Cranberry Cinnamon Rolls 蔓越莓糖浆肉桂面包卷 (65C Tangzhong Method)

This is a busy week as the backyard renovation started, beside the noise, outdoor space is complete covered with snowy construction dust. It really disturbs my daily routine.

Today I go back to my old recipe with minor adjustments, bake the soft and fluffy cranberry cinnamon rolls which is one of my family favourite. The fragrance of cinnamon sugar in the bread is so comforting. 12 buns won't be enough for three of us! 

Ingredients:
Tangzhong/ water roux starter:
30 g bread flour
150 ml water

bread dough:
500 g bread flour 
55 g pastry flour (top flour)
30 g milk powder
5 g instant dry yeast
60 g fine sugar
1/2 tsp salt
all the Tangzhong
200 ml water (add gradually)
20 g golden syrup
60 g butter, chop in small pieces


Filling:
100 g dried cranberry 
3 tablespoons cinnamon sugar

Egg wash:
1 egg, beaten
some raw coarse brown sugar, to sprinkle on top of dough (optional)

Method:

1. Prepare Tangzhong: Mix together ingredients in Tangzhong, cook under medium heat, keep stirring until the mixture thicken, not boiling. Remove from heat and set aside until cool.

2. Prepare bread dough: In the electric mixing bowl, add all Tangzhong and bread dough ingredients except water and butter. Gradually add water (set aside 50 ml for slowly add in) and mix with KitchenAid speed 2 for a min before change to speed 4. Slowly add more water. 

3. When the mixture form rough dough or able to pull away from the mixing bowl, add in butter. Continue to let KitchenAid knead the bread dough until elastic windowpane. It means the bread dough is able to stretch open on your palm without tearing. 

4. Cover the dough and let it proof to double its size. Punch out the air in the bread dough, use the rolling pin to flatten the dough into 60cm x 40cm rectangle (As the bread dough is very soft you may need to dust your hands and worktop with flour for easy handling the dough, use the dough scraper to help handling the bread dough without adding too much addition flour). Sprinkle cinnamon sugar to cover all the dough area, place the dried cranberry on top.

5. Roll up the dough into a log, slice the dough into 12 portions (depends on you baking pan). Place the dough into lined baking pan, cover and let it proof until it double its size. Brush with egg wash. Sprinkle some raw coarse brown sugar on top of the bread dough.

6. Bake in a preheat oven at 180C for 20 mins. or until the top of the bread turned slightly brown. 

Green Tea Spiral Mantou (Chinese Green Tea Steamed Bun 緑茶双色馒头卷 ) (Overnight Sponge Dough Method)

Mantou (Chinese Steamed Bun) is a simple versatile bun, you can add varieties of flavour to the bun to suit your family taste buds. This is my second spiral mantou, you may like to look into my previous Chocolate Spiral Steamed Bun if you prefer the chocolate flavour. 

Matcha green tea flavour mantou is very refreshing, just keep the green tea powder to a teaspoon, the distinctive bitterness of the green tea will not overpowered the plain milk bun portion. To get the beautiful green tea spiral the proportion of green tea dough and plain dough for this creation is 1:3.

Ingredients: 

Overnight Sponge Dough:

60 g low gluten flour (中劲面粉）

40 ml water

1/2 tsp instant dry yeast

1 tsp sugar

Mantou Dough:

all of overnight sponge dough, tear into small pieces
350 g low gluten flour

1/2 tsp instant dry yeast

200 ml warm milk 

30g fine sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp green tea power + 1.5 tbsp water (for green dough)

Method:

Prepare the overnight sponge dough: 

1. Place all dry ingredients in a bowl, pour in water, stir well to combine. Mix well.
2. Place the mixture in a plastic cling, tighten the dough. Place the dough in the fridge proof overnight.

3. Take out the dough 30 mins before using. 

Prepare the mantou dough:

1. Place all dry ingredients in a big mixing bowl, gradually add in 200 ml warm milk. Knead the dough together to form rough dough. Take out 1/3 of the dough and mix with the green tea-water paste. knead well. 

2. Knead the 2/3 milk dough to smooth dough (add more milk if the dough is dry). Cover and let it proof to double in size.

3. Knead the 1/3 green tea dough to smooth dough (add more milk if the dough is dry, add a bit of flour if it is too sticky). Cover and let it proof to double in size.

4. Punch down the air in the milk dough and flatten it to rectangle thin dough. Do the same for the green tea dough. Flatten the green tea dough to the same rectangle size as the plain dough. 

5. Overlap the green tea dough on top of the milk dough as in the photo. Roll the dough up gently. Cut the dough into 2 inch section, place a piece of parchment paper below each dough. (note: At this stage, I actually cut the dough into two portions before I roll up the dough, I flipped one dough into opposite colour with the other portion so to get green dough at the outer design)

6. The steamer has to be preheated to around 35C, switch off the fire. Place the mantou dough inside the steamer and proof for 15 mins or until it is double it size. 

7. Switch on the fire to medium and steam for 15 mins. Leave a gap on the steamer when it is nearly done, you have to place a chopstick between the lid and the steamer.

8. Switch off the fire immediately when the steaming time is 15 mins. Let the mantou sit off heat in the steamer for 5 mins before take them out. 

Old School Sponge Cake (Gochabi) 古早味鸡蛋糕 (Cooked Dough Method)

Old school sponge cake (Gochabi) also popular known as Taiwanese Old Fashion Sponge Cake "Ji Dan Gao". It is light and fluffy with the dedicate eggy fragrance, the texture of the cake is smooth and dedicate. My family love it very much!

I have tried on a few recipes, the one using cooking oil, olive oil and butter respectively. I find that the one using butter produces the best flavour which is to my liking. The olive oil I used is way too strong and it overpowered the dedicate egg flavour in this Old School sponge Cake. Personally I find using cooked dough method produced a stable cake, the cake doesn't shrink after taking out from the oven. 

Cake pan size: 8 inch square pan

Ingredients: 
70 g butter
100 g cake flour
100 g fresh milk
6 egg yolks
1 whole egg
6 egg whites
80 g sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Method:

1. Line the baking pan with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 140C.

2. In a small soup pan, heat up the butter until it just start to bubbles. Remove the pan from heat. Add in the cake flour, stir well. Add in the milk, mix well. Add the whole egg, and the egg yolks (in three batches), mix well until no lump found. 

3. In a clean mixing bowl, add in the salt and egg whites, using KitchenAid speed 4, whisk until foamy, add the sugar in three batches, using speed 10, whisk the egg whites until soft peak stage.

4. Take 1/3 of the egg whites (meringue) add it to the egg yolks mixture, mix well. Pour the egg yolks mixture into the remaining egg whites, fold it properly.

5. Pour the batter into the 8"inch cake pan. Level the batter, knock the cake pan against the table to release the bubbles trap between the batter.

6. Place the cake pan in the preheat oven at 140C, steam bake the cake using water bath method for 60 mins or the toothpick come out clean. Switch off the heat in the oven, let the cake sit in the oven with door ajar for 5~10 mins. 

7. Take the cake out from the cake pan, and let it cool completely at the wire rack before slicing.