Garlic & Parsley Wholemeal Buns

I took "leave" from baking since beginning of the school holidays. There were many family outings over the past few weekends. Finally today, I was confined at home. So I decided to bake buns, for my siblings and parents too!

Recipe for Garlic & Parsley Wholemeal Buns, modified and translated from 《孟老師的100道麵包》 
(Makes approximately 26 mini buns)
(Note: You can divide the portion by 3 to get the original portion, which bakes 6 regular buns)

Ingredients:
100g Wholemeal flour
100g Plain flour
400g Bread flour
45g Caster sugar
3/4 tsp Fine salt
6g Instant Yeast
390g Whole milk
45g Unsalted Liv Butter

Fillings:
90g Unsalted Liv Butter, room temperature
1 tsp Salt
3 tsp Whole milk
4 tsp Parsley
1 Full clove garlic, finely chopped
Freshly grinded black pepper
Dash if chilli powder
(I omitted 30g Icing sugar as I prefer this to be savoury)

Method:
1. Mix all the ingredients except butter in a mixer using a dough hook.
2. Once all the ingredients are mixed through and formed a dough, add in the unsalted butter.
3. Knead the dough well until window pane stage.
4. Cover it with cling wrap and leave it to proof for 80 mins in a warm place.
5. Lightly knead the dough to form a smooth round ball.
6. Divide the doughs into 26 pcs.
7. Roll each dough into a round ball and leave to proof for 10 mins.
8. Flatten each ball and roll out to an oval shape with a rolling pin.
9. Let it proof for a further 30 mins.
10. To make the fillings: In a small mixing bowl, mix all the ingredients until well blended. Leave it at room temperature. If it's melting, place it in the fridge until slightly harden, but pipe-able.
11. After 30mins, cut a line on the dough and let it continue to proof for another 10mins.

12. Then brush the dough with milk.
13. Pipe in the fillings into the cut section.

14. Bake in the preheated oven of 190C for 16mins.

Red Velvet Birthday Cake

This post is sponsored by Liv butter. Try Liv today!

My birthday and my nephew's are just four days apart. Sometimes, we celebrated together, other times, we have a cake each. For his birthday cake, I had been baking for the past years, whereas for mine, my sister will get it for me. This year, I decided to share a cake with him by baking it myself. My sister had kindly offered to buy a cake for my birthday. I rejected her kind offer and decided I shall just share a cake with her son. He requested for red velvet cake, instigated by my sister. I was fine with the request since I had the intention to bake this cake. So here is my shared birthday cake.
 
Recipe for Red Velvet Cake, adapted from Joy of Baking.
Makes a 3-layered 7" round cake

Red Velvet Cake
Ingredients:

250g Cake flour, sifted

1/2 tsp Fine salt

15g Dutch-processed cocoa powder

113g Liv unsalted butter, at room temperature

150g Caster sugar

2 large Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla extract

240g Buttermilk (240g whole milk + 1 tsp fresh lemon juice)

1 tsp Liquid red food coloring

1 tsp White distilled vinegar

1 tsp Baking soda

Method:

1. Grease three 7" round cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl sift together the flour, salt, and cocoa powder. Set aside.
3. In bowl of your electric mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes).
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.
5. In a measuring cup whisk the buttermilk with the red food coloring. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.
6. In a small cup combine the vinegar and baking soda. Allow the mixture to fizz and then quickly fold into the cake batter. 
7. Working quickly, divide the batter evenly between the three prepared pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. 
8. Bake in the preheated fan oven of 160C for approximately 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. 
9. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, lifting off the pan. Once the cakes have completely cooled, wrap in plastic and place the cake layers in the refrigerator for at least an hour (or overnight).

Cream Cheese Frosting (adapted from Martha Stewart)

250g Cream Cheese
167g Liv unsalted Butter, softened
70g Icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp Vanilla extract

Method:

1. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, in three batches, then add vanilla, and mix until smooth and combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 3 days in an airtight container. Before using, bring to room temperature and beat on low speed until smooth again.

Assembly:

1. Place one layer of cake on the base.
2. Pipe the cream cheese on the cake, then use a spatula to even out.
3. Repeat this process for the 2nd and 3rd layer.
4. For the final decoration, use your spatula to swipe gently on the surface of the cream cheese to create the wave effect. Decorate as desire.