Cream cheese castella

From this video recipe by Mommy Oven. I had 1 block of Philly to use and was so sick of the normal cream cheese recipes. I found this video blog sponsored by Philly nonetheless and decided to upsize to half a block aka 125g (out of a 250g block of cheese). The original recipe calls for 100g so these are my own upsized measurements to fit my 24*13*7 big loaf tin.

Try 1

Try 2

Ingredients (all at room temp)

125g cream cheese

31g honey

44g milk

150g sugar

32g oil

5 eggs, separated

150g cake flour

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp lemon juice

Method

1. Put the half block of softened Philly cream cheese and using a spatula, flatten it against the side of the bowl to break up.

2. Add honey and combine until no more lumps. Take care to really work it so that there are no more lumps.

3. Add milk and continue to combine until no more lumps.

4. Finally add oil and vanilla extract and do the same. Set aside.

5. In a very clean bowl, beat the egg white until opaque at low speed (KA1). Add the sugar in 3 batches, adding the next batch of sugar only when the previous batch has been incorporated.

6. Add a dash of lemon juice. Turn up the speed to KA 2 and then gradually increase to 4. 

7. Turn up to KA6 and beat briefly, alternating with speed 4 to get small bubbles. Be very careful at Speed 6 as it can go from beaten to watery in a matter of seconds (trust me I know because I had to feed a whole batch of 5 eggs to the dogs!)

6. Once the meringue reaches just before stiff peaks, add the egg yolks and at Speed 1, beat very very briefly (about 1 min) until just combined. The mixture should resemble ribbons when it falls on itself.

7. Sift the flour into the mixture in two batches, making sure to fold each time. Take your time to fold carefully until no dry flour spots remain.

8. Pour ⅓ of the cheese mixture into the egg mixture and incorporate to loosen the egg mixture, you can be quite rough and beat it in for about 30 seconds. Pour the loosened cream cheese mixture back into the egg mixture. Fold decisively with as few strokes as possible (approx 30 seconds) turning the bowl as you go.

9. Pour the mixture from a height into a prepared (parchment wood-lined) loaf tin. Tap the tin on the counter to dispel air bubbles. Then, using 2 skewers, draw lines up and down the mixture in a grid to dispel the smaller air bubbles.

10. Bake at 175* deg C for 10 minutes, then turn down to 140 deg C for 45 minutes until cooked.

Try 1: at 180 deg C and 45mins 140 deg C

Try 2 at 175 deg C and 45 mins 140 deg C

11. Take the tin out and drop it onto the counter from a height. Oil a parchment and invert the top of the cake on to the parchment and leave it top side down for 5 minutes so that the cake top is smooth and flat. 

12. Remove the parchment from the bottom and invert the bottom back onto a cooling rack to allow to cool completely. 

12. Let it down completely. Best wrapped in cling foil and then left at room temp for a day. Next day, partake! 

Verdict: 

- Try 1: * The top cracked! According to this blogger, either the meriginue was overbeaten (beat to medium instead of stiff peak), the tin was too small (possibly, the side of the pan may have been too short) or the temp was too high (possibly because recipe starts at 180 deg C and short of taking the cake out of the oven and collapsing, the oven temp takes some time to come down. However, if I put it in for less than 180 deg C initially, it may not brown sufficiently). Perhaps to turn down to 175 deg C for 10 minutes followed by 140 deg C for 45 to 50 minutes (incorporated changes in original recipe).

: Right out of the oven, the top is crispy but the sponge feels dry. I cooled it down then wrapped it in plastic wrap. The next day, the sponge felt moist while still soft! There were a few minor gummy spots, which means I cannot reduce the heat or cooking time by too much. However, by Day 2 it felt dry.

- Try 2: Top still cracked. I tried serving it bottom side up which looks nicer and flatter but the sloping sides of the pan made it look awkward. Straight out of the oven, it doesn't feel as dry as the first attempt.

Cranberry cheese bread

Two recipes as sources and both using Tangzong. The proportions vary. DreamersLoft uses 310g bread flour as well as 56g cake flour, with higher propotion of tangzong roux but less liquid overall as it uses milk powder. Bakomanic uses 318g bread flour and very little tangzong but has more liquid overall. Both however use 1 block of Philly cream cheese (difference of 10g between the recipes?) which is great for me as there is no leftover.

Dreamlovers makes 17 buns (35g dough per ball and proves twice for 40 mins each, and bakes at 210 deg C for 12 minutes. Bakomanic makes 9 to 12 buns (50 to 70g dough ball) and proves twice: first time 1 hr and second time 30 minutes, and then bakes at 180 deg C for 19 to 23 minutes. 

Both recipes do it the same way e.g. have to leave a gap of around 2cm around each bun as it spreads, and proofs and bakes with a dark coloured tray on top to give it sufficient colour.

Decided to try Dreamers recipe today.

Ingredients

Tangzong*

100g bread flour

500g water

1. Combine in pot and cook by stirring continously on low fire.

2. Once dough reaches 65 deg C, it is ready.

3. Use clingfilm to cover the top and touch the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Set aside to cool. This can be prepared day before and placed in the fridge then brought out to bring to room temp for an hour when about to make the buns.

Filling

Meanwhile, prep the filling. Bring cream cheese to room temp.

240g Philly cream cheese (1 box)

50g icing sugar (i used regular sugar)

25g milk

50g dried cranberries

1. Except for the dried cranberries, prepare the filling by beating the cream cheese with icing sugar and thinned down with milk.

2. Place into a piping bag. Set aside.

3. Rehydrate cranberries for 15 minutes in water. Then drain and squeeze dry. Chop into smaller pieces if they are too big.

Dough

210g bread flour

56g cake flour

20g milk powder

42g sugar

pinch salt

6g instant dry yeast (2.5 tsp is 7g) 

84g tangzong, room temp

85g water

30g egg, room temp

22g unsalted butter, room temp

Big oven. Pressed too hard.

Small oven. Bake 1 minute less aka 11 mins

Method (makes 18)

1. Combine the dry ingredients in KA bowl using Stir function (Speed 1)

2. Add the rest of the ingredients a bit at a time except butter. Stir. May need to stop to scrape down.

3. Once gluten forms, add the butter, small cubes at a time and continue to use Speed 1 to stir in.

4. Once combined, turn up to Speed 2 and then Speed 4. Beat for 12 to 15 minutes until window pane stage.

5. Add cranberries and Stir for 1 minute.

6. Remove dough from bowl, oil bowl. Tuck the dough into a ball and return to bowl. Coat the dough lightly with the oil from the bowl. Cover bowl with cling film and then tea towel. Set aside in warm area to prove for 45 to 60 mins (depending on room ambient temp) until expanded double in size. Check using the finger poke test.

7. Dough weighs about 630g. Divide into around 35g balls (makes 18). Tuck ends into balls and set aside for 10 minutes to relax.

8. Flatten out each ball with palm (coated with little bit of flour if required) and pipe in cream cheese, about 2 tsp. Gather the edges and pinch to seal, ensuring no leakage. 

9. Gently cup and roll around on the surface. Place on lined dark coloured tray. Ensure buns have at least 2cm spacing all around as they will expand. Cover with baking paper and then top with another dark coloured baking tray so they will expand flat and outwards rather than rising up. VERY gently press down to flatten as you don't want to burst them. Allow to prove for 45 to 60 minutes until grown 1.5x in size.

10. Bake for 12 mins at 210 deg C (only 11 mins in big oven), top and bottom heating. When baking, keep the tray on top so that it will not rise but instead expand sideways.

11. Remove from oven and cool on wire racks.

Receipe feedback

* The recipes makes far more tangzong than required, probably 3x the amount. I understand the point about drier flour needing to soak up more water, but if the tangzong produced is slightly less than 600g and only 84g is required, surely ⅓ of the recipe should suffice? In future, I'd make slightly more than ⅓  i.e., 30g bread flour to 150g water. Coincidentally, this is very closer to what Bakeomanic uses ie 3 tbsp + 1 tsbp (ie around 11g bread flour) is to 50ml water.

- Overall, I now recall why I hate tangzong recipes. The dough is very hard to handle initially in the mixer, super sticky and soft. It is still soft and sticky after proving but at least doens't stick to hands. , without noticeable difference in the softness of the baked bread.

Instant Pot Red fermented tofu chicken

This is a great recipe from Spice and Pans. Easy to make, super tasty, and uses up an awkward ingredient in the pantry.

The picture doesn't do it justice but it is delicious!

Ingredients

1kg of chicken (parts or drumstick or whatever you like)

1 to 2 cubes to make 1 flat tsbp of fermented red tofu and 1 tsp of liquid

1 tbsp hoisin sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp light soya sauce

2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine

2 tbsp cornstarch

3 bowls of water

thumb size of ginger, julienned

5 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced

2 tbsp cornstarch + 2 tbsp water as cornstarch slurry

2 stalks spring onions (optional) for garnish

Optional: wood ear fungus, soaked shitake mushroom, sliced bamboo, canned straw mushrooms, baby sweet corn

Method

1. Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients, except the aromatics and water, for at least 2 hours.

2. Add some to a pot and fry the ginger and garlic till fragrant.

3. Briefly fry the chicken to brown it. Add the water to the marinated pot to rinse it out and act as the sauce.

4. Add any optional vegetables if using.

5. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes until cooked. I used the IP so this took only 10 minutes on Poultry setting with 5 minutes natural release.

6. Add the cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce. Serve immediately with spring onion garnish.

 

Chinese Milk bread

Unlike the recipe for Korean milk bread that had 3 proves and used butter, this recipe has 2 proves and doesn't use any oil but instead uses cream. The problem I've found with recipes that don't have oil is that the dough is usually very sticky and hard to manipulate. I had to add quite a bit extra flour (2 tbsp) so that it would stop sticking to my mixer bowl. I don't know how this dough handles although it is much softer than the dough with bread. 

From Woks of Life

Ingredients (makes 2 loaves)

160ml heavy cream (⅔ C), room temp

1 C milk (250ml), room temp

1 egg, room temp

75g sugar (⅓ C)

½ C cake flour (70g)

3½ C bread flour (500g)

1 tbsp instant yeast (7g)

1 egg whisked with 1 tsp water for egg wash

Syrup (if using, 2 tsp sugar + 2 tsp hot water)

Method

1. Using the Stir function (speed 1) on the KA, add in the following order: heavy cream, egg, sugar, , salt, cake flour. Stir. Add yeast. Stir. Alternate with bread flour and milk and stir. Add just enough milk for the mixture to come together without any dry spots.

2. At this point, the dough is very sticky. Turn up to speed 2 and eventually speed 4 until it reaches window pane stage, approx 15 minutes. Stop periodically to scrape down.

3. Ball it up, oil the bowl and put the dough into the oiled bowl. Cover with cling film and tea towel and set aside to prove for 45 mins to 1 hour until it doubles in size.

4. Meanwhile, oil the pans (I used the small Pullman and the large loaf tin, or use 9" round tin). 

5. Punch down the dough and shape as you wish (i.e., either loaf or buns). Add whatever filling you wish (e.g., cinnamon sugar, sausage, etc)

6. Return to the pans and prove for 1 hour. It should have expanded by about 0.5 times. Brush with egg wash.

7. Position in the middle rack and bake at 175 deg C for 23 to 25 minutes until the top is golden brown.

8. Remove onto wire rack and brush with simple syrup if using.

9. Carve the bread only when completely cool. If possible, best if left overnight and carved the next day.

Needs a bit more de-gassing to get rid of the air bubbles on the surface!

Recipe feedback: The bread is indeed very soft and bouncy! Feels a lot like the HK bread you get in Asian bakeries. But feels a bit denser compared to the recipe with oil and definitely less moist.

Milk bread recipe comparison

After trying a bread recipe with pullman tin that required 3 proves, the bread came out fantastic but I don't have time to wait for bread to prove thrice. Here are several recipes that I will try. My Shokupan/Pullman for reference: L21*W12.5*11Hcm (aka 1.5 jin pan which fits 580g dough).

1. I am food blog

a. Non-pullman tin: https://iamafoodblog.com/milk-bread/

- Bread tin size: 8.5*4.5*2.5" (21.6*11.4*6.3cm)

- 270g bread flour yields 502g dough

b. Pullman tin https://iamafoodblog.com/how-to-make-the-best-japanese-shokupan-milk-bread/

- Pullman tin size: 4.5" (11.4cm)

- 250g bread flour (yields 1 pound aka 453g dough)

: recipe includes % of oil, water, milk, egg, butter, flour to change depending on size of tin

2. Omnivore https://omnivorescookbook.com/milk-bread-rolls/ (tried here)

- 300g bread flour (2.5 C)

- 23cm (9") square baking tin

- Uses condensed milk instead of normal milk

3. Woks of Life https://thewoksoflife.com/milk-bread-2/ (tried here)

- 500g bread flour (3½ C), 70g cake flour (½ C) - makes 2 loaves in standard loaf tin (8.5*4.5*2.5") or 9" (23cm) round cake tin (she later updated the recipe for only plain flour 

- Uses cream and milk

- Also makes cinnabuns

4. Jack's shaping and dough, bread flour and tin sizes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zW9LX9ALSI

- 500g bread flour yields approx 870g dough goes into 2 pound tin aka 907g (13*20*9cm)

- How to shape bread to fit the tin

5. Alternate method to shape a sandwich loaf

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/videos/baking-skills/how-to-shape-a-sandwich-loaf

- Flattens to seal using the heel of the hand, and tucks to shape

6. How to calculate bread dough to fit the bread tin

Princess Bamboo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGRNqW6JpLY

1.5 jin (aka 600g) sokupan: 20*10*12cm fits 580g dough uses 313g bread flour

2 jin sokupan 26*12*12.5cm fits 975g bread dough uses 527g bread flour

Easy overnight fruity french toast casserole

This is a recipe that takes all of 5 minutes to put together and can be sized up if more people are eating. Spend that 5 minutes of prep and treat yourself the next morning.

Ingredients

4 eggs, beaten

Dash of milk

2 tsp cinnamon powder

2 tsp sugar (can be omitted)

butter to spread

6 slices of brioche bread

¼ C frozen blueberries

2 bananas, sliced

Method

1. Line a baking dish with the side. Tear up the pieces to fit the bottom of the tin.

2. Butter the bread. There is no need to be too careful, you could even dollop on knobs of the butter as well.

3. Whisk up the eggs. Add the dash of milk and pour over the bread. Press down the bread so that it soaks up the eggy milk mixture

4. Sprinkle on the cinnamon powder and sugar

5. Cover with cling film and leave in the fridge overnight to soak up.

6. The next morning, take it out of the fridge around 30 mins prior and set it out on the counter top to come to room temperature. Meanwhile, slice up the bananas. Place these on top.

7. Bake for 180 deg C for 20 minutes. Remove and sprinkle on the blueberries. Turn up to 200 deg C and return the baking dish to the oven for another 5 to 10 minutes until the edges of the bread are slightly charred.

8. Serve immediately with maple syrup if desired.

Korean milk bread 우유식빵

Update: This recipe has 3 proves which can take very long especially in winter (approx 90 mins per prove). This recipe comparison looks at milk bread recipes that only require 2 proving.

First time I've seen this Korean food blogger but looks interesting as an alternative to Maangchi. Problem is however, her site is not searchable so it's much harder to navigate, and it's picture heavy. Anyway, her videos and descriptions are really good, very detailed and careful. I came across her while looking at other bread recipes and hey, I know the Japanese milk bread recipe is difficult so let's try this one! This recipe involves 3 rises so it will take a whole day!

Modern Pepper's Korean milk bread

Ingredients

4 cups of bread flour (or all purpose - comes out denser)

3 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp cold butter

2 ¼ tsp instant yeast

Pinch of salt

1 cup milk, warmed to between 37 to 46 deg

½ cup water, warmed to same temp. I prefer to separate out the milk and water

1 egg beaten (for egg wash if using, see note below)

1 tbsp butter, softened

Size of loaf tin: 11x6"

Size of dinner roll (makes 8 rolls) 12x8"

Method

1. Add all the dry ingredients except the yeast. Mix well with a dough whisk.

2. Add the butter. Use a small butter knife, fork, or pastry cutter to cut the cold butter into the dough, or just use your fingers.

3. Create a well in the centre. Add the yeast and all the milk. Allow to active for 60 seconds (I don't bother). Slowly draw a bit of flour at a time into the well. Once you're done, start adding the water. You may not end up using all the water. You're looking for a claggy dough without dry spots of flour but the dough should not be so wet that it sticks to the sides of the bowl.

4. Put the bowl onto the Kitchen Aid and start to mix with the dough hook at Speed 1. Stop intermittently to use the dough whisk to scrape the dough off the hook. Once the dough stops climbing the hook, turn up to Speed 2. 

5. Beat until the surface of the dough is shiny and smooth. I didn't time from start to finish but I estimate also 8 to 10 minutes due to the constant stopping and scraping. Remove from the bowl and oil the bowl with a thin layer of oil. Round the dough into a ball and sit back in the bowl. Cover the bowl with cling film and a tea towel, and set aside to rest. It should double in size, approx 45 mins to 1.5 hours depending on room temps.

6. Punch the dough and proceed to second proofing.  Cut into 3 equal parts. Flatten with hands to remove any excess air. Knead. Create three balls (see video). Cover with wrap and kitchen towel. Let rest until doubled in size.

7. Meanwhile, butter the loaf tin and set aside.

8. Third proofing and shaping. Punch the dough. Flatten each dough into a rectangular shape. Roll with rolling pin. The width of the dough sld be the double width of your loaf tin. The length sld be slightly longer on both sides. (Watch the video) Fold into thirds. Roll up from the shorter end. 

9. Place the first roll in the centre of the buttered pan. Place the second and third roll at the corresponding ends. Cover and proof. Wait until the loaf has risen to approx 1 inch above the top. Because I'm using the Pullman (pain de mie) pan, I close the lid when the dough has risen to 1 inch below the top.

10. If not covering the loaf with the top, egg wash the top with beaten egg.

11. Place a rack in so that the pan when going in will be in the centre of the oven. Bake in pre-heated oven 30 minutes (for closed lid) or 25-28 minutes (for open top) at 175 deg C until the top is rich golden brown (if not closing the lid). You may need to rotate the bread halfway.

12. Once done, (remove the lid) and turn upside down onto a cooling rack. Remove the tin and turn right side up again. Allow to cool completely.

13. Best eaten when cool, perhaps even overnight. Store in plastic back to keep the moisture locked in.

Tips I learnt:

1. Unfortunately there's a hole because I learnt that I didn't seal seams well and roll it tightly enough.

2. I had opened the lid to peak inside to see how far up the bread had risen and when I closed it back, I couldn't close it fully and this bit expanded and grew outside the tin through the gap. Oops. This lip made it really bard to remove the bread from the tin afterwards.

Next time I might not close the lid. The bread is slightly undercooked and also the bread seemed to grow beyond the tin. Second, I might not be so generous with buttering the tin. The oil bubbled and dripped everywhere over my oven grates. Alternatively, I might the tin on a baking dish but that would cut off circulation and make the bottom soggy (hence why my pan has holes at the bottom!) In another video I saw, the baker merely thinly oiled with veg oil.

Feedback: Bread is a bit sweet so maybe reduce to 2 tbsp of sugar next time if I don't want a sweet bread.

Peanut Min jiang kueh

I have previously tried making the red bean version of this with an overnight proofing.   

From Meatmen's recipe with video is much simplier as it doesn't involve any overnight yeast. However, the recipe yields a more spongey - cakey rather than crispy texture, probably due to the addition of egg. I like both recipes depending on time available and also what I feel like eating.

Ingredients (2 thinner pancakes, I doubled original recipe below for 4 heftier pancakes)

260g plain flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp instant yeast

pinch of salt

2 tbsp sugar

2 eggs

320ml water (warmed to around 37 to 46 deg C)

Filling

100g roasted ground peanut

30g white sesame seeds, toasted

30g sugar

Method

1. Mix all the dry ingredients. Create a well in the centre. 

2. Add the egg and beat in the well, then add the water. Incorporate the flour around the well slowly at first until everything is moistened. Break up any lumps if you can.

3. Let the batter rest covered for 30 minutes. 

4. In the mean time, prepare the filling. Lightly toast the sesame seeds. Once cooled, combine with ground peanut and sugar until evenly mixed. Set aside.

4. Heat up a HCP. Oil the bottom with 2 tbsp of oil and spread it around. Wipe off the excess with a kitchen towel.

5. On medium heat, ladle on 3 small soup scoops of batter. Swirl around the pan to cook evenly close and lock the lid. Cook for 3 minutes then turn down the heat to medium low. 

6. Open up to check if the top has coagulated. Sprinkle on the peanut mixture, about 3 - 4 tbsp, until the top is covered evenly. Close back the HCP for a further 2 minutes. 

6. The sides should have shrunk away. Flip half the pancake over and flip out onto a plate. Serve immediately.

Sun Right pork bun

I am naming this recipe the Sun Right pork bun because the bao flour comes from the Sun Right brand and this is the recipe printed on the packet. The packet's recipe is based on 350g of flour (to make 20 buns using 500g of minced pork). However because the packet is 1kg, I decided to use 500g so that it's easier the next time so here are my adjustments.

Ingredients (Makes 36*3" baos or 18*4.5" baos)

500g bao flour

¼ tsp salt

1 tbsp instant yeast

3 tsp sugar (because this is a savoury recipe; the packet says 3 tbsp sugar for 350g flour which I feel is a tad sweet unless you're using char siu?)

1 tbsp oil

1 cup milk, warmed to 40 deg C

1 cup + ¼ cup water, warmed to 40 deg C

Filling

500g pork mince

2 tsbp of water

1 tbsp oil

3 tbsp corn starch

1 tbsp minced ginger

1 tbsp light soya sauce (add another 1 tsp salt if not on a low salt diet like me)

Dash of white pepper

Method

1. In the KA bowl, mix the bao flour, salt, yeast, and sugar. Try to ensure that the salt doesn't come into direct contact with the yeast or it will deactivate the yeast. I usually mix both into the flour separately before incorporating everything.

2. Make a well in the centre of the flour. Using a dough whisk or chopsticks, slowly pour the oil into the centre of the well. Mix. Next, slowly pour the milk in and mix. Similarly, slowly pour the 1 cup of water in. Check for how wet the dough is. If there are still dry spots, pour in the leftover ¼ cup about a tbsp of a time. You may not need to use all of the ¼ cup of water.

3. Put on the KA dough hook. Turn on to Speed 1. At this point, if there are still dry spots, add in 1 tsp at a time until just enough to wet all the dry flour. 

4. Turn up to Speed 2. Stop periodically (perhaps every minute initially) to scrape the dough off the hook and down back into the bowl. Otherwise the dough may climb up the hook and into the motor.

5. Once the dough looks smooth and shiny, check using the window pane method. Another sign is that the dough separates into smaller balls in the bowl. Remove the bowl from the KA. Remove the dough and oil the bowl. Ball up the dough and return to the bowl. Cover the bowl with cling film and then a tea towel and set aside in a warm place to proof for about 45 mins to 1 hr until the dough doubles in size.

6. Punch down the air and remove the dough. Divide into 36 lumps (about 32 to 33g per lump). Flatten and roll out, leaving the centre slightly thicker than the edges. Add about 2 tsp of pork mince (if making 4.5" inch bao, use 3 - 4 tsps of filling). Stack it up as tall as you can. This will look like a cylinder rather than a ball.

7. Allow to proof for 45 minutes. When the time is almost up, bring water to a rolling boil. Once the steamer is put on, turn down to a medium high flame. (Ensure that the cover is wrapped in a tea towel or use a bamboo steamer otherwise the condensation will drip on the bao and ruin its 'face'.) Steam the buns for 10 minutes. Turn off the flame and leave it to rest for a further 2 minutes.

8. Serve immediately.

Cinnamon roll Monkey bread

This is a very long recipe but by one of my favourite bloggers for break. I haven't tried her recipes for a long time because the last time I did, it wasn't great. I have previously tried her easy no-knead cinnamon roll, overnight cinnamon roll, extra saucy cinnaroll, and one-fit-all dough which can also be used for cinnamon roll. None of them were the best but they had good ideas and the videos were very instructional.

Here is the recipe and video https://www.biggerbolderbaking.com/cinnamon-roll-monkey-bread/ with my adjustments for my 9" round pan as I don't have a bundt pan and didn't want to use a baking tin (she recommends 23*33cm or 9*13").

Ingredients

Bread

3¾C (461g) flour

¼C (57g) sugar

2¼ tsp instant yeast

2 tsp salt

1C (71ml) water

2 tbsp (28g) butter, cubed

Filling

½C (115g) butter, melted

1¾C (210g) brown sugar

2½ tbsp cinnamon powder

¼ tsp salt

1C nuts, chopped (optional)

Caramel sauce

¾C (170g) butter

1½C (255g) packed brown sugar

⅓C heavy cream (71ml)

¼ tsp salt

Cream cheese glaze

½C (115g) cream cheese, room temp

4 tbsp (57g) butter, softened

¾C powdered sugar

½ tsp vanilla

2 tbsp milk

Method

1. Mix the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in a sand mixer.

2. Heat the milk, water, butter about 30 seconds in the microwave until melted. The liquid should be warm to the finger. 

3. Slowly add the milk to the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl and mix on low.

4. Once incorporated, increase the speed to medium and beat for about 6-8 minutes until smooth and shiny. The dough should be slightly soft.

5. Put into an oiled bowl and cover, Allow to proof for 1.5 - 2 hrs until or until doubled in size. When you insert a finger, the dough should not spring back but leave an indentation.

6. Meanwhile, make the filling and caramel sauce. To make the filling, mix softened butter, cinnamon powder, salt, and sugar. Set aside.

7. To make the caramel sauce, mix the ingredients in a saucepan and turn on medium heat or use a microwave. Mix until just melted (no need to go full caramel!), about 1-2 minutes on a stovetop or around the same in a microwave (melt in increments). Allow to cool.

8. Once the dough has finished proving, punch down and roll out into 30 by 46cm rectangle, and ½ inch thick. I cut into ⅔ and rolled them separately as my silicon mat isn't big enough. 

9. Divide the filling mixture and spread thinly right to the edge. (If the filling is too difficult to spread, microwave for 5 seconds just to loosen up but you don't want to melt the butter.) Roll up from the long edge and sit the roll on the seam. 

10. Cut into ½ inch thick rolls.

11. Prepare the tin. For a bundt, coat with softened butter and flour. Pour out the excess flour. Butter the round tin. To the round 9" tin, I added a tin foil spout in the middle as I find the heat doesn't travel to the centre, leaving it undercooked. Pour ½ of the caramel mixture and spread on the bottom of the tin. (if the sauce is too cold and difficult to pour, reheat lightly in the microwave).

12. Layer on half of the rolls. Pour the remainder of the sauce and layer on the second half of the rolls.

13. Cover and allow to proof until they rise to the top of the tin, around 45-60 mins.

14. Pre-heat the oven to 180 deg C. Place a baking tray under the tin in case the caramel overflows. Bake for 50 mins until top is golden brown.

16. Meanwhile, make the cream cheese sauce.

15. Wait for 10 mins (otherwise molten caramel is bubbling) but not until the tin has totally cooled down otherwise the caramel will harden. Invert onto a plate.

16. Serve immediately. Keep leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat, bake at 120 deg C for 15 mins.

Basque burnt cheesecake

This is indeed the easier cheesecake I have ever made! No finicky oil and cheese separating, fallen or over-beaten meringue, temperature control, worry about cracks, water bath temp, cooling down gradually, shrinkage, etc. In fact, the uglier it is, the more rustic!

Recipe taken from Just One Cookbook. Although there isn't a video, she goes into extreme detail so it would be worthwhile to read it before proceeding. She also suggests measurements for 7" and 8" pans but since I just happened to have a new 7" pan, what a nice way to break it out! Although her recipe states a pan with a removable base, I lined with foil to help make it easy to lift out. The outside of the cake won't be as pretty as there will be creases but no matter. Ironically, I bought the pan with the intention of baking cheesecake in a water bath, so my pan doesn't have a removable base. But no matter.

The hardest parts about making this cheese cake are the planning ahead (to bring everything to room temp and letting the cake totally cool down before de-panning), and making sure to carefully remove lumps at every stage of mixing. Lumps become harder to remove once more and more liquid is introduced. Also make sure to use an offset spatula or another smaller spatula and scrape down the big spatula and bowl often. This prevents lumps from gathering on the big spatula which become harder to remove later on. The mixer can't be used as it beats up too much air which causes it to deflate and crack.

Fresh out of oven

Shrank after 10 minutes

Cooled down to room temp. A tiny cake!

So small but so rich!

Ingredients

454g cream cheese (aka 2 packets of Philly cream cheese), room temp

100g sugar

3 large eggs (50 g each without shell), room temp and whisked thoroughly

15g cake flour

6g corn starch

Pinch of salt

240ml whipping/double cream (36 - 38% fat), room temp

1 tbsp vanilla extract (or her recipe uses 15ml lemon juice)

Method

1. Take the eggs and cream cheese out of the fridge and let them come to room temp. If required, gently warm the cream cheese in the microwave to soften. Avoid melting so use gentle microwave power e.g. 15s increments at 50% power.

2. Preheat oven to 230 deg C, fan forced. Turn on the grilling elements! Middle rack. Make sure there is enough clearance so the parchment doesn't touch the top grilling element and burns. It will be useful to preheat to your oven's maximum when you start preparing.

3. Prepare the pan. As my pan doesn't have a removable base, I lined it with aluminium foil to make removal later easier as I can lift it out. On top of that, overlay 2 pieces of parchment. The parchment needs to overlap in order to full cover the pan. See JOC for instructions and pictures to see the final product regarding should look like.

4. Gather the rest of the ingredients. In a large bowl, mash the cream cheese. Try to remove as many lumps as possible. 

5. Add the sugar in 3 batches. Mix well and remove lumps but really flattening the cream cheese into the bottom of the bowl. The mixture is ready when there are no noticeable granules of sugar.

6. Add the beaten egg in 3 batches. After each addition, the mixture appears to curdle but just mix it in. Again, remove any lumps.

7. Sift in the two flours and salt. Do this in batches and very carefully remove lumps after each addition. This will be the hardest stage as there will be so many lumps. Very carefully take your time and remove as many as possible.

8. Add in the double cream incrementally and stir in. At this point, remove any more lumps but it becomes very hard to remove lumps at this stage because there is so much liquid.

9. Pour into sieve overlaid on top of the prepared pan. Sieve the mixture to remove any final lumps. Gentle tap on the counter top to remove big bubbles. Run a skewer in a jigjag manner around the pan to burst smaller bubbles.

10. Put in a bigger cookie pan to catch any drips and make removal from the oven easier. Bake at 230 deg C for 60 to 65 minutes. I needed the full 65 minutes so that the cake emerges with a mild wobble in the centre. However, I couldn't get the full brown top. Do not be tempted to over-bake just to achieve the colour as the cake will become hard and dry.

11. Allow cake to cool in the pan on a wirerack. The airflow under the pan will facilitate cooling. If you want a firmer cake, at this point, chill in the fridge in the pan for 4 hours. Do not cover with cling film as condensation will drip on the cake's face and ruin it. Instead, cover with a cloth. If you want a less firm cake, serve at room temperature. Similarly, after you remove the cake from the fridge (e.g. chilled leftovers), allow to sit out for at least 30 minutes to lose some of the chill. The cake tastes better at room temp or slightly chilled rather than cold.

Recipe feedback: The amount of sugar is correct. This cake is so tiny but so rich. Imagine the 2 packets of cheese and double cream inside! Baking it for 65 minutes although didn't produce the full burnt colour yields the correct wobbliness.

Second attempt

Used small oven. Only needed 61 mins and fully browned! But it cracked :(

Nice burnt bits on the side

Crack 'healed' after it sank! Yay.

Third attempt

Poor temp control in the big oven so it went up and down between 230 to 250 deg C. Did the full 65 mins. too burnt?

A bit too burnt! Was crusty

Fourth attempt

Used small oven. This attempt was the most bizzare. Baked at 230 deg C for about 43 mins and started to burn. Checked and it was still majorly wobbly so turned down to 200 deg C and tented for further 10 minutes. Still came out in the centre but at least the top wasn't burnt hard and crusty!

Cake sank a bit after 10 minutes of cooling. Turns out crust is pretty perfect though! Not hard and crusty like Attempt 3. The slice broke, perhaps inside a bit undercooked still and would certainly benefit from eating after it's been chilled. Moral of the story, if using the small oven, check on it at 45 minutes not 60 minutes!

Overall feedback (Based on feedback from here)

- cracks: Centre crack means overcooked. Temp needs to be raised to cook top faster but keep centre rare.

- Cake falls: It's correct. Sides are cooked and stay tall but centre falls because no more hot steam.

Since this recipe gives such inconsistent results, I thought I'd try a different recipe. Tried here.