How To Bake Pandesal and Other Breads

As promised these are images taken in Sacramento when i made my cousins some Siopao, half of which i steamed and half i shoved into the oven. I did not use the same dough for the Baked version, the end product was dry and heavy maybe because of the extra sugar/less water in the Siopao dough not to mention it does not have eggs compared to the Baked version. I used the Soft Bun dough recipe, actually any kind of plain yeast dough will do. Same proofing and baking, the only thing different i guess is that i placed a hard boiled egg inside instead of the usual salted egg. Lucky enough to use two bowls, each batch is 500 grams of All Purpose Flour. Dough still looking rough, takes time to mix using a Kitchen Aid. Just make sure the mixer does not over heat. Relaxing the dough for 30 minutes, this allows the dough to not only mellow but for the mixer to cool down as well. You can cook the filling during resting times if you want although mine was already cooked the day before. Scal...

This is an image of the Globe mixer my friend from New Jersey got last year. I can't say good things about it because i can't help compare it with my previous two mixers, a 10-quart Hoqurt and the 20-quart Omcan. For its price, it's regrettable if you bake a lot of breads, but if you are just a homebaker, i would say, live with it. Sounds harsh i know but even my Taiwan made P28,000.00 mixer which i purchased way back 1998 can outdo this one in a matter of minutes, NO Time Dough or not. So i taught my friend how to troubleshoot this mixer given there is no way she can return it. My advise to you if you are in the market for commercial mixers, if you can run the motor or mixer right there in the store premise the better. If you can have a short demo where you can run the mixer for at least 20 minutes or even 10 minutes, with a dough of course (you can even bring your own dough), then you can find out if this mixer you are fixed on does not over heat in under 15 minutes. My...

hERE IS A PREVIEW OF WHAT IS IN STORE FOR THE CAKE AND CUPCAKE DECORATING CLASS, I MIXED IN BOTH THE FONDANT AND BUTTERCREAM TO DECORATE THIS BATCH OF BANANA CUPCAKES. I did this in a jiffy because the cupcakes are fast disappearing, starting with 32 pieces and i was left with only 11 pieces to decorate. Normally you do the cakes in one day, make the decorations in another day, be it a day before or days before but i did everything in one whole day because my colds are getting worst, afraid i will never get this done at all. Making my simple pink flower Drying it up on a flower former Cupcake with a Skirt Buttercream Rose on a Cupcake Gumpaste Flowers and Buttercream on a Cupcake Mini Rose with Buttercream Flower Now they can eat it, but not before i take photos please! Okay, so i still have some left the morning after but only because the boys had so much icing too eat already. I guess. My favorite so i am not letting anyone eat it. See you in my class, i will...

You may think that the breads you see stacked in bakery shelves have been made from different kinds of doughs. You see about 12-15 varieties of breads, sweet and savory, filled and plain, topped and slashed, fruits, nuts, coconuts and cream. What you do not know is that almost 80% of these breads come from just one basic dough. Your signature dough, whatever you decide to use as the master baker becomes the base of most of your products. You do not need to make 6-7 kinds of doughs just because you need to make Spanish Bread, Bitso, Pan de coco, Almond Crescents, Pan de Leche etc., Just one dough. Plus your creativity. The dough below comes from the hotdog and hamburger bun dough posted previously in this blog. Feel like making smaller rolls, which we call Pan de Limon, go ahead and use a square baking pan and scale them into smaller 20-22 gram portions depending on the baking pan you are using. Topping with Poppy Seeds Bake at 325 F for 12-15 minutes. The same dough used to ...

I am just checking the calendar, pretty soon i will be posting the schedule :)(that excited huh:) for my October class which will run up until the time i finish my annual medical check ups. You know how these hospital labs work, sometimes the digitized mammogram unit is under repair, the female technician is only available on a Wednesday, then you show up on a Wednesday and she is not there so you go back another week etc.,etc., I will stay maybe up until March, hopefully get all the lab work done for my peace of mind. You cannot afford to get sick here in the US if you have no insurance, my mother paid 500 bucks for a checkup, and another 500 for a blood sugar test, all done in 20 minutes. Whew! este whe! I trust my doctor, been with her since 2004 and i am going back to her, never mind the expense of paying the ticket, and the horrible backlash of the pain in the you know where after sitting for hours. I would rather not go through another airplane ride, especially on long flights su...

Exactly, that's why they call it Soft Bun. Referring to Hamburger Buns, Hotdog Buns, Pan de Limon, Pan de Agua, Pan de everything else that is supposed to be soft, meaning edible soft for a sandwich or plain snacking, without putting it in a toaster to make it again, soft. One of my students told me her Soft Buns gets moldy in 2 days, and i say no way. The recipe that i have does not have any Calcium Propionate, no anti-mold of some sort and they stay fresh for 5 days. After 5 days, spots of greenish mold starts to appear at the bottom of the buns and you know it has ended its stay on earth. Which is just about the average shelf life of yeast dough breads, it has nothing to do with your formula, it is just how Mother Nature intended it to be. What commercial bakeries do is to use an anti-mold to keep it mold free for up to ahem, you know how many days ( i might get sued over this). Incidentally, it is amazing how many law firm ads are here in the US, more than shampoo commercia...

Cooking Beef Caldereta (Beef Stew), slow food style, really slow since it's been 2 hours already and i am sitting right next to it, in my Aunt's dining table so i can stir it every now and then. Nope, don't want to use a pressure cooker, i am good. If after 4 hours and this thing has not tenderized yet, then i will start to sweat, i think i used too much black pepper, not that i don't mind but i know what she's going through. Going through chemo your taste buds are super sensitive to anything you lay on it, cold water, too spicy foods, salty, etc., Granting you can swallow the foods at all, soft foods that are easily digestible is a gift, so i made her some vegetable soup, just whatever i have scoured from her pantry, the soffrito, garbanzos, canned beans, a can of clam chowder and potatoes etc., I added a pinch of turmeric and she like it, the color and the flavor as well, not too much though, or it will ruin the soup base. Okay, there is a lingering heat in my...

Baking the baguettes Baked Baguettes, lovely and not bad for a first timer. Proofing the Pandesal Proofing the Cinnamon Rolls, brought with me only a dozen of cinnamon roll molds so we have to improvise. Baked Cinnamon Rolls Focaccia and Pizza Ensaimada baking, too bad i could not bring all of my ensaimada molds so i had to use only a dozen just for the student to see the original coiled shape. Loaves baking in the oven. Ham, Cheese and Pineapple Crescent Rolls These are just some of the breads made in my hands on class. 6-7 days plus 3-4 days of practical activity where you get to bake breads on your own while i supervise. January 2011

Being here in the West Coast just makes one think, why in the world did G-d invent the East Coast? For real, living through all that shovelling, treading into thick snow when you need to go somewhere like you have a choice not to and the nose bleeds. After i arrived in LA, the sunny ambience greeted me with a new promise, things here can be promising, so we'll see. My nose stopped bleeding after 2 days, and the best part, proofing does not have to be for two days when i make ensaimada!!!! Temperature inside the house reaches an average of 68 F which is not bad compared to our kitchen which is at 62F, still need to wear two layers, but no more coats or thick sweaters for a third layer. January 2011, West Coast. Where i am at right now, large rosemary shrubs 5 feet tall (amazing huh), bay leaves, orange trees ( squeeze them for breakfast). Yup, i am still baking, in my student's house not mine, but i am still baking, which is more than a mere mortal like me can ask for. I w...