My latest interest and a delicious fondant recipe!

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I have been lately fascinated by fondant decorated cakes.I have seen many themed cakes decorated using fondant and all looked so magnificent. Any intricate three dimensional designs are possible using fondant. While shopping for our daughter's first b'day I also realized that a fondant cake costs around 3 to 4 times a normal cake. But once you see a fondant covered cake you will know why. A lot of artistic effort goes in the making of one.

First attempt on a chocolate cake

I love doing creative stuff and enjoy learning new skills. So after seeing another beautiful fondant cake recently I decided I would try my hand at it. But there is one issue with fondant covered cakes. The fondant is mostly thick and full of sugar and has a gum like consistency that you just don't feel like eating it. So even though they look pretty most of the times you end up peeling it off and throwing it away. On my search about fondant I read that homemade fondant taste much better than store bought ones. And more over the ones available at stores are costly too.

This recipe I have used is all over web. So I am not sure who should be credited for the recipe. But the reviews were spot on. It makes absolutely delicious fondant. The one you don't feel like throwing away. The recipe is simple but it is a messy one. Now when I say messy please do not underestimate. It is so messy that at some point you might even think of abandoning the whole effort. Marshmallows are melted to make this and you have to knead it with confectioners sugar to make dough. All recipes warned to cover your hands with lot of vegetable shortening. Well I didn't have vegetable shortening and just spread normal cooking oil on my hands. Once I started kneading the entire stuff stuck to my hands. I couldn't even pull my hands out for kneading. It took me at least half an hour to control the whole thing.

Second attempt on pineapple flavored cake

Marshmallow fondant

Ingredients

Mini marshmallows 10 oz ( I used kraft brand jet puffed marshmallow. Good quality marshmallows must be used)

Confectioners/powdered sugar 1 lb

Water 2tbsp

Vegetable shortening as needed

Method

Place the mini marshmallows and water in a large microwave safe bowl.

Heat it up in microwave in 30 sec interval until marshmallows melt completely stirring in between every interval.

Once melted add confectioners sugar in small amounts and stir with a spoon coated with vegetable shortening.

Keep adding confectioners sugar and stir until the mixture is thick and difficult to stir.

Spread vegetable shortening on counter top. Spread confectioners sugar on top and pour the mixture on top.

Knead this until a smooth dough is formed. Add confectioners sugar as needed to form the dough.

Cover the fondant in shortening or powdered sugar and immediately wrap it in cling wrap and keep it aside for an hour.

Before using the fondant knead it again to make it smooth.

If you would like to color the fondant, take the required amount of fondant aside and use a tooth pick to add the desired gel color. Knead well to spread the color well.

This fondant is delicious. The fondant will stay well in the refrigerator for 3 days. You just have to cover the fondant well in cling wrap and store in a zip lock bag. You will have to keep it outside for sometime before using and then knead it again to make it smooth. There are many yputube videos that details on making fondant decorations. I tried two types of flowers. I want to learn more and I am still obsessed with fondant decorating even after making two within a week's time.:)

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Tofu Caramel Custard Pudding

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As I mentioned in my previous post, we are a dessert loving family. I always wanted to try making a dessert using tofu. I have seen many recipes in the past for chocolate pudding using tofu as main ingredient. But since Arun is not a huge fan of chocolate pudding I thought I will make a vanilla flavored pudding. That's when I thought of caramel custard pudding. My last attempt was a major disaster. I have been thinking of making it again. So I decided to try one using tofu.

I used silken firm tofu and used gelatin to get the pudding to set. Tofu makes it a tad bit healthier even though the pudding has sugar in it.

The caramel is prepared at a low flame as the chances of it getting burnt is very high.

Tofu Caramel Custard Pudding

Ingredients

Firm silken tofu 1 12.3 oz packet (I used organic mori-nu brand tofu)

Sugar 1 cup divided

Vanilla 2 tsp

Knoxx unflavored gelatin 1 tbsp

Water 2 tbsp

Method

Keep small bowl or ramekins ready.

In a heavy bottom pan heat sugar on low flame. Keep stirring to avoid sugar from getting burnt.

When the syrup turns a golden color remove from flame and pour into the prepared vessels.

Tilt the bowls and make sure the caramel coats everywhere.

Blend tofu, sugar and vanilla in a blender until a smooth paste is formed.

Heat water and add gelatin off the flame. Mix to dissolve gelatin.

Add this to tofu paste through a strainer to remove any undissolved gelatin.

Mix and pour to the prepared pudding dishes.

Refrigerate for minimum 6 hours or overnight.

When I checked the pudding after 6 hours I could see that when I tilt the bowl contents were moving around. I was disappointed thinking it didn't set. There was no other explanation. Caramel had hardened at room temperature. So it was weird that it is moving around now. Nevertheless I decided I will check it out and took it out from the refrigerator. That's when I noticed that the pudding has set perfectly. Hurray! :)

Since the caramel was already melted the pudding was all ready to come out. But still inverting it to a plate was a bit tricky. I placed a plate on top of the bowl and inverted both plate and bowl together. Viola my pudding looked smashing in the caramel sauce!

The texture was amazing and pudding tasted delicious. Nothing hints tofu in this pudding. Moreover its much easier to make. This recipe is definitely a keeper.

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Oven Roasted Spicy Chickpeas

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We are a snacking couple and a dessert family. That is a dangerous combo. So I am making efforts now to prepare healthy snacks at home. I found this recipe for roasted chickpeas and it brought back memories of masala peanuts that we get in bakeries in Kerala.

I was inspired by this recipe. But since we like it spicy I used chilli powder, cumin and salt instead of Cinnamon and sugar. It is easy to make. I made this from dried chickpeas ( after soaking in water overnight and cooking it in a pressure cooker). But you can always use canned chickpeas/ garbanzo beans. That would make the process even more easier.

The key to getting crunchy chickpeas is to get rid of the mositure. I cooked my beans in the evening and let the water drain. Later I pat dried the chickpeas and also left it covered with paper towel overnight.

Oven roasted spicy chick peas

Recipe by Sally's baking addiction

Ingredients

1 (15-ounce) can chick peas (garbanzos)

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cumin powder

Method

Preheat oven to 400F degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
Rinse and drain the chickpeas very well to remove the starch. Spread them out onto prepared baking sheet and pat very, very dry. The drier the chickpeas, the crunchier they will be. The skin of the bean may peel off as you pat them dry. That is ok. You may remove the skins or leave them on.
Once 100% dry, place chickpeas into the oven and roast for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove from the oven and drizzle with olive oil. Using a large spoon or spatula, mix the beans around to make sure they are all evenly coated. Mix chilli powder and salt and sprinkle over beans. Mix around very well to heavily coat each bean. The beans will be flavorless, so you want to make sure each one is thoroughly coated. Place back into the oven and roast for another 15 minutes.
Leaving the chickpeas inside, turn the oven off and crack open the door slightly. Allow the chickpeas to sit inside as the oven cools down for 30 minutes. This will help them get crunchier as opposed to sitting at room temperature.

These came out to be super crunchy and tasty. All three of us liked it. I made it only mildly spicy as I knew Ritu would also want to munch on these. I stored it in an air tight container and they stayed fresh for 3 days.

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Easy Peasy No Bake Mango Pie

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I had bought a can of mango pulp for Arun's birthday cake. Since I had some mango pulp left over, I browsed for some ideas to use it up. I found this recipe along with many others like mango lessy, mango mousse. I didn't make it then but bookmarked it for later. So this weekend I decided to try this recipe. It turned out to be 'easy peasy lemon squeezy'* to make, yet tasted delicious.

* - According some sources, "this phrase comes from a 1970's British TV commercial for Lemon Squeezy detergent. They were with a little girl who points out dirty greasy dishes to an adult (mom or relative) and then this adult produces Lemon Squeezy and they clean the dishes quickly. At the end of the commercial the girl says "Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy"."

The recipe uses pre-made pie crust. I bought a 9 inch pre made graham pie crust. But a crust is not at all necessary. You can just set it in a normal dish and call it mango pudding. I also had canned mango pulp I bought from an Indian store here. So I didn't have to take the trouble of extracting pulp from fresh mangoes making it even more 'easy peasy'.

The recipe uses gelatin to make the mango filling firm and requires it to be refrigerated for minimum 6 hours. 

No Bake Mango Pie

Recipe from Cooking Jingalala

Ingredients

Mango pulp - 2 cups

Cream cheese - 8 oz (which is equivalent to 1 cup)

Water - 1/2 cup

Gelatin - 1 packet Knox unflavored gelatin (equivalent to 2 1/4 tsp)

Sugar - 1/2 cup if using unsweetened mango pulp or as needed

Method

1. Keep the cream cheese outside of refrigerator for an hour or so to bring it to room temperature.
2. Soften the cream cheese using a whisk. I used a handheld electric mixer with whisk attachment.
3. Heat water till it boils.
4. Bring it off the stove and add one packet of Knox gelatin. Mix it well using a whisk until all of the gelatin dissolves. Allow it to cool to room temperature.
5. Add mango pulp, gelatin to the cream cheese. Add sugar if you are using unsweetened mango pulp. Mix this well using a whisk or an electric mixer. 
6. Check the sweetness and add more sugar if needed. 
7. When everything has combined well, pour this mixture to the pre-made crust. The filling would be just correct for a 9 inch pie Cover and refrigerate for minimum 6 hours.
8. Once it is set, you can use a knife to cut slices and serve.

I used mango pulp and blueberries to garnish a slice. My little one is apparently in love with 'bluelebby'. So they kept disappearing while I was photographing this slice.

This is a delicious dessert with a rich texture. It looks so beautiful with a shiny orange color that you really don't have to garnish It. It is smooth and soft; and melts in the mouth. It is definitely a crowd pleaser. Try it out, I can guarantee that you will not be disappointed.

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Eggless Chocolate Cake in a Mug

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I have tried many a chocolate cake in a mug recipe. It is a quick fix when you crave for chocolate cake as all you need are basic cake ingredients, a mug and few minutes.

The first recipe I tried used an egg and I felt that the taste of egg dominated the cake. The texture was also not great. Later on I tried various other egg-less versions, all came out yummy but the texture resembled a brownie or fudge and not that of a cake.

So my search continued. Whenever I felt like making a chocolate mug cake, I would search for a recipe and then try the one that looks most promising to me that day. That is how I came across this recipe last week. The recipe included a tablespoon of chocolate hazelnut spread aka Nutella in the middle. It is optional and you can omit it if you are not a fan, but I should admit that is the sole reason why I picked this one to try that day. I love Nutella!

Chocolate Mug Cake

Recipe from Table for Two

Ingredients

¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ tsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
⅛ tsp. salt
¼ cup + 1 tbsp. milk
2 tbsp. vegetable oil ( I used olive oil)
1 tbsp. hazelnut chocolate spread

Method

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.
2. Whisk in the milk and vegetable oil until all ingredients are combined and batter has no lumps.
3. Pour batter into a microwave-safe mug. Use a mug large enough to have some space for the cake to rise without overflowing.
4. Add 1 tbsp. of hazelnut chocolate spread in the middle of the batter. Just drop it in the middle. There is no need to push it down and sink it in the batter.
5. Place a paper towel into the microwave and set the mug on top. This is to catch any batter if it overflows.
6. Microwave mug cake for 70 seconds on high.
7. Carefully remove from microwave and enjoy, and if you feel indulgent add a scoop of ice cream to the mug.

Notes:

All microwaves are different therefore can yield different results and can overcook or sometimes undercook this mug cake if you aren’t careful. My microwave is 1000 watts and I cooked for 70 seconds. The cake got cooked perfectly in that time. You might have to try a couple of times to figure out the exact time needed in your microwave.

You can totally omit the tablespoon of chocolate hazelnut spread if you want or use a different spread of your choice like peanut butter. The cake itself is moist enough without it.

If you are lazy to wash a bowl and a whisk and feel it kind of defeats the purpose of making a mug cake, you can make this directly in a mug. I tried that myself. But you need to make sure you mix everything well. I used a fork and mixed the dry ingredients first. If you don't mix it thoroughly, lumps of flour or any other dry ingredient can makes its way to the cake. So first mix the dry ingredients very well with a fork and again mix well after adding the wet ingredients. If you don't mix well, you might end up with a bad textured cake.

Now the verdict. This came out to be a very soft chocolate cake and yes it had the texture of a real cake. The Nutella in the middle elevated it to a new level. I would never do a random search for a chocolate mug cake from now on. Yes I am done with my search. I don't think I would find a better recipe than this. If you are a chocolate cake fan this is a must try.

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Super Moist Carrot Cake

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It has been sometime since I baked a cake. I mostly bake muffins these days. So last weekend I decided to bake a cake. Since we had this huge bag of organic carrots in the fridge and since I have never made it before, I decided to bake a carrot cake. I searched for a good carrot cake recipe online and stumbled across this recipe from The Pioneer Woman. All the rave reviews confirmed that this would be a good recipe to go by. This recipe uses equal amount of carrots and flour.

This is a heirloom recipe. Reed of the pioneer woman got this recipe from her mom's handwritten recipe book. The recipe is from her mom's friend Sigrid. Now Sigrid's carrot cake recipe is quite famous online. There is an icing recipe too in her post, but I made only the cake. 

Sigrid's Carrot Cake

Recipe from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

2 cups Sugar

1 cup Vegetable Oil

4 whole Eggs

2 cups All-purpose Flour

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Baking Soda

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon ( instead of this I used 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg powder)

2 cups Grated Carrot

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Mix together the sugar, oil and eggs in a large bowl. 
3. In another bowl sift together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon( I used nutmeg). 
4. Add to the first mixture and combine. 
5. Then add carrots and mix well. 
6. Pour into a greased and floured and bake at 350F until done, 25 (sheet cake) to 50 (Bundt pan) minutes, depending on the pan you use. I used two 9" round pan and the baking time was 32 minutes.

The carrot cake came out moist and tasty. Even though I read many rave reviews about this recipe, I never thought I would love a carrot cake this much. It was delicious. The orange color of carrot in between the golden brown cake looked awesome. I loved the modification I made of adding nutmeg instead of cinnamon. It gave the cake a subtle kick of spice and balanced the sweetness of the cake. I would definitely make this again. And may be next time I would also try adding some chopped walnuts.

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Raspberry Banana Whole Wheat Muffin

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I love baking muffins. Especially the ones made using whole wheat flour. I have always followed recipe tried by others. For the first time I have come up with my own recipe. And I am glad that it turned out to be perfect, moist and tasty.

I used raspberry, as we got some organic raspberries on our recent trip to Costco and also, I have never baked using raspberry. So I thought I will give it a try.

Raspberry Banana Whole wheat muffin

Ingredients

Whole wheat flour - 2 cups

Baking powder - 3 Tbsp

Sugar - 3/4 cup

Salt - 1/2 Tsp

Olive oil - 1/4 cup

Milk - 1 cup

Raspberry - 1 cup

Mashed Ripe Banana - 1 cup  (2 bananas)

Egg - 2 nos beaten

Vanilla Extract - 1 Tsp

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Mix 3/4 cup whole wheat flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl.
3. Beat the eggs in a bowl.
4. Add milk, oil, mashed banana, vanilla extract and beat for another 2 minutes until everything is well combined. I used a Han mixer but you can do this by hand too.
5. Coat the raspberry with the remaining flour by gently tossing them together in a bowl.
6. Add the dry ingredient mixture from step 1 to wet ingredients in step 3 slowly and stir to combine. Do not over mix as that would yield to a very dense muffin.
7. Fold in the raspberries. To fold in, use a wooden spoon and mix the raspberries in by bringing the batter from bottom of the bowl to the top as if you are flipping a pancake.
8. Fill the muffin liners upto 3/4th with the batter.
9. Bake for 20 minutes or until s toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. I used medium muffin pan. Baking time may vary based on pan and oven.

The muffins came out well. They were moist and raspberry gave a nice color in between. But I realized I am not a big fan of raspberry in baked items. I would definitely make use of this recipe again, but would replace raspberry with blueberry. 

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Ragi Banana pancake with Raspberry compote

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I made my first pancake with a store bought pancake mix. I topped it with some fresh chopped strawberries and banana and some maple syrup and called it good.

This was the case until I started looking for some new ideas for our breakfast.
I make breakfast almost every single day. I can't have cereal for breakfast continuously. For one or two days I can, but not more than that. Also I want my daughter to get used to the Indian habit of having a heavy breakfast. Its a proven fact that having a good balanced breakfast is the ideal way to start a day.

My search led me to many new ideas like rava idli, rava dosa, uthappam and a variety of pancakes made from scratch. I have made pancakes using whole wheat flour and oat meal since then. Using ragi powder was a new twist. I have at least 5 pounds of ragi that I got to make baby food for my daughter. Now that she has grown out of that stage and also since my recent attempts to make her eat the porridge made with ragi failed miserably, I am looking out for new ways to incorporate it into her diet. That is how I came up with this recipe.

Ragi banana pancakes

Ingredients

Ragi flour( finger millet) 1 1/2 cups ( I powdered ragi in my blender)

Ripe Banana 2 nos

Milk 1 1/4 cups

Baking powder 1 tsp

Salt 1 pinch

Vanilla extract 1 tsp

Chocolate chips 1/4 cups

Method

1. In a blender( mixer grinder), blend together banana, milk, vanilla extract until smooth.
2. Add ragi powder, baking powder and salt and blend again until smooth.
3. Heat a skillet/ non stick pan. I do not spray skillet with oil as I use non stick one. If you are using an iron skillet , spray oil.
4. Pour 1/4 cup of batter and spread it to form a small thick circle.
5. Place 4 or 5 chocolate chips on top.
6. Once the pancake starts to bubble and edges set, flip it over.
7. When the other side also gets cooked, remove pancake to a serving plate.

Raspberry compote

Ingredients

Raspberries 1 cup

Water 1/4 cup

Sugar 1 tbsp

Vanilla extract 1 tsp

Method

1. Heat raspberries, sugar and water in a sauce pan.
2. Keep stirring occasionally until it boils.
3. Reduce heat to medium and mash the raspberries lightly with the stirring spoon. Do not mash completely as chunks of fruit adds to the texture of compote.
4. Keep stirring frequently once the sauce starts to thicken.
5. Continue until the sauce reaches the desired consistency.
6. Turn off heat and add vanilla extract.
7. Stir well and serve over hot pancakes.

Ragi pancakes came out soft and fluffy. But you should have it hot, as once it cools down it loses the softness. 

Regarding the raspberry compote, once you try it, you will never want to go back to the store bought maple syrup. I have tried strawberry compote too by replacing raspberries in this recipe with chopped strawberries. But that cannot be compared to this. Raspberry compote is divine and has a very pleasing aroma and taste. It is lip smacking good and complements ragi pancake well. 

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Easy & Quick Microwave Halwa Recipe

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We have a small temple in Reno, where I live currently. Every Sunday the temple is open till noon and we have pooja and bhajans followed by arathi. Devotees bring nivedyam ( food offering to God) prepared from home. We went to temple today and I prepared this halwa as nivedyam. It is a very quick recipe, you just need time for the halwa to set.

Corn flour halwa

Adapted from RaksKitchen

Ingredients

Corn flour - 1/2 cup ( I used Corn Starch 1/4 cup + All purpose flour 1/4 cup )

Sugar - 1 and 1/2 cups

Water - 2 cups

Cardamom powder - a pinch

Food color - half a pinch

Cashews - 10 nos

Ghee - 1 Tbsp

Method

1. Mix all purpose flour, corn starch, food color, sugar and water in a large microwave safe bowl without any lumps. Using a whisk would make this process easier.
2. Microwave in high for 4 minutes. It would still be in liquid consistency. Stir well with a spoon.
3. Microwave again for 2 minutes. Now the mixture would have thickened and would resemble yogurt. Mix well. 
4. Microwave again for 10 minutes*, stirring in between at every 2 minutes interval. Mixing well every two minutes is necessary as it ensures even cooking. 
5. Fry the chopped cashews in ghee till golden brown and mix them well into the above mixture. Mix the cardamom powder in.
6. Use the remaining ghee from the above step to grease a shallow dish.
7. Pour the mixture into this dish and let it cool for an hour or so. 
8. Cut into pieces as desired and serve.

*Cooking time will vary depending on the microwave. I found that doing the step 4 for 10 minutes set the halwa perfectly.

The halwa is soft but not at all oily. I got very good reviews from every one and there were requests for the recipe too. I couldn't take any pictures while I prepared this for nivedyam. I made another batch after coming back from temple for posting the recipe and to take along for the dinner party we are having tonight at a friend's place. This time I cooked it for 10 minutes in step 4 while I had only done for 6 minutes first time I made it. Cooking to 10 minutes helped in solidifying halwa correctly, so it looked beautiful when sliced to square pieces. This can be a life savior if you want to make a quick Indian sweet. No one will know that you made it in less than 20 minutes , unless of course you tell them this recipe.

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Whole wheat banana muffins

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This is a muffin i make quite regularly. It is a very healthy recipe and all three of us like it a lot. Ritu keeps asking for "more mussin". This uses overripe bananas,so this recipe comes handy when you have overripe bananas that you neither want to have nor want to throw off. These muffins are dense yet soft. It is called  banana bread muffin because the batter is very similar to that of banana bread.

Banana whole wheat muffins

Recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction

Ingredients

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs
6 Tablespoons olive oil (or canola/vegetable oil/coconut oil)
1 cup mashed ripe banana (2 bananas)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (i skip this as we are not found of the flavor and I never have it in my pantry)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (or white-whole wheat or all-purpose flour)

Method

Preheat oven to 425F degrees. Line 12-count muffin tin with cupcake liners and set aside.

Make the muffin batter by whisking together the egg and sugar for about 4 minutes until light in color. Stir in the oil, banana, and vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, mix together the salt, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and flour. Slowly pour dry mixture into wet mixture. Stir together until just combined (do not overmix). Spoon batter into each liner- about 3/4 full. Fill any unused muffin cavities with 2-3 Tablespoons of water to assure the muffins bake evenly.

Bake muffins for 5 minutes at 425F degrees. Lower temperature dial down to 350F degrees and continue to bake for about 15 more minutes* until the muffins are set and lightly browned or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Baking in high temperature for 5 min and then bringing down the temperature gives the muffin a high dome. Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the tins and transfer to wire rack to cool completely before glazing.

* - 15 min for medium sized muffin pan, 11 min for mini muffin pan

These muffins have always come out well. The only place you can go wrong is the baking time. Since the baking time can vary between ovens it is a good idea to keep checking if the muffins are done towards the end.

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Focaccia bread with herb oil

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I am on a baking spree this month. It all started with Arun's b'day for which I did quite a lot of research and finalized on a mango custard cake with mango pudding filling and mango cream frosting.

I have been thinking of baking a bread since sometime now. So when I saw a recipe for Focaccia caprese in Ria's Collection I thought I would try baking the focaccia bread. Focaccia is a type of flat Italian bread made with yeast and olive oil and flavored with herbs. Caprese is a salad of fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil. Focaccia bread in the recipe was topped with this trio combination and hence the name Focaccia Caprese. This recipe is an adapted version by Aparna of the original recipe from Kitchen Whisperer. This recipe does not require any fancy gadget and I kneaded the dough with my hands. And I modified the recipe a bit due to unavailability of an ingredient. You might think it must be one of the herbs which is not usually used in south Indian cooking. But no, I had all of those, but I had only 2 cups of all purpose flour. So I used 2 cups of all purpose flour and 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat floor. Now when I think of it, I feel glad I didn't have 3 1/2 cups of all purpose flour. If I had I wouldn't have dared to use whole wheat flour in my first attempt to bake a bread. Now that I have used it and found that the bread came out good and since these days I am in search of healthy recipes, I would probably stick on to that.

Focaccia with herb oil

Original recipe: Kitchen whisperer
Adapted by: Aparna
Makes two medium sized or four small focaccia

Ingredients

For the bread
2 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/2 tablespoon sugar
3 1/2 cups all purpose (I used 2 cups all purpose flour and 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 olive oil (regular also works)
1 - 1 1/2 cups warm water
A little more olive oil for brushing the dough
For the herb oil
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
1/2 teaspoon garlic paste
Salt to taste

Method

Herb oil: Mix together all the ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.


Bread: Mix together all the ingredients through olive oil and then add in the warm water and form a soft elastic dough that is just short of sticky. Form a ball of the dough, take it out, oil the bowl with some extra olive oil, put the dough back in and coat it by turning the dough a couple of times. Cover and let it rise until doubled, for about an hour.


Pre heat the oven to 210C / 400F. Once risen, take the dough out and divide into two. Place them on a cookie sheet and press it out gently to 1 inch thickness.I shaped mine into a circle. Let it rise for 20 mins. Slightly oil your fingers and poke into the dough at equal intervals to create a dimpled effect. Brush the top of the bread with the herb oil, generously. Bake for 18-20 mins or until golden brown.

I made 2 medium sized Focaccia. We had one straight out of oven (along with soup) and the other, next day. It was a bit chewy when we had it the first day. I think that was because we didn't wait for the bread to cool down even a bit. When I said 'straight out of oven' I meant literally and not figuratively. It was dense yet spongy on the second day. The flavorful herb oil made contributed heavily in making this bread totally delicious. I would definitely make this again and next time possibly make some sandwiches out of it.

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Birthday cake!!

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I have always baked a cake for Arun's b'day and i would like to think that i have improved with each of them. In fact the first cake I ever baked was for Arun's first b'day after our marriage. I over baked that chocolate cake and it was just a tad bit less crunchy :P.

The second one was better, a layered chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and strawberry filling. Taste wise it came out okay, but it had sunk in the middle a bit. :(

So this time after having baked quite a lot in the past one year I knew i would be able to bake a good one. With that confidence I also decided I am going to try my best at decorating the cake too. So I bought a decorating tips and frosting bags. After searching the entire blog land for a good cake recipe, I finally decided on a Mango custard cake with Mango pudding filling and Mango cream frosting. I combined recipes from two blogs to create this one.

Eggless Mango Pudding

Recipe from Ria’sCollection

Ingredients

1 1/2 c heavy whipping cream

1  c sweetened mango puree

4 tbsp sugar or to taste

1 tbsp gelatin dissolved in 3 tbsp water

Method

 Whip the cream to stiff peaks along with sugar and then fold the puree in. Melt the gelatin, cool it for a minute and then fold it into the pudding / mousse.

Mango Custard Cake

Adapted from “One bowl vanilla cake” recipe from Ria’s Collection

Ingredients

1/2 c unsalted butter,room temperature

1 1/4 c sugar

1 egg

1 3/4 c all purpose flour

1/2 c custard powder ( I used mango custard)

1 tsp salt

3 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/4 c milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 350F/180C .Line and dust a 9" round cake tin.

Using a whisk, cream the butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

Add in the egg and whisk till incorporated and fluffy.

Add in the remaining ingredients one by one and whisk together for 2 mins.

Pour into the tin and bake for 55-60 mins or till done.

Cool in the tin for 10 mins, remove and cool completely.

Mango cream 

Recipe from Manju’sEating Delights

Ingredients

Heavy whipping Cream – 1 cup (Use 2 cups for bigger cake)

Confectioners’ Sugar (or powdered sugar) – 3-4 tblsp

Sweetened Mango Pulp – 5-6 heaped tblsp

Method

Beat the heavy whipping cream in a chilled bowl until soft peaks form using an electric hand mixer or a whisk.

Add powdered sugar and continue to beat for one minute.

Add mango pulp in intervals and keep beating until desired texture and taste is obtained (add more or less pulp as you prefer)

Vanilla Buttercream

Recipe from Sally’sBaking Addiction

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

3-4 cups powdered (confectioners') sugar

1/4 cup heavy cream or half-and-half (see note above about substituting milk)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

salt, to taste

Method

Beat softened butter on medium speed with an electric or stand mixer. Beat for about 3 minutes until smooth and creamy. Add powdered sugar, cream, and vanilla extract with the mixer running. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 full minutes (the longer you beat, the creamier the frosting). Add more powdered sugar if frosting is too thin or more cream if frosting is too thick. Add salt if frosting is too sweet (1/4 teaspoon).

Assembly

If you have a serrated knife, then you can bake one cake and cut it horizontally to get two 9” round cakes. Or if you don’t have one like me or if you want a taller cake like I wanted, bake two cakes.

Let the cakes cool and refrigerate for some time. Once the cakes have become cold, put one cake back into the baking tin. Add a layer of pudding on top of the cake. Refrigerate the tin for 4 hours.

After the pudding has set keep the other cake on top of the pudding layer and carefully invert the cake onto a cake base.

Cover the sides and top of the cake with Mango cream. Add a very thin layer of Mango pulp on top so that you have a beautiful and bright top to write your message on.

Decorate the cake using Vanilla Buttercream frosting.

Birthday boy was really impressed with the cake. He couldn't believe that I baked such a tall two layered cake. And he was impressed by the cake decorations too. It was a surprise for him when he came from office on his birthday. We, as in Ritu and I,  had put up birthday banner, blew balloons, set the table with cake, gifts and other decorations. According to him we celebrated his b'day as if he turned three :D

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