Vanilla Cupcakes

 

Last weekend started on a boring note. We had no plans to leave the house as  hubby-dear needed to just laze around and relax for a change. Relaxation for him is reading about photography and watching MMA and sports. For me, I had to think of a way to do something nice. So, as usual, I turned to the kitchen to bake. Now, that's what I call relaxation.

My sister sent me 10 individual  cupcake baking cups. These are so much nicer than the muffin trays because there is more space utilization in the oven. Also, helps me bake just a few, instead of a whole big batch. Loved the idea and had to put these cuties to use. That's when I made my Apple-raisin-walnut muffins (click here for recipe). After that venture, these babies were put away and only now did I think of them again.

So, my weekend relaxation resulted in vanilla cupcakes. They were moist and delicious and this brought hubby's resting phase to a halt as he got busy.............. really busy, munching on these moist cupcakes..............non stop.

 

Ingredients: (makes about 12 cupcakes)

• 1-1/2 cup sifted cake flour
• 1-1/2 tspn baking powder
• 1/4 tspn salt
• 1/2 cup or 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup(s) sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup(s) whole milk

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C or 350°F.
• Line a cupcake tray or cups with liners.
• In a bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt. 
• Beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar and beat well for about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl when needed (batter should be nearly white and fluffy). 
• Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Add vanilla and mix. 
• Now, alternately, add the flour mixture and milk, starting and ending with flour until just mixed.
• Divide the batter into the cupcake liners until 2/3 full (I used an ice cream scoop which was the perfect amount to fill 1 cupcake). Bake for 20-25 mins, until a toothpick inserted comes out just clean.
• Cool for 5-10 minutes on a rack.

Creme Brulee

I'm hard to please when it comes to eating out. I expect food to be really, really tasty at restaurants and anything otherwise is simply unforgivable. We went out to this restaurant called Turquoise in Koramangala. We went to the Italian kitchen floor. I never get too excited before I start my meal as it mostly leads to disappointment.  But, this time, I really loved the food and the ambiance. We had some good veg crostini misti, which is toasted Italian bread with a savory assortment of mushrooms, tomatoes and ricotta cheese.  For main, I had a chicken cappellacci which was a stuffed chicken pasta . The dim-lit environment did not give me an opportunity for good snaps with my point and shoot :( 

When it came to dessert, I had to have tiramisu and he had creme brulee.   I loved it and so, as you can guess, I had to try creme brulee at home and here is my home-made dessert. Did some research on this dessert and came to know that creme brulee means burnt cream. Origin of creme brulee? Some say it's, English, some say French and some say Spanish. You'll never know.

The biggest challenge in this recipe was to create that caramel crust on the dessert without a blow torch. But, my oven was good enough for the job and everything turned out great.

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 3 egg yolks
• 4 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4  cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup milk

For topping:

• Fine sugar - 1 tbspn 

Directions

Directions

• Preheat oven to 150°C (325° F).  

• Heat a kettle of water and keep ready.

• Beat egg yolks, sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl until thick and creamy.

• In a saucepan, pour cream and milk  and stir over low heat until it almost comes to boil. Remove from heat immediately. Let rest for 10 mins.

• Stir cream-milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Beat until combined and it turns a light color. 

• Pour the liquid into 2 ramekins. Place the ramekins into a large cake pan or roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. 

•  Bake just until the creme brulee is set, but still trembling in the center, approximately 40-45 minutes. Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan and let cool for a while. Then refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Method for creating a caramel crust:

• Preheat oven to broil. (250°C or 480°F)

• Sift some fine sugar evenly over the custard and spread till the edges.  

• Place ramekins on the highest rack position, right under broiler until sugar melts. (about 2 minutes) Watch carefully in order not to burn.

• Remove from heat and allow to cool. Refrigerate until custard is set again. 

Note:

• It is best to caramelize the crust about an hour before serving the pudding . That way the crust remains crisp and does not get soggy when left for too long in the refrigerator.

Easy trifle pudding

This has been in my draft for almost a year now. It is a trifle pudding recipe. I made this when my cousins came over for a meal. Actually, I had made a plain vanilla cake at home then.( Click here for plain cake recipe) But, I did not want to serve the same boring thing. So, I thought a trifle pudding would be more fun for a change.

The layers in the pudding were vanilla cake topped with a banana custard. Then came a layer of cranberry jelly. Then some slightly sweetened whipped vanilla cream and then some chocolate-cream-cookie crumbs. These layers were repeated.

 

Ingredients:

• Bourbon cookies - 6-8 (optional)
• Plain vanilla cake - 1/2 kg ( click here for recipe )
• Cranberry jelly - 4 cups ( recipe below)
  
• Custard - 4 cups ( made according to box directions)
  
• Chiquita banana -1
• Heavy whipping cream-  1/2 cup 
• Powdered sugar - 3 tspns

 Method for making cranberry jelly:

• In a pan heat 1/4 cup of water and 1/4 cup cranberry juice.
• Add 3-1/2 tspns of gelatin. When the gelatin has dissolved completely, turn off the heat. Add the remaining cranberry juice and stir. 
• Cool and let set in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours.

Making banana custard and whipping cream:

• Make custard according to package directions
• When it is cool, add slices of Chiquita banana to the custard stir gently. 
• Refrigerate.
• In a clean bowl, whip cream to stiff peaks with powdered sugar. Let cook in the refrigerator.

Assembling: 

• In the serving dish layer some slices of cake.
• Pour 2 cups of banana custard on the cake layer.
• Then spoon some jelly as the next layer.
• Then add dollops of the sweetened whipped cream.
• Crush some bourbon cookies and make this the next layer.
• Repeat these layers again.
• Serve cool

Pistachio cardamom orange cake

The best thing of being or living in India is that, I can go home whenever I feel like it and our family can visit us often too. That is a real blessing.

My sister and nephew visited us and I made this cake for them.

     

It was a nice pistachio cake which was infused with cardamom. A handsome quantity of pistachios were ground and added to the cake. Orange zest rendered that zing . The orange flavor came through so well. Cardamom powder does the job of  giving a good aroma to the cake. So there is no need for vanilla in this recipe.

 

What I loved most about the cake was that when I cut a slice, the orange and green specs  from the zest and the pistachio were vividly visible, which made it look so beautiful. This cake was a smash hit at home. It lasted 2 days and not a crumb was left.

Ingredients:

• Pistachios -1-1/2 cups(unsalted, shelled and toasted )
• All-purpose flour - 1-1/2 cups
• Baking powder - 2-1/2 tspns
• Cardamom powder - 1 tspn
• Salt - 1/4 tspn
• Whole milk - 1 cup
• Unsalted butter - 1-1/2 sticks (at room-temperature)
• Sugar - 1-1/2 cups
• Eggs - 4 large or 5 small
• Grated orange zest - 2 tspns

Method:

• Arrange oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C. Line a  9-inch-diameter round cake pan withparchment paper. 

• In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt and sieve 3 times or mix well.

• Add cardamom powder and mix well.

• Using food processor, pulse pistachios until  ground, about 40 seconds. (Do not over process it to a fine powder ).

• Add the ground pistachio to the flour mixture and mix well.

• In large bowl using electric mixer at moderate speed, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  

•  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 

•  Reduce speed to low and flour mixture and milk alternately in 3 batches,  beginning and ending with flour mixture and beating after each addition just until combined. 

• Add orange zest and mix until just combined.

• Spread batter evenly in pan and bake for 35 mins, until wooden skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean. 

• Remove from oven and cool the cake in the  pan  for about 10 minutes, unmold cake and let cool on a rack.

Plum Clafoutis for him

Watching the Masterchef series gets you so inspired sometimes, that last week saw the outcome of a wonderful plum clafoutis.  It was also baked in time for hubby dear's birthday.  He loves colorful desserts and this birthday, Plum clafoutis it was,  instead of the usual birthday cake.

Peak season for sweet plums was about 3 weeks ago and I kept postponing my clafoutis baking, because, each and every time we bought plums, they were gobbled up, leaving none for baking. So, finally when I realised that plum season was coming to an end, I bucked up and went full fledged to make my plum calfoutis.

The result........a really tart plum clafoutis because of tart plums :(  But luckily, it wasn't inedible. A tad  extra of powdered sugar dusted atop helped.

Lesson learned..... make hay while the sun shines.

 So, to reduce the tartness of the fruit I also caramelized them after pitting.

Since it was my first attempt at baking a clafoutis, I had my fair share of doubts. Is there less of flour?  Is there too much of milk? Is the batter too runny? But, all went well.( We women just worry for nothing :) The recipe was pretty easy. Easier than baking a cake.

When I saw my clafoutis all puffed up as it baked in the oven, I thought "wow!" Then, just like a souffle, it deflated when I took it out and let it rest . That was a disappointment and the next time I bake a clafoutis, I would definitely see if I can work on that .

He loved the dessert  and that was one more feather to my cap :)

So, here we come to the recipe part.

Ingredients : (Serves 4)

• All purpose flour- 1/4 cup
• Fine sugar- 1/4 cup
• Eggs - 2
• Butter - 1 tbspn (melted, cooled)
• Milk- 1/2 cup
• Cream- 1/4 cup
• Medium plums- 10 (halved, stones removed )
• Vanilla extract - 1/2 tspn

Method

• Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a 4 individual cups or a baking dish.

• Combine flour, sugar and eggs in a bowl. Beat well to combine. Add butter, milk, cream and vanilla. Whisk to combine.

• Place plums, cut side up, in prepared dish. Add flour mixture. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until just set. Let stand for 2 minutes. Dust with icing sugar. Serve immediately.

Zebra cake

The Masterchef Australia Season has started all over again and I love, love, love the show. I never miss an episode. Such a pleasure watching people cooking good food and all the more 'beautiful food'. There a so many talented people out there. Good to see wonderfully good food with quality ingredients. Have watched Masterchef USA and India and to be frank, I liked only Australia. The focus is only on food and no cribbing and fussing. I learn so much about food from this show. The judges are fantastic too.
I can just go on and on and on about this but let me just sum it all up with a Big Hurrah! for the Masterchef Australia series.

Now, let me get to my baked goodies. This time round, I want to share the recipe and pics of a  Zebra cake.  I think it looks adorable. I'm impressed with myself. Pat, pat, pat on my back. This cake went straight to a cousin's home. So I could not taste it, but, those who did, said it was fabulous.

What I would do differently next time,
1) make more layers. This time I tried just few.
2) Since I now know how to do it, I would spoon the batter a little neater next time. This time the job was shabby as you can see  :)

The layers were not so clear on the outside . But , when cut, there was this beautiful display of brown and white.The design looked so fashionable.

Ingredients: 

• 1 1/2 cupsall purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 medium eggs at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup warm, whole milk 
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder.  

  

Directions:

• Preheat  oven to 400 degrees F or 205 degrees C . Line an 8-inch cake pan with parchment paper or butter and dust with all-purpose flour. 
• Sift flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
• In a large mising bowl, beat butter and sugar using an electric mixer set on low speed, until the mixture resembles damp sand (about 3 mins).
•  Beat in the eggs one at a time on medium-high, until wellblended and  a smooth fluffy consistency is reached. (About 7-8 mins)
• Add vanilla and mix.
• Add 1/3 of the sifted flour mixture and milk alternately and mix until you have added it all.
  
• Do not overbeat this mixture. Once the flour is incorporated well, stop mixing. 
• Separate this batter into 2 equal parts. To one part add cocoa powder and mix well.   

  

Now to create the zebra design.  

For this the batter has to be poured in a particular fashion into the mold.

• Take a large spoon or ladle and first spoon the vanilla batter right into the center of  the prepared pan. Tap the pan thrice to spread the batter a little.  
• Next, spoon the chocolate batter right in the middle of the vanilla batter and tap the pan.  
• Repeat these 2 steps alternately till you have added all the batter. (see pic above)
  
• Bake until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean — 25 to 30 minutes. 
• Cool cake completely on a wire rack.

Coffee Pannacotta with Chocolate glaze

The scent of hot, freshly brewed coffee is heaven. Have been wanting to try a coffee flavored version of Pannacotta for a long time. Love coffee for its aroma and the slightly bitter aftertaste. Coffee flavored Pannacotta has this fancy taste without much hard work.
The recipe is simple. Similar to Vanilla pannacotta.(Recipe here). But, leave the vanilla out and add 2 tspns (or more, according to taste) of instant coffee granules when the cream has boiled. For those who love chocolate with coffee, the recipe for the chocolate glaze follows.

For chocolate glaze melt 1/4 cup of chocolate chips over a water bath and add 3-4 tbspns of milk to it and stir When cool, use as glaze.
As usual, I added mint leaves for a pop of color while photographing.

Luv 'n' luc'
Smitha

Pistachio Kesar Kulfi Popsicles

Dessert again. Kulfi is a popular, frozen, dairy dessert from India, very similar to ice cream. I have a weak spot for good ice cream. I'm sure there are many like me. I like the "real thing" which is made of REAL DAIRY cream as opposed to the non dairy cream which does not render that genuine creaminess . Very many ice creams found in the market, especially in India, contain non dairy cream, artificial flavors and artificial colors.
Two brands that I know off which use top quality and natural ingredients are Haagen Daz and Ben and Jerry's. Thank God for globalization, these are available here today.
I've used all natural ingredients in my kulfi. Most Kulfi recipes call for corn starch to thicken the mixture. I've replaced corn starch with arrowroot powder. Flavor comes from using saffron, cardamom and pistachios. Creaminess from rich milk and whipping cream. These ingredients are a bit on the expensive side, but, I feel it is money well spent.
Another advantage is that it is a no bake dessert. Easy to make. You could avoid cardamom and add any fruit pulp to make fruit kulfis. My suggestion would be Mango and Chiku, as these fruits have a very Indian flavor which will go well with this Indian dessert.

Ingredients:

• Milk - 2 cups
• Sugar- 1/2 cup
• Arrowroot powder - 2 tspns
• Cardamom powder - 1/2 tspn
• Pistachios - 1/4 cup (chopped)
• Saffron - 4-5 strands
• Whipping cream-1/2 cup

Directions:

• Dissolve arrowroot in 1/4 cup of cold milk.
• Whip up the whipping cream to peaks and set aside in the refrigerator
• Take 1/4 cup of hot milk and to this add saffron strands and set aside.
• Heat the remaining milk with sugar and let dissolve. Once the milk begins to boil, reduce heat and add the arrowroot dissolved milk. Stir well
• Next add the saffron milk and stir.
• Stir for about 2-3 mins till the arrowroot slightly thinkens the mixture and it comes to a custard consistency.
• Turn off heat and add pistachios and cardamom powder.
• Let cool. Once cooled, add whipped cream and fold gently till it's incorporated well.
• Pour mixture into popsicle molds or any mold of your choice.
• Freeze for 4-6 hours or overnight.
• To unmold the popsicles, dip the mold in warm water for 10 secs. The popsicles will slide out easily.
• Enjoy.

Luv 'n' luc'
Smitha

Blueberry Walnut Cake

It's been very difficult to find blueberries here, in India, and so I asked an aunt to look out for some dried blueberries abroad. And lucky me, she brought me a pack of dried blueberries. I was so excited to bake this blueberry walnut cake. I did miss the plumpness of fresh, juicy blueberries as the dried berries had the texture and feel of raisins.They tasted very much like fresh blueberries though. So now, for all I care, I have blueberries in my pantry all year round and don't have to go hunting places for them.


It was a neat bake and and I was pretty happy with the result. A fairly easy recipe.
A moist cake with crisp walnut and chewy blueberries. This can be served plain or with fresh fruit.

Ingredients:

• Butter( at room temperature) - 1 stick( 115 gms)
• Sugar - 3/4 cup
• Eggs(large) - 3
• Pure vanilla extract - 1 tspn
• All purpose flour - 1-1/4 cup
• Baking powder - 1 tspn
• Baking soda - 1/2 tspn
• Salt - 1/8 tspn(optional)
• Milk - 1/3 cup
  
• Walnuts - 1 cup (chopped)
• Dried blueberries - 1/4 cup
  

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F( 177 C)
• When the oven is preheating, put walnuts on a baking sheet into the oven. This will toast the walnuts. Remove after 3-4 mins. Set aside to cool. Once cool, give walnuts a rough chop.
  
• Butter an 8" round cake pan or line it with parchment paper. Set aside
• Seperate the eggs. Put egg yolks in a small bowl and set aside. Put the egg whites in a large, clean, dry bowl and beat the to stiff peaks and set aside.
• Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside.
• In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar for about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy.
• Add egg yolks one at a time and beat well after each addition.
• Add vanilla extract and mix well.
• Now add the flour mixture and mix. Stir in the milk until batter is smooth. (Do not over beat the cake batter as it will result in a hard cake).
• Add the walnuts and the blueberries. Mix.
• Fold in the egg whites gently into the cake.
• Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes in the preheated oven. For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. Do the toothpick test to see if the cake is done.(See note below).
• If the cake is not done, reduce the oven temperature to 275 degrees F(135 C) and bake for 8-10 more mins.Repeat tooth pick test.
• When the cake is done, let it rest in the cake pan for 10 mins.Then remove the cake from the cake pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
  

Note: Take a tooth pick or a knife or a bamboo skewer and poke it till the bottom of the cake.If it comes out clean the cake is ready.If it comes out with wet cake batter, it needs additional time to bake.

Luv 'n' luc'
Smitha

EVER TASTED SILK ? - VANILLA PANNA COTTA WITH STRAWBERRY COULIS (REPOST)

Today, I am reposting my pannacotta recipe.

This is easily the simplest recipe for a pudding.You can totally astonish anyone with it. PANNA COTTA means cooked cream and COULIS is just a fruit puree. Panna cotta is an Italian cold dessert and as always........anything Italian never fails to make me go gaga... :) To me, panna cotta is a very versatile dessert.It can be made in various flavors and can be paired with any sweet sauce.With that said, today I am making one with pure vanilla extract which I think is a universally appealing flavor. Anyone who does not like vanilla(which I think is rare) can substitute it with a pinch of cardamom powder. For those of you who are not strawberry fans , you can try chocolate sauce, or any other fruit as per your taste(like mango, rasberry,mixed berry, orange etc) .Or even better.........you can have the panna cotta just the way it is.

WARNING : Once you see the beauty you have created, you may not have the heart to serve it to your family or guests. Just console yourself with the thought that this is such and easy recipe that you can make it, any time, in a jiffy. So go ahead and dive right in :)

INGREDIENTS :(serves 3-4)
FOR PANNA COTTA:

• Unflavored gelatin 1 (o.25 ounce) envelope -which equals to about 1 tbspn
• 1/3 cup warm milk
• 2 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup white sugar
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

INGREDIENTS( FOR STRAWBERRY SAUCE)

• Fresh strawberries - 2 cups (substitute with strawberry jam or preserve)
• Sugar - 1/2 cup
• Lemon juice - 1 tbspn
• Pudhina( mint) leaves - to garnish
  

DIRECTIONS(for panna cotta)

• Pour warm milk into a small bowl and stir in the gelatin powder. Stir and set aside.
• In a saucepan, pour heavy cream and stir in the sugar and set over medium heat. Bring to a full boil, watching carefully, as the cream will quickly rise and overflow.
• Pour the gelatin and milk into the cream, stirring until completely dissolved. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly.
• Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla and pour into six individual ramekins( small cups) or tea cups or one big bowl.( I have used a ramekin).
• Cool the ramekins or the bowl uncovered at room temperature. When cool, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate(do not freeze) for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight. To serve, see directions below.

DIRECTIONS (for the strawberry coulis)

• Cut the strawberrys in halves and place them in a saucepan.Add sugar and stir on medium heat till the strawberry starts letting out its juices.If you are using fresh strawberries , you may have to add 3-4 tbspns of water to get the process started.
• Stir gently, because you do not want he strawberry peices to break up and get mushy.We need a chunky sauce.Cook for a total of 5-6 mins till all the sugar has dissolved.
• Remove from heat and cool well.Once it is cooled add the lemon juice.
  

DIRECTIONS TO SERVE :
There are 2 ways to serve panna cotta.

1) you can serve the pudding in the individual ramekins itself topped with the strawberry coulis. No need to unmould.

OR

2) Unmould and serve.

Directions to unmould:

• Dip the ramekins in hot water for 3 secs.
• Run a knife gently around the sides of the pannacotta.
• Take a large dessert serving plate and hold the plate with the palm of one hand and the bowl with the other and with a swift motion turn the pudding bowl upside down. Now, remove the bowl and u will see this beautiful, appealing, creamy-white panna cotta on your plate.

Wait , wait..........Don't pounce on it just as yet. One more step to go .Take your strawberry coulis and spoon it on top of the panna cotta. Garnish with some pudhina( mint) leaves.

It's ready now .

Luv 'n' luc

Smitha

Apple Raisin Walnut Muffins (Eggless)

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY BELOVED READERS.
The Holiday Season......This is the time of the year when baking is at an all-time high. It is not surprising because baked goodies taste delectable. Homemade baked treats are a good gift idea. Baking gets you being creative. It's fun and it is such a good hobby for a number of reasons. So, last week the baking bug bit me too. But, I did some low profile baking. Made some Apple Raisin Walnut Muffins. The highlight of this trial was that it was an eggless muffin recipe. I have never tried baking cakes or muffins without eggs, so, I was a little sceptical about the outcome. But, it was a big success story and the muffins were so moist too. And so, if you ask me if I would bake this eggless muffin again.......................Yes, definitely. It is a very easy recipe and I would recommend it to a beginner as well. Prep time - 10 mins.

The recipe is adapted from Paula Deen's Apple Raisin Muffin recipe.

I spiked the recipe by adding walnuts and a dash of rum. My recipe is provided below.
Ingredients (makes 10 muffins)

• 1/3 cup water


• 1 cup sugar


• 1 cup grated apple


• 1/4 cup raisin


• 1/2 cup (1 stick/ 115 gms) butter


• 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon


• 3/4 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg


• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves


• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts


• 1 teaspoon baking soda


• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour


• 1/8 tspn salt


• 1 tspn vanilla extract


• 1 tspn rum

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) .


• Combine the water, sugar, apples, raisins, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and cool completely.


• Add vanilla extract and rum.


• In a large bowl, stir the nuts, salt and baking soda into the flour.


• Add the cooled mixture to the bowl, and stir until blended.


• Fill greased or parchment lined miniature muffin tins with batter to the top. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Luv 'n' luc'

Smitha