Schee Culina

Another try..

2012-02-22T01:42:00.001-08:00

I know that many of you have waited quite long for this blog post (and have never once said an unkind word) but trust me, its not that I had been delaying it deliberately. I dont think I have tried so many different recipes and variations of the same category before as I have in search of the so-called "store-bought dougnuts" recipe that you had asked me for, but after having been sorely disappointed in most of the proclaimed copycat recipes provided on the internet, I have now decided to bring a stop to wasting my husbands hardearned money and settle on what tastes like a good doughnut to me and my family - without comparing it with the ones from anywhere else. FULLSTOP.

I am sorry if my intro has brought you tons of disappointment, but trust me, better take it now than the one youll have on throwing your money and effort into the trash bin later. There is definitely some sort of additive or trick in the bakery-style doughnuts that I havent been able to find yet. So, instead of fretting my mind about duplicating the taste one gets at famous doughnut stores, I now try to enjoy what really pleases my doughnut cravings. And in case youre thinking that I am going to share a better recipe than my previous one, I am afraid but I have to disappoint you here as well. The potato-variant still is on the top of my favourite quick fixes for making softest doughnut at home but here is another one that too has managed to pass the test with flying colours lately (I do have some reservations regarding the "copycat claim" attached to it on most of the online pages but there is no doubt about their taste being sinfully great).

So here comes my second blogworthy attempt on making doughnuts:

Krispy Kreme Style Doughnuts
Inspired by: food.com

Ingredients:

1/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup warm milk (low-fat)
2 tbs soft butter
2 tbsp sugar (I took 3)
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 sachet (7 g) instant yeast
2 1/4 cups flour + 1/4 cup for dusting the counter
Vanilla essence

Melt butter with milk in a small sauce pan and allow to cool slightly.

Take water in a large bowl, add in sugar, salt, vanilla and sprinkle yeast on top. Stir. Pour in the buttered milk. Also add egg and mix until combined.

Start adding flour, half cup at a time.

Stir with a spoon or mix in the kitchen machine.

Stir in the remaining flour until a sticky dough is formed. Tip: Dont add too much flour, itll turn them hard later.
Tip: You may also need to adjust the flour quantity according to the weather as well as how cold/warm the liquid ingredients are!

Make a ball, cut in the centre and set aside until double in size.

Tranfer the dough onto the dusted kitchen counter and knead lightly to incorporate the flour. Tip: The dough will be sticky at first, but will get better as you knead. Tip: Try not to overwork the dough - kneading for three four minutes is more than enough!

Roll out the dough to desired thickness.

Cut with floured doughnut cutter or with any round-shaped glass and bottle caps.

Cover and allow to proof until double in size.

Look at the difference!

Heat oil in a deep skillet or fryer to 350 F. Tip: Be careful about the temperature, it DOES matter: too low and they'll absorb oil turning soggy and oily in the end, too high and theyll turn brown very quickly but will remain uncooked from inside.

Slide down the doughnuts into the oil using a wide spatula.

Fry for about 1- 2 minutes and turn over.

Fry for a minute or two on the other side as well. Carefully remove from oil and drain.

Allow to cool and prepare the glaze meanwhile.

You can use any of your favourite frostings. Check the previous blog for ideas or try a new one:

Cocoa Glaze:

1/2 cup icing sugar
1 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp corn syrup
1 tbsp milk

Melt butter with milk in a small sauce pan. Remove from heat, add syrup, cocoa powder, icing sugar and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined and glossy.

Dip the cooled doughnuts in glaze and allow to rest on a wire rack to set.

My my...they were just amazing! Sweet, crispy, light, tall, chocolaty...absolutely delectable!!!!

What do you say???

Making naan without tandoor....

2012-02-15T04:13:00.000-08:00

Yes, its been over a week and I know, many of you have been waiting with bated breath for me to disclose the secret recipe for the delectable naans I served with the spicy creamy chicken in my post "The mistress of spices". Well, the recipe is actually no secret, I simply viewed various online recipes and videos on making naan bread, tried making them in my kitchen, added and substracted a few things until it reached the definition of what I call a plain naan. Thats it!!!

Now if youre thinking, whats then so special and unique about it if the recipe is adapted from the net. Hold on for a while, you have no idea how many recipes I and my friends here in Germany have already toiled over to get close to the taste and texture of the naans we get served in the restaurants or local tandoor hotels back in Pakistan. No wonder, most of the trials didnt come out well, not only because of the bogus recipes but mainly because you cant expect us to trasform our regular ovens into the special Tandoors - the traditional wooden-fired clay ovens where they slap the flattened bread dough against the side walls and then remove it using a hooked wire after getting crispy and slightly charred. Okay, there are few safe alternatives available in the market nowadays but trust me people, even the thought of investing in another kitchen gadget to clutter up my tiny kitchen makes me feel nauseatic now (The sexy Kendwood Chef Titanium is an exception though;), so once again I had to look for a space-saving substitute to emulate the traditional way. The hint came through reading up on a non-yeast naan recipe at Sailu´s blog. Sailaja has made her naan breads on the iron tawa and they also look absolutely gorgeous but since its not feasable for using on the flat ceramic top of my electric cooker, I had to try the alternative technique she had mentioned about. And yayyyy.....it worked!!!

I am soooooo glad not only to have found a safe and effective replacement to the clay oven but my "nearly-antique" pressure cooker has also got a residential permit in our kitchen now. Okay, enough of jibber-jabber, I know you youre mainly interested in getting to the recipe and method.

So, this is how it goes:

Take out your moms old stainless steel pressure cooker or a simliar heavy based cooking pan. And make sure you have the following ingredients in the pantry.

Plain Naan (without yeast)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbs rice flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup plain yoghurt
1/2 cup milk (low fat)
Butter and sesame seeds (optional)

Sift both flours, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl.

Mix yoghurt and milk and microwave for a few seconds until warm (not hot). Tip: You can also use warm milk instead and mix it with yoghurt.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the liquid.

Mix until a rough and sticky dough is formed. Tip: Depending on the climate, you may also need to use extra water but make sure the dough is very soft and sticky.

Tranfer the dough onto a floured surface and start kneading with your hands. Tip: Stretch and roll again and again.

Cover the dough and set aside for atleast 30 minutes.

Again knead for a while and then divide into 5-6 balls.

Roll out one ball into a round flat circle. Now in case you are an over sensitive hygiene freak, use a fork to poke holes in the centre, otherwise watch this video clip to have a realistic feel to how naans are traditionally made;) Dont blame me, if you find it disgusting:p

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAu8kMAFKhM

Make sure your nails are clean (okayyyy, you may also wear gloves) and poke the dough circle to make a nice pattern.

Rotate to 90 degrees and poke again.

Stretch the dough a bit and youll get the desired pattern.

Heat the pressure cooker upside down for about 2 minutes.

Once its hot, turn over. Wet your fingers or a pastry brush with water and run along one side of the naan. This will help it stick properly to the surface.

Stick the naan to the bottom of the pressure cooker.

Brush the upper side with water and sprinkle some sesamse seeds. Tip: This step is optional!

Invert the pressure cooker on direct heat again and let the naan cook for a minute or so. Can you see the smoke coming out the sides??

Lift one side of the pan to check if its done.

Note: I havent turned the heat off. My stupid cooking range has an automatic heat controlling system but that shouldnt make you feel reluctant about trying the technique on your gas or electric cookers.

Turn over the pressure cooker and allow the other side to cook as well.

Drizzle some butter on top (optional) and serve hot. This is how the pan looked after making 10 naan breads.

Tip: Another great way to make home-made naans is to use the broiling function of your oven. Prepare naans as described above, tansfer onto a regular cookie sheet and broil on each side for ca. 3 minutes. Below (the one on the plate) is an image of the broiled version:

Verdict: Both types, i.e. pressure-cooker as well as the broiled ones were fairly easy to make. Those from the pressure cooker were much quicker to cook and were light in texture, whereas, the broiled ones tasted pretty much like Roghni Naans.

My next target is a yeast-based Qeema wala naan. And yours???

Love

When the heart craves a cake...

2012-02-10T02:27:00.000-08:00

Valentine´s day is just a couple of days away and I was wondering how and if my lovely readers plan on celebrating it? For us, it is usually not too big of a deal - just another ordinary day where my husband would be at work all day and I might cook him something nice in the evening and then he would take me out for a brownie afterwards. No romantic date, exclusive gift exchanges, exaggerated and unachieveable promises or what so ever (we save that all for our anniversary, ofcourse:p).

But just in case you are planning on paying a tribute to the great Saint Valentines on the coming 14th, I have a sweet idea for you to celebrate it with your loved ones.

Just came across this brilliant technique on "Butter Hearts Sugar" a few weeks ago and decided to try it. Instead of following the Orange Coconut Cake recipe that Kara has used for her cake, I went for a new lemon pound which was a total disaster, so much so that even my darling Valentine couldnt resist saying, "Why do you have to test everything on me first?", from which I concluded that it would be wise to not share it here and save you the disappointment, money and time that I endured.

But since the idea of hearts inside the cake itself is so cute and worth trying, here are two of my favourite recipes that you might like to use or you can make any of your favourite plain cakes, just make sure that the batter is enough to make the hearts and cover them later.

Prepare the cake mixture as usual. Take out 1/3 of the batter into a smaller bowl.

Add in red food colouring to the smaller portion. Pour this mixture into a square or rectangular pan, (greased and lined, ofcourse).

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 C for 15- 20 minutes or until the tooth pick comes out clean. Take out of the oven and allow to cool a bit in the pan. Then slide onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Cut out hearts using a cookie cutter (I am using a piece of my sons puzzle:p. There is nothing wrong in using your imagination at times, will save you not only money but also some space in your kitchen cabinets).

Pour half of the remaining cake batter into a loaf tin and arrange the cake hearts in the centre. Tip: This part was a bit tricky, dont give up in case the hearts start falling in where you dont want them to:)

Pour over rest of the batter carefully. Tip: Dont worry if it doesnt cover all the hearts. The cake will rise while baking (hopefully!!!).

Bake in preheated oven as per recipe directions.

Remove the lining and allow to cool completely. This looks ugly, I know. But wait until you see how Im going to cover it with the magic dust.

Icing sugar is so sweet and helping, no???

Let your heart finds its way to those who need it most....

P.S. In case you dont know how to melt someone´s heart with a cheese cake, click here!

May the love you show to others return to you multiplied, have a great day you all!!!!

Love

The mistress of spices!

2012-02-08T04:23:00.000-08:00

Being a complete food freak, who loves trying new cuisines and places above anything, I am always open to discovering new tastes and learning new things about different communities and cultures. There may be religious and ethnic reasons for saying no to a few food items but otherwise everything finds its place in my stomach.

And it is actually quite easy to please me - let it be plain noodles with a quick tomato sauce or a good toasted slice of bread topped with melting cheese, even the simplest of a culinary endeavour is enough to make me drool like a puppy (PROVIDED the food on the plate is not moving, doesnt have flapping wings or something similar and is not hurting the religious spirit in me).

But like most of you, its usually my mood that dictates my choice of cuisine when cooking a regular meal for the family (or dining out in a restaurant). I like dabbling in new flavours or things what I am not an expert in but yes, if theres something I can tackle well in cooking, it is the choice and amount of right spices:)

Yes, you got it! The inherited love for the hot and bold ingredients is something in myself I am really proud of. Sure, it may not have been the greatest quality as almost every girl of my ethnic background has it running in the blood but each time I put in my freshly ground home-made garam masala to a dish, its rich fragrance and gentle taste makes me feel like such a cook that my soul automatically feels compelled to say a little prayer for all my great south-asian ancestors....

I have already shared a few recipes for desi appetizers and dessert on the blog but here comes the main course:

Creamy Fenugreek Chicken Karahi

Ingredients:

350 g boneless chicken

For the marinade:

1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp home-made garam masala
1/4 tsp red chili powder
1 tbs corn flour
1 tsp garlic paste
1/2 tsp chopped fresh green chili
Salt

For the masala curry:

1/2 cup oil
2 large onions
3 tbs yoghurt
1 tbs tomato paste
1/4 tsp red chili powder
salt
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
3 tsp ground almonds
1 1/2 tsp dry fenugreek leaves
1 cup water
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup cherry tomatoes (optional)
1/4 tsp red chili flakes (optional)
1/4 tsp garam masala (optional)
chopped green chillies and fresh green corriander for garnishing

Marinate chicken with the above given ingredients and set aside for atleast 30 minutes.

Peel and slice the onions.

Heat oil in a pan and fry the onions until light golden brown in colour.

Take out the onions and make a paste using an electric blender. Now fry the marinated chicken in the same pan and remaining oil, you had used for browning the onions.

Fry for a while until chicken changes its colour. Add in yoghurt.

Add in all the spices (except for fenugreek and chili flakes), onion paste, almond powder as well as the tomato paste.

Fry for a while and then add about one cup of water. Stir a bit, add in the crushed fenugreek leaves and cover the pan with a lid for a few minutes.

Add the cherry tomatoes, chili flakes and heavy cream.

Turn off the heat, sprinkle garam masala on top and garnish with chopped fresh green chilies and corriander.

Serve hot with fresh naans. Wahhhhh....:DDD

Now in case you want to know, from where did I get these fresh naans in Germany???? What do you think, if I can make such mouth watering curries, wouldn´t I also be putting some effort in making the best accompaniment to them. The naans too are fresh from my kitchen, or to be more precise, direct from my pressure cooker;)

Have a spicy day you all!!

Love

The illusionist reveals....

2012-01-24T02:22:00.000-08:00

I am not sure if Neil Burger ever plans to release the sequel to his movie "The Illusionist" but my husband and son are already watching its making-of every second day at our home cinema - only instead of Edward Norton playing the illusionist role, they have me!!!!

They say women are magicians. I absolutely agree to the statement. We are born with this talent of changing things within fraction of seconds - let it be our looks, our moods, our homes, discussions, and what not. And being married and a mother of a smart boy who is as demanding as his father, you actually get plenty of practice to polish these skills!

You might have noticed my recent "obsession" with morning delights (For those of you who havent or havent bothered to click the links: its been the main focus of my bolgtivity all this month of Januray:). Not that I had planned this breakfast series before, it was all just a result of the dull expressions that usually appear on the faces of my men on getting same things for breakfast repeatedly after a while. In order to keep my small audience more engaged and interested, I had only been making a conscious effort to add more variety to my morning show. But trust me folks, its not easy to NOT "offer the same stuff more than two days in a row".You just run out of ideas!

So, what I have started doing now is creating illusions by using the same old igredients and making them appear like new:P Check out the ingredients listed in the recipe below, do they remind you of any recipe Ive blogged lately???

2 cups plain flour
1 tbs baking powder
10 tsp fine granulated sugar
A pinch of salt
1/4 cup +2 tbs milk
1/2 tbs vinegar
1 egg
7 tbs cold butter (ca. 100 g)
Few drops of vanilla essence
3/4 cups dried cranberries (see tips)
1 egg yolk
2 tbs granulated sugar to sprinkle on top, optional

Yes, I am using almost the same ingredients as in the Best Pancakes recipe, only with a little change in quantities and a different cooking technique.

Cranberry Scones

Method:

Combine milk and vinegar to make soured milk and set aside for 5 minutes.

Sift flour and baking powder in a large bowl. Add in sugar and salt.

Cut the cold butter in cubes and rub in with the dry ingredients using your finger tips until the mixture resembles course breadcrumbs. Tip: You may use your food processor for this. Try to work quickly, few bigger lumps of butter are better than overmixing!

Add in the soured milk, egg and vanilla to this. Combine all the ingredients with an electric mixer (dough-hooks on) just enough to form a dough.

Also add in the cranberries and transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Tip: In case cranberries are not available, you may like to substitute these with chocolate chips, raisins, fresh blueberries etc.

Cut the dough in half.

Stack the two halves on each other and press down with your hands.

Again cut the dough in half and stack the two parts on each other. Pat down and repeat the procedure one more time. This will make your scones rise higher while baking.

Roll out the dough into a rectangle (about 2,5 cm thick and 6 cm in width).

Cut into small triangles.
Tip: In case you wish to serve the scones later, pop them into refrigerator at this stage until baking.

Brush with beaten egg yolk and bake in a preheated oven at 200 C for 15 minutes until golden and slightly crispy on top.
Tip: I have also sprinkled extra sugar on a few to add a little crunch on top before putting in the oven.

Remove from oven and serve immediately with clotted cream, whipped cream, lemond curd, fruit jam of your choice, chocolate syrup OR JUST PLAIN !!!!!

Let the new feat of magic astound everyone, including youself!!

Love

From a little man with pan

2012-01-19T04:50:00.000-08:00

Blog has been updated with new images!!!

My little brat has been through a fussy, non-eating patch lately. No matter what I offered him or how I offered him, it didnt seem to awaken his appetite. After going through all the tested routes - from ignoring to forcing, not giving anything for eating to bribing, I finally consulted the all-knowing Nano, his grandmother, who after raising five children from pampers till partner-selecting, and then helping all five of us in our respective roles of parenthood, is certainly the best advisor the entire family loves to rely on in situations like these. And there she has it again!

She has just made me realise that its basically me who needs to start accepting the fact that my baby is actually no longer a baby. The naughty little man is going through a phase where he wants to show his mom that he too has got some powers now - power to refuse things, power to do things on his own, and that he needs a bit more freedom!

So, I am trying to revise my feeding methods now by giving him more liberty to do few things on his own. Yesterday, I let him peel the egg shells and the look on his face after discovering what was inside made me literally smile to ears. He has been helping me with setting the table for quite some time now but helping mom in loading the dishwasher is a recent addition to the "allowed" items, thus, a great motivation to finish the food on the plate without having the parents to struggle over.

The new therapeutic approach is working pretty fine for us and while my little prince is joyfully taking a well-deserved nap after helping his mom in mixing the batter for these beautiful pancakes today (by the way, we both enjoyed them in lunch), you may like to have a look at the recipe that Ive found lately on Coleen´s Recipes. She has named them the "Best Pancakes", and to be very honest, after having them made a couple of times during the last two weeks, I must confess, she had been veryyyyyyy accurate in her claim. These are indeed the fluffiest pancakes Ive made to date. Just ignore the images Im inserting in here - these are not as tall as Coleens for the reason that my darling helper had just overmixed the batter this time but if you follow the recipe PRECISELY and your leavening agents (baking powder, baking soda) are fresh, they DO puff up as much as hers ;) Update: check the new images!

Tip: Do check out this useful video on "how to cook pancakes" in case you no experience of making pancakes before!

AND HERE ARE THE ONES IVE MADE THIS MORNING:)

The Best Pancakes
The recipe makes only 8 small pancakes but you can easily double or even triple it to feed a bigger crowd.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup milk
2 tbs white vinegar (5 % acidity)
1 cup plain flour
3 tbs sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (I took 1/4 tsp)
1 egg (M)
2 tbs melted butter
1 tsp vanilla / few drops of vanilla essence

First make the soured milk by combining the milk with vinegar, and set aside for 10 minutes.

Sieve together flour and the baking agents. Add in sugar, salt and mix with a spoon.

Whisk together the melted butter, egg, vanilla and the soured milk in a seperate bowl.
Tip: I have noticed that the thicker your batter is, the taller and fluffier your pancakes will turn out in the end.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add in the liquid mixture.

Stir until MOST of the lumps have dissolved but DO NOT OVERMIX. Few lumps are GOOD. ( In case youre also making it with the young-ones around, just forget about this - their expertise in overmixing batters wont allow them to stop!).

This is the over-mixed version produced by my little helper

Update: this is how it should actually look like...

The batter will have a thick consistency and that is exactly how you want it to be! Put aside for 10 minutes. You will see bubbles appearing on the top. The leavening agents are actually working together with the soured milk and producing carbon dioxide gas which will then be trapped in the pancakes while cooking, making them rise to heights of fluffiness. Yes, my dears, that exactly is the science behind the tall, airy, fluffy pancakes that make you drool like a hungry puppy! Tip: DO NOT STIR AT THIS STAGE!

Heat and butter a frying pan (as flat and even as possible) and place about 1/4 cups batter on it. Tip: Use the back side of the spoon to spread the mixture towards the edges or just leave as it is!

Cook until you see bubbles appearing on the top. Tip:You may also like to add fruits to the pancakes while still cooking, Ive added frozen berries. Carefully flip with a large spatula and cook further until golden brown.

Serve warm with butter, honey, maple syrup, powdered sugar-cinnamon blend or any fruit compote of your choice.

Results of an overmixed batter

The real tower

Weekend is around the corner, if you havent already planned making the ultimate Eggs on Rösti, this one is another great breakfast idea you might like to try. Look at the cakey texture people, arent they making you feel like digging in right away?????

Love

Banana meets chocolate

2012-01-17T03:54:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, there was a banana who had been lying down in the fruit basket for many days. Cursed with a little brown-freckled skin, the poor fella looked pretty sad and lonely as if he had no real friends in the whole world to interact with. His only sibling had already left the house a few days back to join a dairy association together with Mrs. Sugar Beet´s daughter, Crystal Sugar, from the neighborhood. Banana had heard people saying that the owner of the dairy association, Mr. Milk, was really happy with their performance, and chances were that he might be hiring more workers in the future. Tired of fighting back the fears of getting kicked and pushed around before even receiving a call from the dairy people, the poor bruised soul seemed like he was about to give up all hopes in life.

One morning, the banana saw new neighbours moving into the lower storey of the building. And there he saw a beauty that he thought could never exist. So elegant - so majestic with a beautiful brown skin tone, and a distinct shine. Banana was mesmerized - it surely was a love at first sight!!!!

He kept on looking at her with his eyes charged with the light of wonder, hope and passion while she introduced herself to the other fellows in the "Baking Street", but as he saw her shaking hands with old Mr.Walnut from the upper most level, he simply couldnt resist the urge to feel that melting sensation of her beautiful skin, and rushed towards her yard.

The sinfully gorgeous- looking brown beauty, who appeared to have gained quite popularity among the locals within a few hours, also looked upon him and said, "Hi, I am Chocolate! Would you like to be friends with me?".

What happened next is up to the imagination, but here is what I think the end must have looked like.....

Stop wrinkling your nose now, if you´re so eager to know the rest, then head into your kitchen and witness the love story yourself:)

Chocolate Banana Bread

Ive spotted the recipe a few weeks ago at Coleen´s Recipes, one of the greatest food blogs, I love to visit every now and then, tweaked it a bit according to what I had on hand, and the outcome was just superb - an ultimate triumph of taste and texture!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
Few drops of vanilla essence
1 1/2 cups plain, all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips (ca. 180 g)

Sieve together flour, cocoa powder and baking soda.

Beat sugar, oil, eggs and salt with an electric mixer.

Add in the mashed bananas.

Beat in the dry ingredients just until combined.

Fold in the chopped nuts as well as the chocolate chips.

Pour the mixture into a greased, lined bread loaf pan (mine is 28 x 9 x 7 cm). You may use two smaller ones and reduce the baking time accordingly. Bake in preheated oven at 170 C for about 1 hour and 20 minutes or as Coleen says, until tooth pick test clean, i.e. you might trace melted chocolate on the tooth pick but no wet batter. Tip: I also secured my pan with the foil packs to avoid hard, crusty sides. However, this wont avoid the little doming on top caused by the too narrow baking pan. Cool bread in the pan for 15 minutes before removing the lining.

Immediately wrap the hot bread with plastic or foil. I havent taken any pictures of this step but its very useful in case you prefer moist breads.

Cut in slices. I like eating it both ways, warm as well as cold. But in case you wish to enjoy the flavour of melting chocolate chips in your mouth, heat the bread in microwave for a few seconds.

Enjoy the beautiful love story that had you wanting to know more;)

Love

Sweeten up your life...

2012-01-12T05:46:00.000-08:00

My skin is losing elasticity, my eyes are no longer sharp as they used to be a couple of years back, my belly is always bloated, memory is absolutely unreliable and the hair on my head (whats left of it anyway) is turning grey. All the signs are actually making me quite believe that I am getting old.

My official age might be 33 right now but its certainly very frustrating to see yourself in the mirror every morning and find new things in there that need to be fixed. A little uplifting here - a little cut down there!

But if there is something that makes me feel good and absolutely young about myself, those are my taste buds. I am sure, they work perfect, and are absolutely efficient and expedient (as always) in categorising stuffs that I offer them into edible or avoidable groups in fraction of seconds. Test them with a delicious treat and I bet theyll dance and sing to celebrate the real flavours with the same excitment as they had always used to!!! And since theyve always been so loyal and helpful to me, I also try my best to make sure that they get their deserved rhythms and ambience to enjoy the sensations to the fullest.

When talking about taste buds, I actually have great affection for all the flavours but it is meanwhile no longer a secret which one of the four taste receptors is my favourite. When I think of making something, 99 percent of the time, it has to be sweet. No wonder, where these extra pounds on the frame are coming from!!!! But seriously people, I dont know how could someone feel happy about life without having sweets and confectioneries in it. And these words are coming from a dessert fanatic who has a family history of diabetes!

Apple Pie

Ingredients:

300 +75g plain, all purpose flour
300g of cold butter, cut in cubes
1 1/2 tablespoon of sugar
1/2 tsp of salt
12 tbs of ice water

For the filling:
5-6 green apples like Granny Smith (see tips below)
100 g brown sugar (see tips)
100 g white sugar (see tips)
1/2 tsp lemon juice
Pinch of salt
2 tbs plain flour
1/2 tsp (or a little less) cinnamon powder , optional
2 tbs honey

Glaze:
3 tbs apricot jam
1 tsp water

Mix 300g flour, sugar, cold butter and salt in a bowl using your finger tips until it resembles breadcrumbs. You can also do this in a food processor or using the electric mixer with the dough hooks on.

Gradually mix in ice water.

Dust the kitchen counter with the remaining 75 g of flour and transfer the dough onto it. Knead gently until all flour is used up. Tip: Keep flouring the surface to avoid sticking.

Make a ball. Your dough should look more or less like this when it is done.

Wrap with cling film and put into the refrigerator for atleast an hour. Meanwhile make the filling.

Wash the apples. Peel, core, slice and transfer into a cooking pan. Add in the sugars, cinnamon, flour, lemon juice and salt.

Tip: Granny Smith apples that we get here in Germany are too sour, this is the reason why Ive used this much amount of sugar. In case you are using apples that are already sweet in taste, reduce it to 65 g each.

Cook on medium heat with the lid on, until the water is nearly evaporated and the left over juices start to thicken. Add in honey.

Cook further and turn the heat on high. The juices will thicken and start to coat around the apples. Tip: You may use cornflour instead of plain flour. Itll do the same job.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Cut into two halves.

Cover one half and put back into the fridge. Roll out the other one with a rolling pin. Tip: Make sure your rolling pin and the counter are dusted with flour to avoid unnecessary effort. Also, the diameter of the dough should be at least 4cm bigger than your pie pan so that it will cover the side walls.

Transfer the dough into the pan. Ive lined it with baking paper to ensure an easy removing later. Tip: Best way to transfer the dough is to place the rolling pin at one edge of the dough and then roll it over.

Place the rolled dough onto the pie pan and unroll the pin immediately. Adjust (dont stretch) it in the pan and trim off the excess edges.

Poke a few holes on the bottom to let steam out while baking and put the prepared filling on it.

Roll out the other pastry half. And cut into strips (about 2cm).

Cover the pie with these strips making a lattice pattern.

Brush with egg yolk. This will give the top a nice golden colour after baking. Bake in the preheated oven at 200 C for an hour or until golden and done.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for a while. Mix the apricot jam with water, and cook for a few minutes. Brush the pie top with this glaze. Itll give a nice shine, and will add a professional finish to your pie.

Serve warm (try with vanilla ice cream) or cold!

This ones for our new next door neighbours - a small "Hi! We are new here, nice to meet you" gesture!

Love

"Whats there for breakfast?"

2012-01-10T04:42:00.000-08:00

Now that we have pretty much settled in at our new home and life has returned to some what normalcy, I am also beginning to get back to what I missed the most during the hectic relocation phase.Yes folks, our new kitchen is up and once again open for practicing my culinary creativity:D And after a break of more than four weeks, I was finally able to be back in action on the weekend.

Since my hubby usually leaves very early for work on the week days (like most of yours), we hardly get time to pamper ourselves with some delicious stuff in the morning. The weekend breakfasts are, therefore, more like a morning date for us (now if youre thinking, how can she claim such a thing with a three year kid in her life..well trust me, you certainly need to be very creative to keep the spark in your spousal relationship after having children but its just that the definition of romance changes as well with time, and incase your partner is fond of eating, then trust me, food is definitely a great card to maintain a happy and healthy married life even after parenthood;)

Anyways, to make it short, breakfast on weekend is the most important meal of the week at our place. And I being someone who usually feels like starving in the morning, irrespective of what Ive stuffed my stomach with the night before, am actually always looking forward to jumping out of the bed and diving straight into the kitchen to tamp down my hunger pangs. Being an early riser and knowing the fact that the two men in my life will shortly be greeting me with their usual question, "Whats there for breakfast?", the weekend mornings usually start off with some foodporn for me. I swear, I jut loveeeee gazing at photos of delicious treats that make your mouth water, and its actually pretty intriguing as well. Even before the two of them are up, I usually have a plan set in the mind for a delicious surprise.

These Eggs On Spinach Rosti were inspired by images that I came across on the net at this URL and here.

Rosti or Rösti is a very popular dish (Swiss in origin) here in Germany consisting mainly of potatoes, and is very much similar to the American-style hash browns with a texture that is quite crunchy and buttery on the outside and soft (not mushy) on the inside. There are countless recipes for rosti available online but because there are attimes ingredients in most of them that arent quite what we like, here is my improvised version.You may like to check an inspirational source here.

This recipe is for the "Breakfasts of the World " - recipe contest hosted by the Very Good Recipes.

Spinach Rosti with Eggs

Ingredients:
6 potatoes
1 medium onion
150 - 200 g thawed frozen spinach
Salt and pepper
1 small egg
1 tbs plain flour
1 tbs + 1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp butter (clearified is better)
4+1 eggs
Herbs/spices of your choice for an extra kick

Take out the spinach from the freezer and microwave for 2 minutes. Squeeze out all of the extra moisture and put aside. Wash, peel and grate potatoes.

I use my magical grater, you may let the food processor do the job for you. Squeeze the juices out through a cheese cloth or towel.

Grate the onion and squeeze out the excess juice.

Combine all three vegetables in a bowl, add in flour, drizzle 1 tbs olive oil, and add one egg. Season the mixture with salt and pepper. Tip: You may like to add extra herbs, spices at this stage to suit your taste. Curry powder, italian herbs/pizza spices, taco seasonings are few of my personal favourites!

Heat 1 tsp olive oil and butter in a "non-stick" frying pan. Evenly spread the rosti mixture and press with a flat spatula or your hands (Be careful, the bottom can be really hot!).

Cook on medium heat for ca. 12 minutes. Lift a side with a large spatula to check whether its golden or not. Flip over and continue cooking on the other side as well for say 8 minutes.

Now add the eggs on top. Tip: My husband prefers eggs that are fully set, whereas my son and I are fans of the runny yolks. Ive used only two eggs at this stage, covered the pan with a lid,

and then waited for 3 minutes and then added rest of the eggs.

Again covered the pan until done. Upshot: everyone is satisfied!

Once the egg yolks are set as you want them to, take off the lid, cut the rosti in servings and sprinkle some more salt and other seasonings on top.

Breakfast is ready to energize your day!

With love

New world, new start...

2012-01-06T04:59:00.000-08:00

Well it's been nearly three weeks since we moved into our new house and after unpacking more than hundred cartons, and assembling plenty of shelves, wardrobes and a full-fledged kitchen, I feel that things are starting to look a little better now. But trust me people, even if the words are making it sound so easy today, moving was certainly not at all easy for us. Not only because we had to do the entire packing and unpacking all alone by ourselves but more because you just cant really focus on anything with a little monster shouting around and needing your constant attention all the time.

The entire house-moving mission took us about three months from packing, finding the house, moving to the new place, and unpacking. And all those who know me can attest the fact that I am actually not at all a bad organiser but one thing has become quite clear to me during the whole phase, i.e. no matter how well-planned the preparations are, there will always be some points where all your arrangments will go wrong. You just cannot organise shifting your own house!!! At first, I didnt know what to pack in where and later, with nearly hundred empty cartons and piles of packaging material scattered everywhere, I literally felt kind of disoriented in my own house.

However, despite all the stress and chaos caused by the shifting, I am happy to announce that this phase is finally nearing its end now. There are yet many tiny details to be taken care of and a lot of corners still need touches of warmth but nothing major is left, and I can clearly see everything starting to find a new home in my new home:)

Day1: This is just a glimpse of how the rooms looked like

Day 2: Not much has changed in one day

"Mom please, when are you going to clear up this mess? I cant wait to sleep in my own bed".

Day 3: Finally, weve managed to make some space to sit and relax a bit

Its actually pretty different in here. I mean reallllyyyy different. We had been used to living in a nature paradise with rivers, exquisite meadows and hills all around and lots of other natural attractions and scenic landscapes uptil now. And my biggest fear of moving the city was not being able to have all these beauties around any more. But surprisingly, all three of us are feeling very comfortable at the new place. Its very central and has its own charms. We dont necessarily have to drive to buy a loaf of bread now; everything you would ever need is close by and this is exactly how I wanted it to be!

Im sure the trees will look much nicer during the warmer months

Our new nest is on the right side

The area has an interesting mix of new and old architecture including villas, detached as well as semi-detached houses and a multi-storey building as well. Our street opens out onto the main highway from where you can take the tram to almost all directions, whereas the other side brings you to the wide green fields that I am really looking forward to walking on in summers. As you can see, I am quite enjoying the the fun part of moving, i.e. finding one's self in the new place.

Inside the house, I am glad that it is not that small as I had initially feared, which is, ofcourse, very nice! It still has the original hardwood floors (freshly sanded and revarnished so not really shabby) in some rooms and white wooden-framed glass doors that give the home a very homely look :) But dont ask me how uncomfortable the fizzy silhouettes through the frosted glass make me feel while someones using the bathroom and I am not even getting enough time to look for an appropriate alternative.

Im loving the solid wooden floor and ofcourse, the wooden blinds as well

As far as the kitchen is concerned, well....it hasnt really been used much lately as one of my best friends had been spoiling us with her delicious and flavourful cooking during all these weeks, so I havent really given this side much importance yet but one thing is obvious that I am surely going to miss the huge cooking kingdom that Ive been used to working in till now. This one is not even half the size of the older one but Ive still managed to add a few more cabinets on the walls this time which will give me more storage space. Clever, ha!

And here are some clicks of the few meals that we had over the shifting-phase. Again, my deepest gratitude to my friend Yasmeen who fed us with such great food - not only once but the whole week long!!!! Annnndddd ofcourse, how can I forget to thank the tremendous team of friends who helped us on the main two days of our shifting. We truely are so thankful and appreciative of your support and contribution friends. I certainly owe you all a lavish dinner for being so helpful;)

Needless to say that I am really enjoying the new rhythms that life has thrown our way lately. I hope the joy remains alive forever and the new place treats us well in the coming years as well.

And that reminds me of the fact that this is my first post in 2012, so let me wish you all a very happy new year. I hope you too had a good and safe start to the year. Even if not, may the coming days fill in all the missing gaps in your lives and bring you new hopes, new promises and new reasons to celebrate your presence in life. Stay blessed and continue to be a blessing for others as well!!

Love you all!

A thing of beauty!!

2011-12-06T03:36:00.000-08:00

"Since when am I a chocolate cake lover?" The thought first occured to me a couple of weeks ago while I was flipping through the older blogs and noticed that most of the cake recipes I have shared so far are chocolate based. I do love the seductive stuff but its mainly my husband who eats no other cakes but only chocolate. And since I dont like eating all the calories myself, I generously share the goodies with him (and the neighbours ofcourse) and often end up making what we all enjoy. But the urge of putting up some different cake recipes on the blog was so thrilling that it literally kept my mind occupied for many days thinking about new flavours and recipes and when the idea finally popped into my head, I immediately knew this was going to be my next post.

We actually had a cooking extravaganza at our home last Friday. It was supposed to be our last sumptuous meal in this house before disassembling the kitchen and moving to our new home near Dusseldorf. So, I made couscous-pomegranate salad, herby crown rib roast with pan-roasted baby potatoes, two different types of sauces and a quick Irish soda bread for dinner. Yes, yes, it was festive and was surely very filling as well!!!

For dessert, I had actually two brownies and a full cup of left-over chocolate ganache in the freezer that I couldve easily used up on another chocolaty delight but after having stuffed plenty of heavy food in it, my stomach wasnt willing to tolerate even a small amount of anything rich again so instead of having a dessert, my husband and I just settled on small cups of dark espresso. While taking the brief sips on espresso and watching our little son spooning up his favourite strawberry yoghurt on the other side of the table, I suddenly felt the urge to mix the two flavours. I know, I know, it sounds crazy but please do have a look at the pictures below before declaring me insane. Only then, youll be able to visualise what I wanted at that time;)

Its a coffee sponge cake filled with strawberry yoghurt mousse and raspberry glaze on top. The torte took hours to put together, making me postpone the packing plans and a lot of other important stuff around but it certainly was worth all the wait and effort. A true thing of beauty!!

Coffee - Berry Torte

Ingredients

Coffee Sponge:

3 eggs
100 g icing sugar
1 tbs instant coffee mixed in 3 tbs hot water
50 g plain flour
50 g cornflour
2 tbs cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
few drops of vanilla

Filling:

100 g raspberries/strawberries
3 tbs sugar
1 pkt vanilla sugar
100 g strawberry yoghurt
200 ml heavy cream
3 tbs water
1 1/2 tbs powdered gelatin

Glaze:

1 1/2 tsp powdered gelatin
3 tsp water
200 g raspberries
3 tbs sugar
few drops of lemon juice

The sponge cake is the usual sponge I make but this time I flavoured it with instant coffee. Bake an 8 inches coffee sponge according to instructions shown here. Take out from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack. Remove the sticky crust on top with your finger tips.

Prepare the mousse filling. Its not an ideal season to buy fresh berries, so I have compromised on using the frozen raspberries. Take the raspberries and puree them with an electric mixer. Strain if desired (I personally like the mousse with seeds but the glaze without). Add sugar and lemon juice.

Dissolve gelatin into water. After 3 minutes, microwave for a few seconds (dont boil or itll lose its setting power) until hot. Stir with a spoon, mix into the strawberry puree and allow to cool. Sorry I havent taken any pictures here but its more or less like the raspberry glaze shown below.

Meanwhile whip the heavy cream with electric beaters. Stop beating once you see the soft peaks forming.

Beat the strawberry yoghurt with a fork and mix it in the raspberry purree.

Gently fold the whipped cream into the puree with a rubber spatula until well incorporated.

Slice the sponge cake into two equal layers.

Take an 8" ring mould and set it on a cake plate or anything similar. Make sure the plate fits in your freezer. Fit a layer of sponge inside the ring.

Pour the prepared mousse over the sponge base. Place in the freezer for an hour.

Take out the cake from the freezer and carefully place the second layer of sponge on top. Return the cake back into the freezer for another hour.

After 40 minutes, start preparing the raspberry topping.

Take 200 g of raspberries in a sauce pan and purree them.
Dissolve gelatin in cold water and set aside.
Add sugar and lemon juice to the purree.

Bring to a boil. Remove from the stove and add gelatin. Stir gently until the gelatin is well incorporated into the purree.

Strain and remove all the unwanted seeds. Allow to cool.

Take out the cake from the freezer and pour the prepared glaze over it.

Place the torte in the refrigerator until set (ca. 5 hrs).

Carefully remove the ring.
Coat the sides with white chocolate (use your vegetable peeler to make white chocolate shavings).

Carefully transfer the torte onto the serving plate. Tip: Slide a long heavy knife under the torte and carefully lift it up giving additional support with your other hand. Be very careful as its a soft mousse-like cake!

Decorate with sugar-coated raspberries and sliced apples. Tip: If you want to give your torte more professional touches, brush the top with a clear cake glaze (we call it Tortenguss here in Germany) or with melted apricot jam.

Enjoy the flavours and..

have a great day you all!!!

When nothing seems to be working

2011-11-29T23:05:00.000-08:00

The blog was initially published on Tuesday, 21 June 2011. As promised, I am adding more pictures and details to the existing content. Please note that the pictures display an 8" inch coffee sponge cake for which I have used only three eggs. The images are just to show you the different stages of sponge making, and the consistency of the cake mixture. Use the amounts as stated in the recipe below or adjust according to the size of your pan.

What do you do when nothing around you works the way you want it to??? Last Saturday was one of such days. A very close friend of mine with family was here to spend the weekend with us and nothing seemed like working in my favour.

It all started before they had even arrived. I couldnt manage to do my groceries in time, as a result to which we all had to compromise on junk for lunch. The dinner was served at 10:00 pm and was in my opinion utterly devastating as the new brand of noodles refused to soften up even after 35 minutes of boiling (you wont believe but they were so hard from inside that finally I had to pressure cook them. I know it sounds crazy but I have two witnesses to confirm this). Anyways, the dinner was somehow saved by the impaccable chicken stacks but the curse reappeared again the next day when my friend asked me to bake a cake for her.

Ive often encountered disasters in the kitchen but that day was really special. From cutting fingers to falling bowls, mistaking salt for sugar and forgetting to add water in the recipe, an overheated oven and a broken peeler - everything in the kitchen seemed jinxed no matter how careful I tried to be.

Nevertheless, I am grateful that there wasnt anything that we couldnt manage to fix in the end. Please ignore the flattened top of the cake, it was only because my cream and the beaters were not chilled properly before beating and I had no more nerves to try further.

Well, I must admit, without any red cherries on top and a flattened cream, this is one of the worst looking black forest tortes Ive made during this year but trust me, the taste was still amazingly good and impressive;)

Okay, I have just realised that its probably not a good start to a post on the best cake I have in my repertoire. Just try the recipe as stated below. It is the same famous most-wanted secret sponge cake that you all had been asking to share. I am extremely sorry for not being able to recall the original source of the recipe (and I mean it!!! I am terribly sorry for not being able to give credit to the great mind who originally introduced this recipe. I just found it written in one of my diaries) but I have been following it for eons and am absolutely convinced that no other sponge could ever excel this.

Sponge Cake

Ingredients:

6 eggs
200 g icing sugar
6 tbs hot water
100 g plain flour
100 g cornflour
25 g cocoa powder for the darker sponge or 25 g of additional cornflour for the yellow one
1 tsp baking powder
few drops of vanilla

And the most important ingredient is PATIENCE...a lot of patience while beating the eggs. And I mean it!!

Take all the six (in the pictures you can see only three as I have used half the recipe) eggs in a big bowl. Add in sugar.

Using your electric beaters or mixer, beat for about 7 minutes.

I have mixed 1 tbs instant coffee in the water to make 8" coffee sponge

Keep adding water into this with the beaters still on. Also add vanilla essence and continue with the beating process until foamy. (Altogether, Itll take about 10-15 minutes). Check the different stages in the images below!

Continue beating...

beating...

and beating...

Look at the thickness and volume of the mixture!

Its light in colour, thick but fluffy in texture.

Sieve the flour, cornflour, baking powder and cocoa in a seperate bowl.

And start folding it lightly into the egg mixture with a spatula (in batches). Tip: Dont overmix and keep your strokes very soft.

Pour the mixture into the greased and lined 11 inches pan. For optimal results use the foil pack method as well.

Bake in a preheated oven at 175 C for 25-30 minutes. Or keep an eye, check with a wooden skewer after 20 minutes, if it comes out clean and dry, turn off the oven. If still moist and sticky, continue baking. Tip: Never overbake the sponge, it will only turn it into a dry foam. Carefully remove the butter paper and place on a wire rack to cool. Once the cake has completely cooled, cover with a kitchen towel to keep it moist until further use.

For the black forest, I cut the cake into three layers. Soaked each layer on both side with milk (I prefer milk over juice), spread cherry compote onto the base and stabilised whipped cream between the upper two layers. Covered the top and sides with stabilised whipped cream and decorated with grated chocolate (use your vegetable peeler for this), pearls and berries. Since there was already enough chaos in the kitchen, I didnt want to risk my camera and havent taken any pictures. Will update the post whenever I make it next (as promised, the pictures are up).

Happy caking!!

"Check" !!

2011-11-28T03:52:00.000-08:00

"Chess is a good exercise for the brains. This might appear boring to you now but just give it a try. Itll improve your mental skills". Had I taken my fathers advice a bit more seriously years ago, I probably would have been a much logical and well-concentrated person today.

I really am not good at playing chess like my father but yes, I am fairly good at making chess- or checkerboards - or at least in my own style;)

Just "check" it out!!

Making a checkered cake is actually no big science. Its bascially all about the pattern. There are special baking sets easily available at different baking stores that generally contain different cake pans and rings to seperate the cake mixes. But even if you dont want to invest on buying them, its no big deal. Just look around carefully and youll find everything within your own kitchen to perform the little trick. All you need is round plates, glasses, lids or any other round cutters to use as templates for cutting out the cake layers. Follow the instructions bellow and make your friends wow on the masterpiece:

Checkered Cake :

2 round cakes of equal size but contrasting colours

Chocolate Ganache Icing / Buttercream Icing
Chocolate Glaze

Start by preparing the ganache icing first. Click here to view the step-by-step instructions on how to make chocolate ganache. ( Ive used 300 g of dark chocolate and 300 g heavy cream to prepare the icing here - should be enough to fill and coat the cake).

Bake the cakes according to the recipe youre following. Tip: You may like to use your favourite cake mix from the box. Make sure both cakes are equal in size but different in colour. Checkered cakes are often made in yellow and chocolate colours but you can use other shades of your choice as well.

You could also bake the cakes from scratch as I did. However, try and find recipes that use similar amounts of flour, sugar and eggs in order to yield same sized cakes. I have baked two 8 inches cakes using my regular cooking pan;) For optimal results, follow the baking instructions posted here.

Once the cakes are done, allow them to cool thoroughly. Slice each cake into three horizontal layers.

Tip: Youll cut each cake twice to get three layers and there will be six layers in total. Ive used my special cutting tool for that but here is a good link incase you want to do it with the normal cutting knife. Another famous method is the one using toothpicks. Just type in the search engine, youll find many links and videos on that as well. Make sure you cut the cake twice to get the three layers.

Now comes the part where you need round templates to cut rings out of each cake layer. Ive used a round bowl (approx. 6") and a glass (approx. 4").

Carefully lift up the middle ring from all layers. Tip: Be gentle or ask someone to give you a hand.
Once the rings have been seperated, its time to reassemble them with alternate colours and layers.

Put the first layer down on the cake plate and seal it with some icing. Using a spoon or spatula, lightly spread the icing on the insides of the outer ring.

Now spread some cream/ganache on outside of middle rings as well. This helps in sticking the rings together and they wont fall apart while cutting the cake. Fix the ring again into the layer and spread a thin layer of icing on top of it.

Continue doing the same with the second layer, and then repeat with the third as well.

Once youve stacked all the layers on each other, its time to cover the sides and top of the cake with the icing. This requires a bit finess. Best is to place the cake in the freezer for 15 minutes. Itll help against crumbling. Apply the thickened yet spreadable ganache /butter cream icing on the sides first.

Fill in the gaps and smooth out roughly by moving the scrapper from down to upwards.

Now take a palette knife and run around the sides with it. Tip: If you dont have a palette knife, use your cake server instead. Incase the icing is a bit hard to work with, dip your knife in hot water and smooth out the ganache with it. Keep spreading and smoothing, even if you have to use more ganache on one side than the other. Keeping your knife stand straight and rotate the cake platter, moving the knife on the ganache.

Once the sides are done, apply a thick layer on the top. Be gentle with the icing. Incase you see crumbs mixing with the icing on your knife, clean it immediately. Take more icing and continue spreading until all sides and top are smoothly coated with ganache. Tip: Dip the knife in hot water and shake off the excess droplets and run over the icing. The heat will help you to smooth out the top and sides much easily.

Place aside to set. Put in the freezer for a while before coating it with a shinny glaze.

Chocolate Glaze:

300 g chopped dark chocolate
370 g heavy cream
1 tbs corn syrup (optional)

Take heavy cream in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Pour over the chopped chocolate. Stir carefully, add in the light corn syrup and mix until a smooth shiny glaze is obtained. If you find impurities, strain it.

Stirring carefully, allow to cool down.

Set a wire rack on a deep plate/ dish. Take out the cake from the freezer and place it on the prepared rack. Pour the glaze over and on sides of the cake.

Carefully shake the wire allowing the excess glaze to drip off, and level the cake top with a palette knife. Tip: The excess glaze can be strained, (after one hour) stored in the refrigerator or freezer and reused later.

Carefully tranfer the cake onto the serving plate. It is actually ready to serve. You may, however, decorate further if you want.

And this is how the cake looks from inside.

Isnt it cool???

Have a great chess time people!!

Glaze, pipe or whip

2011-11-24T03:39:00.000-08:00

If there is an icing I am always ready to make, its the chocolate ganache:) Super easy, convenient and all packed with chocolate flavour, it is one of those sins I can always find an excuse to indulge in. And why shouldnt I, there is so much you can do with it...

Use it as a glaze, whipped cream, filling medium, sticking agent, decorative piping, or just lick it with your fingers - Its versatility answers almost all the needs of any chocolate lover seeking their life´s purpose.

Contrary to its fancy french name, Ganache is actually super easy to make. All you need is good quality cooking chocolate and heavy cream. I have already shared many recipes of ganache on the blog. Depending on its use (as icing, glaze or filling agent) and consistency requirements (thick, whipped or runny), there can be variations but the basic procedure remains the same in which you simply pour hot heavy cream over chopped chocolate and stir until a beautiful mixture is obtained. Please note that ganache can be prepared from any type of cooking chocolate. And the amount of heavy cream is dependent on the desired consistency and the type of chocolate you wish to use. Just follow the amounts as stated in the recipe.

Ganache

Ingredients:
Semi sweet / bitter / white chocolate
Heavy cream

Break the chocolate into pieces or chop with a knife.You want the pieces to be thin as the bigger chunks are hard to melt. Tranfer the chopped chocolate into a bowl.

Heat heavy cream in a sauce pan on medium high until it comes to a boil.

Remove from heat and immediately pour cream over the chopped chocolate.

Wait for two three minutes.

Start stirring with a spoon or a whisk until completely mixed and glossy.

Allow to cool a bit. The ganache is ready to be used as glaze, i.e. if you want to coat your cake with a shiny smooth chocolate coating, this is the stage where you pour it over the prepared, well-chilled cake. Tip: Adding a tablespoon of corn syrup or glucose will add more gloss to your ganache.

Always place the cake on top of a cooling rack set over a deep dish or bowl. The excess glaze will drop off of the cake through the rack and can be saved and stored for later use.

Ganache used as glaze

Incase you want to use the ganache for anything other than a glaze, allow the mixture to thicken. For that, cover it with cling film so that a skin does not form on top.

Let the ganache either sit on the counter until it becomes thick (not firm) but that could take a couple of hours or you could put it in the refrigerator for about an hour and stir every 15 minutes or so until it sets. The icing is ready to be used as decorative piping when you are able to spoon it and it holds its texture. Tip: If you feel that the ganache has become too firm when taken out of the refrigerator, let it stand at room temperature and allow to warm up until it is easily spreadable or can be piped easily out of a piping bag.

Unwhipped but thick Ganache used as base for fondant/marzipan/other decorative stuff

Another use of ganache is to use it as whipped icing. For that, whip the custard-like ganache with an electric beater until fluffy in texture and light in colour. Tip: Never put your ganache in the freezer to achieve the thick consistency. It will not whip this way and will only end in a curdly like texture.You can, however, freeze the left-over ganache for upto three months ONCE IT HAS ALREADY ACHIEVED THE REQUIRED THICKNESS.

Light and fluffy whipped ganache

Incase you wish to freeze your prepared ganache icing for later use, be sure to take it out well ahead of time and allow to soften again before beating. Incase you find it too thick, add a tablespoon of heavy cream and mix again. If you want to use it to glaze the cake, reheat in a double boiler over hot water stirring gently with a spoon.

Enjoy!!!

Baking breads...

2011-11-22T01:20:00.000-08:00

The weathers getting colder day by day here in Germany and with these shorter days and freezing temperatures outside, one automatically feels like spending more time at home, baking breads and conjuring up hot soups. And now that I have more or less adjusted to Nael´s kindergarten schedule as well, I think its time to get back to baking again.

When thinking about bread or rolls, the first thing that usually springs to my mind is my all time favourite basic dinner rolls recipe. Its just so convinient and simple yet so tasty that you just dont feel like thinking further and decide for it right away. However, when it comes to the fine Italian flavours, I have often found myself falling back on the flawless, flavourful Focaccia. Its tantalising aroma while baking is just heavenly, making the entire house smell divine. And the rich herby taste as well as the filling character are further convincing points why I feel like coming back to the recipe every now and then.

Another great recipe that I like to pull out of my box for special ocassions is the Olive Bread - another no-fail recipe from the reliable collection "The Cooks Bible" . Its also very tasty, and most people in my circle of friends seem to enjoy it.

The best part about all three breads is the fact that you can always modify the ingredients as well as the shapes and, therefore, never get bored of them.

The recipes for the first two types are already on the blog, and here comes the third one. Happy bread making friends and do let me know how it goes!

Olive and Tomato Muffins
(The original recipe "olive-tomato-bread" makes two bread loaves. My variation yields 6 normal-sized muffins).

Ingredients:

400 g plain flour
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp dry active yeast
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp dried rosemary/thyme
1/2 tsp pizza spices
4 tbs olive oil
200 ml luke warm water
50 g sliced black olives
50 g sliced green olives
100 g sun dried tomatoes (cut in strips)
1 beaten egg yolk

Take flour and salt in a bowl.

Add in the sugar, dry yeast as well as the herbs.

Make a well in the centre and pour in the olive oil and water. Mix it quickly with a wooden spoon.

Keep mixing with the wooden spoon until it forms like a dough. Knead with your hands until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl.

Make a ball out of it. Dust the kitchen counter with some plain flour and transfer the dough onto it. Knead for about 2 minutes.

Add the olives and tomatoes. Knead until mixed in the dough.

Now tranfer the dough into a big bowl. With a knife, make a cut in the centre, cover and put aside in a warm place until double in size (approx. 2 hours).

Transfer the dough once again onto a floured surface and punch it down using your fist. This will help removing the air bubbles. Knead for about a minute and then divide into six portions. Make balls.

Grease a muffin tray and put the dough balls in it. Cover with a wet kitchen towel and allow to rise again (approx. 1 hr).

Brush with the beaten egg yolk and bake in the preheated oven at 200 C for about 30 minutes. Tip: The bread is usually ready once the top gets a nice golden brown colour and if you knock on the base, it sounds hollow. You might, however, wont be able to notice it much incase of muffins.

Allow to cool on a kitchen wire for 5 min and serve.

Kindergarten blues!!!

2011-11-13T00:39:00.000-08:00

My appologies to all the readers for the fact that I havent posted anything new lately but it has actually been a very bittersweet week for me with absolutely no time to sit down and write. But there is so much to share that I am not sure where to begin.

I have been in the role as stay-at-home mom ever since my son came into my life. Since Feb 2009, he has been my whole world and I hardly remember a day when we both were not together during these three years. As a matter of fact, he has been my sidekick, my best companion, best buddy since then.

Now dont think that I am trying to convince you to plan a baby neither am I in the mood of sharing my views on how wonderful and joyous motherhood is. In all honesty, despite all its rosy aspects, motherhood for me was attimes very testing and exhausting as well. Like all other mothers out there, I too have experienced those emotional seasons when you really want to quit and want to free yourself from all responsibilities of motherhood but then, at the same time, even the thought of having a life without those little monsters in it gives you jitters:)

In short, I had always assumed myself to be a very rational and sensible mother but that watching my little man going off to kindergarten for the first time will be so difficult, was something I wasnt expecting from myself.

Yes, my baby is now a kindergarten boy and believe me people, I just cant let on how miserable I am feeling over this. I think Im getting too emotional. On one hand, so proud and happy to see him achieving an important milestone of his life, at the same time, it was too weird to watch my little birdie taking his first steps out of the cosy nest and going out into the big world on Monday.

Anyways, Im trying to adjust myself into the new routine now and quite looking forward to having this emotional phase over but since there is enough to focus on these days, not much cooking is happening in the kitchen. The house looks so empty and quiet without him and that literally makes me miss my cooking and blogging buddy. The whole week long, weve mainly survived on quick and easy meals. This, however, doesnt mean that there had been compromises on the taste as well. I have a few recipes for fast and filling meals in my pocket that I usually reserve for phases like these.

Since its one of my self-created, highly flexible recipes, I have actually never measured the ingredients, but they should be close to following numbers:

Pasta Basta
Ingredients:

250 -300 g (al-dente) boiled pasta (Sciviotti ziti)
500 g boneless chicken
250 g canned tomatoes
1 tbs pizza spices / dried italian herbs
1 tsp garlic paste
2 tbs chili garlic sauce
1 tbs tomato paste
2 tbs fresh cream
salt n pepper
3 tbs oil
Red chili flakes (optional)

Heat oil in a pan, add the chicken and fry for a while. Add in garlic. Fry for another few minutes. Now add all the sauces as well as canned tomatoes to this. Season with salt, pepper and herbs. When the water has almost evaporated, add in the cream as well as the chili flakes. Also add in the boiled pasta and toss gently. Ta daaa!!!

Food and fun!!

2011-10-28T02:21:00.000-07:00

Pretty much everyone I know is aware of my love for playing with food and recipes. I do like adding variety and getting creative with the ingredients, and a little increase or replacement of herbs and spices doesnt bother me much but I am certainly not a cooking guru by any means. Its just that my love for good food has taught me how to have fun in the kitchen and that is the primary reason behind my fondness for giving new interpretations to the classic recipes:)

A few months ago, I found a great recipe for Focaccia in the Cook’s Bible and have been playing with it ever since. Keeping the basic dough foundation of flour, yeast and water stay the same, Ive tried making it with various toppings and seasonings and have come up with great results each time.

Tomato-Rosemary Focaccia

Ingredients:

500 g flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp dry yeast
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary (Ive used 1 tsp dried leaves)
6 tbs + 1 tsp olive oil
300 ml luke warm water
6 sun dried tomatoes
1 tbs unsweetened condensed milk ( The original recipe calls for water and oil only but I prefer brushing with milk)
1 tsp sea salt (optional)

Take flour and salt in a bowl. Add in the dry yeast as well as the herbs.

Make a well in the centre and pour in the olive oil. Mix it quickly with a wooden spoon.

Start adding water and keep mixing roughly with the wooden spoon.

Dust the kitchen counter with some plain flour and transfer the dough onto it. Knead for about 2 minutes. The dough will have a sticky consistency but this is how you want it.

Make a round ball out of it and tranfer into a big bowl. With a knife, make a cut in the centre of the dough, cover and put aside in a warm place until double in size (approx. 2 hours).

Grease a baking tray. Transfer the dough once again onto a floured surface and punch it down using your fist. This will help removing the air bubbles. Knead for about a minute.

Spread on the greased tray using your hands. Cover with a wet kitchen towel and allow to rise again (approx. 1 hr).

Preheat the oven at 240C. Cut the tomatoes in strips. Mix 1 tbs oil with the milk, brush the dough with this mixture. Dip in your fingertips in the leftover mixture and dimple the flattened dough.

Arrange the sun dried tomatoes on top. Sprinkle with salt (optional).

Reduce oven temperature to 220C and bake the focaccia for 20 min or until golden brown on top.

Allow to cool on a kitchen wire for 5 min and serve.

Focaccia is a tasty, very easy to make bread and tastes great as a snack (check my previous post for ideas). You can also serve it as a side to any meal.

Inspirations...

2011-10-24T06:12:00.000-07:00

When I first embarked on this blogging journey, I had no idea where this hobby would be taking me to and that how time-consuming it would turn out to be one day. All I wanted to do was to share my kitchen adventures and cooking creations with my friends - the idea was to catalogue all the favourite recipes that I cook for friends and family at one place in order to make them accessible to us all for later use. However, in all honesty, I was not at all prepared for the way what this sharing activity would flourish into one day.

Blogging is no longer just a recipe-sharing-platform to me. It has become more of a passion that seems to follow me wherever I go or do. Whether I am washing or cleaning, shopping, watching TV, dining out with friends, talking on phone, playing with my little one - there is hardly a time during the day when I dont find myself thinking about new flavour combinations and dishes, new unique ways to visually present them or extraordinary arrangements, accessoires and angels to capture them best. Blogging surely is time-consuming but its at the same time a very creative and interesting activity to engage in. Its just like letting your creative side out of you, passing on your inspirations to other people and hence encouraging them to do the same.

Anyways, enough of the boring talk. Check out what I have to share with you today:

Stuffed Tomato Hearts

Ingredients:

Mini grape tomatoes / cherry tomatoes (oval shaped)
2 tbs cream cheese (Philadelphea)
1 sweet smoked paprika (from the jar)
Salt and pepper
Mini mozarella balls
1/2 tsp mixed italian herbs
Wooden skewers
Freshly baked focaccia (recipe soon on the blog)

Chop the smoked paprika, mix in cream cheese and season with salt, pepper and pinch of mixed italian herbs.

Wash the grape tomatoes and pat dry. Take one tomato and using a sharp knife, make a diagonal cut as illustrated in the picture below, cutting away about 1/3 of the tomato. Tip: You´ll be needing two mini oval tomatoes to make one heart but with a little practice, you might be able to make out of one big normal sized tomato.

With a small spoon, deseed the tomatoes. Fill them with cream cheese paste and join two (roughly same-sized) to make a heart.

Tip: Incase some filling leaks out, clean it with a kitchen towel.

Take the mozarella balls and roll them in the italian spices. Arrange the tomato hearts and balls on the skewers. Tip: Ive used green seedless grapes to add more colour. You can also take any oval shaped fruit or vegetable for the purpose.

Serve with remaining cream cheese dip, balsamic venigar and freshly baked focaccia or any other bread of your choice.

Love is not only in the air, its now on your plate as well :) Have a glorious, love-filled day everyone!!!!!

When every leaf is a flower...

2011-10-18T01:49:00.000-07:00

I still remember myself rhapsodising about my love for Spring on this blog only a few months back, but now that the Autumn is upon us, I am feeling equally excited about it.

And why shouldnt I be feeling so? To me, Autumn means family, love and memories. There is actually so much to rejoice about in Autumn. With numerous birthdays in the family, our wedding anniversary coming up in a week and many other events, the season actually means a collection of cosy gatherings, rich feasting and beautiful memories at ours and I love enjoing every moment of it. From crunchiness of leaves beneath the shoes, picking of chestnuts with my son on our way to the nearby grocery store to cooking up colourful and comfort foods in the kitchen, and watching TV in the evenings with a warm blanket wrapped around - everything gives a very homely, sincere and comfy feeling.

I know, most of you must be expecting to see some pumpkin, squash or apple recipe now but since I really wanted to use up my summer leftovers from the freezer before taking a complete start to the new season, thought it would be nice to make something out of those that would also fit the new category. Here is the birthday cake I made for my husband on the weekend - a blend of both summer as well as winter flavours with a crisp autumn-y decor...

Ice Cream Log Cake - A Mosaic of all Seasons

Ingredients:

Sponge Cake
Vanilla Ice Cream
Chocolate Ganache
Cornflakes, Cocoa powder and Icing sugar to decorate
3 sheets of parchament

Prepare the ganache first by heating and then mixing 450 g of heavy cream into 375 g chopped dark chocolate. Add 3 tbs of butter, stir, wait for 10 minutes, cover with a wrap, set in the refrigerator and allow to cool. Tip: Check this post for help but dont forget to adjust the quantities and no need to whip it as well. Just place in the refrigerator for a few hours until a thick yet spreadable consistency is achieved.

Make a sponge cake in a rectangular baking tray. I used my regular oven tray, i.e. about 17 x 14 inches (43 x 36 cm) and baked for only 10-12 minutes . Once the sponge is ready, take out from the oven. Allow to rest in the tray for 5 minutes and then carefully remove the parchament by turning upside down onto another sheet first and then transfer again on a third sheet having the upper side on top again.

Make a roll of the used parchament and place it on the cake and start folding the cake making a swiss roll.

Set aside to cool completely.

Take out the ice cream from the freezer and allow to soften a bit. This will help in spreading a neat layer without having mess with the cake crumbs etc.

Roll up the sponge keeping the paper outside. Cover the roll with the parchament and put in the freezer for an hour.

Take out the cake and coat with the prepared chocolate ganache.
Draw lines with a fork to give wood effects. Sprinkle with icing sugar, decorate with marzipan mushrooms, cornflakes etc. Tip: Make sure to put the left over cake in the freezer and take out again ca. 20 min prior to serving (depending on the weather).

Happy birthday to my crazy, wonderful, loving hubster!! You are simply the best darling and your son and I love you very very much. Wishing you a great and blessed year ahead with everything around you love the most :)

Here it is...

2011-10-10T23:47:00.000-07:00

I have received atleast a dozen requests for a good doughnut recipe during the last few months and it actually had been on my to-blog-about list for quite some time but its just that I usually never post a recipe just for the sake of making a post. I feel like I would be letting you all down by recommending something I myself am not satisfied with. Since I couldnt find any hint in my collection of authentic and reliable recipes, a little research had to be done before publishing it here.

There are thousands of dougnut recipes available online. So, I tried many of them - those with eggs, with butter, with yeast, even those with baking powder and oil, deep as well as shallow fried. And after experimenting and testing many different recipes, here is the one that really came up to the level where I couldnt help saying, "This is the one I had been looking for!!".

Soft and Fluffy Doughnuts

Ideas adapted from:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/53790333/Soft-Melt-in-the-Mouth-Doughnuts
http://www.strapya-world.com/index.php?main_page=popup_image&pID=33055
http://www.juste1kif.com/

Ingredients:

1 cup warm (not hot) milk
5 tsp powdered yeast
2 tbs melted butter
2 1/2 cups plain flour
1/4 cup + 1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
few drops of vanilla essence
1/2 cup warm boiled mashed potatoes (key ingredient)

Microwave butter and milk for a few seconds. Tip: Dont bring it to boil, it should only be warm and not hot. Add 1 tsp sugar and sprinkle yeast on top. Place aside for 5 minutes until frothy.

In a seperate bowl, take two cups of sifted flour.

Add sugar and salt.

Also add mashed potatoes and combine well using a hand whisk.

Add vanilla essence into the yeast mixture, mix and pour into the flour bowl. Itll be a bit sticky, add in rest of the flour and knead gently on the kitchen counter dusted with extra flour. Tip: Dont add too much flour; a softer dough yields lighter and much fluffier doughnuts.

Roll out the dough with a rolling pin (approx. half inch thick). Cut out circles using a doughnut cutter. Tip: I normally use a glass to cut out doughnuts and lid of my olive oil bottle for making holes in the centre.

Let the doughnuts rest aside for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile heat the oil for deep frying. Tip: Oil should neither be too hot to burn the doughnuts from outside nor cold to make them hard. Tip: You can always test the temperature on scraps of dough.

Fry the doughnuts (not more than 4 at a time) until golden on one side. Turn the side and continue frying until equally golden. Take out on a kitchen towel and allow to cool.

Prepare the glaze. Ive used a dark chocolate and a red vanilla glaze for decorating mine. You can also find different icing recipes of your choice on the internet.
Tip: Mickey -shaped dougnut cutters are available at stores for baking supplies etc. I, however, have made these by frying the plain round doughnuts, the round dough balls that we cut out from the centre (flattened them with hands before throwing into the hot oil) and fixed them with a sphagetti to make ears.

Chocolate Glaze

Ingredients:
(For half cup glaze)

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon caramel syrup
Few drops of vanilla essence

Melt the ingredients together over low heat, stirring often. Coat the dougnuts with the hot glaze.

Vanilla Glaze:

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon caramel syrup
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 tablespoons milk
Drops of vanilla essence
Red food colour

Stir the ingredients together until a smooth paste is achieved. Add the food colour and mix. Tip: You may add more sugar or milk to adjust the consistency. Decorate!!

The recipe is so easy that any novice can make. So, dont wait for too long like I usually do. Try the recipe and share your joy with others as well. Tip: Store in an air tight container incase you wish to save some for later!!

Food is for all senses!!

2011-10-06T01:09:00.000-07:00

"We eat more with our eyes than our stomachs!". Thats actually very true for me as I am quite a visual person when it comes to food and recipes. You just can´t convince me a dish tastes good if it´s not pleasing my eyes. There are exceptional incidents, ofcourse, but most of the times, its the presentation or the picture of a food that makes it interesting for me.

Have you ever noticed that this is actually the very first thing most of us usually do on having some food served infront of us, i.e. an intenional or unintentional yet close look at what and how it has been presented. The first look at the plate leaves impressions on our minds, which automatically make us think of what we are going to experience in a while - a delicious affair with the served stuff or a culinary prank. Its the presentation and the plating technique that makes the impression.

Good food does not only taste good; it should also smell good but before anything it has to LOOK good. If you have spent hours of your valuable time standing in the kitchen, you should not feel shy to invest a few more minutes in presentating it in the best possible way and serving the dish in the most appetising manner.

A sponatneous applause is the least your hard work deserves!!!

Kokri Kebabs served with Pilaf Rice
(my version)

Ingredients:

400 g minced meat (beef/mutton)
1 medium sized chopped onion
1 tsp crushed garlic
1/4 cup powdered cashews
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
salt
1 tbs poppy seeds
1 tsp mixed spices (see under mixed spice rice)
1/2 tsp green cardamom powder
1 chopped green chili
1 tbs raw papaya paste
2 tbs oil
2 tbs bread crumbs
3 tbs chopped corriander
butter for basting
sesame seeds for garnishing

Take minced meat in a bowl.

Add all the ingredients except for butter and sesame seeds. Mix well.

Set aside for 10 minutes and mix again. Take handfuls of the mixture and wrap around a wooden cooking spoon with round handle or a round stick (making the shape of a sausage). Smooth the outer surface with your hands. Tip: apply some oil/water on your hands to avoid stickiness.

Place in the preheated oven (180C) for 10-15 minutes. Turn over. Baste with butter and sprinkle sesame seeds on each of the kebabs. Bake further for 5 minutes.

Pilaf rice

Ingredients:

3 cups bouillon
250 g lamb
4 cloves of garlic
salt, pepper

1 1/2 cups basmati rice (washed and saoked in water for 30 min)
1 sliced onion
1 tbs chopped garlic
1 tbs + 1tsp mixed spices
2 green cardamoms
3 medium sized carrots (julienned)
3/4 cup raisins
3/4 cup almond flakes
3 tbs cooking oil
1tbs + 2tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp yellow food colour

Take 5-6 cups of water, salt, pepper, one teaspoon of mixed spices, cloves of garlic and the meat in a pressure cooker and cook for about 10 minutes or until the meat is completely done. Take out 3 cups of bouillon for making rice. Seperate the meat from bones and fry in a tablespoon of olive oil alongwith the green cardamoms. Note: you may like to season it a bit with salt and pepper.

In a frying pan, take 2 tsps olive oil and fry the carrots in it.

Add the almonds as well as the raisins. Fry for a few minutes.

Place aside till further use.

In a large pan, fry the sliced onion in hot oil until golden brown. Add in the garlic paste. Fry for another minute.

Add the bouillon, more salt, pepper, mixed spices. Bring to a boil, then add the soaked, drained basmati rice. Cook on high-medium until rice has soaked in the entire bouillon and is almost done.Tip: To determine when it has reached that stage that you require, remove a few grains from the pot and press between your thumb and forefinger. The rice should mostly mash but will have a firm whitish core.

Divide rice into two portions and mix the food colour into one. Spread the coloured rice onto the bottom of the pan.

Spread half tablespoonmixed spices as well as half of the carrot stuff over it. Again repeat the procedure with the remaining rice, half of the meat, spices and carrots etc.
Tip: Do reserve some carrots/raisins for the garnishing purpose as well.

Immediately after this, cover the pan with a tight lid and place on very low heat for another 7-10 minutes.

Open the lid, carefully toss the rice. Decorate with the reserved carrots, amonds and meat. This is how I did it:

Assemble carrots, rainsins, almonds, meat and rice in a mould. Press a bit with the back of a spoon. Invert on a serving dish.

Serve warm with kebabs and mint-walnut chutney.

Its my piece of coffee!!

2011-10-04T05:46:00.000-07:00

Coffee and mornings definitely go together! The little sips on the hot liquid send a blast of warmth in your stomach that makes your eyes open wide and awakens the sleepy brain - everything seems to appear much brighter and happier somehow. I know, its basically the evil caffeine trap that gives you the fast lift but to be honest, I am actually not against taking this little pick-me-up once or twice a day as I believe, when consumed in moderation, coffee cant really be a threat to your health.

After reading this encouraging and pro-coffee introduction, you must be thinking of me as a true coffee junkie but as a matter of fact, despite all my fondness for the heavenly stuff, I dont take it on regular basis - atleast not anymore for the last many years.

The fear of becoming a caffeine-addict had actually never allowed me to exceed my coffee-intake from more than two cups a day but the pregnancy with my son would make me quit the habit of drinking a cup in the morning as well is certainly something I had never expected to happen in my life. Its actually since then that coffee is no more a part of the drinking rituals at our breakfast table. However, I still openely admit that nothing gives your day a better kick-start than a freshly brewed hot cup of joe. Even if you dont like its taste, alone the fresh aroma is heavenly. And although the coffee consumption in its usual form is probably not more than a few cups per week at our home now but we do still love to indulge ourselves with occasional frappucinos or coffee-based desserts etc.

Todays recipe is one of my best coffee cakes Ive baked to date. Its soft, fluffy and above all NOT at all dry and dense like the usual "traditional" ones sold at the bakeries. With double layers of delicious coffee as well as chocolaty ganache icings, a sure-fire for your next baking endeavor!!

Cappucino Squares

Ingredients:

225 g soft butter
225 g plain flour
4 eggs
1 tbs cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
220 g brown sugar
2 tbs instant coffee powder
2 tbs hot water

Coffee Icing:

1 tbs whipping cream
3/4 tsp instant coffee granules
2 tbs butter, softened
100g confectioners sugar

Chocolate Ganache:

150g semi sweet chocolate
200 g heavy whipping cream

Preheat the oven at 180C. Grease and line a 23x23 cm pan. (For better results, follow the foil-pack method as well).

Sift together flour and baking powder.

Take butter, cocoa, sugar, eggs and coffee (mixed in hot water) in a bowl.

Beat until well combined and a smooth paste is achieved.

Pour into the baking form and tranfer into the preheated oven.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out clean and the cake is done. Let the cake stay in the tray for 10 minutes, then remove the linings and place on a wire to cool.

Prepare the icing meanwhile.

Make ganache by combining chocolate and cream in a small saucepan. Cook and stir over low heat until chocolate is melted and mixture is thickened. Place aside to cool.

Make the coffee icing.

Combine cream and coffee granules in a small bowl. Stir until the coffee is dissolved. In a small bowl, cream butter and confectioners sugar. Beat in coffee mixture.

Spread over the completely cooled cake.

Carefully spread the cooled ganache over the coffee icing.

Let stand for 30 minutes or place in the refrigerator until the icing is set.

Cut in small squares. Decorate with chocolate hearts etc. Make a hot cup of tea/coffee.

Enjoy and dont forget to post your feedback!!!

Bake it up and bake it down!!!

2011-09-27T02:50:00.000-07:00

I am quite fond of chocolate cookies; have even tried my fair share of chocolate cookie recipes but I must confess that they have not all been great.

Cookies, especially with granulated sugar in the ingredients, are certainly high up there on my "Recipes That Scare Me" list. Somehow they usually turn out either too thin, bubbly, dry, or crunchy. Not that I am not getting the science behind this failure; its just that I dont have the patience to cream the butter and sugar properly and dont even let the dough rest in the refrigerator for a while - just because my sweet tooth starts getting mad if I make it wait that long. Sometimes, I feel that when God was handing out patience, I was certainly standing in the wrong line or mustve got frustrated of waiting and left. I am so not a good waiting person and that surely is a reason why most of my dishes never turn out how I want them to.

Anyways, coming back to the cookies, I actually have a whole lot of chocolate cookie recipes bookmarked to try – but the one Ive baked recently was indeed worthy of sharing. Its just sooooo simple and easy that one doesnt need much expertise to make and the result represents exactly what my definition of a perfect home-made cookie is: It should be chewy, a little crispy around the edges but barely done in the centre and above all - richely chocolaty in flavour.

Chewy Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

1-1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup dutch-process cocoa
1/2 cup butter, room temp
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 drops vanilla essence
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup chopped white chocolate
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used pecan)

Idea adapted from :
http://www.browneyedbaker.com

Preheat the oven to 160 C and line two baking trays with parchment paper.

Sieve together flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder in a bowl.

Take a bowl and beat the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Tip: if you feel that the granules are not ready to cooperate with you, try microvawing for not more that 15 seconds and then beat again .

Add in the vanilla essence and mix.

Start adding the flour mixture. Add half of it first and some milk as well and beat on low speed just until incorporated.

Add rest of the dry mixture and the milk and beat until combined.

Using a spatula, fold in the chopped white chocolate as well as the nuts. Chill in the refrigerator for atleast 15 minutes.

Divide the dough into 12 portions (for larger cookies) or 24 for smaller ones. Make small balls, place on the lined trays and press down on them to flatten a bit. I made six bigger ones and 12 small cookies!!

Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes on the lower support. Rotate the tray front to back, tranfer onto the upper support of the oven and bake for another 8-10 minutes.

The cookies are done!!! Tip: Please note that the cookies are still soft and will get a crunchy texture once cooled outside the oven. DO NOT OVERBAKE!!!!

Let the cookies cool completely on the baking trays. Remove from the parchment paper. Store in an airtight container.

A glass of cold milk is all you need to complete this luscious treat!!!

Cheesy Bites!!

2011-09-20T02:39:00.000-07:00

After a long long break from blogging and being out of the country, I am finally back in Europe and feeling pretty desperate to start with what I enjoy doing the most in my life, i.e. playing around with food and recipes in my own kitchen.

Not that I was on a cooking break all these weeks. Since entire vacations were spent with family and old friends this time, I had literally been forced to experience one of the unfortunate consequences of writing this blog, i.e. the unlimited list of requests for food recipes along with the live demos!! Even within the family premises, everyone seemed to be waiting for a culinary miracle every evening. But again, it was indeed a lot of fun cooking for the loved ones.

It is actually always a great opportunity for taking chance on new dishes whenever I am at my moms or in-laws. This is the best thing about coming from a family where everyone simply loves food - that they never make you feel down even if it turns out to be a flop. So, there had been a lot of experimentation and research going on lately.

Since not all the ingredients, I am generally used to working with here in Germany, were easily available there, a lot of editing had to be done in order to get the right balance of things. This helped not only in adding several new dishes to my repertoire but also made me vowed to never again make several others without having the proper ingredients on hand. But no need for you to get scared - like always, I shall be sharing my cooking adventures, disasters and escapades with all possible details here on the blog so that everyone can adjust the recipes to fit their lifestyle without having too much trouble.

But before I forget, a very warm welcome to all the new readers and a hearty thanks to those who have been repeat visitors even in my abscence. Its been a while since you have seen a delicious entry here but I am back now and will hopefully get a handle on posting about the good stuff that I have eaten/made during the last two months.

One of the quick that I am totally into lately and something, the entire house also fell in love with is the Italian-style nibbles that take almost no effort to make but even less time to disappear.

Cheesy Bean Fritters

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups green beans (fresh/frozen)
1 tbs butter
1 medium sized chopped onion
1/2 cup shredded mozerella
1 egg
75 g cream cheese
1/2 tsp pizza spices
1/4 tsp dried or fresh oregano
Salt and black pepper
Red chilli flakes (optional)
1 tbs flour
1 tbs cornstarch

Blanch the green beans in salted water. Tip: adding few drops of lemon juice will help the vegetables retain their fresh colour and enhances the taste as well. Take butter in a frying pan and fry the chopped onions until soft and translucent. Tranfer the beans and onions into a bowl and place aside to cool.

In a seperate bowl, mix together rest of the ingredients.

Add in the vegetables and fold together using a spoon.

Heat oil in a pan. Add heaping tablespoon-fulls of batter into the hot oil and deep fry the bites on medium until golden brown on all sides. Dish out on a plate lined with kitchen papers. This will help absorb the excess oil.

Serve immediately with dips of your choice.
Recommended: Mix 1/2 cup mayonnaise with 1/4 cup tomato ketchup, 1/2 tsp mustard paste and 1/4 cup fresh cream. Season with salt and pepper.

Buon appetito!

Break from blogging...

2011-08-07T11:28:00.000-07:00

As most of you must have noticed I havent been blogging much lately. I am really sorry my dearies, but the reason for my absence is that my father in law is really unwell and all I want to focus on at this time is being there with him and rest of the family.

I will try my best to pop in from time to time, but cannot promise an every other day post as I normally do. Hope you all understand and will also support with me through this difficult phase. Keep following and Ill be back soon with a lot of new and interesting stuff.

Wishing you all a great summer!!!

Between croissant and pizza

2011-07-27T03:44:00.000-07:00

Creamy, cheesy eggs infused with flavorful spices, crunchy leaves of spinach, refreshing tangy juice oozing out of the baked cherry tomatoes - all these lovingly wrapped in an irresistible, flaky, buttery crust. I dont think I am really good at describing things but this is all I can say about the recipe I am sharing today...

The inspiration behind this succulent delight is the famous Galette recipe by Smitten Kitchen. I had been wanting to share a galette recipe on the blog for quite a while and had actually made it twice for the purpose. But the hungry bears on our dining table didnt give me the chance to take any pictures. This one is also not perfectly shaped but I just dont want to wait till next chance, so here it is. Please ignore the rough shape and dont worry yourselves about it as thats exactly the best thing about a galette; you can form it in whatever way you like.

I have made the dough using almost the same ingredients as suggested at the page, but for the filling, I wanted to try a different vegetable combination to add a little variety to the original recipe.

Spinach Galette

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, chilled in the freezer for 30 minutes
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 cup thick yogurt (the original recipe calls for sour cream)
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup ice water

For the filling:

1 cup blanched spinach
50 g fresh cream
100 g creme fraiche (alternatives: 120g ricotta cheese / 50 g greek yogurt mixed with 50 g heavy cream)
salt and pepper
1/4 tsp chili flakes (optional)
1 tsp pizza spices
1/4 cup chopped basil
2 medium sized eggs
60 g grated cheese (any gratin or pizza cheese would work)
1 tbs olive oil

Mix together the flour and salt in a bowl. Sprinkle cubes of butter over dough and mix it with the flour using your figer tips. It will have a crumbly texture.

In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt, lemon juice and water and add this into the flour mixture.

Mix in the liquid using your fingertips or electric mixer with the dough hooks on, and form a ball. Tip: Do not overwork the dough.

Cover with cling film and refrigerate for atleast an hour.

For the filling, beat the eggs and take out about 2 tbs of these in a seperate bowl for glazing.

Mix all other ingredients for filling (except spinach and tomatoes) with the beaten eggs.

Take out the dough from the fridge and roll it out into a 12 inch round. Tranfer onto the baking tray lined with parchament paper.

Spread the egg-cheese-cream mixture over the bottom of the dough, leaving a 2-inch border. Spread the blanched spinach over it, place the cherry tomato halves attractively on the outer sides making a boundry and fold the border over the filling. For a finer finish, pleat the edges!! I havent done it though as it was too hot in my kitchen and the runny filling was a bit messy to tackle:)

Drizzle olive oil on top, glaze the border with the beaten egg and bake in the preheated oven (190C) for about 30-40 minutes or until golden brown. Take out from the oven and let stand for about 5 minutes before transfering onto the serving plate.

Whether with spinach, squash or eggplants, zucchini or mushrooms - galette is a wonderful meal for all seasons and is pretty easy to make. Just fold up all the seasonal goodies and enjoy your healthy and super-delicious creation!!

Whip it right!!

2011-07-18T02:45:00.000-07:00

Anyone who reads this blog knows I love working with fresh cream, and nearly every second cake or dessert of mine has to have whipped cream in or on it. I believe, a light and fluffy whipped cream does not only enhances the appearance and taste of a cake but can give an extravagant boost to make a dessert the show stopper for any good meal.

Although I generally have nothing against purchasing ready-made canned goods keeping in mind their convenience and time saving advantage but my experience with whipped cream says theres no ready made product out there in the market that could beat the fresh and delicate taste of the one you make at home. And the procedure is not even as hard as most people think. There are only a few things that should be taken care of while whipping the cream and it can be a very interesting and fun thing to do.

The fluffly, stiff yet soft fresh cream that holds its shape for hours on top of the dessert instead of melting into it is what I call a perfectly whipped cream. Whipping a regular heavy cream is no big science. All you need is heavy cream, beaters and a bit of concentration. For giving it a sweet accent, add in a small amount of icing sugar. This regular whipped cream is best for using in desserts, fruit salads, on pies or for serving with ice cream etc. The only disadvantage is that it becomes really unstable if not served immediately and tends to melt.

Here are a few important tips on how to stabilise the whipping cream for using it as icing on cakes or other desserts incase you want to make them several hours ahead of time and wish the cream to hold its shape firmly:

The most important thing that one needs to know before deciding to go for a whipped cream icing is the that the high fat content which is essential to thicken and whip a milky liquid also makes it highly temperature-dependent. Which means, the first thing you want to make sure is a cooler temperature.
Since colder temperature helps the cream to whip faster, it should be completely chilled prior to beating. Best is to use the one that has been in the refrigerator for atleast a day or two.
Before you start with the whipping process, pop the beating container (preferably out of metal) as well as the beaters in the freezer for 15 minutes.

If the air in your kitchen is hot, try to fix this problem as well by either beating the cream in another cooler room with the airconditioner on or place the cream container over a bowl of ice. Itll also help against the heat generated through the beating itself.

Once the temperature issue is settled, the cream is actually ready to whip. My key for stabilsing the cream for cakes had always been gelatin but keeping in mind the increasing trend for non-animal gel sources, I have tried making it with "powdered" agar agar (a plant-based gelatineous substance obtained from seaweed) recently. The result is remarkably good and I would highly recommend using it as alternative for gelatin.

Stabilised Whipped Cream using Agar Agar

Ingredients:
200 ml cream
1/2 tsp powdered agar agar / powdered gelatin
1 tbs cold water
2 tsp icing sugar

In a small bowl, sprinkle the agar agar powder over cold water. Put in the microwave for a few seconds until the fine granules are dissolved.

Place aside to cool completely. But dont leave for too long otherwise the gelling agent starts to thicken. Take out the chilled beaters and metal bowl from the freezer and pour the chilled cream in it. Add in the agar agar mixture.

Start whisking with the electric beaters until soft peaks start to form.

Stop beating and add the icing sugar into it.

Beat for a second or two.

This is the stage where you need to be very careful. The cream should form soft peaks but make sure not to overbeat as it will turn into butter within fractions of a second. Tip: If you are not confident to deal with this stage, use a hand whisk and beat carefully until stiff peaks are acheived.

Decorate immediately using a piping bag or spread on cakes using a spatula or cake decorating knife. The cream will hold its shape for hours and wont melt quickly as the plain whipped cream.

Black forest torte covered with stabilised whipped cream

Tip: If the cake or dessert is not to be served right away, never leave it outside the refrigerator. Not even the leftovers.

Another addictive stuff..

2011-07-14T06:02:00.000-07:00

Brownies are certainly one of the best dessert options ever. They are not only delicious enough to help you settle your chocolate and sweet cravings but are so easy to make that nearly every novice baker loves to give a try.

Let it be any occasion - a school party, bake sale, graduation party, baby showers, baby announcements, birthday, office treats - their ultimate crowd-pleasing characteristic makes them just fit in everywhere.

However, the problem faced by many is that there are so many different recipes for brownies out there that one cant easily decide which one to go for. The best way to solve this problem is to determine first what texture youre looking for. There are cake-like brownies, chewy brownies, fudge brownies, sweet or bitter brownies, with fruits or nuts or with chocolate chips and many more. Try imagining the sinfully heavenly comfort treats on your tongue and youll come to know what exactly you want.

I personally like almost all kinds of brownies provided they are rich in chocolate. The recipe that I am sharing here makes nice fudgy squares with a crispy cookie-like crust on top and ofcourse, like most of my chocolate posts, a quintessential treat for any chocolate lover!

Dark Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients:

300 g very fine sugar
150 g dark chocolate
200 g butter
75 g cocoa powder
170 g plain flour
3 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla/almond/orange essence
1 cup pecan nuts, chopped

Line and grease a 13x11 inches rectangular pan (Unfortunately, this is the only rectangular pan I have, you may use your square brownie pans, but do adjust the quantities accordingly).
Tip: I usually leave an overhang on two opposite sides for lifting the brownies easily out of the pan after baking.

Chop the chocolate on a cutting board.

In a heatproof bowl, combine the butter and chopped chocolate and set it in a sauce pan of barely simmering water (double boiling method). Stir occasionally until the butter is melted, add in the sugar and continue with the process until the sugar is almost dissolved and the mixture is smooth and a bit shiny.

Remove from heat, add vanilla essence and set aside to cool.

Sieve together flour, cocoa and baking powder.

Once the butter chocolate mixture has cooled, whisk the eggs in a bowl with an electric beater until creamy.

Add a few tablespoons of this into the chocolate mixture (to avoid scrambling) and fold carefully.

Now transfer this entire chocolate mixture into the bowl of beaten eggs and start mixing with a hand whisk.

Start adding the sifted flour, cocoa and baking powder and mix.

Finally, add in the chopped pecan nuts. Tip: You can also use walnuts instead of pecan.

Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tray.

Put in the preheated oven (170C) and bake for 30 minutes. Check with a wooden skewer, if it comes out clean, take out of the oven otherwise adjust the baking time accordingly. Tip: pleaaaseeeee, never overbake the brownies or any dark chocolate cake, itll only make it dry, bitter and crumbly.

Take out the pan from the oven and put it aside to cool completely. Lift up the ends of the parchament paper and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut out squares or rectangles of your choice. Dust with powdered sugar or drizzle some melted chocolate on top and forget to count the calories until youve finished them all up.

I am a flower...

2011-07-13T03:15:00.000-07:00

Cauliflower is one of the vegetables most people dont feel much affection for. Its neither convincing in its looks nor is the taste favoured by everyone.

If you are also one of those, who believe, the vegetable tastes boring, try the following recipe. You might still not call it your favourite but itll atleast convince you of its unique and different significance. Served with freshly baked home-made bread and a spicy balsamic chicken, this cauliflower dish can add a uniquely delicious dimension to your menu.

Cauliflowers with Olives

Ingredients:

1 medium sized cauliflower
2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp garlic paste
2 chopped onions
1 cup chopped tomatoes (I use canned)
1/4 tsp lemon juice
1 - 2 marinated bell peppers (I used the store bought, those with a bit tangy flavour)
1/2 cup roughly chopped olives
1/2 tsp pizza spices
salt and crushed pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
1/4 tsp chili flakes
1/2 cup grated cheese
fresh parsley to garnish

Blanch the cauliflower in salted water for 4-5 minutes. Tip: Add a few drops of lemon juice and half cube of chicken stock for extra flavour).

Drain and place aside.

Heat oil in a skillet. Fry the onions and garlic paste in it until translucent.

Add the chopped bell pepper, tomatoes and the spices. Tip: If you dont know where to find the ready-made marinated bell pepper jars, either leave it or try roasting one red pepper coated with olive oil in the oven, peel off the blackened skin and sprinkle with few drops of lemon juice and venigar.

Fry for a few minutes on medium heat. Them add in the chopped olives.

Add in the blanched cauliflower and fry further for two minutes.

Once the sauce has coated well on the cauliflower, turn off the heat and transfer into an oven proof dish.

Sprinkle grated cheese on top. And bake in preheated oven (200C) until the cheese starts melting.

Garnish with parsely and serve hot with bread.

For the bread, make the dough following the recipe given in the link. Once the dough has doubled, knead it again. Roll out on a plain surface dusted with flour. Tranfer onto a baking tray lined with parchament paper.

Cut out small holes using any round cutter or a clean bottle lid.

Brush with beaten egg yolk/white for a nice golden top.

Bake in the preheated oven (200C) until golden brown on top.

Serve hot!!!!!

Getting a meal on the table..

2011-07-11T04:28:00.000-07:00

Planning a meal is definitely one of the few things I am getting better at with time. As a matter of fact, I have actually started enjoying this creative and delightful activity lately. Its like a game where you sort and arrange a series of cards by flipping back and forth through different ideas, ingredients, likes and dislikes and recipes until you come up with a perfect combination. It might sound a bit crazy but trust me, once you start playing it with interest, it can become really addicting!!!

The weekly meals are pretty easy as Ive learned how to communicate with my refrigerator now and with a little aid from other kitchen gadgets, deciding on what to cook for dinner is no longer a stressful job. The weekend meals, on the other hand, still need a bit more of practice as you have to deal with many additional factors as well that are attached to the two leisure days of the week.

The most difficult part in planning a weekend menu for me is the choice of vegetables as both the men at my home are very fussy eaters when it comes to including healthy foods on the platter. But I am glad that there are generally no issues with the cooking style or choice of cuisine. As far as the food is flavourful , they are ready to eat anything that is set before them on the table.

Here is a glimpse of what we devoured at the lunch table on Saturday.

Balsamic Chicken served with Cauliflower and Home-made Bread

Ingredients for Balsamic Chicken:

1 kg chicken (pieces)
4 big potatoes halved ( or 8 baby potatoes )
1 tbs of coarsley ground coriander seeds
1 tbs garlic paste
1 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs of balsamic vinegar
1 tsp of ginger powder / paste
salt , pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
1/4 tsp chili flakes (optional)
1/2 cup cashews (powdered)
2 tbs of olive oil
1/4 cup of apple juice
1/2 cup fresh cream

Wash and pat dry the chicken pieces with a kitchen paper. Place them in a plastic bag.

Peel and cut the potatoes. Marinate alongwith the chicken pieces with balsamic vinegar, pepper, salt, nutmeg, lemon juice, chili flakes, cashew powder, ginger, garlic. Drizzle one tablesoon olive oil over it. Tie/close the bag tightly and shake it well until the chicken pieces are completely coated with the marinade.

Put in the refrigerator for atleast an hour. Tranfer into a baking dish. Pour the apple juice over it.

Drizzle the remaining oil on top. And let bake in the preheated oven (180C).

Open the oven after 30 minutes and pour the fresh cream over the chicken and potatoes. Continue baking for another 30 minutes. Check with a fork if the potatoes are done, remove from oven and serve.

I served it with the home-made bread following the same recipe as here.

The cauliflower recipe will also be uploaded in a day or two. Meanwhile, enjoy the tangy, spicy chicken with soft, freshly baked bread !!

Adding some professional touches....

2011-07-07T00:03:00.000-07:00

One of the easiest yet elegant decorations for any cake or dessert are the edible chocolate leaves that actually never fail in gathering lots of admiring "wows" or "oohs and aahs" on your work. In addition to their professional look, the leaves are also super easy to make.

All you need to have is

Several (non-poisonous) fresh leaves of different sizes with strong veining pattern on the back, wash and dry with a kitchen towel
White or dark chocolate
A brush
A sheet of butter paper

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Stirring occasionally until the chocolate is smooth and has no clumps.

Brush the melted chocolate onto the back of each leaf. Tip: if you dont have a brush, try using a spatula. The layer of chocolate should be thick enough to cover the leaf without leaving any transparent spots.

Place the chocolate covered leaves on the butter paper and transfer the tray into the refrigerator until firm and hard.

Carefully peel away the leaf and discard. Serve immediately or keep in the refrigerator until use.

A delicious feast for your eyes as well as the taste buds!!!

A pure chocolate indulgence

2011-07-06T03:59:00.000-07:00

In response to the overwhelmingly increasing number of requests for baking and cake decorating ideas that Ive been receiving lately, todays post will be containing lots of pictures covering each and every step of one of my very favourite cakes that Ive lately delivered to a neighbour on her first wedding anniversary.

Her husband is a hopeless chocoholic which actually made it much easier for me to design the perfect cake for the occasion - a triple chocolate delight. A dark chocolate cake filled with creamy chocolate marquise and covered with chocolate ganache icing!

The decorative white chocolate leaves on top and the milk chocolate sprinkles on the sides made it one of the richest and intense chocolate cakes that any chocolate buff would love to devour.

Triple Chocolate Obsession

Ingredients for the Dark Chocolate Cake :
(Its the same recipe as for cup a cake, only with different quantities)

1 1/2 cups soft butter
2 cups icing sugar
6 large eggs
7 tbs cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup yoghurt
1/8 tsp of salt

Line and grease a 26 cm round cake pan. For an even, domeless top, try using the foil-pack method as well.

In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and cocoa powder.

Tip: I always sieve the dry ingredients thrice to remove any possible impurities.

In a seperate bowl, cream the softened butter and icing sugar until fluffy ( for about 5 minutes) with the help of an electric mixer or a kitchen machine.

Add in salt. Now start adding eggs to this mixture - one at a time and continue beating.

Fold in the yoghurt as well as the dry ingredients. Tip: Divide the dry ingredients into three parts, itll make the folding much easier.

Transfer the cake batter into the prepared baking pan and bake in a preheated oven (180C) for about an hour (baking time may vary depending on your oven and in case youre using the foil packs).

Take out the cake from the oven, remove the lining and place on a cooling rack.

Once the cake has completely cooled, slice in three layers. Tip: The middle one should be slightly higher than the other two. Now we have actually three different slices of the same cake. One is to serve as the bottom layer, one to cover the top and the middle one will again be butchered into strips to make walls for the mousse filling.

Take a 23 or 24cm sized pan and use it to draw a circle on the middle layer. Cut out the circle using a sharp knife. Place the outer strips onto the bottom layer of your cake.

Again repeat the process cutting out equally-broad strips from the left-over cake slice. Higher the cake walls by placing the new boundry strips on the first ones. Tip: You wont be using up the entire slice. Enjoy the rests with a hot cup of coffee or tea or make cake pops out of it.

It will form like a well. Transfer back into the baking pan. Tip: I filled up the gap between the cake and the pan using the same foil packs I used during the backing process.

Prepare the chocolate marquise and pour the filling into the prepared well.

Cover the cake with the third slice of the cake that we had placed aside in the beginning for using as top.

Cover with a plate and place in the refrigerator for two hours until firm enough to ice.

For the icing, prepare chocolate ganache by taking the following

Ingredients for Chocolate Ganache:

300 g dark chocolate
300 ml cream

Break the chocolate into pieces or chop with a knife.

Take the cream in a sauce pan and place on heat. Bring to a boil.

Pour over the chopped chocolate immediately and mix with a wooden spoon until all pieces have dissolved and a fine texture is obtained.

Place in the refrigerator for an hour or until its thick like a custard/pudding. You can cover the cake with this ganache as it is or whip it first with the help of electric beaters for a couple of minutes. Tip: the colour will become lighter as you continue beating. Never put the ganache in the freezer to cool it quickly, it wont help and would rather result in a curdly mixture.

Take out the completely cooled cake from the refrigerator and ice it with the ganache. Best way to do that is by starting with the sides first and then spreading the frosting on the top. Tip: To avoid crumbs and an uneven surface, you may like to apply a very thin coating first and let it set in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes and then do the second coat. One of my favourite techniques to smooth the icing is by dipping the knife in hot water and then moving it on the icing.

Cover the sides with chocolate sprinkles. Tip: if you dont have them easily available at the markets in your area, use chocolate shavings that can be easily made from any chocolate bar with the help of a vegetable peeler.

Decorate the top with white chocolate leaves. I had some left over red marzipan on hand, so made the small fruits out of it. Place in the refrigerator until the special moment:)

Ingredients for the chocolate marquise:

(inspired from the original recipe by Frauke Watson, Callian)

200 g dark chocolate
100 g butter
3 egg yolks
75 g sugar
300 g whipping cream

Melt the chopped chocolate with butter in a small heat-proof bowl over a sauce pan filled with simmering water (double boiler technique). Once the glossy texture is obtained, remove the bowl aside and allow the chocolate mixture to cool.

Beat the egg yolks with sugar until thick and foamy.

Once the chocolate mixture has completely cooled, add one tablespoon of the yolk mixture into it and fold carefully. Then transfer back the entire chocolate mixture into the yolks and sugar mixture (this will prevent any possible scrambling of the eggs). Fold in carefully.

Whip the fresh cream in a seperate bowl (preferably metal). Tip: Also read the tips on how to whip cream here.

Fold it into the egg chocolate mixture.

Chocolate marquise can also be made and served as a seperate dessert. It has a very fine taste and a beautiful consistency between mousse and parfait.

I am going to write a seperate blog on how to make white chocolate leaves as this one is getting really long leaving an impression that the recipe is probably hell difficult which is not true. Anyone can make this cake provided there is a will to try and enough time to spare.

Another tip: Those, who prefer having a lighter, less-intense version, may replace the dark chocolate cake with the sponge one.

And this is how it looks from inside...

Happy Anniversary to you Alexandra and Paul!!!!

The Arabian Nights

2011-07-04T06:34:00.000-07:00

It looks like my obsession for the exquisite Arabian cuisine has been reignated once again. After receiving heaps of great feedback on the falafel recipe, I am now eager to get my hands on many family recipes that I had never given much importance to before.

Since my husband has spent his entire childhood in the Arabian Gulf, he is very fond of the Middle Eastern specialities and that is exactly what also makes him the worst critic for me. No alteration gets put into the recipe treasure unless approved by his qualified taste buds. I, on the other hand, love playing with the ingredients and cant stop myself from adding new flavours to the classics and the only convincing point that usually goes into my favour is that the Middle Eastern cuisine encompasses a huge spectrum of diverse yet similar delicacies. Depending on the region as well as the season, there exists many different ways of perparing a dish owning the same title.

For example, the traditional shawarma that most people are familiar with is usually prepared on a large rotating grill. The meat is then cut into thin slices and served in a wrap with fresh salad and tahini sauce. However a lebanese friend of mine once made it in the skillet and the taste was not at all disappointing. Since then, I have made a rule for myself. I make the red meat shawarma in the oven and turn on the grill function in the end which gives it a very delicious flavour and a nice crispy texture. But for the chicken variant, I am absolutely satisfied with my deep skillet. It turns out to be as great and tender as the one served at our local lebanese and syrian snack bar.

So, here comes the classic hit with a new kick...

Chicken Shawarma with Rice and Tahini Garlic Sauce

Ingredients for chicken shawarma:

500 g boneless chicken, cut into strips
3/4 cup thick yoghurt
1 tbs lemon juice
salt and crushed black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
1/4 tsp green cardamom powder
3/4 tsp garlic paste
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp garam masala (freshly ground)
1 tbs olive oil
2 medium sized onions, sliced or cut in circles
2 medium sized tomatoes, chopped

Mix all the spices in the yoghurt, add lemon juice and marinate the chicken strips in it for atleast 30 minutes.

Heat olive oil in a skillet, add in the chicken and fry on high medium heat until all juices from the marinade are cooked off.

Add the onion slices and fry for another two minutes.

Turn off the heat and add the chopped tomatoes into it. Tip: Do not cook the tomatoes!!

Ingredients for Yellow Rice:

400 g basmati rice, rinsed and soaked in water for 30 min
700 ml chicken stock
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
salt and crushed black pepper
1 stick cinamon
4 cloves
2 bay leaves
2 black cardamoms
2 green cardamoms
1/4 tsp powdered fennel seeds (optional)
yellow food colour

Tip: Chicken stock is the key ingredient here. For optimal results, always try to make the chicken stock at home, you can prepare it before hand and store in the refrigerator or freeze for later use). I usually make it by boiling chicken bones with two small carrots, one medium sized onion, garlic and 2 teaspoons of home made garam masala mixed in two litres of salted water. Bring the water to a boil and then reduce the heat. Let the stock simmer on very low heat for several hours.

Measure the chicken stock and boil in a pan.

Add in salt, pepper as well as all the above given spices. Tip: If you dont like picking whole spices from your plate of rice, using a tea strainer (ball) at this stage helps you easily remove them before serving.

Drain the rice and add into the stock. Cook on medium heat until almost done. Sprinkle yellow food colour and spread raisins on top. Reduce the heat to the lowest mark and cover the pan with a tight lid. Carefully open the lid after 5-10 minutes and toss the rice with very light hands.

Spread a layer of prepared rice on the serving plate. Make a well in the centre and fill it with the shawarma chicken. Decorate with fresh cucumbers and salad leaves; garnish with fresh parsely and serve with the tahini yoghurt sauce.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........

For me and my child!!

2011-06-30T04:14:00.000-07:00

If you are a mother, you can attest to the fact that children love jelly!

The colourful, wonderfully tasty dessert is a big treat that almost every toddler dream of. And why shouldnt they be doing that - jelly has all the features a kid generally loves to have in a food. Its soft, cold, fascinating, wibbly wobbly and above all sweeeeetttt!!!

Now that we all know how our kids love the sugary stuff, why not spice up their favourite flavour with a little fruit which will not only make it interesting but a lot healthier as well? Because as a parent, you are always worried about your childs eating habits and because you dont always feel like bargaining, cajoling and pleading, you also attimes try to sneak few healthy ingredients in their diet.This is exacty what Ive done yesterday.

I made some vanilla custard, added fresh blueberries into it and decorated the cups with colourful jelly and my son was so excited to see the round berries winking through the transparent jelly wall that he finished up the entire dessert without making any fuss.

The recipe is not only great for the kids, but the addition of fresh berries makes it a light and delicious dessert for the grown ups as well.

Jelly Berry Custard

Ingredients:

vanilla custard (I used the ready-made powder)
1 cup fresh blueberries
4 tbs chopped almonds (optional)
200ml whipped ceam
1 packet jelly crystals (I used raspberry flavour)

For decorating the glasses, youll need

1 tsp honey / a slice of fresh lemon
coloured sugar / deocarting pearls

Take some granulated sugar or decorating pearls in a plate.

Run and rub the lemon slice around the rim of each icecream cup. Tip: I didnt have fresh lemon at home, so used honey as alternative. Dip a tissue paper in honey and rub it around the rim. Press the rim into the pearls or sugar.

Now, prepare two cups of custard according to the instructions (usually given at the back of the packet). Make sure, its thick enough to set like a pudding. Cover with cling film and place aside to cool a bit.

Meanwhile, whip the fresh cream. Tip: Put the beaters and bowl in the refrigerator for five minutes. The cream should also be very cold prior to beating.

Once the mixture has cooled but not fully set, fold the fresh berries, chopped almonds as well as the whipped cream into it.

Tranfer into serving bowls and place a few berries on top. Tip: It is important to do that at this step otherwise the berries wont stay at their place later. Place in the refrigerator and allow the custard to set.

Now take one cup of hot boiling water and tranfer the entire content of the ready-made jelly packet into it. Cook until all crystals have dissolved. Tip: Dont hesitate to use a strainer incase you find some stubborn granules that refuse to incorporate into the water.

Now pour a cup of cold water into this and allow to cool at room temperature. The moment you feel that the mixture has started to set, pour over the prepared custard. Place in the refrigerator for several hours.

Enjoy the sweet moments with your little one!!!!

Butterflies in the stomach

2011-06-29T00:01:00.000-07:00

All of us have experienced this phenomenon at some point or another in our lifetime. What the sensational tummy flutters have to do with the butterflies is one of the questions none of us wouldve probably bothered to think about but just imagine for a second, what if butterflies do somehow manage to land in our stomach? How would it feel??

I can tell you the answer: it feels fantastic! Dont feel disgusted to the thought, I have no intentions of making you eat the beautiful colourful creatures. I myself love to see them flying around freely, adding joy and fascination to the nature. Its basically the Italian word "Farfalle" which brought me to this idea.

Farfalla (lit. butterfly) is a famous type of pasta (also known as bow-tie pasta in several countries) and can be found almost everywhere in the world. Combined with bright-coloured vegetables, its wing-like shape does make you think of having butterflies on the plate.

Meat and Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

1/4 kg boneless mutton (boiled)
2 cups farfalle
1 medium red/orange bell pepper, cut in long julienne strips
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp crushed pepper
2 tbs mustard paste
1 tbs tomato paste
1 tbs tomato ketchup
1 tbs honey
1 tbs lemon juice
2 tsp worcestarshire sauce

1 tbs crushed garlic
2 tsp oil
1 1/2 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs fresh thyme (or any other herb of your choice)
salt and pepper
6 - 8 cherry tomatoes
1 apple (incase you wish to serve the salad cold)

Boil pasta in salted water until almost done. Also, boil the meat (I used pressure cooker for saving time).

Mix honey, tomato paste, tomato ketchup, mustard paste, salt, lemon juice and worcestarshire sauce in a small bowl. Tip: Be careful with the salt as worcestarshire sauce combined with honey is already very salty. Add in the boiled mutton.

Heat oil in a pan and fry garlic in it for a few seconds. Add the mutton mixture and fry for a minute on high flame. Add bell pepper and fry while stirring continuously.

Now add the boiled pasta; season with crushed black pepper, salt, lemon juice and thyme. Gently toss everything together and add the cherry tomato halves - just seconds before turning off the heat.

Transfer the salad into a serving plate.

Serve immediately or place in the refrigerator for atleast 2 hours for a summer variant. Add slices of one apple and put in the freezer half an hour prior serving.

And forget not to share the sensation caused in the tummy:)

On the vegetarian side of life

2011-06-27T01:57:00.000-07:00

Finding an exotic meatless centrepiece to please the vegetarian guests and make them feel like they too are getting something really special on the platter is usually a challenge to many of the passionate meat eaters. I am personally not a fan of meat replacement dishes but do admit, at the same time, that vegetarian food can also be very delicious and satisfying provided you prepare and serve it with the same passion and enthusiasm that you put in any other food of your own choice.

Todays recipe is not only ideal as a vegetarian main course but also has all the potential of becoming a favourite snack or sandwich/pita filling amongst the meat-lovers. The dish has its origins mainly in the Middle East but has meanwhile become one of the favourite street foods all around the globe. Yes, I am talking about the incredible Falafels!!!!

Its a family recipe handed down from my great mom-in-law who left us forever two years ago but I assume, she must have learned it from the locals during her stay in Kuwait years ago.

Falafel with Layered Salad and Tahini Sauce

Ingredients:

2 cups dried chickpeas
1 cup chopped green corriander
1/4 cup chopped parsley
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 chopped medium sized onion
salt and crushed black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 chopped green chili
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tbs dry corriander powder
4 tbs regular breadcrumbs

1/4 tsp baking soda

Oil for deep frying

Wash and soak the chickpeas in water and let soak for atleast 24 hours. They will triple in size. Drain away the water and wash them once again. Tip: please DO NOT use canned or boiled chickpeas. They have too much water and preservatives that we dont need here.

Transfer the beans to a food processor and chop until you get a fine crumbly texture.

Take corrainder, parsley, garlic cloves, onion and green chili and chop roughly.

Chop these together in a blender or food processor. Tip: you may use your meat grinder and mince the beans as well as other ingredients through it.

Mix all the ingredients together and add in salt, peppers, corriander and cumin powder. Also add breadcrumbs and mix well. Tip: you can also freeze the mixture at this stage for later use. Just add in the baking soda half an hour prior to frying.

Shape into round balls or ovals using two spoons or a falafel maker. You can also do this easily with your hands. Heat the oil for deep frying and set the heat to medium. Fry the falafels in it until browned and crispy from outside. Take out on a kitchen paper to drain the excess oil.

Serve hot with tahini sauce and fresh salad. People in Middle East might not like the way Ive served Falafels down in the picture but this is to show how your style of presenting a food can elevate simple nosh to a sublime level.

For the salad:
Slice a small onion, some fresh green cabbage or salad leaves of your choice. Also cut carrots and bell pepper as well as a small tomato into julienne strips and layer the vegetables on top of each other in a clear glass. Season with salt and crushed black pepper. And pour some tahini sauce on top and finish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds. Serve the cold salad with crispy warm falafels.

Tahini - Yoghurt Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup yoghurt
2 tbs tahini paste
salt, pepper
fresh parsely to garnish
Tip: (Incase youre using a sweet yoghurt, add few drops of lemon juice to it)

Mix all the ingredients and make a paste. Your dip/sauce is ready!

Whether as filling in pitas or sandwiches, as tea snack, main course served with fresh salad and warm bread or an addition to an iftar menu, Falafels are a great sensation to the taste-buds!!!!

Eggs on Sunday!!

2011-06-25T05:50:00.000-07:00

Weekends are the only less-chaotic mornings in our small nest when we have enough time to sit together and indulge ourselves in the culinary wonders. Whether its just a plain croissant with a nice cup of coffee or a full English breakfast comprising eggs, baked beans, sausages, toasted bread and my favourite cup of Lipton tea, a lavished calorie-rich halwa poori with channa and achari aaloo or a pile of fluffy pancakes with lots and lots of butter and syrup - the Weekend Breakfast at ours is usually pretty grandiose and given the proper time and attention it deserves.

Let me, however, make a confession today: the first thing that usually comes into my mind, when talking about breakfast, is always an egg. And although my husband and son both are not very fond of the healthy protein suppliers, my mind is always flooded by ideas and recipes containing eggs and they have to be on the table in any form. I believe, egg is an incredible ingredient with admirable potential to make every food taste or look great. You can not only use it as a main component for making omelettes but also as supporting and binding agent in cakes and pancakes; it can serve as great taste-enhancer in french toasts or an exquisit eye-catcher for decorating curries and halwas - eggs are a blessing we should really appreciate!!

Todays recipe is the latest effort Ive made to convince my family on how eggs can elevate the taste of a meal from ordinary to extraordinary. And according to my husband, this surely is an addition to our list of favourite breakfasts on the weekend.

Steamed Omelette

Ingredients:

3 large eggs
1 medium chopped onion
1 small chopped tomato
3 tbs chopped mashrooms
1/2 chopped green chili
3 tbs chopped corriander
salt and white pepper
cayenne pepper (optional)
1 tsp milk

Line three ramekins / heavy duty cups as in for cup a cake with cling film. (I tried using both cling film as well as aluminium foil to compare the results and would highly recommend the first one).

Chop the onions, mashrooms, tomato, green chili and corriander.

Beat eggs in a bowl and add in milk and season with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper.

Add in the chopped vegetables.

Pour into the prepared ramekins.

Ive made the eggs in a fish steamer/poacher by filling the bottom with half glass of water and placing the ramekins on the removale rack. Covered it with the lid until the eggs were done. Incase you dont have a poacher, preheat the oven at 190C. Pour some boiling water in the baking tray, just enough to cover the ramekins and bake the eggs until cooked.

Carefully remove the cling film and enjoy with cheese, sausages, toast and fresh salad. These are absolutely delicious and much lighter than the usual omelette than we normally eat.

Enjoy!

Baking marathon

2011-06-17T23:51:00.000-07:00

I seem to be having a baking phase...Three different cakes, cookies and tarts for a high tea last week and now two birthday cakes on the weekend - and then I am mad at myself for having my recipe queue folder a bit overcrowded.

Well, I am not sure yet whether Ill be able to share all the recipe during the next days or will be saving a few for later, e.g. for special occasions etc. but since I have already uploaded few pictures from the high tea (it was not served on a high table though;), it makes more sense to complete the sequel first. So, get your sweet tooth ready as youll be soon craving tarts with a fruity, creamy filling...

You wont believe what actually brought me to the idea of making these luscious and fruity tartlets. Green lentils!

Ive lately bought about 3 kgs of the small dried beans that my husband has totally refused to use up and now I am not really sure what to do with these . But the first idea my mind concocted was of using them as weight for making tartlets and I am proud to announce that it was certainly no flop. Let me share how to do that:

Deep Fruit Tartlets

Ingredients for the pastry:

200 g plain flour
100 g butter, chopped
1 egg
50 g icing sugar
pinch of salt

For the filling:

1 cup milk
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 tbs plain flour
pinch of salt
2 tbs sugar
few drops of vanilla essence

canned or fresh fruits of your choice
mint and chocolate to garnish

Mix flour, butter, sugar and a pinch of salt in a bowl using your finger tips until it resembles breadcrumbs. You can also do this in a food processor.

Now add beaten egg into this and knead gently. Make a ball of the dough, cover with cling film and place in the refrigerator for atleast 30 minutes.

Take out the dough from the refrigerator and knead again. Divide into six potions. Roll out on the counter, lightly dusted with flour or between two sheets of butter paper (whatever is easier for you).

Grease 6 small ramekins or your muffin tray and line the base and sides with the dough. Prick some holes with the help of a fork to avoid bubbles. Now place a piece of butter paper/foil on the dough and fill it with beans, pulses or rice. This is to put some weight on the dough to ensure against puffing and will help in holding its shape as well.

Bake in preheated oven at 200°C for about 15 minutes.

Let the tartlets rest for 5 minutes in the oven, then remove from the ramekins while still warm. It is recommended not to eat the rice/lentils that youve used as baking aid; you can, however, save these to use again for the same purpose. Let the mini tarts cool on a wire and then fill with the custard and fruits.

To make the custard:

Blend all the given ingredients using an electric mixer. Transfer into a heavy based pan and cook on medium heat until thick. Remove from stove, put aside to cool. Tip: Always cover the custard/puddings with a lid or cling film to prevent skin formation on top.

Fill the completely cooled tartlets with custard and decorate with fruits of your choice. I had some fresh berries, canned peaches and red berry compote in the refrigerator, brushed them with ready-made glaze (you dont necessarily have to do that as its just for the visual appeal. A quick alternative can, however, be 2 tbs of jelly powder mixed in few teaspoons of water). Garnish with fresh mint leaves or grated chocolate. Tip: Use your fruit and vegetable peeler to grate chocolate!

Mamma mia, I`m so in love with these!!!