dOughnuts

15 May 2008

At last we're making Doughnuts, my favourite ! It's not so difficult to make after all... just that we've got to fry it once we're done. We didn't make the Cinnamon Rolls like I thought but did the Chelsea Buns instead. It's similar to the Cinnamon Rolls but it doesn't have the cinnamon taste or the aroma which is quite a waste as I really like the cinnamon smell !! We also made a Ragi Walnut Bread. Ragi is a type of flour that is used to make thosai. We mixed it with walnuts and added our bread recipe and so we have the Ragi Walnut Bread !! This is the end of our bread making module and we start with Pastries on Saturday !

A picture of the doughnuts before they were fried !

Here's one of them in the fryer
The end product!

Here's one of the Chelsea Buns before they were popped into the oven.

And, after !
This is the Ragi Walnut Bread

Mama Mia! It's Pizza Time !

13 May 2008

Today was a more relaxed day as we only had to make 2 types of pizzas. One was a plain dough pizza and the other the wholemeal pizza. We only had limited types of toppings so I didn't really bother and put similar toppings on both the types of pizza bases ! I think Thursday would be an exciting class as we will be making doughnuts and cinnamon rolls. Both are my favourites ! Can't wait ! It will also be the last class for breads and we move on to pastries on Saturday.

The plain dough pizza before it is put into the oven for baking.

Both types of pizzas just fresh from the oven !

Croissants & Danish

10 May 2008

At last we are making croissants & danish ! Didn't know that making croissants involves so much work. And we have to work quickly too. If not the butter will melt and whatever we've done will go to waste.







Yup! We made the Milk & Cheese Plait (bread) while waiting for the croissant dough to be cooled down again (in the freezer).

More Breads !

08 May 2008


Foccacia ! Another one of my favourites. Dip that into olive oil mixed with balsamic vinegar...yummy. Come to think of it, I won't mind making this at home. It's quite easy to do and I like to eat it anyway. ... which reminds me... I'd better start practising all these recipes and get used to doind so with my own appliances. I wonder if it will taste at least 90% like what I bake at baking school ? My mixer's so tiny compared to what we've been using so far. Even the oven is a midget now !



Ingredients for Foccacia

Ingredients for the German Muesli Bread


Both the Honey & Carrot Bread and the German Muesli Bread

Pretzels Anyone ?

06 May 2008

Yummy! I love pretzels and so does my aunt !! We made a Pumpkin Bread, Brioche and my favourite pretzel today. Also got to watch a video on how pretzels are made. Looked very easy on video but let me tell you that it is not so. Trying to tie the pretzel is another different story. The pumpkin bread was good coz I like pumpkin anyway. But the brioche, to me, is too much work for nothing ! Have alook at the picture of the brioche and maybe you'll agree with me ?












Ingredients for the Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients for the Honey Pretzel

Sweet, Sweet Breads

03 May 2008 - 3rd lesson today! Today's breads are the most fattening ! Aaaargggh! We made Sausage Rolls, Red Bean Buns, Coconut Buns, Tuna Buns, Chicken Floss Buns and also the Mexican Coffee Bun (which is like the RotiBoy that is sold in some stores in KL). We tried out different ways of making the buns look more interesting instead of just a round blob ! Here are some pictures !

Healthy Breads

29 April 2008 - had my second lesson today in bread baking. We made 'healthy' breads today.. meaning breads with no sugar in the recipe. The baguette was actually fun to make... and I think I'm beginning to get the hang of it already. We also got to watch some videos on the bread making processes and there was one where this baker did it entirely with his hands (no mixer was used)! I assume it will be extremely tiring if I ever tried that myself! We won't be having any lessons on Thursday as it is Labour Day so I really can't wait till class on Saturday. We'll be making sweet breads then.

01 May 2008 - I kept some of the bread from Tuesday, in the fridge and we had them today with some hams that my brother and sister in law brought back from their holiday in Eastern Europe. It was yummy and even my father liked the breads ! Mom made a mediterranean style salad to go with it and that was delicious too. Too bad we didn't have any Hungarian wine, so instead we had Chilean wine to go with the hams!

Here are some photos of the breads baked on Tuesday.

The one at the top (big fat one) is the French Country Bread, the long one is the French Baguette, the one with some stuff on the top (right below) is the Wholemeal bread.

Another closer shot of the French Country Bread

And another of the Wholemeal Bread.

Back To School !!

26 April 2008 - after a very long wait, my classes have finally begun ! I signed up for a Certificate In Baking (part time) class at the Malaysian Institute of Baking. This course is designed for people like me who would like to get a general knowledge of the different preparations of different baked goods. We would be learning how to bake breads, pastries and cakes over a course of 24 lessons (about 2 months). So now I would be going for lessons twice a week in the evenings and one in the afternoon. At our first lesson we learnt about the 'sponge & dough' method of making bread. And... this is the first time I have ever baked bread! We made a sandwich loaf and a panettone. Brought the finished goods back home for my friends and family to try out. Got good reviews ! Am very happy since this is the first time I'm making bread ! The second class would be on Tuesday and I am really looking forward to it. Now with these lessons I would learn more about the techniques and things to take note of when preparing and baking. THIS IS REALLY GOING TO BE FUN !!