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The sweet aroma of coffee-crusted bun drew me to the shop when I first visited Warrigal Square. PappaRoti is a new gem in Warrigal Square specialising in only one thing, Malaysian coffee-crusted roti (bun).
Seeing the reasonable price tag of $2.20 per bun, I decided to give it a try. The bun was still hot – straight from the oven. Bonus points for freshness.
The first bite took me by surprise. The texture of the bun was soft and fluffy, leaving me wanting for more. The crunchy coffee crust was the icing on the cake - pun intended.
I strongly recommend you give it a try!
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This was inspired by yesterday’s Masterclass (MasterChef Australia). After watching Michael Klausen show the contestants how to bake Schiacciata Con L'uva, I decided to try it myself. I replaced grapes with strawberries and called this Schiacciata Con Fragole, meaning ‘with pressed strawberries’.
I cheated a bit by using an electric mixer with dough hook attachment instead of mixing it traditionally by hand ;-)
Ingredients:
420 gram plain unbleached flour
10g instant dried yeast
10g salt
10g extra virgin olive oil
285g water
1. Pour all ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix it with an electric mixer with dough hook attachment until well mixed.
2. Cover the dough with glad wrap and let it rest for 5 minutes.
3. Transfer the dough to the table and knead it for a minute.
4. Then, oil a clean bowl and transfer the dough to this new bowl. Cover this with glad wrap and let it proof for 1 hour.
5. Take the dough out of the bowl and fold it 4 ways into a square. Round the dough and put it back in the bowl. Cover it with glad wrap again and let it proof for another 30 minutes.
6. Preheat the oven to 210°C.
7. Divide the dough into 2 portions.
8. Stretch the dough into an oval or round shape on a greaseproof paper.
9. Gently press strawberries on the dough.
10. Drizzle a bit of olive oil on the dough.
11. Sprinkle some granulated sugar on top.
11. Bake it for 15 minutes.
The Masterclass video from MasterChef Australia is available from the link below (this may not be viewable on other regions outside Australia):
http://www.masterchef.com.au/video.htm?channel=Full+Episodes+Complete&clipid=2729_548MC170610CR&bitrate=300&format=flash
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I learnt this from a bread making class during my visit to Montréal, Canada. The class was conducted mainly in French but the teacher was kind enough to send me the recipe in English.
I have made this a few times and it has always turned out praiseworthy. The only warning I have is, “Do not attempt this recipe unless you have at least half a day to spare”. It takes a long time to leaven the dough.
Ingredients:
10 grams of dry instant yeast
240 grams of water (25°C – 35°C)
40 grams of sugar
25 grams of milk powder
8 grams of salt
400 grams of bread flour (unbleached & untreated)
1 fresh egg
80 grams of cold melted butter
Instructions:
1. Pour flour, sugar, salt, milk powder, egg, butter, yeast and water into a large mixing bowl.
Note: If using fresh or active dried yeast, mix yeast with water first before pouring into the rest of the mixture.
2. Mix the ingredients for a few minutes using an electric mixer with dough hook attachment. If you do not have an electric mixer, you can mix by hand using a spatula and then fold it on the table for about 15 times.
3. Clean around the mixing bowl and cover it with cling wrap. Let the dough rest for 1 hour.
4. Divide the dough into half.
5. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle. Sprinkle chocolate chips on the first batch and raisin on the second batch.
6. Roll up the dough again to form a cylinder.
7. Divide the dough into desired weight (approx. 65 – 70 grams)
8. Gently round the dough and let it rest for another 20 minutes.
9. Lightly floured two round baking tins.
10. Shape the dough and arrange it on the baking tins.
11. Let it proof for about 75 minutes.
12. Preheat the oven to 175°C.
13. Brush with eggs to give it a nice brown colour.
14. Cut the top into a cross-shape.
15. Optional: Sprinkle with sugar crystals to give it a crunchy bite.
16. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden.
Here is a picture of one I baked earlier using a bigger tin. This recipe makes about 14 -15 brioches.
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One of the highlight of my trip is attending a bread making class. Knowing that Montréal has a strong French influence and the main food is bread, I decided to learn from the expert. Most of the cooking classes I found online are conducted fully in French.
After a bit of research, I found a place that offers baking classes in English. I signed up for a class before coming Montréal without realising how far the place was from Montréal.
It takes 2 metros and 2 buses to get to the place. To add to the excitement, I don’t speak French and have never caught a bus here. It was rather nerve-wrecking, but I thanked God that the bus driver understands English and I arrived safely at the place.
While the lesson was about to start, I found out that the other 5 students were French speaking. The teacher decided the lead the class in French. Occasionally he translated the important parts to English for my benefit. It was a bit challenging for not being able to fully understand what was said by the teacher. Thankfully, the class was very structured and I could easily follow the other students.
We started off with making the country bread. It took 2 ½ hours for the fermentation to complete, with an occasional fold through every 20 minutes. The teacher showed us the correct method of shaping the dough which was very helpful. While waiting for the fermentation, we started working on the next batch of dough, the sweet dough used for making Brioche. It was nowhere near as complicated as the country bread but still require a bit of time to ferment. Finally, we moved on to the French bread (Baguette) after lunch. The process of making the different dough is quite similar. The main difference would be the ingredients used for each one.
Six hours later, all the breads were out of the oven. We had plain country bread, oat country bread, pecan country bread, French baguette, chocolate brioche and raisin brioche. We left the place with the fruits of our labour. I can honestly say that I have never owned that much bread in a single day!
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