Bread and Batter – Page 6 – The Occasional Cook

Bread and Batter, breakfast, Desserts, Snack

Lemony Scones

January 19, 2014March 3, 2021 7shasha7

This morning for breakfast I made scones. This time I tweaked a recipe from the Web, so essentially they are not copyrighted hahaha. Apparently if you change three measurements or ingredients from the original, it’s yours.

So here’s mine recipe:

350 g self raising flour
A teaspoon of baking powder
100 g butter
1 tbsp caster sugar
180 ml skim milk
1tsp vanilla essence
1grated lemon zest
Juice from one lemon

In a bowl I grated the butter into the flour and baking powder mix and used the rubbing in method. Then I added the sugar. The milk I warmed it up a bit and then added the vanilla essence, lemon zest and lemon juice. Or scones you have to work vey quickly and if you live in a hot and humid country like me you’ve got to make sure that all this is done in less than 5 min. I brushed milk onto the unbaked scones. And then bake it a hot 220 oven.

The result was soft lemony buttery scones. 🙂

Bread and Batter, breakfast

Eggs Benedict

November 24, 2013 7shasha7

Today I tried making eggs Benedict for breakfast. I must say that the poached eggs were a disaster. I followed instructions to the T, followed the videos on YouTube halfway through, yet, the whites of the egg persisted in swirling all over the pot and making a big mess.

The hollandaise sauce saved the day. It was still delicious but I wished I could perfect the poached eggs. Anyway, this is a better deal than coffee bean’s eggs as each time I ordered them, the yolks always are hard.

The yolks were still runny.

On the toasted buttered English muffin, I placed crispy chewy fried turkey bacon and then the eggs topped with the hollandaise sauce.

I am so going to make this again when I have the craving for eggs.

Bread and Batter, Cakes and Cookies, Desserts

Madeleines

November 3, 2013November 3, 2013 7shasha7

I made madeleines this morning. I had to do some research, watching YouTube videos and reading some other blog sites on this topic.

To summarise what I’ve learnt and today’s actual practice:

1. The longer the batter is chilled, the better the outcome will be
2. The tray moulds do matter. Metal non stick pans are way superior than those new age rubber moulds
3. Lemon zest MUST be added. It adds so much ooomph to the cakes.
4. Make batter one or even three days ahead as they do keep in the fridge and bake only when the guests have arrived as they are so quick to bake and taste best super fresh.

store batter in airtight container

first bake using the rubber mould. Chilled for only an hour. No rise. Colour is pale. Tastes good but does not look good.

Bread and Batter, Cakes and Cookies, Desserts, Snack

Strawberry shortcakes

November 3, 2013March 3, 2021 7shasha7

Yesterday Aisyah wanted to bake. Ever since she’s been following masterchef junior, Aisyah’s been in a cooking mood. She wanted to bake strawberry shortcakes but I had already made some scones earlier. Basic scones. So I told her to make the filling and use the scones I had baked as the base. She whipped some double cream, bought strawberry jam and fresh strawberries and did the assembly. The result was pretty good. She gave most of it to her grandparents and cousin and they were a hit. Looks like every weekend will be a baking lesson for both of us.

Bread and Batter, breakfast, Snack

Sardine Ciabatta

October 28, 2013March 3, 2021 7shasha7

I learnt how to make delicious crispy store bought ciabatta from my aunt. She’d drizzle a bit of olive oil on the gut bread and put it on a hot pan till it browns. The result- crispy delicious goodness. So simple yet I never thought I doing that.

For breakfast yesterday, I made this sandwich using leftover sardines from the previous day’s fried sardine egg bread.

I will do this from now on whenever I have ciabatta. The fun now comes from filling ideas!