Cookies & Cakes

Tried out the "Basic Raised Bread" recipe from exploratorium website.


• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon olive oil or canola oil (plus a little extra to grease a bowl)
• 1/2 ounce (14g) fresh, active yeast (compressed), at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cup warm water (approximately 80° F)
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup bread flour
• 1 tablespoon salt

Method:
1. Mix the sugar, oil, and yeast in warm water in a bowl. The yeast will “bloom” and grow.

2. In another bowl, mix the flours and salt. Put this bowl aside for a minute.

3. When the yeast has bloomed, put it and the other liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix well.

4. Put the mixture onto a cutting board or a marble slab and knead it until the dough comes together and is smooth and elastic.

5. Grease a ceramic bowl with olive or canola oil, place the dough in this bowl, and turn the dough until there’s a thin coat of oil all over the dough.

6. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place the bowl in a warm spot.

7. Wait about an hour, or until the dough doubles in size.


8. After the dough has doubled in size, put it on a lightly floured surface and punch it down.

9. Knead the dough several times.


10. Roll the dough out into a rectangle, then roll the rectangle up into a round roll and place it into a well-greased, 9-inch loaf pan.

11. Set the loaf pan in a warm place, cover it lightly with a towel, and let the dough rise for about 30 minutes. It should almost double in size.

12. For a soft crust, use a pastry brush and coat the top of the dough with butter. For a hard crust, brush the top with water.

13. Bake the bread for about 40 minutes to 1 hour, or until the top is brown. When you remove the loaf from the pan, it should sound hollow when you tap it on the bottom.

14. Cool the loaf on a wire rack.

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I didn't do the glaze. And I think I coated the bowl and pan with way too much oil, such that the olive oil seeped into the dough. The bread was REALLY oily. EWWW!

It was also too salty.

Texture was nice and light though. So that's great! Good to mix all purp flour and bread flour I guess?


In any case, during my leave in the first 2 weeks of Dec, I made some apple tart and biscotti...

I think the Biscotti was quite good!



Apple Tart where the apple was like fresh apple. Haha..