I haven't baked any bread for nearly 2 months, today is the perfect day to make some sweet bread since we are having a sunny 24 degree weather. No clouds, no wind, this is the best time to let the dough proof outdoors. It may well be the last warm day in September, since tomorrow is forecasted to be stormy weather again, argh! :(
Anyway back to my bread-making. I just made a sweet bread dough using a recipe taken out of Alex Goh's book, "Magic Bread". This book is part of the 5 cookbooks which I got a friend to bring from Singapore to Belgium. The other 2 Alex Goh baking books which I received are namely "Baking Code", and "Joy of Making Cookies". I am very excited about his books as I have heard so many rave reviews about his cakes and breads, and I can't wait to try my hands on his recipes. So you can expect that I will be trying out and "showing off" some of his recipes very soon on my blog. I would probably be making more bread than cakes/cookies from now on, as I have already figured that cakes and cookies have a causal effect on my bourgeoning waistline and flabby thighs. :P
Anyway here's sharing the sweet bread dough which I used to make sausage cheese bread.
Recipe for making Basic Sweet Bread Dough, from Alex Goh's Magic Bread
[Makes about 1000-1100 grams of sweet bread dough]
INGREDIENTS A
Recipe for making Basic Sweet Bread Dough, from Alex Goh's Magic Bread
[Makes about 1000-1100 grams of sweet bread dough]
INGREDIENTS A
100g bread flour
70g boiling water
INGREDIENTS B
300g bread flour
100g plain flour
80g sugar
6g salt
20g milk powder
9g instant yeast
INGREDIENTS C
175g cold water
60g cold eggs (1 large egg)
INGREDIENTS D
60g butter
METHOD
[Updated on 16/09/10 with detailed step-by-step pictures]
1. Add the boiling water from A into the flour and mix until well-blended to form dough. Cover and set aside to cool. Keep in the fridge for at least 12 hours. (This dough is called the "scalded dough" or the "gelatinized dough").
(Scalding the dough with boiling water increases the water-binding capacity of the dough, so that less moisture is lost during and after baking. Resting and chilling the dough overnight helps to make the dough stronger and more extensible, and hence easier to stretch and form into different shapes. )
2. (After 12 hours) Mix B until well-blended. Add in C and knead to form rough dough. Add in A and knead until well-blended.
3. Add in D and knead to form an elastic dough.
As I only have a small handheld cake mixer, so I kneaded the dough using the dough hook for about 30 min, and then by hand for about 15 min. You can stop kneading when your dough is tacky, but not sticky or wet. It should be pliable, soft and moist. There are 2 tests to check if the dough has achieved the right consistency.
(a) Membrane Test : Pinch a bit of the dough and try stretching the dough til as thin as a membrane without tearing.
(b) Poke-A-Hole-Test : Poke a finger into the centre of the dough until it touches the bottom. The hole should remain and the dough should not spring back. I did both tests after 30 min of kneading with the dough hook. For the 1st test, I couldn't achieve a thin membrane without holes forming and for the 2nd test, the dough stuck to my finger and the hole sprung back immediately after poking! So I switched to kneading with my hands for about 15 min more until I managed to pass both tests. By the end of it, I had achieved a smooth and elastic dough.
4. Let it proof for 40 min to 1 hour or until doubled in volume.
(Cover the dough with a greased clingwrap and put in a warm enclosed place, for eg an unheated oven with a bowl of boiling water inside. Covering with greased clingwrap and keeping in an enclosed place keeps it from drafts and prevents a crust from forming on the outside that slows or stops the rising process.)
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| After 1 hour of proofing |
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| The dough was overflowing after 2 hours when I came back from dinner! |
- Butter Sugar Bun
- Golden Pillow Bread (with curry chicken filling)
- Ham and Cheese Bread
- Old-school Kaya Buns
- Sausage Cheese Bread
- Sesami Buns
Love the explanations behind each step and the pictures! I look forward to trying his sweet bun dough recipe! (Ah....what to bake? Loaf or buns? Decisions decisions!)
ReplyDeleteThis method of dough making is very similar to tang zhong. I will try it, it seems very interesting :)
ReplyDeleteGreat recipe!
I would love to try out this dough, but need to ask you one question: Do you bring the gelatinized Dough A to room temperature before combining it with Ingredients B+C (considering that A is kept for 12 hours in the fridge)?
ReplyDeleteAlso, how cold is the water in Ingredients C? Straight out of the fridge?
I assume butter (Ingredients D) is at room temperature (rather than cold), since it would otherwise be impossible to incorporate it into the dough.
I am surprised it takes the final dough only 40-60 min to double, considering that eggs and water are cold. Is that because the dough tends to get warmer during the long kneading?
Thanks.
Hi Lena
ReplyDeleteThe first time that I did this dough, I just took the gelatinized dough straight out from the fridge, whereas the next few times I did let it adjust to room temp for a while before using. The book never mentioned it, I guess you could do both ways. Btw the gelatinized dough starter is not leavened up as there is no yeast added, it is a very small moist dough, and quite easy to handle. Forgot to mention it's better to cut the gelatinized dough into smaller pieces and add it piece by piece during beating.
I used cold water from the running tap, my tap has both hot and cold water (we live in cold climate) and the cold water is really quite cold. For your case you can use a cup of water placed in the fridge.
My butter was taken straight out from the fridge, I didn't have any problems with it as I was using cake mixer with dough hook to beat in the butter. I agree with you that it's better to bring it to room temp for it to be more easily incorporated.
My dough took 1 hour to rise due to cold room temp. I put it in an enclosed oven with a big bowl of boiling water inside. There is quite a fair amount of instant yeast so I am not surprised that it will rise within an hour.
Hope this answers all your questions. Happy bread-baking!
Hi Miss B,
ReplyDeleteAm just trying this one out. Gelatinised dough sitting in a ball in fridge to do it's chilling. Now to get the frozen char siu out to defrost before I go to bed so I can make char-siu (baked) buns tomorrow!
Wow, how I admire u, I cant even get frozen char siew, have to make my own, bbrrrr. :S Remember to post them in your blog so that i can admire and drool. Hey u gonna be very busy tomorrow baking 2 types of breads. :)
ReplyDeleteThe frozen char siu is courtesy of my mum. She occasionally gives me char siu from the take-away. I put it in freezer as hubbs doesn't seem to like mum's char siu and I have to make my own (char-siu flavour from packet!) before he will eat it!
ReplyDeleteYup, busy bread baking day although I think the orange & choc should be simple - the machine does the hard work! ;0)
Just been blog-surfing and was reminded of steamed char-siu buns! Not sure I took out enough char-siu for that though! Wouldn't it be crazy if I baked orange choc loaf & TWO types of char-siu buns! lol! Dream on ya daft plum and get to bed!
Well, I didn't get very far in making "Baked Char Siu Bao" last wkend & I decided to bin the gelatinised dough after 3 days :0( just as well its only 100g bread flour!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, made a new dough last night & only just got round to making the sweet bread dough now. So I'm using a 24hr gelatinised dough! I left the dough to mix & knead in the machine once the butter was added. Whilst I was slicing char siu & dicing onion, the dough became a beautiful, elastic, smooth dough that came away from the bowl! Usually there is a sticky looking mess at the bottom of the bowl. Now I know if the machine has kneaded it long enough it will incorporate everything together and become a stretchy, smooth dough.
As it is late in the evening, I may shape & fill the buns then leave them to prove overnight in fridge. I hope I can find enough space for them!
I'll bake them in the morning & have fresh baked buns to eat for breakfast! Mmmmm!
OhMiWord! Fantastic bread! That recipe is fabulous! Thankyou! Wonderfully soft, moist, chewy bread! JUST like from the chinese bakery - but I saved myself £1 per bun!
ReplyDeleteShame hubbs doesn't like eh filling! All the more for me? Slurrrrrrp! :0p
Hi Plumleaf, great that you like the sweet bread dough. You can try the almond raisin bread if your hubby prefers something sweet to savoury. I would love to make buns, but I haven't mastered the art of pleating and sealing the buns, what's more I would have to make my own filling such as kaya or red bean paste, that is a lot of work. Really have to learn from you :)
ReplyDeleteMy husband much prefers red bean paste - I honestly don't have the patience to soak, boil mash that from scratch! I have a can of red bean paste and my mum has given me a can of ready to eat red beans. I think I will mix the two so the paste has more texture to it - bit like the Japanese red bean paste.
ReplyDeleteIn all honesty, the bread I make from scratch it's the others where I cut corners!
I may have to make a tuna bun as I really, really loved them when in Hong Kong!
can u convert gram into cup for this recipe?
ReplyDeleteHi gcorvin,
ReplyDeleteI always work with a baking scale because you have to be very exact in baking breads and cakes. But you can refer to a few sites to do the gram to cup conversion yourself, such as the ones below.
http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/cup-to-gram-conversions/detail.aspx
http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/tools.measures/Measures.cfm
I have just made this bread. 4 rolls and one plait. It is absolutely terrific. I did it as a savoury bread but will do the sweet one now.
ReplyDeleteExcellent
Hi Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteGlad that the recipe turned out well for you :)
hello!! I cant wait to try your recipe! I've nv baked bread before! just wma clarify, for step one right, what do you use to mix the flour and the boiling water? Dough hooks or spatula? For how long! Sorry, i m a complete newbie!!
ReplyDeleteHi Cat,
ReplyDeleteJust use a spatula will do for step 1. It won't take long, only 2-3 minutes, just mix until it forms into a dough. Don't worry, I was also a newbie like you too, not too long ago, everybody has a first time trying out something new. Wish you success for your bread baking! :)