How To Bake Pandesal and Other Breads

You know cheese and lots of cheese can't be that bad for you if eaten once a week.(Really, just once a week). An overload of cheese, is like eating a bag of Dove Dark Chocolates for me, simply amazing. You know it will get to where it wants to go, down your hips and thighs so for my sanity, i make sure that i go all the way when it comes to "cheesing my breads". Sometimes, i justify it by telling myself they weren't for me, but for the boys... I know better. This is what it looks like while you eat it piping hot, fresh off the oven. I make sure i go first and announce my verdict seconds after. 3 kinds of cheese; Cottage, Mozarella and Cheddar. Checking the dough if it's ready. This dough has pulp from the juicing, carrots, celery and apples. Not that much, around 1 cup per 500 grams. Dredging it in breadcrumbs to mimic Pandesal. The breadcrumbs add texture and crunch, with a toasty flavor. This is my nephew's nth try on Pandesal or bread...

Below is a question from Mark Veloso that just came in when i opened my email this morning at 7 am. Yup, had to wake up early because i am burning some DVDS on Royal Icing. I cannot count the questions i received that have the same familiar tone, different sender, same problem. I answered as soon as i can but really the only thing Mark can do now is to either get another baker (the shorter way out) or learn how to bake properly himself. The latter one is the better option, it lets you get hold of the bakery by the neck, keeps turnover much less frequent and the best thing is that you create your own product. Trump says nothing is better than building your own brand. You cannot have your own brand if you do not have a product that you can be proud of. To Mark, good luck and it is never too late to start training now. I would sacrifice closing the bakery for awhile if i could (rather than sell sub standard inconsistent bread products) and then start learning, testing etc., July 30...

So my nephew and i were baking Pandesal the other week and it was soooo hot in the kitchen despite the left and right electric fans covering all corners. I thought maybe we can just bake half today and let's freeze the dough, we'll think of something to do with it next time, whatever. It was so, nakakatamad gumalaw when it is so hot. There was no air even if we were surrounded by large trees, i have never experienced over 99 degrees of hot air in the Philippines, nah uh. So, we were supposed to mix two kinds of doughs, one for the Pandesal and one for the Calzone he wants to make. Forget about the Calzone dough, which is basically just like a Pizza dough. Lean, sponge and dough based but with very little or no fat and sugar at all. We did just one kilogram of dough, because i just want to stop moving and just sit and relax in front of the electric fan. We baked the Pandesal, and two days after took out the dough from the freezer and looked at it. What if i just use this doug...

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...