Homemade Happiness

Apple and Carrot Shortbread

2011-06-20T20:58:00.002+05:30

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 :)

Recipe from 101 Cookbooks

1/4 cup / 2 ounces / 50g semolina flour
1 1/2 cups / 6 ounces whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
5 ounces (150g) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup / 3 1/2 ounces (100g) light Muscovado sugar (or brown sugar)
2 ounces (50g) carrot, grated (about 1/4 cup)
1 ounce (25g) apple, grated (about 1/6 of a med. apple)
zest of one lemon
milk

Preheat your oven to 350F degrees, or 180C. Sift the semolina, flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl, and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Stir the carrot, apple, and lemon zest into the flour mixture, and mix until well coated and evenly dispersed. Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture until a dough forms, then knead a couple times to bring everything together. Split the dough in two, flatten each piece into an inch-thick patty, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least thirty minutes.

When you're ready to bake the shortbread, roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface 1/2-inch thick/1cm. Use a metal cutters to stamp out cookies, then place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush lightly with a bit of milk and bake for about 10 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies start to brown just a bit.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Notes- I used a mixture of all purpose flour and regular whole wheat flour. And I found my shortbread took almost 20 mins to be baked.

Cranberry n Lemon Cake

2011-05-31T18:04:00.000+05:30

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!

Cranberry lemon cake

Recipe from Technicolor Kitchen
Cake:
2/3 cup (150g) unsalted butter, softened
1 ½ cups (300g) caster (superfine) sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest
4 eggs
¼ teaspoon vanilla
3 cups (420g) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 cup (240ml) milk
2 cups (220g) dried cranberries

Glaze:
½ cup (70g) icing sugar, sifted
½ cup (60ml) lemon juice

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Coat 4 mini loaf pans with vegetable cooking spray.
In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the lemon juice, zest, eggs and vanilla until well combined.
In another bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add alternately with the milk to the egg mixture, beating just until combined after each addition. Fold in cranberries.
Divide batter among prepared pans and bake for 30-40 minutes if making mini-loaves. Remove to a wire rack, but leave in the pans.

Make the glaze: in a small bowl combine the sugar and the lemon juice. Pour over the hot loaves and allow to cool completely before carefully removing from pans. Wrap tightly to store.

Apple Pie

2010-12-03T15:19:00.000+05:30

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.

Recipe by Alice Waters via Smitten Kitchen

The changes I made were to reduce the sugar a little and sprinkle some cinnamon over the apples. I halved the recipe and made a free style gallette.

Ingredients

Dough:
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, just softened, cut in 1/2-inch pieces
3 1/2 tablespoons chilled water

Filling:
2 pounds apples (Golden Delicious or another tart, firm variety), peeled, cored (save peels and cores), and sliced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
5 tablespoons sugar
Glaze:
1/2 cup sugar

Directions

MIX flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl; add 2 tablespoons of the butter. Blend in a mixer until dough resembles coarse cornmeal. Add remaining butter; mix until biggest pieces look like large peas.

DRIBBLE in water, stir, then dribble in more, until dough just holds together. Toss with hands, letting it fall through fingers, until it’s ropy with some dry patches. If dry patches predominate, add another tablespoon water. Keep tossing until you can roll dough into a ball. Flatten into a 4-inch-thick disk; refrigerate. After at least 30 minutes, remove; let soften so it’s malleable but still cold. Smooth cracks at edges. On a lightly floured surface, roll into a 14-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick. Dust excess flour from both sides with a dry pastry brush.

PLACE dough in a lightly greased 9-inch round tart pan, or simply on a parchment-lined baking sheet if you wish to go free-form, or galette-style with it. Heat oven to 400#176;F. (If you have a pizza stone, place it in the center of the rack.)

OVERLAP apples on dough in a ring 2 inches from edge if going galette-style, or up to the sides if using the tart pan. Continue inward until you reach the center. Fold any dough hanging over pan back onto itself; crimp edges at 1-inch intervals.

BRUSH melted butter over apples and onto dough edge. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over dough edge and the other 3 tablespoons over apples.

BAKE in center of oven until apples are soft, with browned edges, and crust has caramelized to a dark golden brown (about 45 minutes), making sure to rotate tart every 15 minutes.

MAKE glaze: Put reserved peels and cores in a large saucepan, along with sugar. Pour in just enough water to cover; simmer for 25 minutes. Strain syrup through cheesecloth.

REMOVE tart from oven, and slide off parchment onto cooling rack. Let cool at least 15 minutes.

BRUSH glaze over tart, slice, and serve.

Daring Bakers make Crostata

2010-11-29T00:00:00.000+05:30

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 :)

Pasta frolla

Ingredients:

1/2 c. minus 1 tablespoon [105 ml, 100 g, 3 ½ oz] superfine sugar (see Note 1) or a scant 3/4 cup [180ml, 90g, 3 oz] of powdered sugar
1 and 3/4 cup [420 ml, 235 g, 8 1/4 oz.] unbleached all-purpose flour
a pinch of salt
1 stick [8 tablespoons / 4 oz. / 115 g] cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
grated zest of half a lemon (you could also use vanilla sugar as an option, see Note 2)
1 large egg and 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten in a small bowl

Note 1: Superfine sugar is often also referred to as ultrafine, baker’s sugar or caster sugar. It’s available in most supermarkets. If you cannot find “superfine” sugar, you can make your own by putting some regular granulated sugar in a food processor or blender and letting it run until the sugar is finely ground.
Note 2: There are different ways of making vanilla sugar. I keep vanilla beans in a jar half-filled with sugar until I need to use them, for example, to make vanilla ice cream. After I remove the split bean from the custard that will go into the ice cream maker, I rinse it, dry it and put it back in the jar with sugar.
Making pasta frolla by hand:

Whisk together sugar, flour and salt in a bowl.
Rub or cut the butter into the flour until the mixture has the consistency of coarse crumbs. You can do this in the bowl or on your work surface, using your fingertips or an implement of choice.
Make a well in the center of the mounded flour and butter mixture and pour the beaten eggs into it (reserve about a teaspoon of the egg mixture for glazing purposes later on – place in the refrigerator, covered, until ready to use).
Add the lemon zest to your flour/butter/egg mixture.
Use a fork to incorporate the liquid into the solid ingredients, and then use your fingertips.
Knead lightly just until the dough comes together into a ball.
Shape the dough into a flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator and chill for at least two hours. You can refrigerate the dough overnight.

Making pasta frolla with a food processor:

Put sugar, flour, salt, and lemon zest in the food processor and pulse a few times to mix.
Add butter and pulse a few times, until the mixture has the consistency of coarse meal.
Empty food processor's bowl onto your work surface
See step 3 above and continue as explained in the following steps (minus the lemon zest, which you have already added).

Variation for pasta frolla:
If you want, you can make the pasta frolla using a combination of all-purpose flour and whole-wheat pastry flour.
If you choose to try this variation, use 1 cup [240 ml, 135 g, 4 3/4 oz.] unbleached all-purpose flour and 3/4 cup [180 ml, 100 g, 3.5 oz.] whole-wheat pastry flour.

Assembling and baking the crostata con la crema:

Heat the oven to 350ºF [180ºC/gas mark 4].
Take the pasta frolla out of the fridge, unwrap it and cut away ¼ of the dough. Reserve this dough to make the lattice top of the crostata. Refrigerate this dough while you work on the tart base.
To help roll the crostata dough, keep the dough on top of the plastic wrap that you had it wrapped in. This can help rolling the dough and can also help when transferring the dough to your pan. You can also use parchment paper for this. However, you can also roll the dough directly on a work surface if you prefer.
Lightly dust the top of the dough and your work surface (if you’re rolling directly on a work surface) with flour. Keep some flour handy to dust the dough as you go along.
If the dough is very firm, start by pressing the dough with the rolling pin from the middle to each end, moving the rolling pin by a pin's width each time; turn the dough 180 degrees and repeat; when it softens, start rolling.
Roll the dough into a circle about 1/8th inch (3 mm) thick.
If you used the plastic wrap or parchment paper as rolling surface, flip dough over the pan, centering it, and delicately press it all around so the corners are well covered. Peel away the plastic wrap.
Trim the excess dough hanging over the edges of the pan. Press the remaining dough around the border into the sides of the pan making sure the border is an even thickness all the way around.
Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork in several places.
Take out of the fridge the reserved pasta frolla you had cut away earlier. Roll it with your pin and cut into strips or use cookie cutters to make small shapes (this is not traditional, but it looks cute); or roll with your hands into ropes.
Instead of jam or fruit preserves, cover the bottom of the crostata crust evenly with the pastry cream.
Use the prepared strips or rolls of dough to make a lattice over the surface, or decorate with the cut shapes. (Note: You can use dough scraps to make cookies: see the Additional Information section for some pointers)
Brush the border and strips of dough with the reserved beaten eggs. You can add a drop or two of water to the beaten eggs if you don’t have enough liquid.
Put the tart in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
After 35 minutes, check the tart, and continue baking until the tart is of a nice golden hue. (Note: Every oven is different. In my oven it took 45 minutes to bake the tart until golden.)
When done, remove the tart from the oven and let cool. If you have used a tart pan with a removable bottom, then release the tart base from the fluted tart ring. Make sure the tart is completely cool before slicing and serving.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti

2010-11-13T20:51:00.004+05:30

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!

Recipe from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for baking sheet
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for baking sheet
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup shelled pistachio nuts
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a baking sheet; set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs; beat until well combined, scraping down sides of bowl if necessary. Add flour mixture, and stir to form a stiff dough. Stir in pistachios and chocolate chips.
Transfer dough to prepared baking sheet; form into a slightly flattened log, about 12 by 4 inches. Bake until slightly firm, about 25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for about 5 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.
On a cutting board, using a sharp serrated knife, cut biscotti diagonally into 1-inch-thick slices. Arrange biscotti, cut sides down, on baking sheet, and bake until crisp but still slightly soft in the center, about 8 minutes.

Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes

2010-09-10T18:27:00.002+05:30

A couple of days back I found myself craving chocolate (again...!!!). But I had been good the past couple of weeks ( I'm trying to diet ha ha ha ha) and not given in to any dessert cravings...except malpuas....but I guess that's ok right? One is supposed to eat malpuas during Ramzaan. And I also wanted an excuse to use these-

So I made me some super chocolatey cupcakes with a ganache frosting. And since that was not enough I also piped some ganache into the centre of the cupcake. And finally topped them with my fav new sprinkles.

I used a recipe from Cupcake Bakeshop. I've tried this recipe a few times before and each time it turns out like a dream. Pls try it if you haven't already :)

Recipe from Cupcake Bakeshop by Chockylit

Devil’s Food Chocolate Cake
makes 24 cupcakes / 350 degree oven
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1-1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
1. Measure out everything but the eggs directly into your mixer bowl.
2. Mix on low speed just until incorporated.
3. Beat on high speed for 2 minutes.
4. Add eggs, beat on high speed again for 2 minutes.
Measure out into cupcake pan lined with cupcake papers. A 2″ ice cream scoop works great for this. Bake for about 15-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool slightly in the pan then transfer to a rack to cool completely before frosting.

The ganache recipe can be found here.

Bloggers Night Out

2010-08-16T14:53:00.000+05:30

A couple of weeks ago I got a mail from the lovely Rushina. Before this I only knew her from her blog A Perfect Bite. She was trying to put together an event to get together all the food bloggers from Bombay. This would possibly be the first of such an event. I almost jumped in excitement because I really wanted to meet the people behind these wonderful blogs!

We were all invited to Fifty Five East at the Hyatt.It is a casual dining restaurant with interactive kitchens. They offer Thai, Sushi, Lebanese, Western and Indian specialties. I had heard good things about the place so I was really looking forward to going there. Although it's supposed to be a buffet it doesn't function as one. Most of the food is made in single serve portions once you order it (Sushi, steak etc). But what really caught my eye was the dessert section. They had a great variety- all the usual suspects but a lot of fruit based ones as well.

But the highlight of the evening was of course all the wonderful people I met! I had interacted with a few of them before and really looked forward to meeting them. They were a charming lot. We had a fantastic evening getting to know each other and chatting about our favorite topic-food. It was great to meet Vikram Doctor who is one of our finest food writers. But I must say that a couple of hours was just not enough, we were too many of us and too little time! I really do hope that we have more of these get- togethers because not only is it a lotta fun but a learning experience as well. All these bloggers have been around way longer than me and I'm sure they have a lot of tips to share!

Images courtesy Jyotika

Here's a list of all the fantastic blogs-

A Perfect Bite- our host :)
Purple Foodie
Sunshine Mom
Bombay Foodie
Lulu Loves Bombay
Finely Chopped
The Nonchalant Gourmand
Eating Out in Bombay
Life On Simmer
LotsaFood
Follow My Recipe

Banana N Cranberry Muffins

2010-06-02T20:09:00.010+05:30

Just something i made recently. Perfect as a snack to have around the house. Books,coffee and these muffins. Thought this recipe would turn out good but it was way better. It's a keeper!

Bursting with flavors- the sweetness of bananas, the tartness of cranberries. Just couldn't get enough. Wish i had made a few more dozens!

Recipe from here

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup oats

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 3/4 cups mashed ripe bananas (5-6 bananas)

1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted

1 cup cranberries

Directions

1. Combine the first six ingredients in a mixing bowl.

2. Mix well.

3. Beat together egg, bananas and melted butter or margarine until smooth.

4. Add to dry ingredients.

5. Stir to blend.

6. Stir in cranberries just until combined.

7. Spoon batter into prepared muffin pan, filling almost to the top.

8. Bake at 375 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly touched.

Banana Bread

2010-05-11T10:50:00.002+05:30

Back when I had just started living alone, meals were the least of my concerns. Most of the times it was instant noodles. Or dal and rice if we felt like 'cooking'. My roommate and I survived on this for months on end. At that time I thought that if I wanted a good meal it would have to be cooked by my mom, it didn't even occur to me that I could make it myself! It took me a couple of years to realize that it didn’t really have to be like this, I didn’t really have to eat all this unhealthy ‘instant food’ crap. So then it was down to recipes of sabzis (vegetables) taken down over the phone and the little mess I would then make of them in my kitchen.

It’s been many years since and I can now say that I would be able to make most of the food that I like. Except. Baking. I don’t know why but it scared me to death. I had heard, as I’m sure everybody has, many horror stories about it. All the exact measurements and precise timings intimidated me. But I also love cakes, and couldn’t live with the fact that I could not make at least a simple one. So one fine day, I decided to sum up my courage and give it a shot. I thought I would do it when I was alone at home. That way if it turned out really bad no one would know. So there I was, alone with my oven, with the simplest recipe I could find- Banana bread.

Fortunately for me, it turned out just fine. And I was on a roll! Since then, I’ve almost given up cooking regular food. I’m lucky to have a full time cook now so whenever I find the time, it’s almost always some baking for me. Maybe it had something to do with the banana bread I chose to make- something so simple and homely- something about the aroma, the comforting feeling it gives you when you take your first bite…

So once again, many cakes and cookies later, I visited my good friend today. . This time armed with much confidence than the last. And needless to say, it was as good as the last time, maybe even better. And it reminded me why it would always be one of my favorites…

Recipe
taken from Simply Recipes

Ingredients

3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed

1/3 cup melted butter

1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Method

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Chocolate n Butterscotch Chip Muffins

2010-04-19T12:33:00.002+05:30

It's been many many days since my last post and I have really missed my kitchen. I'm happy to be reunited with it :) It was just one of those times when you get occupied with so many things that baking just takes a backseat...But finally yesterday I could take it no more and just had to bake something. And obviously at such times, when nothing makes much sense, only the goodness of chocolate will do. It was time to make some chocolate chip muffins!

Recipe

Taken from here

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups milk

1 egg

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup whole almonds

4 tablespoons white sugar

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.

2.In medium bowl, Sift together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In large bowl stir in milk, egg, oil and vanilla. Mix dry ingredients to large bowl; beat well. Add chocolate chips and walnuts, stir well.

3.Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Poke almonds into tops of unbaked muffins. Sprinkle muffins with sugar.

4.Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Daring Bakers March '10- Orange Tian

2010-03-27T21:54:00.003+05:30

This month’s Daring Bakers challenge was an Orange Tian. I had never heard of this dessert before and it seemed a little daunting. I am also not a fan of citrus flavored desserts so I wondered whether I should do this one. But boy am I glad I did it! Not that it converted me but I learned so many new techniques that I would never had learned otherwise.

The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.

A tian is made of several layers- pate sable, marmalade, stabilized cream, orange segments and caramel. It is built upside down so you gotta pray really hard that it turns out the way you imagined it. My dessert didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to, but what the heck, I had a whale of a time making it. I made my own marmalade…yayyyy!!!

The marmalade was a breeze! The recipe called for some pectin but I couldn’t find any. Some of the DBs had made it without pectin so I gave it a shot. And it turned out absolutely lovely! Even the pate sable turned out just fine.

I had some trouble with segmenting oranges… actually a lot of trouble and I can’t understand why anyone would wanna do it. They look good of course but they are too much trouble…

And then the whipped cream!! Oh I could kill it if I could...No matter how much I tried it just wouldn’t thicken. Or stabilize...like it was supposed to...I tried everything… even added more gelatin…but nothing.. I was too tired by then to start over again so assembled the dessert anyways. When I finally unmolded my dessert, the cream had seeped into the orange segments but I was happy to see that the cream had set a wee bit.

But finally, when you take your first bite, it makes all this trouble worthwhile. It is fresh, summery and light. The orange segments soaked in caramel, light and fluffy cream and the crunch of the pate sable make all your troubles on a hot sunny day go away… I am now wondering which other fruits I can try this with. Other DBs used all kinds of citrus and berries but I wonder if this would go well with mangoes (its my favorite fruit). The mango season is just coming in and I’ve been thinking of various desserts I could use them in.

This Orange Tian was a series of hits and misses for me but I did enjoy it. I screamed in frustration when something didn’t turn out right and squealed with joy when it did. And I realized that this itself is the reason I chose to be a Daring Baker- To learn from my mistakes and savor the fruits of my labor. And as long as you make it and share it with a loved one, every single minute spent in the kitchen is worth it.

For the Pate Sablee:

Ingredients U.S. Imperial Metric Instructions for Ingredients

2 medium-sized egg yolks at room temperature

granulated sugar 6 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon; 2.8 oz; 80 grams

vanilla extract ½ teaspoon

Unsalted butter ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons; 3.5 oz; 100 grams ice cold, cubed

Salt 1/3 teaspoon; 2 grams

All-purpose flour 1.5 cup + 2 tablespoons; 7 oz; 200 grams

baking powder 1 teaspoon ; 4 grams

Directions:

Put the flour, baking powder, ice cold cubed butter and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade.

In a separate bowl, add the eggs yolks, vanilla extract and sugar and beat with a whisk until the mixture is pale. Pour the egg mixture in the food processor.

Process until the dough just comes together. If you find that the dough is still a little too crumbly to come together, add a couple drops of water and process again to form a homogenous ball of dough. Form into a disc, cover with plastic wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.

Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface until you obtain a ¼ inch thick circle.

Using your cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough and place on a parchment (or silicone) lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until the circles of dough are just golden.

For the Marmalade:

Ingredients U.S. Imperial Metric Instructions for Ingredients

Freshly pressed orange juice ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons; 3.5 oz; 100 grams

1 large orange used to make orange slices

cold water to cook the orange slices

pectin 5 grams

granulated sugar: use the same weight as the weight of orange slices once they are cooked

Finely slice the orange. Place the orange slices in a medium-sized pot filled with cold water. Simmer for about 10 minutes, discard the water, re-fill with cold water and blanch the oranges for another 10 minutes.

Blanch the orange slices 3 times. This process removes the bitterness from the orange peel, so it is essential to use a new batch of cold water every time when you blanch the slices.

Once blanched 3 times, drain the slices and let them cool.

Once they are cool enough to handle, finely mince them (using a knife or a food processor).

Weigh the slices and use the same amount of granulated sugar . If you don’t have a scale, you can place the slices in a cup measurer and use the same amount of sugar.

In a pot over medium heat, add the minced orange slices, the sugar you just weighed, the orange juice and the pectin. Cook until the mixture reaches a jam consistency (10-15 minutes).

Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge.

For the Orange Segments:

For this step you will need 8 oranges.

Cut the oranges into segments over a shallow bowl and make sure to keep the juice. Add the segments to the bowl with the juice.

[See YouTube video in the References section below for additional information on segmenting oranges.]

For the Caramel:

Ingredients U.S. Metric Imperial Instructions for Ingredients

granulated sugar 1 cup; 7 oz; 200 grams

orange juice 1.5 cups + 2 tablespoons; 14 oz; 400 grams

Place the sugar in a pan on medium heat and begin heating it.

Once the sugar starts to bubble and foam, slowly add the orange juice. As soon as the mixture starts boiling, remove from the heat and pour half of the mixture over the orange segments.

Reserve the other half of the caramel mixture in a small bowl — you will use this later to spoon over the finished dessert. When the dessert is assembled and setting in the freezer, heat the kept caramel sauce in a small saucepan over low heat until it thickens and just coats the back of a spoon (about 10 minutes). You can then spoon it over the orange tians.

[Tip: Be very careful when making the caramel — if you have never made caramel before, I would suggest making this step while you don’t have to worry about anything else. Bubbling sugar is extremely, extremely hot, so make sure you have a bowl of ice cold water in the kitchen in case anyone gets burnt!]

For the Whipped Cream:

Ingredients U.S. Metric Imperial Instructions for Ingredients

heavy whipping cream 1 cup; 7 oz; 200 grams

3 tablespoons of hot water

1 tsp Gelatine

1 tablespoon of confectioner's sugar

orange marmalade (see recipe above) 1 tablespoon

In a small bowl, add the gelatine and hot water, stirring well until the gelatine dissolves. Let the gelatine cool to room temperature while you make the whipped cream. Combine the cream in a chilled mixing bowl. Whip the cream using a hand mixer on low speed until the cream starts to thicken for about one minute. Add the confectioner sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high. Whip the cream until the beaters leave visible (but not lasting) trails in the cream, then add the cooled gelatine slowly while beating continuously. Continue whipping until the cream is light and fluffy and forms soft peaks. Transfer the whipped cream to a bowl and fold in the orange marmalade.

[Tip: Use an ice cold bowl to make the whipped cream in. You can do this by putting your mixing bowl, cream and beater in the fridge for 20 minutes prior to whipping the cream.]

Assembling the Dessert:

Make sure you have some room in your freezer. Ideally, you should be able to fit a small baking sheet or tray of desserts to set in the freezer.

Line a small tray or baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone sheet. Lay out 6 cookie cutters onto the parchment paper/silicone.

Drain the orange segments on a kitchen towel.

Have the marmalade, whipped cream and baked circles of dough ready to use.

Arrange the orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter. Make sure the segments all touch either and that there are no gaps. Make sure they fit snuggly and look pretty as they will end up being the top of the dessert. Arrange them as you would sliced apples when making an apple tart.

Once you have neatly arranged one layer of orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter, add a couple spoonfuls of whipped cream and gently spread it so that it fills the cookie cutter in an even layer. Leave about 1/4 inch at the top so there is room for dough circle.

Using a butter knife or small spoon, spread a small even layer of orange marmalade on each circle of dough.

Carefully place a circle of dough over each ring (the side of dough covered in marmalade should be the side touching the whipping cream). Gently press on the circle of dough to make sure the dessert is compact.

Place the desserts to set in the freezer to set for 10 minutes.

Using a small knife, gently go around the edges of the cookie cutter to make sure the dessert will be easy to unmold. Gently place your serving plate on top of a dessert (on top of the circle of dough) and turn the plate over. Gently remove the cookie cutter, add a spoonful of caramel sauce and serve immediately.

Granola Bars

2010-03-25T17:26:00.003+05:30

You know how some people are always hungry? The ones who eat all their meals on time and are still hungry in between? Need a snack every now and then? No!! Don’t call them greedy! God just made them very hungry… Well, I am not claiming to be one of ‘them’ but this Granola Bar would be super for them! It would be great for a midnight snack or even better to carry around in your purse if you were out for the day. And totally guilt-free!! If you ignore the chocolate chips… and the condensed milk… But in spite of these I rarely eat something this healthy.

I’m not really a fan of ‘healthy food’. I would never choose muesli over a cheese omelette or a juice over a milkshake. Sure, I love salads, but there’d have to be some kind of meat in it to lure me. Lettuce and tomatoes just don’t make me ooh and aah the way a bite of steak would! But I think this bar has surprised me. I did have second thoughts about making them but am glad I did. I’d also like to refer to them now on as Energy Bars! All those nuts and fruits can really save your day when you’re too busy to eat (though I hope that never happens to me!!!).

What I absolutely love about them is their versatility. The possibilities are endless. You can add anything you like… avoid anything you don’t… some people switch the condensed milk for honey. So the recipe is just a general guideline but you just do whatever you feel like along the way :-)

I tweaked the recipe a bit, didn't add butter and added some cashewnuts instead of coconut.

Recipe
- originally from here

Makes about 24 servings

Ingredients

3 cups quick-cooking oats

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup flaked coconut

1 cup sliced almonds

1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan.

2.In a large bowl, mix together the oats, sweetened condensed milk, butter, coconut, almonds, chocolate chips and cranberries with your hands until well blended. Press flat into the prepared pan.

3.Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, depending on how crunchy you want them. Lightly browned just around the edges will give you moist, chewy bars. Let cool for 5 minutes, cut into squares then let cool completely before serving.

Please do let me know if any interesting combinations come to your mind, I'd love to try them!

Cupcake Wonderland

2010-03-12T23:47:00.001+05:30

I’ve stepped into cupcake wonderland!! And I never wanna leave!!! I made cupcakes for the first time and I don’t think I wanna make anything else again!!!

I’ve looked adoringly at cupcakes many a times, wondering when I’d make my first batch. I get excited just at the thought of them! Couldn’t wait to decorate these lil babies in a rainbow of colors and adorable sprinkles!! So this week I finally got around to making them. I knew I wanted chocolate (no surprises there!) with a blue colored frosting. I used a simple Devil’s Food Cupcake recipe from Cupcake Bakeshop but used a different frosting. I thought the blue frosting would be great with a hint of peppermint. I don’t know why I thought that making cupcakes would be a tedious thing, in fact they were really quick and I don’t think I took more than an hour. Or maybe I got so lost in my wonderland that I didn’t notice time flying by...

Devil’s Food Chocolate Cake

makes 24 cupcakes / 350 degree oven

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1-1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup butter

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Measure out everything but the eggs directly into your mixer bowl.

2. Mix on low speed just until incorporated.

3. Beat on high speed for 2 minutes.

4. Add eggs, beat on high speed again for 2 minutes.

Measure out into cupcake pan lined with cupcake papers. A 2″ ice cream scoop works great for this. Bake for about 15-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool slightly in the pan then transfer to a rack to cool completely before frosting.

Peppermint Frosting

1 stick butter

4 cups confectioner’s sugar

~1/4 cup milk

A few drops peppermint extract

Blue food coloring

1. Cream butter and sugar together. Add milk to get the desired consistency.

2. Add extract and coloring. Done!

2010-03-06T23:55:00.002+05:30

I have a confession to make-I’m the laziest bum you will ever find! Sitting around staring at walls or just leafing through a book with a cup of masala chai are my favoritest things :) Ever so often I find myself making plans but never actually getting around to doing any of it... This is exactly what’s been happening with me for the last few weeks. I’ve been planning to cook all sorts of things but haven’t even entered the kitchen yet! The only thing I did actually make was the Tiramisu. Thank god there was a deadline or I would’ve never gotten it done! Well, I’ve also been working... (That’s a good enough excuse right?)`

But the one thing I can’t do with out is making the ‘Plan’. Just in case I decide to stick to it! Even as a kid I remember copiously making all sorts of lists- things to do, books to read, places to go, shopping wish lists… Yes I know, list making goes against my lazy nature right? Lists are for the go-getter type people who would then strike out things at the end of the day with triumph. Ya, I’m weird that way…

Are u wondering why I’m rambling on about all of this? Because I realized that if I really want to bake and learn as much as I can, in spite of work, in spite of those times when life takes over, I’d need a list!! A list that I would turn to every time I had a few hours to spare, that would keep me from giving up on days with relentless work, a list I would complete because I really really wanted to :)

There are a few things that have been on my mind since a while, so I’m gonna start the month with them. Here goes-

Chocolate Crinkles- my sister has been asking me to make them forever

Cupcakes- will be my first time

Apricot Teacakes

Granola Bars

Momos

Cheese Muffins

Tiramisu

2010-03-02T13:52:00.003+05:30

This month was my first challenge as a Daring Baker. I was super excited and couldn’t wait to see the challenge revealed! And when it was, let me just say, it was quite a challenge!!

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

Tiramisu has always been one of my favorite desserts but never ever had I thought that I’d make it myself. To be honest I didn’t even know what went into it! There are many different elements that go into a tiramisu- ladyfinger biscuits, mascarpone cheese, zabaglione, vanilla pastry cream and whipped cream. All flavored with coffee or wine of course! And since this was the Daring Bakers challenge, we had to make the ladyfingers (savoiardi biscuits) and mascarpone ourselves.The entire recipe can be found here.

Making the cheese takes a day so this recipe needs a bit of planning. I was nervous since this was my first time making cheese. But it turned out just right! We don’t really get mascarpone cheese here, so I guess I don’t have to worry anymore :)

The savoiardi are nice and crisp outside and very cakelike from within. Yumm yumm yumm……

Zabaglione is an egg custard which can be also eaten by itself. You gotta try it to believe it!

I forgot to take pictures of the vanilla pastry cream and whipped cream before I assembled the Tiramisu :(

It’s a good idea to freeze Tiramisu for a couple of days because the flavors really kick in by then. And with a sprinkling of cocoa powder, its ready to go!!

2010-02-04T16:11:00.005+05:30

Cookies are made of butter and love. ~Norwegian Proverb

One of the reasons I love to make cookies is the wonderful aroma that envelops my kitchen. (The other reason is that I absolutely love them and can devour them by the dozen!). So with a little free time today, I just couldn’t resist making a batch of my favorite oatmeal cookies. It would also be a healthier option than other fat filled varieties.

But as soon as I started mixing up my batter, my pack of chocolate chips started crying out to me and begged to be added. Now who can refuse chocolate? It would take an inordinate amount of self control for anyone not to add little pieces of heaven to their cookies. I have no self control. Not even an ounce. So there went my attempt to make something remotely healthy which I could eat without guilt!

The recipe was quite a simple one and is originally from here. The minor change I made was that I left out the cinnamon and nuts and put in chocolate chips instead.

Recipe

1 cup Butter

1 cup Sugar

1 cup Brown sugar

2 Eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups All-purpose flour

1 tsp Baking soda

3 cups oats

1 tsp salt

Chocolate chips

Method

1) Cream the butter and sugar. Then add the eggs one at a time. Add vanilla.

2) Mix the dry ingredients in another bowl. Then add to the butter mixture.

3) Chill for an hour in the fridge.

4) Preheat oven to 190 degress C.

5) Bake them for 8-10 mins.

6) Cool on a wire rack.

And voila….

Night Out

2010-01-29T16:10:00.004+05:30

It was potluck dinner last night!!! Actually it wasn’t really potluck, two of us cooked and the rest just ate. No, its not that they don’t offer to cook, but its just better if they don’t! I’m slightly scared of the repercussions, so I won’t take their names.

So it was Pizza and Pasta night. My friend made us these lovely pizzas and I made penne in a white sauce and a potato side dish to go with it. It’s the simplest easiest potato recipe ever and tastes great too (anything with butter in it tastes great, doesn’t it?) You’ll notice that there is too much sauce in the pasta but I love it when its all gooey and cheesy!!

Ya, she made the pizzas. Sorry but the pizzas were over before I realized I should take a picture :P
Will share the recipe when i make them myself...

Well, her only contributions were the compliments she dished out!!!

All in all, a great night!! There’s nothing like sharing a good meal with your friends, right?

Potatoes in garlic

1) Boil potatoes and chop them into bite=sized pieces.

2) Add some butter to a pan (adding a few drops of olive oil will keep the butter from burning). Put in the peeled and chopped garlic. Keep the pieces big so you can pick them out before serving the dish.

3) Add potatoes and season with dried basil and thyme. Salt to taste. And….

Hope u enjoy it as much I do 

Disaster #1

2010-01-28T17:37:00.003+05:30

I’m one of those people who believe that chocolate should be a part of each and everything in the world. I don’t remember the last time I had a dessert which didn’t have chocolate in it. No offense to the other flavors- they are all nice, but just not as good , as delicious and as wonderful as chocolate. Which is why I surprised even myself when I decided to make a lemon poppy cake. I had never used poppy seeds before and the recipe looked interesting. I thought, “How bad can it be?” And if I liked it I would have a host of other lemony things to try!

Ya……. well….. It was disastrous!!!!!!!

I really don’t know what I did wrong. I added the exact same amt of sugar that the recipe called for, but it felt like there was absolutely no sugar (I added it, I promise!), it was very dry and didn’t even look appetizing. Luckily I didn’t poison anyone with it!

Lesson for today- Stick to chocolate

2010-01-21T17:26:00.012+05:30

"There is no love sincerer than the love of food."
George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman (1903) act 1
Irish dramatist & socialist (1856 - 1950)

I’ve realized that there is finally something I enjoy as much as eating food- making it! I’m lucky to have a full time domestic help who feeds me three hot meals a day, so I didn’t really need to step into the kitchen. But I’ve been following some food blogs lately, and all that good food really inspired me to give it a shot! Now I wouldn’t make the tall claim of saying that I’m good at it, since I’ve started cooking only recently. But in my defense, nothing I’ve made has turned out inedible! So more than talking about food (I know nothing!) or sharing tips (I have none!), I thought I’d just like to document and share what I learn along the way. There are various sites I get my recipes from and it will be a while before I come up with something original (a long long while…) Today I tried making a basic chocolate cake. I thought I’d go easy on myself and start with something simple.
The cake turned out fine. It was wee bit dry, but tasted good. I used a butter cream frosting on it, and it is divine!!

Butter Cream Frosting

1 egg white
3/4 cup milk
1 cup white sugar
1 cup butter(softened)
1 tsp vanilla extract

a) Boil milk and allow to cool.In a large bowl, beat the egg white until stiff. Add sugar, butter and vanilla. Mix till well blended.
b) Add the cooled milk and beat until nice and creamy (Should take about 15 mins). Use to frost any cake. Refridgerate after frosting.