♥Light♥Chocolate♥Muffin♥steamed♥EggFree♥ButterFree

Egg-free butter-free chocolate muffins.

No milk added.

Slightly different ingredients.

The 2nd one is better. Almost like a sponge cake?!

♦ The 1st batch

♦ Belgium chocolate muffin mix:  100g

(Paul Holywood*; it has no butter & no egg:
only very little dairy in the chocolate part of the muffin mix.)
♦ yeast ................ . 10g
♦ demerara sugar.. 5g
   mixed those two in warm water.

♦ chia seeds.......... 5g soaked with water.
Total water added: a bit more than flour.
(reason: chia seeds like water)
I used a glass cover saucepan to do a bigger one in a bowl.
Due to the size of container, it came out like pudding more.


I decided to added more yeasts:
Reason:
 after reading online reviews of the product.
 And it is Winter.

♥The 2nd batch

I improved the recipe.
And put into 3 glass "ramekins"
♥ muffin mix.... 100g

♥ yeast ............... 10g
♥ damarere sugar.. 5g
♥ warm water.
♥ 1/5 of a banana.

(same muffin mix: Paul Holywood Begium muffin mix)

Total water added similar to flour.
Steamed over a saucepan in a bamboo steamer with cover/lid.

2nd batch:

1st batch:

The good thing about the 1st batch was :
 glass lid allows observation/monitoring of the rising.

In these two attempts, I

♠ did not use any cup cake cases.
Reason:
during previous use, the colour run off and migrated to the steamer.

♠ did not buy milk.

♠ do not like rice products which might present in some vegan egg replacement.

♣ I am avoiding man-made resin / plastic / silicon / PVC, etc.

💜💗 Being environmental conscious & health conscious, 
I am willing to eat with a spoon.

🛈 The muffin mix product description has this:

No added colours. No preservatives. Suitable for vegetarians. 

[ Wheat Flour (with added Calcium, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin),
Sugar,
Chocolate Powder made with Belgian Chocolate (13%)
(Cocoa Mass, Skimmed Milk Powder, Sugar, Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin), Flavouring), Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder, Raising Agents (Disodium Diphosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate) ]

Disclaimer:
* At the time of making, eating & writing,
I  am not related to and not receiving any benefit from the manufacturers or retailers or wholesalers.

Baking experiment cookie 2: non-diary organic cookie with cinamon vanilla ginger

Baking experiment 2 with cookies kit.

Continue to use the 2nd half of the cookie kit from Scratch & Grain Baking but with a small variation.

I replaced dairy butter with coconut butter & coconut oil.

I used less flour, less sugar.

Smaller free-ranged happy egg. 

Egg whrisked with sugar, add sieved flour.

Melted coconut butter, vanilla, 

baking powder, then add flour.

Mix the two.

Added a hint of cinnamon powder 8 ginger powder. 

Dusted with sugar crystals.

....I did not use parchment "paper" or baking "paper", so as to avoid synthetic resin chemicals or alike. 

I only greased the glass tray with raw organic coconut oil.

The first time I took it out, it was not quite done. Maybe because I only put it near the oven door. 

I put it back nearer to the fire.

Again on top rack.

Nice scent fill the whole house.

It is more like 

a crossover between cookie and maccaron. Ha !

baking experiment cookie 1

This is just a note📝 to jot down my learning process.
This was the first attempt with cookies, using half of a cookie kit.

I saw a lovely cookie kit
from Portland, Oregon, USA,
which use organic ingredients.
All ingredients are packed in
 individual well-labeled transparent bags.

User only needs to add egg & butter.
Straight forward. Easy.

But since it is my first attempt,
I did not want to eat a full load of stuff myself.
I went by half.

 However, I didn't measure but go by proximity.
 So, I used a little more egg & butter than needed.

The result is imaginable, softer than cookie.
The thin parts are like cookies.
The thicker parts are like... soft cookies.

No proper cookie tray.
I use a glass tray.

No baking sheet or parchment paper.
I notice that many have synthetic materials.
I just oiled the tray well.

 It was meant to be a quick experiment.
I did not use or do the icing part.
I just sprinkle those naturally coloured sugar crystals on top.

I use a fork to add perforation.

Break them apart along the dotted line before cooling.
 

I learnt 2 lessons:

1.  when the batch is small,
   the exact quantity of ingredients is important.
   
2. where  the tray is placed inside an oven matters.
   Not just upper, middle or lower rack,
   but also nearer the source of heat,
   nearer to the door, or
   in between.
   
   Temperature affect baking time;
    and both affects
   the colour & texture.
   
3.  Using coconut butter makes the cookies coconut cookies. 

Okay.
Wisdom increased.
o(^.^)o

Baking7 GlutenFree Banana Cake

I like banana & cake.
My sister insisted me to try the recipe she found in pots & pans website.

I am making a smaller batch. So, I reduce some of the ingredients.
For some, I use alternatives. I did not follow the original video*.
(recipe below)

Soaked the flax seeds with hemp milk.
Crushed some mixed nuts.
Melted the butter and added in the sugar.
Whisk the eggs.
Meshed the banana. Then mixed.
Sieved in the flour & sodium bicarbonate.
Sour cream, vanilla extract, salt.
(if you use yeast, add salt later in the process)
(here, doesn't matter)

I use half the flour & sugar. Still so much!
I need two baking containers.
My first time trying a ciruclar stoneware bowl.
Well, it is just a relatively low temperature this time.

 Actually I checked from time tot time.
After 20 minutes the whole house
is already full of lovely smell.
The cake has grown in size.

The colour is partly because of the sugar
and partly because I start with slightly higher temperature.

The bottom view of them...
Some websites recommend cooling some type of cakes upside-down.
I will try, though it doesn't matter for this cake.

 I have made with a higher proportion of butter & extra hemp milk.
The rectangular one come out like this.

I stored the other half in sealed bag in fridge.
Still moist the next day.

I eat the round one the day after (middle slice)
Just stored in kitchen in a stoneware pot.

Recipe of my gluten free sour cream banana cake/bread

Ingredients	P&P original	Some I use less & some I use alternative
Butter, melted	0.5 cup	Coconut Butter 4 tbsp aprox.
Sugar	1 cup	Demerara Sugar 8 tbsp
Egg *	2	2 medium/small, whisked well.
Flour, sieved	1.5 cup	13 tbsp Gluten free flour, sieved
Baking soda	1 tsp	1 tsp
Banana, ripe	2	2
Sour cream	0.5 cup	8 tbsp
Vanilla extract	1 tsp	1 tsp
Nuts (chopped/crushed)	0.5 cup Walnut	0.2 cup mixed nuts & 2 tbsp of flax seeds soaked with 3 tbsp of hemp milk
Salt	0.5 tsp	0.5 tsp
Mixing	Mix all with electric mixer	Mix with folk & spoon manually; in separate bowls, in particular sequence.
Oven	Preheated. 375F bake for 60 minutes	Preheated. Gas Mark 6 for 10 min, Gas Mark 5 for 30 minutes, Gas Mark 4 for 20 minutes, Turn off. Leave it there for 10 minutes. So the top is a bit  dark. Next time I shall just use Gas Mark 5.

I googled the conversions of
measurements & temperature/settings.
Not pasting here.
But basically...
1 cup =16 table spoons.
I use half = 8 tbsp .

1.5 cup = 24 tbsp
0.75 cup = 12-13 tbsp.

tbsp = table spoon
tsp   = tea spoon.

I mixed butter & sugar,
added meshed banana,
Then, I kept mixing while i added:
the seived flours, baking power, nuts,
sour cream, salt....

After baking, cool off on metal rack.

The rectangular one,
I ate half on the day, and half the next day.
The circular one,
I ate half the next day and hlaf on the day after.
 
Why I use gluten-free flour?
-- try it for yourself to reduce or cut wheat & gluten  :)

Why I use coconut butter?
-- reduce the use of animal products
and dislike artificial synthetic butter.

Why I use demerara sugar?
-- two friends who studied biology & chemistry,
a translation PhD, a doctor... at least 4 persons told me not to eat white sugar.
Brown sugar is also 95 % white sugar bathed in molass solution.
Demerara sugar is less refined. Not the top range but good enough here.
Try get the organic raw sugar whenever you can.
I also have coconut sugar at home, but that is not sweet enough for this recipe.

Why not yeast?
-- I could have. There are other recipes with yeast.
Yeast need a very warm temperature and time to work the magic.
I want a faster process for this bread/cake.
 
Eggs?
-- I rarely buy any eggs for many seasons.
Ideally the best eggs should come from hens a family raised in backyard with organic feed, and provide good welfare and environment for hens to roam about. No medicine, hormones or anti-biotics. No injections of vaccines.
Sorry this time they are no available.
I could only get Happy Egg's good welfare free-range eggs this time.


Sour Cream?
-- Thick & creamy indulgence.
I think there are also non-dairy sour cream
available on www or make your own.

*IMHO: though I am not a good chef, I know that
good chef should know the special combinations,
reasons & sequence of adding ingredients.
Whether it is seasoning, baking,
or other type of cooking.
The sequence/order of doing things make a difference. )

Bread Baking experiment 6

Rye Bread with Hemp milk, mixed seeds, mixed fruits.

Mixed : yeast, sugar, water,
Mixed : the two types of flour & hemp milk





To let the yeast work better with the flour first,
I added other at different time.

Mixed and put in the baking tray/container.
I try to keep my fingers clean.
I use spoons & forks.
No kneading.

I added some little holes with fork in the middle.
and two spoons of water on top.

Pre - heat oven.
Gas mark 6. For 30 - 40 minutes.

Ingredients:

Rye flour... 10 heaped soup spoons.
Bread mix : (Mixed frain, mixed seeds) 5 heaped soup spoons.

Hemp milk 18 level soup spoons

Yeast  1 level soup spoons
Coconut sugar 1 soup spoons
Filtered Water 2 soup spoons

later add :
Salt.............. 0.5 teaspoon.
e.v. olive oil... 1 level soup spoons

mixed seeds ...........3 soup spoons,
mixed dried fruits...  a handful.

waited for 40 minutes

one pound rectangular oven tray for break/cake, ceramics.
 
preheated oven
put the tray on top rack near door.
gas mark 6.

baked 30 minutes.
stay inside oven for 10 minutes.

Good for vegan & vegetarian.
 

Bread baking experiment 5

To help the yeast work,
I placed the bowl of dough over some hot water...
(tower + kettle)

Mixed grain mixed seed bread mix ... 5 heaped table spoons.

Gluten-free flour ...5 heaped table spoons.

Soy milk ...10 table spoons.


quick yeast   ...   1 tea-spoon.
coconut sugar ... 1 table-spoon.

Egg... 0

Salt...0 *

mixed seeds.... 2 table spoons.

mixed dried fruits... 3 round heaped table spoons

warm water ...10 table spoons.

Wait for 30 minutes.

Extra virgin olive oil... 1 teaspoons.

Mix.

Put in oiled baking tray over a tower over a kettle of hot water.

Wait for another 15 minutes.

Fluffy this time.   o(^.^)o 
Reason:
I used better sequence/procedures & temperature

Preheat oven.
Baked with Gas mark 6 for 45 minutes.
Upper rack nearer to the door.
Left it inside oven for 10 more minutes.
I was doing something else.

The crust is a bit too dry and hard.

Next time I shall reduce the baking time.

 

I searched www for the function of salt for baking bread.

- Taste.

- crust colour.

- Preserve.

- Tighten the texture of the gluten structure.

- Slow down yeast action.

Adding salt during different stages of preparation affect results.
Amount of salt is usually no more than 2% of toal flour weight.
 
Because this time I used a lot of dried mixed fruit
and I ate the bread the same day,
There is no great need for salt in this recipe.

Bread baking experiment 4

Naughty: I ate my bread with thick layer of  crunchy peanut butter.

This time I tried mixing different types of flour.

- Rye flour.
- FreeFrom wheat-free flour.
- Mixed-grains mixed-seeds bread mix.

so, low wheat content.

Yeast.
Coconut sugar.
Pinch of rock salt.

egg...  1, small.

Extra virgin olive oil.
 
Waited 40 minutes. 

Oven high heat 10 minutes.
Medium high 10 minutes.
High heat 1 minute.
Left in oven 10 minutes.



The crust is dry.

But the inside is moist.

Bread baking experiment 3

Mixed grains mixed seeds flours.
Rye flours.
 
Yeast 1 tsp.
 Sugar 1/2 tsp.
 Salt 1/2 tsp.
 Olive oil 1 tsp.
 Water.

Honeyed orange peel.
Mixed fruit muesli.

Waited 40 minutes. Oven high heat 20 minutes & kept there 10 minutes.

Bread baking experiment 2

Try baking again on Wednesday.  This is the result.

bread baking test 2 result. Top view + side view of inside texture.

This time I mixed two types of flour from two different bags.

• Stone-grounded organic flour X 7 Tbsp.
• multi-grain mixed seeds bread mix x 5 Tbsp.

water x 10 Tbsp.
yeast x 0.8 tsp.
sugar x 1 tsp.(brown sugar & coconut sugar)
oil x 1 tsp

waited 40 minutes. still not raising much.

 Anyway, I put it in pre-heated oven, high.
 19 minutes. Switch off, left it inside for 10 minutes.

Next time, I shall add a bit more yeast.
I will try to avoid hard dry crust 
by adjusting temperature & time.

other adventure - lazy baking??

Today I try baking! 

This is one small piece of the batch.

 
Does it look ok?
I used mixed grain mixed seeds bread mix.

  

I chose a special bread mix. It has

wheat flour,  

malt flour (wheat & barley),
rye flour,
chickpea flour,

malt wheat 9%,
oat flakes 5%,
pearl barley flakes0.5%,

golden linseeds 2.5%,
brown linseeds 1%,
poppy seeds 1%,
sunflower seeds 0.5%,

sugar, dextrose,
salt,

yeast,

minimal chemicals: (emulsifier E472e, ascorbic acid) 

Suitable for vegetarian. 

Add some water and mixed.

I added a little extra tiny bits of 

yeast, a tiny sprinkle of sugar.  

Waited for 5 minutes.

knead a little & wait for  5 minutes.

Original recipe suggested  bread-mix-water ratio for hand baking as

500 g : 300 ml. Let it rise for 30 minutes. Bake for 30 minutes.

Since the volume is small,
I reduce them. 

Covered and waited for 40 minutes.

Though it didn't raise much, I still put it into oven.

Baked for 15 minutes. Left in oven for 5 minutes. 

Tested with a fork. Not sticky.

The 1st time I tried baking,
I was in junior secondary school.
Then ....when I was in my university years,
I tried mini custard tarts.

So, today ... kind of an experiment.
Small batch only.

Ingredients used:

10 heaped-full soup spoons of the bread mix.

15 soup spoons of water. 

(oil I used for the ceramic container: coconut oil & sesame oil)

p.s. I serve it with sticky balsamic vinegar.

I didn't use my hands to knead, just spoons.

  

( This bread mix can be used in baking machine

- different flour: water ratios are giving on the package,
90 minutes.)