Salami and cheese stuffed Fougasse

 I wanted to try something new. I made Fougasse bread for lunch. Fougesse is a classically thin plain bread and flatbread mostly in the shape of a leaf.

Actually you can make your own Fougesse. Add some herbs such as rosemary or thyme in to the dough. Add more filling such as olives, feta cheese and anything. 

I made it without herbs and spices for kids. 

Salami and cheese stuffed Fougesse

(Makes 2)

Bread

Flour 200g 

Salt 1 tea spoon

Instant yeast 1tea spoon

Olive oil 20g 

Water (luke-warm) 120g 

Filling 

Salami, Grated cheese, cherry tomato, Capsicum and whatever you like

Extra

Olive oil

Coarse salt 

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the bread ingredients. Mix it with a spoon or spatula until combined. Turn out on flour board, wet hands and knead until fully incorporated.

2. Put the dough into the lightly oiled container with a cover. Let it proof for 1-1.5 hours until it becomes double size.

3. While the bread is rising, prepare the fillngs. Chop and put them aside. 

4.  Pour the dough on the floured board, divide into half evenly. Make it a rough ball, and rest it for 20 minutes.

5. Roll the dough out on a floured surface to a  rough rectangle. Keep the rolling pin and surface floured to prevent sticking.

6. Transfer the dough to baking paper. Top the fillings on the half of the dough. 

Fold over to cover the filings, and pinch to seal. Use a pizza cutter or butter knife to slit the dough. 

7.Rise is 30-40 mins. 

8.  Preheat the oven at 200℃.

Brush olive oil and sprinkle coarse salt on top of the bread.

9. Bake it for 20-25mins until golden brown.

Chocolate terrine for Valentine's Day

What do you expect on Valentine's Day? 

Do you get the rose from your boyfriend or husband? It is common that boys send gift or flowers to girls in the world. But it is different in Japan. 

Girls send CHOCOLATE to boys on Valentine's Day. 

Why it happen? 

Valentine's Day is came from other country. It was not popular back to 1970's in Japan. One chocolate company Tried to do marketing to sell their chocolate on Valentine's Day.  They advertised that 「It is a special day called Valentine's Day from abroad, it is a day send your heart and CHOCOLATE」 

Since then, it gets popular and popular between girls. It becomes the day girls give chocolate to boys even between friends. 

Anyway it is a chocolate day on Valentine's Day in Japan now. 

It is simple to make. And it is also gluten free. It is mouth melting texture, rich chocolate. 

I used 70% dark chocolate from Wellington Chocolate factory in Wellington. That is what a gorgeous chocolate cake for my husband!!  

I did' t add any sugar.  I thought the chocolate is sweet enough and I like bitter taste. 

Dark Chocolate Terrine 

(20cm loaf tine)

100g Unsalted butter(chopped)

200g Dark chocolate (chips or buttons or chopped)

3 Eggs (beaten)

70 cc full cream (warm)

1 Tbl Brandy (optional)

Prepare

Line the baking paper on the loaf tin. 

Preheat the oven at 180℃.

1. Place a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Place the butter and chocolate into the bowl. Stir occasionally with a rubber spatula until
melted and became smooth. Use low heat or stop heating, ,try no to burn the chocolate.
2. Take the bowl out from the pan. Add the beaten eggs in to the bowl, combine well with a whisk.
3. Add warmed full cream, combine well with the whisk.  Add the brandy for optional and combine well.
4. Pour over the mixture into the prepared loaf tin. Bake it at 180℃ for 20 Min's. If the center of the loaf is still rubbery, looks not cooked enough.... it doesn't matter.  The chocolate will be settle down once the loaf get coll down.
5. Cool it down on the wire rack. Place it in the fridge until it gets completely cold.
6. Cut and serve it. Warm the knife with hot tap water or boiling water. It is better way to cut the chocolate cakes.

Apple invisible cake - Gateau invisible

It is beautiful summer now in Tauranga. Lots of fruit is on season.... peach, plum, watermelon..... and apples.

I got lots of garden apples from neighbor.  I was thinking to make apple pie or apple crumble as usual. But I had look different idea for the apple baking...something using more apples, less butter....

I found recipe called Gateau invisible.... That is French apple cake.

This cake is made from lots of apples!! more than batter.
It is not rising and fluffy. The batter mixture is like the custard or pudding.
Fold the slices of apples into the batter. That process makes the layer of apples.

Apple invisible cake

6 apples weighing around 120g each

2 large eggs 

50g white sugar

70cc milk 

70g plain flour

50g melted butter

1 vanilla pod or 1 tsp vanilla extract

Icing sugar to dust on the top

Prepare
Shift plain flour.
Put baking paper on the cake tin.
Preheat oven at 180℃.

1. In a large bowl, whisk eggs and white sugar together.
2. Add milk and combine well.
3. Add shifted flour, combine well.
4. Add melted butter and vanilla, combine well.
Leave the bowl aside.
5. Peel apples, and slice thinly. It might better to use the slicer if you have one.

6. Add sliced apples into the mixture. Use a spatula and fold the apples into the mixture gently.  Try not to break the apples.

7. pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin. Try to make the layer of apples.
8. Bake it about 40 - 50 mins.

9. Cool it down. You can cut the cake when it get completely cooled down. It is better to leave it in the fridge at least 2 hours.
10. Dust icing sugar before serve.

Rum raisin cream cheese sandwich cookies

I think I am kind of alcoholic. I always choose rum raisin ice cream at the ice cream shop. I prefer whisky chocolate. I like to use wine or beer to cook meat.

I always keep stock of rum infused dried fruit (raisin and cranberry ) in a jar. I keep to refill dried fruit and rum after use it.

Combination of cream cheese icing with rum raisin between short bread cookies.
This is one of popular modern Japanese dessert recipe.

I made it one bite small size. I add less sugar in the filling. Because the raisin is quite sweet.
Cream melt in my mouth. Yummy cookies.

Rum raisin cream cheese sandwich cookies

Shortbread cookies

360 g Plain flour

90g White sugar

100g Butter(cold and cut into dice)

2 Eggs (beaten)

Cream cheese filling

50g Butter (soften)

200g Cream cheese (soften)

50g icing sugar

100g Rum infused dried fruit

Cookies
1. In the food processor, combine flour and sugar, add butter. Blitz it until all the butter blended with the dry ingredients.
2. Transfer it into a bowl.
Add the eggs, knead it until it becomes dough.
3. Wrap it with the plastic wrap. Place it into the fridge for 30 - 60 mins.
4. On the floured work bench, roll the dough out 5mm thick. Use your favorite cookie mold.
5. Preheat oven 180c.
Bake it 15 mins at 180c.
6. Cool it down.

Filling
1. In the stand mixer, cream butter until it becomes pale. Add cream cheese and icing sugar, cream it together.
2. Add rum raisin. Combine well with the spatula.

Once cookies get cool down, sandwich 1 table spoon of cream filling between 2 shortbread cookies.
Lightly press cookies until the filling reaches to the edge.
Put them into the airtight container, keep in the fridge.

Christmas holiday bread

Christmas is coming soon. I cant believe it will be 6 months since my baby is born. 

My year 2017 was so excited. I got the first baby, I move to Tauranga....my life got new start on 2017. 

This bread's idea is come from Panettone, Italian type of Christmas sweet bread.  It is fermented by wild yeast like sourdough. It is rich and sweet flavor, contained eggs, butter, milk and sugar like fluffy brioche. Added dried  fruit and nuts. 

I made braided shape, and put it into the loaf tin.  You can make it without the tin. It becomes flat braided shape without it. 

I use sourdough starter to proof slowly. It makes strong gluten and more fluffy texture. 

Christmas holiday bread

Make 2

Sourdough starter

200g bread flour

200g water

300g bread flour

50g white sugar

10g salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp ginger powder

2 egg yolk

150cc milk

100g butter (cold and cut into pieces)

100g raisin

100g cranberry

50g orange peel

80g mixed nuts (chopped)

Egg wash

1 egg (beaten)

Prepare
Make sourdough starter.

1. Combine milk and egg yolk, sourdough starter well in the bowl.
In the stand mixer, combine flour and sugar, salt,spices well. Add the liquid ingredient in the stand mixer. Knead it for 10 minutes with dough hook until it gets smooth and elastic. Add cold butter, knead it until all butter combine into the dough. Add dried fruit and chopped nuts, knead it until it gets combined.

2. Transfer the dough in the large bowl. Ferment it with the plastic cover in the fridge for 10 hours or overnight until it gets double-sized.

3. Take the bowl out from the fridge, leave it on the room temperature for 2-3 hours. On the floured surface bench top, deflate the dough briefly. Dived it into 6 pieces, make it rough ball. Leave them for 20 - 30 minutes with the cover to avoid drying out.

4. Make them 30 cm cylinders.

Braid them. Fold over the edges.

 

Transfer it into the loaf tin. Or you can leave it on the baking tray without the tin.

5. Proof it at room temperature with the cover for 1-2 hours until it gets bigger.
Preheat oven at 180 degrees.

6. Brush egg wash on it.
Bake it at 180 degrees for 35 - 40 minutes until it gets golden brown.

7. Cool it down on the wire rack.  Take it out from the tin once it gets cool down.

Matcha green tea cookie

I am just come back from holiday in Japan. I visited my family with my 5 months daughter. I stayed in Japan for only 1 week. I had good time with my family.

I brought back ‘‘matcha‘‘ powder from Japan.

 

Matcha is kind of green tea, it is finely ground powder. We use it in traditional tea ceremony.  And nowadays,  we use it to flavor and dye foods such as ice cream, chocolate, cookies, buns .....any kind of  food.

It is easy to use in the baking stuff.  You need to shift it. It is crumbly like cocoa powder. 

Matcha cookie

100g unsalted butter (cold and cut into pieces)

200g  Plain flour

1 tsp baking soda

100g white sugar

2 tsp matcha powder

1 egg (beaten)

1.Shift match powder first.  In the food processor, combine plain flour and baking soda, sugar, matcha powder. Add cold pieces of butter, process until it becomes crumbly.
2. Transfer it into a bowl. Add beaten egg, make it until it becomes cookie dough. Knead it roughly.
3. Wrap it with the plastic wrap, place it into the fridge for 30 - 60 minutes.
4. Take it out from fridge.
Preheat oven at 180C. Put baking paper on the baking tray.
Roll the dough out 5mm thick. If it is too hard to roll out, leave it at room temperature for a while.
Use your favorite cookie mold to make the shape.

5. Bake it at 180C for 10 - 15 minutes until it becomes lightly brown.
6. Cool down on the wire rack.

Marmalade pull-apart bread loaf

I got a request from my mother in low to make brioche rolls using marmalade jam. She made marmalade jam from the garden orange. We need to use it up before it goes off.

I looked up for the idea. And I found an attractive recipe.
Pull-apart bread..... the recipe was made with cinnamon and brown sugar like cinnamon rolls.

It is brioche-like sourdough, naturally fermented.  Bread is buttery and sweet, fluffy and soft.

Filling is just marmalade and melted butter.
I use 6 x 6 x 25cm slim loaf tin.

Marmalade pull - apart bread loaf

(6 x 6 x 25 cm slim loaf tin)

Sourdough starter

100g flour

100g water

200g Flour

30g Sugar

6g Salt

※Egg 1 + Milk (cold) = 180g 

Butter (cold and chopped) 30g 

Filling 

20g melted butter

Marmalade jam

Egg wash

Egg + milk

Prep.
Make sourdough starter.
※ 1 egg plus cold milk, make it 180g in total.
Spray oil on the loaf tin.


1. To make bread dough, combine flour,sugar and salt in the stand mixer bowl. Add sourdough starter and the mixture of egg and milk. Knead it for 8 minutes.
Add cold butter, knead it until all butter combine into the dough. It becomes sticky dough. Add more flour if you need.

2. Transfer the dough in the bowl. Put flour on your hand if the dough is too sticky.  It Cover it with plastic wrap.  Proof it in the fridge for 5 - 8 hours, or over night until it becomes bigger and double-size.

3. Pour the dough onto the floured surface bench top, then deflate it briefly.
 Roll it out 30cm x 40cm.
Brush the melted butter. Spread over the marmalade jam.
Slice the dough into 8 strips evenly. Stack the strips on top of each other, make it 4 strips.

Stack the strips on top of another, make it 2 strips. Now you made 4 layers strips. Cut it into 6 pieces each.

Stack all the squares on top of each other and set into the prepared loaf tin.
Cover it loosely.

4. Let it rise for 1 hour or until the dough reaches top of the loaf tin.
Preheat oven 190c.

5. Brush the egg wash on the top.
Bake it for 30 - 35 minutes until the top becomes brown.  Remove it from the oven, rest it for 20 - 30 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the tin to loosen and carefully turn the loaf out.


Enjoy it !!