Thursday, February 26, 2009

Custard Bun

My first attempt on this custard buns which suppose to be a loaf of bread but I make it into nine little buns and pipe some custard for the extra flavour. There are super soft buns and I believe if I make it into a loaf of bread it would be definitely fantastic texture to eat in slices. I make the buns in the late evening which totally no natural lightning for the shooting. Somehow, just right after the shooting, my other half hardly resist the smell and the sweetness and require to have one before sleep. I'll definitely make this bread again.

Recipe:

(A) Custard: 2 egg yolks / 20g sugar / 30g bread flour / 130g milk

(B) 250g bread flour / 30g sugar / 1/2 tsp salt / 1 tsp yeast / 15g milk powder / 100g water

(C) 25g unsalted butter

How I made it:
  1. For the custard, boil the milk with sugar until sugar dissolve but not boiling. Meanwhile, mix the egg yolks and bread flour to become a thick paste but no lumps. Add two tablespoon of milk if you find it too dry to mix.

  2. Pour the dissolve warm sugar milk into the egg yolks mixture, pour little by little and mix with a hand whisk until everything combine. Then, pour back the mixture into the cooking pan. Cook in very low heat and keep stirring until it thicken. Transfer to a plate and cover with cling wrap and chill for 60 minutes.

  3. Mix ingredients (B) and half of the custard until it become a smooth dough. Add in butter and continue to knead until it become a smooth and elastic dough.

  4. Place the dough into a clean bowl and cover with cling wrap to proof for 80 minutes.

  5. Divide the dough into 9 portions. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes.

  6. Roll each dough into ball shape and proof for 60 minutes.

  7. Egg wash the doughs then pipe some custard on the doughs. Bake at 190'C preheated oven for 25 minutes until golden brown.

Wood-Mode Cabinet Sale

I spoke to my local Wood-Mode cabinetry dealer yesterday and asked her about what the company is doing to combat the economic crisis we are all going through.

I expected the usual: A "sale" after their typical January price increase.

Instead she told me that Wood-Mode had deferred their usual price increase. And that they were running a sale with a substantial percentage off on the buyer's choice of several categories that are normally added to a kitchen purchase as percentages or dollar amounts. Door style, finish, or wood upcharges that typically amount to thousands of dollars on a cabinet order.

I was surprised!

In all the years I have worked with companies like Wood-Mode I can't recall such a major discount on their product to consumers.

Wood-Mode is one of my favorite cabinetry lines (I went through their factory training program in 1983, at the very beginning of my design career). It is high quality at a fair price.

The company has been around since the 1940's, so you know they know what they're doing and they'll be there if you have a problem. It is also one of the few major cabinet companies that hasn't been bought out by a big conglomerate, usually with disastrous results.

The sale has been extended until the end of March. I suggest that anyone who has been sitting on the fence on a cabinet purchase might want to take another look.

Saving thousands on your cabinets with a quality company like Wood-Mode might make your project affordable after all.

Peggy

Raagi Biscuits


I made raagi biscuits inspired from Cham and Shilpa's Varada aayi's posts. My recipe is a combination of those two recipes.

Ingredients

Raagi(Finger millet) flour - 1 cup

All purpose flour - 1 cup

Powdered sugar - 1 cup

Butter - 1 cup

Cardamom powder - 1/2 tspn

Baking powder - 1 tspn

Milk - 1 tblspn
Chopped nuts to garnish

Method

Roast raagi flour for about 5 minutes till you can smell the aroma of raosted raagi. Whisk butter and sugar till creamy.Mix roasted raagi,all purpose flour, baking powder and cardamom powder well.Stir in the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture. Mix to make a soft dough. If you find the dough dry, add about a teaspoon of milk. Pinch off a lemon sized dough. Shape into a ball and flatten a bit. garnish with chopped nuts. Press it down using a fork.
Bake in a preheated oven
Temp -180 C

Time - 30 min

Yields - 16 nos

Verdict - crisp,soft, melt in the mouth cookies.

I have made these biscuits more than once.