Soft Pumpkin Milk Loaf (超軟南瓜鮮奶吐司)

I love breads made with root vegetables. It always yields really soft breads with good textures. Plus the breads tends to stay soft even on the 3rd day. I guess it helps retains the moisture in some way. Readers that know that I'm a bread making "addict" will know I love using root vegetables. (^_^) Pumpkin has got to be one of my top favorites. So today I want to share with you all this wonderful pumpkin bread recipe that I made...ehhh....like a week++ ago, heehee. Yeah...those backlogs are piling up. :P Nonetheless, I will post those recipes that I think it's worth cooking!

I got this great recipe from 孟老師烘焙園地, which is one of my favorite blogs to check out for good recipes. :) Although the recipe calls for "cooking" the pre-dough and chilling it up to 8 hours, these steps did yield a very rewarding end result. I did it a day ahead and almost forgotten about my pre dough, so it was chilled up to almost 24 hours. No harm done of course, so long as it not more then 2 days old, and stored properly in the fridge, you're good.

Haha, please pardon my bad shaping skill! I was only using my rough gauge instead using the weighing machine when portioning the dough. :P So this time I won't blog the shaping part, heehee. Okay, here is the recipe for this yummy bread: (note that my portion is 1.5 X of the original, so feel free to use the original protion)

Ingredients for Soft Pumpkin Milk Loaf (makes 1 standard 12" loaf and 4 buns)

Pumpkin pre dough:

150g pumpkin, peeled, steamed and pureed

30g bread flour

105ml water

In a heatproof sauce pan, add in all the above ingredients, mix well until all is combined. Then start the fire and cook the mixture till it thickens, about a couple minutes. Let cool completely then store in container and chill in fridge for up to 8 hours before use.

Main Dough:

All of the above pre dough

450g bread flour

60g caster sugar

3/4 tsp salt

6g active dry yeast (1.5tsp)

170ml fresh milk (you can start with 150ml and add as per needed)

35g unsalted butter, room temperature

• In a heavy duty mixer, add in all the above ingredient except the butter and knead everything together to form a soft pilable dough. Continue to knead/mix till the dough is not sticky, then add in the butter. Knead well till it reaches elastic and window panel stage. It took me about 20 to 25 minutes on my KA mixer at medium speed with 2 times of 2 minutes break in between.
• Let the dough proof in a well greased bowl for about 1.5hr to 2hrs or until it has doubled its size.
• Punch out the air and divide the dough in 600g and 4x70g or approximation to the weight you have with the dough. Shape the 600g portion for a loaf while the 4x70g portions for buns.
• Shape as desired, top with desired filling for buns and let proof for another 45mins. Preheat the oven to 180C while proofing.
• Glaze the dough tops with egg wash and bake in the oven for 28-30 minutes for loaf while 14 minutes for buns.
• Once done, remove from oven. Remove the loaf from the pan after 3 minutes and let cool completely before slicing.

I love how the bread turned out and so did my family. Here's a sneak peek at the soft texture of the bread:

I also made some egg mayonnaise buns for my kids to bring to school the next day. They enjoyed it very much. :))

If you are thinking about baking pumpkin bread, I urge you to try this out. I'm sure you family will love this bread as much as mine.

Have a good week ahead all!

Easy Valentine's Day Desert : Baked Chocolate Custard

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone! Hope you have a day full of love and joy today. Whether you spent the day at a fine dinning restaurant or just a quiet dinner at home with your love one, I'm sure it's a wonderful one. For people like me that is married with kids, probably have lesser chance or time to appreciate this day. But just think of it this way, so long as you and your love one enjoy the time spend together, any day can be Valentine's Day! Most importantly is to cherish one another. (^o^)

Today I would like to introduce a lovely and delicious desert that is sure to melt your love ones' heart when they get a taste of it; Baked Chocolate Custard.

I got this wonderful recipe from a cookbook from Donna Hay. Its been ages since I used it and am glad I did this time! All thanks to Zoe who has this "Cook like a Star" blog hop thing that got me digging through my cookbooks. However the event will only starts in March so I guess my post is too early for it. :P Nevertheless, I am sure this recipe will be an excellent treat to have whether its Valentine's Day or just any day! Plus it is so so easy to whip up too! Check out the recipe:

Ingredients for Baked Chocolate Custard (makes 6 x 4oz ramekins)

1 cup whole milk (I used 1/2 cup chocolate, 1/2 white)

1 cup (single or pouring) fresh cream

100g dark chocolate, chopped (I used Valrohna 70% cocoa)

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

100g caster sugar (you can reduce if using milk chocolate)

1.5 tsp pure vanilla extract

• Preheat the oven to 150C. Place chopped chocolate, milk and cream in a saucepan over medium heat and stir well till all the chocolate has melted and mixed in. Continue to heat till hot but not boiling. Remove from fire and set aside for use later.
• Place the eggs, yolks, sugar and vanilla in another mixing bowl and mix well till combined. Slowly whisk in the cream and milk mixture in to the egg mixture until all is combined.
• Grease 6 x 4 oz ramekins. Pour the hot custard into the ramekins through a fine sieve / strainer. Place the filled ramekins into a baking tray and pour in enough hot water to fill about halfway up the side of the ramekins.

• Bake for about 35 minutes or until just set. Serve warm or cold.

I think I took at most a little over an hour to get this done. Really so easy to whip up, I think even my 7 year old can do it, lol! I much preferred it chilled since it taste like thicken chocolate pudding / cream that is so smooth and chocolaty...heaven! Be sure to use the best quality dark chocolate you can find, it makes all the difference. (^_^)

My whole family loved it! Top with ice cream or whipped cream? You don't need any of those, because it is already so good on its own. Try it out and you will soon be scooping and scraping to the bottom of the ramekins to get to the very last bits of it. ;)

Okay everyone, that's all I have for you all today. Hope your Valentine's Day celebration was a lovely and memorable one! Cheers all!