Friday 16 May 2014

Custard and Kaya Wassants

My kids love the custard and kaya wassants from Petit Provence and would request for them when we do pass by an outlet. I searched the internet for recipes for wassants and am only able to find one original recipe by Kristy and a less sweet version by Vivian Pang, but both are chocolate based. We seldom consume anything chocolatey at home as we find it rather heaty, much as it is yummy. I took a gamble and adapted Kristy's recipe for green tea paste to make custard and kaya pastes. Here are my experimental custard and kaya wassants!


They smell heavenly and taste like the real thing! Hubby thinks so too! But my bun shaping skills can do with a lot more improvement :p. I followed the instructions for creating the layers up till the last step where I didn't cut the dough into triangles. Yes, I am a bit of a rebel when it comes to following recipes. I was wondering if I could shape a wassant slightly differently.

I was able to make a passable custard paste but the kaya paste had difficulty setting despite freezing. I was probably too greedy with the kaya and added too much and/or didn't cook the paste long enough to thicken it sufficiently. Only the custard buns could be rolled and shaped successfully. Despite the kaya paste being semi-solid and hard to handle, the kaya wassants tasted really good! My elder kid prefers the kaya wassant to the custard one. The little one loves both.

Love the custard layers!

Recipe for custard paste
Ingredients:
1 egg white
30g cake flour
5g cornflour
1 tbs custard powder
2 tbs milk
2 drops of yellow liquid food coloring (optional)
75g white chocolate (chopped and melted)

Steps:
1. Combine all ingredients except melted chocolate and mix well.
2. Pour into melted chocolate and stir to combine.
3. Simmer over low heat until mixture thickens into a paste. Leave to cool before transferring into a ziplock bag.
4. Refrigerate overnight or at least an hour before use.

Like Vivian, I omitted the sugar in the paste as white chocolate is really sweet. Final product is still sweet enough so it is not a necessity to add sugar.

Recipe for kaya paste
Ingredients:
1 egg white
30g cake flour
5g cornflour
2 tbs pandan kaya spread (I used 3 tbs)
1/4 tsp pandan paste
1-2 drops green food coloring (optional especially if the pandan paste you use is colored)
75g white chocolate (chopped amd melted)

Steps are the same as the custard paste.


Recipe for wassant (makes approximately 6 custard and 6 kaya wassants)
Ingredients:
Starter dough
82g bread flour
30g plain flour
1/2 tsp dry yeast
50ml water
(Combine all to form soft dough. Rest for 1h or until double in size)

Main dough
103g plain flour
10g wholemeal flour (you may wish to use plain flour)
30g caster sugar
1/2 egg
20ml water
40g butter
1/4 tsp

Approximately 120g custard paste and 120g kaya paste

Steps:
1. Once starter dough is ready, tear it into small pieces and add to main dough.
2. Combine all ingredients and mix to form a soft dough then let it rest for an hour or till double in size.
3. Place dough on lightly floured work surface. Knead to remove air bubbles and until smooth.
4. Divide the dough into two equal portions (I reserved some for making sausage rolls as well). Roll out to slightly bigger than paste, wrap dough over paste until totally sealed.
5. Roll out dough, fold into 3 and roll flat again. Repeat and finally roll into  15 x 20cm.


6. Divide into 6 strips and roll like a swiss roll, pinching the middle to form the pointy end of a heart shape.



Place on baking tray lined with baking sheet with the swirls facing up. Cover loosely with cling wrap and proof for 30-40 minutes. Do refer to Vivian's blog for a detailed picture tutorial of how to fold, roll and shape the wassants.
7. Repeat for kaya paste.
8. Egg wash and bake in preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 12-14 minutes or till brown.

All ready for weekend breakfast baked with love :).


With love,
Phay Shing


* Update: Please checkout my updated version of custard and kaya wassants with more details on making the pastes successfully.

2 comments:

  1. Phay Shing, below wonderful wassant recipe from Do what I like blog. Somehow I could not paste the illustrations onto your comment field as you can under photobuckets are blank. You may goggle Do what i like to see the illustrative steps. Very wonderful recipes from her. You can also find wassant recipe from Awayofmind blog.

    Mar 11
    65°C Chocolate Wassant
    Making use of the last lot of my TangZhong which is 100g, I tried to replicate the famous Chocolate Wassant which was talked about in KC.

    Though I have not tasted the Chocolate Wassant but what I do know is that it is a rather tasty and soft bread. Hence I use 65C TangZhong to make this bread so that I can achieve the softness of this bread.
    You must try this if you have time because this is so delicious.

    Photobucket

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    Wrapping of chocolate sheet.
    Photobucket

    Making a four-fold.
    Photobucket

    Shaping the Chocolate Wassant.
    Photobucket
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    Wrapping of chocolate sheet.
    Photobucket

    Making a four-fold.

    Shaping the Chocolate Wassant.

    Ingredients for Chocolate Sheet:
    40g cake flour
    100g sugar
    2 egg white
    160ml milk
    40g cocoa powder
    20g butter

    Method:
    1. Mix cake flour, sugar and egg white till smooth.
    2. Heat the milk in a saucepan and stir in the cocoa powder.
    3. Add in the egg white mixture stirring till thicken and dry.
    4. Stir in the butter and mix till all butter is incorporated.
    5. Leave to cool and measure out 300g of the chocolate paste. Put this chocolate paste into a freezer bag and roll it into a rectangular shape of size 22cm x 14cm.
    6. Keep refrigerated for at least 2 hours before using.

    Credits: My Kitchen

    Ingredients for dough:
    250 - 270g bread flour
    70g cake flour
    20g skim milk powder
    100g TangZhong
    5g salt
    40g sugar
    25g egg yolk + 115g warm water
    8g dry yeast
    26g butter

    Method:
    1. Put all ingredients into the bread maker, select the Dough cycle and let the bread maker knead and prove the dough- which is about 100mins.
    2. When the dough cycle is completed, remove the dough and punch out the air. Roll out the dough into a rectangle of size 31cm x 22cm.
    3. Put the chocolate sheet on the middle of the dough. Fold in both ends of the dough to cover the chocolate sheet completely. Seal all the edges tightly..
    4. Turn the dough 90°. Roll dough till it is about 60cm x 22cm.
    5. Fold the dough into 4 folds. Turn dough 90C. Roll dough into a 54cm x 22cm rectangular sheet.
    6. Cut into triangular pieces of base 9cm and height 22cm. Roll triangular pieces from the widest part.
    7. Prove for 50 minutes at 35°C.
    8. Apply egg wash and bake at 175C -180C for 18 - 20 minutes.

    Notes:
    For those who are not following the series of 65°C TangZhong bread, please read this for details about TangZhong.

    14th March, 2008
    This morning I reheat the last of my Chocolate Wassant in the oven at 150C for 7 minutes and the Wassant is still very soft and with a crispy crust too! Imagine this bread stayed soft for 3 days!!! TangZhong is here to stay!

    Blessings
    Priscilla Poh

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Priscilla,

    Thanks for the recipe link! Will definitely check it out. Unfortunately it's chocolate paste recipe again but will definitely try out the tangzhong bread. Haven't made bread with the tangzhong method for ages :p. But yes very motivated to try again.

    I can see that you are very seasoned at bread making :). Thanks for sharing! I still have lots to learn (less than a year baking experience) and am having fun learning.

    As for the recipe for paste I think I will stick with what I have since it really tastes like the original but will be careful with cooking it until it is really thick. I had to stop cooking the kaya paste quite early because I was rushing to pick up a kid....challenges of being a homebaker with kids around.

    ReplyDelete