Frog (?) Loaf

So..., it was supposed to be a frog face... does that look so? I think it's looking more like an alien cat...

Anyway, I've seen this kind of loaf before on Japanese website (I don't know what it's called. Maybe a 'Loaf art'...) and I've been wanting to try it out for ages. So..., here we are, my first attempt for a loaf art... Mr Frog.. ;D

First I pictured what 'face' I want in my loaf, then thought about the pieces and ratios of dough I was going to need. I used green tea for the green dough and raisins for the eyes.As I started to assemble, I realised that the piece for the outer shell was a bit thin, but I stretched it out and managed to wrap the whole thing up... Now, all I could do was to wait for Mr Frog to prove.

It was so exciting when I cut into the loaf because you just don't know how it will come out until you actually see the inside! Ok..., to be honest, the face inside wasn't what I expected... but, humm, it still looked like a face of some sort... So, I say my first attempt wasn't too bad, and more importantly it tasted good and was a great fun. :)

I might get addicted to this...

Sweet potapo & Soy bread

Look at this beautiful colour! It's from roasted sweet potato and soy flour. :) I replaced some of the flour to soy flour, which is a good source of protein, and added left over roasted sweet potato.

When I cut into the round loaf, I was very pleased to see the nice yellow colour, and not only that, the bread tasted really good. Roasted sweet potato was a hero! It gave the bread a soft silky texture as well as natural sweetness.

They were so popular in the house that the whole loaf was gone before noon... ;D

Ingredients:

Strong flour 200g

Soy flour 50g

Yeast 3g

Salt 3g

Milk 180g

Roasted sweet potato (skinned and mashed) 200g

Olive oil 1 tsp

1. Put all the ingredients except oil in the standing mixer, and knead for a few minutes.

2. Add oil. Keep kneading for 10 minutes.

3. Place the dough in a clean bowl, cover with cling film and rest it until it has doubled in size.

4. Punch the dough to let the air out. Make it into a ball and rest for 10 minutes.

5. Gently reshape the dough and place on a baking tin. Rest it until it has doubled in size.

6. Preheat the oven to 180ºc. Bake for 40 minutes.

Valentine's Day - Tomoto round bread ♥

Happy Valentine's Day! Today I'm in charge of bread and dessert for our dinner.

To start with I made a lovely coloured tomato bread in the round tin, and I'm cutting it into hearts ♥♥. Andy and Lana already had some for breakfast, and they seemed to like them. ;D

Now, it's time to do the prep for dessert...

Ingredients:

Strong flour 230g

Semolina flour 20g

Milk 190g

Sugar 1 tsp

Yeast 3g

Olive oil 1 tbsp

Tomato paste 1 tbsp

1. Put all the ingredients except olive oil in the standing mixer, and knead for a minutes.

2. Add oil. Keep kneading for 10 minutes.

3. Cover the dough with cling film and rest it until it has doubled in size.

4. Punch the dough to let the air out. Make a ball and rest the dough for 10 minutes.

5.Grease the tin, place the dough and rest it until it has doubled in size.

6. Preheat the oven to 190ºc. Bake for 40 minutes.

Click here for round loaf recipe.

Round loaf

When we were in Japan, I finally got this round bread tin I'd always wanted. It is known as 'トヨ型 (Toyo Gata)' in Japan. I've never come across this type of bread tin here in the UK so I did a bit of research to see where it's originally from. Apparently there is a almond cake made in a rounded tin like this in Germany and Austria called 'Rehrücken' (which means saddle of venison). So, maybe that's where it came from.

Anyway, I used the tin to bake my Milk Rye bread again. Since I cannot see the inside once I put the other half of the tin, I was bit worried (and excited) to see how the bread was done. When I opened the tin...., it was... PERFECT!

I used 500g of the dough and when the dough rose about twice the size, I put the other half of the tin and waited for another 10 minutes, then baked it. Make usre you take out the bread from the tin as soon as it comes out of the oven or the bread gets soggy because of the moist inside the tin.

The tin even have waves so when you cut it you get nice even slices! Perfect for a buttery toast... ;) I can see this tin is going to be my new friend in the kitchen. :D

The tin is available on Amazon JP. I also found something similar on Amazon UK.