Bento # 7 - 9

Why the sudden bento mania??? There are two main reasons:

#1 - Need a distraction as I’m on a pre-festive diet. He he….want to lose some before piling them back on again. Make sense ah? BUT yeastspotting and tastespotting just KILLS, PURE TORTURE!! ha ha
Not to worry, I have sufficient bake post to keep going!

#2 - Been getting some silent guilty flack for spending too much time baking instead with Master Prince. Thought this would be a good way to kill two birds with one stone??? Hard as it may, I’ll try to leave the bread and cake baking to the weekends now.

The other reasons in my earlier post about getting Master Prince to eat better, healthier etc. also apply!

I’ve been getting extra hugs from Master Prince. I suppose he understands how much extra effort I am putting in to prepare his bentos. Guess he really appreciates the bento boxes I make for him! Ha ha….I love you too honey!

As for DH, I think he enjoys the occassional pampering and also the extra special notes I try to smuggle into his bento box!! He was very surprised with the first one. Yesterday I didn’t add one so I asked him whether he was looking for something ‘additional’ at the bottom of his bento box and he complained that he looked but he didn’t find any. Well not to disappoint him today, I added a note at the bottom of the fruits. Ha ha

Bento #7

Dinner bento - As requested by MP, triangular onigri (left rice with mixed with furikake topping and right, plain), pork chops, vegetables, carrot stars, fruits (alternate slices of apples and oranges).



Since I do not have a baran (aka food divider or separator) I decided to make up for it by adding a Ben 10 card which is Master Prince’s latest craze. I’ve wrapped it with cling wrap so that the card and the food stays clean! I have accumulated and made quite a few cards, so you’ll probably view them tucked in a box somewhere! Ha ha I think they are great fun.

Bento #8

Breakfast cum snack bento - Gingerbread men shaped ham sandwich, cucumber slices, fish shaped bread filled with jam and a small serving of over sugared fruit loops. Of course a Ben 10 card, the latest series – Alien Force. Heard of it?? I sure haven't, not sure whether they are showing locally yet?

Even though I have yet to acquire the bento accessories, the cookie cutters I have are certainly playing a leading and useful role now!

Bento #9

Breakfast bento for DH – Based on the same theme from Bento #8, ham, cucumber and cheese gingerbread men shaped sandwiches, octopus shaped mini sausage (notice the recycled Vitagen straw) and papayas (aka paw-paws). Hidden from view, the special note under the fruits!! Wonder if he will notice or look?! Will ask him later :p

Petit brioche en tête – Original Version

Super fluffy, soft and buttery - VERY DELICIOUS!!

My family really enjoyed the pumpkin brioche I made earlier. In fact it was polished off in record time all in one tea sitting! Needless to say, these buns were a greedy welcome! Ha ha

Susan of WildYeast posted a rant on google's censorship, that's when I saw her beautiful brioche and hunted down her recipe, which she creatively used for the base of a peach tart.

Since I haven't tried the original version, I decided to keep to the plain but rich version. Its 59% rich brioche, just perfect for my family; savoured with a cup of coffee.

Here is the recipe I used which yields 10 petite brioches. Too little for my family thus I would highly recommend that you double up the recipe as it is just delicious. No extra butter or condiments required. Its just beautiful eaten on its own Extra YUMMY warm from the oven.

Recipe
180g bread flour
2 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp instant yeast
18g cold milk
36g sugar (add slowly)
107g butter, room temperature (add butter last)

Method as per WildYeast's blog.
Note that the recipe requires it to be refrigerated overnight, so plan accordingly.

It was fun shaping these mini brioche - the refrigerated dough felt like million of bubbles!!! Which probably explains for the wonderful texture.

Let's hope my pictures don't get censored too!! ;) I'll be submitting these buttery bites for yeast sporting hosted by Susan of WildYeast.

I was observing how each member ate their share of brioche, interesting to note that none of them ate the top first. A high percentage tore the bread in half first before taking their first bite.

Some bench notes:
#1 - Do not use the breadmaker for the initial rest as the butter will melt in the warm machine, making it very oily! The butter remain separated even after refrigeration! But not to worry the final bake wasn't affected (at least I think so).

#2 - Easiest way and also yields more consistent looking brioche is to shape it like a snowman, bigger ball at the bottom, followed by a smaller shaped ball at the top. I find the traditional way of shaping more inconsistent for my novice hands.

#3 - Grease the tin even though the bread dough has so much butter in it!