Apple and Carrot Shortbread

Aren't we all glad that the summer is now over? For all those months I hardly stepped into the kitchen; couldn't bear to be close to an oven in that heat ( Except the one time I baked for my mom ). I don't think I had cravings for anything other than chilled water! But now with the onset of the rains, things are getting better. I love my masala chai and its a perfect companion for a rainy afternoon. But then I found myself hoping I had some cookies to go with it.

I had bookmarked this recipe a while ago and wondered how apples and carrots would go together. Now I know- they are fantastic together! So with this rich nutty shortbread and the comfort of baking again, I am enjoying the start of monsoon. Hope you are as well :)

Cranberry n Lemon Cake

My mother is usually saying that I don't bake much for her. The fact that we live in different cities may have something to do with that. But recently, due to some work, I had to stay back in Pune for almost two weeks. Wouldn't get a better chance than that! So besides some Caramel Ice- cream, I made this Cranberry Lemon Cake one afternoon.

This cake is just so fresh! The lemon really shines through, and cranberries are my favorites anyways.  I was lucky to sneak myself a slice early on, because it was gone the same day!

Apple Pie

One of the first things I wanted to make when I started baking was an apple pie. Isn't it one of the most comforting things ever? But when I started to look for recipes I was spoilt for choice. There were apple pies, crumbles, cobblers, crisps, brown bettys...phew!! And for a new cook it can be a bit overwhelming. Though they all have very slight differences, I didn't know which one to try!  And so for the past few months I have just been trying to go back n forth trying to decide. You would think its not such a big deal, right? Just make the bloody pie! But being a Libran, indecisiveness is a part of my nature and we like to mull over our choices till the cows come home. However small the issue may be.

But a couple of days back while I was loitering around in the kitchen deciding what to make, I saw two apples on the counter. And was suddenly hit with the urge to have an apple pie. And this time I was determined. I wanted to do something simple for the first time, just wanted the flavor of apples to shine through. A quick search led me to Smitten Kitchen and she had a recipe for the simplest tart ever! Just butter, flour, sugar and apples! Within the hour my pie was in the oven and my kitchen smelled like heaven.

This pie is so simple that I think everyone should make it. Not even the fear of tackling pie dough should stop you. Trust me, you'll be happy.

Daring Bakers make Crostata

 The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.

A crostata is an Italian tart or pie. The base of a crostata is pasta frolla (or pastafrolla), sweet short crust pastry (or sweet tart dough) made of flour, sugar, butter and eggs. Pasta frolla is versatile: it provides the base to make crostata with fruit preserves, pastry cream, fresh fruit, ricotta, and other ingredients, and, by itself, it makes very nice cookies.

The pastry was wonderful! It lends itself well to savoury tarts as well so this one's a keeper. We could choose whatever filling we wanted, so I decided to use pastry cream (I love it!). But I realised I had a bottle of great blackberry jam, so i added a layer of that over the cream as well.

 

I'm so glad I could do this challenge because this tart was lovely! My mom is not a dessert person but even she had a second helping! I'm definitely going to try this with other fillings as well, maybe fresh fruits next time? Thank you so much Simona, it was a great challenge :)

Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti

There was this quaint little coffee shop I used to visit a while back. And each time I ordered the same coffee with a nice crunchy biscotti to dunk in it. And every time i took a bite of it, I thought "I have got to learn how to make this!"

 Many different things inspire people to cook. Most often I try something at a restaurant (or a coffee shop in this instance) and immediately want to try it at home and see if I can replicate it. Sometimes I succeed. Sometimes my attempts leave a lot to be desired.

Luckily this was one of the good times (Considering they were just cookies I don't know why I was worried!).  I made chocolate biscotti with pistachios. In case they turned out well, I had planned to gift them to a friend.Well all I can say is, there are not enough left for me to send anymore.... next time sweety!