A chef's capsule wardrobe for the summer heat

 A kitchen is a hot place in most circumstances. Summer is the time when that heat can break a person, so when I was faced with a requirement to dress myself for it I harked back to when I lived in the tropics and worked in no AC for hours on end.

I usually only do one or two items, like these...

self-drafted original raglan v-neck, based on a hoodie pattern, with pocket and snaps instead of the usual can-fall-off-into-the-mixture buttons.

Muna&Broad Schulthorpe pants in chambray and catstooth print -- added a drawstring and raised the pockets

(sadly, both of which I can't use for this), but this time I've gone in with a new sense of maximizing the me-madeness of it all. So far: 

pattern from above, with a collar added

Merchant&Mills Heroine jeans in 10 oz denim

5oo4 pants (a T&t for me) in black cotton knit, with a patch pocket

hacked Apostrophe Patterns for both: V-neck raglan (drafted the collar, adjusted for overlap front, vented/split hem, 3/4 sleeves, added chest pocket) and khaki stretch joggers

another version of the Apostrophe-hacked pattern, and the jeans; tried embroidery on the right this time so it doesn't get obscured when I put pens in the pocket.

All the tops are cotton-polyester broadcloth, the black one is stretch while the 3 white ones are not. Closing out the summer capsule: a few bras for under the white tops, and black versions of the Apostrophe pattern now that I know I like it.

In between writing this and posting it, I've fallen back on another tried-and-true option for "dress code" that I can move in, which is yoga or athletic pants in the regulation khaki or black. They never seem to have pockets though, so when I cut off the hems (short people know) those cut-off parts become a patch pocket.

On the other side of the seasons meantime, I have hacked a few worn-out pairs of leggings/cotton lycra lounge pants (wear and tear due to thigh rub is real!) into a second layer to warm my calves that aren't covered by my knee-length coat. 

This year, summer work sewing will probably cover some knit pants, but more of my small amount of crafting time will likely be replacing cold-weather clothes that my daughter will take from my closet to bring with her to college... 

Achievement unlocked -- Sourdough Hongkong-style charsiu (and other fillings) bao

Classic charsiu bao

As a maker/baker, i will readily admit that frozen bao and dimsum are staples of our family's Asian market grocery cart for easily-prepared, fuss-free eating for all four in our household. 

Recently though, I decided to deep-dive into making our own freezer stash of Hongkong-style steamed bao -- slightly sweet dough, that signature popped-open top, a size that went easily into heavy snack/small meal. I knew the regular yeasted doughs would produce a good siopao with a smooth surface, but i fixated on that flower-like peekaboo, a cushiony, not-too-bready texture, and of course a well-flavored filling of charsiu pork. Using my sourdough starter, of course.

peekaboo filling is peeking a little too much!

The rabbit hole of what makes the ideal bao bun led me to Souped-up Recipe's Mandy Fu. Some of the ingredients she calls for are specialized, and definitely lean toward the alkaline -- lye water and ammonium carbonate, as well as baking powder. Why? Because the acidity of the fermented starter combines with these to produce a light, cottony texture that has no rise time and should be shaped and steamed immediately. I did this, hunting down baker's ammonia, and the yellow-labelled lye water that weren't available at my regular Asian market -- when I asked the owners, they said nobody used it anymore except big bakeries. 

If bao are the only thing you ever make with a pre-ferment, by all means use Ms. Fu's yeast-based 3-day starter -- it is a build that gives you the exact amount you need for a batch. On the other hand, if you have a starter that is alive and well, a few feeds will get it to the point where it is perfect for this use. 

Most steamed bao doughs use cake flour -- it gives a biscuity, less chewy quality to the end result, and is responsible for the steaming opening up the top because the dough is shaped but not too glutenous.  I wanted something that had some chew, as well as enough structure to hold in the saucy filling. 

It's still a work in progress, but this is by far the closest I have gotten to my own personal charsiu bao goal. It makes 24, because this is to stock the freezer!

Chicken meatball bao

Sourdough build: 

200 g mature sourdough starter

60 g all-purpose flour (bleached ok)

40 g fine rice flour

60 g water

Repeat the same 60% feed every 8-12 hours twice more without discarding any, so that you have approximately 680 g. pre-ferment. This will feel in between a stiff starter and a liquid one, because of the extra starch and 60% hydration. Let rise after the last feed until it doubles, about 6 hours to up to overnight.

Have 24 3x3 paper squares or standard cupcake liners ready, and water for steamer baskets heating.

640 g starter

266 g sugar

40 g shortening or lard

16 drops lye water

Mix until smooth, either with the dough hook or by hand.

1 tsp baker's ammonia

300 g all-purpose flour

60 g fine rice flour (360 g cake flour if you prefer, see above)

2 tbsp baking powder

Knead smooth, then divide into 50 g pieces. Keep covered. Dust the surface with rice flour and roll a piece into a circle. Thin out the edges with a rolling pin, so that the circle is about 4 1/2" wide (12 cm).  

Center 30 g filling* and pinch the top closed into quarters. Try to keep the filling centered and the top not too thick. Place on the prepared paper. 

Repeat to fill a steamer (but don't crowd them -- leave room for the buns to fluff), then place above the rolling-boil water.  If your steamer is bamboo, enough water vapor will escape that your buns will have the needed moisture; but if your steamer cover is metal or glass, secure a kitchen towel around it to absorb extra water so it doesn't drip back down onto the buns and cause spots or sogginess. Steam for 16-18 minutes, tightly covered. 

Remove from the water, but allow to cool for 10 minutes before uncovering so the buns don't collapse. Do the same for all the pieces, setting them onto a rack to cool out of the baskets.

Once the buns are all cooked and cooled, place them in a single layer in a gallon freezer bag and freeze flat. When they are frozen solid, you can stack the bao to conserve space and minimize air in the bag. 

*filling possibilities: charsiu pork or chicken in a gingery, oyster/hoisin cornstarch-thickened sauce (pork/chicken asado); ground turkey or chicken or shrimp meatball with Chinese chives, lap cheong or yun chang sausage and hard-boiled eggs, either quartered or quail ("bola bola"); cornstarch-thickened custard.

Me Very Made Asian May

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month is the same month as MeMadeMay, and a pretty relaxed one this year for me. So Yay for a lot of new makes featuring Asian pattern designers!

 I'll be the first to say that I have multiple agenda when choosing a pattern -- cost, ease of fitting (including size inclusivity, and shorten lines because 5'2"), the potential for variations, whether i can use fabric I already have. All of these have led me away from buying patterns from brands found in IRL stores (in sewist lingo, the Big 4) and toward independent designers who deal mostly in PDF patterns. 

(all links go to the pattern pages.)

Friday Pattern Company Sport Shorts for daughter

Friday Pattern Company Sport Shorts for me

Glory Allan cargo pants (into shorts) for daughter

Muna&Broad Sculthorpe pants  colorblocked into chef pants -- featuring catstooth

Glory Allan cargo pants (into shorts) for son

Itch to Stitch Uvita top in Women of Star Wars print

Glory Allan reversible bucket hat

More Asian pattern designers and where to find them:

@handmademillenial -- Instagram

@gwenstella.made -- Instagram

wonderfulsews.com

Jess Dang -- YouTube 

Ora Lin -- Ko-Fi.com

Staystitch Pattern Company -- Etsy

LiEr -- ikatbag.com and Etsy

knitting patterns:  jessiemaed designs

bags: QTing, MikoCraft -- YouTube

This list, by geographical area: https://asiansewistcollective.com/api-shops/

Finally back into the spotlight -- a procrastinator's tale

 

Lately, layer cakes have been the order of the day. Admittedly there are so many recipes out there, but sometimes there arises a unique challenge that makes me nerd out and put earnest effort into reinventing the wheel. 

It may be a red velvet cake with a better crumb, it may be a white cake with lightness but body to support sprinkles, it may be a yellow cake with the texture of chocolate cake. 

This is not one of those; instead, the formula for this cake sat on the back burner for almost 15 years after I developed it. I wanted a butter cake with forward nut flavor, moist crumb, and a feathery texture -- most of what I encountered were serviceable yellow cakes with a smattering of nuts, or thin sponges that were layered with rich filling, or dense financiers that negated any icing, or short crumbly slabs that were more cookie than cake. The goal was to be able to use any nut flour or pulverized nut to make a fillable, frostable layer cake -- a tall one that could be filled into a 5 or 6 -inch high tier, with the fine nut pieces evenly suspended and not sunk to the bottom. Marching in time with this idea was using a nut butter, or turning praline paste into a cake -- more on that to come.

I used a version of this as my own wedding cake -- a cashew praline cake filled with blueberry five-spice compote and frosted with white chocolate ganache buerre. It was good but not great, a little on the rich and heavy side. I kept tinkering with the balance of ground nuts and fats with various nut products and pastes, with particular attention to mild cashews and elusively-flavored pistachios making up a larger percentage of the dry ingredients than i had seen in others.

A version rolled out at another teaching gig later, a 2-layer 10" cake with hazelnuts and almonds, filled with apricot jam, and frosted with semisweet ganache buerre praline. It was a good cake but not a long lasting gig. Along the way, my two kids were diagnosed with virulent nut allergies, so this cake template stayed shut away from my home kitchen. The next jobs i had didn't need layer cakes, or had no opportunities for tinkering, or or or.

Not speaking of the Years that Were, I thought about remaking a tier of our wedding cake for our 20-year anniversary this past September, but again, not in the house. I rediscovered some old teaching materials from that time recently and vowed to resurrect this gem. The cake trend landscape was changing too, with small diameters stacked high instead of larger 2-layer cakes. New chances, new flavors, as well as a retinkered finishing.

Yes, it is more fall-flavored than spring, but there is still time ... isn't there always?

Caramel Apple Walnut Cake

Walnut layer cake  – 3 8” layers

242 g ground walnuts

420 g all purpose flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

280 g unsalted butter, softened

420 g sugar

220 g eggs

345 g buttermilk or plain low-fat yogurt (not Greek)

Combine dry ingredients. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat until emulsified; scrape down well. Alternately add dry ingredients in 3 parts with buttermilk or yogurt in 2 parts, scraping down between each addition. Fold through with a spatula. Divide evenly into 3 pans. Bake at 325 until cakes spring back. Cool 15 minutes, then unpan onto a rack to cool completely.

Apple filling

Peel, core and dice 5 golden delicious or honeycrisp apples. Add 90 g sugar and a pinch of salt, tossing to draw out moisture. (optional: add 1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped. Or use vanilla sugar.)

Melt 56 g butter in sauteuse or skillet. Add apple dice and coat with butter. Cook, covered over low heat, until juices release. Mix together 25 g cornstarch, 1 tsp cinnamon and 45 g sugar; stir evenly into apples. Cook until thickened. Add 1 tsp lemon juice. Allow to cool.

Caramel buttercream

488 g unsalted butter, cold

450 g granulated sugar + 25 ml corn syrup

210 g cream

12 g sea salt

Cut butter into 1” cubes and place in freezer while making caramel.

Over high heat in tall saucepan, make a dark caramel with the sugar and corn syrup.

Whisk in cream off heat (it will spatter and rise a lot in the pan, be careful.) Return to heat, stirring until smooth.

Add 60 g of the frozen butter cubes to hot caramel, stir in, transfer to mixer bowl. Cool to just warm -- approx 120F-140F. Add salt and remaining butter cubes. Emulsify with whip on low speed first to avoid splashing, then whip until aerated and creamy, scraping often. The caramel base will want to stick to the bottom of the bowl and the butter will want to clump inside the whip, but as the emulsion forms, scrape the caramel up into the cooler butter. Finish with paddle on medium speed for maximum smoothness -- it will take awhile, passing through a curdled phase before smoothing out when there is enough air.

Trim cakes level if necessary. Place one layer on a cake circle and apply a thin coat of the buttercream and a dam around the edge. Fill in with the cooled apples. Repeat, placing last layer bottom side up. Frost with buttercream on sides and top and garnish with caramelized walnut halves, dried candied apple peels and sea salt.

the leav(en)ing of the known... sourdoughnuts!

 Sourdough has a rep for being the no-nonsense, savory, earth-attuned kind of bake-craft. Doughnuts are the opposite of that -- fried, usually pretty sweet from being sugar-tossed or glazed and/or filled, with endless permutations of dress-up. There is the cronut, a hybrid of the flaky layers and oil-cooking, but even that  has the frippery of lamination.

Given that I put starter in everything, is it any wonder that Sacchi would eventually find her way into doughnut dough? I consider this my last goodbye to a workplace that has seen me through some pretty cool, and some pretty rough, times, including many a doughnut station.

Why has it taken me this long to put up a post about these doughnuts I've been making for years? I really don't know. 

 

Raised doughnuts are fried yeast dough; in theory, one can toss any kind of bread dough into boiling oil and out will come some semblance of satisfactory vehicle for glaze and filling. But good doughnuts are sweet dough, not too tough and lean like baguette dough, and not too high in fat, eggs or sugar that they disintegrate into the hot oil or sponge it up into soggy greasy sadness.

So what you need is a dough with enough structure to hold its shape as it rises, but soft enough so that the hot oil can cook the mass through in the time that it takes to brown the outside. Tender, flavorful but not too overwhelmingly bready, and with good handling so you can shape, rise and cook without panic.

(Cake doughnuts are another thing entirely. More thoughts on those another time, since of course. That other staple, fried choux/ French crullers, is again a different situation to talk about.)

Sure, you can fry brioche... but one doesn't need to go through the process of a sponge and careful gradual incorporation of butter if you're going to fry it, really. And brioche lacks the wherewithal to stand the manipulation that doughnuts must undergo. Best to leave brioche as little rolls or loaves that never see the fryer, and instead make a simpler dough which uses well-aged natural leavening to boost lightness and dexterity as well as flavor.

It's good to have all the ingredients on the cool side of room temp, as the mixing of the hook warms them up to the ideal fermenting zone.

Sourdoughnuts -- makes approximately 30, depending on size

225 g active starter

3 eggs

45 g sugar

7 g dry yeast, mixed with 15 g water

300 g bread flour

7 g sea salt

95 g butter, cubed 

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the starter, eggs, sugar and dissolved yeast. Mix with a hook until the yolks are evenly dispersed.

Add the flour and salt and mix for 6 minutes on low speed. Look for the dough to be dry at first, then get sticky as the flour hydrates. 

Add the butter cubes and mix another 2 minutes, then 5 minutes on medium speed. The dough should be smooth and elastic, and stick to itself more than the bowl. If it doesn't, add a bit more flour and mix until it does.

Turn the dough into a greased square or rectangular container that can contain double its volume. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in the fridge 30 minutes; it should be puffy and cold all the way through.

Pick up the top two corners of the dough and press them to the middle; turn the container around and repeat for the other two corners. Deflate the whole mass and fold it in half, still in the container. Cover, refrigerate again and let rise another 20-30 minutes, until it has doubled.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. 

Roll about 1/2 inch (1.5 cm) thick to cut with doughnut cutters -- 2.5 inch (6 cm) diameter outside, 3/4 inch (2 cm) inside. 

Alternatively, divide into 25-30 g pieces and round into seamless balls for filled doughnuts. 

As they are cut/shaped, space the doughnuts with enough room to rise on a nonstick mat- or greased paper-lined pan.

They can either rise at room temperature (depending on the dough temperature, it should take 15 -20 minutes), or refrigerated up to two days. For longer storage, freeze immediately (up to 2 weeks) then let rise and defrost at room temp.

Heat 2-3 inches (5-7.5 cm) of oil to 350F (180C) in a wide deep pot. Once the doughnuts are light to the touch, carefully place them 3 or 4 at a time in the pot, turning immediately so the whole surface of each has contact with the oil. This helps to keep the doughnuts round by stopping the surface from drying and causing uneven rising. Push them under the surface of the oil occasionally to cook the insides and prevent a white ring around the middle.

As they turn golden, drain the doughnuts on paper towels and keep them warm in a turned-off oven as you fry the rest.

While they are warm, roll the doughnuts in cinnamon sugar or granulated sugar. To fill them, poke a hole in the worse-looking side with a 1/4 inch (6 mm) plain piping tip while they are warm and the insides are not yet set. Let them cool before filling with jam or pastry cream.

For icing or glazing, let the doughnuts cool completely.

Chocolate doughnut glaze:

300 g confectioner's sugar

50 g unsweetened cocoa

40 g milk

2.5 g salt

200 g semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, melted and warm

Stir all together until smooth. Add boiling water to get a coating texture; if too thin, let cool. Dip doughnuts after filling.

The New Normal, I guess?

The Year that Was blew massive holes in my logic that I just needed more downtime so that I'd have a blog that was full of content! With thoughtful pictures and videos! and insights into topics that I had up my sleeve!

But I felt weird and small posting about baking and sewing and crafting when people were out there fighting for their own lives and those of others. Then fighting for their rights and others'. Then celebrating the wins and toughing out the losses in both of those fights and the other ones, big and little, that we never seem to really win -- or lose -- with finality.

So it wasn't just downtime that I needed, but perspective on what I could do with this blog, because in that year so many other blogs mushroomed up and suddenly everyone was an expert clothing and bag sewist, sourdough parent, intrepid kitchen gardener, etc., etc., etc.

After a time, I went back to work -- here and there, building skills, opening up new knowledge and generally being out of the house after a frenzy of unblogged -- but still documented-on-social-media -- mask-making, bread-baking, gluten-free/allergy-friendly learning, windowsill herb-growing, drafting and sewing clothes and bags, PVC-pipe creations and other crafting rabbit-holes. 

Which brings us to today, the 10th month of the year after The Year. Poor neglected blog, to which my last post was late 2019. We're not going back to what we were before, because before is what got us into the mess. Instead, the mission is not so much "back" to normal as "forward" to a new one. 

So what do I have for you? So much and yet so little. 

Have some pictures!!!

Asian desserts

gluten-free Asian desserts spread

s'more mini doughnuts

steampunk mini hat

gluten-free sugar cookies

gluten-free quinoa loaves

beet bread

Rosti poutine

mini bites -- hazelnut brownie, raspberry pate de fruit, lemon madeleine, mini plum cheesecake, fruit tart, oatmeal cookie

kawaii macaron

cheddar bacon biscuits

6- vegetable braid -- carrot, tomato, beet, spinach, purple potato, potato

AC bucket hat

vertical messenger bag

Drop me a line on what you want to see, hmm? Don't know what to post so just going to throw these pix up and see what sticks.

Back to basics: Revel (Oatmeal Fudge) Bars

Revel Bars and I go way back. The original was on a recipe card from Toll House i think, and ever since i was 10 or 12 i have been making them; there was a time that pans of these were flying out the door by the dozen as holiday orders. High school and college friends made these one of my signatures, and the aroma of them baking gives me flashbacks to the 80's and 90's. (Scrunchies are back with a vengeance, so there! May we never see the high teased bangs again though.)

This recipe has survived the food-snobbery of side-eyeing anything using canned milk, and has been improved by using good chocolate and a judicious amount of salt. Quick-cooking oats create the best texture; old-fashioned or steel-cut hydrate differently and don't make a satisfying layer.
For this post I decided to go full flashback and make them as I first did, with a hand mixer and countertop toaster/oven. Obviously a "serious" mixer makes quicker, handier work of the oatmeal base, but they taste the same regardless.

Revel Bars -- 1 10x15 pan
1 stick/8 oz/228 g butter or   margarine (one case where there's   no marked difference), divided       into 7 oz (200 g) and 1 oz (28 g)
2 cups/14 oz/400 g brown sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups/11 oz/ 325 g all-purpose flour
3 cups/9 oz/260 g. quick-cooking oats (oatmeal)
1/2 tsp/2.5 g salt
1/2 tsp/2.5 g baking soda
1 14 ounce/400 g can sweetened condensed milk
12 ounces/340 g good-quality bittersweet chocolate
2 tsp vanilla extract

Line a 10x15 rectangular pan with foil or parchment. Preheat the oven to 350F/170C.
For the oatmeal base: Put the 7 oz/200g butter in a mixer bowl. Add the brown sugar to the mixer bowl and cream together until fluffy and light. Beat in the eggs until smooth, then the dry ingredients. Mix on medium speed to a thick batter.
For the fudge: Put the 1 oz/28g butter, condensed milk and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl or measuring cup. Microwave on full power in 30-second bursts, stirring each time, until just melted. Add the vanilla and stir smooth.
Using your hands and an offset spatula, press 2/3 of the oatmeal base into your prepped pan. Spread the fudge on the oatmeal base, covering it completely. Dot the remaining oatmeal base by the spoonful on top of the fudge layer, spacing evenly.
Bake about 25-30 minutes until the oatmeal part is lightly browned and doesn't hold a dent when you press a fingertip in. Cool on a rack, then carefully lift the slab out of the pan using the parchment or foil onto a cutting board. Cut into 24-30 bars with a serrated knife. 
These taste best warm but not hot, an hour or two out of the oven. To get that texture after, microwave a bar approximately 8 seconds on high power.

Half the batch fits in a 9x9 square pan; check after 15 minutes. Cut in 12-16 bars.