Matcha Financiers

Matcha Financiers
Adapted from: Happy Flour

Ingredients (Makes 10)
50 g unsalted butter, melted
65 g egg whites
35 g caster sugar
25 g cake flour
25 g ground almond
1/2 tsp corn flour
1 tsp matcha powder
Pinch of baking powder
Pinch of salt

Method
1. Melt butter over low fire until slightly brown and gives off a nutty aroma. Set aside to cool and strain.
2. Sift cake flour, ground almonds, corn flour, matcha powder, baking powder and salt together and set aside.
3. In a clean big bowl, whisk egg whites until foamy.
4. Add in sugar and continue to whisk till sugar is dissolved.
5. Fold in flour mixture until well-blended.
6. Fold in melted butter until well-blended.
7. Spoon the batter into greased moulds till 90% full.
8. Bake in a preheated oven at 190°C for 10 – 15 minutes or till lightly browned.
9. Remove the financiers from the moulds and cool on a wire rack.

Notes
- I did not strain the butter after melting.

Rustic Sourdough Bread

Rustic Sourdough Bread
Adapted from: King Arthur Flour

Ingredients (Makes 2 loaves)
1 cup "fed" sourdough starter
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
2 tsp instant yeast
1 tbsp sugar
2 1/2 tsp salt
5 cups plain flour

Method
1. Combine all of the ingredients, kneading to form a smooth dough.
2. Allow the dough to rise, in a covered bowl, until it's doubled in size, about 90 minutes.
3. Gently divide the dough in half; it'll deflate somewhat.
4. Gently shape the dough into two oval loaves; or, for longer loaves, two 10" to 11" logs. Place the loaves on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover and let rise until very puffy, about 1 hour. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 425°F.
5. Spray the loaves with lukewarm water.
6. Make two fairly deep diagonal slashes in each; a serrated bread knife, wielded firmly, works well here.
7. Bake the bread for 25 to 30 minutes, until it's a very deep golden brown. Remove it from the oven, and cool on a rack.

Notes
- I made half of the recipe.

Awards (Liebster Blog, The Versatile Blogger)

This is a long over-due post.

Thank you to Cathy of Cathy's Joy and Honey Boy of Cosy Bake for passing this Liebster Blog Award to me. It is really sweet of them to remember me, even though I haven't been active on blogosphere. :)

And thank you to Eileen of Hundred Eighty Degrees for passing "The Versatile Blogger" award to me. :)

Natural Yeast Bread Loaf

With courtesy of Cathy, I am now a proud 'owner' of natural yeast too. It is really so fun to see the yeast bubbling, full with liveliness. :)

With this, I made this wonderful bread loaf. I have no problem when handling the dough as the dough is really soft and reaches the membrane stage easily. :)

Natural Yeast Bread Loaf
Adapted from: Cathy's Joy

Ingredients (Makes a loaf)
200 g natural yeast
230 g bread flour
20 g plain flour
20 g sugar
1/4 tsp salt
90 ml milk
30 g butter

Method
1. Combine all ingredients except butter, in a mixer and beat until a non-sticky dough is formed.
2. Add in butter and continue to beat until the dough is smooth, elastic and non-sticky. Do the window pane test.
3. Place the dough in a lightly greased mixing bowl, cover with cling wrap and let it proof for about 1.5 hrs, or until double in volume.
4. Remove the dough from the bowl and give a few light kneading to punch out the gas in the dough.
5. Shape into round, cover with a damp cloth or cling wrap and let it rest for 20 minutes.
6. Roll out the dough into a long rectangle, with the shorter end to be the same length as the length of the loaf pan. Roll up the dough from the shorter end in a swiss-roll style. Pinch and seal the seam.
7. Place the dough in a lightly greased loaf pan and let it proof for the second time for about 1.5 hrs, or until double in volume.
8. Bake in a preheated oven at 190°C for 45 minutes.
9. Remove from the oven, unmold immediately and let it cool completely before slicing.

Notes
- I divided the dough into 2 portions after the first proof.
- I sprinkled some water and Nestum cereals on top of the dough before popping it into the oven to bake.

Baking Together

I had a great time with Cathy last last Friday. I guess most of you would have already seen the photos of our bakes. :)

Matcha Swiss Roll with Red Beans

I finally get to join the swiss roll craze made popular by Junko's 彩繪蛋糕卷, thanks to the guidance from Cathy. Look at the beautiful swiss roll that we have made. Trust me, it not only looks pretty, it tastes fabulous too! You have my word on it. :)

Steamed Dual-Coloured Buns

Mantous (Chinese steamed buns) are normally shaped in round spiral. Due to my inconsistencies, these mantous have been transformed to triangular instead, which remind me of onigiri (a Japanese rice ball which are normally formed into triangular shapes). Soft and fluffy, they go well with a cupof green tea too! A new food fusion perhaps? :)

Please refer to Cathy's Joy for the recipes of the Matcha Swiss Roll with Red Beans and Steamed Dual-Coloured Buns. :)

I am back!

Hello everyone, here are just some updates from me. Of course, you can skip this post totally and you won't be missing anything. :)

A small confession, I haven't been baking actively during my MIA (i.e. missing in action) from blogosphere. And even if I did, I find little motivation in grabbing the camera, since I wasn't able to check the quality of the photos taken. Hence that isn't much backlog either.

Haha... I know, that is me and my excuses. :)

Anyway, I am happy to announce that I am back to blogosphere finally! Stay tuned! =)

P/S: I miss all of you! :)

Purple Sweet Potato Cupcakes

Blogging from my sister's laptop...

I found the rare yet popularly raved purple sweet potatoes during one of my grocery shoppings. Imagine my excitement and joy! :)

I really love these cupcakes. The cupcakes have a wonderfully soft texture and exude the lovely sweet potato fragrance. Strongly recommend! :)

Purple Sweet Potato Cupcakes
Adapted from: Anncoo Journal

Ingredients (Makes 6)
120 g butter
80 g sugar
2 eggs
120 g fresh milk / whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
140 g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
200 g purple sweet potatoes, steamed and mashed

Method
1. Sift plain flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.
2. Beat butter and sugar until creamy.
3. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Add in ½ of the fresh milk (or whipping cream) and vanilla extract, mix well.
5. Add in the mashed sweet potatoes, mixing well at low speed.
6. Add in the remaining fresh milk (or whipping cream) and flour mixture alternately until all has been used up.
7. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 20 – 25 minutes.