5 black grain mantou

From this FB recipe by MiaoVibe.

Ingredients (makes 12 four-inch wide)

50g black sesame seeds

20g black rice (I substituted with 20g raisins)

20g black beans

20g blackberries (I substituted with 20g frozen blueberries)

10g black goji (I used regular)

10g walnuts

400ml water

600g flour (I used bread flour)

5g instant yeast

1 tbsp white sugar

pinch of salt

1 tbsp lard or butter

Notice the size difference (the bottom 6) of the second batch that had 30 mins extra proofing (due to waiting for the first batch to steam) compared to the first batch

Method

1. Add the grains, walnuts and black fruits to a blender with 400g of water. Using the Soya milk mode, blend. Allow to cool down.

2. Pour the flour on a table. Create a well and add the yeast, sugar and salt (keep salt away from the yeast). Mix well.

3. Pour in the grain mixture. Use hands to knead till no flour is left. Use a scraper to gather the dough if it helps.

4. Place in a bowl and cover. Allow to proof for 1 hr until about it grows to about 1.5x.

5. Turn out of the bowl and deflate. Knead and the longer you do so, the softer the bun.

6. Flour the surface well. Form into a log and cut into equal sized pieces. Form a ball with each. Makes about 12 (approx 108 to 110g of dough each).

7. Place directly in the steamer and place over a wok of warm water to proof for 15 to 30 mins. 

8. Remove the steamer and turn on the fire till it starts boiling. Put the steamer back on the wok and steam on medium high for 30 minutes. Leave covered for 10 minutes after switching off the flame.

Recipe feedback

- Overall a very wet dough. I didn't use mixer and mixed by hand throughout.

- The second batch that had an extra 30 minutes of proofing while waiting for the first batch to steam came out so much fluffier! A definite must-do if time permits.

- So far, those recipes that I used bao flour here and here and here all using KA have been most successful. They have been easy to shape too but the issue is that their 'face' never comes out smooth and they always tend to flatten and crawl out sideways. 

- If only this recipe's dough wasn't so wet and difficult to work with, it would have been great for wrapping bao. Their 'faces' and shape came out smooth and round!

French toast casserole

Adapted from http://ourbestbites.com/2012/12/overnight-baked-french-toast/ for proportions to fit my casserole tin, and also added cheese which I saw some other recipes add

Ingredients

5 slices of bread

6 eggs

2.5 cups milk

½ cup cheese, shredded (ideally creme cheese but i only had regular chedder in my fridge)

1 tbsp cinnamon 

1 tsp vanilla

4 tbsp brown sugar

½ tsp salt

½ cup blue berries (i used frozen but fresh is ok too)

2 softened butter

Topping

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp white sugar

½ tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp butter, cubed

Method

1) Slice up the bread into diagonal quarters. Lay half of the bread on the bottom of the casserole, which I lined with baking paper but you can generously butter it. Butter the bread with all the softened butter. 

2) Whisk up the egg, milk, vanilla, brown sugar and salt. Set aside.

2) Scatter the blueberries and cheese. 

3) Pour on half the egg mixture.

4) Lay on the remaining bread.

5) Pour on the remaining egg mixture. Press the bread down so that it soaks up the egg mixture.

6) Cover with cling film and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, best overnight.

7) Next morning, take it out at least 30 minutes before it's ready for the oven to come back up to room temperature. Sprinkle on the topping evenly on top and dot on the butter before it goes into oven.

8) Bake in a preheated oven at 175 deg C for 45 mins to an hour (my oven took an hour), until a skewer to the bottom comes out clean. 

9) Serve hot with whatever u like: more custard, maple syrup or more fruit.

Beautifully puffed up

Close up

Served with bacon, because who doesn't like bacon?