Valentine's Day baking - Fondant au Chocolate

In japan, we girls give chocolate with love to boys on Valentine's Day.
That's original custom in Japan.
 Long time ago, that time, we didn't know about Valantine's Day. We are not Christian country. One day, Chocolate company made advertisement...."Give chocolate with love to your boy friend on 14th Feb, Valentine's Day!! It is a Day of LOVE !!"

Now, we girls give special chocolate to special boys or small chocolate to friends (include girls) and so on.
We enjoy Valentine's Day, we make chocolate baking, and give it to friends.
And on 14th March, we call White Day, boys give cookie back to girls if they got chocolate from girls.
It is original custom in Japan!!

Ok, try to make chocolate baking in NZ.

Fondant au Chocolate

"Fondant" means "Melting" in French.
Yes, half-cooked cakes, inside melting chocolate.  Reheat little bit, decolate with ice cream, it could be yuuuuuuuuuuuummy!!

(Make 12 with 5cm muffin cups)
170g Chocolate (chopped)
120g Non salted Butter (cut into dice)
70g Plain Flour
1 Tea spoon of Baking powder
20g Cocoa powder
4 Egg Yolks
4 Egg White
80g Suger

Powder sugar for decoration

1.Preheat oven at 180℃.
Sift plain flour and cocoa powder , baking powder together in a bowl.
2. In a small pan, melt butter and add chocolate, stire and melt it.
3. In a large bowl, mix the egg yolks with half of sugar until they whiten. Add the melted chocolate, combine them.
4. Whip the egg white until light and fluffy.

5. In the chocolate bowl, delicatly blend the whipped egg white with spatura.

6. Mix flour mixture with chocolate delicately as well.
7. Pour the mixture into muffin cup. Bake it at 170℃ for 8- 10 minutes until the surface of the cakes starts cracking.

8. Eat warm!!

Apple cider sourdough

How to make sour dough??
From wheat flour or rye flour with yeast???

Do you know we can make sour dough bread from apple cider??
Long, long time ago, that's how to make bread with no instant yeast.

I made this apple cider from apple by myself. Just small amount, one small jum jar of it.

Bubbling actively!!
Then made sour dough polish with flour and the apple cider!

Strong proofing, non instant yeast, non suger.

That's real non additives at all!

I made Ciabatta with apple cider sour dough!

Totally, this bread made from flour, water, salt and apple!!
Simple home made bread!!!!

Lentil Buns

I like to take long time to make bread.
I knead bread in the morning, shap in the evenig, bake at night.  That's my one of weekend.

I got colorful bean, Lentil. I boiled too much for soup....
So I tried to put them to my bread!!

It is easy to cooking. Usually beans need to soak before cook, but lentil don't need, just boil for 15-20minutes.
Lentil contains lots of protaein, fiber zand vitamin V.

This bread, crust is crispy, crumb is chewy. I took long time for proofing to make it tasty.

Lentil Buns
Sourdough starter
50g High Grade Flour
50g Water
A pinch of instant yeast

250g High Grade Flour
10g  Honey
4g Salt
145g Water (lukewarm)
All of Sour dough starter

Lentil 60g (cooked)

1.Day before, make Sourdough starter. Combine all the ingredients, then leave it for 12hours in the room temperature.

2. In a bowl, dessolve sourdough, honey and lukewarm water.


3. In another large bowl, combine flours, salt, mixture of yeast and warter. Mix with your finger combine the ingredients till water and flour combined well. Don't knead too much at this stage.

4. Put the bowl with cover into the warm place (35℃) till it becomes double size (about 8-12 hours ). On the way, after 3 hours, fold the dough.

5. Pour the dough onto floured counter, then deflate it, knead briefly.

6. Spread the dough with a roll pin, sprincle Lintil on the dough. Roll it wit care not to put air in.

Seal the edge of the dough with your finger tightly. Cut it into 6.

7.Place it into warm place with spray water, rise it for 2hours.

8.Preheat the oven at 250℃
9. Spray water and sprinkle flour, bake them at 230C dor 20-25minutes, till becomes well brown.

Fail Croissant

I m trying, trying, trying to make Croissant.
It is really difficult!!!

Croissant.....it is a kind of bread, the yeast dough is layered with butter.

So it takes lots of work and time! And you have to take care about temperature to handle the butter,proofing at low temperature gradually.

I put on just photos of my croissant.

The crumb does't layer. It might be not enough fold and resting the dough.

Crust looks OK, taste is OK.

This one, outside crumb is layered, but inside is not.

I put the dough scrap inside the roll. That' s why crumb doesn't layer???

I ll try another recipe..

Croissant!!!!!

Quiche Bread

Meeeeery Christmas, everyone!!!

I made Quiche with bread today.
I had Christmas BBQ at my friend' s place.

Usually, Quiche is made with pastry. But I got planty of bread left over befor my holiday!!
It is easy to make. Just mix all the ingredients, and bake it!!
Ingredients quantity depends on how big is bread.
 Just make sure, Egg liquid have to be 1 : 1 = Eggs : cream and milk.
That is ideal for sunday brunch, lunch, appetizer.
Use seasonal or favorite vegetable!!

Quiche Bread

1 Loaf of Bread (Any kinds, your favorite)

Filling
Onion (finely chopped)
Spanich(chopped, boiled, drained)
Beacon(chopped)
1 table of oil

Salt
Pepper
1 Cube of Chicken soup stock

2 Eggs (beaten)
50g Fresh Cream
50g Milk

30g Cheese (grated)

Preheat oven at 180C.
1. Stire bacon, onion and spinach with oil.  Flavor with salt and pepper. Cool it down.
2. Meanwhile, cut off the top of the bread. Big out bread crumb.

3. In a large bowl, combine eggs, cream and milk. Add cooled down veges and chicken soup stock in the bowl, and mix well.
4. Pour it into bread. Sprinkle grated cheese.  Bake it at 180C for 30- 40 minutes till egg cooked.

5. Cool it down on a wire rack. Cut into slices. Enjoy it!!

Stained Glass Cookies

Are you ready for Christmas??
I m having second summer Christmas in my life in New Zealand.

That Cookies are very attractive for Christmas ornaments. Looks beautiful and pretty!!
It is easy to make. You need cookie dough and candies. That's it.


Stained Glass Cookies

Cookies;
220g Plain Flour
1/4 tea spoon of Baking Powder 
125g unsalted Butter (room temperature)
80g Sugar
1 Egg yolk
1 tea spoon of Vanila extract

Candy (your favorite coler)

1. Crash the candy with rolling pin
2. Shift flour and baking powder in a bowl together.
3. In the bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  

4. Beat in the egg yolk and vanila extract.
5. Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and beat just until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
6. Divide the dough in half, and wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours or overnight.
7. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of about 5mm. Use your favorite shape cutter to cut out the cookies. With an offset spatula lift the cut out cookies onto the baking sheet.  If you are hanging the cookies or using as gift tags, make a hole at the top of the cookies with a straw or end of a wooden skewer.

8.Preheat oven 180C.  Cut out middle of the dough with smaller cutters.

9. Bake cookies about 8  minutes. Take the baking tray out, put the crashed candies into the hole of cookies.
10. Put it back to the oven, bake it at 170C for 3-4 minutes till candies melt.
11. cookies cool completely. Loosen them carefully and peel them off the baking sheets.
Dont remove cookies before cool down!!!

Honey Bagel

Hi, everyone.

I like making Bagels. But I haven't write Bagel recipe yet.
There are so many kinds of Bagels all over the world!! I wonder what kind of Bagel shall I make every time!
Babels keeps longer than other type of bread, because they contains less water. 
When you knead the dough, it is really stiff!! You can add extra water if you cant knead.

This is Sweet Bagel - Honey Bagel

Honey, it is popular product of New Zealand. If you came to New Zealand, you should buy honey as a souvenir.

Honey Bagel (make 5) 
200g High grade flour
20g Wholemeal flour
2g  Salt
50g Sour dough
3g Instant yeast
30g Honey (If you like sweeter, put some more)
120g Water (lukewarm)

1-2 Table spoon of Sugar

1.  In a bowl, dissolve sourdough, yeast, honey in lukewarm water.

2. In another large bowl, combine flours, salt, mixture of yeast and water. Mix with your finger combine the ingredients till water and flour combined well.

3. Place the dough onto the floured counter, then knead it for 10minutes till it becomes smooth and uniform.

4. Put the bowl with cover into the warm place (35℃) till it becomes double size (about 1-1.5 hours )

5.  Pour the dough onto floured counter, then deflate it, knead briefly. Divide into 5 (80g), make them balls roughly.
Rest them for 15 minutes. 
Meanwhile, prepare boiling water with 1 - 2 table spoon of sugar in a large sauce pan.
Sugar makes them brown and golden surface.

6. Shaping.
A) Make 20cm sticks. 
B) Press an edge of the dough with a rolling pin.
C) Make  a round shape. Put some water on the pressed edge, joint the edges each other.
D) Overturn the dough. Cover the edge with the pressed one, seal it tightly.
 

7. Boiling - put them into boiling water with low heat, upside and backside  for 30 seconds each. Place them onto a wire lack to dry up roughly for 1minutes.

 
8.Preheat oven at 210C. 

10. Bake them immediately at 200C for 15 - 20 minutes or till color becomes golden brown.

I had it with cream cheese, strawberry jam, blue cheese and honey!!!