Cream Buns (Not oven bake)

What do you think of these custard buns? They look good isn’t it? Well, I didn’t bake these in the oven. I bake/pan fried it on a frying pan. I found this recipe on YouTube and was intrigued by it. I have some leftover custard cream from my fruit tarts and decided to use it up to by making these. The buns were really soft and good and I will definitely make this again. So if you don’t have an oven you can still make this bread. No excuses :)

Blueberry Sweet Rolls with Mascarpone Lemon Glaze

I’ve been slacking a lot in updating my blog lately. I hope there are still people dropping by my blog. A lot of things happened for the past 2-3 months and it kind of took priority of my time. I too cut down a lot on my baking and cooking so hopefully I can get my blogging mojo back and continue to share my recipes here regularly. Anyway, I baked these rolls a few months ago and finally get to sit down to type out the recipe today.

I still have a lot of frozen blueberry in my freezer so I am trying to finish them up so I can get some fresh ones during this summer so decided to use some to make some rolls. These decadent buns turns out soft, fluffy, bursting with juicy blueberries and covered in sweet mascarpone lemon glaze. It was so great to have it for breakfast with a cup of coffee.

Tuna Buns

I like making this kind of buns with savory filling as this is something that Carlos will eat. I usually baked a big batch as this way he can warm it up and eat it whenever he wants. It can be for his lunch or snacks. I gave a few to Nini’s and she likes it too. I used the same dough recipe as the Spam buns as I find the dough is very easy to work with and also the buns stays soft even the next day. With this basic dough you can put any filling in it. It can be sweet like red bean paste or kaya.

Ingredients for the dough:

3 ½ cups flour
½ tsp salt
3 tbsp sugar
2 tsp dried yeast
1 cup milk
80 gram butter
1 egg

Spam Buns

I always have a can or two of Spam in my pantry for emergency. Emergency like I ran out of protein in my freezer but people who knew me know that will never happen ha ha I always have access of protein in my freezer. Anyway, the two cans I have are very near to the expiration date and I decided to use one of it for the filling of these sweet buns. I gave half of the buns away and the rest we just devour it in 2 days. I know is unhealthy but who doesn't like Spam :) It was that good. For the buns, I just used my regular sweet bread dough and this dough is really good as it stays soft even the second days. In fact I used this same dough recipe to make some tuna buns a few days later.

Soft Garlic Parsley Dinner Rolls

I baked these for our Thanksgiving meal. It was a last minute decision to bake these as I totally forgot to get a loaf of bread for our meal. Well, since I am not roasting a turkey but chicken I have plenty of time to make the rolls. It is not that difficult to make and with very few simple ingredients you some fresh rolls to go with your meal.

English Muffin Loaf

Carlos love having English muffin for breakfast. He enjoyed his toasted, slathered with butter and has it with a banana. I always wanted to make some but never get to do it. So happen I saw American Test Kitchen on TV making it into a loaf and I quickly took down the recipe. There were no kneading involve. All you have to do is just mixing all the ingredients together, cover it and let the yeast do the job. Not more than an hour. Simple!

This bread is unbelievably easy to make and the result is a loaf of bread that’s very reminiscent of English Muffins with its signature holey, airy, honeycomb kind of texture. In fact this is the second time I bake this. The first time I halve the original recipe but the dough didn’t fill up the loaf pan and they don’t look very good. So this time I alter the recipe a little bit in order to fit nicely into the loaf pan. I think this bread will be a good try for anyone who wanted to start making bread because of its simplicity.

Coconut Buns/Cocktail Buns

This is by far my most favorite soft buns to buy from the Chinese Bakery. I will always get a few to last me for a week. I am a fan of coconut and anything with coconut in it I will eat it. The coconut bun or cocktail buns (gai mei pau) is very popular in Hong Kong. It is a soft sweet bun and with rich buttery coconut filling in it. You can read the history of the cocktail bun here .

I did it slightly different. Instead of having the coconut filling on the inside I like the filling to be exposed on the outside. I just love the look of the tiny sparkles of coconut after baking it. They look so pretty. As for the dough it is just regular sweet bread dough and it is not as soft the next day like the tangzhong method dough but you can just warm it up in the microwave for 15 seconds and they will be soft again and taste just like freshly baked right out of the oven.

Sweet Blueberry Focaccia

When I was in Vancouver I tried out blueberry focaccia from one of the famous bakery and they were really good. They made it into small individual serving size but they were not cheap though. A piece with tax cost around $4.00. This bakery is also famous for their grape focaccia. Since it is summer and there are plenty of blueberries around I thought tried to replica this at home. Can you imagine the smell in the house when I was baking this?

Man, it turns out so good if I should say so myself. The focaccia was soft on the inside and with the crunchy sweet sugary topping, I was hooked. I gave a few away and my friends love it too. I am planning to bake this again but it will be with grapes. I think this would be perfect to serve for brunch, cocktail party with some cheese and wine or like me enjoyed it for breakfast with my morning coffee.

Oven Baked Jelly Donuts

This is by far one of the best baked donuts I ever made. They came out so light and fluffy. I know some of you might not believe me but just look at the last pictures. That’s the look of the texture inside the donut. They were light and airy. This dough is a bit stickier which is what makes them so light and also I let it proof the second time for over 2 hours. I shape, cover them and went for my zumba and baked them only when I got home. I tweak this recipe from the previous recipe and I like this better. I understand these may not be for everyone but it is perfect just for me to get over my donut craving. I filled the donuts with homemade jam but you can fill it with lemon curd, custard or even melted chocolate.

Steamed Pan Fried Buns

The first time I tried this type of bun was in New Zealand. My good friend Shereen took me to a tiny Asian restaurant and they serve this type of buns and they were really good. I tried making it at home and they turn out pretty well. The filling of the buns are raw and you have to pan fried and steam cook them at the same time. It is very much like dumplings or gyoza. The dough of these buns is slightly different from the normal steamed buns. It has thinner and chewy dough. I like it a lot as the fried bun has a crispy golden brown bottom and serve with Chinese black vinegar dip but I just like it as it is. I am surprise Carlos like this too as normally he is not very adventurous enough to try out new food. I made some with sesame bottom but you can make it plain if you like.

Baked Scallion/Green Onion Pancakes

Crispy, flaky, and savory scallion pancakes are one of our very favorite Chinese restaurant treats. This Chinese pancake is very much like the Indian parathas and other type of flatbreads. When I saw these pancakes at Seasaltwith Food website I know I just have to try it out as they look so fluffy and crispy. Best of all it was baked and not pan fried. I’ve done this before but it is without the yeast so the pancakes were much denser. True to how Angie’s described it. They were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Do hop over to Angie’s website to check out her step by step video on how to make this.

Rose Shape Steamed Buns

I love making home-made buns and usually make a large batch of it and freeze them up. The filling can be savory or sweet and it all depends on what I have in hand or sometimes just some plain ones like these to eat it with some stew pork. I am not too comfortable eating store bought buns or mantau as I know they put ammonia and other additives to it in order to keep them soft. No doubt these buns do harden a bit when it cools down but you can always steam them up again before you eat it. They are as good as new. These soft and fluffy steamed buns can be eaten plain, with your favorite spread or with any gravy. They are best served hot, straight out from the steamer.

Hot Cross Buns with Cranberry

Easter is just around the corner and as usual I will bake this traditional bread for the Holy Week. Each year it will be a bit different. I will add a little bit of this and a little bit of that to the recipe. I like adding some dried fruits of any kind to it. I don’t really like spices in my sweet bread so I just added some orange and lemon zest to it.

This year I glaze it with some syrup and pipe the cross on with some sugar icing. I just love these buns; they are soft, sweet and go really well with your morning tea or coffee.

Panettone Apple Bread Pudding

Carlos is not a fan of bread pudding that is why I hardly make any but since I have some leftover homemade Panettone from Christmas so I thought he might like it if I use it in the bread pudding. True enough, he loves it a lot and he finishes most of it. There are many variation of bread pudding out there. Some uses white bread, croissant, donuts, baguette or brioche. Panettone is similar to brioche but with raisings, candied orange and lemon peel in it so it is great to use it in bread pudding. I added extra diced apple in it but you can always omit it.

Panettone (Italian Christmas Bread)

This bread is a must in our household during Christmas season. I will usually buy them but I did attempt making them once a few years ago. I followed the recipe from a book but it turns out as hard as a rock and never try baking them again until this year. This time I used the recipe from the internet. I found there are so many of them out there but most of them requires a lot of work and days of proofing. Those who knew me will know I will not attempt recipes like that as I don’t have the patience for it. So I end up using the recipe from Laura in the Kitchen which is a very straight forward method just like making regular bread but it does require longer proofing time than regular bread.

This recipe makes beautiful, soft, supple dough that is much like a brioche. This bread is a true show-stopper. It’s stunning, and the flavor lives up to its looks. The bread is soft and sweet, and just loaded with flavor thanks to the vanilla extract,dried fruits, orange and lemon zest.

Soft Butter Rolls

Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. Are you on the lookout for some delicious butter rolls to serve for your dinner or breakfast table? These rolls were my all time favorite to serve. They were soft, sweet and buttery and I bet you can’t stop at just eating one. Let me tell you, I down 3 of them once it was out of the oven. I have to dance extra hard at my zumba that evening because of it. But it was all worth it, I don’t mind doing it all over again. It was that good!!

Ingredients (A)

1/2 cup lukewarm water
7 gram dried yeast
1 tsp sugar

Rustic Whole Wheat No Knead Bread

There is nothing more irresistible than freshly baked crusty bread. It is wonderfully crisp and chewy on the outside while tender and slightly moist on the inside. I like to use them for sandwiches or just spread them with butter for my morning breakfast. Making this bread is easy as it requires very minimal work. I used the same recipe as my Rustic Bread but this time I added some whole wheat flour to it.

Pumpkin Bread with Raisins

I love making quick bread for our breakfast especially using pumpkin or bananas. I used the same recipe that been feature here a few years ago. You can read about how I got the recipe here . This time I cut down on the sugar as I used the kabocha pumpkin instead of butternut squash. I love the texture of this insanely moist and soft bread. The additional raisins compliment the bread really well. This bread taste even better after a day or two. You can substitute the raisins with other types of dried fruits or nuts.

Hawaiian Buns

Hawaiian buns are very popular here in the Northern CA. I see them sold at every supermarket and bakery here. It is basically a sweet soft roll. I Google for the recipe and found there are quite a few of it out there. Some have the additions of potato flakes and coconut in it. In the end I settle for the recipe which I had all the ingredients in my pantry. Below is the recipe I adapted from Yammie’s Noshery however I substitute a cup of whole wheat flour to the dough and with some minor changes.

We love this bread as they were soft and very fragrant. It remains soft the next day but on the 3rd day it did harden up a bit but 20 seconds in the microwave it is as soft as they are out of the oven. It tastes so good with some butter, coconut jam or fruit jam.

 

 

Focaccia with Roasted Garlic, Pickle Peppers and Olives

It has been a long while since I bake bread. Since the weather is much warmer now I decided to make some foccacia to have it with our beef stew. I used my old recipe but this time I added 1 cup of whole wheat flour to the dough to make it a bit healthier. This is easy to make and I think it is a great alternative to garlic bread. As for the topping you can put anything you like to it.