Five Thousand Dollar Starter Dough: Dinner Rolls

Today I make bread using the Five Thousand Dollar Starter Dough again! yes, the previous baking was finished within two days. Initially I want to play with shaping my bread but ... who know this morning was so eventful that I have to change my plan and made this simple shaping dinner rolls with the five thousand dollar starter dough. Anyway, I still feel happy when I see the end result of the bread texture.

I'm using my previous recipe with the only change of water to milk as this time I got milk in my fridge. The bread is super soft and my son ate them without applying any filling.

Note: On my previous post, someone ask me about whether my KitchenAid moved a lot while mixing the bread dough at speed 4. Today, while making my bread I paid so much attention on my KitchenAid to see whether my mixer got that problem or not and then I tried to mix the bread using speed 1 and 2 as well. My finding is if you compared the speed 4 movement with speed 2, of course there is big different. The head of my KitchenAid  does moved at speed 4 but not the base of the machine. I want to state also this is my personal observation and the KitchenAid has served me well for the past two years. I have not use other brand of mixer and not sure is this common issue in others type of mixer?   

Note on 7 Apr: I would like to cut down the yeast content in main bread dough for future bread making. Or may be using 4g in the starter dough and 3g of yeast in the main dough should be more than sufficient. 

Ingredients for starter dough:
210g bread flour
90g cake flour
25g sugar
6g dry instant yeast
240ml warm water

Method:

1. Mix all ingredients together and no need to knead the dough, cover and leave overnight in the fridge.

Ingredients for bread dough:

250g + 50g bread flour (may need some more if the dough is too sticky, this depends on the flour you use)

55g sugar

1 egg

30g milk powder

7g dry instant yeast 

30g unsalted butter

20ml milk

pinch of salt

starter dough prepared above

Method:

1. Place ingredients for bread dough (except the butter and the 50g bread flour which you need to slowly add in) in the KitcheAid mixer, mix at low speed (speed 1 then 2) until the dough come together. 

2. Switch the KitchenAid mixer to medium speed (speed 4, you can use speed 2 but need to mix longer), mix until the dough no longer stick to the wall of mixer, add in the butter. Switch the KitchenAid mixer to low speed again and mix for 1 mins, before switch it to medium speed again. Check the dough with your hand, if the dough is very sticky, add some bread flour. The bread dough is ready if it is able to pull to form elastic film.

3. Take out the bread dough and cover, let it proof until it double its size. About 45 mins. (depends on your surrounding temperature)

4. Punch down the dough, divide the dough into 16 portions. Let the dough rest for 15 mins.

5. Flatten the dough and roll up swiss roll style twice. Let it proof to double it size and apply egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds. 

6. Bake at preheat oven at 180C for 20~25 mins. 

Five Thousand Dollar Starter Dough Bread: Parmesan Cheese and Cinnamon Rolls (五千块老式酵头面包）

I saw this 5 thousand dollar starter dough bread recipe on Cuisine Paradise site, I was so eager to try on this starter dough because it is not only using bread flour but cake flour as well. I'm curious to know how it turn out because the starter dough used is a non-knead dough, very simple and easy. Why it is called 5 thousand dollar starter dough bread? Some people said because a chef paid that five thousand dollars to find this recipe. I'm not sure whether this is true. 

Since my family will be going on a day trip tomorrow and Gabriel still not well to take any BBQ or grilling food, I decided to make him some soft bread using this 5 thousand dollar starter dough and adjusted the ingredients for the bread dough ingredients myself using my old recipe to make him this soft lovely Parmesan Bread and Cinnamon Rolls. Anyway, I didn't follow exactly how they make the starter dough, I mixed the starter dough ingredients together and just let it proof in the fridge overnight to save up the time. The texture of the bread is really soft, if you ask me is there any different if you use overnight starter dough, I will say, I can't find any different in it. May be I should do a proper comparison one day to tell the different. 

I'm very happy and excited to see the bread texture, how about you? 

Note on 7 Apr: I would like to cut down the yeast content in the main bread dough for future baking. Or may be using 4g in the starter dough and 3g in the main bread dough should be more than sufficient. 

Ingredients for starter dough:
210g bread flour
90g cake flour
25g sugar
6g dry instant yeast
240ml warm water

Method:

1. Mix all ingredients together and no need to knead the dough, cover and leave overnight in the fridge.

Ingredients for bread dough:

250g + 50g bread flour (may need some more if the dough is too sticky, this depends on the flour you use)

55g sugar

1 egg

30g milk powder

7g dry instant yeast

30g unsalted butter

20ml warm water

pinch of salt

starter dough prepared above

Parmesan Cheese Bread:

50g of Parmesan cheese powder

100g of Mozzarella cheese

some sugar for sprinkle

Cinnamon Rolls:

3 tbsp brown sugar

3 tbsp cinnamon sugar

Egg wash: 1 egg +1 tbsp water

Method:

1. Place ingredients for bread dough (except the butter and the 50g bread flour which you need to slowly add in) in the KitcheAid mixer, mix at low speed (speed 2) until the dough come together. 

2. Switch the KitchenAid mixer to medium speed (speed 4), mix until the dough no longer stick to the wall of mixer, add in the butter. Switch the KitchenAid mixer to low speed again and mix for 1 mins, before switch it to medium speed again. Check the dough with your hand, if the dough is very sticky, add some bread flour. The bread dough is ready if it is able to pull to form elastic film.

3. Take out the bread dough and cover, let it proof until it double its size. About 45 mins. (depends on your surrounding temperature)

4. Punch down the dough, divide into the portions you wish, for me I divided the dough into 2/3 for making Parmesan cheese bread and 1/3 for making cinnamon rolls.

5. For Parmesan cheese bread dough: divide into six dough balls, flatten the dough and roll it up swiss roll style twice. Arrange the dough in line baking tray. Let it proof for second time until it double it size, about 20 mins. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese powder and mozzarella cheese. Bake in preheat oven at 180C for 25~30 mins. Take out and sprinkle with sugar immediately.

6. For Cinnamon Rolls dough: flatten the dough into a square, apply the dough with a bit of water, sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon sugar on it. Spread out evenly. Roll the dough up swiss roll style. Seal the edge and cut into desire portion, arrange the dough in line baking tin. Let it proof for second time until it double it size, about 20 mins. Apply egg wash, bake in preheat oven at 180C for 25-30 mins. 

                  5 thousand dollar starter dough, after proofing overnight in fridge

Chocolate Marble Cake

So happy to see the Bake-Along theme for this round is Chocolate Marble Cake, one of my son favourite butter cake. Yes, I know this is a butter cake, since I have successfully shrink down more than 3 kg, I think I can take a break to consume this buttery cake :D Anyway, I am very excited to see how the marble effect on this cake turn out to be. Of course, the swirls can be better. The taste of this chocolate marble cake will not disappointing you, the texture of the cake is buttery and fine not like the store bought coarse cake texture. 

I'm using the recipe from Lena of Frozen Wings. Thank you, Lena! Another good afternoon tea cake for me and my son :)

Fondant Race Cars Cake

Gabriel, Gabriel you are 6th! 

This year my son asked for race cars cake, I took up the challenge to make him a two-tiers fondant race cars cake. Thanks to a friend of mine who is very experience in making fondant cake, as I have the chance to work with her on the fondant element for the church women's retreat I get to learn more on how to use the mould to create very pretty stuff! I have more confidant in using the fondant tools and decided to invest a bit on it. I am so thankful for my friend tip on how to stack up the two tiers cake, I stacked up four cakes into two tiers! initially it is a mission impossible for me, I nearly gave up...but luckily I made it!

This is yet a perfect fondant cake, as you can see I am not able to smooth the side of the fondant cake. I'm not sure is it because the roll fondant I made was too thick? I'm satisfy with the little gum paste cars I made and the number six which cut out using the number cookies cutter looks perfect. But the day before the birthday celebration, the cake shown sign of collapse, need to figure out how to resolve this issue in future fondant making!!

Gabriel and his friends were so happy with the fondant race cars cake, not just that Gabriel was so happy on the birthday celebration day, you see he was surrounded by his best friends and he laughed a lots! 

Love you, my son! you are the star in my life, you bring so much joy and comfort to me in your own way. I love your easy forgiven heart that always forgive me when I am so strict to you. You always comfort me with your kind and loving words that cheer up my days, may God blessing always be with you, watch and protect every steps you make in your life. Happy Birthday Gabriel!

Danish Butter Cookies 丹麦牛油饼干

Today is another busy day, after drop off my son I rush back to tidy up my house. Yes, I have a habit of cooking or baking in a clean and tidy kitchen. If the house is messy, I can't concentrate. I finished with household chore in the morning but didn't manage to do my baking. Afternoon was busy with accompanying my son doing his homework. Then his friends came by and I managed to persuade them to go out and play...Ah...at least the evening is mine! 

I have planned to bake the Danish Butter Cookies for very long. The buttery and crunchy texture, crisp and sugar crystals images always flipping in my mind. I have tried some recipes on the butter cookies and come to a conclusion that the one with baking powder is not suitable if you want a beautiful shape cookies, anyway, just my personal experience. Since young I love Danish Butter Cookies and am so fond of the pretzel shape Danish Butter Cookies in the blue tin. I'm so grateful to receive the Brezel cookies cutter from Ann of Anncoo Journal. Thank you Ann!  

Ann, a veteran baker always impress me with her bakes and her recipes never fail me. This Danish Butter Cookies is using Ann's recipe. In her recipe she was using the star-tip piping method. 

when your mood is down in some of the days, what you really need is a bit of times for yourself to do the things you love. For me, baking is the one. This evening, my kitchen is filled with buttery fragrant and I have tea in one hand and Danish butter cookies in the other hand. 

Singing Sand Dunes, Qatar

Last month, I visited Singing Sand Dunes with my family, yes, it was really a busy month until I have no time to try on the new recipes which I planned to bake. Or may be my priority has changed?

I have been here for nearly three months and I think is time to tell you more the place where I stay. Singing Dunes is not far away, just about 30 mins driving from the place where I stay. 

First time, experience the desert, purely sand and dust. We were there in the morning, no other visitors were there. Oh, yes there is wind and when the wind is strong enough it created the roar like the jet fighter flying across your head this is why its name is Singing Dunes. The sand is really soft. In this place it is so quiet that you can only hear the wind. 

My son is still young, he doesn't know the different between sand pit and the real desert. He thought this is a big sand pit! And for me, I suddenly think of a late famous author, she wrote a book around 1990 on "Crying Camel in the Desert" that still touch my heart until today.

在这里只有沙和尘土，还有让我想到三毛哭泣的骆驼，那一幕黑哑奴要被带走时三毛拼命的把床毯子往他怀里推，而黑哑奴拿了毯子没命的往家的方向奔去。在风里，三毛说只有哑奴的声音和那条红色的毯子在拍打着她的心。好多年前，我看到这一段已哭得不成声，今天的我站在风沙中，那震撼还是一样的强烈。怀恋你，三毛！

Ham Chim Peng (Salty Dough Fritters 咸煎饼)

The weather here is getting hotter everyday, for the past two weeks I was so busy running around until no time to make a proper meal. Think of summer not yet arrive the heat already burning my skin, make me sweat!! I took sometimes to replant some of my vegetables, however the cucumber and white radish seems not able to withstand the heat, after replant, they died >.< But the tomato looks like going to survive, it bears so many little tomatoes and I wish I can see the pinkish coming before summer! 

Today sharing the Ham Chim Peng (Salty Dough Fritters), it is a snack I used to eat when I was small. It was my supper, that time we didn't have McDonald or KFC. The Ham Chim Peng is one of the famous Penang Hawker Food, the famous one is in Cintra Street, George Town, Penang. It has been there since I was young and now it is still there. My father always bought the Ham Chim Peng, Yau Char Kuai and Peanut soup for supper, that time we didn't know that the stall is so far away from our home. He has to drive to town, it needs at least 30 mins driving. 

Ham Chim Peng is usually with two flavours, plain salty Ham Chim Peng or with red bean filling, which is sweet Ham Chim Peng. I love both of them. It has been years since I last had my Penang Ham Chim Peng. Today finally eating the homemade plain salty Ham Chim Peng, I love the soft bouncy texture, the starter dough method really easy and yield better product. If you love stronger taste like me, do add more fermented bean curd and five-spice in the dough, the taste is indeed comforting! I wish I have a bowl of peanut soup beside me :) 

Note (23 Mar 2015) Please see my latest recipe on Ham Chim Peng (Chinese Five Spice Doughnuts) Here.

Stir Fried Lemongrass Tom Yam Chicken

Recently saw Yong Swee Ha posted her Tom Yam Butter Chicken on Facebook, she stir fried her chicken until golden brown before stir fried with the tom yam butter paste. I missed this type of food so much that I decided to try it out at home, but I am afraid my dish will be too oily with butter so I modified a bit on the recipe. I stir fried my Lemongrass Tom Yam chicken and go without butter. The end result is indeed comforting!! 

Today beside the recipe, I want to share with you two types of tom yam paste. Usually I will prefer the big bottle instant tom yam paste which stand on the right of the photo. Unfortunately, we can't get it in Qatar, I shipped it from Melbourne, it came together with my shipment :) This brand taste more salty and sour then the Exotic brand. The Exotic brand is easy to get at Carrefour in Qatar, the taste is a bit different from the big bottle brand. There is a lot more lemongrass and Kaffir lemon leaves taste in the Exotic brand, for this cooking I used Exotic brand.