Water Roux Bread (TangZhong, 汤种面包)

Water Roux (TangZhong, 汤种) is a method used in bread making to make bread/buns springy. This roux, along with usually, eggs and milk, makes a uniquely soft textured bread. I first learned this from Ivy. It seems to be an very old method that is originated in Asia for a softer and fluffy bread. The most amazing part is, the bread made with this method stays soft and fluffy even after a few days. Simply reheat the slice in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds, you’ll have a warm, soft and fluffy bun on hand, just like it’s fresh out of the oven. The method is to mix 1 part of bread flour with 5 parts of water (by weight) at 65°C (149 °F) to form a paste. At 65°C, the gluten in the bread flour and water mixture would absorb the moisture and become leavened. Thus, when the starter is added into other ingredients of a bread dough, it will be heightened and produce fluffier bread.

Part A: Prepare Water Roux Starter

Ingredients:

Bread Flour - 1/3 cup
Water - 1 cup
To convert normal recipe to water roux method:
Usually take out about 11-12 percent from the original recipe bread flour recipe to make starter and add water ratio of 1:5

Steps

1. In a sauce pan, whisk together the water and the flour until the mixture is well blended and lump free. Put sauce pan on stove with medium heat (to reach 65°C/150°F). Continue whisking until the mixture starts to thicken up and remove immediately from the heat.

3. Transfer to a bowl and keep covered in the fridge for at least 1 hour. Store the remaining starter in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours.Before use the starter, let it warm to room temperature.

Part B: Make Bread

I am using Hamilton Beach 2-lb Bread Machine. If you are using a stand mixer or by hand, just make sure you dough passes the window pane test. This quantity here is the maximum my bread machine can make, you can cut the ingredients by half if you just want to try it.

Ingredients:

Bread flour - 750 g
Gluten flour - 100 g (Substitute with bread flour if you do not have it)

Egg - 2 (Substitute with 1/2 cup yogurt for egg-less)

Milk - 3/4 cup

Active dry yeast - 4 tsp

Salt - 1 tsp

Sugar - 1/3 cup

Unsalted butter - 1/2 cup ( 1 stick)

Optional : Coconut powder - 3 TBSP

Optional: Egg wash: 1 egg yolk + 1 TBSP water
Variation
a. Mix in raisin, dried cranberry, or other dried fruits and nuts.
b. Wrap in red bean paste in dough after fermentation.
c. If you want to make coconut bread, you can prepare the coconut filling by mixing 1 pack fine shredded dry coconut (4oz), 1 egg,  2 TBSP butter. The wrap the filling in dough after fermentation.

Steps:

1. Warm up milk in microwave for about 40 seconds, and pour in bread machine. Add yeast, salt, sugar to bread machine. Stir to make sure yeast is resolved in milk.

2. Add egg (or yogurt) to bread machine.

3. Add bread flour, gluten flour to bread machine. Optionally, add coconut powder.

4. Add water roux starter to bread machine.

5. Start the bread machine with "Dough" program. Observe the dough and if it is too dry, you may want to add more milk/water. Stop the cycle when the kneading section is finished (machine goes quite). The dough should be a little bit sticky.

6. Melt the butter with microwave and let it cool for a couple of minutes, then add it to bread machine.It is also time to pour in dried fruits and nuts if you choose to. Start bread machine with "dough" cycle again, and this time let it finish fermentation in the machine. The dough should rise over the container.

7. Take dough out of bread machine, and put it into the shape your like.

8. Preheat oven to 170°F, and put a tray of hot water on the bottom shelf.  Turn off oven, and put in the tray of bread dough for about 30-40 minutes, or when the dough rise about 1.5-2 times.

9. Preheat oven to 350°F. 

10. Optional: brush the dough with egg wash.

11. Put dough in oven and bake 15 minutes, or when you stick a toothpick in, the tooth pick comes out clean.

Walnut Sesame Phyllo Triangle

This is contributed by my friend Ting Liu. She introduced me to fillo dough. Phyllo, Fillo, or Filo, which means "leaf" in Greek, is tissue paper-thin like sheets of dough made from flour, water and a bit of oil. However, Phyllo dough was not born in Greece rather in Istanbul during the Ottoman reign. The name "Phyllo" is Greek but the dough technique itself is Turkish.

Phyllo is almost always frozen. It is found frozen in the freezer section of the grocery store. Frozen phyllo dough must be thawed following instructions on the package.
The sheets dry out rapidly and crack because they are so thin and have almost no fat. When ready to use the phyllo dough, unwrap and unfold it carefully,  take out what you need and cover the extra dough right away with a large piece of plastic wrap. Place a damp kitchen towel on top of the plastic.

Ingredients:

Fillo dough - 1 roll out of the package - about 20 sheets to make 40 triangles

Walnut - 1 cup

Black sesame - 1/4 cup

Sugar - 2 TBSP
The portion is for reference only, adjust to your own preference. 

Steps:

1. Ground walnut and black sesame in food processor or spice grinder.

2. Put walnut sesame mixture in a sauce pan and roast under low heat for a few minutes. Take pan off stove, mix in sugar. Try the filling for taste.

3. Defrost 1 roll of fillo dough in bag. Cut layered fillo into quarter lengthwise. Wrap and cover the unused ones.

4. Seperate the fillo dough into 2 sheets thick strips. Using cooking spray, lightly spray them.

5. Place 1 teaspoon of filling about 1 inch from corner of each strip fold one corner of the sheets across two opposite edge to form a triangle. Continue to fold triangle until the end of strip. Place the triangle on cookie sheet with seam facing down.

6. Spray the outside of the triangle to produce a golden brown color when baked.

6. Preheat oven to 350°F, bake 10 minutes or until golden.

Follow Up

I made some red bean paste triangles.

Tiramisu

This is a simple way to make Tiramisu. I did not use lady fingers, but my usual Chiffon cake recipe for the cake part. Then I adapted Ivy's recipe for the cream part.

Ingredients:

Egg yolk - 3
Mascarpone coffee cheese - 1 box (~250g)
Heavy whipping cream - 2/3 cup (150ml)
Powdered sugar - 3 TBSP (70g)
Water - 4 TBSP (60 ml)
Granulated sugar - 70g
Coffee - 3 TBSP + 1 tsp (50 ml)
Rum - 2 tsp
Cocoa powder - 2 TBSP
Optional: semi-sweet chocolate chip for boarder and letters

Steps:

1. Make one 9" chiffon cake. When the cake is cool, trim off the edge to get an 8" cake, and use a long bread knife to lever it into two cakes. If you use lady fingers, just use layers of lady fingers instead of cakes.

2. Beat egg yolks in mixer at high speed. In a small pot, bring granulated sugar and water to boiling, then slowly add sugar water to the mixer that is whisking. Whisk for another 5-10 minutes until the batter expands.

3. Make aure the egg yolk batter temperature drop to luck-warm. Then fold in the Mascarpone Cheese.

4. Beat heavy whipping cream with powdered sugar into whipped cream.

5. Fold the whipped cream in the cheese batter. This is the Tiramisu cream.

6. Mix coffee and rum, and brush onto the two cakes.
7. Put one cake on the cake board, sift some coca powder on, then spread a layer of Tiramisu cream.

8. Put the other cake on top, sift some cocoa powder on, then coat the whole cake with Tiramisu cream.

9. Optional border: melt some chocolate chips and pipe on parchment paper. Wait for the chocolate to firm up, but still bendable. Apply to the cake as boarder.

10. Sift some cocoa powder on top to dress up. Chill the cake in refrigerator for a couple of hours or overnight before serving.