Bread Attempt 3

Yesterday, I realised that I had brought a packet of wholemeal flour from Singapore and nearly forgotten about it. Since I was in the mood to do some baking, I decided to try making wholemeal bread for myself.

The bread turned out to be better than the previous attempts (probably because I love wholemeal) but the crust was a little hard. I guess I didn't allow the bread enough time to proof as well so the texture was a bit dense.

I wonder when I can ever make those light fluffy bread that I love so much. Sigh.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I woke up early today at 8am and felt lots better after a few days' of endless sleep + herbal tea + lozenges. After a wholesome meal of bread and oats, I had a sudden craving for cookies and recalled a fairly simple recipe found via the internet. So I decided to make my own oatmeal raisin cookies. :) I modified the recipe slightly because I didn't want my cookies to be too sweet nor oily.

My first batch of oatmeal raisins cookies turned out quite well. I liked the "coarse" texture though they were still slightly sweet for me. M commented that they were good which made me very pleased. I would reduce the amount of sugar added in my next attempt (i.e. 75 g) and perhaps use pear puree as a partial substitute for sugar.

My first tray of 6 cookies

A closer look...

The modified recipe that I used is as follows:

Ingredients
- 150 g plain flour
- 150g rolled oats
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 90 g of raw sugar (which I would reduce to 75g in my next attempt)
- 50 g raisins
- 1 egg
- 50 ml of olive oil (Unsalted butter could be used too)
- 4 tbsp soya bean milk

Method
1. Preheat the oven t 200 degrees Celsius. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
2. Sieve the flour and mix together with oats, baking powder, sugar and raisins in a mixing bowl.
3. Whisk the egg, milk and oil in another bowl.
4. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and slowly add in the egg mixture. Mix well.
5. Place spoonfuls of the dough on a baking sheet and press lightly with a fork.
6. Bake for 15 mins or until the cookies turn brown.
7. Let the cookies cool for around 10 minutes and they are ready to serve!

Bread Attempt No. 2 on a Lazy Sunday

Today was another lazy Sunday for me. I didn't go anywhere as I just wanted to laze around at home.

Felt a little lousy in the morning as I was about to prepare toast for M when I saw that the loaf of white bread which I bought for him on Friday had gone mouldy (only 2 days + I had put it in the fridge!). There was only wholemeal bread left which I knew he didn't like but nevertheless, he still ate the sandwich that I prepared happily (I know he was pretending). But I was pleased that I managed to fry bee hoon for him for lunch as finally (God bless!), I bought the correct type of bee hoon! The last few times, I bought tang hoon instead because I couldn't understand the Vietnamese words. :(

While M was practising his golf at Hanoi Golf Club in the afternoon, I decided to make my own bread rolls. Found another recipe on the internet which looked "workable" but reduced the amount of sugar from 105 g to 75 g as I don't like my bread too sweet. Also shaped the rolls in a different way this time and they turned out quite well! Tadah (Look below)! I was quite pleased with my end product and M found it quite tasty too. (*Grins*)

Freshly baked bread rolls out from the oven...

Tomorrow's breakfast! :)

Had wanted to bake fish and cook a simple soup for dinner but realised at 5pm that we had run out of gas. Aargh! M suggested that we order pizza from a nearby restaurant, Al Fresco's, which I agreed. So we ended up having Hawaiian Pizza for dinner. Quite satisfying except that I thought it was too cheesy for me. Still prefer to make my own pizza. :)

A popular pizza eatery in Hanoi, Al Fresco's.

Our dinner!

Today's really not quite an eventful day but the nice aroma of my bread rolls made my day. :)

Baking Sweet Buns

I have taken quite a bit of interest in baking recently and my aim is to bake a loaf of soft delicious bread. Last Sunday, after our tim sum lunch at Fortuna Hotel with our friends, I had this sudden urge to bake my own bread. This time, I buffered more time to allow the yeast effect to take place. The end result was 8 "fairly nice" buns.

M commented that the buns were not sweet enough which was true because I deliberately added less sugar. I found the texture a tad hard though it was an improvement from the last round. My next attempt will be to make wholemeal buns and this time, I will try to improve on the texture and perhaps add a little bit more sugar to make it more flavourful.

Making Pizza!

I made my first pizza for M today and would definitely consider it a "success". The process is very simple, in fact so simple that I couldn't believe it when L shared with me. All you need for the dough is self-raising flour, milk, a bit of sugar and salt. My mum suggested that I add a bit of potato to enhance the flavour which I will probably do so the next time.

The joy of making your own pizza lies in being able to choose what you want to place on the dough and the ability to control the amount of oil and butter that you add. This time, I chose to use ham, sausage, lots of onion and tomatoes, corn, green capsicum and zucchini for my toppings. I would love to have pineapples but there was none in my fridge. Cheese is also a MUST for M but I prefer a sparing taste.

The end result was good but I forgot to take a picture and this entry will be "pictureless" again. Must, must take some pictures!