Pork Buns

PORK FILLING
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Ingredients:
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 lb Ground pork
4 cloves fresh garlic minced
1 small onion, chopped
1 bunch scallions, chopped
Splash of chinese wine
2 tbsp Oyster sauce
2-3 tbsp soy souce
2 tbsp sweet soy sauce
1 tsp Chinese 5 Spice powder
½ cup water
1 tbsp Cornstarch mixed with 1 1/2 tbsp water
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation pork filling:
1. Combine chinese wine, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, 5 spice powder and water, mix well and set aside.
2. heat the oil in a large saute pan or wok and add the onion and garlic. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until the onion is softened.
3. Stir in the ground pork, stir fry until pork no longer pink. Add in soy sauce mixture and Simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Whisk in the cornstarch mixture Stir until the mixture is thick, heavy, and glossy. Then stir in the scallions, cook for another 2 minutes and remove from the heat.
5 Let it cool before filling the buns.




WATER ROUX BUNS
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Makes 16 buns

Ingredients:
375g bread flour
100g cake flour
35g milk powder
75g white sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
7g (2 and 1/2 tsp) instant dry yeast
1 egg, lightly beaten
150ml lukewarm water, adjust as necessary
40g butter, cubed

Water-Roux Paste :
25g (about 2 and half tbsp) bread flour
125ml (1/2 cup) water

*Water-Roux is basically 1 part bread flour to 5 parts water.

Preparation Water-Roux :
Mix flour and water in a small saucepan. Cook over low to medium heat, stirring continuously until it reaches 65ºC. It should have thickened to a paste at this stage, that is when you stir you can see the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat, place a cling wrap over the paste and leave until lukewarm, or room temperature, before using.
Leftover water roux can be kept in an airtight container in refrigerator and should be used within 2 days.Water roux must return to room temperature before using. DO NOT use the water roux has turned greyish in colour.

For the Bun Dough:
1. Put all ingredients into bread machine and start the dough cycle.
2. Once the dough cycle is completed (1hr and 50 minutes for my bread machine), remove dough and punch down to release the air. Then divide into 16 equal portions. Form each into balls and let rest for 10 minutes.
3. Shape and fill the buns according to recipe. Place all finished buns on a greased baking sheet, lightly cover with cling wrap, and let rise until double in size (about 1 hour in warm weather, longer in winter months).
5. Bake in preheated 350°F oven for about 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown

Chocolate Swirl Bread

Found this fantastic recipe from this site through this site. And for the step by step how to roll and shape the dough correctly in order to get the nice swirls can find in this japanese website

I made a few change, I also heating up the milk with the butter ( found that heating up the butter, keeps the liquid mixture at the right temp so as to not kill the yeast). Make sure to take the temp of the heated milk butter mixture; I believe anything over 120 kills yeast as does salt, so make sure to put the salt in with the liquid and the yeast with the dry ingredients.

The final result came out very satisfying. Nice texture, nice crust, wonderful flavor. I could eat the entire thing alone in one sitting! My family LOVES it!! Looks like I bought it from a bakery!! It is well worth the effort.

Ingredients:

For the chocolate paste:
* 40g cake flour
* 100g sugar
* 2 egg white
* 160g milk (warmed)
* 50g cocoa powder
* 20g unsalted butter

For dough
* 600g bread flour
* 24g milk powder
* 10g dry yeast
* 10g salt
* 50g sugar
* 2 egg yolk
* Warm Milk (milk + egg yolk = 420g)
* 40g unsalted butter





Directions:
For chocolate paste
* Mix sugar and cake flour into the egg white until smooth.
Add coca powder into warm milk and stir till powder is incorporated into milk.
* Add egg white mixture into the warm milk (using a sauce pan) and stir over low heat untill thicken (paste like). Then add in butter and mix till incorporated.
* Leave chocolate paste to cool and then roll into a 14x14cm square (using plastic wrap).
* Keep in fridge.


For dough
1.Place all ingredients in the bread pan of the bread machine, according to the sequence stated in the instructions of your bread machine. Select the Dough function to knead and proof the dough.
2.Take out the dough and punch out the gas produced. Roll out the dough into a rectangle (about 45cm x 20cm) on a lightly floured work surface. Place the chocolate sheet on the middle of the dough. Wrap both ends of the dough over to cover the chocolate sheet completely. Take note that the dough should be rolled long enough for both sides to fold over the chocolate sheet, leaving a border edge of about one inch. Seal the edges tightly. The dough should now be about 15cm x 20cm.
3. Roll dough from center to the edges to form a rectangle (about 45cm x 20cm). Do this gently to prevent the chocolate paste from oozing out. Fold the dough into 3 folds.
4. Repeat step 3 above. (If you want to create more swirls, repeat this step twice).
5. Finally, roll dough to 30cm x 15cm. Make a cut in the middle (length wise) leaving an inch uncut. Twist and plait. Place plaited dough in loaf pan and let proof for another 30mins or until the dough rise to about 80% of the loaf pan.
6. Bake at 375 F (in a preheated oven at 395 F) about 35 - 40 minutes. Remove from oven and unmould immediately. Let the loaf cool off before slicing.

Cinnamon Rolls

Description:
I made them the night before and put them in the fridge and sat them out for about 3 hrs (for the rolls to rise) before I put them in the oven or for the short cut just stick them into an oven that you have pre-heated to 200 degrees and have turned off. Let rise until doubled.


Ingredients:
* 1/4 cup warm water
* 1/4 cup butter, melted
* 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
* 1 cup warm milk
* 1 egg, room temperature
* 1 tablespoon white sugar
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 4 cups bread flour
* 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
*
* 1/4 cup butter, softened
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 6 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 3/4 cup chopped pecans
*
* 1/2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
* 1/4 cup butter, softened
* 1 cup confectioners' sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 1/2 teaspoons milk


Directions:
1. In the pan of your bread machine, combine water, melted butter, vanilla pudding, warm milk, egg, 1 tablespoon sugar, salt, bread flour and yeast. Set machine to Dough cycle; press Start.
2. When Dough cycle has finished, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 17x10 inch rectangle. Spread with softened butter. In a small bowl, stir together brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture over dough.
3. Roll up dough, beginning with long side. Slice into 16 one inch slices and place in 9x13 buttered pan. Let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
4. Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes. While rolls bake, stir together cream cheese, softened butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla and milk. Remove rolls from oven and top with frosting.

**TIPS: USE DENTAL FLOSS! Cut off about a 10" string of floss. Slide it under the roll, pull up the ends and criss cross as if you're tying your shoes. This will slice the rolls without "squishing" the dough!