Tanjong Pagar Railway Station

This is my first time posting something unrelated to food and baking.

Don't laugh at me. I have never been on a train before, never in Singapore, never in other countries too. I have also never been to Tanjong Pagar Railway Station. Living in the West part of Singapore, by the time I reach the train station, I would have reached the causeway already. So it doesn't make sense to take a train to Malaysia. So when it is going to cease operation on 1 July, everyone suddenly got interested in visiting Malaysia by train.

I was there two weeks ago trying to get tickets to JB. The tickets were hot since it was the school holidays. I was not lucky enough, the tickets for the next day were all sold out (can only buy the tickets 24 hours in advance for short distance trains, not further than Segamat). Too bad, I could only take some photographs of the train station.

I won't be trying for tickets already. We can always take trains in future. But the scenery along the railway within Singapore will be missed. I hope the railway tracks will not be demolished. Maybe they can develop it into some tourist attractions, add sightseeing trains 观光火车, and make some green and recreational facilities along the railways.

If you feel the same way, support The Green Corridor!

Aspiring Bakers #8: Potato Hotdog Buns 马铃薯热狗面包

I'm becoming very slow in updating my bakes. This was baked almost 1 month ago and I lost what I was ready to write about.

Anyway, to keep this short, this is another recipe from 孟老师的100道面包. It uses some mashed potato in the dough. It makes the dough very sticky and difficult to handle. Everytime when you try to push with your palms, the dough sticks to your whole palm. To avoid the mess, I simply throw the dough on the table, fold, and throw, and fold and continue until the dough become elastic and easier to manage. See the video from Carol below.

Instead of making 5 hotdog buns, I made 3 and the other 2 into Vegetarian Otah Buns for my mum. It was a great idea! Someday I must buy some otah and make otah buns for myself.

Dough: Very sticky
Same day softness: 8/10
Next day softness: 7.5/10

Potato Hotdog Buns 马铃薯热狗面包

Ingredients (makes 5)

(A)
110g bread flour
40g cake flour
15g sugar
1/4 tsp salt
70g cold water
1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 egg yolk (18-20g)
30g mashed potato (remove skin, steam and mash)
(B)
15g unsalted butter
(C)
5 hotdogs
tomato sauce

Method

1. Mix all ingredients in (A) and knead until the dough is smooth.
2. Add in butter and continue to knead the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic and able to stretch into a thin film without breaking.
3. Place the dough in a lightly greased mixing bowl. Cover with cling wrap and let proof for about 60 minutes.
4. Lightly knead the dough to punch out the gas. Divide the dough into 5 equal portions. Roll round, cover with cling wrap and rest for 10 minutes.
5. Slightly flatten the dough, roll flat into rectangle shape with width approximately the same as the length of a hotdog. Put the hotdog in the centre, fold the dough from 2 sides to wrap and pinch to seal well.
6. Use a scissors, make 5 equal cuts along the length of the dough. Make sure you cut through the hotdog but do not cut through the dough. Shape the bread, cover with cling wrap and proof for another 25 minutes.
7. Brush the top with egg mixture and drizzle some tomato sauce on top.
8. Bake in preheated oven at 175 deg C for about 19 minutes (upper rack).

Recipe adapted from: 孟老师的100道面包

I am submitting this Potato Hotdog Buns to Aspiring Bakers #8: Bread Seduction (June 2011), hosted by Jasmine of The Sweetylicious.

Aspiring Bakers #8: Mini Butter Buns 牛油小面包

After my bread machine died in September last year while making the Super Soft Custard Bread, I finally muster enough courage to make bread again, by hand.

I first saw these mini butter buns from Min's blog and find them really cute. The recipe is also simple enough for me who is starting breadmaking all over again. The dough is easy for me to manage, it turn non-sticky after kneading for sometime. Wrapping the buns with butter needs a bit of time and effort, other than that I'm quite enjoying the whole process. :)

I like the smell of breads fresh from the oven, you know when you walk pass the bakeries? This time the smell comes from my kitchen. It makes you forget how your wrestle with the dough earlier and the few hours spent just to make these buns. Although the ingredients are simple (no eggs and milk/cream used), the softness of the bread is still good. Surprisingly, on the next day, it still remain as good as yesterday.

Dough: Not sticky
Same day softness: 7/10
Next day softness: 7/10

Mini Butter Buns 牛油小面包 (from 孟老师的三色土司)

Ingredients (makes 25 mini buns)

Dough:
150g bread flour
15g sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/2+1/8 tsp instant yeast (sorry for the funny measurements because I halved the recipe)
90ml water
10g unsalted butter

Filling:
50g butter
10g icing sugar
pinch of salt (I added because I like it a bit salty)

Method

1. Mix the ingredients in the filling. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour so that it is easier to wrap later.
2. Mix all ingredients in the dough except butter and knead until the dough is smooth.
3. Add in butter and continue to knead the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic and able to stretch into a thin film without breaking.
4. Place the dough in a lightly greased mixing bowl. Cover with cling wrap and let proof for about 60 minutes.
5. Lightly knead the dough to punch out the gas. Divide the dough into small balls of 10g each.
6. Slightly flatten the small dough, wrap in the butter fillings and pinch to seal well. Roll the balls round and place them in a greased baking tray 1cm apart (I use 8x8in tray which is a little too big).
7. Cover with cling wrap and proof for another 40 minutes.
8. Brush the top with egg mixture and sprinkle sugar on top.
9. Bake in preheated oven at 180 deg C for 20 minutes.

Recipe adapted from: 孟老师的100道面包 and Min's Blog

I am submitting this Mini Butter Buns to Aspiring Bakers #8: Bread Seduction (June 2011), hosted by Jasmine of The Sweetylicious.