Of Panetonne, Florentine and Gluten-Free

Panetonne (middle), gluten free cinnamon walnut muffin (top left), florentine madeleine (bottom left)

So, I attended a Bake with Kuali event in MIB last Saturday. The 3 recipes taught at the event were Panettone, Florentine Madeleine and Gluten Free Cinnamon Muffin. Out of these 3 recipes, I like the muffin the most, but the muffin looked the least pretty among the three....hahaha.....

1st recipe: Panetonne

The Panetonne is very soft and it's really good when it is freshly baked and still warm. I didn't quite like the dried fruits added to it, maybe that's just me. The bread becomes a bit hard and dried the following day. I thought it will be soft for at least 2 more days. I don't think I'll make this as I don't really like mixed dried fruits on baked goods. But I think I will use the sponge and dough method as a base to make a variety of breads. This method will require a sponge to be prepared and fermented first for about 3 - 4 hours. Then the dough has to be prepared and mixed together with the sponge for second round of fermentation. It requires a bit of time, but if you prepare the sponge the night before, let it proof for about an hour and put it in the fridge, then you'll have it ready for use the following morning.

Closer look on the texture

An even closer look on the texture

2nd recipe: Florentine Madeleine

Florentine, I like this the least. Firstly, the toppings are way too sweet. Pastry chef normally said if it's not sweet, then it won't qualify as desserts. They have to be sweet. But sometimes, they are just too sweet until you can't taste the rest of the flavours, the sweetness of the sugar dominates everything. Secondly, ground raw almond is being used. Again, maybe it's just me (that don't quite like raw almond). So, it tasted a bit strange to me. Toasted almond may taste better (to me). The cake is baked as cup cake, if we have a tart base for the cake, I think this will be excellent. I will probably try this recipe with toasted almond in the tart shell.

3rd recipe: Gluten Free Cinnamon Walnut Muffin

Now, this, I like very very much. Very soft, very moist and it stays soft and moist for 2 - 3 days. The emulsifier is being used here so, that probably explains the softness of the muffin. Mr. Yong, the head of MIB, explained that the emulsifier used here is of plant origin and they are just sugars and some other stuff, (oh...I forgot the rest). So, it slowly changed my perception that the emulsifier is actually not really a bad thing. Hmm...but still, I think when I bake this, I'll omit the emulsifier .....haha....will post up the recipes soon when I get some time to bake this one. 

Overall, it was an enjoyable event. Learnt a thing or two regarding baking skills, and ingredients. Would love to attend these events again but it's not easy to get selected. It's very educational, and sometimes if you are wondering why your bakes failed, by attending these events, you will get the answers to some of the "why" that you may have.