No-Frills Recipes ... cooking, baking & excerpts on travel

I have never made banana bread before and when I chanced upon a video on Youtube  by Apron demonstrating how this bread is made, I was game to give it a go.  What was the deciding factor that urged me to try this recipe?   Yes, it's the oval shaped cheesecake moulds.  A friend gave me two of these cheesecake moulds and I've hardly had the opportunity to make use of them.  This Banana Bread Loaf do look very pretty baked in this mould and not only that, the bread loaf itself is soft and delicious with a hint of banana fragrance. Banana Bread Loaf  ~   香蕉面包   Ingredients 350 gm high protein flour 4 Tbsp caster sugar 1 tsp salt 2 Tbsp milk powder 1 egg about 55 gm without shell 70 ml milk 1/2 Tbsp instant dried yeast 40 gm unsalted butter, cut into cubes 100 gm mashed banana Oil or butter to brush on the loaf after baked  (I used oil) Method Sieve flour  into mixing bowl.  Add milk...

I had posted a Cranberry Raisin Bread using the 'gelatinized' method, quite a while ago.  But this time, instead of using custard filling, I chose to use marmalade.  I must admit that making bread is quite tedious and time consuming, as it entails proving the dough, twice.  It was no joke sweating out in the kitchen, kneading the dough but the plus point is that the dough doubled in size in a pretty short time, because of the hot weather.   Time to relax and enjoy the fruits of my labour with a cup of hot tea! Almond Flakes Raisin Loaf  ~  杏仁片葡萄干面包  Ingredients for gelatinised dough 50 gm high protein flour 35 ml boiling water Method Mix the above with a spatula to form a dough. cling  wrap and keep in the refridgerator for about 12  hours or overnight. Ingredients for bread dough 200 gm high protein flour 37.5 gm sugar 10 gm milk powder 1.1/8 tsp dried instant yeast 1/2 tsp salt 85 ml cold water 1/2...

This is a yummy moist bread loaded with raisins with a tinge of cinnamon.   Great to have it plain, or toasted and laced with a light smear of butter.  I freezed some and had it after a few days.  It tasted just as fresh, eaten at room temperature.  Definitely a keeper recipe! Pumpkin Cinnamon Raisin Bread Roll ~  南瓜肉桂葡萄干面包 Ingredients 350 gm high protein flour (or plain flour) 40 gm wholemeal flour 1 Tbsp dried yeast 1/4 cup warm milk 50 gm brown sugar 1.1/4 tsp salt 1 'L' egg 3/4 cup pumpkin puree 1 Tbsp vegetable oil Additional oil to brush on the dough Cinnamon swirl 50 gm brown sugar 1/2 tsp cinnamon 40 gm raisins Method In a measuring cup, sprinkle yeast over warm milk, stir, set aside for about 5 to 10 mins. till bubbly. In a mixer, with paddle attachment, combine flour, sugar, salt.  Add the milk/yeast mixture, egg, pumpkin, oil and mix just the dough comes together. Change to a dough hook and knead on ...

I had this simple French Toast for brunch recently and there's not much to be said with regards to the recipe.  For 4 slices of bread, I beat up 2 eggs, add a pinch of salt, dunk the bread into the egg mixture and pan-fry the bread.  Drizzle on some honey or maple syrup, add in some bananas or any fruits of your choice, throw in some nuts for crunch and good measure ....... and voila, enjoy!

I was mesmerised by the gorgeous colour of this Purple sweet potato bread made with purple sweet potato flour from Japan.   The purple colour is very intense for I thought that there will be some reaction with the yeast, colour wise, that is.  Although the dough did rise double in size on the two stages of proofing but once I removed the cling wrap, it 'deflated' and didn't rise much during baking.  As you can see this bread is of low loaf volume, but the texture is soft and you can taste and smell the sweet potato although it's dense and filling. Served with a spread of peanut butter! Purple sweet potato bread  ~   紫色番薯面 包 Ingredients 3/4 cup lukewarm water 1.1/4 tsp dry yeast 1/4 Tbsp sugar 142 gm high protein flour or bread flour 60 gm Japanese purple sweet potato flour  14 gm softened butter 1 tsp milk Method Combine lukewarm water with dry yeast and sugar.  Mix well, set aside for 10 mins. In a mixing bowl, mix hi...

I took the opportunity to make some buns during this hot spell for I know that the dough will be able to proof very quickly.  I wasn't wrong for the dough doubled up in size within half of the normal time required for the proofing process.   These soft and fluffy buns were made using the 'Gelatinized Method' and you can view the step-by-step instructions 'here'. These plain buns go very well with soup or can be served with just a spread of butter Plain Buns - (Gelatinized method)  ~  普通面包子 Ingredients for Gelatinized dough    100 gm plain flour 70 ml boiling water Method Place flour in a bowl, add boiling water and mix with a wooden spoon or lightly knead to form a dough. Cover with cling wrap, leave to cool and keep refrigerated overnight. Ingredients for Dough 400 gm high protein flour 75 gm caster sugar 20 gm skimmed milk powder 2.1/4 tsp dried yeast 1 tsp salt 170 ml ice cold water 75 gm cold butter, cubed 1 col...

Quite a number of fellow bloggers have posted Korean Egg Bread in Facebook and shared their recipes  and I was tempted to try.  It struck me that I could make this for lunch and upon surfing the internet for more info about this recipe, I chanced upon Seonkyoung's blog and decided to try her Korean Egg Bread recipe.  I made some plain with a sprinkling of seasalt, some topped with roast pork and some with chopped spring onions.  They were delicious and I will be making this again for a light meal. Korean Egg Bread (Gyeran-Bbang)  ~    韩式鸡蛋面包 Ingredients 128 gm plain flour 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 3 Tbsp sugar 1 large egg 1/2 tsp salt 2 Tbsp melted butter or vegetable oil (I used canola oil) 12 small eggs spring onions/shredded cheese/bacon bits for topping 3/4 cup milk + 2 Tbsp white vinegar or lemon juice to make Buttermilk Method Make Buttermilk, set aside. Sift flour, baking soda and ba...

The El Nino helped in speeding up the proofing process for these Pumpkin Cinnamon Nutty Rolls.  I was really surprised when the dough tripled in size in just under an hour.  I checked the temperature at that time and it was 34 deg.C!  These sweet and tender rolls are best eaten on the day they are made but do heat up leftovers if any. Pumpkin Cinnamon Nutty Rolls  ~    南瓜肉桂面包卷 Ingredients 1/2 cup milk 430 gm plain flour, sifted 3 Tbsp/45 gm unsalted butter, melted 2 Tbsp sugar 2.1/4 tsp instant dry yeast 1 large egg 2/3 cup fresh pumpkin puree (from 300 gm raw pumpkin) 1/2 tsp salt some raw sugar to sprinkle Filling 50 gm brown sugar 2 tsp cinnamon 50 gm lightly toasted walnuts, chopped 2 Tbsp melted butter Method Discard the seeds and membrane from the pumpkin and steam with the skin.  Then scrape out the pumpkin, and mash with a spoon, leave aside. Heat milk and butter till butter is melted an...

The current hot spell is ideal for making buns or bread as the hot temperature will speed up the proofing process.  Yeast dough 'rises' or 'proofs' best when the temperature is between 80 to 85 deg. F which is about 27 to 29.5 deg.C but right now our El Nino weather is hovering around 32 to 35 deg. C which exceeds the best temperature for yeast baking.  So rather than lamenting on the sticky weather, I made some pan-fried buns.  All along I've been baking bread and buns but this is the first time that I'm pan-frying then.  Not a disappointment and as I was assembling the buns, the rest of the dough kept on rising for it was super hot in the kitchen that day ! Pan-fried Pork Bun  ~  豬肉餡餅   (adapted from 'here' with modification) Ingredients for the Filling 300 gm mince pork 4 stalks spring onions (divided) 1 tsp minced ginger 1,1/2 tsp sesame oil 1 tsp sugar 1.1/2 tsp light soya sauce 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 2 ...

As the name implies, this is soley the work of  my Kenwood breadmaker and I just followed the step-by-step instructions faithfully and be rewarded with this sweet smelling loaf of bread for my dinner. For ease of reference, I append below the ingredients that were used for this 1 lb loaf of bread. Ingredients - Time (2hrs 50 mins) 280 ml/10 fl oz of water 15 ml/3 tsp of oil from the the bottled sun-dried tomatoes OR olive oil 400 gm/14 oz high protein or bread flour 50 gm/2 oz wholemeal flour 25 gm/1 oz finely grated Parmesan cheese (optional) 1.1.2 tsp salt 10 gm/2 tsp sugar 5 gm/1 tsp dried yeast 25 gm/1 oz well-drained sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, chopped (This to be added when the machine makes an audible sound) I had this with a dip of olive oil, Balsamic vinegar and finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes