Delicious Milk Bread

So I've recently discovered the joy of baking bread. And ~ also out of necessity ~ within the span of 11 days, have baked 5 loaves of bread! Haven't bought bread from the store since that first loaf. Of course, I'm not going to go to the extreme by declaring never to spend money on store-bought bread ever again. There will be times when buying will be much more convenient than baking, but for now, homemade is oh so satisfying! And I'm sticking to it as long as I can.

Just for the record, this is not a post to promote a kitchen appliance (I use Thermomix). It's just what I have and it's what I use. And it so happens that it has taken away my aversion to breadmaking by simplifying the process. I had a breadmaker I bought some years back but was never taken out of its box because despite having it, the lack of confidence of my ability to handle breadmaking was more overwhelming. I had the mindset that breadmaking was difficult and tedious and someone with my patience, or lack of it, would not be able to handle it well.

Suffice to say, I was wrong about myself. And it took myself to prove to myself how wrong I was. (Vain gile bunyi statement ni hahhaa!). So please forgive me for basking in the glory of my successful breadmaking endeavours because truth be told, I'm still pinching myself. I can't believe that I AM BAKING BREAD!

If you haven't seen the evolution of my breads, you can see them here from the first loaf, to the third. I made my fourth loaf yesterday, thinking that that could be today's  and tomorrow's breakfast. It's a jumbo loaf, it should last. It didn't. Kids couldn't wait to eat them yesterday. 3 of them had 2 slices of toasts each with some cream cheese for their afternoon snacks. My better half had a slice for supper. So did I. And by looking at what was left this morning, I knew I had to make another loaf, or else there won't be enough for everyone for tomorrow's breakfast.

But this time, though I still used the same milk bread recipe, I thought I'd shape it into a braid. Being one who is still very much a novice, I had some difficulty portioning and rolling the dough into logs. Couldn't get them to turn out smooth and even. 

But braid it, I did. 

And here's the final outcome.

Urghh! Unsightly!

Clearly, I need more practise. See how uneven the surface of the crust is? 

And I might have stretched and worked the dough too much while shaping that you can see the 'strain' on the dough. Almost look like that of the human muscles that we usually see in human anatomy pics hehehe!

But thankfully, inside, just as soft and fluffy as it should be...

 And here's to give you an idea of the size of that baby...

I usually bake this bread in a jumbo sized (11" long) bread pan, so I know that it would only rise on top and not expand at the sides. I was quite surprised to see how large it turned out when braided.

Oh well, that only means it'll go further before it runs out. Everybody can have a little more of that yummy bread. And I kid you not, it is yummy. Especially when toasted.

You have to try it for yourself.

MILK BREAD / ROTI SUSU

Ingredients/Bahan-bahan

300ml milk/susu

50g butter/mentega

2 tsp/sdt instant yeast/yis segera

40g sugar/gula

550g bread flour/tepung roti

1 1/2 tsp/sdt salt/garam

Steps

Combine all ingredients together and knead until you get a smooth dough that doesn't stick to the side of the bowl. I kneaded mine in the thermomix for 7min although the recipe calls for 3 minutes only. You might require more time is you're using a stand mixer with a dough hook (probably up to 10min), and longer if kneading by hand (up to 14min).

Form dough into a tight, smooth ball and transfer into a well oiled bowl. Cover and leave to rise in a warm spot for about 45min - 1hr.

After the dough has risen, punch it a few times to release the air bubbles.

Divide dough into 3 equal portions, roll each portion into a long strand of about 14" long and then braid the 3 strands together to form a braided bread loaf.

Transfer onto baking tray lined with baking sheet, cover lightly with cling wrap and leave to rise again for another 30-45mins.

Meanwhile, heat oven to 180ºC.

After 2nd rise, brush the risen loaf with egg wash (1 egg and a little milk mixed together) and bake in oven for 30min.

Cara-cara

Satukan kesemua bahan dan uli sehingga mendapat doh yang lembut dan tidak melekat di sisi mangkuk. Saya cuma uli selama 7min dengan Thermomix tapi jika anda ada stand mixer yang ada cangkuk roti, anda perlu uli lebih lama sedikit untuk dapat doh yang lembut dan licin. Uli dengan tangan pun boleh, cuma tambahkan masa menguli, kemungkinan sehingga 14min. 

Setelah diuli, bentukkan doh menjadi bentuk bola yang padat dan masukkan ke dalam mangkuk besar yang telah disapu minyak. Tutupkan dan biarkan ia mengembang sendiri selama 45min - 1jam.

Setelah doh mengembang selepas jangkamasa yang ditetapkan, tumbuk-tumbukkan doh untuk mengeluarkan udara yang terkumpul di dalam doh.

Bahagikan doh kepada 3 bahagian, dan golek2kan setiap bahagian menjadi seperti tali sepanjang 14". Pintalkan ketiga2 tali seperti mendandan rambut Barbie doll hahaha! (Dah start merapu dah aku...)

Alihkan roti yang telah dibentuk ke atas talam yang telah di alas kertas minyak. Biarkan doh mengembang sekali lagi selama lebih kurang 30-45min.

Sementara itu panaskan ketuhar ke suhu 180ºC.

Setelah doh cukup naik, sapukan doh dengan sedikit campuran telur dan susu sebelum di bakar selama 30minit.

HAPPY BAKING!

And I proudly fly the nation's flag...

Selamat Hari Kebangsaan, Malaysians.

Cakoi menjadi, I puas hati!

Pagi tadi bangun tengok-tengok tak ada apa untuk breakfast. Sebenarnya memang sengajalah tak sediakan apa-apa sebab semalam cadangnya nak ajak family breakfast roti canai sedap Saberkas hari ni. But unfortunately, Aisyah demam last night and I didn't get enough rest maka malas lah nak keluar.

Mulalah I gelabah sorang-sorang, nak buat breakfast apa ni weh? Nak buat roti, lama lah lagi nak siap, paham-paham je lah proses nak menaikkan roti tu pun dah berejam. Nak buat nasi goreng, nasi semalam ada seciput je. Kalau nak buat kena masak nasi baru and I don't like nasi goreng with freshly cooked rice. Melekit. Tak best. Dia kena nasi sejuk semalam baru best.

Akhirnya, I thought... apa kata kita buat cakoi? Although masih kena let rise, tapi taklah seteruk roti. Setengah jam ke 45 minit dah cukup. Dah tu sekali je, tak perlu dua kali macam roti. Maka I pun cepat-cepat "selongkar" komputer cari resepi yang I pernah simpan once upon a time.

Inilah hasilnya...

Nampak tak betapa menggiurkan rupanya? Sorry lah angkat bakul sikit, but really, I am so satisfied with the outcome. My first attempt at making cakoi was like 4-5 years ago. Masa tu hasilnya sangat mendukacitakan. Keras kejung! So I shied away from ever attempting another cakoi.

But today, I have renewed confidence after having baked loaf bread successfully 3 times the past 2 weeks. I thought it's time I gave it another shot. Besides, this has been in my mental to-do list for awhile heehehe! And I was not disappointed. They were crispy on the outside, tasted delicious and hollow inside, exactly the way a cakoi should be. And most importantly, tidak keras kejung! Hahaha!

So here's how it's done. I'm going to write down the ingredients in Bahasa Malaysia. If you want the English version, kindly hop to the original blog where I got this recipe from. My sincere thanks to the blog owner of My Kitchen for sharing this recipe.

Senang je nak sediakan doh nya dengan my thermomix. Yang ada stand mixer, boleh je pakai doh hook and knead away. If you don't have any of these kitchen helpers, sweat not. Uli je lah manually. No hal!

Bahan-bahan yang diperlukan ialah:

200ml air/susu (saya pakai susu Dutch Lady UHT)

220gm tepung roti (saya pakai tepung Nona)

1/4 sudu teh yis segera

1 sudu teh gula

1/2 sudu teh serbuk penaik (baking powder)

1 sudu teh garam

1 sudu besar minyak masak

Minyak untuk menggoreng, secukupnya.

Cara mengadun doh:

1. Bubuh semua dalam mangkuk dan uli lebih kurang 5 minit, kalau pakai mesin. Kalau uli dengan tangan, lebihkan lah sikit masa dalam seminit-dua.
2. Setelah di uli, taburkan tepung dalam sukatan yang agak banyak ke atas papan canai dan keluarkan doh atas papan canai. Doh ni sangat melekit dan lembut, sebab itu perlunya banyak tepung. Kalau tidak main tarik-tali lah dengan doh ye?
3. Bahagikan doh kepada dua bahagian, dan golekkan setiap bahagian tu sehingga menjadi satu gulungan dok yang panjang. Saya buat setiap gulungan tu panjangnya lebih kurang 11-12" gitu lah.
4. Tutupkan doh (saya pakai besen besar yang muat untuk tutup kedua2 batang doh) dan biarkan selama 30-45 minit.
5. Setelah cukup masa rehat, tekan-tekankan doh itu sehingga leper lebih kurang 1cm tebal, lebar dalam 3-4". Tarik-tarikkan lah doh tu sehingga agak panjang dan dapat ketebalan dan lebar yang disebutkan.
6. Setelah itu potong-potongkan doh selebar 1" setiap satu.
7. Tindankan doh berpasang-pasangan (letak air sikit bagi lekat) dan tekan tengah-tengah doh dengan chopstick/lidi basah.
8. Panaskan minyak untuk menggoreng.
9. Bila minyak dah cukup panas, angkat satu doh dengan kedua belah tangan, tarikkan doh memanjang dan terus masukkan ke dalam minyak panas.
10. Goreng sampai perang.
11. Angkat dan hidang! Sodap makan ketika masih panas.

Andaikata uols tak paham apa yang saya pok-pekkan di atas itu, sila tengok video ni. Sure paham punya!

Selamat mencuba!