As I mentioned in a fairly recent post, my kitchen experiments are gonna involve yeast on a regular basis. I plan to bake at least one yeast bread per week, probably more if I cannot stop myself.

Drawing from what I already had in the kitchen, I came up with my own version of wholewheat bread. Though the end result was slightly more dense than my usual breads and did not keep for long, I was quite pleased with its overall texture. To be served along with your favourite cheese spread.

100% WHOLEWHEAT BREAD

 

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups wholewheat flour

2 tbs sugar

10g instant yeast

1 tsp salt

2 tbs plain yogurt

1 cup water

3 tbs butter

 

Method:

  • In the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with dough hook, combine together flour, sugar and salt.
  • Heat water, butter and yogurt until butter melts.
  • Remove from heat and cool till lukewarm to touch.

 

  • Pour liquid mixture into flour and knead well for 10 -12 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic.
  • Cover bowl with clingwrap and leave to prove in a warm place for about 1 hour. Dough should double in volume.

 

  • After 1st proving, punch down dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out into a 12″x7″ rectangle.
  • Starting from the shorter end, roll up tightly as you would for a jelly roll. Pinch seams and ends to seal.

 

  • Place seam side down in a lightly greased 7″x3″ loaf pan.
  • Cover loaf with a damp towel and leave to rise for another 1 hour. After it has doubled in size, brush with milk glaze.

 

  • Bake at 375 oF for 30-35 minutes or until bottom of loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

These deliciously rich cupcakes remind me of one of my favourite childhood treats – Nutella. My dad used to get me those 20g square packages that came with a small wooden spatula. I now buy jars of the chocolatey hazelnut spread for breakfast and also as a baking ingredient esp for making Nutella cupcakes.

Taken from BakingBites, this recipe is one I usually keep for emergencies like unexpected guests or baking on the eve of my night shifts. To give you an idea about how easy it is to make these Nutella cupcakes, I made them under 1/2 hour to bring to work on a Tuesday morning without being late for my 9 am ward round. That includes the rapidfire photo shoot you get to see below!

NUTELLA CUPCAKES

 

Ingredients:

125 g unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup white granulated sugar

3 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

200 g all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

Nutella spread

Method:

  • Preheat oven to 325 oF. Line muffin pan with paper liners.
  • Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, for 2 minutes.
  • Add eggs, then add vanilla. Stir in flour, salt and baking powder until uniformly distributed throughout batter.

 

  • Using a tablespoon, fill each muffin cup with 1 tbs batter.
  • Add 1 tsp of Nutella and cover with another tbs of batter.
  • Top each cupcake with 1 heaping teaspoon of Nutella and use a toothpick to create pretty swirls.

 

  • Bake for 20 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
  • Remove to a wire rack to cool completely before serving.
  • You wish to replace Nutella with your favourite chocolate or some other filling like peanut butter. Makes 12 cupcakes.

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