Cosy Bake

Simple White Loaf

2018-04-25T01:34:00.002-07:00

It has been quite awhile since I last wrote on my blog. Making a come back, wish to share more of my bakes with whoever happen to see me here again.

Homemade white loaf is always the comfort food for us in the morning, especially the weekends. There are many different types of white loaf recipes out there. As well as, white loaves from different part of he world.

As for my own preference, I would always go for Japanese white loaves. They are one of the easiest to achieve, and most of the time, I get very good results.

There is another type of white bread I really wish to put it on my list of success - French soft white.
The recipe may looks simple. Yet, it is more than complex as you could imagine. So far, only my bread machine could manage a good french soft white using the right french flour, which give the bread that sweet wheaty taste. I can't live without my read machine I must say. I shall share more about my bread machine when I have time to blog again.

Bread Flour 250g

salt 5g

Sugar 10g

Dry yeast 3g

Fresh Milk 50g

Water 125g

Butter 8g

Have all ingredients place in the bread machine and select bread dough mode. When the cycle is up, bring dough out on working surface, form dough in a ball, and cover with a cloth and let rest for 15 minutes.

After resting, divide dough into three square weight, and shape the dough then place them in a loaf tin. Have the last raise fro about an hour, till the dough rises up to 80% of the tin. Place loaf in a pre heated oven for 30 minutes at 200'C.

Cool the bread on wire rack completely before slicing. Happy baking!!

Croissant

2015-11-11T19:00:00.000-08:00

I love croissants, my family loves croissants.... I am not just love eating it, but, would love to make it well too! I have tried, and tried... Many many different recipes... wasted quite a bit of flour and butter..... Till recently, I managed to do it Almost right! Yet, I still think I could do better than this. Now that the cool weather and temperature is to the advantage of croissants making, I will surely try again.

The best croissants

I did in the above picture.

While baked....

The two pictures below are those that were not quite up to the right texture for croissant. Some look alright with layers obviously shown, however, the crumbs were too bready. Or else, the bread didn't taste too good, as it got a little too yeasty. Of course, the first couple time attempts were total disastrous !!

When I got it better, I got most excited, and the moment they went into the oven, I

sat right next to the oven and kept an eye on how the heat made the layers of flour and butter rise and form. The excitement is indescribable!

Making our own tuna sandwich with homemade croissants just so good.

I thought I have been able to make my own puff pastry right, I could do croissant with no frill. However, they are both pretty far off when comes to making a dough with yeast and higher gluten, which is harder to stretch and roll out evenly. But, what means the most to me is, to know what my family is eating. No shortening in my croissants and puff pastry! Never, ever!! I will not compromise!

Bon Appetit!

Things I have left behind .....

2015-11-11T17:29:00.000-08:00

I am not sure what is the best way to start off my blog again.

It's been a long time since I last blogged. Started to pick up the idea to blog again some months ago, yet I was rather occupied with things to do, for myself and the family. It was a pretty fulfilling years since last time I wrote here. At the same time, Face booking is also another reason, I kind of dropped the idea of blogging... Although, I have been updating my Face book page with most of the bakes and cooks I did. Simply because I find FB is more ' convenient ' to do any posting in the quickest way. Yes, I'm simply LAZY!!

I am supposed, it will take me quite a while to update my blog for what I have done in my kitchen and a bit of travelling info to share. The most recent month, we had a great family trip to Hokkaido. It was full of laughter and some old memories shared by the elderly members was the most... I call it "enjoyable". :)

This year has been great, I must say. Not that we made some windfall, but it's definitely better than a windfall! Managed to clear up some old scums, and now it's all fresh and a new start, and looking for more good thing to come!

A wedding cake that I made for my wonderful friend / sister. It's was a great experience, and I am blessed to have a very good friend to help me with this giant. The wedding was the wedding of the year, as the wedding planner suggested. No deny to that. The afford of setting up the stage, cocktail party with hairdo, and makeup corners for ladies who were not quite ready / confident with their appearance, or those who didn't have quite enough time to run to salons for their hairdo....all was taken care of by professional stylists and makeup artists!! How cool yey?!! Being part of the reception, it was fun, and the free flow of Garrett popcorn by the best men carrying a sling tray around to offer pop corns to the guests tickled us most. Of course the children were the happiest of all. Son till today, still asking for the same kind of wedding to go... The best of course, the most beautiful bride with her fairytale gowns... Well, Vera Wang gowns, it won't go wrong I bet! We were all submerged into Alice in Wonderland moment the whole night. The only wedding I will not forget for life.

Looking forward to give my blog more updates.... Good day everyone !

Breakfast Pancakes with Homemade Cherry Maple Syrup

2013-07-13T01:20:00.000-07:00

Besides having the usual maple syrup to go with our breakfast pancakes, another good idea is to give a simple twist to it, by just adding some fresh cherries to the maple syrup and bring it to simmer point! There I get a tangy sweet maple syrup with the juicy bites of fresh cherries!!

Natalie's Mickey and friends

2013-07-08T01:17:00.000-07:00

A theme with the most requests. Happy Birthday Natalie.

Polka Dots Bow for Seo Yul

2013-07-06T01:16:00.000-07:00

Birthday cake for little Seo Yul.

Baby Jimin's 1st Birthday Cake

2013-07-06T01:09:00.000-07:00

Let's celebrate Baby Ji Min's first birthday!

Phineas and Ferb

2013-07-02T01:14:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Caden!

Gracie's 3rd Birthday Cake

2013-06-30T01:00:00.000-07:00

Baby Ryan's Teddy Bear Cake

2013-06-27T00:58:00.000-07:00

Teddy Bear cake for Ryan's First Birthday!

Clarissa's Cuppcakes. Dora & Helo Kitty

2013-06-25T01:08:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Clasrissa!!

Pansy Pots for Mother's day.

2013-06-23T01:04:00.000-07:00

A very much belated Mother's day post.....

Red Owl for Raphael's 6th Birthday.

2013-06-20T00:54:00.001-07:00

How time flies! My little boy is Six! Owl is one of his favourite animals, so this is his request. Many of his schoolmates thought it's an Angry Bird at the first glance........ I tried my very best to convince him, to have the owl in blue. However, he was determine to have a red owl. Anyway, I always respect his decisions.

Hokkaido ,Sapporo

2013-06-08T22:34:00.002-07:00

A great breakfast at the hotel to start our day in Sapporo.

Limited orders each morning for crab meat omelet .

Look what I found?! Haiji Bun!!

Tsudomu- Children snow festival playground

Endless shopping street- Tanukikoji

Snow festival at Odori Park

Underground Shopping street.

Kaniten- Crab dinner.
This is not the usual crab house where tourists would go. Japanese Sensei's father recommended this place where is popular among the people in Sapporo.

Bake potato is one of the must have dish in this shop. It is creamy and sweet.

Crab roe porridge

A small and cosy eating place.

Father and son working together for their family business.

We took a slow walk back to the hotel after a sumptuous dinner. And unexpectedly we found another lane with more ice sculptures. A place we would definitely miss.

More shopping at Chitose Airport.

Hokkaido ii

2013-05-13T22:18:00.002-07:00

River Monsters.

Dipping your feet in the hot spring, could be the best thing to do at this snowy season.

A little hot spring for your hot spring boiled eggs.

We took a walk along the street just outside the hotel, there's a small temple, and next to it, there is a hot spring for feet soaking, which it suppose to heal many illness.

Testing out the water temperature. OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, the water is a lot hotter than those we soaked in.

Japanese children's day for girls display stand.

On our way to Otaru.

Past by a huge lake on our way to Otaru, and we could see there were fishing enthusiasts camp on the frozen lake.

Daddy explains what that sign means.....

Otaru canal

Musical box house

Le Tao- The best Japanese Double cheese cake!!!!

Places where you and I would not wanna miss.

Red bean soft cream and milk soft cream + custard cream puffs.

The famous 'Kuih Lapis' of Hokkaido. Look at the generous taste portions!

I was hoping I could buy some of the cream puff.........

Sundae is called Soft Cream in Hokkaido. And it is the best sundae in the world ( to me). Merely 3 hours in Otaru, we had 5 soft creams!! I did feel a little guilty to be honest. But it simply too good to resist!! What the hxxx, I would not mind to put on some pounds for the heavenly creamy, milky, smooth Soft cream!!

Sweetst and freshest shell food.

Le Tao cake house

When you go Otaru, you may miss the BBQ sea food, even miss the soft cream. But, please do not leave Otaru without Le Tao's double cheese cake!

Chocolate factory

Ramen street at Sapporo

Why is the a basket of boiled eggs? And it's free of charge!!!According to my friend, the egg is suppose to cleanse our palette to have a better taste of their Ramen soup base.

Salt soup base ramen

Their specialty- Miso soup Ramen. Love the noodle's texture and the rich soup base. This will always be my choice!

Hokkaido

2013-05-12T07:41:00.000-07:00

Hokkaido, a place that is rich in agriculture , farming is their pride , that they have 200% supply to the locals and to the rest of Japan as well as exportation! Even the locals are having their very own little farm /garden in their backyard. They grow their strawberry, pumpkin, cabbage, sweet corn, tomatoes... simply the best produce from home to home. Though the place is six months white, and six months clear. It definitely bear the best out of each season. My last visit before this was about 14 years ago, and it was about the same period and I always enjoy the white. As I love cold more than the heat!

A trip that certainly enjoyed to the fullest, and makes us missing its every bit till today. I am so blessed to have my schoolmate who is now living there and running a tour company, therefore I was certain that I would have an unforgettable trip. For those who may be keen to take a family trip there ( oh, you should!) Do give this guy a buzz, as he will arrange a great package for you and your family. (Hokkaido Travel Partner .
Mr. Keigo Cheong. Tel: 090-9430-0208, Email: enquiry@hokkaidotravelpartner )

We were having all the time to ourselves, without having to rush from one destination to another, as we had our own car, tour guide cum driver. We had the Onzen ( Hot Spring) hotels during our stay, with breakfasts and dinners was awesome!! I tasted the real freshness of Hokkaido!

Lake Toya

This ice cave is build buy the water of Lake Toya. Amazing Experience!

The seaweed in between the icicles gave the cave a natural scent of the lake and that freshness of green.

and what more, some of the frozen salmons from the lake!! What a piece of art indeed.

Noboribetsu National Park. One of the popular attractions. among the hot spring towns.

A breathtaking view at the hotel lobby.

Night view

Super fresh and sweet shrimps. I could just it them all day !

Hokkaido is famous of their sweet corn. And I really mean SWEET corn. The corn soup is made from their local produce. The smooth and creamy texture.......

Simple and healthy Japanese breakfast choice.

Bear farm at Shin San

The smartest bears ever!! They literately beg for apples that in our hands! That was the highlight of the visit. Any child would just refuse to leave this place. Which I could totally understand why.

A vending machine that sells bear cookies.

It started to snow heavily and we had blizzard throughout the day. Yet, this little boy refused to leave the farm.

Rusutsu Ski Resort

Dog sledge for my 6 year old. It was absolutely cool!!

Bonjour, Lisa!!

Took a break at the mall after all the snow activities.

Jozankei Onzen Hotel

One of the most popular hot spring hotels in Jozankei. We were given a private Onzen session for about an hour all to ourselves, followed by a sumptuous dinner spread.This is the real holidays I was looking for!

Kid's menu

Breakfast...................

Japanese Boys' day

2013-05-06T22:25:00.002-07:00

It was children's day for boys in Japanese last Sunday. Koi is their symbolic animal for the special day. They would make their bento set, bread, fruits and all kinds into the shape of Koi as part of the celebration. I had fun too, making these for my boy's and his friends.

New York Cheese Cake Sticks

2013-04-27T19:37:00.000-07:00

Isabelle's First Birthday

2013-04-14T18:49:00.000-07:00

One Dough Many Breads

2013-04-08T19:24:00.000-07:00

One sweet dough churn out assorted buns from savories to sweets. How clever whoever created bread!

This batch of dough gave us our breakfast and lunch. You may think it's rather ''Err!" to have both meals with bread. But, it's definitely a pleasure in our household.

Bread dough recipe from here.

Tinklebell Cake for Alyssa

2013-04-03T18:47:00.000-07:00

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for Maruti

2013-03-15T23:07:00.000-07:00

Cinderella Carriage.

2013-03-12T23:14:00.000-07:00

Pardon me for the ugly looking princess.

新年快乐，万事如意！

2013-02-08T21:08:00.000-08:00

Cheese PineappleTarts

Cherry Blossom Almond Cookies

Rush and rush... Managed to bake some of Chinese New Year goodies before our long trip. Obviously there will not be any Chinese New Year celebration in the foreign land. But, sure to be an enjoyable one.

I would to wish everyone a Happy New Year, full of health filled with wealth!!! 恭喜发财，身体健康！

Fried Sweet Potato Balls

2013-01-31T20:54:00.002-08:00

It has been so long I wanted to post this delicious little snack. Made them so many times, and yet I couldn't get to snap any picture and they were gone! Love the light and crisp skin , sweet and a little chewy inside. One of my childhood memories found from here. Got the recipe from Jane's Corner. At times, I twitched a little by cutting down some amount of flour, and get a really crispy shell and fluffy texture inside. Enjoy!!