Sunday, 26 May 2013

ROUX STARTER (TARO PASTE)


I yam what I yam, and what I yam is a taro.

One thing is for sure.  I won't be able to make bread for a living.  After an afternoon of toiling, I churned out only six buns.  Six!  If my life depended on it I'd be dead by now.


Today I made bread with a taro filling using Showa HI-NEON bread flour and taro paste that I bought from Taipei. 


I began by making a roux starter.  Mashed taro, flour and water were stirred over low heat until the water was reduced and the ingredients came together to form a paste.   It was then placed in the fridge for about 60 minutes before adding to the rest of the ingredients.


For the filling, I mixed a little butter into the taro paste to give it an extra creamy texture and rich flavor.  Since the store-bought taro was quite sweet I didn't add more sugar.  


Roux starter: 20 grams store bought taro paste, 10 grams Showa HI-NEON, 50 grams water

Bread dough: 210 grams Showa HI-NEON, 3 grams instant yeast, 20 grams caster sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 100 grams water, 15 grams butter

Filling: 150 grams taro paste, 15 grams butter

Finish: Egg wash

Crumb topping: 10 grams all-purpose flour, 15 grams almond meal, 10 grams granulated sugar, 10 grams salted butter

Tuesday, 14 May 2013

MY PIECE OF RAINFOREST

I'm so lucky that my desk is parked right next to this amazing view.


The sun came through the trees into my office window today.  Ignore the traffic below and I could well be in the middle of a rainforest. 


Wednesday, 1 May 2013

ANPAN BUNS AND RAISIN BUNS

A couple more experiments using Custard Roux Starter.

First I made some Anpan.




Then I made some raisin buns with a super fluffy interior.  The raisins had been plumped with Cointreau.





不求圆满

人生一定不要太追求圆满  人旺财不旺 财旺人不旺  人财两旺寿不长  所以人生最好的状态就是求缺不求全  而且求全一定要加上委屈这两个字  因为委屈才能求全  所以福不可享尽 留三分给子孙  利不可占尽 舍三分给别人  功不可贪尽 让三分给他人  这也就是所谓的自古人生最忌满  ...