Home-cooked: Japanese Milk Bread

One of the best things I've learnt to bake over the past couple of months (of rather zealous weekend baking stints if I might say so myself) is this - Japanese milk bread! :) The best thing about this, apart from the fact that it's incredibly light, fluffy, and browns beautifully on the outside, is that the variations to this basic bread are endless. I baked this plain/basic version about two weeks back and since then I've already attempted a couple of variations - adding raisins to them, making a Matcha and Azuki Swirl pattern, and just today, I did a walnut and raisin braided version which tastes even better that the raisin one alone. :) And it's just the beginning. I've already seen recipes for Custard fillings and there are probably tons more out there that I've yet to discover or think up for myself.

The secret to this Japanese Milk Bread lies in what's known as the Tang Zhong Method, something which I've only recently learnt about as well. It's something that has been written about by a Japanese author, Yvonne C., in her book, 65°C 汤种面包 (or 65°C Tang Zhong Bread), and is basically a Water-Roux (or starchy paste that is formed from milk/water and flour) that is the secret ingredient to making soft and fluffy bread. (Read more about it here !) I've always thought that Japanese bread (or Asian bread for that matter, and by that I guess I'm just thinking of breads that are sold in local bakeries) had a very soft, fluffy, slightly sweet taste to it and have always wondered why it's so different from the Western forms. So I suppose this is the first secret ingredient. :)


This is how my very first bread loaf looked like. I know it's somewhat strange since the individual loaves are in an elliptical form, but this is me, not realizing that all I had to do was shape them into round balls to place in the pan to get the typical bread loaf appearance. ;p The things we learn every day. 

Japanese Milk Bread 
Recipe adapted from Noshings (adapted in my own words) 
(check out her site because it's chock-a-block full of recipes and delicious looking goodies!! I've gotten inspiration for so many recipes that I want to try out)

Ingredients: 
For Tangzhong mixture,
- 1/3 cup flour (all purpose/bread flour)
- 1 cup milk

- 1/2 cup warm milk
- 2 tsp. yeast
- 3 Tbs. sugar
- 2 and 3/4 cup flour (all purpose/bread flour)
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 Tbs. powdered milk 
- 2 Tbs. softened butter 


1. To make the Tang zhong mixture, whisk together 1/3 cup of flour in a saucepan and heat the mixture over medium heat until it thickens (don't bring it to a full boil!). Whisk the mixture while it's being heated up and after a few minutes, almost magically, it'll start to thicken until it resembles a white paste. When that happens, switch off the heat, and let your Tang Zhong mixture cool by the side.



Here's what it more or less looks like when the Tang Zhong mixture is done! 
 


2. In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup of warm milk, 2 tsp of yeast and 3 Tbs of sugar (I used normal white caster sugar). Whisk it together and set it aside for a few minutes to let the yeast start.

(One thing I'd recommend you do is wait until you see bubbles forming on the surface of the yeast mixture, indicating that the yeast is working! Today I ended up having a batch of dough that didn't rise probably because something had happened to the yeast. :( I can only assume it was because the milk I had added in was too hot and had killed off the yeast inadvertently but I could've saved a whole batch of dough if I had only waited a little longer to confirm that the yeast mixture was bubbling and hence working before mixing it into the rest of the dry ingredients! So it's my tip to you.) 

3. In a large bowl, combine 2 and 3/4 cups of flour, 1 tsp. salt, and 1 Tbs powdered milk. Stir to mix. Once the Tang Zhong mixture is cooled off so that it doesn't hurt the yeast, measure out about 120g of it (almost exactly half of the mixture). Add it to your yeast mixture along with 1 large egg. Mix together then pour it over the dry ingredients in a large bowl. (You can create a well in the center of your dry ingredients and pour the yeast mixture in for easier mixing.)



4. When the wet and dry ingredients have more or less come together to form a dough, add in the 2 Tbs. of softened butter. Continue mixing it in. If the dough looks shaggy, you can add in some flour until it doesn't cling to the sides of the bowl any more. 

(If you're using a mixer, let the dough knead for about 5 - 8 minutes till it becomes elastic.) 

5. Transfer the dough to a well-floured surface and knead it by hand till it becomes less sticky. Since I don't have a mixer, I just kneaded it for about 5 - 8 minutes (or until I got tired ;p), adding some flour whenever the dough became a bit too sticky. Shape the dough into a ball and let it rise in a well-oiled bowl for about 1 hour or until it has doubled. 
 

6. Once the dough has risen, divide it into 4 pieces. Form each piece into a ball shape, then flatten each one out into a round disc shape about 6 inches across. Roll the discs up cinnamon-roll style (starting at one end and rolling over like a log to the other end!). Shape each one into a ball and place into a well-greased pan. Repeat for the other discs. (The original recipe called for an 8" round cake pan)




See, unfortunately I didn't have the sense to shape each rolled up disc into a ball and instead I merely laid each rolled-up disc flat, parallel to each other. ;p I mean it really doesn't make a difference to the taste or the end product, just that you don't get the typical bread loaf appearance. 


7. Let the dough proof a second time under a plastic cling-wrap for about 45 min - 1 hour. Carefully brush the surfaces with a beaten egg then bake at 180 deg Celsius or 350 deg Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes. At the 20 minute mark when the surface starts to get very brown, place a piece of aluminium foil gently over the top to keep the bread from overbrowning. (This is a really great tip in my opinion! :D Works for all breads/pastries you want to bake in the future too. Whenever it gets too brown and you're worried about the top over-browning/burning, the piece of foil saves the day.) 


Ta-dah! Don't you love the gorgeous shade of brown with its lovely sheen? And trust me, it tastes SO good as a plain loaf of bread. Definitely not on the sweet side so it goes really well with jam.



And something that my mum really liked was the bread sliced up thinly and then re-toasted in the toaster oven. Do that for about 1.5 minutes (make sure you watch the bread at about that time to make sure it doesn't burn!) and then you'll get a really crispy slice of Japanese Milk Bread. Pretty darn awesome especially if you like crispy food. 

It's definitely not the easiest bread to make because of all the steps and different things you have to do at the start but after a few attempts, you'll get used to it and really, you'll want to keep baking and eating it over and over again because it tastes so good. :) 

Today I made a walnut and raisin braided version which I like even more than the plain one. Will share that with you soon. 

xoxo

Montreal Streetsnaps: Vieux Montreal

Since there are still a gazillion Montreal photos left to share, I'll continue with them. :) These were taken over the weekends spent there - ambling along the streets, huddled in my winterwear, camera in tow. I love how people there all seem to be so relaxed. Most of the time it seemed like a quiet, laid-back city (it must mean something when the store that opens the latest on a weekday is Urban Outfitters which closes at 8pm and I'm one of the few customers there at that hour) but that's also probably because it was the awkward transition period from Winter to Spring. I would love to be there in the Summer when apparently the entire city springs to life, with people staying out late at night to eat, drink, be merry, on the terraces that sprawl out to the sidewalks and stores open till much later at night. 




On weekends, a perfect place to spend the afternoon is Vieux-Montreal or the Old Port. At Place Jacques-Cartier there's an open area where buskers entertain crowds and mind you, these are no ordinary buskers! The one I saw was extremely gregarious and humorous (albeit in a slightly lewd but thoroughly entertaining way). AND, like so many other Montreallers, spoke in a perfect blend of English and French. I mean it's one thing to be effectively bilingual but it's another to have a grasp of the language to the extent that you're able to crack jokes - and successful ones at that.




And just a little ways up along the hill, another busker attempting a magic trick. 





There's no doubt about it - Montreallers do know how to enjoy themselves during the weekends. What could be better than just sitting at a park bench/lounging on a grass patch enjoying the company of friends? And when they get hungry, there are those million and one boulangeries that they can stroll into and pick up the most delicious almond croissant in. (THAT, in my opinion, has to come from Olive et Gourmando, my absolute favorite bakery in Montreal that I promise I'll feature really soon!)

 
Yet another look at the Hôtel de Ville de Montréal, a.k.a. the City Hall building. Aren't the architectural details just beautiful?

---

What did you spend this weekend doing? :) Last night for me was spent at Sentosa celebrating a friend's birthday belatedly - and believe it or not, it involved us staging a very elaborate (or so we'd like to think) 'kidnapping' of the birthday boy, only to realize that he'd just gone for a 10km run and was so sweaty none of the designated driver-kidnappers wanted him in their cars. Thus we ended up waiting while he dutifully went back to his place for a shower. At least he allowed us to put a paper bag over his head for the drive to Sentosa. Yeah, the things we do when we need some excitement in our lives.

I'm so happy tomorrow's Sunday!~~~

Home-cooked: Matcha Shortbread Cookies

Here's presenting to you... my attempt at Matcha Shortbread Cookies! :) 



Recently I've gotten into a bit of a Matcha craze. I've always loved green tea (especially with soy milk!) but my love for it was catapulted to a whole new level after I visited Nana's Green Tea Cafe at JCube and had probably the best Green Tea Latte in my life. It was probably a combination of factors that made that drink so perfect. Firstly, I noticed that the owner of the cafe was Japanese, which automatically makes all of the green tea drinks legit by association ;). Next, the green tea latte that came out had just the right amount of bitterness. I hate drinks that are overly sweet/sweetened so this one was just right. Added to the fact that it was a quiet cafe in the late afternoon with a really cozy ambiance and that each sip of warm latte was lifting layers of worry and anxiety (school...work...life...what's new? just a lame bunch of first world problems) off my back, I came to the conclusion that it was a perfect cup of green tea latte that was perfect for the occasion. 

(Here's my little Instagram shot.)

Nana's Green Tea Cafe is at JCube (really near Franc Franc! 2 good reasons to go there even though it's all the way in the West ;p) and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you check it out. It has such a huge array of Green Tea drinks and desserts that are absolutely mouth-watering. They are a little on the pricey side but for some good quality Japanese tea and desserts, I'd say it's well worth the splurge. (Hopefully I'll do a proper post about that place soon.)

So back to the post proper, I decided to try baking some Matcha Shortbread Cookies or Sablés. I got the recipe from Chocolate and Zucchini , another cooking site that I'm eager to trawl through over the next few weeks. It's easy enough to make and I like how they turned out with the flower shaped cookie cutters. :D

Slightly adapted recipe from Chocolate and Zucchini
Matcha Shortbread Cookies (Very slight changes made here!)

- 100 grams of good-quality butter, softened (add 1/4 teaspoon of salt if you use unsalted butter) 
- 50 grams (6 tablespoons) of confectioner's sugar 
- 1 egg yolk 
- 90 grams (3/4 cup) flour 
- 40 grams (6 tablespoons) finely ground almonds 
- 2 teaspoons matcha powder (I bought mine at NTUC and it's called Uji Matcha. You can check out Evan's Kitchen Ramblings for more info about where to buy matcha powder in SG. :) 
- 2 tablespoons sugar, preferably an unrefined cane sugar in coarse crystals, such as turbinado or demerara

1. In a medium mixing-bowl, cream together the butter and confectioner's sugar with a spatula. Add the egg yolk and mix it in thoroughly.

(I actually prefer using an electric mixer to cream the butter and confectioner's sugar together! When I used a wooden spoon the first time round, there were chunks of sugar that ended up unmixed which I only discovered at the end when I was shaping the dough. Bit late then. It's probably because confectioner's sugar tends to clump together by nature of its texture so it also needs a fair bit of sifting to separate the grains out.)



2. In another bowl, combine the flour, ground almonds, and matcha, and stir with a whisk to remove any lump. Add to the first bowl and stir it in until the mixture comes together to form a ball; don't overwork the dough. Lightly shape the dough into a ball. Wrap in cling film and place in the freezer to firm up for 40 minutes (or in the fridge for 2 hours).



At this point, the mixture was really kind of moist so I'm not too sure how you're supposed to roll it into a log without adding a decent amount of flour to it. What I did was that I just placed the moist ball into cling wrap and let it harden in the fridge for about 1 hour. After that, I still needed to add about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of flour for ease of rolling it out.



3. Preheat the oven to 180° C (360° F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out the dough on a well-floured surface till about 1/4 inch thick (it's easier to remove from the cookie cutter if it's thicker), adding flour to firm up the dough when necessary. Cut out your cookies with desired cookie cutter and place on parchment paper, about 1 inch apart.

 

For me, instead of rolling it into a log and cut using a knife as in the original recipe, I decided to roll it flat and use cookie cutters. Perhaps it has to do with Singapore being an extremely humid place, because after awhile the dough started getting awfully soft and moist, making it difficult to cut out with the cookie cutters. I ended up having to chill the dough a bit longer in the fridge. So I guess just go by whatever is easier for you - you can chill it longer or add more flour to make it less moist.



For extra crunch and added sweetness, I sprinkled the sugar on top of the cookies. They definitely help to offset the slight bitterness of the matcha flavor if you decide to add more matcha powder.

4. Slip into the oven and bake for 12 minutes, or until the cookies just begin to turn golden at the edges. Let rest for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a rack to cool completely.



Ta-dah! :) I love how these turned out. Slightly brown at the edges and a nice pale shade of green in the center. Perfect with some actual green tea too, as my friends rightly pointed out. I'm so glad these turned out really tasty because they're the perfect treats for green tea lovers. Give them a go? And let me know how they turn out if you do. 

xoxo

Snippets from Paris

Finally, finally... I've started editing my Paris photos. :) I have a feeling I'll be bouncing back and forth between the Paris and Montreal ones (because I think I'm still just about halfway through with the Montreal photos. I did take a lot of photos when I was there.) but at least I'm getting started! The boy has been pestering me about our Paris photos so after listening to one too many reminders, I decided it's about time I got started on at least a handful. And it helps that this weekend is more relaxing too. :) I was able to bake Citrus cookies and a loaf of Japanese milk bread that I must say I'm pretty proud of. But a separate post for that soon!













This is just a teaser but when I look through the photos, I can only think, gosh, Paris is just so damn gorgeous. Especially the most ordinary of things/places/scenes, at moments when you least expect such beauty, it's there. -- Looking forward to sleeping today. I've never loved weekends more. Don't you just love the feeling of waking up in the morning and then, knowing that you don't need to get out of bed, you rest your head on your pillow, snuggle in deeper beneath your comforters and think to yourself, I looooove this feeling? That's me on weekends. xoxo

Home-cooked: Browned Butter Blueberry Muffins

This weekend has been soooo good. I wish I could have more of these slow-paced weekends when I don't really feel pressured to study and time flows slower... like a warm dribble of liquid honey. ;) Managed to exercise (FINALLY!), take a nap on Saturday, bake... all things that make me happy. And today, to combat the insane heat (S'pore's seriously turning into a sauna >:( and that's to all the people who don't believe in the threat of Global Warming), I decided to go for a swim despite it meaning I would have to be out in the hot sun. I figured I was sweating so much I might as well immerse myself in a pool of water to distract myself from all that sweat. And it totally worked. Nothing like feeling that you've done your body some good.

I actually baked some Matcha shortbread cookies this weekend (which turned out great!:D) but since I'm always one step behind in my photos, I'll be sharing instead of some Browned Butter Blueberry Muffins that I baked a couple of times recently. This recipe comes from Joy the Baker whose website I've only recently discovered but am REALLY LOVING! The muffins turned out SO well each time I made them and have been to date, probably the most well-received goodie that I've baked for my friends in the past few months.



LOVE LOVE LOVE blueberries. But I like them better when they're mixed with strawberries and cereal in soy milk than eaten alone. 



I've now discovered the incredible goodness that is BROWNED BUTTER. I've never made it before prior to baking these muffins but the instructions on Joy's website were pretty easy to follow. All you have to do is melt the butter over medium heat and wait... until the butter starts bubbling then you wait some more... and slowly but surely, a delicious smell will start wafting from the pan. Very much like the smell of caramel. Which is pretty magical, since a few minutes before it was plain butter. It's a little hard to tell when the melted butter has browned (especially if you're using a regular black based pan like me) but a trick is to use a spoon and scoop a little of the butter out to check its color. And, by the time you should have tell-tale brown bits at the base.  But really, the best gauge is going by the distinctive caramel-ish scent. :) You'll be pretty amazed the first time you smell it. 

 



Ta-dah! Really easy recipe that takes less than an hour. Plus, the crumble is a real winner. Everyone who's tried it somehow really likes the crumble on top. Take note though, if you go by the measurements in Joy's recipe, there is WAY too much crumble even for two batches of muffins (and her recipe is only for one). So I really don't know why there's so much excess crumble but you can definitely halve it (or quarter it even) if you're only making one batch of muffins. 

P.S. Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone! Didn't quite celebrate it this year but I happened to be in the west just now and managed to catch some fireworks that were going off at Chinese Garden. :) So that was pretty nice. And the best part about MAF so far would have to be all the food fairs that are going on at the shopping malls (so far I've been to the ones at Takashimaya basement and Vivocity). Samples GALORE! On Friday, I happened to go with two friends to the one at Vivo and we just whiled away our pre-dinner time poking our noses at various stalls, requesting for samples of new mooncakes (we didn't bother wasting tummy space with the traditional lotus paste/yolk mooncake fare, no siree!). And take it from me, it's possible to actually get full on samples. 

xoxo

Montreal's Best: Fitz and Follwell

One of the absolute highlights of my Montreal trip? Going on bicycle tours held by the amazing people of Fitz & Follwell Co. :D Montreal is such a bicycle-friendly city - there are Bixi bicycles available for rent every other street corner; tons of bicycle lanes (which is pretty much non-existent in Singapore, thus my enthusiasm when I first found out about it) covering a substantial portion of the city, and pretty much all the students cycle around to and from the universities. At least it seemed that way. So when I happened to walk by the Fitz & Follwell store, not only was I taken in by the very cool interior decor and extremely friendly staff (yeah, they actually remember your name ;p), but I was totally psyched when I heard that they would be holding all sorts of bicycle tours when Spring arrived. I ended up going on two - Montreal Highlights, and Hoods & Hidden Gems. Both of which are HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. I think I took more photos on the tours but these were the few that I could scrounge up for now. :)



It's great that the tours are suitable for cyclists of all levels. I'm pretty much a novice rider (and surprisingly enough, only fell ONCE. Every time I managed to stop my bicycle successfully at a traffic light without falling off was a pleasant surprise. I blame it on the very high bicycles that just weren't built for a midget like me. -_-;;) but it was still incredibly enjoyable. There was one guy from London who probably cycles everywhere as a hobby and actually brought along his own extremely funky Brompton bicycle that was FOLDABLE. If it weren't so expensive and if S'pore had a couple more bicycle lanes, I might want to get something like that one day. :) You can just stow it in its case and carry it on the plane easily!  



The guy second from the left was the tour guide Martin. He is just PLAIN AWESOME. :D Extremely warm and friendly, knowledgeable about Montreal, speaks great English (you know someone has a real mastery of the language when they can  naturally pepper their speech with so many humorous jokes) and was just a great tour guide all in all. He happened to be the tour guide for both tours and if you manage to get him as your guide, you're in for a really enjoyable tour. :)


Here's a point we stopped at along the Lachine Canal which is a beaaaauuuutiful cycling path along one of the canals in Montreal. 



Lunch at Atwater Marche. Yummy pizza and a drink of your choice. Nothing but hot chocolate for me because it was coooooold that day. Remember, I was there in like March. 





The resident dog of Fitz & Follwell. Can't remember her name but she was a real calm sweetie. 

Look at all the incredible tours they have. Would you believe they even conduct FOOD TOURS in the summer? I felt like dying when I realized that they would only be conducting them in the summer and I was leaving right before that. Montreal is already a haven for foodies based on guide book recommendations but with actual locals leading the way and the chance to work off those extra calories along the way? YES PLEASE. 

Fitz & Follwell Co. 

115 Avenue du Mont-Royal West, 

Montreal, QC, H2T 2S9 

(514) 840-0739 

Remember, going on one of these bicycle tours is an absolute MUST if you're ever in Montreal. It's such a warm, welcoming store that you'll want to keep going back in there if only for the cosy atmosphere and warmth of the staff and store owners. :)

Nooks and Crannies

Ta-dah! :) Latest project of mine.

I have no idea why I'm always starting on projects though really, I'm supposed to be studying. But this is something that I've been thinking about doing for quite awhile! I've been meaning to have some form of an online portfolio for all my photos and I wanted it to be on a site that's a little more elegant than Flickr. I might've ended up using a Wordpress theme of some sort but then I happened to chance across a link for Wix, a website building...website that allows you to create your site without any html. That's the biggest draw for me because I know next to nothing when it comes to html coding!! (One thing that's on my bucket list - LEARN HTML)(but it's on the non-priority list) It's pretty easy to use and I just love the layout of the theme that I chose.

So here it is. A little online portfolio of my photos. Not all, but some to start of with!

VISIT IT HERE 

Psst. I just figured that an easier way to get to the site, instead of trying to remember that really long wix address, is to use this: 

 http://tinyurl.com/nooksandcrannies 

 Easy enough eh? :) Cheers!