Meals for the Family: Gingerbread

Gingerbread Loaf
Makes: 1 loaf

Ingredients
175g unsalted butter
200g caster sugar
3 tablespoons golden syrup
250ml milk
250g plain flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Preparation
Prep: 8min  ›  Cook: 1hr  ›  Ready in: 1hr8min

Preheat the oven to 180 C / Gas 4. Grease and flour an 20x10cm loaf tin.
In a small saucepan, combine the butter, sugar, golden syrup and milk. Bring to the boil, then remove from heat and set aside. Sieve the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and allspice into a large bowl. Stir in the boiled mixture until just blended. Pour the batter into the prepared tin.
Turn down the oven to 160 C / Gas 2 1/2 and bake for 1 hour or until the top of the loaf springs back when lightly touched.

Gingerbread Loaf II
Makes: 2 loaves

Ingredients
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1-1/4 teaspoons ground cloves
1-1/4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 eggs
2 cups milk
1 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Preparation
Prep: 10 min. Bake: 1 hour + cooling

In a large bowl, combine the first eight ingredients. In another bowl, combine the eggs, milk, syrup and oil. Stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened (batter will be thin). Pour into two greased 9-in. x 5-in. loaf pans.
Bake at 325° for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Meals for the Family: Rice-cooker Cakes

Rice Cooker Sweet Potato Cake

Ingredients
(1 cake baked in a 3-rice-cooker-cup capacity rice cooker)

• Sweet potatoes, skinned 150 g
• Eggs 2, medium
• Sugar 60 g
• Olive oil (or vegetable oil) 30 g
• Cake flour 60 g
• Baking powder 1 teaspoon

1 Thickly peel off the skin from the sweet potato, rough chop, then soak for up to 10 minutes in water. Drain, wrap loosely in plastic wrap, then microwave until tender.

2 After microwaving for 6 to 7 minutes at 500W, you should be able to easily skewer the potato all the way through. Remove the plastic wrap, then cool.

3 

Combine the ingredients in a food processor (or mixer), then process for 2 to 3 minutes on full strength!

4 

When it gets white like shown in the photo, add the cooled sweet potato, then process again on full strength.

5 

The lumps from the sweet potato should disappear and the batter should become even. It should be thick.

6 

Put the batter in a rice cooker, sift in the flour and baking powder, then fold with a rubber spatula, while spinning the bowl around.

7 

When the batter reaches an even consistency, remove the batter from the sides with a rubber spatula, then turn on the switch!

8 

When the rice cooker signals that it is done, pierce the cake with a skewer; if it comes out clean, then it's done. If it doesn't, then switch on the rice cooker (bake?) 1 or 2 more times.

9 

When it's done, turn it over onto a rack. Before taking it out of the rice cooker, shake the bowl to make it release easier.

10 

It should have a nice golden surface, and be fluffy and rich! You can serve it right away, or let it sit overnight. ♪

11 

I baked it in an oven! I filled muffin molds with the batter, then baked it for 20 minutes at 190°C. They rose to be as fluffy as this photo. 

Source:
https://en.cookpad.com/recipe/2011459


Oil-Free Rice cooker Cheesecake
Ingredients
(Made in a 5 cup rice cooker (see Hints for cooking in smaller cookers))
Eggs 2
Plain yogurt 400 g
※ Sugar, pancake mix 80 g each
Lemon juice (optional) 1 tablespoon

1 ※ This results in very moist cake. You don't need to drain the yogurt, but you can drain it a little if you prefer.

2 

Beat the egg well inside the rice cooker bowl (I use a rubber spatula to mix everything. ☆

3 

Add the yogurt and sugar, and mix well. (Add lemon juice if you prefer.)

4 

Add the pancake mix and fold it in until there are no lumps left in the batter.

5 

Scrap down the sides of the bowl, and cook the cake using the regular rice cooking setting. (If your cooker has a special cake-baking setting, try using that.)

6 

If a skewer stuck in the middle comes out clean with no raw batter stuck on it it's done. (If it is still raw, cook for a while longer.)

7 

This cake is very soft when it's hot and may lose its shape, so take the rice cooker bowl out, cover with plastic wrap and leave to cool. When it's cooled down to room temperature, invert the cake onto a plate.

8 

How to take the cake out of the bowl intact: Put a small plate inside the bowl - if you don't have a plate that fits, just use your hand. Hold onto the cake inside the bowl with one hand and the bottom of the bowl with the other as you invert it.

9 Chill the cake well in the refrigerator to finish ☆ It's delicious served with fruit sauce - or have fun with your own variations 

10 If you can't finish the cake, it can be frozen. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, put the wrapped cake in a plastic bag, eliminate the air from the bag and freeze.

11 ※ If you freeze it for a long time, the texture will change slightly. If that happens, just warm it up in the microwave and the cake will be revived.

Source:

https://en.cookpad.com/recipe/1379082

Rice cooker Cinnamon Rolls (I)

Ingredients

- 1 egg

- Margarine

-Flour

-Yeast

-White Sugar

-Brown Sugar

-Vanilla

-Cinnamon

Directions:

1. Warm ~1/2 cup of water on the stove. If you have a crazy camping propane stove like us, this will take about 45 seconds. I just kept my hand in the water until it felt warm. Add the water to a pinch of white sugar and half a packet of yeast. Wait ten minutes or until the yeast looks bubbly.

As an aside, I’ve also switched from Steripen water to just tap water. I figure as long as it’s boiled, I’m getting rid of the really bad stuff. Nothing bad to report thus far! What am I’m going to do  now with the hours I save sterilizing my water?

2. Stir 1 cup of flour, the egg, 1/3 cup of white sugar, and three pinches of salt together. Add the yeast.
3. Add 1/2 cup of flour at a time until the mixture looks like dough.
4. Place on a floured cutting board and knead for like 5 minutes.
5. Set the dough aside to rise for 20 minutes.

6. Wash your hands (if you haven’t already) 
7. In a separate bowl, combine three to four spoonfuls of cinnamon, a lot of brown sugar, a capful of vanilla, and margarine.
8. Mush together with your hands until it’s like a paste.

9. Roll the dough out on a floured cutting board.

I don’t have a fancy rolling pin so I just used a drinking glass that I sprinkled with flour to avoid sticking.

10. Spread the cinnamon-sugar on the dough.
11. Roll the dough hot-dog style. Cut into 1.5 inch pieces. This made about 8 rolls.
12. Put the rolls in a greased rice cooker and let rise for about an hour. (I think they had risen after about 30 minutes, but our electricity went off halfway through this recipe so I had to wait a bit longer until it came back on.)

13. Cook in the rice cooker for 1 cycle. You’ll need to continue baking (with the magic tape) for about another five minutes after that.
14. With a spatula, carefully try to flip the rolls over to bake on the other side.
15. Tape the rice cooker down to cook for another five minutes.
16. Once golden brown, slide out of the rice cooker and let cool!

Source:

http://irisinindonesia.wordpress.com/2012/10/13/cinnamon-rolls/

Rice cooker Cinnamon Rolls (II)

Ingredients

Dough
1/4 cup warm water
1 tsp white sugar
1 package active dry yeast
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
4 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp salt
½-1 cup milk
2.5-5 cups flour, more if needed


Filling
4-6 Tbsp softened butter, divided
1-1 ½ cup brown sugar
3-4 Tbsp Cinnamon, preferably Korintje

Optional:
Chopped walnuts or pecans
½ cup Honey

Icing

DIRECTIONS

Dough
Pour warm water into a small bowl or cup. Add 1 tsp sugar and stir to mix until dissolved. Gently pour yeast onto water. Set aside. The yeast will gradually combine and should slightly puff. It will smell slightly of, well, yeast and bread. This is called “proofing” and is used to ensure that your yeast is still active. 

In a large bowl, mix milk, sugar, melted butter, eggs, and salt. Stir well to combine. When yeast has proofed, add the yeast mixture and stir to combine. Add half the flour and stir to combine.

Adding flour is always the tricky part of baking, more art than science. The amount of flour varies depending on the weather that day, the humidity of the air, of the flour. It probably depends on the barometric pressure for all I know. But the real trick is that more often than not people add too much flour rather than too little.

The amount of flour is an art, so I can only give you quantitative guides and some qualitative indications. I would add flour ½ cup at a time. You want to just just barely past the stage where it seems like slightly eager primordial ooze. It will be much wetter than you expect: if left to sit on a board, it wouldn’t run all over the sides like spilled milk, but neither would it hold a perfect ball shape. At that stage, dump it out onto a well floured surface and begin kneading. This is going to be messy, but if kneading by hand resist the urge to add too much flour. It will stick to your hands like a bit of an unholy mess, but persist. Keep kneading, adding ½ cup at a time until some structure begins to develop. It still wouldn’t hold together like a perfect ball if you shaped it and set it down, but that primordial ooze is starting to get some posture, some manners. Keep working it, adding flour in smaller increments until you get it just past primordial ooze stage. It still wouldn’t stand up like a perfectly formed ball (they way cookie dough would) but it will hold together like a slightly depressed balloon, but without totally flattening out.

Place in a buttered glass or plastic bowl, preferably with steep sides. Cover and rest in a warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in bulk. This might take about an hour, but I always hesitate to give these indications, because they are an invitation to walk away and do something else. I have had too many yeast breads fall flat into unappetizing rock hard disks because I left them unattended for too long. The rise depends a lot on the temperature. Here it took about 35 minutes to double. Watch your thermometer and peek in on it from time to time

Filling

Don’t skimp on the filling. Of course the amount of your generosity depends on your own particular interests in “skinny” versus “gourmet.” Decide on your own preferences for the use of butter and sugar, but feel free to go wild with the spices. If you are feeling a bit cutting edge, I would consider adding some complimentary spices, like nutmeg, even a pinch of ginger or ground coriander.

Divide the butter into two parts and smooth the soft butter over the entire surface of the dough. Next sprinkle each half of the dough with half of the cinnamon and sugar mix. If using the optional extras, drizzle with honey and/or chopped walnuts. Be sure to spread all your goodies all the way to the edge of the rectangle or the rolls at the end will be sad.

Roll the dough gently, working from the long end nearest you towards the other long end. When you complete the rolling, pinch the long edge of the dough slightly to seal. Cut the rope into six pieces. Place the pieces onto a slightly buttered baking dish. They can be baked together in a circular baking dish with sides. Alternately, space them out well onto a jelly roll pan. If possible I like to use stoneware for this type of baking, because it produces wonderfully light final product.

Bake for 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees or until rolls are golden brown. Cool rolls slightly before icing.

Source:

http://skinnygourmet.blogspot.sg/2008/01/christmas-cinnamon-rolls.html?

Chinese recipes: 馒头

【蜗牛馒头】

食材明细：

面粉300克、可可粉20克、酵母3克、泡打粉3克、糖10克、草莓酱适量

制作步骤：

1、面粉加酵母和泡打粉、糖，用温水和成面团，分出一小块和可可粉揉成褐色面团，盖上保鲜膜醒发半小时。

2. 把褐色面团分别擀成薄片。

3. 白色面团也擀成大小一致的薄片。

4. 白色面片叠加褐色面片上。

5. 从一边卷起。

6. 把卷起的长条切成均匀的段，看起来就像蜗牛的壳。

7. 提前预留一块面团和草莓酱揉匀来做蜗牛的身体。

8. 搓成长条，捏出头部。

9. 把身体压扁，涂一点水，把壳和身体粘结起来，就形成了一个个的小蜗牛。

10. 让其适当的温度下醒发一会，入蒸笼蒸熟即可。

11. 生动活泼，小朋友的最爱。

【紫玫瑰】

做法：

1-5、将酵母用温水完全融化，倒入面粉中，再倒入煮熟冷怯的紫薯泥，用手将面团和到三光（面光，手光，盆光）；

6-7、将面团放在盆中，盖上一块湿布，放温暖处自然饧发1-2个小时左右，现在是晚春初夏，温度大概是25度左右，一般室温发酵2个小时足够了；

8、将发酵到1.5倍大的面团取出，在案板上撒上干面粉，将面团揉搓，排空气体；

9-10、将面团先分成每个80克左右的中等面团，再取一个80个的面团用手搓成10CM左右的长条，切成6个小剂子，其中一个小剂子切的分量稍微少点，搓成橄榄状，用来做花心；

11-14、将其余5个小剂子按扁，擀成厚约0.3CM，直径10CM的圆片，圆片的边最好擀的薄点，将5片面片如图叠加

15-16、用一根筷子在面片中央垂直压出一条中心线，然后将橄榄状面团放在最底下的面片上，用上开始包裹着橄榄状面团往上卷，一直卷到卷光，然后用手指往中心掐入左右旋转拧断，收口朝下放即可；

15-18、将做好的玫瑰花馒头生胚码在蒸笼里，保持一定的间距，盖上盖子，再次醒上10分钟，然后将蒸笼放蒸架上开大火蒸10分钟，关火焖分钟即可。

子瑜妈妈的主妇心得：

1、融化酵母的水不要太多，因为还要放紫薯泥；

2、紫薯泥加入面粉中的时候要一点一点加，一下如果全部倒入的话有可能会过湿，如果过湿的话，可以再加点干面粉调节；

3、一般做包子馒头，面团要发酵大两倍大体积，但是做这道玫瑰花，只需要发到1.5倍大小即可，这样后期蒸出来的型不至于过分的喧软膨胀变形。

【南瓜双色花卷馒头】

原料：

1、南瓜面团：

蒸熟南瓜泥150克、中筋面粉250克、酵母粉2.5克、水20-40克（酌量添加）、糖10克、盐1/8小勺（南瓜的品种和蒸制方式都会影响它的含水性，所以水分的添加要酌量）。

2、白面团：

中筋面粉250克、牛奶140克、酵母粉2.5克、糖10克、盐1/8小勺。

做法：

1、分别将南瓜面团和白面团的材料混合，揉成光滑有弹性的面团，进行基础发酵；

2、面团发酵成原面团2倍大，完成基础发酵；

3、将发好的面团移出到桌面上，分别慢慢加入30-40克左右的中筋面粉连续揉搓；

4、揉搓成为光滑没有气泡的面团（这30-40克面粉是额外加的，这样的做法可以让馒头的口感比较扎实，如果想要比较松软的口感，改为10克就好）；

5、2个面团分别擀成同样大小的长方形叠在一起；

6、整形：面团每隔4cm用滚轮刀切开，再在每个上面均匀划上3刀，上下留1cm不要切断把每一块卷成麻花状，然后打个单结，两端收口压到面团底下；

7、整好型的花卷馒头继续静置松弛约15分钟左右；

8、把花卷馒头放入水已煮沸的蒸锅中，中火蒸12分钟左右（在不锈钢蒸屉上事先薄薄抹一层食用油就可以防止馒头沾住，还省事，不用洗纱布了）；

9、关火后静置3分钟再慢慢掀开锅盖取出花卷馒头 （这样可以让蒸锅内的温度与外界慢慢接近，不至于冷空气一下子进入而造成馒头回缩）。

【胡萝卜汁双色馒头】

原料：主料：面粉200g、酵母2g。

配料：水60g、胡萝卜汁60g。

准备：

分别用清水和胡萝卜汁各自溶解1g酵母，待用；

做法：

1、将面粉均分两份，分别倒入两种酵母溶液，用筷子搅拌，呈大块雪片状；

2、分别揉成光滑面团；

3、将面团放入容器，盖上湿润纱布，放置温暖处发酵；

4、发酵好的面团重新排气、揉圆，擀压后叠在一起；

5、擀成长方形薄片，从一端卷起，再切成小段；

6、放入已抹油的蒸笼，醒发20分钟，冷水上锅，大火蒸10分钟，关火后焖3分钟揭锅。

心得分享：

1、液体加入酵母中，静置片刻，再调和均匀，这样不易结块；

2、最好将液体稍稍温热，有助于酵母活性的挥发；

3、擀面团时，注意案板上要撒干粉，否则容易粘连，不易操作；

4、水量做为参考，不同面粉吸湿性不同，注意调节，这款馒头面不要太软。

【紫薯螺纹馒头】（可做10个小馒头）

原料：

紫薯泥150g、面粉480g、水70g、酵母1g、水140g、酵母1g 。

做法：

1、紫薯蒸熟去皮用筛网压成泥，加面粉，用手搓一下，尽量搓匀；

2、酵母融于水，加入后揉成稍硬的光滑面团。材料B中，酵母溶于水，加入面粉揉成稍硬的光滑面团。分别取两色面团的一半，另一半备用；

3、用面条机1档分别把白色面团过十几遍，直到压出非常光滑的面皮；

4、用面条机1档分别把紫色面团过十几遍，直到压出非常光滑的面皮；

5、两色面皮叠一起，尺寸约14*30左右。中间刷一层水，上面也刷一层水，卷起。放入袋中饧30分钟。这时把做法2中最后备用的另一半面团稍微揉匀一下，或者用面条机压几遍，分成40-50g左右的小面团，滚圆大约10份；

6、饧过的卷卷切成厚1.5cm左右的片，约10份。取一份，按扁；

7、用擀面杖擀成面皮，包入一个球球，收口捏合，朝下即可。都排入蒸锅后，用温水饧发30分钟左右后开始蒸。开锅后20分钟即可。

小贴士：

1、这个馒头用的一次发酵法，最主要的是整好形之后的发酵。这样蒸出来也是很松软的；

2、我用压面机的1档面片，卷好后层比较厚，擀开后螺纹稍宽，可以试一下3档左右，卷的层数比较多，这样压出来应该更美；

3、做法5中卷好后，饧一会这个步骤也很重要，这样待会在擀皮的时候才不至于层与层之间擀裂了；

4、最后擀好皮包的时候，也可以把皮上刷一层水，这样包起来能更好的黏合在一起。或者中间也可以不放面团，放豆沙馅，或者紫薯泥等等，就成了豆沙包或紫薯包了。

切的时候还热，所以切的有点难看。

【桃花馒头】

这款桃儿馒头，是寿宴上的一款面食，洁白而饱满。在制作时，每剂要稍微擀得略薄点，22克左右的面团，擀成圆片时，直径在9CM左右，静置时，表面喷上些水，可以使成品更加亮泽。

材料：

中粉200克 温水100克 酵母2.5克 油8克 糖少许 盐1.5克

步骤：

1、所有材料揉至三光（面光、盆光、手光）；

2、放28度温度下进行发酵至两倍大；

3、排气分剂，每剂约22克左右；

4、取一剂擀成圆片，抹上油；

5、对折成半圆后，横切三等份；

6、由长到短依次叠起，切面朝上，用刮板在长的一端从中间往里推；

7、捏紧尾端，放于蒸屉内，于28度温度下静置；

8、至表面膨松，体积约0.5倍大；

9、冷水上锅，全程大火15分钟后，闷盖3分钟后即可。

Source:

http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MjM5MTU3ODcyMg%3D%3D&mid=200549299&idx=3&sn=ee78544a34033762399b9b873a4b4d88#rd