Quick Proofing Yeast Dough ,,,,,, in the Microwave!!

The other day I did some experimenting in the kitchen again while making some cinnamon rolls. I wanted to see if I could try to quicken the time spent proofing the yeast dough so that it would double in size but with less than a fraction of time then the usual hour. 


Whenever I make anything which involves using dry active yeast I know I will have to leave it in a warm place for about an hour or an hour and a half to let it raise and double it's size. In the past I've heated up the oven to about 180C for about 3 minutes and turned off the heat to enable the oven to generate enough heat just to get it warm so that I use that warmth for my proofing. Having placed the dough in an enamel mixing bowl I would use a damp towel and leave my dough in the oven for about an hour and it would double it's size. It works without a  hitch and I've always found that this method is the best for me but I wanted to see if I could some how make that time shorter. Less time proofing and the faster I could turn out whatever I was baking. 


Getting back to basics whenever I make anything with yeast is to check if the yeast is still active. If it's going to work or not is the most important thing when you make bread. Now I'm not an expert at making bread but I know if the yeast is not working out than the bread is just not going to raise and you won't get that yummy fluffy soft bread. So for starters I've always put in one teaspoon of sugar whenever I proof my yeast with warm water and I've found that it always works.


Mixing and kneading just works the dough before you leave it to rest and final proofing or final fermentation to let it raise and double it's bulk. This is the part that takes the longest and this is what I wanted to see if I could fasten the time. So my experiment takes place here: 

How to quicken the time for the yeast dough to proof?

So I proofed my yeast till it was foamy and mixed it in with the bread flour and after a good 10 minutes of kneading I was ready to proof the dough. And how did I do this .... the microwave of course! Yes, the microwave..... I know not the most traditional method of proofing but it can generate quick bursts of heat and it actually works.

How do you Microwave proof dough?

Okay this is how it works. I placed the dough in an ungreased microwave proof casserole dish (Corningware casserole in my experiment), uncovered and microwaved it for 3 minutes at low heat. Then I left it to rest for 3 minutes and microwaved it again for 3 minutes at low heat. I let it rest this time for 6-8 minutes but placed a cover over the dough..... and guess what happened it actually doubled in size! It worked and in roughly less than 20 minutes I managed to proof the yeast dough with the microwave and this would have normally taken me an hour. 

I'm not sure if this works for all types of bread but give it try and see what happens.

Pizza Time

This is a post from my other blog This side of the island.

It's been a pretty gloomy sort of day today, dark clouds cover the sky and predictable afternoon down pour of rain. It rains and it rains. No, I'm not complaining about it at all,  I actually love the rain. 

It's one of the better times of the year when the afternoons and nights are cooler and you can huddle up in bed and sleep in the cool breeze. This time of the year is a nice time to just stay at home and curl up with a good book or just lazy about in front of the tv and watch a movie. It's the closest thing to a season, apart from the all year round of summer that we have and I suppose you could call it our tropical "winter". 

So for some it's not the best time of the year, especially when it can cause flash floods and all outdoor afternoon activities are cancelled. No swimming for the kids in the afternoon or walks along the beach to watch the sunsets. It's time for the indoor stuff!

Indoor stuff.... to keep the kids busy today, I got them to make dinner. Yes, it was my night off from the dungeon in the kitchen (only kidding I love to cook) and time to put my kids to work. And so tonight Ashley and Tristan were set loose in the kitchen to make pizzas from scratch for dinner. Right from making the pizza dough, rolling it and making their version of pizza.

Rolling out the dough.... 

They both had a go at making their own pizza.... a few nibbles at the cheese by Tristan.

Pepperoni & Ham Pizzas!!! Our little food stylist was fast asleep during the pizza making!

Chocolate Custard Ice Cream

I did a little custard experimenting with my adventures in the kitchen today. Thought I'd try and make a quick ice cream with what I had on hand.... custard powder, milk, sugar and cocoa powder. All the ingredients I needed for an experimental go at making chocolate ice cream. 


Now I wasn't too sure how this would turn out so I only made a small batch, just a little over half a litre. I guess a little can go a long way if it taste good tonight. 


I've looking through some of the ice cream posts on Foodbuzz lately and I have to say that an ice cream maker is way up high on my wish list. I saw a few makers when I was in Sydney and didn't really think much about buying any, but oh now I wish I did. Can you imagine being able to whip a batch of any flavour of ice cream within an hour or so. Any flavour... vanilla, mango, banana, just mix in any fruit of the season and you have got yourself some seriously yummy ice cream. 


Well, here's my spin on my ice cream making skills ....without the ice cream maker.
... all ready for the England match tonight!

Chocolate Custard Ice Cream

570 ml full cream milk

2 1/2 tbsp custard powder

2 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder

5-6 tbsp sugar, to taste

1. Using a saucepan, combine all the ingredients and mix throughly until it is smooth. Constantly stir the custard and heat it over medium heat until the mixture has thicken. Remove from the heat and set it aside until it cools. 

2. Place the custard into a container and stir it. Put the container into the freezer and  stir it again in the next hour. Repeat this again for the next 2 hours. The constant stirring will prevent it becoming too hard. It should be ready to serve after about 3-4 hours in the freezer.

Jacob and Tristan enjoying their ice cream.

Father's Day Treat

This Father's Day I thought I'd treat hubby to his choice of dessert and so I asked him what he wanted me to make for him..... Cheesecake! Well, I had to perfect cheesecake recipe I wanted to try out and this was that special occasion for it. 

I found this Oreo and Yoghurt Baby Cheesecakes recipe posted by Denise @ Quickies On The Dinner Table. She made this delicious and oh so yummy treat for her son's 12th birthday and I've been wanting to make it ever since I saw it on Foodbuzz.

So thank you Denise for making our dessert time a special treat. We ate it all and planning on making another batch real soon.... This was Jacob's first time eating chocolate cookies and he had a real blast eating some of the remaining Oreos....Oreo crumbles and everything!

The Big Football Bite

I'm struggling to keep up with all the matches and keep in tune with my fav teams Holland, Australia and England. I think I need nourishment and plenty of it to keep my cheering lungs strong for the matches tonight. Holland vs Japan followed by  Australia vs Ghana.

It's a long night and I've planned it well with a supply of meaty Hamburgers with a choice of beef patties or chicken patties all on a crusty bun. It's got to big enough and filling for hubby and enough choices for those fussy eaters who like to a variety of patties and fillings. I made my own hamburger buns with a good crusty Italian bun recipe courtesy of What's Cookin' Italian Style Cuisine , a beef pattie, freshly cut tomato, homemade BBQ sauce and we are ready for GOALS!!!

Juicy Beef Hamburger

300 g beef mince

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, crushed and finely chopped

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp basil

1 egg

1/2 cup of fresh breadcrumbs

2 tbsp homemade BBQ (tomato sauce, worcestershire sauce, coriander, cayenne pepper, paprika)

salt and ground black pepper

plain flour for coating

Tender Chicken Hamburgers

300 g chicken thigh fillets, minced

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, crushed and finely chopped

1/2 tsp thyme

1 egg

1/2 cup of fresh breadcrumbs

2 tbsp homemade BBQ (tomato sauce, worcestershire sauce, coriander, cayenne pepper, paprika)

salt and ground black pepper

plain flour for coating

1. Using separate mixing bowls for each mixture, combine all the ingredients. Divide the mixture into quarters and shape it into balls. 

2. Roll the balls into the flour and flatten them out into patties and place them on a plate. Refrigerate the patties until they are ready to served.

3. Heat about 1-2 tbsp of oil in a sauce pan and cook the patties, alternating each side until cooked. Serve on an Italian bun or any hamburger bun with freshly cut tomato, sauted onions and a splash of BBQ sauce.

 

Teddies at the Footy

I know that you wouldn't normally find Teddies at the Footy but this World Cup they had first row seats at our place while we watched an earlier game, New Zealand vs Slovakia. I'm happy to say that both teams played well and had a draw at the game, 1-1.


As you can see my inspiration for the past few days has been the FIFA World Cup and my little Gingerbread Bears have been turned into football playing bears. I really wanted to do some icing and have them in our favourite teams; England, Australia and Holland but I thought about it again and it would have been too much work and too much of a sugar overload. 

My football playing Gingerbread Bears!!!

I've posted my Gingerbread recipe before but I've added a bit of mixed spice to this one.

Gingerbread

125 g butter, soften

1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1 egg yolk

2 1/2 cup plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

4 tsp ground ginger

1/2 cup golden syrup

1/2 tsp mixed spice

Preheat oven to 180C.

1. Beat the butter & sugar until light and creamy.

2. Add egg yolk and beat until combined.

3 Sift the dry ingredients and stir into the butter mixture with the golden syrup.

4. Mix into a light dough and knead gently onto a lightly floured surface.

5. To shape the gingerbread you can either roll the dough in between 2 sheets of baking paper or hand shape it. The dough should be roughly 3 - 5mm in thickness for biscuit cutting. For a quicker way to shape the gingerbread I would smooth out a handful into my palm and use a flour biscuit cutter to cut out the shape rather than on the floured surface. The dough can be very sticky so be careful when using the rolled out method and remember the flour the biscuit cutter before you cut. You can use a variety of biscuit cutter so to make it interesting.

6. Bake for 10-12mins  or until lightly brown. The gingerbread should be soft and chewy.

The Wholemeal Wonderbread

So we are now on day 3 of the World Cup and I'm still recovering from that devastating game that Australia played. It wasn't very good but I still have hope for them...... but today is a new day and I'm happy to say that our household are also big supporters of the Netherlands. Why I hear you ask? Well my younger brother was born in Holland so we have been given our support to the Oranje.

And I'm happy to report that they played well and Holland won against Denmark. Yeah!!! We won!!!!

Well, getting back to World Cup snacks I've came across this really great wholemeal bread mix. I didn't make it from scratch myself but it's from this place that's known for it's bread so I hope that  counts... good bread. 

The kids love it, especially Tristan who doesn't really like any kind of "brown" bread but he was won over by the bread and he actually asked me to make it again. Now that totally won me over. 

So anyway I'm just going to share with you my little secret.... It was so easy to make. Just add dry yeast and cold water. I didn't even have to proof the yeast!! It's also very cheap and in terms of buying a 600+g loaf of bread, which would cost you about RM3.40 to RM5.60, this whole pack made two large 600+g loaves. 

Although it was easy to make, it hasn't taken away my interest in making bread from scratch. I'll still be experimenting with my bread making ..... successes and flops.