For The Love Of Baking

Bake. For the love of baking.

Oh, how I miss this event! Zorra hosts the World Bread Day annually and this year I just couldn’t afford to miss it again. I haven’t been making bread for quite some time, so this is about time to roll my sleeves and dig into the flour.

The Italians have biscotti, we Indonesians have Bagelen. A twice baked bread with extreme crispiness, you’ll find yourself covered in all crumbs after you finished one. Bagelen is simply a dinner roll cut in half, spread with lots of whipped butter and powdered sugar then baked again until very crisp and the sweet butter melted to a perfect shine. The trick is after you cut the roll in half, you have to let it stale overnight. A stale bread is dryer than the fresh one, this guarantees the crispiness of the Bagelen when baked again later the second time. Yes, you’re thinking someone in the past just couldn’t let any bread go wasted, hence this bread was created. I wondered where the name Bagelen came from, so I Googled it and discovered that we have an area in Purworejo, Central Java, named Bagelen! Seriously, never heard about it before! So this nibble was originated there and naturally came the name. Parmesan for Parma, Bagelen for Bagelen. Sweet.

Now, let’s bake. Here I used basic soft bread recipe and real butter for the spread. You can use any bread recipe you fancy, or just buy one, then whip up the spread. That simple. And that good.

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Posted for NCC Banana Week
 
I really, really, really, enjoy making breads. It’s fun, it’s therapeutic, it’s satisfying. The simpler the better. This one is a very simple bread modified from very basic bread recipe, the one with only flour, water, yeast, a little sugar and salt. No eggs, no milk, no fat. You know you’re alright without all those.
 
What I like about this bread is that it is flavored with natural ingredients called the mighty banana and honey. No filling needed, the bananas turned into one whole bread boasting nice aroma and naturally sweet flavor, at the same time it adds moisture in your bread that makes you go mmm..
 
You can use any bread recipe you like. Matter of fact, I encourage you to use your favorite one instead of my simple version. Just substitute the liquid with banana puree and you’re good to go.
 

 
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Hey! You! Yes, you! Thank you! Because it’s been a year since the last World Bread Day and you’re still around! You deserve a star for loyalty and dedication to bread. Just like Zorra. Yes, Zorra is again holding the World Bread Day (update: visit the roundup here) and I excitingly wanna take part of it, because she is a wonderful person and bread is just delish to begin with. I’m not just saying this because I want to bribe her to pass this post as qualified for the event *is it so obvious?*, but because I mean it, and I think all foodbloggers must always come together to take all the world and make a new peaceful food-oriented civilization. Who’s with me???
 
Ok, enough.
 

 
I wanted to re-visit the post of Roti Gambang I made last year, because… strangely, I suddenly have this urge to promote my country. It’s weird. First of all, I never knew that I have even a slightest hint of nationalism toward my country whatsoever. Yeah, go ahead judge me! I’m just being brutally honest. I never thought I have any. Second of all, I think it’s just cool to see the words “Gambang Bread” among the list of bread names from around the world compiled by the wonderful Zorra. Hey politicians, look, we put you on the map by baking bread!
 
Enough.
 
Gambang bread is an Indonesian traditional bread, made from bread scraps. Bakeries usually have lots of leftover fresh breadcrumbs, so they turned it into a delicious bread that can add to their sales. Yea, baby, we’re a pro in turning garbage into delicious food. That’s how we survived colonialism and Krakatau. This skill of turning crap into gold has made us one of the happiest nations in the world, no matter what had happened.
 
This is a chewy, cinnamony bread bar that looks pretty in its sesame seed dress. The homemade version recipe uses ready-made breadcrumbs you usually use for coating, because we certainly do not want to bake hundreds of bread loaves and collect the scraps. It’s very easy to make and certainly will color your afternoon happy. You know, along with a cup of hot tea and a good book in hand. It’s just the simple, yet perfect, comfort bread. Comfort bread indeed.
 
Gambang Bread recipe here.
 

 
Have I re-visited Gambang Bread, now onto the actual recent baking. This Sugarless Banana Bread is one of my favorites of all the breads of all time. You think your life is miserable without sugar? Well, after baking this, think again! Hell yeah, it’s sweet! It’s sweet, and fragrant, and very banana, and contains more fiber, more complex carbohydrate, and lower cholesterol… Okay, I’ll stop talking like a health-freak, and you stop throwing things on me!
 
One word: you must try this at home.
 
Ow yea, I sell this for one hundred fifty thousand rupiahs a loaf. Expensive? Think again.
 
Happy World Bread Day, everybody. What can we do without breads really? May Allah bless the inventor.
 

 
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Song: Ain’t No Mountain High Enough - Marvin Gaye
 

 
I might not be a master in creating gourmet dessert or haute cuture cuisine, but I may humbly say that I rarely fail in baking mountain high muffins, no matter what recipe I used. I guess it’s a gift? Noooo, no, no, no, no. You can tackle any muffin recipe as long as you grasp the basic principles of muffin baking, ones I would like to share with you on this cloudy monday.
 

1. Do not be confused by different methods.
   There are two kind of methods I know: the classic method, one that tells you to pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir them just until moistened, creating lumpy batter; and the one you whip with electric mixer while hot, creating a batter similar to pancake’s, I call this Ruri’s method (’coz Ruri introduced this method to me).
   Both methods work fine. They’re just slightly different in texture. The first method creates crumbly texture, while the other one creates spongy texture. You just have to try both to decide which ones you like the best.

 



 
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I’ve been wanting to try Yorkshire Pudding for like years. I know it’s a simple quick bread, what’s so special about that? But I’m always interested on anything European. So when Zorra invited me to the WBD After Hours Party, I thought it’s a great opportunity to finally try it!
 
The British eats Yorkshire Pudding as an accompaniment to roast beef. It does suit the taste, though. It was puffy, a little bit tasted like choux pastry to me, and better served immediately while hot. It would also fill your kitchen with very nice egg biscuit smell.
 
Recipe from Tulosh’ blog. Thanks, Tulosh
 
Note:
To achieve the best puffy-spongy texture, make sure the butter and the oven are already very very hot when you pour the batter into the muffin pan.
 
Thanks for the invitation, Zorra! I had fun!
 
Techorati tags: WBD ‘06 After Hours Party, WBD ‘06

 
Isn’t it great there’s a day dedicated for bread? Zorra is hosting this event, go visit her blog for more about this day and –of course– the round up.
 
I love yeast bread. And for this special day, I decided to try an ancient recipe. So from this ancient book, I chose Buttermilk Rolls, which sounds simple but hearty. I started preparing the flour, milk, salt, then the disaster began. I was soooo sure I bought a box of instant yeast last week. But there was no yeast anywhere in my kitchen cupboard! It’s almost Maghrib time and I have to prepare for breaking (from fasting). So I told Agus, the helper, to go to the nearest grocery store after maghrib and buy a box of instant yeast. Phewh, so close.
 
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Breakfast this morning was muffin filled with dried fruits and chopped peanuts, topped with pecans, my favorite nut.
 
No recipe, ‘coz I cheated this time. I used muffin mix, thank you
 
Takes only 5 minutes to prepare and whip up, 20 minutes to bake, and voila! Perfect muffin everytime
 
Btw, I used Zimafin by Zeelandia. It’s very similar to Ruri’s muffin though. I hardly can tell the difference.
 
Good morning, everybody! It’s a brand new day after all!
 

 

 
It’s Indonesian traditional quick bread. Yes it is, and my hubby loves it so much. Got the recipe from Femina-Online, it’s veeeeery easy to make, and so much better than the ones we bought from the bread-man.

Perfect with a cup of hot plain tea.

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It’s really nice when you have a book that you can completely rely on. As for me, it’s this Bread Book by Manfred Lange and Bogasari Baking Center. It will take you to a new level of understanding about bread world. The book is big, large photos and illustrations, it is also an obligatory handbook for every student of Bogasari Baking center.

The recipes never let me down. I tried its Donut and Polo Bread, they turned out wonderful. This Roti Sobek has the soft texture I always love in bread. It looks beautiful in the pan, and when you rip-off one section from the others, it’s just fun to do

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The French has Baba Au Rum. The Austrians have Kugelhopf. We, Indonesians, have Brudel.

A classic blend between bread and cake. Is it cake? Is it bread? No need to decide. Just smell the milky yeasty fragrance that fills up your nerves with memories of ancient kitchen, when our anchestors baked it in copper bundt pan on firewoods.

This is Jane Sipasulta’s old family recipe, posted on DapurBunda back in 2004.

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