake it. if you over bake the buns the glazing will burn and the bread could become too dry. Try to resist eating before the buns are cooled. i learnt my lesson by nearly burning my tongue. The buns smell really good and i gave in to temptation. The buns from thei recipe is the lightest and softest amongst the others i tried.
- Happy baking...