Yeasty Affair 2 - Ensaimadas de Mallorca

Previously we were in France, now let's fly to Majorca Island in Spain to try their yummy breakfast treats. Spiral bread!!

Anyways, Ayah gave me a 1 foot tile for me to work with my dough. I initially wanted to just use the existing table top but it was hard to clean it up before working the dough and after work (It will need at least 3 times of wiping for the before work : one with soap, the next few times with kitchen towel + water, and the next one with a dry kitchen towel and another 3 times for cleanup! OMG). Mak asked me to cover the table top with huge clear plastic while I knead the dough but I find it cumbersome as the plastic tends to stick on the dough. I am quite happy with this tile.This was actually remnants of the tile we used for a different part of the kitchen when it was in renovation earlier this year.

Anyways, back to Ensaimadas. The word "saim" actually originated from light pork lard. Better be careful when u see this bread while in Majorca or anywhere else. They might contain lard....

As for this recipe, the book only says use butter. The lard was actually used for the glazing. The bread itself uses only sunflower oil. Okay let's get to the recipe..

Ingredients

225 g white bread  flour (I just used Tepung Gandum Cap Sauh, my faveret!)

1/2 tsp salt

50 g caster sugar

15 g fresh yeast (I used 1 packet mauripan dry yeast, 11 g)

75 ml lukewarm milk

1 egg

30ml/2 tbsp sunflower oil

50 g butter, melted

Icing sugar for dusting

1. This time around, I made the dough for the first rising the night before so that I wont be in a rush to prepare every thing in one morning. Sift the flour, salt and caster sugar together and then make a well in the centre. 

2. Cream the yeast with the milk. Pour into the centre of the flour mixture and then sprinkle a little of the flour over the top of the liquid. Leave in a warm place for about 15 minutes or until frothy. 

3. Beat the egg and sunflower oil together, add to the flour mixture and mix to a smooth dough. 

4. Turn out on to a lightly floured surface and knead for 8-10 minutes until smooth and elastic. This time around I still use the electric mixer for the kneading, the same method like the previous entry. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave in a warm place for an hour or until doubled in bulk. (Since I prepared the dough the night before, I left it in a refrigerator for about 8 hours so that it will rise slowly overnight and doubled the size by the next morning.)

5. Turn out the dough on floured surface and knock it back. (My dough for the first rising was cold, so I had wait till it became to room temperature before knocking it back). Then, divide the dough into 16 equal pieces, and shape them into thin ropes around 38cm/15in long.

I asked my 7 years old nephew to capture the picture, hence the lower eye view hehe. And look at the brown tile I use for my bread making! Lovin it.

6. Pour the melted butter onto a plate and dip the ropes into the butter to coat.

 7. On the baking sheets, curl each rope into a loose spiral, spacing them well apart. Tuck the ends under to seal. Cover with lightly oiled cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for around 45 minutes until doubled in size. 

8. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C / 170 degrees C fan assisted. Brush the rolls with water and dust with icing sugar. Bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Dust again with icing sugar and serve warm.

Yeasty Affair 1 - Petits Pains au Lait

Petits Pains au Lait.. when translated with Google Translate will just result as... bun. Yes, just bun. Haha.. The exact meaning is small milk bread, or as they said it in the book, French milk rolls! Yummehh..

It tasted good, as the bread is rich with milk, soften butter, and more milk for glazing. 

I just realized that the recipe calls for 200 degree C for baking, and that actually made the outer part crispy while maintaining the softness inside. Previously I made cinnamon rolls and the bread was quite pliant. Mak wants me to use this milk roll recipe for the next batch of cinnamon rolls! Wah I can't wait to try. It must be really goooood.

Ingredients

450 g wheat flour

2 tsp salt 

1 tbsp caster sugar

50 g butter, softened

15 g dried or fresh yeast ( I used 1 packet of mauripan yeast, 11g)

275 ml or generous 1 cup of lukewarm milk, plus 15ml for glazing

1. Sift wheat flour with salt. Stir in the sugar, and then rub in the softened butter into the flour mixture.

2. Cream yeast with 4 tablespoon of milk (60ml). Stir in the remaining milk and then pour into the dough to form a soft dough.

3. The original recipe calls for transferring the soft dough on a lightly floured surface and knead until elastic and smooth. At this point, I transferred the soft dough to my electric stand mixture and using a dough hook, knead the dough until elastic. Once you see the gluten develops, remove from the bowl and I just knead it using my hand for around one minute.

4. Place in an oiled bowl, cover with a lightly oiled clear film and leave to rise, in a warm place for until doubled in bulk. I left for around half and hour, but I think at that time it didn't rise enough, so it is better to leave for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

5. When the dough is ready, knock down the dough to remove air and then divide the dough to 12, forming small balls and place them on a greased baking tray.

6. Cut a + on the middle of the dough and let them for a second rising for about 20 minutes. I actually left it a little longer and the cross shape was gone and it turned out to be spikey buns instead :p.

7. Brush the rolls with milk and  bake on a preheated oven of 200 degree C for 25 minutes of until golden. This baking time seriously depends on your oven so do check your baked goods at around 10 minutes. I think my cooking time was just around 13 minutes.

Best served warm.. Heat them again in the microwave for 15 seconds if u want to consume them again later of the day..