ABC Cooking Studio - Ham Mayonnaise Bread & Cinnamon Roll

/hihi Finally, the trial lesson with ABC cooking studio is here! /wahaha I have been looking forward to learn at this cooking studio as they are really big in Japan with 134 studios running and 14 studios in Asia. Really love how meticulous and professional the Japanese are in food making, hence I signed up the lesson without much hesitation. In fact, the trial class is only $35!! So I thought why not? For Trial Class, there are 3 choices of bread, chocolate ganache cake or hamburger steak with rice. I chose bread because Mr J likes savoury food more (compared to chocolate cake) and the hamburger steak is advisable to be consumed right after the lesson (no tabao).

ABC studio

There is a locker to put our stuffs, so that the studio remains clean and neat for baking. The class size is rather small, usually 3 or 4 students to 1 trainer. At times, if you are the only one that signed up for that particular time slot, you may even be taught one to one by the trainer. Our trainer for the day is Thina! He is very encouraging and is not pushy in selling us their baking & cooking packages.

Ingredients

All the ingredients are weighed and place nicely on the table before we start hands on. It is a thoughtful move so that we can spend more time on the baking rather than weighing and looking for ingredients. It is also more organized and easier for newbie to start on their baking experience :)

The recipe has picture illustration and is very clear and easy to follow. First step is of cause, mixing the bread flour, sugar and yeast and proofing the dough in a bowl. As the yeast needs heat to 'grow', warm water is used. We were also taught to sieve the egg before use. It is said to help smoothen the texture of the dough. I had fun kneading the dough. Its kindda therapeutic and stress relieving for me. Haha. The dough is then placed in a bread proofer for 30 minutes and Tadah! It becomes like a Big Bao.

长大中

We then rolled out the dough and placed ham, cinnamon sugar, almond flakes, parsley, raisins soaked in rum or whatever ingredients you wished.

Ham and Cinnamon Roll

Put it in the oven at 200 degree celsius.

成功！

 And its done!!!!!! :D

Verdict: Well.. I guess....any bread that just come out from the oven is nice!!!! lolss~/wahaha And I actually love the idea of putting parsley on top of the ham bread. I guess sprinkling some grated parmensan cheese will be great too! However, the bread actually harden later in the night and it gets really Teng Kok Kok (hard) the next day. According to the trainer, most commercial bread seller actually put bread softener to help retain the fluffiness of the bread. I goggled on this bread softener and found out that it usually contains ammonium chloride, which decreases the acidity of urine and should be avoided by people with liver or kidney problems. It usually contain Amylase enzymes to help fasten the bread making process, making it more practical for commercial use. However, they increased the risk of occupational asthma and over consumption is of cause less healthy compared to bread without all these additives. Hence, when your bread or cake stays soft for days, you may want to be aware that many chemicals may be added to preserve your bread or cake this long. This also explain why the seemingly same cake is sold at very different pricing in cafes, bakery, and supermarkets.

Overall, the experience is good because the class size is small and we can just keep shooting questions at the trainer. The clean and spacious environment makes it really relaxing to work at (compared to cramping myself up in my home kitchen). In case you are wondering like I did, the ingredients are not from Japan!!! :( I am hoping they sell Japanese ingredients here too. Somehow, the bread/cake from Japan just taste different. And I believe their ingredients really play a part. Most of the trainers are not from Japan too. They have different baking backgrounds like being pastry chefs in different cafes before. They are however trained and certified before they could teach. It does not really matters to me as long as they are well trained to help. :)

I took up a 6 cake baking courses with them at $450, and thus make me a ABC member. I have to complete the 6 lessons in 8months which I can make it a monthly 2 hours affair to relieve myself from work and doing something I enjoyed :) Thina told us there will be trial lessons on and off every months and if referred by a ABC member (like me), the trial lesson will be $28 instead! If you sign up a package like me, both the member (me), and the referral gets a free lesson too. If you do not have friends who are member, and would like to try out their trial class, do feel free to quote my membership number, 6500001383. :)

You could visit them at ABC cooking studio, Takashimaya, #03-12/12A.

Have Fun! :)