Quick and Easy Blueberry Banana Whole Wheat Loaf

2 very ripe bananas. Half an avocado and a opened tub of  plain yogurt. Handful of blueberries. An easy way to use them all up is to dump them all into a simple mix and bake up a loaf. Made with half whole wheat flour, the recipe is per usual, kind of dense. Combine that with very ripe banana, its also slightly mushy. Avocado and olive oil act as the fat here, and honey replaced sugar. The output was a short thick loaf, not the yummiest of bakes but fragrant and good enough that we finished 4 slices in 1 seating. Plus it's a healthy breakfast alternative!

Ingredients:

Half a avocado
2 large over-ripe bananas
20ml olive oil
3 tablespoons plain yogurt
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup honey
100g cake flour
90g whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
blueberries

Recipe:
Mash avocado, banana together with olive oil and yogurt
Add egg, vanilla and honey and combine well
Add flours, baking powder and salt, stir to combine until it just comes together
Add blueberries
Pour into loaf pan and bake at 170c for 55 minutes

TZ w Whipping Cream : Spinach & Cheese Roll

Tangzhong recipe:
25g bread flour
125ml water
Mix all ingredients in a metal pot and stir until there are no lumps. Cook over med heat until mixture becomes very thick, and lines start to appear when mixture is stirred. (Alternatively, test the temperature, you will get Tangzhong at 65C). Remove from heat and cool to room temperature before using.

Bread recipe:
1 large egg
75ml milk + 50ml whipping cream
All of above Tangzhong (should have 120g)
300g bread flour + 50g whole wheat flour
50g sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoon instant yeast
3 tbsp unflavored greek yoghurt

Spinach Filling:

6 slices chedder cheese

As much spinach as you prefer, boiled, cooled and squeezed dry

Dough knead (in a breadmaker):

1. Combine all wet ingredients in breadmaker's loaf pan

2. Place flour, sugar and salt into the wet mixture and stir the dry ingredients lightly. Add the yeast, ensure that it does not come into contact with the salt.
3. Choose dough program
4. Machine will start to knead the mixture. When gluten starts to form, around 5 minutes onwards, add the yoghurt.

5. At the end of program, turn dough onto a floured surface. Flatten gently and divide into 2 portions. Form into balls and let it relax for 15 minutes.

6. Roll each ball into a thin rectangle. Lay the cheese horizontally across the dough and top with spinach all over the dough.

7. Roll the long side up and seal tightly, placing the roll on the sealed side down.

8. Cut into slices and place opened side up on a lined baking tray, dusted with flour.

10. Let rise for 30 minutes, until doubled in size.

11. Bake for 17 minutes at 160C, until top is golden brown.

 

Yummy fluffy bread. It was tear-away soft and paired very well with the spinach and cheese filling.

 

 

Also made plain round buns that acted as burger buns. Tall and pointy, it bounces right back to shape after each bite. Will be trying out other flavors to make more types of burger buns!

 



Artichoke Cafe+Bar

Desserts are meant to be sweet endings to a well-rounded meal. Yet, friends who know me well or colleagues whom shared many seminar meeting lunches with me know that I sometimes start with dessert or almost always go for the sweets midway. A dessert fiend just cannot wait but sink its teeth into an oozy gooey creamy mess or a sweet multi-textured layered concoction.

 

Above is a good example of a well-executed textured oozy dessert, from Artichoke Cafe and Bar. It was a cottony soft date cake swimming in a sweet yet light caramel cream, topped with delightful bites of bouncy coffee jelly and sprinkled generously with crushed nuts. If this description don't send you running right to the cafe, I don't know what will.. it's basically dessert haven for me! I lapped it up totally.

 

Artichoke is a cafe with a differentiation. Its food has a middle-eastern influence and the guys at Artichoke certainly do not scrimp on quality nor quantity! Portions are huge and the dishes are hearty, brunch items are generally served with large slices of well-toasted Za'atar bread which was explained as Turkish bread when asked. I like that the menu is focused; this usually means the chefs turn out consistent well-tested favourites. They also have a different menu for day versus night, and tweak their menu offerings frequently which is a smart idea. I would love to go back to try their dinner items. Only wish I had was if they could only have a couple of white meat items as their dishes are pork/lamb/crab/veg.

Nonetheless, I love my brunch dish, the organic mushrooms with haloumi cheese with a large za'atar  bread and huge portion of scrambled eggs. The mushrooms were marinated sweetly, the eggs were fluffy, the bread was crusty and chewy, and the cheese was really interesting. It's my first time having this cheese; hidden beneath the leaves, it was a slab of light yellow firm cheese, it's like a portobello version of mushroom, almost meaty in texture, very interesting but slightly too salty for my taste bud; good for sharing around the table.

My partners in food crime had the top sellers; the Bacon & Sweet Potato hash and the Lamb Shakshouka.

 

The bacon are not what you would usually expect. If you have read other reviewers' post, you probably have already seen that they serve their bacon steak-style.. in a large long thick slab. This dish came with many pieces of bacon cut into chunks, tenderly cooked, and without the layers of fat that usually comes with it. Thumbs up, even from a non-porky person like me. The star of this dish for me is the sweet potato, toasted on the outside, soft and sweet inside, I think there is a maple sauce coating or that could be from the meat that flavored the hash as well. If it's grilled chicken, I would definitely order this for myself.

The lamb was minced into the sauce, and its served with eggs baked in it, topped with toasted crushed pistachio. Wow, love the sauce. I soaked up quite a fair bit of the lovely tomato stew with my za'atar! According to my lamb-eating friends the lamb did not have the strong lamb taste that I steer away from and it's well-liked amongst the table. It's a large serving, good to share as well.

 

Despite the crowd, the service was good and prompt. They even called me a few days ahead to ask if I needed a baby chair since I mentioned that we have a child amongst us when I made the reservation 2 weeks ago. Impressed! Definitely a place I would repeat.

Artichoke Cafe + Bar

161 middle road

Sculpture square

6336 6949

TZ Banana Cinnamon Roll in muffin cups

Its the Tangzhong recipe again! I'm sure you are just as bored of my tangzhong posts as I am. It proves how easy and versatile the recipe is though as one basic TZ recipe can yield many types of bread. I promise I will move on to other methods of bread baking, I need to.. maybe after I finish that never-ending tub of whipped cream sitting in the fridge waiting for another loaf of TZ Hokkaido loaf.. or maybe after the large bag of creamer is depleted or maybe.. after the hub get tired of this..


Anyway, I revisited my TZ cinnamon roll as the previous one still turned out a little too blackened on top. I wanted a soft light tan, not a sunburnt charred look. The bananas were still not as ripe as I would like so off they went into the oven at 200C for 10 minutes. Roasted bananas release a sweet fragrance and the flesh is also sticky soft, roast it for a shorter time if you prefer them somewhat harder.


Tangzhong recipe:
25g bread flour
125ml water
Mix all ingredients in a metal pot and stir until there are no lumps. Cook over med heat until mixture becomes very thick, and lines start to appear when mixture is stirred. (Alternatively, test the temperature, you will get Tangzhong at 65C). Remove from heat and cool to room temperature before using.

Bread recipe:
1 large egg
125ml milk
All of above Tangzhong (should have 120g)
300g bread flour + 50g whole wheat flour
50g sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoon instant yeast
30g unsalted butter

Cinnamon Filling:

1 tablespoon cinnamon powder (adjust to preference)

30g brown sugar

3 over-ripe bananas, sliced

 

Dough knead (in a breadmaker):

1. Combine all wet ingredients in breadmaker's loaf pan

2. Place flour, sugar and salt into the wet mixture and stir the dry ingredients lightly. Add the yeast, ensure that it does not come into contact with the salt.
3. Choose dough program
4. Machine will start to knead the mixture. When gluten starts to form, around 5 minutes onwards, add the butter.

5. At the end of program, turn dough onto a floured surface. Flatten gently and divide into 2 portions. Form into balls and let it relax for 15 minutes.

 6. Roll each ball into a thin rectangle. Mix the cinnamon powder and sugar together, sprinkle generously across the dough.

7. Place sliced banana across the dough

8. Roll the long side up and seal tightly, placing the roll on the sealed side down.

9. Cut into slices and place opened side up on muffin cups in a

baking tray.

10. Let rise for 30 minutes, until doubled in size.

11. Bake for 20 minutes at 160C, until top is golden brown.

Serve warm and with a little butterscotch or chocolate sauce. I chose the chocolate sauce!

 

 

Sharing this with

YeastSpotting
#TwelveLoaves January hosted by Cake Duchess

Coffee Hopping!

I've kind of been on a coffee hunt recently, not a very extensive one but before I go on ahead and my forgetful self kicks in, thought I should list my thoughts and preferences. This is a reminder to myself on where to repeat, where to skip and where is a "only if you are in the area". I'm no coffee expert and don't know my arabica beans from robusta beans. All following thoughts are based on my own preferences and it's always either a black or cappuccino with skimmed milk.

Below also include any other joints I've visited before and which still lingered in my mind.

To Repeat

Habitat - which I've already repeated, it's that good! Australian Coffee; aroma of the coffee shines through my skimmed milk foam. Despite being skimmed or perhaps low fat since most service staff never told me if it's skimmed or low fat, the creaminess of the milk made the drink felt an indulgence rather than some where I felt the coffee is utilitarian (for the need of caffeine).

Chye Seng Huat - a joint I visited some months ago but their black stuck in my mind. I remembered it as black and bold, not acidic and very smooth.

PatisserieG - The first question I asked them was "You guys served Liberty Coffee right?" Elusive coffee that it is, with the brand owner only opening once a week, I was delighted to find that it's served at a few famous cafes around (The latest I heard is that they are served at Grub, Bishan Park. Yay, very near my hometown). Grabbed the chance to have it at G. Indeed yummy as word-of-mouth goes, the coffee aroma was strong and when paired with Meiji milk, it was delightful. Yum!

Jones the Grocer - After a very ordinary brunch at CA dempsey, me and hubs were glad we made the walk to Jones instead for coffee. The bright and white interior, high ceiling and huge island serving counter, stacked with plentiful produce and lovely chocolate was busy yet not squeezy. Instead, it made walking along inside the cafe a pleasant experience as surprising knick knacks are found all over. We had my usual cap and an iced mudslide mocha topped with ice cream. Much as I like their cappuccino, I had to stop myself from also finishing my hub's mudslide. It was thick dark chocolate, strong espresso, full fat milk and creamy smooth ice cream all at once. Don't wait anymore.

Loysel's Toy - I seldom order black as my bad experiences of long blacks with SBucks and CBean deter me from random orders without prior reviews. However, Loysel's Toy's reputation of Papa Palheta coffee and with their barista winning the Singapore National Barista award, I was not afraid to go for coffee in its full glory, black without any trimmings of milk nor sugar. It did not disappoint; not acidic at all, it was easy to drink and the coffee was full-bodied and thick (like a Kopi-o Gao version of kopi which is not really a comparison but you know what I mean)

Toby's Estate - Another joint I visited some time back, I remembered rating it slightly lower than Chye Seng Huat. Still I recalled it was a pleasant cup and one that I would not mind re-visiting.

To Skip

I find the coffee at these joints weak and I could barely taste the coffee. However, there are definitely other redeeming factors for some, so visit for the food not the coffee.

Garden Slug - Garden Slug's food is great and at very affordable prices. Their bread was a crispy, memorable multi-grain and their large slices of smoked salmon were very fulfilling.

Wimbly Lu - Their sticky date pudding was yummilicious! Root beer cake was unique with a strong hint of root beer in its cake and sauce. The blackout cake was somewhat dry though. Fries are shoe-string, nothing to shout about.

Cafe Melba - the fries are not bad but the burger I had was disappointing for the price it command. It was a single though fat patty, with barely a lettuce and tomato. Bun used was nothing out of the blue. Not a place I would visit again.

Only if you are in the area

Artichoke - I don't recall the coffee strongly, which I guess makes it neither good not particularly bad. therefore I put it into the "only if you are there", however love the food there! I'll do a separate post on the food items. Stayed tuned!

Blue Mahoe - (it's not a cafe, just takeaway counter). I went only because I saw a FB post that said "Like the post, screenshot it and show at counter to get a coffee at $2 instead of $14" I was intrigued; a coffee that cost $14 a cup must be worth a visit. So, I trotted to Takashimaya and looked for their counter outside Cold Storage, which is near DonQ. Cool setup, with many apparatus and friendly, uniformed baristas. They patiently explained the technology of their siphon coffee to me and engaged me in a conversation of how and where I got to know the brand etc etc which I thought was a really good practice as you have to stand at the counter while waiting for the brew. I was impressed. Of the brew itself, I'm afraid I do not have the experienced palette to differentiate it from other cuppas. It struck me as black, bold, smooth, which I would love to repeat but at $14 a cup, I will hesitate. Go try it while it's still going for $2! (I think valid up to late June, search FB for their page)

House of Robert Timms - My favourite cafe for brunch dining / hearty food / indulgent fries, it is however not a place I will go just for coffee. Food is great and their sticky date is my recommendation of desserts to anyone who ask; their coffee is pretty ordinary, with no lasting impression. Brekkie and Cake is the way to go.

Smitten - This is another place I ordered a black. It was a slow-drip coffee but I thought was slightly acidic. While it is not bad and the place is quaint and quiet, I would go only if I happen to be in the area. But there are so many choices at the same area, it's going to be hard to choose them over...say Toby's Estate.

TangZhong Bread - 50g wholewheat

I've probably baked Tangzhong bread about 10 times since I first learned about it 2 years back. Frequently, I tweak each try slightly, just for variety and for the easily-bored personality of mine. Yesterday, my hubs commented "this is your best bread so far!" Happy! but I highly suspect that it's rated highly because of the addition of pork floss. Somehow, pork floss with melted ham & cheese, a combination I fell in love with in Taiwan, resonates with everyone.

I found the previous TZ overnight recipe slightly too light for me; I like to have chewiness in my bread, so I sub 50g of white bread flour to whole wheat flour. For convenience sake, I also used the bread maker to help with the kneading as it means I don't have to watch over the ken wood closely in case it goes into overdrive (Which it does if I keep the machine going at high speed continuously). This also meant that the first proof was longer and I was even afraid that it would have over-proofed. The yeasty beer-smell was very strong when I took the dough out after the overnight fermentation but thankfully was not apparent after baking.

The bread turned out really soft, and was a tad heavier than the previous batch, which is just nice for me. However, it does not have that sweet soft bun taste that bakeries tend to have. I'm hoping that also means our usual home-bakes are higher in the health quotient!

Tangzhong recipe:

25g bread flour

125ml water

 

Mix all ingredients in a metal pot and stir until there are no lumps. Cook over med heat until mixture becomes very thick, and lines start to appear when mixture is stirred. (Alternatively, test the temperature, you will get Tangzhong at 65C). Remove from heat and cool to room temperature before using.

Bread recipe:
1 large egg
125ml milk
120g Tangzhong
300g bread flour
50g whole wheat flour
40g sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoon instant yeast
30g unsalted butter, softened

Put all ingredients in bread maker machine and use the knead program. At the end of the program, remove dough into a plastic container, cover loosely with cling wrap and stick it in the fridge.

21 hours later:
1. Remove dough from fridge, cut into 2 equal portions and form into balls.
2. Rest for 15 minutes
3. Shape dough. I rolled them into 2 flat layers.
4. Let dough proof for 30 minutes.
5. Poke holes in dough to prevent it from rising like a ball in the oven.
6. Spread egg wash and bake at 170C for 15 minutes.

Notes:
I rolled the dough into flat layers in an attempt to emulate the swiss-roll style of pork floss bread found in bakeries and so nicely baked  by HappyHomebaker.  However, a thin layer of crust formed at the top so when I rolled the bread, it cracked all over! Need to try again, prob at even lower temp or at a lower rack.

Sharing this with YeastSpotting
BYOB at Roxana's Home Baking

Taro (Yam) Layered Cake

It's Mothers' day! I know my post is outdated; my aim was to get this post done before the month of May ends. Was thinking hard on what type of cake to bake for my mum... we are a typical Asian family where cream, butter, milk do not appear frequently on the dining table. Much as my parents' repertoire of dining options has expanded, possibly under duress, from 3 kids who have grown up and have a slightly wider scope of dining experiences; the selection of cakes had still been limited to fruit cakes.

With the subsequent appearance of 4 little nieces and nephews, woohoo! my parents kind of learned to accept chocolate-based cakes. Yet, it's difficult to satisfy 8 adults and 4 kids.. my brother and father never let me forget that green tea red bean cake I bought years agoooo! A recent pandan kaya cake from Bangawan Solo had the kids rejecting the pandan layers all together. Durian cakes are well-accepted though.. well, maybe I will try that one day but i always thought that durian should be enjoyed in it's purest, original, creamy form. *drool*

Anyhow, after much googling, I decided on a Yam Layered Cake. I remembered the taste of it from a random cake shop in a Taiwan MTR and it's been lingering on my mind for a long time. This is definitely NOT a preferred all-family cake; I'm sure it's not something everyone in my family will like but well, it's the mum's day and she loves taro! Taro cake it is going to be!

There is surprising a large number of recipes online and each looks great! I decided on using a sponge cake recipe from the Australian Sponge Cake Queen and the yam layer from Aunty Yochana.

It's not too difficult but time-consuming, it took me about half a day to do this since it involves steaming, mashing then cooking the yam, of which I'm really not too good at. The time spent was worth it though as my parents love the cake or so i think, judging by their request for a second serving each and they happily kept the rest of the cake for breakfast the next day. Disclaimer : Half the family kept their distance and the kids only pecked at the sweet mango slices, happily. Oh well, as long as my parents like it. Yay!

Recipe:

Sponge Cake
Flour mixture : Put 2 heaped tsp of plain flour + 1/2 teaspoon baking soda + 1 teaspoon cream of tartar into a 1-cup measuring cap and fill up the remainder of the space with cornflour.
4 eggs, room temp
120g fine-grained sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence

1. Preheat oven to 190C. Prepare 2 8-inch cake pans, no need to line the pan, just grease the sides. (I may line the bottom next time though)
2. Sift flour mixture 3 times.
3. Beat eggs and sugar on high speed for 7 minutes, add vanilla essence and combine.
4. Turn mixer to low speed and gently add flour mixture, beating for 1 minute until smooth.
5. Pour batter into the 2 cake pan, tap gently to remove air bubbles and bake for 20 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and leave to cool fully.

Note:
The sponge cake baked beautifully, however they are on the dry side.. I'm not sure why or maybe it needs a coating of sugar syrup?
I didn't have cream of tartar so I omitted it. No difference to the rising.

Yam Paste Layer:
500g yam, after being steamed and mashed (I cut into small cubes, steamed for 20 minutes until soft and mash them while hot)
80g sugar
300ml fresh milk (I used Meiji skimmed milk)
50 gram unsalted butter
50 gram coconut powder

1. Melt the butter and sugar in milk over low heat.
2. Stir in coconut powder and well-mixed.
3. Add the mashed yam and simmer over med heat until it forms a paste.
4. Leave to cool thoroughly.

Note:
My paste was very watery and I was worried it would not be able to form a layer so I cooked it over low heat for very long, almost an hour before it dries somewhat to form a paste. I would probably reduce the milk or increase the yam in the next attempt.

Stabilised Whipped Cream:
300ml heavy cream (I used Bulla Thickened Cream)
1/4 cup sifted icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp plain gelatin, cooked in a small pan over low heat with 4 tsp water to form a gel, keep the pan slightly submerged in hot water to prevent it from hardening.

1. Beat the cream  and sugar on high speed until it turns slightly creamy.
2. Add the gelatin gel, vanilla essence and continue beating at high speed until stiff.

Note:
Whip the cream only just before assembling the whole cake.
Before whipping, keep mixing bowl and beater in freeze to make them really cold. Cream must be whipped in cold condition in as short a time frame as possible to prevent curdling.
I added gelatin as whipped cream tends to melt really fast. Since our weather has been particularly hot recently, I wanted a stable whipped cream to ensure my mango slices would not slide. Indeed it worked perfectly and did not affect the taste at all.

Assembly:

1. Cut the cake into the number of layers needed. I cut one of the layers into 2 and kept 1 intact so I've 3 layers. This is to be able to fit 2 layers of yam paste into the cake.
2. Place the bottom layer on the cake tray that you will already be using to hold the cake.
3. Layer 1 layer of yam paste and place the 2nd sponge cake atop. This layer of yam paste need not be too thick as the top 2 layers will add weight and squeeze the yam out.
5. Layer the 2nd, thick coat of yam paste and place the 3rd sponge cake on top.
6. Spread the whipped cream on the top layer, followed by the sides. Try to smooth the frosting on the side, something I'm still a real novice at.
7. Arrange the mango slices into a rose shape on top. (I used 3 ripe, medium-sized mangos and sliced them vertically downwards, in thin slices)