Benito's blog

Alan’s starter is quite potent and still not getting much of a sour scent to it.  It is living in a ziplock bag in my fridge and I made the stiff sweet levain from it directly without any refreshing and the levain was ready in no time.  I think I’ll figure out how to bring some home and compare it to mine.  Alan if you read this, what is the hydration that you keep your starter?  It is certainly not 100%.

So jackfruit can do a decent imitation of pulled pork for those unfamiliar with this tropical fruit.  So I combined this vegan pulled pork with my formula for sourdough gua bao and must say, it made a decent dinner.  I was a bit apprehensive about steaming the bao without my trusty bamboo steamer, but it worked out using my pasta pot with steaming inserts.

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Overnight Levain

In a large jar, combine all purpose flour, water, ripe sourdough starter, and sugar. Cover the jar loosely and let the levain ripen overnight at warm room temperature (I keep mine around 76°F to 78°F).

Tangzhong

In a sauce pan set on med heat with about 1.5 cm of water, place the bowl of your stand mixer creating a Bain Marie, whisk the milk and flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool.

In The Morning

In a mixing bowl, add the Tangzhong, water, milk, sugar and salt, mix to dissolve.  Add the stiff sweet levain and using a silicone spatula, cut the levain into small pieces.  Add the baking powder, cornstarch and flour.  Mix to form a shaggy dough.  Allow to rest for 10 mins.  On your countertop or with your stand mixer  knead the dough until good gluten development.  Drizzle in the vegetable oil and mix until well incorporated.  If mixing my hand, which I recommend since it is such a small amount of dough, add the oil with the liquid ingredients.  Remove some dough for aliquot jar to follow rise.  Shape into a boule and rest in a covered bowl at 82°F until it has increased by 40%.

Prepare six 4” parchment squares.

Remove the dough to the counter and divide into six equal portions shaping each into a tight boule.  Allow to rest for 10 mins.  Roll out the dough into a 3 × 6-inch oval. Brush the surface of the dough with canola oil and gently fold the dough in half, but make the top folded part a bit longer than the bottom otherwise when steamed they won’t be equal in size. Place on a 4-inch square of parchment paper.

Cover the buns with a damp, clean kitchen towel and allow them to proof until they are 1 ½ times larger,

Cover the filled bao with a damp cloth and place in a warm place and allow them to ferment until they pass the poke test.  Using an aliquot jar they should reach about 100% rise.

Prepare your steamer setup and bring water to a boil.  Working in batches if necessary, arrange buns in the bamboo steamer spacing 2” apart.  Once the water is boiling turn the heat down to medium.  Steam over boiling water for 10 minutes.  Turn off the heat and leave the buns in the covered steamer for 5 more minutes to prevent collapsing.  (I left them in the steamer and on the same stove element turned off). Do not lift the lid of the steamer, doing so will cause a sudden drop in temperature that can cause the buns to collapse or wrinkle or dent.  Remove the buns from the steamer and allow them to cool for 5 minutes before serving.  

Buns can be kept in an airtight container (a resealable bag works great) at room temperature for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Room temperature buns can be reheated in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds or steamed for about 2 minutes, until soft and warmed through. Reheat frozen buns by steaming until soft and warmed through, 10 to 15 minutes.

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Ingredients:(Makes 8)

For the buns:

250g plain flour

2 tsp caster sugar

1 tsp easy-blend dried yeast

½tsp salt

½tsp baking powder

50ml plant milk

75ml water

1tbsp rice vinegar

2tsp sesame oil, plus extra for brushing

2tsp black sesame seeds

For the filling:

2 x 400g cans of jackfruit, I only used 1 can.

1tbsp sunflower oil

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

4cm piece fresh ginger, finely chopped

1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

6 spring onions, 4 thinly sliced

3tbsp soy sauce

2tbsp hoisin sauce

2tbsp maple syrup

1½tbsp rice vinegar

1tsp Chinese five-spice

1 carrot

¼ cucumber

½ red pepper

1. Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Drain the jackfruit and squeeze out any excess water. Heat the sunflower oil in a large frying pan or wok, add the jackfruit and fry over a medium heat for about 10 minutes until golden brown, breaking up the pieces slightly with a wooden spoon.

2. Add the garlic, ginger, chilli and four sliced spring onions to the pan and continue frying for another minute. In a small bowl combine the soy and hoisin sauces, maple syrup, rice vinegar and Chinese five-spice with four tablespoons of water. Pour into the pan, mix to combine, reduce the heat slightly and continue to cook for a further three minutes or so until the jackfruit is caramelized and coated in sticky sauce. Remove from the heat while you prepare the remaining filling ingredients.

3. Using a julienne grater, cut the carrot and cucumber into fine strips. Finely slice the red pepper and remaining two spring onions. Cover and chill until ready to assemble the bao buns.

My index of bakes.

We’re back down in Fort Lauderdale for 2.5 months and Alan was kind enough to share some of his starter with me, thank you Alan.  He also gave me some SAF gold and red IDY along with some whole rye.  Immediately I note how different his starter smells than mine.  Mine is fed 100% whole rye and has a much more sour smell.  This starter is fed KA AP I believe and is much less sour and a bit sweet smelling.

We had no bread so I thought I’d bake using Alan’s starter and to also gradually adjust my Hokkaido milk bread formula.  I’ve decided to use a 1:2 ratio of flour to milk for the tangzhong, this allows me to increase the percentage of flour in the tangzhong from 7 to 15%, the greatest I’ve tried so far.  From what I’ve recently read this should allow a great flavour improvement and texture improvement from the tangzhong.  If I was still using the 1:5 ratio at 15%, there wouldn’t be any liquid left for the dough mix since most if not all of the liquid for the dough would be in the tangzhong.

Despite the instructions below, I fully hand mixed and developed the dough.

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For one 9x4x4” Pullman pan loaf.

Instructions

Levain

Mix the levain ingredients in a jar or pyrex container with space for at least 300% growth. 

Press down with your knuckles or silicone spatula to create a uniform surface and to push out air.

At a temperature of 76-78ºF, it typically takes up to 10-12 hours for this sweet stiff levain to be at peak.  For my starter I typically see 3-3.5 times increase in size at peak.  The levain will smell sweet with only a mild tang.

Tangzhong 

In a sauce pan set on medium heat, stir the milk and whole wheat flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until well thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool in the pan or, for faster results, in a new bowl.  Theoretically it should reach 65ºC (149ºF) but I don’t find I need to measure the temperature as the tangzhong gelatinizes at this temperature.  You can prepare this the night before and refrigerate it, ensure that it is covered to prevent it from drying out.

If you plan on using a stand mixer to mix this dough, set up a Bain Marie and use your stand mixer’s bowl to prepare the tangzhong.

Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the milk (consider holding back 10 g of milk and adding later if this is the first time you’re making this), egg, tangzhong, salt, sugar and levain.  Mix and then break up the levain into many smaller pieces.  Next add the flours.  I like to use my spatula to mix until there aren’t many dry areas.  Allow the flour to hydrate (fermentolyse) for 20-30 minutes.  Mix on low speed and then medium speed until moderate gluten development this may take 5-10 mins.  You may want to scrape the sides of the bowl during the first 5 minutes of mixing.  Next add room temperature butter one pat at a time.  The dough may come apart, be patient, continue to mix until it comes together before adding in more butter.  Once all the butter has been added and incorporated increase the speed gradually to medium. Mix at medium speed until the gluten is well developed, approximately 10 mins.  You will want to check gluten development by windowpane during this time and stop mixing when you get a good windowpane.  You should be able to pull a good windowpane, not quite as good as a white flour because the bran will interrupt the windowpane somewhat. 

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2 - 3 hours at 82ºF.  There should be some rise visible at this stage.

You can next place the dough into the fridge to chill the dough for about 1.5 hours, this makes rolling the dough easier to shape.  Remember, if you do so the final proof will take longer.  Alternatively, you can do a cold retard in the fridge overnight, however, you may find that this increases the tang in your bread.

Prepare your pans by greasing them with butter or line with parchment paper.  

Lightly flour the top of the dough. Scrape the dough out onto a clean counter top and divide it into four. I like to weigh them to have equal sized lobes. Shape each tightly into a boule, allow to rest 5 mins. Using a rolling pin roll each ball out and then letterfold. Turn 90* and using a rolling pin roll each out to at least 8”. Letterfold again from the sides so you have a long narrow dough. Then using a rolling pin, roll flatter but keeping the dough relatively narrow.  The reason to do this extra letterfold is that the shorter fatter rolls when placed in the pan will not touch the sides of the pan.  This allows the swirled ends to rise during final proof, this is only done for appearance sake and is not necessary.  Next roll each into a tight roll with some tension. Arrange the rolls of dough inside your lined pan alternating the direction of the swirls. This should allow a greater rise during proof and in the oven.

Cover and let proof for  4-6 hours at a warm temperature.  I proof at 82°F.  You will need longer than 4-6 hours if you chilled your dough for shaping. I proof until the top of the dough comes to within 1 cm of the top edge of the pan.

Preheat the oven to 350F and brush the dough with the egg-milk wash.  Just prior to baking brush with the egg-milk wash again.

Bake the loaves for 50 minutes or until the internal temperature is at least 190ºF, rotating as needed to get even browning. Shield your loaf if it gets brown early in the baking process. After 50 mins remove the bread from the pan and bake a further 10 mins by placing the loaf directly in the oven on the rack with the oven turned down to 325ºF. You can brush the top of the loaf with butter if you wish at this point while the bread is still hot to keep the top crust soft.

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We are soon departing for warmer climes so our lovely neighbour will be taking care of our mail for us.  So to thank them in advance I like to bake them a loaf of bread.  I decided to bake them a simple Hokkaido milk bread with some whole wheat and extra flavour from toasted sesame seeds.

I recently saw a video that suggested that tangzhong shouldn’t actually be at a ratio of 1:5 flour:liquid.  In fact, you are supposed to get more benefit in keeping the freshness, softness of crumb and flavour from ratios between 1:1 to 1:2.  As well, the flour in the tangzhong should aim to be between 10-20% to really get the taste benefits of the tangzhong.  By decreasing the liquid in the tangzhong it is much easier to increase the percentage of flour in the tangzhong,  When it was 1:5, what I thought was classic, you are really limited in how much of the flour can be in the tangzhong, because you reach a point where there is no hydration to make the dough.  So this is my first bake of a Hokkaido milk bread with these alterations to the tangzhong.  Although I will not have either any crumb photos, nor will I be able to taste this bread, I can say that the dough handled very well.  Although I reduced the milk in the tangzhong, I kept the overall hydration the same.

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50 g toasted sesame seeds.

Instructions

Levain

Mix the levain ingredients in a jar or pyrex container with space for at least 300% growth. 

Press down with your knuckles or silicone spatula to create a uniform surface and to push out air.

At a temperature of 76-78ºF, it typically takes up to 10-12 hours for this sweet stiff levain to be at peak.  For my starter I typically see 3-3.5 times increase in size at peak.  The levain will smell sweet with only a mild tang.

Tangzhong 

In a sauce pan set on medium heat, stir the milk and whole wheat flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until well thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool in the pan or, for faster results, in a new bowl.  Theoretically it should reach 65ºC (149ºF) but I don’t find I need to measure the temperature as the tangzhong gelatinizes at this temperature.  You can prepare this the night before and refrigerate it, ensure that it is covered to prevent it from drying out.

If you plan on using a stand mixer to mix this dough, set up a Bain Marie and use your stand mixer’s bowl to prepare the tangzhong.

Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the milk (consider holding back 10 g of milk and adding later if this is the first time you’re making this), egg, tangzhong, salt, sugar and levain.  Mix and then break up the levain into many smaller pieces.  Next add the flours.  I like to use my spatula to mix until there aren’t many dry areas.  Allow the flour to hydrate (fermentolyse) for 20-30 minutes.  Mix on low speed and then medium speed until moderate gluten development this may take 5-10 mins.  You may want to scrape the sides of the bowl during the first 5 minutes of mixing.  Next add room temperature butter one pat at a time.  The dough may come apart, be patient, continue to mix until it comes together before adding in more butter.  Once all the butter has been added and incorporated increase the speed gradually to medium. Mix at medium speed until the gluten is well developed, approximately 10 mins.  You will want to check gluten development by windowpane during this time and stop mixing when you get a good windowpane.  You should be able to pull a good windowpane, not quite as good as a white flour because the bran will interrupt the windowpane somewhat. 

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2 - 3 hours at 82ºF.  There should be some rise visible at this stage.

You can next place the dough into the fridge to chill the dough for about 1.5 hours, this makes rolling the dough easier to shape.  Remember, if you do so the final proof will take longer.  Alternatively, you can do a cold retard in the fridge overnight, however, you may find that this increases the tang in your bread.

Prepare your pans by greasing them with butter or line with parchment paper.  

Lightly flour the top of the dough. Scrape the dough out onto a clean counter top and divide it into four. I like to weigh them to have equal sized lobes. Shape each tightly into a boule, allow to rest 5 mins. Using a rolling pin roll each ball out and then letterfold. Turn 90* and using a rolling pin roll each out to at least 8”. Letterfold again from the sides so you have a long narrow dough. Then using a rolling pin, roll flatter but keeping the dough relatively narrow.  The reason to do this extra letterfold is that the shorter fatter rolls when placed in the pan will not touch the sides of the pan.  This allows the swirled ends to rise during final proof, this is only done for appearance sake and is not necessary.  Next roll each into a tight roll with some tension. Arrange the rolls of dough inside your lined pan alternating the direction of the swirls. This should allow a greater rise during proof and in the oven.

Cover and let proof for  4-6 hours at a warm temperature.  I proof at 82°F.  You will need longer than 4-6 hours if you chilled your dough for shaping. I proof until the top of the dough comes to within 1 cm of the top edge of the pan.

Preheat the oven to 350F and brush the dough with the egg-milk wash.  Just prior to baking brush with the egg-milk wash again.

Bake the loaves for 50 minutes or until the internal temperature is at least 190ºF, rotating as needed to get even browning. Shield your loaf if it gets brown early in the baking process. After 50 mins remove the bread from the pan and bake a further 10 mins by placing the loaf directly in the oven on the rack with the oven turned down to 325ºF. You can brush the top of the loaf with butter if you wish at this point while the bread is still hot to keep the top crust soft.

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My index of bakes.

For appetizers before dinner tonight I wanted to have some bbq pork gua bao and pork shrimp and chive dumplings.  This was a second try at sourdough gua bao and finally successful.  I’m not sure why the previous attempt at this didn’t work without the hit of IDY because this time the only real change was the addition of sweet potato.  The gua bao will get filled with bbq pork after re-steaming just prior to serving so the filling isn’t in these photos.

For the dumplings I made the filling and obviously filled the dumplings.  I hadn’t actually done this since I lived at home as a child and helped my mother with filling dumplings so over four decades ago.  They turned out quite well considering, but then again, one gets a lot of practice when you’re making enough dumplings to be filled with over a pound of filling.  I didn’t make the wrappers myself, I suspect that the major issue in making them yourself is trying to get really consistent thickness to them in order for them to cook at the same time.  So I didn’t bother making things even more complex for myself when the store bought wrappers are really good and only a couple of bucks per package.

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In a large jar, combine all purpose flour, water, ripe sourdough starter, and sugar. Cover the jar loosely and let the levain ripen overnight at warm room temperature (I keep mine around 76°F to 78°F).

Tangzhong

In a sauce pan set on med heat with about 1.5 cm of water, place the bowl of your stand mixer creating a Bain Marie, whisk the milk and flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool.

In The Morning

In a mixing bowl, add the Tangzhong, water, milk, oil, sugar and salt, mix to dissolve.  Add the stiff sweet levain and using a silicone spatula, cut the levain into small pieces.  Add the baking powder, cornstarch and flour.  Mix to form a shaggy dough.  Allow to rest for 10 mins.  On your countertop or with your stand mixer  knead the dough until good gluten development. Next add your mashed sweet potato, I added 45g or about 29%.  Knead until well developed.  Remove some dough for aliquot jar to follow rise.  Shape into a boule and rest in a covered bowl at 82°F until it has increased by 40%.

Prepare six 4” parchment squares.

Remove the dough to the counter and divide into six equal portions shaping each into a tight boule.  Allow to rest for 10 mins.  Roll out the dough into a 3 × 6-inch oval. Brush the surface of the dough with canola oil and gently fold the dough in half, but make the top folded part a bit longer than the bottom otherwise when steamed they won’t be equal in size. Place on a 4-inch square of parchment paper.

Cover the buns with a damp, clean kitchen towel and allow them to proof until they are 1 ½ times larger,

Cover the filled bao with a damp cloth and place in a warm place and allow them to ferment until they pass the poke test.  Using an aliquot jar they should reach about 100% rise.

Prepare your steamer setup and bring water to a boil.  Working in batches if necessary, arrange buns in the bamboo steamer spacing 2” apart.  Once the water is boiling turn the heat down to medium.  Steam over boiling water for 10 minutes.  Turn off the heat and leave the buns in the covered steamer for 5 more minutes to prevent collapsing.  (I left them in the steamer and on the same stove element turned off). Do not lift the lid of the steamer, doing so will cause a sudden drop in temperature that can cause the buns to collapse or wrinkle or dent.  Remove the buns from the steamer and allow them to cool for 5 minutes before serving.  

Buns can be kept in an airtight container (a resealable bag works great) at room temperature for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Room temperature buns can be reheated in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds or steamed for about 2 minutes, until soft and warmed through. Reheat frozen buns by steaming until soft and warmed through, 10 to 15 minutes.

Make the Filling 

Filling Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
• 1 clove garlic , grated
• 1/8 teaspoon five spice powder
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 heaping cup (180 g / 6.5 oz) homemade char siu , diced (or store-bought char siu) 1.5 cups is better 
• While the dough is resting, combine all the filling ingredients in a small pot except for the diced char siu. Mix until the cornstarch is dissolved fully.
• Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until thickened, so you can draw a line on the bottom of the pot with a spatula, about 1 minute. Take the pot off the heat and let the mixture cool off. Once cooled, add the diced char siu and mix until it is evenly distributed.

Pork Shrimp and Chive dumplings

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 1/2 pound of ground pork
• 1/2 pound of shrimp, shelled, deveined, dried well and chopped into small pieces
• 2 cups of Chinese chives, finely chopped
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons of sesame oil
• 1/4 cup of soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced through a garlic press
• 1/2 teaspoon of white pepper
• Dumpling (水餃) wrappers

Probably do not need the salt, reduce the soy sauce a bit.  

Instructions

• Prepare the vegetable oil. Heat the vegetable oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat for around 7 minutes. Set aside and allow it to cool. 
• Make the filling. Place the ground pork, shrimp, chives, egg, sesame oil, soy sauce, salt, garlic, white pepper and the cooled vegetable oil in a large mixing bowl. Mix, fold, whatever it takes until everything is thoroughly combined. It will feel wet and sticky and that’s okay. Allow the filling to sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes or in the fridge covered until you’re ready to assemble.
• Assemble the dumplings. In a small bowl, add 1/2 cup of water. Wet one of your fingers with water and dab it on the edge of half a wrapper. Add a scoop of filling to the center of the wrapper. With the wet edge on top, seal the dumpling by bringing the dry edge up to touch the wet edge to create a half circle. Do your best to remove any extra air trapped inside the dumpling as you’re sealing.
• Place the dumpling on a baking sheet covered with plastic wrap. Repeat until you run out of filling or wrappers. Keep the dumplings separated on the baking sheet so that they don’t stick to each other.
• Cook the dumplings. If you’re eating the dumplings immediately, cook them in a sufficient amount of boiling water so there’s room for all of the pieces to move around. Allow them to cook under a gentle boil for five minutes. Strain them from the boiling liquid, add them to a hot broth and serve.
• If you’re eating them later on, freeze the baking sheet of dumplings. Transfer them to a storage medium once frozen. They’ll be great in the freezer for up to two months, but I’m sure they’ll be gone before then!

My index of bakes.

So this is the big weekend where I have to have the three layer tropical carrot cake ready.  I baked the cake on Thursday, once cooled fully wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated until this morning.  Today I made the frosting and iced and decorated the cake.  The orange stuff on top is candied orange zest.  My cake carrier unfortunately is a bit to short for this decorated cake so some of the frosting at the center got smooshed.  I would increase the frosting by 50% so I’d have more than enough next time.  I also need to apply more frosting and right to if not past the edge of the cake layers between the layers.  I didn’t do this and it was a bit challenging to get more frosting between the layers to get a clean semi naked look.  Despite that, for me, this was a good bake since I have only decorated a cake with three layers once before so I’m happy with this overall.

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Ingredients

CAKE

• 3 cups all-purpose flour 
• 2 cups sugar 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 
• 3 large eggs 
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
• 1 (8-oz.) can crushed pineapple in juice, undrained about half a 540 mL can. 
• 2 cups chopped ripe banana (might be 2-3 bananas)
• 1 cup shredded carrot, pressed dry 
• 1 cup sweetened coconut, plus more for garnish 
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans, plus more for garnish

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

• 1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, room temperature 
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature 
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 
• 1 (16-oz.) package powdered sugar 453 g
• I’d increase this by 50% so I’d have more than enough frosting. 

According to Better Homes & Gardens, the best way to soften cream cheese is by letting it sit in a warm water bath. This is a quick process, as the cream cheese shouldn't need to sit for longer than 15 minutes. Leaving the cream cheese in its foil wrapper, simply place the block in a bowl of warm water and let the softening begin. Hot water out of the tap works best because you don't want it to be boiling, Cheese Knees notes. You can simply let the block sit until it's soft, or you can flip it every few minutes -- either way, you want the whole thing to be submerged in the water (via The Pioneer Woman).

How to Make It

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and spices. Add eggs, oil, and vanilla extract; whisking until fully incorporated.

Step 2

Fold in crushed pineapple, banana, carrot, coconut, and pecans. Divide batter evenly among 3 well-greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans.

Step 3

Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks, and cool completely, about 1 hour.

Step 4

Prepare Cream Cheese Frosting: Combine cream cheese and butter in mixer and beat until well combined. Add salt and powdered sugar, and beat on low until incorporated, then increase speed to medium high and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Step 5

Assemble Cake: Cut domes off cake layers to create 3 even layers. Place 1 layer on a cake stand and evenly spread 3/4 cup cream cheese frosting across the layer. Place another layer on top of that one and repeat with another 3/4 cup frosting. Add final layer, and spread remaining frosting across the top. Decorate with shredded coconut and pecans.

https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/tropical-carrot-cake

For the orange peel

• 2 oranges
• 200ml water
• 200g caster sugar 
• For the orange peel, carefully pare the zest from the orange (a tool like this would be helpful). Put the water and sugar in a saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Add the orange zest and remove from the heat. Let the zest sit in the sugar syrup until it has completely cooled.  Remove the peel and allow to dry on a paper towel.

Just a note here for the bake time, because I used cake strips the bake time was longer, it took 50-55 mins for the cakes to be fully baked.

My index of bakes.

I like to tinker with my formulas over time.  I haven’t done a country sourdough in a while and wanted to try it using a stiff levain.  I kept the hydration to a comfortable 76% since I haven’t done this style of a bread in quite a while so didn’t want to go crazy high.  

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Overnight levain 74°F for 10 hours.

In the morning add to your bowl, water, rye and whole wheat flour, mix and allow to sit for 15 mins to fully hydrate the bran.  Then add stiff levain, breaking it up into small pieces.  Then add bread flour, mix well and allow to rest for 10 mins.  Knead to build gluten.  Add salt and bassinage hold back water until the dough feels well hydrated.  Once well mixed and moderate gluten development, remove dough to bench and do a bench letterfold.  Transfer dough to a bowl.  Every 20-30 mins do a coil fold stopping when the dough feels strong and isn’t spreading quickly after a fold.  Allow the dough to rest in the bowl for the remainder of bulk.  Once the dough has risen 40% or pH dropped 1.0 then shape dough and place in a banneton.  We will aim to bake when the pH has dropped by a total of 1.4 or the dough has had a rise of 70-80%.  If doing a cold retard, can place in the freezer for 1 hour when the pH has fallen a total of 1.3 and after 1 hour in the freezer transfer to the fridge for baking the next day.

The next morning pre-heat the oven 500°F and set up for steam baking.  30 mins before ready to bake pour 1 L of boiling water into your metal loaf pan with the Sylvia towel rolled tightly inside to pre-steam the oven.  When the oven reaches 500°F flip the dough onto a parchment paper sheet, brush off excess rice flour, score and then brush water onto the dough but not the main score.  Transfer to the oven and onto the heated baking steel or stone.  Pour 250 mL of boiling water into your cast iron skillet.  Drop the temperature of the oven to 450°F baking with steam for 25 mins.  After 25 mins vent the steam and remove the steaming gear.  Drop the temperature to 420°F and bake for a further 20-25 mins, turning half way through and moving the bread to a rack instead of the baking steel.

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My index of bakes.

I am still working on my steamed buns.  Today I prepped to try again with a new sourdough gua bao recipe.  I’ve added a tangzhong to make the flavour more complex and increase the hydration without making the dough handle like a higher hydration.  There is also some vegetable oil to help with moisture and tenderness.  I have kept the baking powder in the recipe since almost all the recipes I’ve seen have either baking powder or baking soda to help reduce any sourness, I’m not sure that it is necessary or not.  I decided to use a stiff sweet levain to reduce the sour tang so again, I’m not sure that the baking powder is needed.  I’ll eventually have to try making these without, that might be the only way to know.

The stiff sweet levain was at 3 times rise in the morning so everything seemed to be fine.  However, after 4 hours of fermentation at 82°F there was only 10% rise.  This the second time this has happened, both times with the sourdough boa recipe, each recipe was different, but both had baking powder in them.  I cannot think of a reason that the baking powder would have such a negative effect on the dough.  At this point, I didn’t want to have another total failure, so I dissolved 0.2 g of IDY in 2 g of water and kneaded it into the dough and reset the clock.  After that, fermentation went along quickly.  I wonder if I was just impatient, but I hate total failures that are almost inedible.  I say that, but I always taste the failures too.

I will make these again, but will start with the small amount of IDY from the start and make these as a hybrid dough with both the sourdough levain and tiny amount of IDY.  I am making these for a birthday party next weekend along with homemade pork shrimp and chive dumplings I’ve made for appetizers.  At some point in the future I’ll have another go at a fully sourdough version.

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 Overnight Levain

In a large jar, combine all purpose flour, water, ripe sourdough starter, and sugar. Cover the jar loosely and let the levain ripen overnight at warm room temperature (I keep mine around 76°F to 78°F).

Tangzhong

In a sauce pan set on med heat with about 1.5 cm of water, place the bowl of your stand mixer creating a Bain Marie, whisk the milk and flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool.

In The Morning

In a mixing bowl, add the Tangzhong, water, milk, sugar and salt, mix to dissolve.  Add the stiff sweet levain and using a silicone spatula, cut the levain into small pieces.  Add the baking powder, cornstarch and flour.  Mix to form a shaggy dough.  Allow to rest for 10 mins.  On your countertop or with your stand mixer  knead the dough until good gluten development.  Drizzle in the vegetable oil and mix until well incorporated.  Remove some dough for aliquot jar to follow rise.  Shape into a boule and rest in a covered bowl at 82°F until it has increased by 40%.

Prepare six 4” parchment squares.

Remove the dough to the counter and divide into six equal portions shaping each into a tight boule.  Allow to rest for 10 mins.  Roll out the dough into a 3 × 6-inch oval. Brush the surface of the dough with canola oil and gently fold the dough in half. Place on a 4-inch square of parchment paper.

Cover the buns with a damp, clean kitchen towel and allow them to proof until they are 1 ½ times larger,

Cover the filled bao with a damp cloth and place in a warm place and allow them to ferment until they pass the poke test.  Using an aliquot jar they should reach about 100% rise.

Prepare your steamer setup and bring water to a boil.  Working in batches if necessary, arrange buns in the bamboo steamer spacing 2” apart.  Once the water is boiling turn the heat down to medium.  Steam over boiling water for 10 minutes.  Turn off the heat and leave the buns in the covered steamer for 5 more minutes to prevent collapsing.  (I left them in the steamer and on the same stove element turned off). Do not lift the lid of the steamer, doing so will cause a sudden drop in temperature that can cause the buns to collapse or wrinkle or dent.  Remove the buns from the steamer and allow them to cool for 5 minutes before serving.  

Buns can be kept in an airtight container (a resealable bag works great) at room temperature for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Room temperature buns can be reheated in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds or steamed for about 2 minutes, until soft and warmed through. Reheat frozen buns by steaming until soft and warmed through, 10 to 15 minutes.

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My index of bakes.

I was working on a SD version this morning but something went wrong, I suspect I measured the water incorrectly and added way too much.  When I realized my error I started a second batch, but since I had no levain ready it was IDY to the rescue.  I’m glad I made the second batch, other than an issue of tearing of the dough during one coil fold where I wasn’t gentle enough it turned out just fine even with the increased hydration to 110%.  Another change was that I did final proof with a couche.  To be precise I lined the couche with parchment paper and then pleated the couche to support the sides of the dough during final proof.

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For 2 medium breads

250 g water (175 g for mix) then bassinage 100 g

250 g bread flour

1.25 g IDY

5 g salt

6.26 g olive oil

Mix all flour and 175 g of water then rest 15 mins.

Dissolve 1.25 g IDY in 15 g of water add to mixer and mix until well absorbed.

Dissolve 5 g of salt in about 20 g of water and then add to the mixer until well absorbed.  The addition of the salt will tighten the gluten a bit.

Bassinage the rest of the water (65g) in small aliquots waiting until the water is well absorbed before adding more.

Once all the water has been added the dough appears to be well developed, drizzle in the olive oil while the mixer is running.  Mix until well incorporated, this will not take very long.

Grease a Pyrex dish with olive oil and then pour the dough into the dish.  Do a few folds to get the dough into a nice roundish shape.

Place the dough in a warm place, 78°F and every 20 mins do a coil fold, stop when the dough seems to have good structure.  I did four sets of coil folds.

Allow the dough to rest 1.5-2 hours.

After 1.5-2 hours the dough will have risen nicely, about double volume.

Prepare your couche by placing a sheet of parchment paper on it.  We will pleat the parchment/couche to support the dough and separate them.

Flour the top of the dough especially around the edge of the dish.  Sprinkle a generous amount of dough onto your countertop.  Using a bowl scraper release the sides of the dough from the dish, then gently invert the dish so the dough releases onto the floured countertop.  Generously flour the top of the dough.  Using a bench scraper cut the dough carefully into two or four pieces (depends on whether you made a full or half batch).  Ensure the cut edges are well floured, then gently transfer the dough using bench scrapers to your parchment lined couche.  Create a pleat to separate the two doughs and pleat the outsides and support them as well.  I used a box of water to support the outsides of the dough.  I then folded the couche over the top of the dough to prevent excessive drying.

Allow the loaves to rest at room temperature for 1.5-2 hours, uncovered. While the loaves are resting, preheat the oven to 475°F with a baking stone or steel on a lower rack. 

1 hour before final proof is complete, pre-heat your oven to 475°F with a baking stone or steel on the lowest rack.  Place the other rack in the upper half of the oven.

The dough is ready to bake when it looks puffy and there are large bubbles visible in all pieces of dough on the surface.

To bake the bread: Carefully slide the two loaves (still resting on the parchment) into the oven onto the preheated stone or steel. If space is tight and the full sheet of parchment won’t fit on the stone or steel, cut the parchment between the two loaves and arrange them as best you can. Allow the other two loaves to continue to rest.

Bake the loaves for 15 minutes, then transfer them, from the stone or steel, directly onto a rack in the upper third of the oven for an additional 13 to 15 minutes. (Leave the stone in place.) Moving them to the rack allows the baking stone or steel to become hot again in preparation for the next two loaves. After a total of 27 to 30 minutes of baking, remove the loaves from the oven and allow them to cool on a rack.

My index of bakes.

I felt like having fish burgers so decided to make buns for the fish.  I’ve had some luck with using potato so decided to add some mashed potato to my milk bread for buns.  Both the potato along with the tangzhong should made very soft buns.

I was watching a YouTube video recently that sought to dispel the idea that tangzhong should be made at a 1:5 ratio of flour to liquid.  In fact, the author suggested based on studies done with tangzhong and yudane that the ratio should be closer to 1:1-1:2.  They also suggested that ideally the percent flour from the tangzhong or yudane should approach 20%.  With a 1:5 ratio and 20% flour in tangzhong would leave essentially no liquid left to prepare the dough with.  However, at 1:2 or less there would be liquid left.  So this is my first bake using a lower ratio of 1:2 flour to milk but at 10%, which is higher than my usual 7%.  I will gradually adjust the tangzhong over time to see if there is any discernible improvement to the bread.  I figured that this was a good start.

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For 8 buns about 65 g each

egg wash: 1 yolk, 1 tbsp milk and a pinch of salt, beaten…

Instructions

Levain

Mix the levain ingredients in a jar or pyrex container with space for at least 300% growth. 

Press down with your knuckles or silicone spatula to create a uniform surface and to push out air.

At a temperature of 76ºF, it typically takes up to 10-12 hours for this stiff  sweet levain to be at peak.  For my starter I typically see 3-3.5 times increase in size at peak.  The levain will smell sweet with only a mild tang.

Tangzhong 

In a sauce pan set on medium heat, stir the milk and flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until well thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool in the pan or, for faster results, in a new bowl.  Theoretically it should reach 65ºC (149ºF) but I don’t find I need to measure the temperature as the tangzhong gelatinizes at this temperature.  You can prepare this the night before and refrigerate it, ensure that it is covered to prevent it from drying out.

Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the milk (consider holding back 10 g of milk and adding later if this is the first time you’re making this), egg, tangzhong, salt, sugar and levain.  Mix and then break up the levain into many smaller pieces.  Next add the flour, I like to use my spatula to mix until there aren’t many dry areas.  Allow the flour to hydrate (fermentolyse) for 15 minutes.  Mix on low speed and then medium speed until moderate gluten development this may take 5-10 mins.  You may want to scrape the sides of the bowl during the first 5 minutes of mixing.  Next drizzle in the melted butter a little at a time, or alternatively add room temperature butter one pat at a time.  Slow the mixer down to avoid splashing the butter at you. The dough may come apart, be patient, continue to mix until it comes together before drizzling or adding in more butter.  Once all the butter has been added and incorporated increase the speed gradually to medium.  Add the mashed potatoes gradually.  Mix at medium speed until the gluten is well developed, approximately 10 mins.  You will want to check gluten development by windowpane during this time and stop mixing when you get a good windowpane.  You should be able to pull a good windowpane.

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2.5-3.5 hours at 82ºF.  There should be some rise visible at this stage.

Place a sheet of parchment paper on a large cookie tray.  Punch the dough down and then divide into 8 equal portions.  Form each into tight boules.  Place on a parchment lined cookie tray.  Cover them and allow them to fully proof about 4-6 hours, they should pass the poke test.

After about 30 mins of proofing time, whisk your remaining egg and milk and then brush the small boules.

About 30 mins prior to end of final proof preheat the oven to 350°F. 

Immediately prior to baking brush the dough again with the egg and milk mixture.  Next spoon some sesame seeds on the buns, spread and press them lightly onto the buns.

Bake the buns uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until the internal temperature is at least 190F. Cover if your rolls get brown early in the baking process.

Remove the bread from the oven and transfer the buns to a rack to cool.  

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I have to say that these came out just perfectly.  They are so soft and tender, like clouds of bread, perfect for the fish burgers with kewpie mayo and pickles.  Over time I will gradually work the percent flour of the tangzhong up and hit the magic 20% and see how they turn out.  In the meantime, this first bake looks good to me.

My index of bakes.

I love baking challah breads so whenever we host a brunch recently it has given me an excuse to bake another challah in order to make a strata.  Strata for those unfamiliar with it is essentially a way of making French toast for the masses and somewhat like a bread pudding.  It is best that the challah is a couple of days old and a bit firm.  In fact, to have a firmer challah I particularly like using 50% WW for the challah used to make a strata.  The formula for my most recent challah I used for this strata is here.

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 12 cups challah cubes

 225 g cream cheese, cubed

 2 cups frozen fruit

8 large eggs

1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla

1/4 tsp (I mL) salt

3 cups homogenized milk

80 mL maple syrup

2 tbsp granulated sugar

1/2 tsp  cinnamon

1.  Place bread cubes in a large bowl.

2. Whisk eggs in a medium bowl.  Then add vanilla, salt, milk and maple syrup and mix.  Next pour the liquid mixture over the cubed bread and fold them in so that every cube gets soaked with the egg mixture.

3. Grease a large heat proof pan.  Spread half of the soaked challah cubes over the pan.  Sprinkle cream cheese chunks and half the fruit of the challah.  Then spread the remaining half of the soaked challah cubes over the pan. finally spread the other half of the fruit over the challah cubes.

4. Combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over top. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

5. Remove from refrigerator and let stand 30 minutes.

5. Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C).  TOTAL BAKE TIME 60-65 mins.  Bake, covered, for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking for 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted in centre comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.