"These homemade Soft Rolls are fluffy and delicious, honestly some of the best rolls I've ever made!"

 Guaranteed not to last long, once out of the oven!

This dough is very versatile, can be used for making dinner rolls, soft plait, hotdog rolls, knot rolls, clover  rolls or any shape of rolls you desired. The skies the limit! ..:)

Get to your baking mood and make these today!

The basic ingredients for making Crown Loaf.

Pour in the yeast mixture into the half amount of flour (about 250 grams of flour), milk powder and salt and begin kneading on low speed.

Using a mixer with dough hook attachment, begins beating on low speed.

Add in the remaining flour (250 grams of flour) and knead about 3 minutes or so.

Pour in the beaten egg and knead for 2 minutes.

At this stage, you may need to add in some flour, give or take.

 Drizzle in the melted butter and knead for another 5 - 10 minutes.

Add in 1 tsp of vinegar and knead on medium-low speed for 5-10 minutes until obtaining a smooth but slightly sticky dough. After kneading, the dough begins to cleans itself  from the side of the mixing bowl.

Floured the clean work surface, begin kneading by hand to make the dough smooth and pliable, approximately 5 minutes.

After kneading, time for the dough to rest. This allows the gluten to relax, achieving greater volume and lighter rolls. 

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled mixing bowl. Cover with cling wrap and let it rise for 20 minutes.

After the resting, the dough almost double in volume.

Using a kitchen scale, to weigh each roll so that they're all the same size.

After the rolls nearly doubled, brush the top with egg wash, it gives that shiny crust!

  Topped with grated cheddar cheese, sesame seeds and poppy seeds. Any kinds of seeds, it's a personal preference.

 Let the rolls rest again while the oven is heating up!

Brush the top rolls with melted butter, sprinkle chopped Rosemary and coarse sea salt.

 Buttered Rosemary Crown Loaf

 Crown Loaf With Three-Types Of Toppings

 INGREDIENTS:

• 4 1/2 cup (500 grams of organic hi-protein plain wheat flour +  40 grams extra for kneading)
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 3 tbsp of milk powder
• 1 tbsp of *natural active dried yeast or any active dried yeast
• 1 cup (about 250 ml or 8 oz) of lukewarm water
• 2 tbsp organic cane sugar or castor sugar
• 1 Omega egg (65 grams) lightly beaten
• 50 grams (4 tbsp) of *salted butter or margarine
• 1 tsp *vinegar  

VARIATIONS:
Egg wash (1 egg + 1 tbsp fresh milk) to glaze
Grated cheddar cheese, poppy seeds or sesame seeds

Melted butter to glaze
Fresh Rosemary (coarsely chopped) and French sea salt (coarse)  

Notes:

*I've tested these recipe with both salted and unsalted butter without a huge differences. Either will work! Its personal preference!
* If you wish to have less salt, use only 1/2 tsp of salt.
*If you're using instant dry yeast, skip step 1, just add 1 packet (11 grams) of instant dry yeast directly to the dry ingredients.
*When baking breads with yeast, just add a little vinegar (about 1 tsp of vinegar) to the dough to prevent the yeasty smell that sometimes occurs, especially when too much yeast has been used.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a small bowl, combine lukewarm water (between 100 - 110 °F / 37- 43 °C ) and dissolve the yeast with sugar. Set aside for 10 minutes until it turn to frothy. 

2. In a separate bowl, melt the butter in microwave for 10 seconds and set aside.

3. Using a mixer with dough hook attachment, combine half of the flour (about 250 grams), salt and milk powder. Once the yeast mixture has bubbled up, add in to the mixing bowl, beating on low speed.

4. Add in beaten egg and gradually add in the rest of the flour.  Knead the dough for 2 minutes until the dough begins to come together.

5. Drizzle the melted butter and knead at medium-low speed for 5 minutes, at this stage you may need to add extra flour, give or take a little. Add in vinegar and continue kneading for 5-10 minutes until the dough begins to cleans itself  from the side of the mixing bowl. The dough will be extremely soft, smooth and elastic.

6. Floured the work surface, knead the dough for 5 minutes and add just enough flour while kneading. Do not be intimidated if your dough is quite wet, adding too much flour will result in denser bread. Persist in kneading for another 5 minutes until smooth and elastic.

7. Place the dough in a oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for 20 minutes.

8. Transfer dough on lightly floured surface and press down gently to deflate, divide into 15 equal pieces (a measurement scale is really helpful here). Cupping the dough under your palm and roll each piece into a ball.

9. Spray or brush with melted butter on 8" and 9" round bottomless cake pans, evenly place 7 rolls in 8" round cake pan and 8 rolls in 9" bottomless cake pan. Cover with cling wrap or a damp towel and allow it to rise in a warm place for 1 hour until it doubled in size.

10. Preheat oven at 200°C (400°F) during last 15 minutes of dough rising.

11. Once it has doubled in volume, brush the top of the rolls with beaten egg and sprinkle sesame seeds, poppy seeds and grated cheddar cheese. For other flavor, brush the top rolls with melted butter, sprinkle chopped fresh rosemary and sprinkle with French sea salt.

12. Place the rolls in oven and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.

13. Brush the baked rolls with melted butter and let them rest for two minutes. Remove the rolls from the loose-bottomed cake pan and place them into a wire rack to cool. Serve warm, reheat before serving as necessary.

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"Nothing Beats Freshly Baked Buns!"

Adapted slightly from The Complete Book Of  Baking, page 80, published in 1994, one of my favorite recipe books!

SHANGHAI RED BEAN PANCAKE

Author: Vivian Tee
Yield: 2 pancakes (10" round non-stick crepe pan or skillet)
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

• 60 gram of organic bread flour or all-purpose flour
• 40 gram of glutinous rice flour
• A pinch of salt
• 1 medium omega egg (50 gram)
• 75 gram of fresh milk
• 75 grams water
• 1 tbsp of organic grape seed oil
• 240 gram of homemade red bean paste or store-bought
• 1 tbsp of toasted sesame seeds (sprinkle)
• Organic grape seed oil or any cooking oil for pan-fry and deep-fry

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.Making the batter:-Sift the bread flour, glutinous rice four and salt together. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients and stir until well incorporated. Add in grape seed oil into the batter and whisk again until you have a smooth runny batter. Let the batter rest for about 10 minutes.

2. Making the pancake:- Lightly brush the non-stick crepe pan or a skillet with a thin layer of grape seed oil. *Turn the heat to medium and pour in the batter (about 125 grams) onto the pan. Quickly rotate the pan around to spread the batter evenly over the entire surface of the pan.

3. Adding the filling:- Once the batter is done, turn down the flame to low. Add in generous slab of red bean paste in middle of the pancake and form rectangle shape. Fold on four sides like folding the envelopes to enclose the red bean paste.

4.* Turn the heat back to medium-high and add in 2-3 tbsp grape seed oil and shallow pan-fry it till it turns to golden-brown on both side. Remove from the pan and drain the red bean pancake on the kitchen towels.  Make another batch by removing the excess oil and repeat with the remaining batter.

5. Another method, followed step 2 and transfer to plate, keep it warm. Add in the red beans paste in the middle of the pancake and form rectangle shape. Fold on four sides and seal the edges with flour paste (2 tbsp of plain flour mix with 2 tbsp of water). Deep-fry or shallow pan-fry the red bean pancake, remove and drain on kitchen towel. For extra crispy crust, deep fried the red bean pancake.

6. Cut the pancake into 6- 8 slices, sprinkle the top with toasted sesame seed and serve while it is still pipping hot!

Recipe adapted from Dimsumptuos.

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Delicately Kueh Bahulu are classic precious sponge cakes usually served during the Chinese New Year. They are delicious, crunchy from the outside and soft on the inside, perfect for dunking in coffee! These little beauty bake up in a minutes and are gone in seconds!

Kueh Bahulu, is our all time favorite cake during the festive season. It's hard to believe that these Kueh Bahulu is made from humble ingredients as flour, eggs and sugar, but it's true. While the task might seem intimidating on the outset, actually it's easier than it seems once you get the rhythm going.

Chinese New Year baking is in full swing at my house and one of my favorite treats to make this time of the year is, Kueh Bahulu. Mom requested her favorite Kueh Bahulu for this coming festive season. Making these little cakes do evoke lots of her childhood memories which my late grandma used to made during the festive season. Mom mentioned that the first thing that came to her mind was the smoke getting into their eyes, making them tear as they fanned the flames. It was a tough job then but no one complained because, everyone was in such festive mood. Mom totally forgotten the recipe, thankfully my neighbour, James Wan Chee Keong an editor for Famous Cuisine was gracious enough to share the recipe.

My first attempt using BBQ gas converter with lava rocks to bake these basic sponge cake. Surprisingly, it turn up well more than I expected. Using high heat is the secret in making these popular, traditional treats. To make this classic recipe, you need to fry the flour on low heat or you can easily place the flour under the hot sun for 3-4 hours to let the flour dry, thus will make the cake lighter. Followed by beating the eggs with sugar until fluffy, incorporate as much air as possible and gradually adding flour in three batches at a time. It appear to be simple but required a lot of patience and you will need to follow the instructions and tips carefully.

As simple as they are tasty, these Kueh Bahulu keep extremely well and a good choice to give as a gift during the festive season. It's also great any other day of the year! Happy Baking!

On low heat, fry the all-purpose flour with pandan leaves until light and dry.

Once cool, sift all-purpose flour with rice flour together, sift at least twice.

Whisk the eggs, castor sugar and salt on high speed, approximately 20 minutes.

The mixture turns to pale and fluffy and ribbons form when the beaters are lifted.

Sift flour into the wet ingredients 1/3 at a time, folding after each addition.

Gently stir all the ingredients until well incorporated. Do not over mix the batter!

All ready to bake!

Preheat the BBQ gas converter with lava rocks at 200°C ( 400°F ) together with the moulds. The moulds must be extremely hot before adding the batter, so this delicate cake will not stick to the mould when removing them.

Spoon batter into the moulds, slightly above the top.

Takes only a few minutes and they're ready to be eaten.

KUEH BAHULU

Author : Vivian Tee
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Yields: 35- 45 pieces


INGREDIENTS:

• 110 grams all-purpose flour
• 2-3 pandan leaves
• 1 tbsp of rice flour
• 3 large omega eggs (chilled)
• 130 grams of castor sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• Butter or cooking oil for greasing the moulds

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. On low heat, fry all-purpose flour with pandan leaves until light and airy about 20 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool. Once cool, sift the all-purpose flour and rice flour together at least twice and leave aside.
2. Place the eggs, sugar and salt in a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat until pale and fluffy, approximately 20 minutes on medium- high speed. 
3. Gently add in the sifted flour and fold lightly, best to do it in three or four stages until incorporated. *Do not over mix the batter, the cake texture it will turn dry and tough.
4. Preheat the BBQ gas converter with lava rocks at 200°C (400°F). Place the bahulu moulds and heat about 6 minutes. *The moulds must be extremely hot, so these delicate cake will not stick to the mould when removing them. 
5.  Using a silicon pastry brush, greased the interiors of the mould with butter or any cooking oil.
6. Spoon in the batter to the top of the mould. Bake for 8 minutes with the BBQ  lid closed until golden brown. Remove the baked kueh bahulu using a bamboo skewer or a cake tester. Greased the mould and repeat the same step with the remaining batter.
7. If you're using oven , preheat the oven at 190°C (375°F) together with the bahulu mould on the baking pan (for easy handling when removing the hot mould from the oven). Carefully remove the hot mould from the oven and grease with cooking oil.
8. Spoon in the batter and bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Using a bamboo skewer or cake tester, gently loosen and remove the kueh bahulu from their mould. Greased the bahulu mould again and place in the oven to heat up. Repeat the process with the remaining batter.
9.  Cool on wire rack and store in air tight container.

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