My Home Panaderia Update: What I Learned to Bake so Far

I embarked on a home panaderia project last May because I miss Filipino bread! I realized it's going to take awhile before I can have fresh hot pandesal so I put myself to work to learn. I made a list of buns I wanted to learn to make. Here's what I have made so far:

Dinner Rolls - this is what I baked to introduce myself to bread baking. It was easy to make. Sweetie loved it warm with butter. (Video)

Ensaymada - my first ensaymada tasted good, but I failed in the looks department haha. I belatedly realized that it required some technical skills in forming the bun correctly. I may have overcooked it a little also since it was a little crunchy. (Video)

Spanish Bread - my first Spanish bread looked okay, but the taste wasn't what I envisioned. I think the issue mainly is the margarine I used, but we don't have Star Margarine here. I later on tried a friend's recipe and that one I liked much better. Forming the bread also takes practice. Usually the last piece I form is the best looking one haha.  (Video)

Pandesal - I finally tried baking pandesal by end of May. We loved it! It was a blockbuster. I tweaked my second attempt a little, added a bit more sugar and it tasted like your next door neighbor's panaderia pandesal. This is one bun I've been baking often. (Video)

Putok/Star bread - my putok bun did not look like a star in my first attemp. LOL! It really looked funny. I changed recipes on my second attempt and it tasted much better. I also improved a lot with the shape in my second attempt. (Video)

Monay - I read that monay almost has the same recipe as putok. I ended up making both putok and monay in one baking session because of yeast issues haha. Monay for me is comfort food. I'm glad I got it right the first time. (Video)

Pambonete (panbonete) - I wasn't happy with how the panbonete turned out. It was edible, but I want it to taste like the Casa Moderna pambonete. I also did not have the right bonnet looking cups, so it looked more like a baby bonnet than an adult bonnet haha. 

Cheeserolls - the cheeserolls turned out okay, Sweetie liked it but I wasn't too happy with the consistency of the bread. It was a good run, but I'll probably try a different recipe next time. 

Here's what I learned so far:

1. Try several recipes until you find the best one you like. Try tweaking it also to suit your taste. 

2. Try to use ingredients that are closest to Filipino brands, i.e. margarine, powdered milk. 

3. Don't just any any kind of milk, so far I like using British milk for my baking. 

4. Check the water or milk temperature before you add the yeast to make sure it blooms. Too hot will kill it and you'll end up with wasted ingredients. 

5. Practice shaping/folding techniques to get the look correctly. 

6. If the recipe calls for egg wash, make sure to wipe it on all sides of the dough equally. 

7. Your oven may behave differently compared to other ovens. I used to use a convection oven and when we moved homes we ended up with a gas oven. Check the right temperature equivalent based on the ove you're using. 

8. Don't be afraid to obtain new gadgets! When I first started baking bread I took so long kneading the dough (it's a workout!). I finally got a Kitchenaid stand mixer and it cut down my baking time.

9. Get a beeswax wrap. It's better to use this than cling wrap. Saves you some money and the environment.

10. Share your buns with neighbors! I'm so far sharing to our cleaner and she loves it! I'm still mustering up the confidence to share it to my Pinoy neighbors. 

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My Home Panaderia: Putok and Monay

I gave my cleaning lady some putok (Starbread) and monay the last time she visited. When she came today she asked me when was I going to bake again. She said she liked it very much! I'm always nervous about giving away my baked goods. I want it to be perfect before I share it to the world. I'm so glad she liked it.

I ended up making putok and monay because I forgot to add the butter in the first dough when I mixed the ingredients. I only added it just before I laid it to rest. I thought it would fail so I made a second batch which I turned into monay. Both turned out well and Sweetie said the putok was softer. I'm just happy both turned out edible haha.

Here's how I made it and Sweetie's reaction when he tried the bread -

The ingredients -

Yeast Mixture

1/2 cup warm milk
1/2 cup water
2 tsp instant yeast
1 Tbsp sugar

Dough

4 cups bread flour or APF
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk powder
2/3 cup white sugar
1 tsp salt
4 Tbsp salted butter

Egg Wash

1 egg
1 Tbsp milk


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Baked Spanish Bread for the First Time

Ahh after baking dinner rolls and ensaymada I felt I had enough experience to try baking one of my all-time favorite Filipino buns - Spanish Bread! I honestly have no idea how Spanish Bread came about, but I've been eating it since I was a child. It's one of the most common buns you can buy in any corner bakery in the Philippines. It is best eaten warm.

The last time I had authentic Spanish Bread was in January when I was still in Manila. It is very expensive to buy in Lucky Plaza -- can go up to SG$2! That's about 80 pesos! I decided to bake Spanish Bread during the long weekend two weeks ago.

I think I made the right decision of baking Spanish Bread after baking ensaymada. It was quite challenging for me since it was my first time baking with bread flour and margarine. Getting the margarine to combine properly with the other ingredients was challenging. To prepare for this challenge I watched a good number of videos to understand what I had to do.

Here's how my first attempt at baking Spanish Bread went -

One of the most challenging aspects of baking buns is sizing them equally. I didn't have a kitchen scale, dough slicer and rolling pin when I made this so the buns came out in odd sizes hehe. I also learned from previous baking adventures that I had to reduce the oven temperature because I now have a fan oven. It behaves very differently from the convection oven in our previous apartment.

I halved the recipe as usual. I hope when I'm a bit more confident about my baking I'll be able to send some to my friends and when I get home to make some for my Mom. Yay!

My next baking adventure will be Pandesal!!!

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