[skeptic7]

Baker Aunt;
Happy Birthday! I did the char sui bao again and gave it about three hour rise in the refrigerator. and half an hour at room temperature. It came out better shaped but thats possibly beacuse my father put the whole batch in the steamer at once, and the buns were forced to rise up and not out. Half of it had the roast pork stuffing, and half of it was plain bread. I had thought to steam this in two halves but it worked out better this way for the shape.

[skeptic7]

BakerAunt;
I did a short rise, about an hour, at room temperature. I guess I could try a longer rise in the refrigerator some time and see what happens.

[skeptic7]

I don't know if it counts as baking but I made steamed roast pork buns, char sui bao, on Sunday. It turned out just okay. Sauce was too salty and the bread part didn't rise as much as I hoped. I made the rest of the bao into plain bread, mantou, which turned out better. Lighter and fluffier but I could let it rise longer without worrying about the meat stuffing spoiling.

[skeptic7]

I did chocolate cherry buns again. I changed the recipe by adding 1/4 cup potato flakes and dissolving the yeast in about 3 tablespoons of water. I mixed it in a stand mixer.

[skeptic7]

This looks delicious. The recipe calls for shortening not butter or lard; would that date the recipe to around WW II? Also its not as horribly sweet as some modern recipes.

[skeptic7]

Thats beautiful.

[skeptic7]

I did another Ricotta Cranberry Sauce pizza. It came out beautifully. This used up the rest of the ricotta and most of the remaining cranberry sauce. I added a tablespoon or two of sugar to the dough to add a little sweetness, and some potato flakes to help it stay moist. I also had to add just a little more water. The bread pased was light and fluffy and stood up to the weight of the toppings very well.

The brownies I made last week improved in flavor and texture after storage. I am sort of surprised that it only took two people a week to finish off the brownies. I had about a days worth in small pieces in a container at room temperature, while the bulk was kept refrigerated.

[skeptic7]

I'm glad this turned out well. I am glad you cooked the cranberry sauce its full of natural pectin so it thickens naturally when cooked.

[skeptic7]

I did a double recipe of "Nutty Brownies". This is the recipe that I had been telling everyone was the perfect cakey brownie with nuts. This time I used KAF all purpose flour instead of whole wheat, and a new oven, and mixed it in a stand mixer. I've noticed some changes. It was domed in the center and lower at the edges. Probably was cooked too quickly and should have been in a higher rack. Its lighter and fluffier and seems to have less depth of flavor than when the recipe uses whole wheat flour. Of course this could be my imagination.
My father had ben given a package of sugared pecans with just a hint of salt and I added this to the brownies. It was quite tasty but the salt tinge is very subtle.

[skeptic7]

I don't know if it would rise in the refrigerator. I'd probably try proofing in the refrigerator and hope that it would rise in the steamer while cooking. I'll probably double the baking powder in the hopes that would help.

[skeptic7]

Mike the chocolatina looks great. Do you use sticks of dark chocolate for the filling?

[skeptic7]

The raw meat ones -- hamburger or ground pork -- are room temperature by the time the vegetables and seasonings are mixed in. The roast pork fillings would probably be slightly colder as it would require less handling, just dice cold roast pork and mix with sauce.
So you would think a 2 hour final proof would be fine under those conditions?

[skeptic7]

I'd be willing to come over and help you eat it! I think it would be fine. I like the idea of it in the lemon braid bread. The cranberry sauce might be a little runny. I had a dam of ricotta cheese on the edge of the pizza to help keep it in place.

[skeptic7]

That was great! I love all the colors.

[skeptic7]

I did the bread part of the Taiwanese Bao.
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/taiwanese-breakfast-bao-recipe
I was looking for the simplest steam bread to eat with Cantonese style roasted duck. My father had been looking at the desert pizza last week and wanted to know if it could be steamed. They turned out fairly well. However cooking with my father around has unplanned digressions. Half of the first batch were eaten as sort of sandwiches with a pork vegetable mixture for supper, and the other half was eaten just plain with soup for lunch. My father's idea both times. I'm going to make another batch which hopefully will be eaten with duck.
Hopefully if all goes well I can get to steamed bao stuffed with roast pork. How long can I let a meat filling sit around while the bread dough rises? Roast pork is a little less of health hazard than raw meat but still worries me. I might put more baking powder in the dough and cook it a little earlier.

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