Pain au lait: Delicious mini milk bread!

I just got this book about 2 months ago (actually my friend, who went to Japan, she saw this book and told me that it's great!, So when I ordered the book from Amazon jp. I really believe her, haha).

I want to try some recipe from this book, because the book is full of interesting recipe (and a lot of photos too). And after browsing through the book a lot of time, until I think that why don't try the easy and simple one, because if the simple one is great, the more complicate will be worth trying.
I choose the "Pain au lait" or milk bread, the soft bread that can be served as a breakfast with a cup of coffee.
If you like to make bread from the Japanese recipe you will notice that most of them will be softer than other recipe (from the western).
This bread is very soft and lightly sweet, from the kind of flour (I adapt the recipe by mixing the all purpose flour with the bread flour) and a lot of butter. All purpose flour has less gluten than the bread flour, so then bread will be soft and not chewy. You can serve this bread plain (as it has a sweet taste), or turn it in to   sweet sandwich (I think about split it in half and brush with chocolate ganache).
 As always, making bread is not hard but it take time and attention but the result that you will get is worth trying. The feeling when kneading the dough, and it transforms from the sticky mass into the soft and silky dough is like a magic, all the time that you wait for the dough to rise and getting bigger like a balloon, all of them will make your day full of delight and wander ^ ^.
And the most magical moment is when the freshly baked bread comes out of the oven and fill your home with delicious aroma, well, I think you should start baking bread now!

Pain au lait

Makes 10 small bread

230g ............................... All purpose flour
60g ................................. Bread flour
125g ................................ Whole milk
4g .................................... Instant yeast
50g ................................. Egg (about 1)
38g ................................. Sugar
5g ................................... Salt
63g ................................. Unsalted butter
........................................ Pearl sugar, for sprinkle at the top 

Mix the milk and yeast together, set aside.

Put the bread flour and sugar in a bowl, whisk to combine, add the salt whisk again. Pour the liquids mixture and egg into the bowl.

Use large spoon (or pastry scraper) to mix everything together, and knead briefly to bring all the ingredients together.

Take the dough out of the bowl and knead.

Knead by using the heel of your hands to compress and push the dough away from you, then fold it back over itself (see the picture here). Until all the dough are moisten.

Add the soften butter, give the dough a little turn and repeat. Put the weight of your body into the motion and get into a rhythm. Keep folding over and compressing the dough.

Knead for 10-15 minutes or until the dough is soft, pliable, smooth and slightly shiny, almost satiny, the dough will stop sticking to your hand.

Cover the bowl with a tea towel  or cover with the plastic bag and leave the dough to prove for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 210°C

Gently press down the dough and cut the dough into 10 pieces, let the dough rest for 15 minutes. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a circle, about 8 cm. Fold the dough and roll into a small batard.

Cover the shaped dough; let rise until almost doubled in volume, about 30-40 minutes. Before baking, brush the dough with egg wash and use a scissor to cut the top of the dough. Sprinkle the pearl sugar on top.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the bread is golden.

Pain au lait: Delicious mini milk bread!

For delicious afternoon tea: Chocolate Cranberry Scone

This month I'm the host for the special project, the Queen of the afternoon tea (or coffee if you like!). The members of the Chicken Farm Bakers' project held this challenge and welcome everyone to participate (sorry for the people who can't read Thai because I write in Thai language, if you want to read you can see it here).

But because I'm the host for this challenge, I can't participate -*- (even I really want to, but  it's not fair if I held the challenge and get the prize, haha). So, I post it in my blog instead, hehe, and for the afternoon tea, I choose Scone.


Whenever people talk about having the afternoon tea party, scone is one of the stable, well it's the traditional.
I like to make scone, for many reasons, first it's delicious, second it's easy and third it's quick. So every times that I lack of something to eat (I have to have a bread or something like that in the fridge to feed myself in the lazy afternoon haha), scone always be my first answer.

There are many recipes for the scone, some made from butter and milk, but I like the one made from cream because it's easier to make and richer in taste. When making the scone from cream, you don't have to worried about the coldness butter and mixing it is a breeze.

I choose to make chocolate and cranberry scone, the scone that pack with a lot of taste, tang from the cranberry and the sweet and bitterness from the chocolate. So, it's great to eat it plain with a lot of salted butter, ^ ^. Serve the scone warm then split it half and place a dollop of soft butter, take a bite and sip a tea, well another great time for your relaxation.

Chocolate Cranberry Scone

12 pieces

325g ................................. All purpose flour
1tbsp + 1tsp ................... Baking powder
75g ................................... Sugar
¼ tsp .............................. Salt
½ tsp .............................. Grated zest of orange
55g .................................. Dried cranberry, chopped
55g .................................. Semisweet chocolate, chopped
1½c ................................. Whipping cream
.......................................... coarse sanding sugar for sprinkle the top


1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick silicone baking mat; set aside.

 2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, salt, and zest. Stir in the cranberry and chocolate chunks. 

3. Add 1¼ cups off the cream and fold with a rubber scraper or your hands until the cream has been completely absorbed. Then continue adding cream by the tablespoon just until the dough comes together and there are no dry patches. 

4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. With lightly floured hands, gently press and pat out the dough into a 1-inch·thick square.

5. Using a 2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out as many rounds as possible, dipping the cutter into flour after each cut. Reroll the scraps and continue to cut out the dough. Place the cut scones about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Refrigerate the scones until firm, about I hour. 

Preheat the oven to 375°F

6. Lightly brush the top of scones with the remaining  ¼cup cream and sprinkle generously with the sanding sugar. Bake, rotating the baking sheet halfway through, until the tops are golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Use a metal spatula to transfer to a wire rack to cool.

For delicious afternoon tea: Chocolate Cranberry Scone

April 2010 Daring Bakers Challenge #39: Steamed Pudding, Spotted Dick

I feel like the time fly, it's a Daring Bakers' challenge again. It's seen like a long time since I start being a Daring Bakers member. I remember the time that I feel so exciting to receive the email telling me that I'm the one who can be called "Daring bakers".

I follow this group for a long time, and love to see all the 
creation that every members make it, and I wish I can be one of them. Until the October 2007, I started making my blog and I got enough courage to write the application to be one of the Daring Bakers members.
And I must say that I try not to skip the challenge, even sometime, I'm not feeling well. Like this month, I have a little health problem (not much but it makes me want to sleep rather than baking, haha). So after reading the 6 page longs challenge, I felt " I couldn't make it". Because I didn't get anything, like the element of the challenge or what the host want us to do. -* - 
Anyway, just 2 day before, I felt so much better and I try to read again and, and now I know that this challenge is not that hard or long as the paragraph, it's easy and interesting.


 The required elements of this challenge are:
1) to make a suet pudding using real suet or as close a replacement as you can manage or is acceptable to you; and
2) to cook it by steaming or if you want to be even more traditional by boiling tied up in a cloth.


So, both of the elements are not hard to follow ^ ^. For the Pudding, I choose to make the traditional English pudding with a name "Spotted Dick", the sweet steam pudding with current and peel but I can't find suet (it's not easy to find it in Thailand) so I use the Crisco instead of the suet. And luckily I have a steamer so I can use it, and this way is easier than  traditional way by boiling tied up in a cloth. And this month I still keep on the challenge like I want to, haha.
I don't know what kind of breadcrumb is the right one, but I think the fresh one will be a lot better, as it give the pudding a moisture and the taste is better. I serve this pudding warm with a lot of vanilla sauce, and all I can say is "It's delicious!"

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet.

Steamed Pudding, Spotted Dick

Makes 1 litre/ 2pint pudding 

Type 2 puddings – Steamed Suet Pudding, sponge type.
(100 grams/4 ounces) All-purpose flour
(1/4 teaspoon) salt
(1.5 teaspoons) Baking powder
(100 grams/4 ounces) breadcrumbs (dailydelicious note: use fresh one)
(75 grams/3 ounces) Caster sugar
(75g/3oz) currants 
(25g/1 oz) mixed chopped peel
(75 grams/ 3 ounces) Shredded suet or suet substitute (i.e., Vegetable Suet, Crisco, Lard)
(1) large egg
(6 to 8 tablespoons) Cold milk

Vanilla sauce to serve

1. Sift flour, salt and baking powder into bowl.
2. Add breadcrumbs,currants, mixed chopped peel sugar and suet.
3. Mix to a soft batter with beaten egg and milk

4. Turn into a buttered 1 litre/ 2pint pudding basin  (I use small pudding tin)and cover securely with buttered greaseproof paper or aluminum foil.

5. Steam steadily for 2.5-3 hours (for the small one steam for 1.5 hours).

6. Turn out onto warm plate, Serve with sweet sauce to taste such as custard, caramel or a sweetened fruit sauce.

April 2010 Daring Bakers Challenge #39: 

Steamed Pudding, Spotted Dick