January 18, 2021. Cold sunny winter day. Adjaruli Khachapuri (Georgian Cheese Bread). It’s MLK day and the kids don’t have school today. So, it’s a busy day making and feeding the family more delicious stuff. We started off with our favorite Colorful and Happy Veggie …
October 8, 2020. Sunny. Fun Pouffy Balloon Popovers. I adore making these popovers. This is one of those easy-peasy recipes that is a joy to make with kids. Before the pandemic, my son and I made these pouffy baked delights during a play-date with his …
October 5, 2020. Mostly cloudy and cool. Beautiful Butterfly Braid Bread.
Jump to RecipeWhile playing around with some dough this summer, I came up with this beautiful Butterfly Braid bread on a whim! I thought it would be fun to make something creative and just free form!
When I shared pictures of the experiment with my baking group on social media it was very well received. I was surprised by the interest and excitement; many of my baker friends were asking how I made this! I decided to recreate it and take pictures showing the steps to make the braids. This post is focused on how I created this butterfly braid bread.
I use a soft, slightly sweet dough, typically used for making Easter wreath bread. The secret to this Butterfly Braid Bread is a smooth and elastic dough that is easy to braid and handle.
Without further ado, let’s get baking!
For the dough, you need these items, listed in both US and metric measurements:
1 cup (240g) heavy cream, room temperature or lukewarm plus 1 Tbs for egg wash
2½ tsp (11g) active yeast
⅓ cup (67g) granulated sugar
4 cups (580g) all purpose flour
½ tsp (3g) salt
3 large eggs plus 1 more for egg wash
2 tsp vanilla extract
I used a stand mixer to form the dough, and a large parchment lined baking pan to bake the bread.
Gather all the ingredients. Warm up heavy cream in microwave for 20 seconds. Check that temperature is between 80-90ºF (27 – 32ºC). Add sugar, yeast and stir. Set aside for 5 minutes.
When ready, pour the mixture into the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. With the mixer running at slow speed, gradually add the rest of the ingredients – flour, salt, eggs, and vanilla extract. Knead for 5 minutes until a soft dough is formed.
Remove dough and pat into a ball. Place into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let it rest for 1 to 1½ hours or until the dough has doubled in size. While waiting, line a large baking pan with parchment paper.
Tip the dough onto a clean working surface. Divide into 2 pieces. Set one piece back into the oiled bowl and cover to prevent from drying out. Roll out the dough into one long rope approximately 24 inches (60cm). Repeat with the other piece of dough.
Place one of the dough ropes into the prepared parchment lined pan and form the base of the butterfly braid. Begin by creating a rough square base in the shape of the butterfly. Create a loop on the upper left and then create another loop on the upper right. Move the rope down to the lower right, make a loop, and continue to bring the rope over to the left. Make a loop for the lower left before completing the square. You now have a base.
Continue to cover the upper left loop with the dough rope, and then string the rope back to the upper right side over and then under the corner, and bring the rope back down to the lower right corner. Complete the cycle by moving the rope back to the left lower corner. At this point, join together the second dough rope to continue your braiding. Repeat the up, across, down, across pattern until the rope runs out. Gently tuck the rope end into the bottom of the bread. Gently pinch the 4 corners to create the shape of butterfly wings. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Beat the egg with the remaining tablespoon of heavy cream to make an egg-wash. Generously brush the dough surface with the egg-wash.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Transfer to cooling rack and your beautiful bread is ready!
Just for fun: I was researching a bit about types of European Bread and found this article which I thought was informative. Never heard of some of these – Tijgerbrood, Ruisreikäleipä, etc. I was lucky enough to have eaten Hverabrauð when I was in Iceland 2 springs ago. It’s a short read => https://www.afar.com/magazine/10-european-breads-with-fascinating-stories
Dough recipe inspired by: https://platedcravings.com/easy-sweet-braided-easter-bread/
Do you love a colorful main course? Please check out my delicious easy veggies ratatouille here => How to Make Easy Colorful Veggies Ratatouille Casserole!
Do you love pretty looking bread? I do! See how I transformed a whole wheat loaf into a pretty pumpkin shaped bread here => How to make Whole Wheat Bread Pretty!
Here’s a fun way to eat rolls: crescent shaped and stuffed with cream cheese, either plain or spicy! => How to make Cream Cheese Crescent Rolls: Spicy and Plain!
October 1, 2020. Sunny and cool. Mochi Mooncakes with Creamy Custard. Today I had so much fun putting together these Mochi Mooncakes with Creamy Custard. I always wondered how difficult it would be to create such an iconic Asian traditional celebration cake. I like this …
September 24, 2020. Breakfast time. Sweet Potato Breakfast Casserole. I was looking for ideas on what to make for a hearty breakfast that doesn’t involve bacon or sausages, and that uses sweet potatoes (hubby’s favorite) and lots of colorful veggies (daughter’s requirement). I searched online …
September 20, 2020. Morning. Cheese soufflé.
Jump to RecipeI finally made Fluffy Three-Cheese Soufflé the other day! I must confess I have this irrational fear of making soufflé! After hearing all the horror stories about how after spending hours slaving over one and at the moment of truth, i.e. in the oven, the soufflé would invariably a) never rise, b) rise in a random fashion, and c) horror of horrors, just keel over and deflate when exiting the oven! As such, I have assiduously avoided this particular dish till this week.
Well, my baking group’s final Summer week challenge called for a soufflé to wrap up the season. And what’s a gal to do? By Jove, if they want a soufflé, a soufflé they will get! I’m weirdly competitive that way?! lol.
I got busy and started to research online recipes. The group didn’t specify sweet or savory. Our family had enough of a sugar infusion after my most recent Cinnamon Rolls experiment, so I decided savory. Cheese, of course was a key ingredient and for my first attempt, I thought it might be wise to stick to the well trodden path.
Here’s how I successfully put the Fluffy Three-Cheese Soufflé together. This recipe was lightly adapted from Taste of Home. Let’s bake!
⅓ cup butter cubed
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
2 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon mustard
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cups shredded Swiss cheese
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
6 large eggs, separated
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
In addition to that you will need 8 ramekins for the souffle.
Let’s start by gathering all the ingredients. In a medium sized saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. When the butter has melted, stir in flour until smooth and cook for 1 minute.
Gradually whisk in milk, mustard, and salt until well combined. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly for about 2 minutes or until it has thickened. Next, reduce the heat to medium-low and stir in the shredded cheese until melted. Transfer to a large bowl.
Now, let’s separate the eggs. Place egg whites in a medium bowl and let it rest at room temperature half an hour.
Next, in a small bowl, beat egg yolks until thick and lemon-colored, about 4 minutes.
Stir in about 1/3 cup of the hot cheese mixture. When combined, return all of the egg yolks to remaining cheese mixture, stirring constantly. Let it cool completely, about 30 minutes.
While waiting, preheat oven to 325°F. Prepare eight ungreased 8 oz. ramekins in a baking pan for the cheese soufflé.
With a clean electric mixer, beat egg whites with cream of tartar on high speed until stiff peaks form, but not dry. This should take about 4-5 minutes.
Next, gently fold egg whites into the cheese mixture with a spatula.
The cheese soufflé mixture is ready to be distributed evenly to the 8 prepared ramekins.
Add 1 inch of hot water to baking pan before popping the whole thing into the oven.
Bake the cheese soufflé in the preheated oven for about 40-45 minutes, or until tops are golden brown.
Remove from oven and serve immediately.
Your fluffy Cheese Soufflé is ready!
When I was doing researching on soufflés, I found this helpful masterclass article. Check it out if you want to learn a bit more about this technique of cooking => https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-a-souffle-8-tips-for-cooking-the-perfect-souffle-and-2-easy-souffle-methods#simple-chocolate-souffle-recip
Do you love apricots? Do you love bread? Have you tried my Apricot Pecan Bread? Check it out => Easy Apricot Bread with Pecans
Have you ever tried cooking using aluminum packets? See how I learn Jacques Pepin’s easy “en papilotte” technique and whip out delicious dinner in no time => Quick Sausage En Papillote: Awesome Recipe from Jacques Pepin
When the day is cold and overcast, I crave for warm comfort food. Here’s one of my favorite => Japanese Nikujaga: The Best Meat And Potatoes Comfort Dish
September 10, 2020. Afternoon. Baked Veggies Cheese Casserole. I experimented with this Fun Size Baked Veggies Cheese Casserole recipe this morning and it was a big success! My family (especially my son) loves the sweet petite Strawberry Craisin Oatmeal cups I whip up on busy …
I was really excited to learn how to make this 5 -Layer Pink Ombré Pavlova Cloud Cake. If you have never tasted pavlova, you are in for a treat! Imagine eating a light, crunchy, sweet cloud that simply melts in your mouth. Then stack it …
This popular and tasty Malaysian Roti Jala, literally translates to roti=bread, and jala = net. Malaysian Roti Jala is a lacy thin pancake crepe that is delicious eaten unadorned, or yummy served with stew or a savory spicy curry, especially Kari Ayam (Chicken Curry).
The other day I was craving comfort food and this immediately came to mind. Roti Jala is easy to make (hello blender!) and cooks up in a jiffy! In other words, if you know how to make pancakes, this will be a cinch.
The ingredients are pantry items – flour, eggs, milk and coconut milk. The gorgeous golden yellow color comes from turmeric powder. Simply put all ingredients into a blender and mix. The batter is then filled into a bottle and drizzled continuously onto a hot pan in circles, creating a gorgeous lacy net-like structure that is perfect to sop up all the delicious curry sauce from your plate!
The roti jala maker is a plastic condiment squeeze bottle with 3 nozzles. I bought one online and it looks like this.
You can also make your own roti jala maker with a clean dry plastic soda bottle. I like using a small (16oz) soda bottle since it’s easier to handle. Just puncture 3 little holes in the plastic soda cap, and that’s it!
P.S. It’s a good idea to check to make sure no small plastic bits are sticking to the cap before pouring in the batter.
To start, let’s gather all the ingredients to make the roti jala batter. We will be putting everything into a blender to make this simple batter.
We will need :
3 cups All Purpose Flour, sifted
2 cups Water
1 cup Coconut Milk, or regular Milk
1 Egg
1½ tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Salt
3 Tbs Coconut oil, and more for the pan
First, add all ingredients into blender. Then, secure the lid and blend well for 1 minute or until well combined.
Next, scrape down the side to make sure the flour is well incorporated into the mixture and no lumps can be seen. The batter should look like melted vanilla ice cream. Then, set aside.
Second, heat a large non stick pan using low to medium heat. Lightly oil the pan. To test if the pan is ready, put a few drops of batter into the pan. If the batter sizzles, it is ready.
Next, pour the batter into the plastic squeeze bottle/roti jala maker. Secure the cap firmly.
Gently squeeze the filled bottle to drizzle the batter in circles on the pan, in a slow and steady stream.
The roti cooks up quickly so watch the batter closely and adjust heat as necessary.
Since the roti is fairly thin, you’ll only need to cook it on one side. It is ready when the edges starts to turn lightly brown.
Then, remove promptly from the pan into a large plate, or working space.
Have a test run to get comfortable using the bottle and have a feel for the flow of the batter. Just like making crepes or pancakes, the first (and second!) piece of roti is always the cook’s test piece – to gauge how quickly the roti cooks.
Have fun creating different and unique lacy patterns!
There are really 2 popular ways to serve Malaysian Roti Jala. One is a simple fan shaped wedge, and it’ll look like this:
The roti is soft and pliable when warm. It is best to fold it into the desired presentation shape right out of the pan.
To make a fan shaped wedge, all you do is remove the cooked roti from pan to a working space. Then, quickly fold the roti in half, and fold it one more time, into a quarter. And it is done. It is that simple and straightforward.
For the pictures above, I folded the roti directly on the pan. Once you feel comfortable with the folding process, you can try folding the cooked roti directly on the pan before transferring to plate.
I personally prefer this fan shape roti jala because you can see the interesting lacy patterns. Also, I think it looks prettier on a plate, like the picture here.
The other popular shape is a log shaped style. It requires a few more steps and could look really cool when stacked and presented on a platter.
Here’s a quick step-by-step guide on how to fold into a log shape:
In conclusion, practice a few more times making this Tasty Malaysian Roti Jala and you’ll be folding them up like a pro! Have fun!
How about pairing Tasty Malaysian Roti Jala with a curry? Check out my post on how to put together a rich and flavorful lamb curry here => Jacques Pepin’s Amazing Spicy Lamb Curry with Apples and Potatoes
Have you ever tried Eggplant Parmesan, Hasselback style? This is my post on the fan shaped dish=>How to make Fan-Shaped Eggplant Parmesan. It’s a fun dish to put together.
For a fun dessert, check out this French Apple Tart => Fun French Apple Tart – Taking up Sara Moulton’s Challenge! I wrote about how I learned a new technique to slice the apples for quick assembly.
This gorgeous pull apart garlic bread pack punch with taste and presentation. Check out this post on how I put it together => Beautiful Pull-Apart Flower Petals Garlic Bread
This recipe was adapted from one of my favorite sites, Serious Eats https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/08/roti-jala-malaysian-pancake-recipe.html as well as from my good friend Saiful Alimin.
If you have never heard of Grape Clafoutis (pronounced klah-foo-TEE) then you are in for a treat. This fabulous French dessert is typically made with black cherries but is presented here with a lovely twist. This French Grape Clafoutis is absolutely scrumptious! Backstory About 8 …
