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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“Something whose form is reminiscent of a ring-shaped cake.”
(Definition by Answers.com)
 
Well, that will do.
 
So my brownie can be a donut, too, as long it is ring-shaped. Yay.
 
 
 
PennyLane’s Brownies
(Published in the book of “18 Cakes & Cookies” by NCC)
 
Ingredients:
4 eggs
400 g castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla
60 g cocoa powder
210 g plain flour
225 g vegetable oil
85 g chocolate chips
120 g any roasted nuts to your liking
 
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Gosh, it’s been too long I haven’t been posting anything here. I never stop baking –like I could do that!!–, but just was too unorganized to post, that’s all.

I received this I Love You This Much award from Eliza, and I was, …well, …touched. **don’t laugh, Liz**

I really really appreciate every single expression of love conveyed to me and feel so lucky to have received it. There are people who don’t get enough love, unable to love, so when love comes your way, embrace it and count your bless. You’re one of few luckiest people in the world.

Thank you, Liz. I never knew you before if not from this food blogging thing we do. Through time you let me get to know the kindhearted person you are. We had fun, and I just hope this will never end between us. Thank you for the award, and for the love. I love you that much, too. **again, don’t laugh, Liz**

:)

I‘ll tag one person:
Nadrah. Because I love her this much.

 
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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I made these Gingerbread Houses because Dewi Anwar encouraged me to. If not by her persistence, I would have not made them at all. Thanks, un
 
Coincidently, Sugar High Friday #26’s theme is Sugar Art. I’m not sure if this post is qualified, knowing that gingerbread house is very common in western countries. But I sent my entry anyway (hi, Danielle ).
(Update: Check out her wonderful roundup here!)
 
At first, I almost cracked from the pressure and intimidating thoughts of how hard it would be. Silly, huh? I mean, even kids can do it! Maybe it’s because I tried making it last year and it was a total failure due to the wrong cookie recipe. It crumbled to dust, it didn’t even make it to a wall. So it’s very important to use a good recipe that is not only delicious, but also firm enough to make a sturdy house.
 
Dewi suggested a recipe from Wilton, and I was soooo satisfied with the result. It’s firm, delicious, and smelled wonderful! The corn syrup’s sugary smell enhanced and locked the aroma of the spices, giving it a long lasting smell that would still be intact days after baking. It’s also important to use good quality spices as they distinguish your gingerbread house from the store-bought mass-products.
 
Enough for the rambling, now let’s build a house.
 
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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

 
I was tagged by Burcu of Almost Turkish Recipes with this meme, initiated by Angelika of The Flying Apple. Dash off to her lovely blog to find out more about it.
 
Oh, boy! I’m so terrible at entertaining, let alone constructing a menu. But I do have some favorite dishes I hope my foodblogger guests would enjoy as much as I do.
 
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Oooh, comfort food. Nothing beats the comfort of slurping a big spoonful of warm homemade cream soup in a cold windy days. Rain had began to visit Jakarta every now and then, peacefully taking its turn with the pinching hot sun. Although wet season is not really here yet, clouds are now hanging on the sky and cold wind is breezing through my window. Maybe it’s gonna rain tonight. Hopefully.
 
Flipping through my old recipe book, where I kept recipes I collected when I was 8, there were plenty of choices I could use. Traditional hot drinks like Bajigur, Angsle, Wedang Ronde, Sekoteng, would be very nice choices. But I just can’t resist the image of me gulping those creamy homemade soup and feel its smoothness caressing my tongue and its warmth swirling in my tummy afterward, leaving soft tasty broth in my lips.
 
I clipped the recipe long ago from Gadis Magazine belonged to my big sister, October 1980 edition. It adapted the dutch name: Koninginne Soep, which is basically cream soup with mushrooms and chicken chunks. I used big straw mushrooms and followed the recipe word by word, including making the broth from scratch and boil it for two hours. And oh it was so good! At first I though the mushrooms were too many and my soup began to smell like damp straw. But then the magic happened when the milk was poured. The whole soup became so soft in everything. Soft taste, soft smell, soft texture.
 
No more store-bought soup for me.
 
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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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