our daily bread ^_^

2008-04-28T22:58:25Z

yes! finally i've made bread!!! i'm so happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i really wanted to bake bread for so long! i haven't tried to make one because i was too scared to mess it all up. but now that i have successfully made a bread, i shall try to test other recipes!

i apologize for the crappy photos that i will post today and in the near future ^_^

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aah. what a lovely bread. i had problems while making it. first, i had to repeat the yeast-warm water mixture because it didn't become foamy like it was supposed to be. when i have successfully made the yeast mixture, i had problems with the dough. it was way too sticky. i had to add about a cup more of both flours. i doubled the recipe, maybe that's where i went wrong. but the problems weren't as tragic as i thought it would be. the bread turned out great and i'm sooo happy!! the ones in the photos are the free-form loaf that i made. i doubled the recipe and got 2 loaves. the other one (not in the picture) was placed in a loaf pan. i only have one loaf pan so i just placed the other one in a cookie sheet.

our house smelled like a bakery when the breads were baking. i should've watched the bread from time to time because i burned the top (only the half part) of my bread. i forgot to turn the loaf pan around T_T.

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how forgetful of me T_T. and so i've learned my lesson and watched the second one. it looks burnt on the picture T_T. but its not!! i just have bad lighting. i don't know how to take a good picture.

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the bread tasted really really good! especially when hot off the oven. its so soft and chewy and crusty on top. now that's the kind of bread i like. i think i will be making a lot of bread. i like the smell while baking and i just love bread ^_^. i know its loaded with carbs, but hey its wheat bread and it can't hurt to eat some.

see? its pretty right? it looks like those french breads that i love ^_^. i'm going to try to make a baguette or a focaccia. i love artisan breads!!

oh yeah, i forgot where i got the recipe T_T. so whoever you are, if you come across my blog, please inform me if the recipe is yours so i can credit you, ok?

Honey wheat bread
makes 1 loaf

1 tbsp active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (110F)
1 tbsp butter, melted
3 tbsp honey
1 cup bread flour (ap is ok)
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp salt

1. In a large bowl, stir together yeast and the warm water. Let stand for 5 minutes, until foamy. Stir in melted butter, honey and flours. Add a bit more flour if your dough is too sticky, otherwise stir until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead into a smooth ball, about 2 minutes

2. Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, 1-1 1/2 hours. Remove dough again to a lightly floured surface. Gently deflate dough. Shape into an oblong loaf and place or a baking sheet, or place dough into a greased loaf pan. Cover bread with a dishtowel and let dough rise until doubled, 1 hour.

3. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400F. If you're doing a freeform loaf, go ahead and slash the top a few times, then place the loaf in to oven. Bake for 25 minutes at 400F, until the bottom sounds hollow when tapped.
Let loaf cool before slicing.

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Baked doughnuts

2008-04-27T12:48:37Z

i just want to share this scrumptious baked doughnuts that i got from 101cookbooks.com. it looks like its hard to make, but i assure you that even if you don't have a lot of experiences at baking (like me) you will find this easy to make. you just have to follow it ^_^

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Baked Doughnuts (taken from 101cookbooks.com)

1 1/3 cups warm milk, 95 to 105 C (divided) - i used evaporated milk since i didn't have any fresh/skim/whole milk
1 packet active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
2 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
5 cups all-purpose flour
A pinch or two of nutmeg, freshly grated
1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Place 1/3 cup of the warm milk in the bowl of an electric mixer. Stir in the yeast and set aside for five minutes or so. Be sure your milk isn't too hot or it will kill the yeast. Stir the butter and sugar into the remaining cup of warm milk and add it to the yeast mixture. With a fork, stir in the eggs, flour, nutmeg, and salt - just until the flour is incorporated. With the dough hook attachment of your mixer beat the dough for a few minutes at medium speed. This is where you are going to need to make adjustments - if your dough is overly sticky, add flour a few tablespoons at a time. Too dry? Add more milk a bit at a time. You want the dough to pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl and eventually become supple and smooth. Turn it out onto a floured counter-top, knead a few times (the dough should be barely sticky), and shape into a ball.

Transfer the dough to a buttered (or oiled) bowl, cover, put in a warm place (I turn on the oven at this point and set the bowl on top), and let rise for an hour or until the dough has roughly doubled in size.

Punch down the dough and roll it out 1/2-inch thick on your floured countertop. Most people (like myself) don't have a doughnut cutter, instead I use a 2-3 inch cookie cutter to stamp out circles. Transfer the circles to a parchment-lined baking sheet and stamp out the smaller inner circles using a smaller cutter. If you cut the inner holes out any earlier, they become distorted when you attempt to move them. Cover with a clean cloth and let rise for another 45 minutes.

Bake in a 375 degree oven until the bottoms are just golden, 8 to 10 minutes - start checking around 8. While the doughnuts are baking, place the butter in a medium bowl. Place the sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl.

Remove the doughnuts from the oven and let cool for just a minute or two. Dip each one in the melted butter and a quick toss in the sugar bowl. Eat immediately if not sooner.

Makes 1 1/2 - 2 dozen medium doughnuts.

these doughnuts taste good even if they are cold ^_^. check out her site too. it has a lot of good recipes ^_^

ENJOY!

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shortbread

2008-04-27T00:29:59Z

i made shortbread last friday. no pictures though. i forgot to take a picture and when i remembered, my phone was already low batt T_T. too bad.

i took the recipe from family circle's irresistible biscuits, cookies and shortbread. it was goood!! but too buttery for me. the recipe used a cup of butter. it was really good. i tweaked the recipe a bit and it came out good. i also didn't use the indicated pan. it required a 1 x 23 cm round tin but i used an 8"inch square tin because i didn't have a round tin. well, i did actually but i was too lazy to get it. haha.

i followed the procedure perfectly but it didn't form a dough like it said on the recipe. i was supposed to knead it lightly until smooth, but it didn't come out in a kneading consistency. i thought i was doing it all wrong until i saw the pictures at the bottom. the recipe indicated that i should STIR the flour into the mixture. and then when it was too late, i saw at the captions of the pictures that i should FOLD!!!!!!! damn. they should put the same procedures!! damn. anyway, it still turned out great, so no complains there.

here's the recipe. enjoy!

traditional shortbread
from family circle's irresistible biscuits, cookies and shortbread
makes 8 wedges

250g butter,softened
1/2 cup powdered/ icing/ confectioner's sugar, sifted
1 2/.3 cup all-purpose flour ( i replaced the 2/3 cup with whole wheat flour)
1/4 cup rice flour.

1. beat icing sugar and butter until light and fluffy. sift in flours; fold well with a wooden spoon.

2. press dough into a bowl. knead lightly until smooth. pat dough into a 1x23 cm round tin or into a large 23 cm round about 1 cm thick on a greased baking tray.

3. score into fingers or wedges. pierce with a fork. bake at 140 C for 35-40 minutes or until set and browned.

4. cool on trays for 2-3 minutes. transfer into a wire rack. when almost cool, cut the wedges with a bread knife. cool completely. store in an airtight container.

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baking tools and gadgets

2008-04-23T09:38:06Z

i'm just new at baking. i started just over a year ago. since i'm a newbie at this, i don't really have a lot of tools and gadgets (especially those fancy ones). here are just some of the baking stuff that i own and hopefully i'll own more ^_^

8" springform pan

1. 8" springform pan from wilton. this is the first cake pan that i've owned. i haven't used this one yet.

2. checkerboard cake set from wilton (again)

checkerboard cake

this was a gift from my aunt on my 18th birthday (just months ago). i have used it for scones but i haven't uses this one for an actual cake ^_^

3. bear and heart cookie cutters from wilton (i love wilton ^_^)
i love these cutters!! they are so cute!!

4. candy thermometer from wilton

candy thermometer

yay! i own one already! i've been wanting to buy one for a long time! and now i have one. thank you wilton!<3

i didn't realize that i own a lot of wilton products till now. haha. most of those are gifts. can't really afford wilton. it expensive for newbie bakers like me. when i get a job i will buy a lot of wilton products in the store ^_^

**pictures are from wilton.com and amazon.com (too lazy to take pictures)

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cake chronicles

2008-04-22T03:01:21Z

i get bored easily. haha. 3 posts already? damn. i need a life. anyway, here's my cake chronicles!

my mom asked me to bake a cake for my sister. and i did. it's a vanilla chiffon cake. thank god i didn't destroy it. haha. this is the first time that i made a cake so it was scary!!!

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i actually turned the cake upside down because it got burned T_T but i did some damage control and removed the top.
it still tastes good. only the top was burned and the rest was pretty ^_^

the recipe requires a 10-inch round cake pan but since i didn't have one, i used a 9 x 13 rectangle instead. the pan, however, was small for the recipe and there was still some cake batter left. so, i took out my bear mold and poured the remaining cake batter. i baked it half the time.

isn't it cute? i liked it so much better than the bigger one. the only problem that i had with this one is it became hard the next day. it wasn't as soft and light as the bigger one. maybe because it was sitting way too long before i baked it T_T. but the cakes were goooood!!!

your probably wondering if i iced the cake or not right? of course i did. what's a birthday cake without an icing anyway?

the icing is simply boiled icing. it was good but i'm not really fond of boiled icing. i apologize for my cake decorating skills T_T. i don't know how to decorate a cake. well, not yet at least. ^_^

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yummy madeleines

2008-04-21T20:31:13Z

well that was fast. haha. i made madeleines waaaaay back in january. i've decided to post this one in honor of the opening of my blog. ^_^ so here it is. the recipe is from Hilaire Walden's The Great Big Cookie Book. i love that book. i want to try a lot of goodies from her book ^_^.

these aren't that hard to make. just make sure that you DON"T over mix. i tweaked the recipe because people in my house aren't fond of lemons. T_T how odd. so here's the recipe! enjoy! <3

Madeleines
makes 12

1 1/4 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
3/4 cups icing/ confectioner's/ powdered (phew!) sugar
rind of one lemon, grated
1 tbsp lemon juice
6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

1. preheat oven to 190 C/ 375 F. generously butter a 12-cup madeleine tin ( i used a silicone one). sift together baking powder and flour.

2. beat the eggs and icing sugar for 5-7 mins. until thick and creamy and forms a ribbon when the beaters are lifted. gently fold in lemon juice and rind.

3. starting with the flour., alternately fold the flour mixture and melted butter in four batches. leave the mixture to stand for 10 minutes then carefully spoon into the tin.. gently tap the tin to release any air bubbles.

4. bake for 12-15 minutes, rotating the tin halfway through baking, until cake tester comes out clean. tip on to a wire rack to cool completely.

** these are great with jams ^_^

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first post ^_^

2008-04-21T19:51:56Z

i enjoyed browsing food blogs that i decided to start my own. yay! welcome to my blog! pictures posted on this blog might not be as pretty as the other food bloggers have but i'll try my best to make it as appetizing as possible! i'll also try to post as frequently as i can ^_^.

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