Jyotsna's World

Mexican At Home - Chicken (Mushroom Cheddar) Fajitas

2012-01-31T22:09:00.000+08:00

My love affair with Mexican food started nearly 11 years ago when I went to North America for the first time. I was staying in Arizona which was at the Mexican border and had some fantastic Mexican food. Being away from home, this food was the closest to Indian food with the variety of flavors and spices in it. And they had their own version of chapati and rice and rajmah! Unlike regular American food, Mexican food was bursting with flavor and a hint of spiciness and I loved the way it was put together. I continued to discover new ways of enjoying this cuisine be it fajitas, enchilladas, flautas, tacos, burritos, quesadillas or chimichangas.

One of the things I always loved to eat was fajitas. To begin with, they reminded me of my favorite sizzlers that I used to love at Hot Millions in Chandigarh. I also liked the fact that I could stuff the tortillas my way and customize each bite the way I wanted it. They always came with a variety of sides - guacamole, sour cream, cheese, pico de gallo and salsa. Sometimes they even came with a side of refried beans and rice which could also be put into the tortilla if needed.

Fajitas are also very flexible. They can be made with chicken, seafood or any kind of meat along with your favorite vegetables or cheese. The must have elements for fajitas for me are onions and bell peppers. Everything else is upto the mood on the day. I have shared photos of 2 kinds of fajitas made at different occasions. One were chicken fajitas and the second one was chicken fajitas with mushroom and cheddar cheese. Feel free to use toppings of your choice - any vegetables, meats or even paneer :)

The best part of fajitas is that fajitas will never go to waste - even if you make a big batch, leftover fajitas make delicious quesadillas the next day. I'll share a recipe for that shortly.

Ingredients:
Bell peppers (1 each red, green and yellow) sliced into long strips
1 Onion (sliced lengthwise)
1 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
Mushrooms (sliced but not too thin)
Cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
2 tsp dried Mexican oregano
juice of 2 limes
salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1. Combine the olive oil, oregano, lime juice, salt and pepper to make a dressing. Use 1/3 of the dressing to marinade the chicken and use the remaining to marinade the chopped bell peppers and onions. If you are using mushrooms, marinade them separately with some of the marinade.

2. After the chicken and vegetables have been marinating for about 15 minutes, heat up a skillet. In parallel take the iron plate of the hotplate set and keep it on med-high heat to heat up while the remaining ingredients get cooked.

3. First grill the chicken in the heated up skillet till it is cooked through and juicy. Transfer to a plate for a few minutes and wait for the juices to redistribute through the meat. Slice the chicken into long strips.

4. Using the same skillet, cook the mushrooms over medium high heat till they are done. Remove mushrooms from the skillet and add the marinated vegetables and let them cook till they are done but still have a bite to them.

5. One the hotplate is heated up, place it on the wooden base and add the vegetables, including any juice they may have, followed by the mushrooms and the chicken. Sprinkle cheese on top if needed.

6. Serve piping hot with warm tortillas, sour cream, guacamole, salsa and pico de gallo.

A Cake Fit For a 60th Birthday Celebration!

2012-01-03T23:58:00.001+08:00

This was one of the best occasions to make a cake - it was my mother-in-law's 60th birthday. This could have been the perfect reason to buy one of those beautifully decorated cakes from a bakery but I wanted to make a cake that she loves to eat. My mom-in-law simply loves nuts of all kinds and of all the cakes, she really likes this carrot cake.

I decided to take it up a notch in nuttiness - I made the cake with more nuts than the recipe called for. I usually store nuts in the freezer to avoid them from getting spoilt. This time around, I took pecan halves and toasted them in a slow oven till they became warm and I could smell the pecans toasting. I then chopped them into smaller pieces and used them in the cake recipe. I used 1 1/2 cups of pecans instead of the 1 cup called for in the recipe.

I also made a cream cheese whipped topping from this recipe at Allrecipes website. I have to admit, inspite of the reviewers suggestions, my icing was not as stiff as I would have liked it to be. But it was a very tasty frosting and the almond essence in the frosting complimented the nuts in the cake even more. As a finishing touch, I divided the frosting into 2 parts and added blanched chopped almonds to one half. I used this icing with the almonds to layer the cake and I used the plain frosting to cover the top and sides of the cake.

With the cake and frosting all figured out, the only thing left was decorating the cake. I have to admit, my skills at piping designs are still far from good. Recently I have been reading up a bit on fondant and how it is used to make beautiful designs on cakes.It seemed hard to mess up so I decided to use fondant to decorate this cake. Fondant is like gorgeous edible playdough! I used it to make roses and petals which were used to cover the cake. I made a pink ribbon to go around the cake as the edges of my cake were not as neat as I would have liked them to be.

The final touches were frosting on the edge of the cake and the writing on the cake "Happy Birthday Daadi". Daadi stands for paternal grandmother and this cake was a loving gift to her from her grandchildren. That is the most important identity for her right now - she loves her grandchildren immensely and over a period of time, the kids have taken over the candle blowing and cake cutting on her cakes. But she loves it and would not have it any other way! The spellings of Daadi underwent a lot of debate but it was done and I could not erase and rewrite so we had to make do with what it is - next birthday, correct spellings!

The recipe for the carrot pineapple cake can be found here. Bake the cake in two 9 inch round cake pans layered with parchment. After the cakes come out of the oven cool them in the pan for 10 minutes and take out on a cooling rack.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

Ingredients

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
2 cups icing sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions

1. In a small bowl beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form; set aside.
2. In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar and almond extract. Beat until smooth, then fold in whipped cream.

For the cake assembly :

1. Level the tops of each of the layer cakes and cut each round horizontally into 2 equal halves.

2. Take half of the cream cheese frosting and add 1 cup chopped blanched almonds to it. Use this frosting to layer the cakes. Once all the cakes have been layered, cover the cake with plain frosting on top and the sides.

3. Roll out some white fondant into a 1/8 inch thick layer. You can use icing sugar to prevent the fondant from sticking. Cover the cake with the white fondant and trim the edges to make it neat. Color the remaining fondant red, pink and green and use it to make the roses. Decorate the cake as desired.

Pasta with Veggies and Feta Cheese

2011-12-30T00:06:00.000+08:00

Anyone who knows me well enough also knows that I love pasta! This is one form of carbs that rules above the rest .... and I have no fixed recipes for most of my pasta dishes .... it is more a matter of the mood on the day and what is in the fridge. Well occasionally I do plan the pasta dishes I make but those days are getting rarer.

On this particular day, I had the leftovers from this salad - the spinach, feta cheese and cherry tomatoes. I also had some asparagus lying at home. The thing I want to share here is that for a lot of the cooking (except baking) there are no fixed recipes, it is all about you knowing what you want from the food that you plan to cook and understanding the ingredients well enough to know how to combine them.

Another step I did differently in this dish was to sprinkle some herbs and pizza chilli on the pasta as soon as I had drained it. I have learnt this from a dear friend of mine and its amazing how well the herbs combine with the pasta with this simple step. The herbs cling to the pasta, giving flavor to every bite. The thing I love most about pizza chilli is that if sprinkled at the right stage, it makes the food spicy. Unlike Indian food where the level of spice stays with the entire dish in every bite, this one feels different because the spice can be felt in some bites but not in the other. And that is the surprise element I love the most!

Ingredients:
1 cup pasta (of your desired shape)
1 bunch baby asparagus
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes (cut into half)
1 1/2 cups baby spinach (washed & drained)
3/4 cup danish feta cheese(cut into small cubes)
3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp pizza chilli (crushed chilli flakes)
salt to taste

Method:
1. Boil the pasta as per instructions till al-dente. Drain the water and sprinkle the pasta with the dried basil and pizza chilli. Blanch the asparagus in boiling salted water for 2 minutes and then add to cold water to retain the color and stop cooking it. Drain and keep aside.
2. In a pan over low heat, add olive oil. Add the spinach and saute for a couple of minutes till it wilts slightly. Then add the asparagus and cherry tomatoes, cook for another couple of minutes.

3. Add salt to season. Then add the boiled pasta and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Once the pasta is heated through, check for seasoning and add as necessary. Sprinkle grated parmesan cheese on top.
4. Remove the pasta from the stove and add the feta cheese. Stir well and enjoy!

Christmas Cookies

2011-12-25T00:02:00.000+08:00

Merry Christmas! And nothing says Christmas more than a plate of cookies ready for Santa to nibble at night when he comes to give the presents. Sadly my kids know already that Santa does not exist - so these cookies were for them to eat! And of course, the girls wanted to have fun ..... and we did have a lot of fun :)

The kids were involved in cutting out the cookie shapes and in the final frosting of the cookies. The recipe for the cookie and the frosting was taken from Allrecipes. I made these cookies last year also and they were a hit with the kids. But instead of the sugar icing I used last time around, I wanted to use a Royal Icing. I love the way colors come out in a royal icing and I wanted to try one of the recipes from Allrecipes again.

There were a couple of issues with this specific recipe for the icing - when we made the frosting, it looked like a lot but by the time we were ready to ice the cookies, the frosting had deflated a lot and had some air pockets had made the icing look grainy. But once we had mixed it around with a spoon, they frosting was looking smooth and shining again even though the volume seemed lesser than what I had whipped up in the first place.

But by the time this icing dried on the cookies, it looked beautiful - it dried very well and the colors got even brighter once they had dried. It was a lot of fun making the colorful patterns on the cookies, decorating each one with lots of colors and letting the contrast show through. The kids decorated some of their cookies with sprinkles and candy beads. Somewhere in between, all of us agreed ..... this was a lot of fun!

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets/cookie sheets lined with parchment.

3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Royal Icing

Ingredients

4 egg whites
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon lemon extract

Directions

Beat egg whites in clean, large bowl with mixer at high speed until foamy (use only grade A clean, uncracked eggs). Gradually add sugar and lemon extract. Beat at high speed until thickened.
Add colors as desired and use a spatula to spread the icing or fill piping bags with the desired colors.
Spread the icing on the cookies only when the cookies have cooled completely.

Easy and Delicious Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-12-22T00:09:00.000+08:00

As much as I love baking, till about an year and half ago, my son would not eat anything that I baked. But then he started eating a few things, his favorite being the orange cake. A few months back he started eating chocolate chip cookies bought from the store and I cringed everytime he ate those knowing that what I could make for him was much better! And I made a few attempts which were not as good as I expected them to be. Recently I found this recipe on Allrecipes and the kids and I tried this on a rainy Sunday morning. Each batch of cookies disappeared from the baking tray before the next one could come out! Such a delight to see the kids enjoy what you make for them.

I have tried several recipes for chocolate chip cookies and my favorite recipe is one by Pam Anderson. If made as per instruction, these cookies are soft on the inside, crispy on the outside, with amazing texture and soft chocolate chips inside. That is clearly the best cookie I have ever made or eaten. But there are a couple of things which are not in the recipe's favor - firstly, the cookies made from the recipe are huge in size and hence not kid friendly in portion size. Secondly, it is a time intensive recipe which requires the shaping and freezing of dough balls and cooking them at 2 different temperatures. My current oven is extremely temperamental and trying to bake those cookies at 2 different temperatures has produced disastrous results.So I had to try my hand at something new which tasted just as good.

When I looked at this recipe, the two things that made me feel assured that this is the right recipe for me were the large number of positive reviews for this one and the fact that this was fairly easy to make - did not require refrigeration or freezing. You could make the cookies as soon as the dough was mixed.

The kids loved this and so did I. And if you have little ones or big ones in your home who like to eat chocolate chip cookies, then you must make this for them. I made a half batch (24 cookies) last time but will make a full batch the next time to make sure they last a couple of days atleast :). These are even great for making ice cream sandwiches or serve a cookie with vanilla ice cream topped with hot fudge sauce. I made some changes to the original recipe - I added another teaspoon of vanilla extract and instead of the nuts, I used mini chocolate chips. I loved the combination of big and small chocolate chips. The smaller chips get a bit crunchy and the big chips just melt as you bite into them. Sheer chocolate pleasure in every bite!

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon hot water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour and both types of chocolate chips.
3. Use a small ice cream scoop to scoop rounds of cookie dough onto a baking tray layered with parchment.

4. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned. Let cool on a wire rack to cool.

Homemade Twinkies!

2011-12-18T20:08:00.000+08:00

My husband and I liked having Twinkies when we were in North America but never found them in Singapore. Recently my son came back from the grocery store with a bag of "Twiggies" an attempt by a local bakery chain to replicate the original. He absolutely loved it and I was sure it tasted good too. One bite and I realized they were a far cry from the soft golden sponge cakes we used to have a few years back. I wanted to create something similar for him and searched for several recipes on the internet. Finally after a few trials, I was able to settle with my own recipe for these lovely golden cakes. The filling is a very easy one and tastes pretty close to the real thing :)

The bigger challenge was to get the shape right - and I tried a lot but could not find a cake pan which makes the shape of twinkies. So I saw this video which showed how to make the pans using aluminium foil. It was good to make these shapes the first couple of times after which I have found a silicone pan which makes small rectangular cakes. They look like small rectangular blocks instead of the rounded shape of the twinkies at the bottom. But they do make it much easier to make these treats as often as my kids like it.

These do taste pretty good and one batch of the cake batter makes a lot of twinkies. I usually use some of the remaining batter to make a plain sponge cake or small bundt cakes or mini chocolate chip muffins. If you have a lot of kids at home feel free to use the entire batch to make twinkies. I promise, they wont stay for long!

Ingredients:
Cake:

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (3 ounce) package instant vanilla/white chocolate pudding mix
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Filling:
1/4 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup icing sugar
2 tablespoons marshmallow cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Grease a twinkie pan or make twinkie molds with aluminium foil. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

2. In a large bowl, stir together cake mix and pudding mix. Make a well in the center and pour in milk, oil, eggs and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed until blended. Scrape bowl, and beat 4 minutes on medium speed. Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes. Let cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. Repeat till all the batter is used up.

4. In a mixer beat the butter, vanilla and icing sugar till it resembles a fluffy frosting. Add the marshmallow cream to it and mix. Put in a piping bag with a plain medium sized tip or with a star tip.
5. When the cakes have cooled, use chopsticks to make 3 holes in the bottom of each cake which go halfway into the cake. Fill the holes with filling from the piping bag. Repeat for all cakes.

Homemade Ravioli ..... Done Two Ways

2011-12-16T20:17:00.000+08:00

During one of my visits to Philippines, I got a Pasta machine for my kitchen. It is one of those hand cranked basic machines that take your cooking to a level where it's pure pleasure ..... It looks like a lot of work but there is comfort in kneading your own dough, rolling out the sheets repeatedly through the rollers to get them to the right thinness. Of course, the best part is filling and sealing them and then cutting into shapes. Its like my own playdough in the kitchen and the good part is I can eat this one once I am done playing with it!

I made one batch of dough but decided to make two different types of ravioli. One was a Four Cheese and Spinach Ravioli in a tomato sauce and the other was a Mushroom Ravioli in an alfredo sauce. The pairing of the filling and the sauces was very deliberate. I am a big fan of tomato sauce pastas and love how the tomato sauce can cut through the heaviness of the cheese filling and brighten up the flavors. I used ricotta, mozarella and parmesan cheeses as my usual choice of cheeses but the surprise addition was pepper jack cheese, cut into cubes. It seemed like a good idea but it was only when I tasted the ravioli, I realized how good an idea it was!! During the cooking of the ravioli, the pepper jack cubes melted to create these tiny spicy pockets in the ravioli which were unexpected bursts of flavor in the mouth. The mushroom filling was a classic sautéed mushrooms with herbs and garlic with a spoonful of ricotta cheese and 2 pinches of crushed red pepper flakes added to it. The red pepper flakes added a nice surprise element to the meaty mushrooms and alfredo sauce by giving an unexpected burst of spiciness which is heat that comes and goes into your mouth instead of using a red chili powder which gives heat throughout the filling.

Ingredients:

1 batch fresh pasta dough (can be homemade or store bought)

4 cheese and spinach ravioli:

½ cup ricotta cheese

2 tablespoons grated mozzarella cheese

2 tablespoons grated parmesan

¼ cup cubed pepper jack cheese

¼ cup sautéed spinach (thinly cut and sautéed in a pan to dry out the moisture)

Salt and pepper to taste

Mushroom ravioli:

1 box white button mushrooms, sliced thinly and sautéed in olive oil with 1 clove grated garlic

2 pinches crushed red chili flakes

1 tablespoon ricotta cheese

Egg wash (1 beaten egg with 1 tablespoon milk/water)

Sauces:

Homemade or store bought tomato sauce (2 cups)

Homemade or store bought alfredo sauce (2 cups)

Salt and pepper to taste

Fresh basil leaves (finely chopped)

Method:

Mix the 4 cheese ravioli ingredients and the mushroom ravioli ingredients in separate bowls. Check for seasoning and mix well. Set aside.
Roll out the pasta dough into thin sheets in the pasta maker. Take 2 sheets at a time. On one sheet, brush the egg wash, then place teaspoonful of the spinach filling placed 1.5 - 2 inches apart. Repeat this process till all the place in the sheet is used. Make sure the egg wash around the filling is still moist or else brush with more egg wash and cover with the second sheet. Seal tightly around the filling and cut with a knife/ravioli cutter. Repeat this process with both fillings till all the filling is used up.
Place the raviolis on a cooling rack. Make sure they are not touching each other to avoid them getting stuck to each other.
Boil plenty of water in a pot – add some salt to it. Make sure the water has come to a roaring boil then add few raviolis at a time and reduce heat to medium high. Each ravioli takes 2-5 minutes to get cooked depending on the size and amount of filling in them. Once these are done, they will float to the top. Remove the raviolis with a slotted spoon and place in a strainer or a large bowl.
For the cheese ravioli, heat the tomato sauce in a shallow pan, add seasonings as needed and some fresh basil leaves. Gently place the raviolis into the sauce and coat lightly. Don’t mix too much or the raviolis can break and filling will leak into the sauce. Carefully move to a serving bowl and sprinkle some grated parmesan. Repeat the same with the mushroom ravioli and alfredo sauce. Omit the fresh basil. Serve immediately!

Homemade Masala Paneer

2011-12-14T01:16:00.000+08:00

Good quality paneer (Indian cottage cheese) is one of those things which you take for granted in India especially in Punjab where the quality of milk is remarkable and paneer can be found in every corner of the city. When we moved to USA, I had to learn to make this from scratch for my husband who really likes paneer. My mom-in-law was the one who showed me how to make paneer at home and making paneer at home became a ritual. I am also someone who tries to do something different in the kitchen all the time and the next challenge was to take it to the next level.

Anyone who has lived in Chandigarh a long time knows that there is a Talwar Dairy in sector 15 who has masala paneer. It is paneer which is flavored with salt, pepper and spices and can be eaten as a snack by itself. I have made this several times now and each time it tastes better than the previous!

I have made this paneer recipe several times and have experimented with a wide variety of additions to flavor it differently every time. And it was when I came to Singapore and started using the large Red Thai chilies that I started to love the fact that the paneer now not only tasted great but also looked very good with the red and green jewels of finely chopped chilies and studded with roasted cumin and coriander seeds. This salty and peppery paneer is an year round favorite and can be eaten as is or added to your favorite paneer recipe to add a new depth of flavor.

Now, making good paneer at home can be quite a challenge itself …. And there are some things that I have learnt along the way that have helped me improve the taste and texture of paneer.

1.       Fat is good! – This is the single most important factor which can make paneer range from good to bad. Always use fresh milk/whole milk for paneer. If there is not enough fat in the milk that you’re using, don’t hesitate to add some heavy cream or half and half when you’re boiling the milk.
2.       Power of a good boil – make sure that the milk comes to a full boil before you curdle it. It may mean you need to keep stirring it often to ensure it does not burn/stick to the base of the pan – but it’s worth it!
3.       The right weight – after you have curdled the milk, the curds need to set well. Make sure the weight you use to set the paneer is not too heavy or too light. If it is heavy, then don’t use for a long time. A light weight will not let the paneer set properly and if the pressure is not spread well equally, there will be parts of the paneer which may not set well.

Ingredients:

2 litres fresh/whole milk

¼ cup heavy whipping cream

2-4 tablespoons white vinegar

2 tablespoons chopped red / green chilies

1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander leaves

1 tablespoon each coriander and cumin seeds (dry roasted and pounded roughly in a mortar and pestle)

Salt to taste

Coarsely ground pepper to taste

Method:
1. Boil the milk and cream together till it reaches a full boil. Keep stirring in between to ensure there the milk does not burn, stick to the base of the pan.

2. When the milk has boiled fully reduce the flame to the lowest and add 2 tablespoons vinegar and stir. The most important clue you need to look out for is that the curds separate completely and the greenish colored whey is left behind. This whey should not contain any milk solids – this will ensure that you have been able to extract the maximum paneer from the milk. If you still feel there are milk solids in the liquid, keep adding vinegar, 1 tablespoon at a time and keep stirring it till the whey looks like it has lost all solids.

3. Put a cheesecloth or a fine muslin cloth in a strainer and strain the curds from the liquid. Add the chopped chilies, coriander, cumin seeds and salt & pepper to the strained curds and mix well. In case you want to make plain paneer, skip the last step of adding the spices. Wrap it with the cheesecloth and place a flat heavy object on it (like a heavy pot full of water) and leave for about 10 minutes.
4. After the paneer has set, cut it into cubes and serve as is or add it to your favorite paneer recipe and enjoy!

Lemony Fruit Charolette

2011-09-17T00:32:00.000+08:00

Charolette is one of those desserts that looks like a crown jewel on the table ..... it's beautiful, elegant and a sheer pleasure to prepare for any cook. It's easy, does not require any baking and is extremely versatile in terms of the flavors and ingredients.

It was one of those days when I wanted to prepare a dessert and use whatever I had in the pantry and my refrigerator. I found instant lemon pudding mix .... I always have ladyfingers at home (thanks to all the Tiramisu I make!), fresh lemons and some delicious fresh fruits. The only thing missing was whipping cream which was resolved with a quick trip to the nearby supermarket.

The traditional way of preparing the filling can be a custard which can set well. But I find instant pudding mixes, prepared with lesser milk than the recipe calls for to be a very easy substitute. So I prepare the pudding with 1-1/4 cup of milk instead of the 2 cups of milk called for in the directions on the box, add some lemon zest to it and a tablespoon of lemon juice. I like strong lemon flavor without the filling being sour so I also add a few drops of lemon extract to it.

The ladyfingers are dipped in a simple sugar syrup which is prepared by boiling equal parts of water and sugar together till sugar is dissolved and then when its cooled, add lemon juice and lemon extract to it. But the syrup needs to cool down to room temperature before the ladyfingers can be dipped in it. Another essential for the dessert to turn out good is that it needs to be assembled in a springform pan. That makes it very easy to remove the dessert from the pan and serve it. Of course, it enables a pretty presentation.

Ingredients:
1 package instant lemon pudding mix
1 1/4 cups cold milk
3/4 cup chilled whipping cream (whipped to soft peaks)
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
lemon extract
zest from 1 lemon
3 tablespoons lemon juice (approx juice from one lemon)
1 package ladyfingers
2 tablespoons apricot jam

Method:
1. Prepare pudding by mixing the instant lemon pudding mix and cold milk together for a couple of minutes. When the pudding gets the desired texture, add the whipped cream and mix gently. Add 1 tablespoon lemon zest and 1 tablespoon lemon juice.

2. Make a simple syrup by mixing one cup sugar in one cup water and heating gently and heating till the sugar dissolves. Once the mixture is cooled, add 2 tablespoons lemon juice and 1 tsp lemon extract.

3. Dip the ladyfingers one by one in the cooled sugar syrup and arrange in the springform pan to cover the sides and base of the pan. The ladyfingers should be dipped in the syrup and removed immediately. The should not be soaked for too long else they will become too soggy and start to break.

4. Put the lemon cream on top of the ladyfingers and spread to form an even layer.

5. Cut the fruit as desired and arrange on top of the lemon cream mixture. Dissolve the apricot jam in some water to give it a thin, spreading consistency and using a pastry brush, spread all over the fruit to cover all pieces.

6. Put the dessert in the refrigerator to chill for a few hours. Open the side of the springform pan, cut the dessert into wedges and serve.

Quick and Easy Baked Fish

2011-08-30T16:50:00.005+08:00

Coming from the Northern part of India, I had no exposure to cooking fish. Fish is available seasonally and we only ate it in the winters. That too was fried fish bought from our favorite joint and eaten piping hot with green chutney and onion rings marinated in lime juice. It was only about 4 years ago after moving to Singapore that I had access to plenty of fresh catch. I had to learn how to cook fish .... from choosing a good piece of fish (4 years and still learning) to deboning and skinning fish. Then came cooking ..... it took a bit of experimentation to know which fish was best for frying, which one steamed better and which one would make your curry taste wonderful.

My husband really likes fish and I was always looking for a recipe which could substitute fish for a piece of grilled meat in an evening dinner and be easy to prepare as well. I came across this recipe on allrecipes.com. The idea is simple - put your fish in foil packets, add all the flavors you want and bake it 200 C for 20 minutes. Its really as easy as that and this recipe is a staple in my kitchen. I cannot count how many times I have made it and we love it.

Over time I have experimented with the spices I use, the flavorings for the fish and types of fish to be used in this recipe and my all time favorite is salmon fillets or salmon steaks. Salmon holds up beautifully to the cooking process and adapts to all kinds of flavors. From italian spices and flavors to mexican style fish with sliced jalapenos, salmon will absorb it all and the final product will be rich, flaky and full of the flavors you chose for the day.

I also like to bake the fish on a layer of sliced boiled potatoes. The potatoes absorb the flavors of the fish and the spices beautifully and like to serve this fish over a bed of cooked rice and steamted veggies. Sprinkle the juice from the fish on the vegetables and serve it hot with a glass of refresing white wine .... my choice will be a crisp chardonnay or fruity Moscato but feel free to pair it with the beverage of your choice.

Ingredients:

2 salmon fillets

1/2 cup chopped tomatoes

1 medium onion chopped

1 spring onion chopped

few sprigs of coriander

1 tsp red thai chilli chopped

few slices of lemon

2 tablespoon lemon juice

sea salt to taste (please try not to use regular table salt!!)

mixed italian herbs

dried fresh basil leaves

3 tsp Italian salad dressing

Freshly ground cracked pepper

Extra Virgin olive oil

2 medium potatoes - peeled, sliced and boiled till al dente

Boiled/steamed mixed vegetables (carrots/beans/brocolli/cauliflower)

Cooked plain rice

Method:

1. Mix the chopped onions, tomatoes, red chilli, salt, pepper. Preheat oven to 200 C

2. On a piece of aluminium foil, put some potato slices, sprinkle sea salt and pepper and a tiny bit of olive oil. Place your piece of fish skin side down on the potatoes, sprinkle the fish with salt, pepper, dried basil and mixed italian seasoning. Rub these onto the fish and cover with lemon slices and put some lemon juice. Put the chopped onion tomato mixture on top. Sprinkle with some olive oil on top and add 1 1/2 tsp of italian salad dressing on top.

3. Close the edges of the foil and seal the edges tightly to make a foil packet. Place the foil parcels on a baking sheet and bake in pre-heated oven for 20 minutes.

4. In the mean time, place some hot cooked rice on a plate. In a pan, add the boiled/steamed vegetables and sprinkle with some olive oil and salt and pepper and cooked over medium heat for 2-3 minutes to gently heat the vegetables and season them with the salt and pepper.

5. Arrange the vegetables around the rice.

6. When the fish is done, take out the foil parcels from the oven and open them. there will be a lot of juice from the fish and the vegetables so open the packet carefully. Take out the fish and potatoes and all other chopped veggies and put them on the bed of rice. Taste a bit of the juice in the packet, adjust for seasoning and add about a 1/2tsp of lemon juice to it. Sprinkle this juice on the fish and the vegetables and serve hot.

Donuts - for the kid in you(r) home!

2011-08-26T21:39:00.000+08:00

On some days, I just want to come back from work and unwind in the kitchen. Lately I have been attempting to involve the kids more and more in what I do. My son has recently discovered a love for donuts and I wanted to try and make some for the kids because I can control what goes into these donuts and it is actually very easy to involve the kids in shaping and decorating these.

Krispy Kreme happen to be my favorite donuts and I wanted to replicate their taste and texture. Doing my research on the internet revealed that there is a very secretly guarded formula that makes these donuts so good. People have attempted to replicate it and have managed to get fairly close but not close enough! I did shortlist a recipe which was repeated on several sites and promised good results.

I did follow the recipe as instructed but I do have to admit that when I was making the dough it became very very sticky for me - almost a dropping consistency. Which meant that I had to add a fair bit of additional flour to make the dough "barely manageable". This did result in my doughnuts not being as tender as I would have liked them to be. But this was a great chance for me to learn and I promised myself the next batch will be "absolutley right". The recipe was adapted from allrecipes.com but I did add my own touch .... I added a bit of vanilla extract to the batter because I love the cakey taste in my donuts and vanilla always helps!

The kids really enjoyed cutting the donuts with a cookie cutter to make the big round and a bottle stopper to make the hole. The dough that remained from the cookie cutters was rolled out and cut into squares with a pizza cutter to make beignet shapes. Once the dough has risen, fry the donuts. Glaze the round donuts as you like and top them with toppings of your choice. Dust the beignets with icing sugar and enjoy warm!

Ingredients

Donuts

1 (.25 ounce) envelope (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
2 tablespoons warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
3/4 cup lukewarm milk
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons butter
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
vegetable oil for frying

Vanilla Glaze:

2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons butter
1 cup confectioners' sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons hot water or as needed

Chocolate Glaze:

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon milk

Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water, and let stand for 5 minutes, or until foamy.
In a large bowl, mix together the yeast mixture, milk, sugar, salt, eggs, shortening, and 2 cups of the flour. Mix for a few minutes at low speed, or stirring with a wooden spoon. Beat in remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough no longer sticks to the bowl. Knead for about 5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Place the dough into a greased bowl, and cover. Set in a warm place to rise until double. Dough is ready if you touch it, and the indention remains.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and gently roll out to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with a floured doughnut cutter. Let doughnuts sit out to rise again until double. Cover loosely with a cloth.
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in confectioners' sugar and vanilla until smooth. Remove from heat, and stir in hot water one tablespoon at a time until the icing is somewhat thin, but not watery. Set aside.To make the chocolate glaze, melt the chocolate with butter and milk till melted and smooth.
Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large heavy skillet to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Slide doughnuts into the hot oil using a wide spatula. Turn doughnuts over as they rise to the surface. Fry doughnuts on each side until golden brown. Remove from hot oil, to drain on a wire rack. Dip doughnuts into the glaze while still hot, and set onto wire racks to drain off excess. Keep a cookie sheet or tray under racks for easier clean up. You can also fill your donuts with jam or nutella!

Friday Night Lasagna .....

2011-08-14T22:10:00.000+08:00

Sometimes the perfect end to a work week is a scrumptious meal .... and some meals are just more comforting than others .... like Lasagna ..... with it's layers of meat sauce, bechamel and al dente pasta topped generously with parmesan and mozzarella cheeses and baked to perfection. One slice of it and instantly the week is behind you and you can look forward to the weekend. Pair it with a salad and a glass of your favorite wine and it's a party already! This week was one of those fridays when I wanted to make lasagna for dinner but its easier said than done.

Lasagna is not one of those foods that I associate with being able to come back home from work and prepare. There are a few things though, that can help to make the process much faster. To begin with, the pasta itself ..... if you don't have the time, don't try to make pasta from scratch or even use the lasagna sheets you have to boil. Good quality instant lasagna sheets can be your best friend. For the meat sauce, I prefer to use ground pork as it cooks faster than beef - you can use ground chicken also. For the white sauce, I don't go through the process of making a standard bechamel. I have learnt to save myself the time and calories that come with a regular bechamel sauce. My white sauce recipe can be found here. I know that there will be folks who will absolutely disapprove of it but it works for me and I'll invite everyone who is watching their calories to give it a try. The key to making this sauce well is ensuring that you cook it thoroughly so there is no taste from the flour.

For the folks who are vegetarian, there are several options as well. Instead of the meat sauce, try the Mushroom Bolognese sauce - the rest is the same. Or you can make a tomato based sauce, add herbed grilled veggies to it for an extra kick or add chopped spinach to the white sauce to up the nutrition. There is no limit to how creative one can get with lasagna. One more note on this lasagna recipe is that this is the more traditional Italian way of making lasagna vs the American version with includes a ricotta cheese mixture in place of the white sauce.

Lasagna
Ingredients:
Meat Sauce
400 gms ground pork
1 bottle readymade pasta sauce (500g)

1/2 cup finely chopped onions
1/2 cup finely chopped carrots
1/2 cup finely chopped bell pepper
3 cloves of garlic (grated)
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp fresh basil
salt to taste
black pepper to taste
1 tsp dried mixed herbs

White Sauce
4 tablespoons all purpose flour
700 ml fresh milk
salt to taste
black/white pepper to taste
2 slices cheese

Instant lasagna sheets
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese

Method:
1. To make the meat sauce, mix the ground pork with salt, pepper, garlic powder, mixed dried herbs and 1 tsp dried basil powder. Preheat a pan with 2 tsp of olive oil and add the meat mixture to it and brown lightly. Once, done, remove from the pan and set aside.

2. In the same pan, add 2 tsp of olive oil and add the chopped carrots, peppers, onion and grated garlic. Add a couple of pinches of salt and cook till the vegetables are tender.

3. Once the vegetables are soft, add the pork and cook for 2 minutes more. Then add the pasta sauce and 1 cup water. Cover and cook for 15 minutes over medium heat. Once done, check the sauce for doneness of the meat and season with more salt and pepper if needed.

4. While the meat sauce is cooking, in a pan, mix room temperature milk and flour. Use a whisk to mix very well to ensure there are no lumps. Put this mixture in a pan and boil of medium low heat till it thickens to the desired consistency. Continue to cook for another 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper powder to taste, add a couple of slices of cheese to improve the taste and consistency of the sauce.

5. Spread some of the meat sauce on the bottom of a glass dish and cover with one layer of the pasta sheets. Spread a layer of the meat sauce and top it with another layer of the white sauce and cover with pasta sheets. To ensure a moist well cooked lasagna, you need to ensure that all sheets are covered well with the sauce.

6. Continue layering till all the pasta and sauce are used up. Ensure that the final layer is a sauce layer. Sprinkle the grated mozzarella and parmesan cheese on top to fully cover the top. Cover with a piece of aluminium foil to retain the moisture while cooking.

7. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 35 minutes. Then remove the foil and cook uncovered for another 10-15 minutes. Make sure that the pasta is cooked by testing with a knife. Let the lasagna rest for 10-15 minutes and serve hot.

Spinach Tomato and Feta Salad
Ingredients:
2 cups of baby spinach leaves.(washed and dried)
1 cup cherry tomatoes (cut into half)
1/2 cup danish feta cheese, cut into small cubes
2 tsp Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt to taste

Method:
In a bowl, add the spinach, tomatoes and feta cheese. Sprinkle with olive oil and sea salt. Toss gently to combine the ingredients and serve.

Happy Birthday ........ from kids with love

2011-05-28T00:21:00.000+08:00

Before my husband's birthday this year, our daughter was in the hospital, so when she came back home on the day, we had to celebrate later with a cake for the Dad and for the joy of being with your kids ..... so the kids and I whipped up a chocolate cake with a delicious chocolate frosting. Decorated with more frosting, some sugar decorations and lots of love, it was the perfect thing to get everyone in a good mood :)

The recipe for the cake was from allrecipes.com. I have tried this on several occasions and I love it every single time. Its easy to make and delicious and turns out soft and moist and very dark! The name of this cake is "Black Magic Cake" and rightfully so. The frosting was more of an adaptation of another recipe from the same site but it turned out beautiful. It had a rich chocolatey flavor and tasted gooey and delicious. I will invite all chocolate lovers to try this combination. Its a definite keeper!

Chocolate Cake:

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup strong brewed coffee
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans or one 9x13 inch pan.
In large bowl combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center.
Add eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes on medium speed. Batter will be thin. Pour into prepared pans.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and finish cooling on a wire rack. Fill and frost as desired.

Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients

1 cup butter (no substitutes), softened
4-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1-1/4 cups baking cocoa
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
2 oz melted cooled unsweetened chocolate
1 tablespoon corn syrup

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar, cocoa, melted chocolate, corn syrup and vanilla. Add enough milk until frosting reaches spreading consistency.

Easter Cupcakes!

2011-05-16T23:56:00.000+08:00

On some days, good cooking is all about enjoying yourself, having fun with friends and churning out tried and trusted recipes instead of making something new. A close friend of mine and her son dropped by one day and the plan was to make cupcakes with frosting. Since it was an Easter weekend, the theme of the cupcakes was Easter. Pastel colors and sugar decorations made it look and feel like Easter on a cupcake platter.

The recipe chosen for the day was Pam Anderson's Basic Muffins from "The Perfect Recipe". This recipe is not new to me. I have used it many times to make the much liked muffins in my kitchen. And I have found so many ways to flavor them - lemon/blueberry or orange/cranberry or chocolate chip muffins and even jam filled/Nutella filled muffins! Haha no surprises on how much I love muffins :)

When it comes to frosting, I have also discovered that there is more to it than butter and sugar. My favorite frosting any day of the week is Royal Icing. I have used it to top many a cakes and muffins over the years. And I love the fact that I don't need to refrigerate it. It dries up just a little when left outside - so its easy to serve to kids anytime. When you bite into that thin layer of slightly hardened sugar on the top, what you get inside is this soft pillowy frosting with a hint of lemon that just tastes unbelievable.

The recipe started with plain vanilla flavored muffins - very basic .... baked in both regular and mini sizes to cater to kids of all ages and sizes - the only time I am happy about both my age and size!

The Royal Icing is painted in desired shades and placed into icing bags with different tips.

Once the cupcakes are iced, they can be decorated with sugar decorations or sprinkles or even fresh fruits.

Broken Glass Jello

2011-04-03T00:52:00.001+08:00

Rarely do you get the chance to transform something very basic and simple to something creative and beautiful and when I saw this blog post from the Food Librarian, an amazing blogger with whom I feel I share a passion for cooking and feeding others (even though my repertoire of recipes is nowhere close to hers!), I just could not stop myself from trying this! The idea is simple, Jello .... but you put some thought to it and end up with something amazing! And just the sheer simplicity of the recipe .... just a few steps and you have a gorgeous dessert that satisfies the kid in everyone.

The jello pieces themselves look like little jewels spread out on a plate. The kids had a blast just picking them up and eating as is. I was just too inspired by what I had seen on the blog and wanted to really try out the broken glass jello.

My Jello did not turn out as good as hers and I had a few lessons learnt this time around .... the milk mixture should have had more gelatine than what I put in - that would have meant cleaner, firmer pieces. It will be a good idea to check the bloom factor of the gelatine that you're using unless you are able to get your hands on gelatine sheets.

Also the milk mixture needs to cool down completely before it's added to the jelly pieces. When I added the milk, it was slightly lukewarm. When this milk was added to the prepared jelly cubes, it started to melt them a little resulting in the flavor from the jello going to the milk. That can be easily avoided. Make sure that the milk mixture is cooled before you add it to the jello cubes.

This recipe did give me a few ideas ..... coffee flavored jello will come up next! Imagine cubes of esspresso in a milky base. Sounds good to me!!!

Ingredients:
2 flavored Jello packages (3oz) [Strawberry and Lime]
1/2 can condensed milk
1 tsp powdered gelatine

Method:
1. Dissolve each packet of jello in one cup of boiling water each. Put the mixture in individual containers and chill in the fridge for 2-3 hours till the jello is set.
2. Once set, take out the jello and cut into small cubes. (Lining your containers with plastic wrap helps to take out the jello and cut it very easily.

3. Mix the colored cubes in a 9X13 pan.

4. In a separate bowl, sprinkle 2 envelopes unflavored gelatin into 1/2 cup cold water. After the gelatin blooms, add 1/2 cup boiling water and dissolve. Add the 1/2 can of condensed milk. Stir and cool. Pour cooled milk mixture over jello and chill overnight.

5. Cut into pieces and serve!

Quick Homemade Gnocchi

2011-03-31T00:16:00.000+08:00

Well there are no secrets - I am a carboholic and pasta is one of my favorite forms of carbs. But there is one form of pasta ..... the pillowy soft gnocchi that holds a special place in my heart. Ever since I came to Singapore from North America, getting good gnocchi has been a struggle. There have been only a couple of restaurants in the past four years where the quality of gnocchi is upto the mark. Even the gnocchi in supermarkets is not as good. And with the busy work schedule and 2 kids, one hardly gets time to do things from scratch. I was quite delighted to spot this recipe for Quick Gnocchi on the allrecipes website.

This recipe makes life much easier by using a shortcut ingredient to replace the process of boiling, peeling and mashing the potatoes. Dehydrated potato flakes, often used for making instant mashed potatoes and potato bread is used in this recipe and they make this recipe as instant as a gnocchi can get! I did make some changes to the original recipe and did not use as much flour as was called for in it. I also added white pepper instead of black. The key to making good gnocchi is to keep the dough soft and not overmix. Adding too much flour or kneading too much can develop gluten resulting in tough gnocchi.

Once there is a level of comfort with basic gnocchi, one can experiment further with spinach gnocchi, saffron gnocchi, ricotta gnocchi or just adding a variety of herbs or cheeses to the dough. I am quite confident after today's experiment that it will be a delight to try some of these other versions.

Ingredients

1 cup dry potato flakes
1 cup boiling water
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Upto 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Place potato flakes in a medium-size bowl. Pour in boiling water; stir until blended. Let cool.
Stir in egg, salt, and pepper. Blend in enough flour to make a nearly stiff dough. Turn dough out on a well floured board. Knead lightly.

2. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a long thin roll, the thickness of a breadstick. With a knife dipped in flour, cut into bite-size pieces. If you want, you can press on the gnocchi with the tines of a fork to make ridges which help to capture more sauce.

3. Place a few gnocchi in boiling water. As the gnocchi rise to the top of the pot, remove them with a slotted spoon. Repeat until all are cooked.

4. Add gnocchi to the sauce of your choice and serve. I served the gnocchi with a chicken alfredo sauce seasoned with only salt and pepper with the sharp distinct taste of parmesan cheese in the background. Delish!

Tiramisu Cake ..... the Best of Both Worlds .......

2011-01-16T00:20:00.001+08:00

My love for Tiramisu is no secret. In fact I have cooked and shared tiramisu with my friends and colleagues more than any other recipe. Part of the reason is also that it is an easy one to prepare and very scalable. So a triple batch does not take significantly more incremental effort than a single batch.But the bigger reason is that I know this is a taste that is universally adored. I have not come across many people who do not like Tiramisu. Its the blend of coffee, cheese and cream, with the lightness of ladyfingers which makes it a winner.

I recently came across this recipe which talked about a tiramisu cake. I had to try it! They had coupled my love for cakes with the one flavor that I always find irresistible! Again I cannot thank Allrecipes enough - it has a wonderful selection of recipes and amazing folks who will take out the time to rate recipes and suggest what worked for them. This recipe uses the flavors of home brewed espresso and coffee flavored liqueur. That combined with the mascarpone cheese feels like a Tiramisu with a different texture.

The cake was delicious as is but the recipe included a frosting which I used to ice the cake and decorated it with shaved chocolate. The frosting was a very good consistency and allowed me to practice my piping skills. I had not planned to do any specific patterns for this cake so I kept the icing simple with borders on the top and the bottom of the cake. A sprinkling of shaved chocolate on top was the final touch.

I will recommend this recipe for sure. It may seem a touch daunting with the multiple layers of cake and the filling and frosting but all the steps are very easy. The cake itself is made from a box mix so it takes away some of the complexity of baking. This recipe albeit the high calorific value is definitely a keeper. I have made some modifications to the original recipe. I used more liqueur that was called for in the recipe and I brewed some strong espresso to spread on the cake. I also added more coffee powder in the coffee layer of the cake to make it coffee enough for me.

Ingredients

CAKE:

1 (18.25 ounce) package moist white cake mix
1 tablespoon instant coffee powder
1/4 cup coffee
1 tablespoon coffee flavored liqueur

FILLING:

1 (8 ounce) container mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
2-1/2 tablespoons coffee flavored liqueur

FROSTING:

2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons coffee flavored liqueur

GARNISH:

1 (1 ounce) square unsweetened chocolate

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 3 (9 inch) pans.
Prepare the cake mix according to package directions. Divide two thirds of batter between 2 pans. Stir instant coffee into remaining batter; pour into remaining pan. (I did not have 3 nine inch pans, so I baked 2/3 of the batter (white) in one 9 inch pan and the coffee batter in the second pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. In a measuring cup, combine brewed coffee and 1 tablespoon coffee liqueur; set aside.
To make the filling: In a small bowl, using an electric mixer set on low speed, combine mascarpone, 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar and 2 tablespoons coffee liqueur; beat just until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
To make the frosting: In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer set on medium-high speed, beat the cream, 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar and 2 tablespoons coffee liqueur until stiff. Fold 1/2 cup of cream mixture into filling mixture.
To assemble the cake: Cut the white cake horizontally into 2 halves. Place one plain cake layer on a serving plate. Using a thin skewer, poke holes in cake, about 1 inch apart. Pour one third of reserved coffee mixture over cake, then spread with half of the filling mixture. Top with coffee-flavored cake layer; poke holes in cake. Pour another third of the coffee mixture over the second layer and spread with the remaining filling. Top with remaining cake layer; poke holes in cake. Pour remaining coffee mixture on top. Spread sides and top of cake with frosting. Garnish with chocolate curls. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving.
To make the chocolate curls, use a vegetable peeler and run it down the edge of the chocolate bar.

Made to Order Birthday Cake

2011-01-09T01:40:00.000+08:00

My niece was going to visit us shortly after her birthday and when I asked her what kind of cake she'd like me to make for her when she is here, she was very clear. It had to be a cake with flowers and grass and butterflies and it was supposed to be pink and purple. That was the most precise anyone had been with me and I was thrilled! I went to my favorite baking shop in Singapore and got the tools I needed to create the patterns.

The icing was made with this icing recipe from allrecipes. The saddest thing happened when we had finished decorating the cake. In a desire to make the cake look nice and colorful, we had put so much color into the icing that when we tasted it, the icing had started to turn bitter. It was really something for our eyes only ..... noone ate a full piece of the cake.

But for me making the cake was a wonderful chance to experiment with frosting, colors. icing tips and patterns. In this bog entry I will not share a recipe but I will share the story of how we went about this cake. There was so much icing left over that the kids also got a chance to ice their mini cakes. They had a good time playing with the icing, different tips and colors. Even though we could not really eat the cake, it was a real pleasure creating it and I want to share it with you ....

I started with a white cake mix. I baked it in 2 9-inch round cake pans. When the cakes were done, they were left on a wire rack to cool. Once cooled, I leveled the cakes and put the cut side down. This helps to get less crumbs when we are spreading the frosting on the cake.

I spread the frosting on the first layer of cake. Once the first layer was done, I put the second layer on top and repeated. Finally I spread some frosting on the sides and smoothed it all the way around.

I put green icing in a piping bag and coupled the grass tip (#233) to the bag. With small strokes, piped grass all over the cake going in concentric circles.

Once the grass was done,we used the tip #16 for piping the yellow rosettes. The pink Swirl Drop flowers were created using tip 2D. The dot in the center is piped using tip #3.

In the end, the kids took over and my niece decorated the cake with some store bought sugar butterflies.

As you can see below, we had plenty of icing left over after the decoration of the cake was done. So the kids took over and decorated their mini cakes.

All in all, it was a great evening for the kids and for me. I loved the chance to learn so many new things! It was just amazing!! The aim for the next time is to make a cake that we can actually eat!!!

The Best Meatballs ....... With Angel Hair Pasta

2011-01-05T23:38:00.005+08:00

Over the years my tastes in food have evolved a lot. I have gone from eating Indian only to experimenting with different kinds of cuisines and even when it comes to experimenting with different types of meats, I have gone from eating chicken only to lamb, seafood, beef and even pork. I know that there will be a lot of folks who are reading this and nodding their head in disapproval ..... but the truth is that I have come to enjoy a wide variety of foods and developed my love with food even more because I am willing to try new things.

I actually enjoy beef quite a bit .... especially Singapore favorites Beef Kway Teoh and Ginger Beef with Scallions. I am more than happy to eat a good burger or a flavorful sausage in a bun. And there are several recipes that I love to make with beef and pork This meatball recipe is one of them. It is another recipe from Pam Anderson's book "Cooksmart - Perfect Recipes for Everyday". I have tried to make these meatballs with all kinds of ingredients at hand and sometimes without the complete ingredient list or sometimes with substitutes and each time I am more impressed with the flexibility that this recipe has to offer. Just to begin with, this recipe calls for beef, pork and veal mix as the meat of choice but this turns out just as good with just beef and pork as well. I never seem to have the saltine crackers asked for so I substitute with ritz crackers with results just as good.

For all those who eat a variety of meats, I invite you to try these. I have modified the original recipe according to my tastes (heavier on herbs and chili flakes) and the ingredients that are easier to find and it always works! This recipe is a keeper in my kitchen. I always make a big batch of meatballs and freeze them. The next time I am craving for some pasta and meatball goodness, comfort is just a freezer door away. These meatballs are just as good inside a panini or just as an appetizer so don't limit yourself to what you can do with these. With pastas, these meatballs work just as well with a tomato sauce or Alfredo sauce. Sometimes I just crush these with a fork and add them to the sauce - it tastes better than any ground meat bolognese becasue of all the flavor in the meatballs and its a much quicker sauce to make. The options are endless!

Ingredients:
3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1/4 cup olive oil for frying
1 pound (450 gms) equal parts ground beef and pork mix
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
9 ritz crackers (finely crushed)
Heaping 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp crushed dried chili flakes
2 large eggs
2 tsp tomato paste

Method:

1. Heat a small skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic cloves and toast them until skins are brown-spotted and garlic flavor has softened, about 5 minutes. Remove from the skillet, peel, mince and set aside.
2. Heat oil over low heat in a pan. In a medium bowl, break up meat into small clumps to facilitate mixing. Add the garlic, cheese, cracker crumbs, salt, pepper, chili flakes, basil and oregano. Mix lightly to combine. In another bowl, whisk 1/4 cup water, eggs and tomato paste until paste dissolves. Add egg mixture to meat mixture. Mix lightly with fingers until thoroughly combined. Remember never overmix the meat mixture - this will make the meatballs harder and drier.

3. Shape the meatballs by hand or by using a 2 tablespoon coffee scoop.

4. A couple of minutes before frying the meatballs, turn the heat to medium high. Add meatballs to pan in batches, if necessary to avoid overcrowding. Cook, turning once with tongs, until browned on both sides, about 4 minutes total.

5. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

To make the pasta:

In a pot, boil sufficient water for pasta. Add salt to the water.
In another pan, heat some tomato pasta sauce (store bought or home made) and add 1/2 cup water to it and the meatballs that you need for the dish. Cover the pan and let them cook for 10 minutes on low heat.
When the water has boiled, add pasta of your choice. I prefer angel hair pasta for this dish. Cook till the pasta is al-dente and drain.
When the meatballs have finished cooking, remove the cover and add salt and pepper to taste, a pinch of chili flakes and 1/2 tsp dried basil or 1 tsp fresh basil leaves. Mix well and add the drained pasta. Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese and serve!

Chicken Avocado Salad

2010-12-26T02:13:00.000+08:00

Recently a friend requested me for a low fat low carb recipe and this one truly makes the cut. On the surface it seems like it may be unhealthy but this is a great dish. Avocado and rosemary grilled chicken is sprinkled with fresh lemon juice. The richness of the avocado makes it easy to go without adding additional fat in the dressing. And rosemary chicken has just the right amount of flavor to keep the taste buds happy!

There are a few must-dos for this salad that will make it better than your average salad.

Grilled chicken breasts - the grilled chicken must be juicy and tender. There is no room for hard and stringy chicken breast meat in a salad. There are a few things that will help grilled chicken to turn out good every time

Pound the chicken breasts to an even thickness. This is the single most important step to getting perfect grilled chicken. Pounding the meat ensures that the entire piece of meat cooks evenly and every bite has the same texture throughout.
Sprinkle sea salt, crushed black pepper and rosemary (dried/fresh) on your chicken breast towards the end of the pounding. This will make sure that the seasonings will stick to the meat.
Add a bit of extra virgin olive oil to the heated pan just before you put in the chicken breast. This is a lean piece of meat and the bit of fat in the pan will ensure that the meat gets nicely browned on both sides. I love the fruity flavor of olive oil. But care must be taken to never heat it in the pan for a long time as it may burn.

Play with textures in a salad. I believe in having different textures in every meal I eat. It may not be possible always but its very easy to achieve it in this salad. If I break it down for you - the chicken has a bite to it, the avocado is rich and smooth, cherry tomatoes give a bit of sweetness, spring onions give a bit of crunch and a mild onion taste. Nuts or dried fruits are another great way to add texture. I use pistachios in this salad. They have a wonderful green color that complements the avocado and spring onions and a mild crunchy taste with a hint of sweetness! This combination, sprinkled generously with sea salt and lemon juice is a feast for the palette.

The final finishing touch to this salad is a bed of baby spinach leaves. I cannot even begin to describe how much I love these greens. They dont need to be cooked and hence very healthy! I just toss spinach leaves with some fat free Italian dressing and that is the bed on which I like to serve the salad. It complements the richness of the salad very well.

This is just one way of making this salad or any salad that works well for me but feel free to change as you like it. Play with the ingredients, the dressings, the textures and you'll enjoy it for sure!

Ingredients:
1 cup grilled chicken breast cubes (please refer to the note above)
1 avocado (halved, stone and pulp removed and cut into cubes)
1/2 cup cherry tomato halves
1 spring onion (chopped finely)
2 tablespoons pistachio nuts (chopped)
2 cups baby spinach (washed and dried)
1 teaspoon fat free Italian dressing
juice of 1/2 lemon
sea salt to taste.

Method:

Prepare the chicken as recommended in the note above. Alternatively you may use already roasted chicken that can be bought at the supermarket. Cut into cubes and set aside to come to room temperature.
In a bowl, add the avocado, spring onions, cherry tomatoes and pistachio nuts and mix to combine. Add the chicken pieces, sprinkle with sea salt, lemon juice and mix to combine.
Toss the salad leaves with the fat free dressing and make a bed on a serving plate. Top with the chicken mixture above and serve.

Super Citrusy Quick Orange Cake

2010-12-13T23:28:00.000+08:00

Being able to make a good Orange cake has been an aim for me for a while now and all my attempts would result in cakes which lacked the intense citrusy taste and flavor that I was always looking for. I experimented with several recipes including Orange chiffon cake and converting my regular sponge/vanilla cake to an orange cake but none of them were able to deliver on the taste I was looking for. The end result would taste faintly of oranges and nothing close to what I had in mind. Once again Allrecipes came to my rescue and I found this recipe for Orange cake.

I have made this recipe several times now and everyone at my home just loves it! It also goes to prove that sometimes you can make stuff from readymade mixes which meets expectations. I am not the biggest fan of cake mixes but this recipe got me converted. It tastes great and is easy to make. I did make some changes to the original recipe. I use orange extract insteaf of lemon extract and add the zest of one orange. I also skip the glaze to make it slightly healthier.

Ingredients

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix

1 (3 ounce) package instant lemon/vanilla pudding mix

3/4 cup orange juice

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1 teaspoon orange extract

Zest from one Orange

Directions

1.Grease a 10 inch Bundt pan. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

2.In a large bowl, stir together cake mix and pudding mix. Make a well in the center and pour in 3/4 cup orange juice, oil, eggs and orange extract and zest. Beat on low speed until blended. Scrape bowl, and beat 4 minutes on medium speed.

3.Pour batter into prepared pan.

4.Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes.

5. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Mushroom Bolognese with Elbow Pasta

2010-12-12T22:03:00.000+08:00

During the Navratras I always try out vegetarian versions of non-veg food that I may have been missing for a while ... And it was during one of those Navratras that I tried to make a vegetarian Bolognese. Any proud Italian will disown me at this stage because there is nothing like a vegetarian version of this popular Italian dish. And the true authentic bolognese has nothing to do with the ground meat version available in most restaurants. And an authentic Bolognese will always always be served with tagliatelle. Because I had decided to move away from the meaty version, I also took the liberty of using the pasta shape I had on hand that day.

I have always found mushrooms to be the only vegetable that is able to lend a meaty taste to any dish and so was the natural choice for my pasta dish. There are some things that one must always remember when using mushrooms. Firstly, never ever wash mushrooms. If you feel they need to be cleaned, just wipe with a damp paper towel. Washing your mushrooms is one way of guaranteeing a bad mushroom dish. Secondly, never overcrowd a pan with mushrooms - you always want your mushrooms to sauté on medium/high heat and not stew in their liquid. That is the best way of preserving the taste and texture of mushrooms.

Ingredients:

200 gms button mushrooms (cut into quarters)

1 small carrot (finely chopped)

1 small onion (finely chopped)

1/2 green bell pepper (finely chopped)

2 cups Tomato Pasta sauce (readymade or homemade)

1 tablespoon Fresh/ 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves

1 cup dried Pasta shape of your choice

4 teaspoons olive oil

Sea salt to taste

Finely ground parmesan/parmigiano reggiano cheese

Method:

Saute mushrooms in 2 teaspoon olive oil over med high heat. When the mushrooms are lightly browned, take them out and transfer to a bowl.

In the pan, add the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil and add the finely chopped carrot, bell pepper and onion. Sprinkle with some sea salt and cook on medium heat till the vegetables are soft.

When the vegetables are done, add the mushrooms, some more sea salt and pasta sauce and cook for about 10 minutes to allow the vegetables to absorb the sauce. At this stage you may even choose to add some water or vegetable stock to thin the sauce a little depending on the consistency you're looking for.

In the meantime, boil plenty of water with some salt and cook the pasta till al dente. Once the drain the pasta in a colander. Never rinse pasta with cold water - it will stop the sauce form sticking to the pasta.
Once the vegetables are soft, and the sauce has reduced a little, allow to cool. Once cooled, pulse the sauce in a food processor till the texture is like a ground meat sauce. (for vegetarians, it is a slightly chunky texture resembling coarsely grated vegetables). There is another way of making this sauce - the cooked vegetables can be pulsed in the food processor and then added to the tomato sauce. The key is to not blend everything to a fine puree - texture of the vegetables will lend a hearty taste to the sauce.
Once the sauce is ready, transfer it back to the pan and heat a little. Add the basil an adjust seasonings. I also like to add some dried chili flakes at this stage to give the pasta a bit of kick without making it very hot or spicy.

Add the cooked pasta to this sauce. Mix well and cook for a couple of minutes. Add some parmesan cheese and mix well. check seasoning one last time and adjust if needed.
Transfer to a serving dish, sprinkle some grated cheese on top and serve.

A Taste for Giving ...... Eggless Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting

2010-10-24T00:13:00.001+08:00

Our team organized a very successful lunch for charity on the 1st of October. It was aptly named "A Taste for Giving" ..... In addition to the lunch we also held a bake sale where we sold delicious cakes and cookies. The sale was a big success and everything was gone within half an hour! There were several delicious goods lovingly baked and generously donated to us by some amazing cooks. One of those recipes was "Chocolate Cupcakes with Frosting". My colleague and fellow baker will blog with her recipe for these delectable cupcakes soon.

The team with their hands full of the everyday work they do had to put together a lot of extra effort to make our event such a success and I kept thinking of a good way to say thank you to them. And to be honest, for me the best way of giving thanks is to make something that I know they will like. Since it was Navratri time, I had to make an eggless cake. So I went back to my recipe for Chocolate Oil Cake from Allrecipes that I had used previously to make this cake. I did search a bit to get a frosting recipe. I had to make some tweaks to this recipe from allrecipes that I used but I was very happy with the end result. This blog entry is also an attempt to show how to frost a cake at home.

Baking this cake was very easy but the frosting was a bit tricky. I wanted more than butter, sugar and cocoa in my frosting so I added some melted unsweetend chocolate. It also help to cut the extra sweetness of the icing sugar. I also added a couple of tablespoons of corn syrup - this helps to give that extra shine to frosting. At one point of time, I thought I had ruined it but it just needed a splash of milk and a few extra seconds in the mixer and it turned out to be smooth and chocolatey. The consistency was just right to spread it on the cake and even do some decorations.

1 recipe chocolate cake, baked in two 9-inch round pans as per instructions. You may use your favorite recipe of chocolate cake for this and dont have to be restricted to eggless cakes. For the recipe of the cake I used, please refer here.

Chocolate Frosting:
Ingredients:

1 cup butter (no substitutes), softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
2 oz melted unsweetened chocolate
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk

Method:

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar, cocoa and vanilla.

Add the melted chocolate and corn syrup and beat for a few more seconds.

Add enough milk until frosting reaches spreading consistency.

To frost layer cakes, the first thing that needs to be done is leveling of the cake rounds. Use a long, serrated knife or a very strong string, like fishing/kite string to make the cake rounds level. To make a cake with 4 layers, further slice each round cake into 2 halves horizontally.

Place the first layer on the tray where you want to frost the cake. There are 2 tips here that are usually helpful:

Place some strips of parchment along the circumference of the plate/stand that you are using to ice the cake. Once the frosting is done, these can be pulled out to leave the base looking very neat.
Place the parchment side of the cake on top - when frosting is spread on this side, crumbs do not stick to or mix with the layer of frosting.

Proceed to apply frosting on one layer. Smooth it so that it becomes an even layer.

Place the second layer of cake on top and spread the frosting evenly.

Once the top of the cake looks ready, proceed to apply frosting on the sides.

Smooth the frosting all around the cake till it looks even.

At this stage. the cake can be served as is or it can be decorated with sprinkles of your choice.

To further decorate the cake, fill the remaining filling in a piping bag and pipe the desired patterns on the cake.

Decorate with sprinkles of your choice.

Delicious Gooey Cinnamon Rolls .....

2010-10-11T23:14:00.000+08:00

Cinnamon is one of the few flavors which when used for cooking will make always make the whole house smell wonderful! Be it apple pie, cinnamon cake or cinnamon rolls, its guaranteed to fill your home with the aroma of pure comfort. Of all the above, my all time favorites are cinnamon rolls. Good cinnamon rolls are unmistakable - the bread is soft and tender, there are melting swirls of cinnamon and brown sugar and the frosting is smooth and creamy. And the folks at Cinnabon have clearly mastered the art. There are no Cinnabon franchises in Singapore and on a recent travel to Manila I saw an outlet which had me drooling! Unfortunately I could not eat any cinnamon rolls there but gracious relatives in India made sure I had my full supply of gooey sweet Cinnabons.

The recipe that I am blogging about today was actually made a few months back but I never got around to writing about it. This is a very simple recipe that I found on the internet. The recipe has been taken from Todd Wilbur's book "More Top Secret Recipes". Its a brilliant recipe - very easy to put together and the final product tastes pretty close to the real deal.

Ingredients:
Bread:
1 package (1/4 ounce or 2-1/4 tsp) dry yeast

1 cup warm milk
1/3 cup butter
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
4 cups all purpose flour
Filling:
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon powder
1/3 cup butter
Icing:
8 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup cream cheese
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt

Method:

For the rolls, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl. Add sugar, margarine salt, eggs, and flour, mix well. Knead the dough into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour. Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface, until it is approx 21 inches long by 16 inches wide. It should be approx 1/4 thick.

To make filling, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Spread the softened butter over the surface of the dough, then sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon evenly over the surface. Working carefully, from the long edge, roll the dough down to the bottom edge.

Cut the dough into 1 3/4 inch slices, and place cut side up in a lightly greased baking pan.

Bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown.

While the rolls are baking combine the icing ingredients. Beat well with an electric mixer until fluffy. When the rolls are done, spread generously with icing.

Sensational Sinful Pecan Pie

2010-10-07T23:27:00.001+08:00

I am a big fan of Pam Anderson ... And please don't take me wrong. She is not your breathtaking supermodel but a short and (ex)stout woman who was my first teacher to learn American cooking. During my early unemployed years in North America, her book - The Perfect Recipe was Godsend to me. As the name suggests, this was about cooking with the perfect recipe and getting it right everytime. It also included a detailed description of how her recipes came about to be. There was a reason for every ingredient and it's quantity in the recipe. This helped me to build fundamental understanding of some key concepts in cooking especially baking. I will recommend this book to anyone to is planning to foray into American cooking or is interested in the science behind baking.

When I read Pam's second book "Cook Smart - Perfect Recipes Everyday", it was just as brilliant! It had this recipe for Pecan Pie which seemed easy yet foolproof. I have made this recipe a few times now and it is just as delicious every time. I made this recipe again a few weeks back when I had a few guests over at my place. I am sharing it with you all to experiment and enjoy.

I am also a firm believer in "A good crust makes a good pie .... ". Keeping that in mind, I have given a detailed explanation of how to make the crust. Please note that I did not have shortening on hand this time around so I ended up making an all-butter crust. But a combination of butter and shortening makes a lot of difference to the crust so I will encourage you to follow the exact recipe for best results.

Ingredients:

Pie Dough
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons bleached all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tablespoon sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter cut into 1/2 inch pieces and frozen
4 tablespoons (2 oz) chilled cream cheese, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2 inch pieces and frozen [I have made pie with all butter and it also turns out good]

Filling
1 heaping cup chopped pecans
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
3 large eggs, plus 2 large yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Method:
1. For Pie Dough:
(i) Have ready 3 tablespoons ice water. Mix flour, salt and sugar in a food processor. Add butter, break up butter pieces with fingers and coat with the flour mixture. Pule 4 times, 1 long second each time. Add cream cheese and shortening to flour mixture, toss to coat. Pulse another 4 or 5 times, 1 long second each time, until the fats are pea and fine gravel size. Dump mixture into a medium bowl. Add ice water and stir into mixture with a rubber spatula till dough clumps form. Press clumps together with palm of hand to form a cohesive ball. Press down on ball to gather remaining scraps, dipping fingertips in water and adding droplets of water to bottom of bowl if scraps refuse to adhere.

(ii) Wrap ball in plastic, then press down to form a thick disc. Refrigerate for atleast 1 hour (Dough can be refrigerated for upto 2 days).
(iii) Set down dough on a lightly floured work surface and roll out into an approx 14 inch circle. Fold dough in half and set 9 inch pie plate right next to folded dough. Quickly lift dough into pie plate and unfold. Lift edge of dough with one hand and press dough into pan with other hand so that dough is not stretched in any way. Trim dough all around to 1/2 inch beyond pan lip. Roll overhanging dough under with fingertips so that it is flush with pan lip. Flute edge all around. Set pie shell in freezer for atleast 1 hour. [Recipe can be doubled and one half of the dough wrapped in plastic and frozen for upto one month].

(iv) Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 400 F. Line pie shell with a sheet of heavy duty foil and fill with weights [couple of cups of screws, nuts, bolts, dry beans or rice can be used]. bake until fluting has lost its raw appearance and has started to turn golden, about 20 minutes. Remove foil, along with weights, and return pie to oven until bottom of the crust loses its raw appearance and begins to turn golden brown, about 5 minutes longer. Remove from oven, reduce oven temperature to 300F once pie shell has baked.

2. For Filling: Toast pecans in a pie plate in oven until fragrant, about 10 minutes. Pour nuts into pie shell and reduce oven temperature to 250F.

3. Meanwhile, heat cornstarch and 1/3 cup water in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently until thick, set aside. Heat brown sugar and corn syrup in a medium heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water until warm and the sugar has almost dissolved. Whisk eggs, yolks, vanilla and salt in a medium bowl. Slowly whisk warm sugar mixture into eggs. Return mixture to heatproof bowl; whisk in butter, then whisk in warm cornstarch mixture. Heat, stirring frequently, until warm.

4. Adjust oven rack to middle position and set pie shell on oven rack. Pour warm filling into shell. Bake until pie just sets, 40-45 minutes. Cool to room temperature and serve with vanilla ice cream and drizzle caramel sauce on top.

Cherry Tomato Bruschetta

2010-09-12T19:35:00.000+08:00

Often the beauty of something is in the simplicity of it and Bruschetta is no exception. It is an Italian appetizer which consists of bread which is roasted and rubbed with garlic, brushed with olive oil and topped with any toppings of your choice. The toppings may range from simple mashed cannelini beans, roasted red peppers to the tomato and basil topping that most of us are familiar with. And even with the tomato and basil bruschetta, sky is the limit with what else can be added to it. I have seen recipes with a variety of cheeses, olives, bacon, onion, mayonnaise ...... you name it! I love my tomato bruschetta in the simplest form - with basil, olive oil and salt. But even I will do the occasional experimentation and often end up substituting pesto for the fresh basil or adding a cheese to it. I'll encourage you to be creative and come up with a recipe which feels right to you.

For me, there are a few must haves in Bruschetta.
- Good quality Extra Virgin olive oil. I don't care for a bruschetta that does not have the fruity flavor of extra virgin olive oil.
- Ripe, juicy, delicious tomatoes. Since this is a tomato dish, the choice of tomatoes will make or break your bruschetta. Refrain from using the ordinary supermarket tomatoes which are make do for your daily curries where an additional spoonful of tomato paste can make up for the lack of flavor and color. Good quality roma, beefsteak or Japanese tomatoes can be used. For this dish, my usual choice is cherry tomatoes. They are easy to find all year round, juicy, sweet, red and very very tasty! Sometimes I mix red and yellow cherry tomatoes to add an extra dash of color.
- Sea salt. Only recently have I discovered the brilliance of sea salt. I just love it! I am ok to put the regular table salt in my curries and other daily cooking but when it comes to topping up appetizers etc with salt, it has to be crushed sea salt. One has to try using sea salt once to realize the difference it makes and it converts you! Maybe somewhere down the line, I will start using it for my everyday cooking too. For now I am happy to use this to give saltiness to my bruschetta.
- Quality of Bread. This is not the time to use your supermarket loaf of sandwich bread. For good bruschetta, it has to be a good quality baguette, crusty Italian loaf, Ciabatta or foccaccia. These are all the breads that I have used. Any recommendations for other breads is welcome :) The bread also determines whether or how I will toast it. If I am cooking for a big group, I will skip the toasting and rubbing garlic. If the bread has been outside for long, it may get too hard also. I prefer to not toast this bread and use directly for the bruschetta.

Ingredients:
3 cups cherry tomatoes
3 tablespoons extra virgin Olive Oil
2 tsp chopped fresh basil leaves
crushed sea salt to taste
Bread - sliced (thin or thick depending on how you like it)
2 tablespoons grated Parmigiano Reggiano.

Method:

Wash and chop cherry tomatoes. Add the basil, cheese and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Mix well and let sit in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours.
When you're ready to make the bruschetta, take out the tomatoes, add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, sea salt and let it sit for 10-15 minutes till it comes to room temperature and the tomatoes release some of the juices.
Toast lightly the sliced bread on a grill or in the oven. Rub a clove of garlic on the pieces.
Spoon the bruschetta mix on the bread slices making sure that some of the juice goes on each slice. Serve and enjoy!

Let it Snow .... On My Cookies!

2010-08-28T23:34:00.000+08:00

We lived in Canada for a couple of years and the one thing I never missed when we moved out of there was nearly six months of snow every year! But the other day I saw this recipe for Chocolate Crinkle Cookies and I was reminded of the first snow falling on the ground ..... my favorite thing to do was to sit on the couch in the living room with a hot cup of coffee in my hands and watch the snow cover the ground slowly ....... I don't have this luxury of time any more and I live in perpetual tropical sunshine .... but I wanted to recreate the magic with my food again .... and I think I succeeded. When these cookies came out of the oven, they were covered in icing sugar .... with cracks in between where the snow had not fallen yet ..... and I went ahead to enjoy these with a lovely cup of coffee ..........

This recipe like a lot of recent recipes on my blog has been adapted from AllRecipes.com. I am always indebted to the people who share their recipes and to those who review it :) To make the initial batter I had some help from two wonderful friends who had dropped by for us to bake together. Unfortunately we could not finish making these cookies on that day. But I do hope they had a nice time with the first recipe we made together :)

Ingredients

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, mix together cocoa, white sugar, and vegetable oil. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the cocoa mixture. Cover dough, and chill for at least 4 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll dough into one inch balls. You can use a number 50 size scoop. I simply used 2 spoons to make balls of dough and dropped them into the icing sugar. Coat each ball in confectioners' sugar before placing onto prepared cookie sheets.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Let stand on the cookie sheet for a minute before transferring to wire racks to cool.

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

2010-07-24T02:09:00.000+08:00

I have confessed this before and will continue to confess how I am a born carboholic. And that includes the full range - breads, pastas, rice, chapatis, tortillas, noodles ..... But when it comes to bread I eat very little of your usual supermarket loaf of white bread. That bread is missing everything - the crust, the texture, the baked aroma .... and even when it comes to freshly baked loaves of bread from a bakery, I am now able to distinguish between a good loaf and a bad one. I hope to be able to bake more bread and blog about my experiences and also to share how it turned out, did it meet expectations or not. Before my experiments start to look like my professional workplan, let me share with you the last piece of bread that I made from scratch.

I have a dear friend whose kids love raisin bread and I have promised her that I will share a good recipe. But a recipe is never good till I do a bit of research into it and of course try it out myself! So here I was determined to make a loaf of cinnamon raisin swirl bread and make sure that the recipe was easy for others to replicate. To be honest recently, my research has been reduced to reading comments on my shorlisted recipes at AllRecipes.com :) Whatever it takes it get this right the first time!

So here it is folks! A tried and trusted recipe for Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread. The original recipe can be found here. For my baking, I reduced it to one-thirds and then made some modifications.

Ingredients

1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 egg
1/6 cup white sugar
1/3 teaspoon salt
1/6 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup raisins
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon milk
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons + 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Directions

Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Let cool until lukewarm, dissolve the yeast in this milk and set aside till frothy.

Add the water.
Take the flour in a bowl. Mix in milk, water, eggs, sugar, butter or margarine, salt, 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder and raisins.

Start to knead the dough and add more flour to this mixture gradually to make a sticky, soft dough.

Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for a few minutes. Place in a large, greased, mixing bowl, and turn to grease the surface of the dough. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled.
Roll out on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle 1/2 inch thick. Moisten dough with 2 tablespoons milk. Mix together 1/3 cup brown sugar and 2 tablespoons cinnamon, and sprinkle mixture on top of the moistened dough.

Roll up tightly; the roll should be about 3 inches in diameter. Tuck under ends. Place loaf into well greased 9 x 5 inch pan.

Lightly grease top of the loaf. Let rise again for 1 hour.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes, or until loaf is lightly browned and sounds hollow when knocked. Remove loaf from pan, and brush with melted butter or margarine. Let cool before slicing.

Ravioli in Spinach Pesto Sauce

2010-07-07T23:26:00.002+08:00

There have been comments on my blog being very "baking centric" and honestly the baker in me does not mind it actually ..... but to be fair to the food I cook (rarely) these days, there is more that never gets photographed and blogged about. There is all the pasta, the baked fish and all the pasta .... occasional pancakes with a maple blueberry sauce ..... I think you get the picture.

So here I am .... blogging about the one recipe I've made thrice recently .... a delicious spinach pesto white sauce with Ravioli, tortellini and my all time favorite gnocchi. And I always try to make my pastas healthy so omit the cream and replace it with the white sauce in this baked vegetable recipe. I know this is not a traditional white sauce but it works for me and the guilt is much less!

I invite you to try this one ..... its delicious, healthy and a welcome addition to your usual repertoire of sauces. And feel free to use a regular fusili or bowtie, add your favorite grilled veggies, chicken or even garlic shrimp. Its all about experimentation ..... for the carboholic in me, it will be a pack of pillowy soft gnocchi, thank you!

Ingredients:
1 pack (250 gms cheese ravioli)
1 cup white sauce
2 tablespoons basil pesto
2 cups fresh spinach leaves - blanched in boiling water for 15 seconds and ground to a bright green puree
Freshly grated parmigiano reggiano cheese (1/4 cup)
1/4 tsp white pepper powder
Salt to taste

Method:

Bring plenty of water to a boil and add some salt to it. When the water is boiling vigorously, add the ravioli to it and cook as per package instructions.
In another pan, heat up the white sauce. Add the spinach puree, pesto, salt and pepper. If the consistency of the sauce is very thick, add a little chicken stock or milk to make it thinner.
When the pasta is cooked, drain it and add to the sauce and cook for a couple of minutes.
Add 2/3rd of the grated cheese and stir through. Adjust seasonings if needed.
Transfer to a serving dish, sprinkle with the remaining cheese and serve hot.

Triple Decadence in Every Bite!!!

2010-06-12T00:11:00.002+08:00

How can you go wrong when you decide to put together 3 layers of smooth, light, delicious chocolate mousse together ..... Its chocolaty and velvety ..... Every bite just melts in your mouth ...... But it is possible to out-do yourself if each of those layers has a texture that is distinct yet delicious! And the whole dessert just comes together beautifully. This is where I stand and applaud the folks at America's Test Kitchen. They have given us a recipe that delights in every bite. Three layers of chocolate, varying in intensity and texture come together in perfect harmony in this brilliant cake! I present to you - Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake

I have made Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake before from this recipe by Anna Olson. And it was delicious no doubt. But the revised version of this recipe from America's Test Kitchen has put a twist to one of the layers. The bottom layer is a dark flourless chocolate cake. Its light and soft yet it has the texture needed to hold the other 2 layers. The second layer is a bittersweet chocolate mousse without eggs and a light and creamy mousse - quite distinct from the deep chocolate of the base. The topmost layer is a white chocolate mousse - with a smooth, sweet, light and very milky white chocolate flavor.

And last but not the least, a big thanks to my dinner guests for taking some very nice pictures! :) Thank You!

Serves 12 to 16. Published November 1, 2009. From Cook's Illustrated.

This recipe requires a springform pan at least 3 inches high. It is imperative that each layer is made in sequential order. Cool the base completely before topping it with the middle layer. We recommend Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bar for the base and middle layers; our other recommended brand of chocolate, Callebaut Intense Dark L-60-40NV, may be used, but it will produce drier, slightly less sweet results. Our preferred brand of white chocolate is Guittard Choc-Au-Lait White Chips. For best results, chill the mixer bowl before whipping the heavy cream. The entire cake can be made through step 8 and refrigerated up to a day in advance; leave it out at room temperature for up to 45 minutes before releasing it from the cake pan and serving. For neater slices, use a cheese wire or dip your knife in hot water before cutting each slice.

Ingredients

Bottom Layer
6	tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter , cut into 6 pieces, plus extra for greasing pan
7	ounces bittersweet chocolate , chopped fine
3/4	teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 1/2	teaspoons vanilla extract
4	large eggs , separated
	Pinch table salt
1/3	cup packed (about 2 1/2 ounces) light brown sugar , crumbled with fingers to remove lumps
Middle Layer
2	tablespoons cocoa powder , preferably Dutch-processed
5	tablespoons hot water
7	ounces bittersweet chocolate , chopped fine
1 1/2	cups cold heavy cream
1	tablespoon granulated sugar
1/8	teaspoon table salt
Top Layer
3/4	teaspoon powdered gelatin
1	tablespoon water
6	ounces white chocolate chips
1 1/2	cups cold heavy cream
	Shaved chocolate or cocoa powder for serving, optional

Instructions

1. FOR THE BOTTOM LAYER: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Butter bottom and sides of 91/2-inch springform pan. Melt butter, chocolate, and espresso powder in large heatproof bowl set over saucepan filled with 1 inch of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat and cool mixture slightly, about 5 minutes. Whisk in vanilla and egg yolks; set aside.
2. In stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat egg whites and salt at medium speed until frothy, about 30 seconds. Add half of brown sugar and beat until combined, about 15 seconds. Add remaining brown sugar and beat at high speed until soft peaks form when whisk is lifted, about 1 minute longer, scraping down sides halfway through. Using whisk, fold one-third of beaten egg whites into chocolate mixture to lighten. Using rubber spatula, fold in remaining egg whites until no white streaks remain. Carefully transfer batter to prepared springform pan, gently smoothing top with offset spatula.
3. Bake until cake has risen, is firm around edges, and center has just set but is still soft (center of cake will spring back after pressing gently with finger), 13 to 18 minutes. Transfer cake to wire rack to cool completely, about 1 hour. (Cake will collapse as it cools.) Do not remove cake from pan.
4. FOR THE MIDDLE LAYER: Combine cocoa powder and hot water in small bowl; set aside. Melt chocolate in large heatproof bowl set over saucepan filled with 1 inch of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat and cool slightly, 2 to 5 minutes.
5. In clean bowl of stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whip cream, granulated sugar, and salt at medium speed until mixture begins to thicken, about 30 seconds. Increase speed to high and whip until soft peaks form when whisk is lifted, 15 to 60 seconds.
6. Whisk cocoa powder mixture into melted chocolate until smooth. Using whisk, fold one-third of whipped cream into chocolate mixture to lighten. Using rubber spatula, fold in remaining whipped cream until no white streaks remain. Spoon mousse into springform pan over cooled cake and gently tap pan on counter 3 times to remove any large air bubbles; gently smooth top with offset spatula. Wipe inside edge of pan with damp cloth to remove any drips. Refrigerate cake at least 15 minutes while preparing top layer.
7. FOR THE TOP LAYER: In small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over water; let stand at least 5 minutes. Place white chocolate in medium bowl. Bring ½ cup cream to simmer in small saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove from heat; add gelatin mixture and stir until fully dissolved. Pour cream mixture over white chocolate and whisk until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth, about 30 seconds. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally, 5 to 8 minutes (mixture will thicken slightly).
8. In clean bowl of stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whip remaining cup cream at medium speed until it begins to thicken, about 30 seconds. Increase speed to high and whip until soft peaks form when whisk is lifted, 15 to 60 seconds. Using whisk, fold one-third of whipped cream into white chocolate mixture to lighten. Using rubber spatula, fold remaining whipped cream into white chocolate mixture until no white streaks remain. Spoon white chocolate mousse into pan over middle layer. Smooth top with offset spatula. Return cake to refrigerator and chill until set, at least 2½ hours.
9. TO SERVE: If using, garnish top of cake with chocolate curls or dust with cocoa. Run thin knife between cake and side of springform pan; remove side of pan. Run cleaned knife along outside of cake to smooth sides. Cut into slices and serve. Enjoy!!!!

The Easiest Kesar Badam Kulfi Ever!

2010-05-12T22:33:00.001+08:00

What if I told you that you could make creamy, delicious kulfi, the delectable ever favorite Indian summer dessert without any cooking? You'll tell me that I am kidding :) But every once in a while we'll come across a recipe which busts all myths of slow cooking .... it's very easy and uses ingredients where someone else has done all the work for you ..... all you need to do is be creative and bring it all together ..... and this is one of them. It's sheer brilliance in an unsual combination .... the end result is fantastic. And anyone can make it - really, if you know how to mix sugar in your coffee, you can make kulfi!

The credit for this amazing recipe goes to my dear friend Rima ..... thanks so much for sharing this recipe. I can't even remember how many times I've made this and its wonderful every single time! Of course I have adjusted the recipe to make it closer to the texture I like and accomodate to the ingredients I have in my refrigerator all the time. And its very flexible really. So the next time you want to use this recipe and add dark chocolate syrup, chocolate chips and smashed brownie pieces to make your favorite ice cream, go ahead and experiment. I have not tried any ice creams at all because the combination of cardamom, saffron and almonds or cashews wins every single time :) I'll save my chocolate obsession for cakes, mousse and brownies!

Ingredients: pieces)

1 container (8 oz) Fat Free Cool Whip (if frozen, allow to thaw in refrigerator overnight)

1 can sweetened condensed milk (388 gms)

1 can full cream evaporated milk (410 ml)

1/2 tsp saffron strands

3/4 cup almonds

seeds from 5-7 pods of green cardamom

Method:

In a spice grinder put 1/4 cup almonds and cardamom pods and grind to a fine powder. Empty contents into a bowl. Put another 1/4 cup almonds and pulse in the grinder/food processor to slightly coarse pieces. Empty the grinder. Add the remaining almonds and chop into even larger pieces. (One can skip this step, just crush the cardamom pods or use ground cardamom powder and chop almonds into pieces).
In a bowl, combine the condensed milk, evaporated milk, cool whip and blend together. Add the almond/cardamom mixture prepared above and crushed stands of saffron. Mix and put in an airtight container to freeze. (I usually need to freeze this overnight.)

A Chocolate Cake For All Occasions

2010-04-22T23:18:00.003+08:00

There are few things in life as comforting as a piece of chocolate cake. And there are fewer pleasures than to bake a heavenly cake with creamy delicious frosting from scratch .... but life is getting increasingly hectic and I find myself turning to readymade cakes, frostings and boxed cake mixes often. And while I am doing this, I just tell myself .... don't worry ..... things will get easier .... you'll join the Daring Bakers again and you'll cook from scratch every single time ..... very soon ..... just not this time ....

I made these two cakes for Diwali last year. They were made from scratch but the frosting is readymade. The simple touches in decorating these (with storebought sugar flowers ;-)) make it woth the while. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am an ardent follower of Allrecipes. The forum where all people who love to cook share their passion .... I can find the good, the bad and the ugly version of every recipe here ..... and I thank everyone who reviews them and makes it easier for me to choose which version to make.

This is a recipe for Chocolate Oil Cake. Thanks Kristi for this brilliant recipe - no eggs and great for those who prefer oil to butter. And most importantly - it takes a just few minutes to put it together!! I have taken the liberty to reduce the 1 cup oil in the original recipe to 1/2 cup :) Its become a favorite with my family and with the folks who have eaten it. It's my pleasure to share it here with you ... hope you enjoy it as well.

Ingredients:

2 cups white sugar

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease, flour and line two 8 inch round baking pans.

2.In a large bowl, mix sugar, flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa.
3.Add water, vegetable oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Beat by hand until smooth.
4.Pour into the prepared pans. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.
Let the cakes cool on a wire rack. Frost with readymade icing of your choice. Enjoy!

PS: If you want to make this cake healthier, decorate with Marzipan instead of the creamy frosting.

Cheese and Greens .....

2010-04-21T22:32:00.005+08:00

I am not big on salads but I simply love goat cheese. This time around I had some friends over and I decided to make a cross between excess and health. I will not take any credit for this recipe. This was a staple at the Flying Dog restaurant in Waterloo and the customers loved it. The only difference is the dressing. They use a balsamic vinaigrette whereas I like to use my own made of fresh orange and lemon juice. The proportions may seem odd to anyone who makes their own dressings but this is the way I like to enjoy my salads so I always end up using these proportions.

Here it is ..... Salad Greens with Rosemary Crusted Goat Cheese.

Ingredients:

4 goat cheese rounds 1/2 inch think

4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
4 cups mixed salad greens
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, cut into halves
1/2 cup orange segments

Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/8 cup fresh lemon juice
1/8 cup olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Method

Coat each goat cheese round with fresh rosemary and place it on a baking tray. Place inside an oven preheated to 400F/200C for 2-4 minutes. Take out immediately.
Mix the salad greens, tomatoes, ornage segments in a large bowl.
Combine the orange and lemon juice with the olive oil, salt and pepper till they all mix well.
Toss the greens with the vinaigrette.
Place individual salad sevings in a plate/bowl, top with the goat cheese rounds and serve.

One Caramel Cake.... Having it Two Ways.... Priceless!

2010-02-14T00:46:00.003+08:00

Well, it was the last week of my maternity leave and I knew I had to make a couple of things before life got crazy again .... one was a caramel fruit cake and the other was icing a cake with royal icing. And yes there was another thing - there was a recipe for Caramel Cake I had seen on the Martha Stewart website which I had been wanting to try for a while. So the plan was simple - make the Caramel Cake ... make a fruit cake from half and use the other half to decorate with icing :)

This time I also attempted to photograph my cooking through the process instead of just taking pictures of the end product. I have been very inspired by Kay. Although my pictures and layout are nowhere as impressive as hers but her website has been an inspiration to me. This cooking session was also a great time to bond with my son, who has been my amazing assistant in the kitchen. He is usually perched on the shelf and the kitchen is twice as messy when he is done but it is a delight to have him pour ingredients and help me mix stuff. This time around, we also had my friend Cynthia over when the decorating session was happening. It was good fun to spend the time with her after she and I came back from a girls' only lunch :) (aah the joys of maternity leave!)

Caramel Cake & Fruit Cake

Ingredients:

Nonstick cooking spray with flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup Caramel Syrup, plus more for serving
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 large eggs
1 cup chopped dried fruit
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray one 8-inch round cake pan and one loaf pan with cooking spray, line each with a parchment paper, and spray again. Set pans aside.

2. Beat butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Gradually add 1 cup sugar and continue to beat until mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in syrup.

3. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix flour mixture into butter mixture, alternating with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

4. Beat eggs until foamy in another bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Add remaining 1/4 cup sugar and continue beating until thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir into cake batter until well combined.

5. Divide the batter into 2 parts - put one part in a round baking dish.

5. Mix 1 cup of dried fruit and 1/2 cup of chopped nuts with 1 tablespoon of flour. Mix this into half of the prepared batter.

6. Put this batter in a prepared loaf pan.

7. Bake the 2 cakes for 20-25 minutes until done. The fruit loaf cake may take slightly longer than the plain caramel cake. Cool the cakes on a wire rack.

8. When the fruit cake is cooled, sprinkle with some powdered sugar and serve. Decorate the plain caramel cake with royal icing.

Royal Icing

Prepare royal icing as per instructions. I have made a recipe from Nigella Lawson a few times and like it for its simplicity and taste. I decided to use the same recipe this time around. For recipe of the royal icing, please see here.

Divide the icing into parts and color them as needed.

My son was so excited with all the fuss that he started his own little project of icing on a slice of bread :)

Finally after a few hours of slogging with the icing, the colors, the tips, messing up the cakes again and again and trying to fix it everytime, we both had finished products that we were proud of!

I loved every bit of making this recipe and decorating the cake. It was a special treat for myself before I went back to work and I am so glad I did it because since then, life has been very very busy. Today is the first time I'm blogging since then. But hopefully life will get more settled and I will get back to sharing my love for cooking on this blog. Till then - Ciao!!

The Heavenly Cinnamon Choco Latte

2009-11-09T00:01:00.002+08:00

I am a picky eater in some sense and I easily get bored of the everyday Indian food so I like to keep things interesting and different every now and then. That is why I find myself craving pasta, sandwiches, Mexican, Thai food etc very often. If there is one thing that I had to name that I could consume every single day without tiring of it, it would be coffee :) And not just your average cup of brewed coffee. It has to be a latte. I am not a purist when it comes to lattes. I don't mind flavoring mine with different things .... the usual is caramel, vanilla, hazelnut and chocolate. There are other less frequent exceptions like butterscotch and the promotional flavors at my favorite coffee places.

There is one latte however that I once had at TCC , which completely blew me away. It was a Cinnamon Choco latte and it was divine! What a pity that they took it out of their menu since as far as I am concerned, that was the best thing they had in store. That is saying a lot for a place where the usual coffee just does not live upto its name. The Affogatto is ok but everything else is just forgettable.

In North America, I owned a Melitta Espresso maker, a very ordinary machine that still brewed a decent cup of coffee. Last year, I bought a Krups espresso machine. It is in no way a state of the art machine but it brews a beautiful cup of coffee - just the way I like it. The espresso itself is delicately flavored and has a crema on it that is delightful. I don't feel the need to froth my milk anymore because the espresso has enough crema that the hot milk added to it gives me a beautiful layer of coffee flavored froth on top of my beverage. There are Italian coffee machines that will put my handy little device to shame but I love my coffee maker any day since it gives me a chance to have a good cup of coffee when I want it.

Now about this cinnamon choco latte .... it is a work of art and I did not try to search for any recipes or measurements to see how this would turn out. I just went with what I thought would be good .... tasted and tweaked a bit and there it is .... a delightful latte that can perk one any time of the day. This is best enjoyed with a cinnamon stick that can be allowed to infuse further flavor into the coffee and also slurp the whipping cream and coffee. Yum yum!!

Ingredients:
1 shot freshly brewed espresso
3/4 cup milk - heated to your liking
1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon syrup
2 tsp chocolate sauce/syrup + more to decorate
whipping cream - to top the beverage
cinnamon stick (with one end covered in foil - optional)

Method:

Pour the espresso shot in cup. Add the cinnamon syrup and 2 tsp chocolate sauce/syrup. Mix.
Add the heated milk and stir to mix.
Top with whipping cream and chocolate syrup.
Serve hot with a stick of cinnamon.

Girls' day in the kitchen - Cupcakes with Icing :)

2009-10-31T23:14:00.002+08:00

My sister was visiting me last week and I ended up doing a lot of baking while she was around. One of the things we made together were these great cupcakes with a royal icing. It was good fun! My sister, my helper and I spent two fun filled hours in decorating these on the evening of the night she had to fly. That evening made me realize how much I miss her in doing all the cooking, baking etc I do all the time. This one is for you sis! We had a great evening ... lets do this more often :)

I am a big fan of Pam Anderson (the cookbook author .... not the supermodel ;-) ). Her cookbooks are a delight to read, loaded with great recipes and interesting explanations of how her "Perfect" recipes came about to be. The cupcakes were made with her recipe for Basic Muffins. For the Royal Icing, I used a recipe from Nigella Lawson's Nigella Feasts. .

Muffins

Ingredients
Vegetable cooking spray/oil for brushing muffin tins
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
10 tablespoons butter (at room temperature)
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and preheat oven to 175 C. Coat a 12 cup muffin tin with vegetable oil/cooking spray.
Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in half of the dry ingredients. Beat in one third of yogurt. Beat in half of remaining dry ingredients, alternating with one third of remaining yogurt, and repeat until fully incorporated.
Use a large ice cream scoop to divide the batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake until muffins are golden brown, 20 - 25 minutes. Set on a wire rack to cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Remove from the tin and allow to cool before frosting.

Royal Icing:
I have modified the original recipe by Nigella Lawson to include 2 tsp of lemon juice.

Ingredients:
2 large egg whites
3 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tsp lemon juice

Method
Combine the egg whites and confectioners' sugar in a medium-size mixing bowl and whip with an electric mixer on medium speed until opaque and shiny, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the lemon juice, this will thin out the icing. Beat for another couple of minutes until you reach the right spreading consistency for the cupcakes.

Pick Me Up ..... Italian Style

2009-10-31T20:59:00.001+08:00

If there is one dessert that I can never resist, it is Tiramisu .... the creamy filling .... the aroma of espresso ..... the divine feeling in every bite ...... I really wish I were a better writer to be able to explain how much I adore this dessert. There are as many recipes for this as there are people who make it and I am not qualified to say which is good or bad or which is the really authentic one but I would love to write about this recipe that I really like. I have made it several times and I have not come across anyone who has not approved of the final product.

This recipe has been adapted from the recipe Classic Tiramisu by Carol. This is a beautiful recipe. Thanks a lot Carol for sharing with us. I have made some changes to the recipe. In place of Mascarpone cheese I have used the Mascarpone substitute mentioned here. I used brewed espresso in place of the coffee liqueur mentioned in the original recipe and I dipped the ladyfingers in the espresso instead of splitting them in half and brushing with the liqueur. I like the flavor of espresso that comes through once the ladyfingers have absorbed it and the dessert sets itself in the fridge.

Ingredients

6 egg yolks
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1 1/4 cups mascarpone cheese or mascarpone substitute
1 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream
2 (12 ounce) packages ladyfingers
1 1/2 cups brewed espresso
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting
1 (1 ounce) square semisweet chocolate

Method

Combine egg yolks and sugar in the top of a double boiler, over boiling water. Reduce heat to low, and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and whip yolks until thick and lemon colored.
Add mascarpone or its substitute to whipped yolks. Beat until combined. In a separate bowl, whip cream to stiff peaks. Gently fold into yolk mixture and set aside.
Dip the lady fingers in the espresso briefly. A few tips for the process

Place your espresso in a big shallow dish instead of a deep one. The ladyfingers do not absorb a lot of the espresso in the shallow dish.
Remove the ladyfingers very quickly from the espresso. Don't allow them to stay in the mixture for long else they will absorb too much and fall apart.

Spoon half of the cream filling over the lady fingers. Repeat ladyfingers and filling layers. Garnish with cocoa and chocolate curls. Refrigerate several hours or overnight.
To make the chocolate curls, use a vegetable peeler and run it down the edge of the chocolate bar.

Muffins with a Heart ......

2009-09-15T15:03:00.008+08:00

I love Banana Muffins and for the longest time could not think of a way or reason to make them better. Then during my pregnancy I discovered the Banana-Nutella combination. Its great!! I had to find a way to put Nutella in my favorite muffins and it struck me one day. The plan was to fill the muffins with Nutella before I baked them. In the past I have tried making muffins by putting a dollop of jam in the batter before I baked them. The jam leaked from some of the muffins while baking and from some when I was trying to take them out of the muffin pan.

I decided to try something different this time around. I took spoonfuls of Nutella and cooled it in the refrigerator. I then shaped these as balls and stuffed each ball into the muffin batter. The result was muffins with a heart of nutella when you bit into them. But the Nutella did not leak out of the muffins and just hid inside like a pleasant surprise. The sad part this time around was that I was short on yogurt and out of baking soda so my muffins themselves did not turn out as tender as they usually do. But the Nutella surprise in each one more than made up for it. The recipe for muffins has been adapted from Pam Anderson's "The Perfect Recipe". I have used pecans instead of walnuts in the original recipe.

Ingredients

3/4 cup pecans, chopped

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

10 tablespoons butter, softened

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups plain yogurt

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (3 small)

12 heaping teaspoons Nutella

Method:

Toast pecans in a small skillet over medium heat until fragrant, 3 to 4 minutes, stirring frequently. Take 12 heaping teaspoons of Nutella and cool them in the refrigerator. When they are cold, shape them into balls.
Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and preheat oven to 375 F/190 C. Coat a 12 cup muffin tin with vegetable oil / vegetable cooking spray.
Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and nutmeg in a medium bowl; set aside.
Beat butter and sugar with an electric/stand mixer at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in one-third of the yogurt followed by half of dry ingredients. Beat in one-third of the yogurt. Beat in half of remaining dry ingredients, alternating with one-third of remaining yogurt until fully incorporated. Fold the bananas and pecans into the final batter.
Use a large ice-cream scoop to divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Fill each muffin cup halfway through and then place a Nutella ball in the center of each. Top each cup evenly with the remaining batter. Bake until muffins are golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Set on a wire rack to cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Remove muffins from tin and serve warm.

Apple Cinnamon Raisin Cake ..... Flavors of the Fall in Sunny Singapore

2009-09-11T16:48:00.008+08:00

In my days in North America, I would make atleast one apple pie every fall. In "Forever Warm Sunny Singapore" that just doesn't feel right. I just miss the chill in the air that makes a piece of warm apple pie on your plate feel just right. I was missing the flavors of apple and cinnamon so much ...... (and also wanted to stay away from all the butter in the pie ;-) )..... so I decided to put them in a cake. The trick is to steep your apples in powdered cinnamon and sugar for a while before you add it to the cake batter. This gives the cake an intense apple pie flavor.

Recipe

Ingredients:
2 large apples or 3 medium ones, peeled and finely grated
1 tablespoon cinnamon powder
1 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup raisins
1 1/2 cup all purose flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt

Method:

In a bowl mix the grated apples, cinnamon and 1 tablesppon sugar. Keep this mixture aside for 1/2 hour. The sugar helps to draw more juice from the apples. This juice has an intense cinnamon flavor and it helps to keep the cake moist.
Preheat oven to 325 F or 180 C. Grease and flour a 10" bundt pan.
Lightly dust the raisins with 1 tablespoon of all purpose flour. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
Cream the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Fold the flour into the batter very gently. Add the apples/cinnamon/sugar mixture with the juice and the vanilla extract. Finally fold in the raisins.
Pour the batter into the prepared dish and bake in preheated oven for 35-45 minutes. When it is done, the cake will be springy to the touch and a tester inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Invert the cake onto a cooling rack after 10 minutes. Optional: dust the cake with icing sugar or a mixture of icing sugar and cinaamon powder.

Caramel and Pecans in My Cheesecake

2009-04-26T10:30:00.005+08:00

It has been unusually hectic for me .... work, kid, home and then a week long (only??) trip to India. I could not do the Daring Bakers challenge last month so this month I was determined to find the time to do the it early. And I am so glad I did because this month's, Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake was a great challenge. It let me get creative with a beautiful recipe that came together so easy. All I had to do was to think of the kind of cheesecake I wanted to make.

I wanted to experiment with the crust and not make it entirely out of biscuits. Adding nuts to the base seemed like an interesting option. I also wanted caramel flavor in my cheesecake without it being to sweet. So I used the caramel syrup that would normally flavor my latte in the morning in the base and the chesecake batter. And that was it! A Caramel Pecan Cheesecake right after my own heart!!

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 cup ground pecans (toasted & ground to a medium-fine grind)

1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted

2 tbsp. / 24 g sugar

1 tbsp. caramel flavor syrup
Cheesecake:

3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature

1 cup / 210 g sugar

3 large eggs

1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

2 tbsp caramel flavor syrup

Garnish:

Homemade caramel sauce & toasted pecan halves

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.
2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too - baker's choice. Set crust aside.
3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy.
4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.
5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don't want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

Belated Valentines .... From My Heart .... To Yours

2009-02-28T23:11:00.006+08:00

This months Daring Bakers Challenge could not have been more appropriate. A decadent and melt in the mouth cake .... a trip down Chocolate Heaven .... heart shaped no less .... Yes it is the incredible Flourless Chocolate Cake.

I had read about the cake several times but had never baked or tasted one so was really excited to try it. Unfortunately I could not prepare it in time for Valentines day. But Better Late Than Never deserves more credit than I had given it. I tried the cake .... made it in a special heart shaped pan and loved every bit of it. I did not get a chance to try to make the ice cream. I like my cake to be slightly on the bitter side so I used 12 oz of semisweet and 4 oz of special dark chocolate. I initially served the cake with some whipped cream but then realized that it really needed the ice cream to make it sweeter for my hubby (he is less of a dark chocolate fan than I am). The next set of servings were plated out with some delicious storebought Vanilla Ice Cream with mini chocolate sprinkes and seconds were served and devoured very shortly. This recipe is a keeper. I'll definitely make it again! Thank You Dharm and Wendy for a great great challenge.

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

Chocolate Valentino

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

12 ounces of semisweet chocolate + 4 ounces of Hersheys Special Dark Chocolate, roughly chopped

½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter

5 large eggs separated

Method:

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.

2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.

3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.

4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).

5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.

6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.

7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter. {link of folding demonstration}

8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C

9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C. Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.

10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

Flowers on a Plate

2009-01-28T20:06:00.006+08:00

Having missed the Daring Bakers challenge last month, I was really waiting to get into some real action this month :) So when I read the recipe, Tuiles seemed really easy and uncomplicated but I was in for a surprise when I came to baking them. It was not as easy as it seemed. I had to get the thickness just right to be able to mould them into the desired shapes and I had to bake them for just the right time as well. But they are so much fun!! Its so easy to let your creativity flow .... and make all kinds of shapes. I can't wait for my son to grow up more or for my niece to come visit me and then it'll be the most fun project!

I made my Tuiles in the shape of flowers and served them with whipped chocolate cream alongside a serving of Tiramisu to friends who were over for dinner that evening. Unfortunately I could not capture the plated dessert before we devoured it. But I do have pictures of the tuiles with the chocolate cream.

This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

Recipe:

Yields: 10 medium sized

Preparation time - batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes

Baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch

Ingredients:

65 grams / ¼ cup / 2.3 ounces softened butter (not melted but soft)

60 grams / ½ cup / 2.1 ounces sifted confectioner’s sugar

dash of vanilla extract

2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)

65 grams / 1/2 cup / 2.3 ounces sifted all purpose flour

1 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice

Butter/spray to grease baking sheet

Oven: 180C / 350F

Method:

Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not overmix.Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template. Press the stencil on the baking sheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes. Bake shapes in a preheated oven (180C/350F) for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Immediately release from bakingsheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time or maybe put them in the oven to warm them up again.

Grilled Cheese Sandwich .... The Way I Like It!

2008-11-30T22:00:00.001+08:00

Some of the most delicious and satisfying foods may be the the simplest ones too and these sandwiches are such an example. The ingredient list is small but the focus should be on getting them as fresh as is possible. The result is heavenly!

Ingredients:

1 ball fresh mozzarella cheese

1 loaf foccacia (flavored if possible) / any crusty Italian bread / white sandwich bread

1 large fresh tomato

2 fresh basil leaves - finely chopped

salt & freshly cracked black pepper to taste

extra virgin olive oil

Method:

1. Slice the bread into medium or thin slices.

2. Layer the bread with sliced tomatoes, sliced mozzarella cheese, garnish with fresh basil, salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Drizzle this with a little olive oil and cover with another slice of bread.

3. Drizzle a little olive oil on both sides of the sandwich and place in a preheated sandwich/panini maker. Cook till the sandwich is golden and cheese is melted.

4. Serve hot & unadorned.

Caramelly Goodness of a Cake

2008-11-29T00:00:00.000+08:00

Caramel is one of the flavors I love a lot. So the Daring Bakers' Challenge to make Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting seemed to be just the right thing. And was even more excited to start this month's challenge beacsue this would be the first recipe I'd make using my brand new Kithen Aid Mixer!!! Yes my dream machine was an anniversary gift from my brother-in-law and sister-in-law (A gift for the ones who cook and the ones who eat :) ). I was so glad the challenge was a recipe which required me to use this machine!

This month's event was hosted by Dolores of Culinary Curiosity and co-hosted by Alex (Brownie of the Blondie and Brownie duo: ), Jenny of Foray into Food . The recipe chosen for the challenge is Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting courtesy of Shuna Fish Lydon of Eggbeater, as published on Bay Area Bites.

The recipe itself seemed easy but from the forums I knew beforehand that this would be a dense cake. The cake did turn out dense and there was more than enough butter in it for me to think that the fat to cake ratio was healthy by any stretch of the imagination. The batter and the cake were both delicious. Great caramel flavor! But then came the frosting. The frosting was really sweet for my taste (and I have a really sweet tooth!). In short, I will definitely make the cake again with a revised method that I saw on Martha Stewart's show (courtsey of a fellow Daring Baker). I will skip the frosting. It was much too sweet for my taste. Here is the recipe:

CARAMEL CAKE
Ingredients:
10 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/4 Cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 Cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)
2 each eggs, at room temperature
splash vanilla extract
2 Cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk, at room temperature
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Butter two 9-inch cake pans.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar and salt & cream until light and fluffy.Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl. Scrape down bowl and increase speed.
3. Add eggs/vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl again, beat mixture until light and uniform.
4. Sift flour and baking powder.Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the dry ingredients. When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time. Add another third of the dry ingredients, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dry ingredients.
5. Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds, making sure batter is uniform. Turn batter into prepared cake pan.Place cake pan on cookie sheet or 1/2 sheet pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or till the sides pull away from the pan and skewer inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool cakes completely before icing it.

CARAMEL SYRUP
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup water (for "stopping" the caramelization process)
Method:
In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush. Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly: dark amber.When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and be prepared to step back.Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers.

CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING
Ingredients:
12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound confectioner’s sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons caramel syrup
Kosher or sea salt to taste
Method:
1. Cook butter until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl, set aside to cool.Pour cooled brown butter into mixer bowl.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, add confectioner's sugar a little at a time. When mixture looks too chunky to take any more, add a bit of cream and or caramel syrup. Repeat until mixture looks smooth and all confectioner's sugar has been incorporated. Add salt to taste.

Mini Banana Loaves

2008-11-28T23:58:00.004+08:00

I love these mini banana loaves. They are easy to make and allow me to make different varieties in one go. They are also great in controlling portion sizes :) The recipe is very versatile. I have added mini chocolate chips to half of the batter. We can just as easily add chopped nuts, white chocolate chips, raisins or just leave it plain. I picked the original recipe from Bernard Clayton's "New Complete Book of Breads". It is indeed a bible for anyone who loves to bake and wants to know more about all kinds of breads. I have adapted his recipe for my taste and baking preferences.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

6 tablespoons butter

2/3 cups light brown sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp each salt and vanilla extract

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Baking Pan:

1 baking pan with 8 mini loaf compartments, lightly brushed with butter.

Method:

In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the mashed bananas and vanilla extract. .
In a separate mixing bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Mix lightly, adding the flour in 3-4 additions.
When the batter is well incorporated, pour halfof the batter into 4 loaf comparments.
To the rest of the batter, add the mini chocolate chips. Pour the remaining batter into the mini loaf comaprtments.
Bake in a preheated oven (350 F) for 25 - 30 minutes.

My Home Pizzeria ....

2008-10-25T00:00:00.002+08:00

This month's Daring Bakers challenge was deceptive to say the least ... Pizza sounds easy and we've all done it before but then it was not easy to toss the dough and stretch it like the real pizzeria folks. I did not want to make six pizzas and so decided to make three. And I think that was the reason I did not get the practice that I would have liked. I made the dough as per the recipe - with one exception - I always add dried basil and oregano to the basic flour and salt mixture because I love the added flavor of these two ingredients in my dough.

I divided the dough into 3 parts instead of the 6 recommended in the recipe and made 2 pizzas and froze the dough for the 3rd one. One was a Barbeque Chicken Pizza and the other one was a Supreme Pizza.

BBQ Chicken Pizza
Top the pizza with the following and bake:
3 tablespoons Heinz BBQ sauce
1 cup shredded cooked chicken tossed with 1 tablespoon BBQ sauce
½ cup thinly sliced red onions
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Supreme Pizza
Top the pizza with the following and bake:
1 cup cooked Italian sausage (rounds/chunks)
1/3 cup diced onions
1/3 cup diced green bell peppers
¼ cup chopped olives
1/3 cup chopped pineapple chunks
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
The basic recipe for the dough is as follows:
EQUIPMENT: Stand mixer with paddle and dough hook attachments (optional, see recipe), cooking thermometer, baking sheet, parchment paper, cooking oil, plastic wrap, pizza peel/scraper, pizza mesh.
RECIPE SOURCE: “The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering The Art of Extraordinary Bread” by Peter Reinhart. Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA. Copyright 2001. ISBN-10: 1-58008-268-8, ISBN-13: 978-158008-268-6. Basic Pizza DoughOriginal recipe taken from “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” by Peter ReinhartMakes 6 pizza crusts (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter)

Ingredients:
4 1/2 Cups (20 1/4 ounces/607.5 g) Unbleached high-gluten (%14) bread flour or all purpose flour, chilled
1 3/4 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Instant yeast
1/4 Cup (2 ounces/60g) Olive oil
1 3/4 Cups (14 ounces/420g or 420ml) Water, ice cold (40° F/4.5° C) 1 Tb sugar
DAY ONE
Method:
1. Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a big bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer). 2. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough. On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are homogeneously distributed. If it is too wet, add a little flour (not too much, though) and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water. NOTE: If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for the same amount of time.The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet, sprinkle in a little more flour, so that it clears the sides. If, on the contrary, it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a teaspoon or two of cold water. The finished dough should be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50°-55° F/10°-13° C.
3. Flour a work surface or counter. Line a jelly pan with baking paper/parchment. Lightly oil the paper.
4. With the help of a metal or plastic dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you want to make larger pizzas). NOTE: To avoid the dough from sticking to the scraper, dip the scraper into water between cuts.
5. Sprinkle some flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Gently round each piece into a ball. NOTE: If the dough sticks to your hands, then dip your hands into the flour again.
6. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly pan and mist them generously with spray oil. Slip the pan into plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap.
7. Put the pan into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to thee days. NOTE: You can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag if you want to save some of the dough for any future baking. In that case, pour some oil(a few tablespooons only) in a medium bowl and dip each dough ball into the oil, so that it is completely covered in oil. Then put each ball into a separate bag. Store the bags in the freezer for no longer than 3 months. The day before you plan to make pizza, remember to transfer the dough balls from the freezer to the refrigerator.
DAY TWO
8. On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. Place the dough balls on a floured surface and sprinkle them with flour. Dust your hands with flour and delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Sprinkle with flour and mist with oil. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow to rest for 2 hours.
9. I do not have a pizza stone but I have owned the pizza pans that are used by restaurants to make pizzas. They are thick mesh sheets and can be used directly in the ovens. I have tried using a pizza stone but I feel that I enjoy better oven pizzas with these. I preheat the oven at 250C NOTE: Make only one pizza at a time. During the tossing process, if the dough tends to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and reflour your hands, then continue the tossing and shaping. In case you would be having trouble tossing the dough or if the dough never wants to expand and always springs back, let it rest for approximately 5-20 minutes in order for the gluten to relax fully,then try again. You can also resort to using a rolling pin, although it isn’t as effective as the toss method.
10. When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter - for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough), place it on the pizza sheet.
11. Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.
12. Place the garnished pizza on the mesh into the oven. Bake for about 10-15 minutes till the edges of the pizza are golden and the cheese is melted.

A Bake of Good Health

2008-10-13T00:55:00.006+08:00

I love these baked vegetables. They are healthy and delicious and take very little time. I have devised my own version of Bechamel sauce which many people may frown upon but I like it a lot because I can serve it to my family guilt free!

Recently a friend of mine told me that he follows my blog ... that was completely unexpected and I felt very honored to hear him say that. This is an easy vegetarian recipe that I really hope he can try to make too ....

Baked vegetables

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Carrots (diced/long bias)
1 cup Green beans (cut into 1 inch pieces)
1 1/2 cup cauliflower florets
1 cup green peas (frozen)
1 cup corn kernels (frozen)
1 1/2 cups full cream milk
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
salt and pepper to taste

Method

Boil 6 cups water and add 1 1/2 tsps salt to it. Add the carrots, cauliflower and beans till they are almost done. Add the frozen peas and corn and boil for a couple of minutes till they are heated through and tender. Drain the vegetables when they are done and reserve 1/2 cup of the discared water.
Preheat an oven to 200 C/395 F.
In a saucepan, mix the cold milk and flour with a whisk till no lumps remain. Put the pan over medium fire and stir continuously. When the sauce heats up, the mixture is going to thicken. Cook for 3-5 minutes till the sauce reaches a smooth and pourable consistency. If the sauce is too thick, dilute it with some of the reserved water from the boiled vegetables. If it feels thin, then add another 2 tsps of flour to 1/4 cup milk, mix and add to the sauce.
When the sauce feels like it is ready, add the salt and pepper to taste. Add the vegetables and cook for a couple of minutes in the pan. Taste one more time for salt/pepper and adjust seasonings if needed.
Pour the vegetables into a glass baking dish and level on top with a spoon. Sprinkle cheese and breadcrumbs on top and bake in the oven till the cheese has melted, crumbs are golden brown and vegetables are bubbling at the edges.
Serve with a crusty French bread and a side salad.

Note: In order to make this dish quicker, the oven is preheated and sauce is prepared while the vegetables are boiling.

Chocolate and Coffee Eclairs ... mmmm ....

2008-08-31T22:11:00.011+08:00

When I saw the new Daring Bakers challenge, my first reaction was yippee!!! Finally something from Pierre Herme and that too Eclairs!! It cannot get better than that :) Well of course at that time I had not thought of making coffee eclairs and enjoying them with a brilliant cup of coffee!! And finishing that with a chocolate eclair topped with a delicious chocolate ganache ....

To start with many thanks to Meeta and Tony for coming up with this amazing challenge and being such gracious hosts! Thanks a lot for giving us this chance to make something that is simple and everyday ... yet we do not take out the time to make it ...

Workwise, it has been a crazy month but this challenge was worth every bit of I time I spent on it ... and yes I did spend a fair bit of it .... my first attempt at eclairs was met with a flat batch ... resembling pancakes more than eclairs. But the second attempt resulted in beautiful puffs of choux pastry ... a colleague had made the eclairs before me and her eclairs were the reason I decided to make the chocolate pastry cream :) It was yumm and worth the effort that would go into making it!

For the glazes, I decided to keep it simple .... one was a chocolate ganache and I cannot give up a chance to add coffee to anything I make so the other was a white chocolate ganache with instant coffee added to give it the extra kick.

And let me also mention here that Pierre Herme has been my idol for a long long time ... the first time I saw him was on a Martha Stewart show and he was brilliant. I then tried to make the fantastic Carioca Cake from his recipe on the show. It was one of the most complex things I had made in my early baking days and needless to say, it was delicious. And it opened my eyes to a world of baking where there are layers of flavor to what you make and you involve yourself in many many steps before you make the final thing. Till that time, my baking had been limited to simpler cakes, brownies, cookies and the occassional bread-making. But he opened my eyes to a world where every dessert had several layers to it and each layer and each step required knowledge and discipline. Thank you Pierre ... you have been a guide and a tutor for me ....

Ok, so here is the recipe for the fantastic Eclairs. The choux and the pastry cream are Pierre Herme's recipes but the glazes are ... well my own concoction!!! And I'm glad they worked well enough for me to want to share them on this post today. Hope you will enjoy them as much as I did!

Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate Éclairs
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

• Cream Puff Dough (see below for recipe), fresh and still warm

1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the oven into thirds by
positioning the racks in the upper and lower half of the oven. Line two baking sheets with
waxed or parchment paper.

2) Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a 2/3 (2cm) plain tip nozzle with the warm cream puff dough.
Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in long, 4 to 41/2 inches (about 11 cm) chubby fingers.
Leave about 2 inches (5 cm) space in between each dough strip to allow them room to puff.
The dough should give you enough to pipe 20-24 éclairs.

3) Slide both the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 7 minutes. After the 7 minutes, slip the
handle of a wooden spoon into the door to keep in ajar. When the éclairs have been in the
oven for a total of 12 minutes, rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back. Continue
baking for a further 8 minutes or until the éclairs are puffed, golden and firm. The total baking
time should be approximately 20 minutes.

Notes:
1) The éclairs can be kept in a cool, dry place for several hours before filling.

Assembling the éclairs:

• Chocolate & Coffee Glazes (see below for recipe)
• Chocolate pastry cream (see below for recipe)

1) Slice the éclairs horizontally, using a serrated knife and a gently sawing motion. Set aside the
bottoms and place the tops on a rack over a piece of parchment paper.

2) The glaze should be barely warm to the touch (between 95 – 104 degrees F or 35 – 40
degrees C, as measured on an instant read thermometer). Spread the glaze over the tops of
the éclairs using a metal icing spatula. Allow the tops to set and in the meantime fill the
bottoms with the pastry cream.

3) Pipe or spoon the pastry cream into the bottoms of the éclairs. Make sure you fill the bottoms
with enough cream to mound above the pastry. Place the glazed tops onto the pastry cream
and wriggle gently to settle them.

Notes:
1) If you have chilled your glazes, reheat by placing it in a bowl over simmering water,
stirring it gently with a wooden spoon. Do not stir too vigorously as you do not want to create
bubbles.

2) The éclairs should be served as soon as they have been filled.

Pierre Hermé’s Cream Puff Dough
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

• ½ cup (125g) whole milk
• ½ cup (125g) water
• 1 stick (4 ounces; 115g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature

1) In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to the
boil.

2) Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium
and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together very
quickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it’s supposed to. You
need to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough
will be very soft and smooth.

3) Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using your
handmixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand. Add the eggs one at a time,
beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough.
You will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough will separate, once again do
not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back all together again by the time you
have added the third egg. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted it
should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon.

4) The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the éclairs as directed above.

Notes:
1) Once the dough is made you need to shape it immediately.

2) You can pipe the dough and the freeze it. Simply pipe the dough onto parchment-lined baking
sheets and slide the sheets into the freezer. Once the dough is completely frozen, transfer the
piped shapes into freezer bags. They can be kept in the freezer for up to a month.

3) I live in Singapore where the weather is generally warmer and more humid. I had to add an extra couple of tablespoons of flour and take out about a tablespoon of butter from my choux dough and it really worked for me.

Chocolate Pastry Cream
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by PierreHermé

• 2 cups (500g) whole milk
• 4 large egg yolks
• 6 tbsp (75g) sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted
• 7 oz (200g) bittersweet chocolate, preferably Velrhona Guanaja, melted
• 2½ tbsp (1¼ oz: 40g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1) In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar and cornstarch together and whisk in a heavy‐bottomed saucepan.

2) Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture.Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered yolk mixture.

3) Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stop) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat).Stir in the melted chocolate and then remove the pan from the heat.

4) Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice‐water bath to stop the cooking process. Make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so that it remains smooth.

5) Once the cream has reached a temperature of 140 F remove from the ice‐water bath and stir in the butter in three or four installments. Return the cream to the ice‐water bath to continue cooling, stirring occasionally, until it has completely cooled. The cream is now ready to use or store in the fridge.

Notes:
1) The pastry cream can be made 2‐3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.

2) In order to avoid a skin forming on the pastry cream, cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the cream.

3) Tempering the eggs raises the temperature of the eggs slowly so that they do not scramble.

Chocolate Ganache
Recipe by Jyotsna ... classic and delicious

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup heavy cream

Heat the cream over low heat tll it comes to a boil. Take the chocolate chips in a bowl and add the hot cream to it, stirring continuously to melt all the chocolate. When this mixture cools down, it becomes a think and shiny glaze.

White Chocolate & Coffee Glaze
Recipe by Jyotsna ... worth a try ...

1/3 cup white chocolate
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons icing sugar
1 tablespoon strong instant coffee dissolved in 1 tablespoon warm water

Heat the cream over low heat till it comes to a boil. Take the chocolate chips in a bowl and add the hot cream to it, stirring continuously to melt all the chocolate. When this cools down, add the icing sugar to make the mixture thick. To this, add the coffee dissolved in water and stir till the mixture resembles a thick glaze.

Verdict:
Delicious! The chocolate eclairs were chcolatey enough to make anyone go mmmm .... and the coffee eclairs had a definite kick to it! I'll definitely make this again :)

Braid Away .... The Danish Braid

2008-06-29T12:00:00.001+08:00

The Daring Bakers monthly challenge has been a gift for me in more ways than one. It makes sure I take out the time to do what I love most and write about it, no matter what ... This month has been exceptionally busy for me. I started work again about 6 weeks ago and then we moved apartments. So my weekdays have been spent at work and weekends getting settled in the new apartment.

This morning was full of excitement for me! I was going to start this challenge. Again, the Daring Bakers have come up with a recipe that I have been waiting to try for a long time but just could not get the inertia to try out.

The hosts for this month's event are Kelly of Sass & Veracity, and Ben of What’s Cookin’? and they chose something amazing! It is the Danish Braid .... beautiful, versatile and a great great challenge. Something to test your baking skills, patience, your understanding of the temperature and humidity in your region .... a recipe worth every bit of effort that went into it.

I was very scared about starting this recipe ... I hadn't done any recipes before that required the layering of fat typical of puff pastry or this recipe for instance. Not to mention the hot and humid Singapore weather and my new tiny kitchen for which this was a maiden venture. The start wasn't very encouraging - my dough was wet and sticky. I was adding flour by the handfuls to get it to the right texture. I was so double minded about doing a sweet or savory filling - then should I add the orange juice, the zest, the vanilla the sugar to my dough or not .... But at last, good judgment prevailed - I decided to stick to the recipe and make a sweet danish dough with sweet fillings.

My niece loves jam - so one braid with a fruit jam filling was decided :) One down! The next choice just came to me when I was out with my son for a walk ... I was thinking about it and imagining the taste and texture in my mind. Pecans, raisins, honey, a touch of cinnamon and maple syrup!!! Yes that was it for me! Then all that was left to be done was the turnings of the dough. That aside, I was enjoying the way my dough was rising in the refrigerator. And I just loved the way it smelled with the zest and the vanilla extract. I skipped the vanilla beans just because getting it would mean I started another 3 hours later than I did. So here is the recipe: A great dough and a great recipe!

Recipe: “Danish Braid” from Sherry Yard’s The Secrets of Baking

DANISH DOUGH

Makes 2-1/2 pounds dough

Ingredients
For the dough (Detrempe)
1 ounce fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 large eggs, chilled
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

For the butter block (Beurrage)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

DOUGH

Combine yeast and milk in a bowl with a hand mixer on low speed or a whisk. Add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice and mix well.
Sift flour and salt on your working surface and make a fountain. Make sure that the “walls” of your fountain are thick and even. Pour the liquid in the middle of the fountain. With your fingertips, mix the liquid and the flour starting from the middle of the fountain, slowly working towards the edges.
When the ingredients have been incorporated start kneading the dough with the heel of your hands until it becomes smooth and easy to work with, around 5 to 7 minutes. You might need to add more flour if the dough is sticky.

BUTTER BLOCK

Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.
After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Fillings: Strawberry Jam Filling (1 cup strawberry jam)

Raisin and Pecan filling
1/2 cup raisins, 1/2 cup pecans, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 tsp maple syrup, 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder.
Combine the ingredients in a bowl and set aside to be used as filling.

DANISH BRAID
Makes enough for 2 large braids

Ingredients
1 recipe Danish Dough
Fillings: Strawberry Jam Filling and Raisin Pecan Filling

For the egg wash: 1 large egg, plus 1 tablespoon water.

1. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.
2. Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.
3. Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.

Egg Wash
Whisk together the whole egg and yolk in a bowl and with a pastry brush, lightly coat the braid.

Proofing and Baking
1. Spray cooking oil (Pam…) onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.
2. Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.
3. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.