How To Bake Pandesal and Other Breads

Baking or making breads will always be a contentious issue for me. While the maker has come up with so many models and almost neurotically flooded, i mean practically summoning all colors imaginable for use in the kitchen, Kitchenaid has them. Enough to drive ALL OF US MAD AND OBSESSIVE. aAdmit it. You covet a couple of these mixers, one in your favorite color and maybe one of those big commercial 7 quart thinking it would solve all your bread making problems. My first one says i can use Speed 4 to mix a 10 minute Pullman or Dinner Roll. My latest acquisition, which is a 5 quart this time says only Speed 2. If you are a bread enthusiast, you know 10 MINUTES IS NOT ENOUGH. Why the change? I mean if you are going to upgrade, shouldn't that be a step higher WITH more torque, more uuumph and tolerance? This to me sound like a regression. Just thinking. I bought the mixer here in New York, never tested the mixer just peeked through the box and brought it with me last August. In t...

Video clips of the BAKING BREADS DVD Title can now be seen at my website, www.breadmakinglessons.com or at youtube The BAKING BREADS DVD contains KNEADING, SPONGE AND DOUGH METHOD WITH HOW TO MIX USING KITCHENAID, SPECIAL YEMA ENSAIMADA AND SWEET POTATO BREADS (KAMOTE) WITH PANDESAL. Honestly, it's all what a beginning baker should look at, the very basics, videos not too long and boring but quite a delight to watch. I presented it the same way i would teach these subjects in real time, like in my HANDS ON BAKING CLASS. I cannot do the Sponge and Dough method anymore, i know most of my 3 Day baking class students request that i do teach them (ONLY A HANDFUL DID)BUT my schedule won't permit me so i thought of rummaging through my baking video library, tons of them. A 3 minute clip will take 2-3 days to finish. You go over and over and over the videos, you cut them, you go back, you save, you cut again etc., etc., I did not know this is so difficult to make. I learned my ...

I ordered some wheat berries and well, i think i am miles away from grinding my own bread flour so it would be best to try growing some for juicing first. We'll see what happens. Just to show you, it is very easy technically but back breaking if you are as tiny as i am. 9 days is all it needs and you can harvest your wheat grass for juicing. Unlike the pulp from carrots, celery and apples the wheat grass pulp are not recyclable. I put the veggie and fruit pulp in burgers and soups, pasta sauces, pancakes etc., but the wheat grass pulp is pretty much like a dish washing scrub. Just put it in your compost bin for good measure. Here it is, i ordered mine online and you need a sturdy juicer to get most of the juice from the grass itself. Soak the seeds for 2 days, not 2 8 hours but a full 48 hours. 2 days after, put the seeds or sprouts in a 2 inch vermiculite, any tray with holes will do. 3 days later 5 days after 7 days later Harvesting time, 9-10 days once you see...

It is mighty cold, this morning i just put two layers of clothes and a pair of socks which i thought i have gotten rid of 3 weeks ago. Last Sunday, we took out some of the seedlings we were growing inside the house, near the windows (all windows) and was so bitterly disappointed when they wilted, not because of the heat of the sun although it was sunny outside, but because of the almost freezing temperatures. Ano ba yan? The seedlings all drooped, the leaves curled up like they have not been fed for days. I took them all back inside, some upstairs in my room near my window to rejuvenate them, with a prayer... Not an easy task planting from seeds but i love the whole process. I just don't like re-doing the same thing over using the same seeds. That means failure and a waste of my time, peeking through the plastic covering, checking everyday for life, watering, transferring them back and forth, turning the trays to get a spray of sunshine from the windows. Seedlings i started fr...

I am currently sitting on my bed, watching the news at 3:27 pm so i can get a first hand look on the capture of this stupid Chechen bomber. I am annoyed to see his Aunt, screaming like hell asking for proof. Hmm. You think the FBI will be paranoid to pin it on two backpackers just like that. In broken English, she was demanding proof, "it's just a picture with a circle, where is the proof, i am a lawyer, i am used to people accusing of etc., etc.,. Dear oh dear. I get why her nephews bombed the marathon. Anyway, they are going to get him for sure. Working on making videos on baking cakes and cupcakes with my cake deco basics 1, 2 and 3. I will be able to finish by the end of the year perhaps, lots of editing and re-shooting to be made but i am loving it all. Look at those flowers! 1 tip and 4 kinds of drop flowers. I swear a restful sleep once you learn how to do these flowers yourself. I might be able to release the Royal Icing and Buttercream early next year if n...

I should be writing a review on my American Era mixer that i recently purchased but sad to say, when i opened the box a day after my arrival last March 21, the dough hook and beater blades are missing. Funny huh. I reported the matter to Sonic Electronics,naturally they were very apologetic and asked me how i can be helped further aside from sending me my missing blades. duh. I do not need anything else other than my dough hook and paddle. That's all. So many unwritten blogs, my February and March schedule were so out there i could not even do personal shopping for myself, had to ask people around me do it. Nevertheless, i am so grateful to the people who made it to Fairview, i had so much fun. Two days before i left for New York, i had people asking if they can pay the reservation fee already, one even dropped by to ask for the lessons and needless to say, i am sorry if i could not promise for the next schedule. I just have to say, i learned a lot from your experiences too so if...

So i went there yesterday, not really knowing whether my friend and former student from Los Angeles would be there. I was saying, what the heck i already planned this months before so despite the sore arms from the cookies and brioche i made a day before, i left for the Bakery Fair. Smooth ride, unexpectedly so i got there around an hour and a half. Not bad. Saw my friend but we both got lost inside because i was stuck at the registration counter. For a good hour and so so. Imagine the system this people have. 6-7 lines. I was at the walk in farthest line. You go there if you do not have the confirmation email from the online registration, which i filled up twice, once at Fox Mozilla and over at Google Chrome, but none came in. So we were all wondering, how come we were not moving at all? Yun pala, those at the other side or lines would submit their forms in groups, so those who are in the walk in sections would have their papers or forms placed under. Pinatungan ng pinatungan, all ...

I love this January, not because i had quite a few more baking sessions than before. Normally, January is a dead end, people do not have that much money left from the holiday blast but this is an exception. Or maybe, i just happen to be found by interested people who want to learn new skills. The photos will mostly be from my sponge and dough classes and it was fun to play around with the recipes once again. Going back to New York on March 21 :( and i have no idea what NY will offer this time. Nakakasawa na ang layovers, the long back breaking flight, the awful airplane food etc., etc., yUM! With chocolate chips, drunken raisins, almonds etc., a huge hit, camote and malunggay pandesal which i will make for my sister, she is already waiting for it HOney Oatmeal Buns and rolls This time, tons of photos but not that much to say. Too tired. Just finished my cake classes yesterday, and i am going to just watch Inspector Morse on youtube the whole...