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Saturday, February 2, 2013

Farm cake!!



My little boy turned 2 a couple of months back and this bright and colourful farm themed birthday cake was made by his mommy with oodles of love!!!I'm completely,head over heels in love with it....so much so that I can't stop looking at the pictures over and over again.I think I deserve a  pat on my back for this one!It took me three days to do the cake.I started off with the gumpaste animals  and thanks to all those wonderful tutorials on youtube...it made my job so much easier.And here's a closer look at the animals one by one...

                                                           That's Betzy the cow...

                                 The show stopper sheep with a bug on its nose...shoo shoo!

                                                    The mama pig with her piglet...

                                    Here a chick,there a chick,everywhere a chick chick!!

                   The horse peeping out of the fence...coz I couldn't get the body right!Clever me!!

                                                The apple tree.Ain't that cute?

And that was Lil' Joe's farm cake.And I can't help notice that I'm getting better and better each time!

Friday, November 23, 2012

Vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting

There I did it again!I ditched my poor blog once again!!Uninspired, distracted and in an off mood,the reasons are many and I better not get into all that.... Not that I've found my inspiration back,but I fought my mood swings and decided to write another post, just to feed my starving blog and to keep it alive!!!

I had made these yummy cupcakes a while ago for my daughter's friend when she went over for a play date.The cupcakes are definitely the best I've had and I've been baking it over and over since I found it on The Little Teochew (A lovely blog that I blindly trust).They are fuss free,soft and has the perfect crumb!They burst with the freshness of vanilla which makes them simply out of the world!!(make sure you use pure vanilla extract)

So that's it for now.No blah blah's for once.But do give these cupcakes a try sometime.Never again will you go for a store bought cupcake.Never ever!



VANILLA CUPCAKES(adapted from  The Little Teochew)

155 gms plain flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt(omit if using salted butter)
113 gms(1 stick butter softened)
170 gms castor sugar
2 large eggs(at room temperature)
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degree C.
Line a muffin tray with paper liners.
Sieve flour with baking powder and salt.
Cream butter until smooth.
Add sugar gradually and beat until light and fluffy(3 minutes).
Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.
Add vanilla and combine.
Carefully fold in the flour in three additions alternating with milk in two additions,starting and ending with flour.Do not overbeat.
Spoon the batter into muffin trays filling each about 2/3 full.
Bake for 20- 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and the cupcake domes are slightly golden brown.
Keep in tray for 15 minutes.
Transfer to wire rack and cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate frosting

3 tbsp butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch of salt

Method:

Melt butter.
Add sugar and cocoa(lumps removed if any)and stir till well combined.
Add cream and stir till smooth and creamy but not boiling.
Take off from flame and add vanilla and salt and mix.
Set aside to cool.

How to frost cupcakes:

Dip the cupcakes upside down into the frosting.
Let the excess drip off.
Turn the cupcake and arrange on a tray and allow to set.








Thursday, June 14, 2012

Shrikhand...Shrikhand...Shrikhand...


Oh,hello friends!Its been quite a while,I know...But sometimes life gets a little too busy and you  just have to keep running with no time to stop and blog.I have a good number of excuses if you ask me...a fondant workshop, an intensive sugar flower course,a few cake decorating projects,sick children,days without a housemaid,guests,hitting the 30's and the depression that came with it.....the list goes on.And finally,a few weeks ago,when I managed to overcome the hurdles and sat down to blog,I was greeted by this absolute stranger on my dashboard...yes!I'm talking about the new,updated blogger interface!!It put me off completely and I was totally uninspired to blog until a few days ago when I made this amazing Indian dessert called the 'Shrikhand'.It was so unbelievably smooth and creamy and dreamy that I simply had to tell the world about it.And so,I decided to finally get acquainted with the stranger on my dashboard!!And though,we are not the best of friends yet,I've made up my mind to get to know him better,little by little,one step at a time!!
I had the first taste of Shrikhand when Arwa of 'I live in a frying pan' got it to the Fooderati Arabia(the food bloggers group in Dubai) picnic and it was so 'yumiliscious' that I almost wanted to grab the dish and run away!!I had made up my mind that I would certainly try it out one day.And finally when I did,I recollected Arwa's tip of adding condensed milk instead of sugar for that smooth,velvety texture. Believe me, it did give an exceptional result!I really don't know what kept me from trying this out for so long.... 
So here I am people,with an amazingly delectable dessert recipe that will definitely make up for abandoning my blog like that.And it is super easy too.Just try it and you'll love it.

WARNING:HIGHLY ADDICTIVE!

SHRIKHAND

3 CUPS CURD(HUNG IN A MUSLIN CLOTH FOR A FEW HOURS OR OVERNIGHT)
1 CUP SOUR CREAM
3/4 TIN SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK(LESS OR MORE ACCORDING TO TASTE)
1 TSP CARDAMOM POWDER
A FEW STRANDS OF SAFFRON SOAKED IN A TBSP OF MILK

Method:
Take the curd out of the muslin cloth.Ensure that all water is drained and it can almost form into a ball.
Mix curd with sour cream,condensed milk, cardamom powder and saffron.
Combine well together with a whisk.
Garnish with almonds or pistachios.
Serve chilled.


Sunday, March 25, 2012

Maggie Beer inspired Chicken pot pie


For me,a pot pie is the ultimate comfort food.What's so comforting about a humble little pie?Is it the flaky,buttery pastry or the rich,creamy filling or the wonderfully melt-in-your-mouth combination of the two?Or could it be all that butter??The big slab of butter that you throw into a pie?

Yes,of course a pie has butter...a good lot of butter.A friend had once asked me if she could make a pie without butter and without refined flour.I suggested that she better not make a pie at all and have porridge instead.Because a pie is a pie is a pie!It is awfully unhealthy and totally tasty.It is an absolute no-no for size zero aspirants,fitness freaks and other poor souls on diet.But there is nothing like a warm pot pie for a tired,exhausted momma like me who does not mind a few extra pounds being added to her already jiggling belly!
This pie recipe is however not my favourite though it is a really,really good one.My favourite pie is my Amma's pot pie which I grew up eating.I guess you'll have to wait for a while for that recipe.But for now,here is one inspired by Maggie Beer's pheasant pie which was featured on one of the episodes of Masterchef Australia.I've adapted her extremely forgiving sour cream pastry recipe which is too good for words.And I've used chicken and mushrooms in a rich, creamy sauce for the filling.How comforting is that?




CHICKEN POT PIE

For the sour cream pastry(adapted from Maggie Beer's pheasant pie recipe)

200g Unsalted butter, chilled
250g Plain flour
125ml Sour Cream

Method:
Pulse the butter and flour in a food processor until it looks like breadcrumbs.
Add the sour cream and continue to pulse until the dough starts to incorporate into a ball.
Wrap in plastic film and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Roll the pastry to desired thickness and cut 2 circles, 1 bigger for the base of your pie dish and 1 smaller for the lid.
Keep refrigerated while you make the filling.

For the filling

3 boneless chicken breasts(cut into small cubes)
1 packet button mushrooms(halved)
1 onion (cut into fairly big cubes)
1/4 cup plain flour
1-2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup fresh cream
Good sprinkle of parsley
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Rub chicken pieces with salt,pepper and olive oil.Spread on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until almost cooked.
Heat olive oil in a pan and saute onions until just translucent.
Add mushrooms and saute till mushrooms reduce to half the size and all the water evaporates.
Add flour and cook for a while.(It should not turn brown)
Add stock and stir to remove lumps.
Add cooked chicken cubes and fresh cream and cook till thick.The sauce should be creamy but not clumpy.Add more stock if needed.
Season with parsley,salt and pepper.
Keep aside till it cools.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Carefully transfer the bigger circle of the pastry to the base of the pie dish and gently press down and the sides,making sure there is a little extra pastry around the sides.
Spoon the filling into the base.
Cover with the smaller circle of the pastry and crimp the edges to seal.
Score a cross pattern on top of the pie.
Give the top an egg wash.
Bake at 180 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour,till the crust is nice and brown.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Gajar ka Halwa/Carrot Fudge



I came across this wonderful Indian dessert recipe in Anjali's Spice and sugar tales and knew almost immediately that it was going to be the dessert for the weekend.Fresh,juicy carrots cooked in whole milk until the carrots turn soft and all the milk reduces to leave behind gorgeous little specks of milk solids....
I'm so glad I tried it.Thank you Anjali for the lovely recipe...it is a keeper!
The only change I made was to add a tin of condensed milk into the milk and carrots,half way through the cooking.But I don't think it made much of a difference.It would have tasted pretty much the same even without it.


You'll find the recipe for this dessert here.I am not writing down the recipe,simply because Anjali has written it down so well with every detail and also because I'm in an extremely lazy mood today.And after you've made it,take a large bowl of this gooey,fudgy dessert,plonk on your sofa,take a mouthful and close your eyes......You'll be thankful...so thankful for the simplest of things like carrots and milk and sugar and cardamom and that lovely Indian great grandmother who first thought of putting it all together to create the glorious "Gajar ka halwa".

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Bow and butterfly cake




This was a cake that I made a while ago,when I was still taking my Wilton lessons.I don't exactly remember the source from where I got the inspiration and idea.All I remember is that the lady in the video tutorial had beautiful,beautiful hands...So beautiful that I looked at my own and felt awfully sorry!

The cake is covered with fondant.And that's the Wilton bow made with a blend of fondant and gumpaste. The gumpaste butterflies were cut out with PME cutters and brushed with gold lustre dust.

Linking this to Cakes,Cookies and Desserts event at Spice and sugar tales.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Egg in a hole


There's no doubt that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.It should be a wholesome,healthy and fulfilling meal,loaded with all the vital nutrients to help you live your day.But sadly,nobody in my home seems to have time for an elaborate breakfast.So all they do,most of the time is maybe grab a fruit or gulp down a glass of milk before rushing to their school/office.But whenever my slow and sleepy little girl manages to get ready a few minutes before her school bus arrives,I fix this quick breakfast for her which she enjoys.
'Egg in a hole' is common in breakfast and brunch counters and it is always my favourite to order at one of those live egg stations.When served with some fresh fruits and a glass of milk,it makes a quick and wholesome breakfast on a busy weekday.

Sending this for 'Just for fun' event hosted by Shobha at Good Food.


EGG IN A HOLE

1 egg
1 slice of bread
butter
enough pepper and salt

Method:

Using a medium sized,round cookie cutter,cut out a circle from the middle of the bread slice.
Heat a knob of butter in a non stick pan.
Lay the bread slice in the pan.
Break an egg right into the hole in the bread.
Cook for a few minutes on medium heat.
Flip over to the other side being careful not to break the egg.
Cook until done.
Carefully transfer to a plate and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Serve hot.