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Hot Cross Buns

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Easter is just around the corner, so what is more traditional than hot cross buns? This recipe uses tangzhong method, therefore the buns stay fresh, soft for many days.

This is my first time making hot cross buns…I used the same method that I have been using for a while…water roux…and added some orange zest to give a citrus kick…therefore these simple hot cross buns recipe has an Asian twist…it is glazed with simple sugar to give a shiny look.

This is a very simple recipe if you are planning to make hot cross buns…and it is great for anytime of the year as well. In spite to the superstition, hot cross buns baked on Good Friday would never go moldy, and could be kept as charms from one year to the next…I would not keep them for this long…but for a few days, I can assure you that the buns will stay fresh, soft and cotton like as out of the oven.

Again, this recipe is very flexible…you can color, I mean flavor the buns according to your palate…by adding dry fruits, spices… anything you desire…make it simple or majestic…

Ingredients:

Water roux or Tangzhong

  • 75 ml of water
  • 15 g of bread flour

Dough

  • 1 ½ cups bread flour
  • ½ cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoon orange zest
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon dry milk
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1½ teaspoon dry yeast
  • 1 large egg and complete to 100 ml with water

Crosses

  • ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  • ¼ cup water

Sugar Glaze

  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon water

Method:

Water roux

Mix flour and water in a small saucepan. Cook over low to medium heat, stirring constantly until it reaches 65C/149F. The mix will turn to a paste and you can see the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat, cover with a saran wrap film over the paste and leave until lukewarm.

Dough

Add the water roux and all the dough ingredients, except the butter to the bread machine bucket according to the manufacture’s guideline. Let the dough cycle run to the end.

Add the butter and run the dough cycle again, make sure that the dough reaches a thin membrane. The dough will be slightly sticky.

Remove from the dough from the bread machine bucket and let the dough rise for approximately 2 hours in a cover container or until it double its initial volume.

Punch down the dough and split into two, then each half into 2 until 16 little balls. Place the little rolls into a bread pan and let is rise until the size has double.

For the cross, mix the all-purpose flour with the water and pipe onto each bun. First horizontally across the buns and then vertically.

Bake in a preheated oven for approximately 20 to 25 minutes at 350F. In the meantime prepare the sugar glaze by adding the sugar to the boiling water, mix until all the sugar is dissolved.

Brush the sugar glaze on the bun as soon you take the buns out of the oven.

Serve warm or cold. The buns will be still very soft up to 3 days.

If you enjoy this simple recipe of Asian inspired hot cross buns, you might want to check on Asian Pumpkin Chia Sandwich Bread or Chocolate Layered Buns.

Did you know that originally hot cross buns were traditionally eaten on Good Friday? The yeast dough were made with lots of spices, such as cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves. According to superstition

Thank you for stopping by Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!



Cotton Soft Cheesecake

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This is a recipe for a very light cheesecake, it is inspired by Japanese cuisine. The cheesecake is literally a cake, there is no crust like the conventional cheesecake. The cake is served with a layer of orange glaze.

 

I have made this kind of cottony cheesecake before, this time I decided to make it small, really small…and topped with orange glaze.

If you have not had a chance to try this cheesecake, I urge you to give this try…it is very different from the “classic” cheesecake…the texture of this cheesecake is very light, so light that almost melt in your mouth…there is no crust, therefore is it a “cake”.

This recipe was adapted from Table for 2…I mainly adjusted the ratio.

 

Ingredients:

  • 45 g sugar
  • 2 eggs separated
  • Pinch of cream of tartar
  • Pinch salt
  • 10 g butter
  • 84 g cream cheese
  • 60 ml of milk
  • 20 g cake flour
  • 16 g corn starch
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Orange Glaze

  • 2 tablespoon marmalade
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • ½ tablespoon water

Method:

Preheat oven at 315F. Prepare the pan by covering with parchment paper.

In a small bowl sift together the cake flour and corn starch.

Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler. Cool the mixture. Fold in the egg yolks. Add the pinch of salt and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and mix gently until well blended.

Whisk egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add in the sugar and whisk until soft peaks form.

Fold in approximately 1/3 of the egg white into the cream cheese mixture and mix gently with a spatula just all the ingredients are incorporated. Add the remaining of the egg white to the cream cheese mixture and again, fold in very gently and not deflating the egg white. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.  Place the cake pan in a tray and add hot water.

Bake the cheesecake in a water bath for approximately 45 to 50 minute or until set and golden brown.

Turn off the oven and leave the oven door slightly open for 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven and gently remove the cheesecake from the pan.  Let it cool completely before adding the glaze.

Orange Glaze

Place all the ingredients in a small pan.  Heat over medium by mixing constantly until the marmalade is all dissolved.  Remove from the heat and let it cool.

Pass the glaze through a mesh.

Cover the cheesecake with the orange glaze. Refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving.

Serve cold.

If you enjoy this Asian inspired cheesecake, you might want to take a look at Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cake or Yogurt Cake with Blueberry recipes.

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!



Almond Paste Bread and Cheese Bread

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This is an Asian inspired recipe bread using tangzhong method. I made two kind of bread with the same dough…one loaf is filled with almond paste and the other has layers of cheese in it.

Okay, here is where my first log of almond paste went…into a bread!

This is a very simple way to have two very different bread using one dough. The dough that I used in this recipe is pretty much what I have been using for cinnamon rolls, sweet rolls, even sandwich loaf. I did use my little Zojirushi bread machine, which was perfect for this recipe.

This bread is very light, soft, cottony, and stays fresh for many many days. The almond bread was delicious, with the gooey almond paste in it…although it came up sweeter than I expected (too greedy when adding almond paste), but was good with a cup of tea or coffee. Now, the cheese bread was something more expected, and my husband kept slicing it every time when going to the kitchen…no need to tell you that the bread did not last long.

Ingredients:

Water roux or Tangzhong

75 ml of water
15 g of bread flour

Dough

2 cups bread flour
¾ teaspoon salt
1½ tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon dry milk
1½ tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon dry yeast
1 large egg and complete to 100 ml with water

Almond Paste

1 egg yolk lightly beaten with ½ tablespoon water

Sliced almond for garnish

Grated Gruyère Cheese for filling

Method:

Water roux

Mix flour and water in a small saucepan. Cook over low to medium heat, stirring constantly until it reaches 65oC/149oF. The mix will turn to a paste and you can see the bottom of the pan.
Remove from heat, cover with a saran wrap film over the paste and leave until lukewarm.

Dough

Add the water roux and all the dough ingredients to the bread machine bucket according to the manufacture’s guideline.

I let the dough cycle run for 2 times, making sure that the dough reaches a thin membrane. The dough will be slightly sticky.

Let is rise for approximately 2 hours in a cover container or until it double its initial volume.

Punch down the dough and divide into 2 parts.

Cut the almond paste into 6 equal portions, reserve.

While working with the first part cover the second half with a cloth. Divide the ball into 6 little balls, and shape into a carrot like. Do the same with the almond paste. Flat both the dough and the almond paste with a roller and place the almond past on the dough, rolling from the wider side to the narrow side. Repeat the same procedure with the other 5 portions of dough.

Make small cuts, cover and let it rise until double its original size.

With the other half portion of the dough, divide into 3 balls. Flat with a roller and filled with grated cheese, roll it like a Swiss roll, flat again and spread more grated cheese. Do the same with the remaining 2 portions of dough.

Cover and let it double in size.

Preheat oven at 350F

When ready to bake…

Almond Paste Bread: Brush with the egg yolk washand top with almond. Bake for about 6 to 7 minutes.
Cheese Bread: Brush with egg yolk wash and sprinkle cheese. Bake for approximately 10 to 12 minutes.

If you enjoy this recipe, you might want to check on Sweet Milk Bread with Raisin or Matcha Swirl Sandwich Bread recipes.

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!



Bacon Chive Cheese Balls

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This is another version of the Brazilian cheese balls or “pão de queijo”, and of course has an Asian twist since glutinous flour is added to the tapioca flour in order to give a softer and slightly chewy texture.

Since the combination of green onion or chives and bacon is so good in biscuits, I thought why not adding these into the original cheese balls…so this new version of pão de queijo was born.

These little treats are great because they can be made in advance and kept frozen until you are ready to serve. Just pop these at a preheated oven and they are ready in no time.

I have these (all kind of versions) in my freezer year around and some of our friends always request when they come to see us…and sometimes I have the feeling that they are visiting us so they can have some of these cheese balls.

I made 3 kinds, plain, bacon and chive with bacon…so it is up to you…but I must admit that after tasting the chives with bacon, the plain ones tasted pretty plain.

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups tapioca flour
  • 1 cup glutinous flour
  • 6 eggs
  • 2/3 cup vegetable oil (sunflower, canola or corn)
  • 1 ½ cups water
  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt
  • 1 cup parmesan cheese
  • 12 oz munster cheese (can be substituted by parmesan cheese)

 

  • 1 small bunch chive chopped finely and sauté in ½ tablespoon oil until golden and fragrant. I used the ones that I have grown in pots, you can do that too, please check Growing Green Onions.
  • 1/3 cup of bacon, finely chopped and fried until crispy. Drain the fat and patch the bacon bits in paper towel to remove the excess of fat. I used the homemade Bacon Bits.

 

Method:

In a small pan add water, oil and salt, bring to boil. In the mixer bowl add all the flours and carefully add boiling water to the mixture. Mix gently until most of the liquid is absorbed by the flour mix.

Add one egg and some of the cheese, mix until the egg is incorporated to the dough, add another egg and more cheese. Repeat until all the egg and cheese are added to the dough.

At this point you can make the plain cheese balls by using two spoons, dip the spoons in the water before scooping the dough. Use one spoon to scoop and the other one to push the dough on cookie sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. To the 2/3 remaining dough add the bacon, mix well and scoop making into small balls. To the half remaining dough add the chives, mix and add scoop into small balls. Leave 1 ½ inch of space between the balls. When scooping the dough there is no need to make them a perfect, once in the oven the little balls will puff up and trust me they all will be rounded.

Bake the cheese balls in a preheated oven at 350F for 20 to 25 minutes.

To freeze the cheese balls…

Place the cheese balls in the freezer and let them freeze for approximately 3 hours or until totally frozen. Remove from the cookie sheet and store in an airtight container or freezer plastic bags.

When ready to bake, pop these cheese balls in a 350F preheated oven for approximately 30 to 35 minutes. For a crispy cheese balls, just increase the temperature to 400F for 5 more minutes. Serve hot or warm.

If you enjoy this recipe you might want to try the Brazilian version or the simple Asian version.

 

Did you know that pão de queijo in Brazil is a very popular for breakfast or as snack? As a matter of fact there is a very popular store called “Casa de Pão de Queijo” which translates into House of Cheese Bread, specializing with this cheese bread.

Thanks for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful day!



Chicken, Corn and Tofu Soup

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This is an Asian inspired chicken soup with corn and small chunks of tofu. The soup is hearty and sooth you during cold days. It sure makes a great meal.

I have been battling a very bad flu/cold for almost two weeks…after lots of soup and tea, I feel much better although still not totally recovered. So this week I am sharing a soup recipe.

This is a very simple and easy recipe…and it is great at anytime of the year, especially now that is cold, not that it is so cold here in California as compared to some places in US…

This soup is a meal by itself…each and every spoonful of this soup you will taste the soft tofu, tender chicken with the crunchy corn, all together in a flavorful chicken broth and a touch of the sesame oil…yum!

You can call this corn chowder with an Asian touch…

By the way, for all my friends out there celebrating the passage of the lunar year…HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

Ingredients:

  • 1 chicken bread cut into small cubes
  • ½ tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 ½ tablespoon corn starch
  • 1 can of corn
  • 2 cans chicken broth of your choice
  • 1 small block of tofu, cut into small cubes
  • 1 carrot cut into small cubes
  • Salt and white pepper to taste
  • 1 egg slightly beaten
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • Cilantro to garnish

Method:

Is a small bowl, place the chicken in cube, salt, pepper, olive oil and half of the corn starch. Mix until all the chicken is coated with the corn starch. Set aside.

In a pan place the chicken broth and let it boil. Add the carrots, then the chicken. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, add the corn (drained) and the tofu. Let it boil. In the meantime dissolve the remaining cornstarch in ¼ cup water.

Once the soup starts to boil, gently and with constant stirring add the cornstarch diluted in water. This with slightly thicken the soup. Let it boil.

Add the beaten egg and mix gently after 30 seconds.

Drizzle sesame oil, remove from the heat.

Garnish with fresh cilantro and white pepper.

Serve hot.

I hope you enjoy this simple recipe…in case you want a more hearty soup you might want to check on Black Eyed Pea Soup recipe.

 

Did you know that tofu was originated in China? Tofu has high content of protein and low calorie and fat, therefore considered as healthy food.

Have a wonderful week and thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes!



Pumpkin Sandwich Bread

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This is an Asian inspired recipe for sandwich bread using pumpkin puree. The bread is soft, pillowy and stays moist for many days because of the tangzhong method.

Thank you all for the nice words of support on my first post as “Color Your Recipes”, you all have been very kind and encouraging…thank you!

Before I share this post, as you might know Philippines was hit by a big typhoon Haiyan, and Tina from Pinay Cooking Corner is having a online bake sale to support the victims, please hop to her site for the details.

Now to the post…I could not let this month flyaway without posting something with pumpkin…so here I am…

This sandwich bread is so soft and cottony…delicious for any kind of sandwich, and because I did not add any spices the pumpkin puree just gives color to the bread which believe me it is very attractive…I don’t know if it is proper English to call a bread “attractive”… it is so good that I already baked 4 loaves of this bread.

I use the water roux method to accomplish the Asian bread texture, because the pumpkin puree contains water I just added less water to the dough. You want the dough to be slightly sticky, so the “cottony” texture can be achieved. When baking sandwich bread, In this recipe I used my 1 lb Zojirushi bread machine and Pullman loaf pan.

Before I go on with the recipe, the new issue to Desserts Magazine is out…and again it is free for a while…so if you are interested, check on the link, you might find something for your sweet tooth before membership is required in order to browse the magazine.

Ingredients:

Water Roux or Tangzhong

  • 15 g bread flour
  • 75 g water

Main dough

  • 150 g pumpkin puree
  • 2½ cup bread flour
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 2 tablespoon dry milk
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon dry yeast
  • ¼ cup water
  • 1½ tablespoon butter

Method:

Water roux

In a small pan, mix all the ingredients of water roux, place in a low heat and stir constantly until the temperature reach 65C (150F), or if you do not have a thermometer, cook until ripples form. Set aside to cool by covering with a plastic film.

Dough

In the bread machine bucket, add the water roux, and all the other ingredients, except for the butter.

Turn the machine to knead mode until it forms soft dough, slightly sticky. Add more water of flour as needed since the content of water will vary between different pumpkin puree. Add the butter and let it knead until the butter incorporates to the dough.

Remove the dough and place in a bowl by covering with a plastic film.

Let both dough proof until the dough double to its original size.

Knock back the dough and split into 4 balls and let it rest for 5 minutes on the counter.

Flatten the ball and shape like a Swiss roll, flat again and roll it again like a Swiss roll.

Place the Swiss rolls into the Pullman pan and let it rise until almost 90% to reach the rim of the pan.

Cover the pan and bake in a preheated oven of 350F for approximately 25 minutes.

Remove from the oven and flip the bread into a wire rack to cool.

Store the bread in an airtight container.

I hope you enjoy this pumpkin sandwich bread. For more Asian inspired bread recipes like this check on Chia Milk Sandwich Bread or Matcha Swirl Sandwich Bread.

Did you know that pumpkin is recommended by dieticians for patients in need to control cholesterol? Pumpkin contains high levels of dietary fiber, anti-oxidants, minerals and vitamins. Moreover, pumpkin contains high levels of vitamin A, a very powerful anti-oxidant.

Have a great week and thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes!



Scallion and Ginger Sauce

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This is a very simple recipe for an Asian inspired condiment. Only two ingredients…green onion or scallion and ginger…great on almost everything.

I am so excited to start this new blog…the transition to have all the posts from Simple Recipes [dot] Me transferred to Color Your Recipes was smoother than I thought, thanks to the people behind me.

Thank you all for the comforting and encouraging words, they sure mean a lot to me. Although I cannot see you I hear you and carry your words in my heart…I never thought I would feel so close to all my virtual friends.

To celebrate the new start, I have for you a very simple and tasty condiment that I use quite often and always glad to have it handy.

Green onion (or scallion) and ginger is a very popular combination for many Asian dishes. This sauce is used over steamed chicken or fish…most of the time the finely shredded green onion and ginger are place of top of the already steamed chicken or fish and you get the sizzling after pouring hot oil on it. More ingredients can be added, like soy sauce, cooking wine or chili.

On the other hand, many Chinese restaurants serve steamed or boiled organic chicken with this sauce on the side, and I must tell…this sauce is so good that I see everyone topping the chicken with this simple sauce, almost forgetting that the main component of the dish is the chicken…my son, adds this sauce to everything…even on the battered fried fish sticks…

As I mention above, I love to have this sauce in the fridge and I top on steamed fish, vegetables, omelet…practically everywhere that needs a kick in flavor.

Okay, after a big introduction to this simple recipe for green onion and ginger sauce here is the recipe. Please keep in mind that you can add more or less of each ingredients according to your palate…I invite you to Color Your Recipe!

Oh! One more thing, I grow my own green onion, so if you care for growing your own, you can find some tips at Simple Ideas, Growing Green Onion and even in water.

Finally to the recipe…

Ingredients:

  • 1 bunch green onion, washed and dried
  • Approximately 1 ½ oz ginger peeled
  • ½ cup canola oil or any tasteless vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon salt

Method:

Cut the green onion into approximately 1 inch and place in the food processor (I used the small one) and pulse until finely chopped. Set aside in a heat proof bowl.

Cut the ginger into small chunks and chop on the food processor until finely chopped, place to the same bowl as the chopped green onion. Add the salt and mix.

In a small pan heat the canola oil until almost smoking.

Place the bowl with the mix of green onion and ginger on a heat safe place and carefully pour the almost smoking oil onto it. BE CAREFUL* since it will be a lot of splash and sizzling. Once the sizzling “calms” down, mix gently and let it cool.

(*) I usually place the bowl in the kitchen sink before adding the hot oil so the mess is contained and easily cleaned.

Pour into an airtight container and store in the fridge. Use as you like.

I hope you give this Asian inspired simple recipe a try.

Did you know that ginger is widely used to treat nausea and vomiting? Moreover, ginger not only is used as food and drink flavoring, as well as ingredients in antacid, laxative and anti-gas medication.

Have a great week and thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes!



Tofu Stick in Soy Sauce

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I hope you all in the  US are having a great and safe Labor Day weekend…

Yes, this is something that you might have never seen…and I must admit that it does not look that pretty. As a matter of fact, when my husband saw these sticks for the first time he was like “what the heck are these?”

These sticks are made by drying tofu skin. Yes, what I mean by tofu skin is by boiling soy milk, a film forms (like in milk) and these films are collected and dried under various shapes (sheets or sticks). Since it is in its dried form, it can be stored  longer, much longer than the fresh ones available in the refrigerator section of most Asian grocery stores.

Okay, you are right, the name “tofu skin” does not give justice to this product because tofu should be like cheese, coagulated from soy milk, and tofu skin is made with only soy milk without any coagulant…anyway, it is not up to me to challenge its name.

The tofu skin is very popular in Asian dishes especially for vegetarians as they can mimic any kind of meat (chicken or fish) although I always question, why do vegetarians want to mimic chicken or fish? Moreover, these tofu skin absorb all kinds of flavor, therefore they can be very tasty and the texture after cooking is kind of chewy and at the same time tender…it is hard to explain, so if you have a chance try it!

Ingredients:

I package of dry tofu stick

2 tablespoons canola oil or light olive oil
1 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1½ tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons finely chopped ginger
1 pinch ground all spice
Chili oil to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Soak the tofu stick in lots of water for 8 hours or overnight to rehydrate the sticks. Change the water a couple of times.

Drain the tofu sticks and cut into 1 ½ inch length and dry using paper towel.

Heat the oil on a frying pan and brown both sides of the tofu sticks (which are not sticks anymore). Set aside.

In a medium pot, place the water, soy sauce, sugar, ginger and all spice and boil. Add the browned tofu stick. Add salt and pepper and chili oil to your taste. Let it boil and lower the temperature to simmer for approximately 10 minute.

Remove from the heat. Serve warm or cold.

I hope you enjoy this simple Asian inspired recipe…check on Pork and Dry Tofu  and Pan Fried Tofu recipes.

 

Did you know that tofu skin has high content of fiber and is cholesterol free? Because it is a product of soybean, tofu skin is high in protein and can be a substitute for gluten fee pasta.

Thank you for stopping by Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week !



Bok Choy with Shiitake Mushrooms

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Have you noticed the change in my blog’s header? I have  wanted to update the header for a while but did not have the time nor the inspiration to do it until recently, when a friend asked for my blog address. I said in a very comfortable manner “simplerecipes[dot]me”. She then asked me right away “what? simplerecipes[dot]me[dot]com?”. I then had to explain that instead of [dot]com it is [dot]me . She was very confused…she is not the first person and will not be the last person that will give me a puzzled or suspicious look after I say [dot]me. So here I am, with a new header look…I hope I did not confuse you…even more…actually nothing has changed, my domain name is still the same but just now it is stated in the header. By the way, last week I had the chance to change the Simple Recipes Facebook cover as well.

Okay, enough of blog’s header explanation…today I am sharing with you a dish that I often make. It is a very simple recipe to enhance any green vegetable. In this one I use bok choy…it is great as a side dish and pairs very well with fish or chicken. It is so simple and yet very tasty. The addition of shiitake mushrooms gives the bok choy a real novel taste.

Ingredients:

1 bunch of bok chop cut into approximately 1½ in
3 garlic cloves chopped
5 to 6 dry shiitake mushroom
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Soak the shiitake mushrooms in one cup of warm water until soft. Squeeze the water out of the mushrooms and slice them. Reserve the water.

In a wok or fry pan heat the olive oil and add the garlic stir and add the mushrooms. Sauté until the mushroom are slightly golden. Add the bok choy and stir fry until the leaves are tilted. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Remove from the heat and serve hot or warm.

I hope you enjoy this simple recipe of Bok Choy with Shiitake Mushroom.

Did you know that shiitake mushrooms are native to East Asia? Moreover, these mushrooms have been used medicinally by the Chinese and it can be found nowdays throughout the supermarkets across the World. Shiitake mushrooms are a very good source of vitamins B2, B5 and B6 and they are low in calories.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes [Dot] Me and have a great week!