Brownie Cheesecake Marble

Tags

baked, baking, brownie, cake, cheese, cheese cake, chocolate, dessert, Friday Feast, marble cake, recipe

I love marble cakes…. There is something about the pattern which takes my heart away… And hence when I saw this at nupur’s blog it was an instant love. and what is not there to love… there is a bake cheese cake, there is a brownie and they are marbled together… totak win situatio. So I had bookmarked this dish and waiting for something to happen so that I can bake it and than came Diwali when I decided to make the giveaway basket myself… It was one of the most treasured items of the basket for me… the texture brilliant and the brownie and the cheesecake perfectly complimenting each other. We loved this one and I am sure will make it again

What I used

For the cheesecake

• 170gms cream cheese – I actually used hung curd, hang curd in a musling cloth or put it in a sieve overnight so that all the whey can go away. Remember to keep this whole thing in fridge else the curd will turn sour
• 1 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the brownie

• 7 tbsp. melted butter
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

How I made it

• In a bowl mix together all the cream cheese ingredients till blended
• In a another bowl beat all the brownie ingredients well.
• And now starts the layering… In a greased and dusted baking pan pour most of the brownie mixture, I poured about 2/3rds of the whole
• Pour the cream cheese portion on top of it
• Now pour some dollops of the brownie mixture on top of cream cheese and swril a knife or toothpick to get a nice pattern
• Bake in a preheated oven at 175C for about 30 mins till done

Serve hot and wait for it to get over in a jiffy… its abs yummmm

Mandy I know this leave with depressed but darling much love passed your away, I hoping that this will motivate you to buy a oven and we can see Baking Buddies back in action

and this is off to a event hosted at Nupur’s blog… off to Blog Bites : The Holiday Buffet

A Mothers Delight

Tags

apple, baking, carrot, cocunut, dessert, egg, flax seeds, Friday Feast, fruit, muffins, recipe, walnuts

When I first saw this recipe at Meeta’s amazing blog I felt that the recipe has too much going around with it, too many flavours that may clash with each other but than I sat and looked hard at the recipe and as she mentions, the recipe is every mother’s delight… it has vegetables, fruits and nuts all rolled into one. I decided to give it a try and was very very pleasently surprised at the results. The flavours blend with each other so well that its hard to imagine that their are so many ingredients that went into it.

I did make some modifications to meeta’s recipe though… the major one being I used whole wheat flour instead of maida and yes I added a tsp of flax seeds powder to it

What I used

• 280g whole wheat flour
• 200g sugar
• 50g walnuts – toasted and coarsely chopped
• 270g carrots – grated
• 1 large apple – grated
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup desicated coconut
• 3 large eggs
• 180 ml vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp flax seed – roasted and grounded to a powder

How I made it

• Preheat oven to 180°C.
• Toast the walnuts till slightly brown, I roast them in the oven itself when it is getting heated
• Mix all the dry ingredients together i.e. flour, sugar, baking powder. salt and cinnamon, Add walnuts and coconut to it and mix a little
• In a large bowl whisk the eggs a little, add oil and vanilla essence
• Fold in the grated carrots and apple.
• Add this mixture to the dry mixture, stirring until the dough is moist.Dont overmix it which I think is the key to make good muffins
• Pour in greased and lined muffin moulds and bake for about 20 mins

Cool and bite into them, as I said before they were yummy… the carrots and apples keeping it moist, eggs adding softnes and walnuts and flax seeds adding the crunch… and very nutritous 🙂

Apple Pie With a Twist

Tags

apple pie, apples, baking, dessert, Friday Feast, friday feast on monday :), pie, puff pastry dough, recipe, yeast

I love Apple pie actually I love all baked fruit desserts and specially baked apples… a fruit which I really don’t enjoy eating too much just like that but bake it and bingo a brilliant dessert…

I usually make apple pie with the standard pie/tart base but sometime back I tasted an apple pie with a puff pastry base and it was yummmm so I decided to backtrack the ingredients in my head and give it a try and I am so glad I tried because the result was really really good and the whole thing got over in less than half a day 😀 😀

And now that u are probably tempted enough to take a bite into it, here is how to make it 🙂

What I used

For the base

• Flour – 250 gm
• Water – 150 ml
• Yeast – fresh 5 gm. dry 2.5 gm
• Salt – 5 gm
• Sugar – 10 gm
• Milk Powder – 2.5 gm
• Butter/Margarine – 10 gm
• Margarine for laminating – 85 gm

For the filling

• Apple – 2 big sized, I used granny smith, u can use any but I personally like granny smith the most in dessert it balances the sweetness with adding a twist of sourness
• Sugar – 40 gm
• Cinnamon – 1/2 tsp
• Raisin – 50 gm
• Cake crumbs – 40 gm (if u dont have cake crumbs at home, u can use oats or cornflakes also)
• Cornflour – 10 gm
• Water – 15 ml

How I made it

• Mix maida, milk powder, butter, yeast  and water to make smooth dough. Knead well for about 5-10 minutes
• Leave covered with a damp cloth for rising for about 30 mins
• Roll the dough into a thin rectangular sheet
• Divide the margarine into two parts – fom the first part take out a little and keep aside and spread the rest evenly on the sheet. Remember to spread it evenly and not tear the sheet.
• Make four markings on the sheet make four folds. The corner two ¼ folding inside making it look like an open book and then finally keep one on top of another.
• Spread the margarine that u kept aside on the top again. Take extreme care as the chances of tearing are very high when u are reapplying
  Fold it in the same method again.
• Wrap in a dusted butter paper and keep in fridge for 30-45 mins
• Repeat the above process of lamination i.e. sheet spread the second half of the margarine and fold
• Wrap in a dusted butter paper and keep in fridge for 30-45 mins
• Grease and dust the pie mould
• Keeping aside about 1/4 of the dough, roll out the remaining dough into a circle of ur pie mould size and then place it in ur pie mould covering all sides well. Use a knife to cut the extra dough from the top
• Poke the base of the pie with a fork a little
• Keep aside in the fridge for about 10 minutes till u get the filling ready
• Dice the apples in small cubes, the smaller the better as u will be able to put more filling in the pie then
• Mix all the other filling ingredients and mix well
• Dissolve the cornflour and water mixture and mix with the filling
• Spread the filling evenly in the pie mould.
• With the dough that u kept seperately make some shapes or simple simple striped and cover the top of the pie.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 200C for about 15-20 mins
• Serve warm… yummm

PS: I typed it on Friday and thought I have posted it but now when I came to write another post it was right here in the drafts sigh

Ariselu : Indian Cooking Challenge

Tags

dessert, Friday Feast, indian, indian cooking challenge, jaggery, recipe, rice

Couple of months while blog hopping food blog so something interesting to make,I stumbled upon the Indian Cooking Challenge and I really liked the concept…If we can have a Daring Bakers we can have a ICC too 😉 and I promptly mailed Srivalli that I want to participate but then my neck gave me dhoka and I couldn’t take part last month but this month I was very sure I will do it…

So here is my first entry for the ICC

The rules just as Daring bakers are to follow the recipe given there exactly and make the dish and post it on ur blog on 15th of every month

This is the recpie I followed (my comments in Blue)

This method yeilds about 8.

Ingredients Needed

Rice Flour – 1 glass (standard measurement)
Jaggary – 1/2 glass (I used the dark brown one)
Coconut grated – 2 tsp
Cardamom powder – 1/4 tsp
Water – 1/2 glass
Sesame seeds – 1 tbsp

Oil for deep frying.

Method to prepare:

I had the Paku (a kind of jaggery the dark brown one, see pic by Srivalli to understand), so grated and added water just enough to cover them. Cooked on high and removed the scum. Then added the cardamom powder. Once it starts boiling, add the grated coconut. You will see lot of bubbles coming out.

At this stage, add the Rice flour slowly and stir it together well. You will know when the consistency is correct, so till then you got to keep adding the flour, but I used up the entire glass of flour I used a little more than 3/4 glass of flour.

The beauty of this dough is, you can store and use whenever you want. If it becomes too hard, just add about 2 tsp of water along with 2 tsp of sugar. Get it to boil, while you keep stirring it. The mix should become soft again. When you handle it, it should come together as a soft dough. Divide it to equal balls.

Heat a kadai with oil to deep fry these. In a greased plastic sheet, pat them down to equal sized discs. Press down the sesame seeds over the top. Once the oil is hot, gently drop these into them. Fry on both sides. Since the sesame seeds are just pressed over the top, they will get into the oil. If you want to avoid this, try adding to the dough (I added it to the flour)

Once they are golden brown, remove and drain them on a kitchen towel.They will be soft when you remove them, will become crunchy once they are cooled.

The regular ones are normally soft and oily, but these were crunchy and no oil at all!

It came out well but somehow I think something is a miss here… I haven’t really eaten the original ever doesn’t help either… N says its good and as Srivalli’s recipe says this one is supposed to be crisp so I guess I was able to make what was supposed to get back though I broke the first one while frying… but the rest came out pretty decently

Its also her 100th post so lets congratulate her on this 🙂

Gajar Ka Halwa

Tags

carrot, dessert, Friday Feast, gajar, halwa, holi, indian, recipe, winter food

I had to start this post with that pic… I know I am a little late and summer is almost here but I somehow absolutely forgot about it but guys you are still getting those red carrots… make it one last time before they vanish from the market… I surely will and then how can I not have something sweet for holi 🙂

Gajar Ka Halwa (and I refuse to call it carrot halwa it just sounds something different also I am reminded of the carrot halwa that u get here made out of those orange carrots and that is just not my cup of tea 🙂 ) is one of my all time favorite desserts. I remember how we would start waiting for red (those orange carrots were not available in delhi in those days.. carrot used to be only red and available only in winters) carrots to come right from October so that we get to eat halwa 😀 😀 😀 and that patterns continues still

Hope you too enjoy the recpie

Ingredients

• 2 kg red carrots
• 500 ml cold milk
• 250 gms khoya (if u dont have khoya available which is usually the case in Bangalore u this recpie to quickly make it. Its microwave recpie for palkhoa, just be careful to reduce the sugar u add later)
• sugar to taste (i usually like it less sweet so I put about 3 tbsp)
• 1 tbsp ghee
• 1 cup mixed dry fruits

Method

• Shred the carrots (take care to not make them too fine they become too soggy if u do that)
• Put the carrots and cold milk together on the stove in a big kadai (putting it together and the milk being cold is very important else there is a tendency for the milk to curdle)
• Simmer stirring often and let it cook till the carrots are about half done…
• Add sugar and ghee to it… this point of time carrots will leave a lot of water, let it dry. By the time water dries the carrot will be almost cooked
• Let it simmer for another 10 mins or so
• Add the khoya and dry fruits to it and roast for about 10 mins on low heat
• Serve hot

My mouth is watering seeing the picture and I so want to make it again… Also I was thinking of making gujiya for this holi I have never made them before so if any of you have a fool proof recipe or tips please to send 🙂

On the other hand gosh will  u all mommy bloggers specially the ones in US tell me how the hell do you manage the house, cooking, kid and a blog single handedly??? I have just been doing it since 2 days and I think I am dead, the brat is sleeping right now so I squeezed some time to write a post, I still haven’t opened the reader and replied to the comments…. and here atleast I have a housekeeping maid who comes and go.. I bow to u all 🙂 apart from the work load we three are really enjoying this phase… this is the first time ever we have had as a family alone…. mil lives with us and the sometimes that she has gone visiting to sil’s house the maid has been there… It suddenly feels so nice to have the whole house to ourselves… (Disclaimer : My mil is nice I am not saying anything against her 😉 its just that the feeling of three as a family is very nice..)

and holi is here too… so here is wishing all u guys a very happy holi… keep the spirit of the festival and play sensibly… drink a lot of bhang 😉 Happy Holi

PS: the above pic is taken somewhere on the highway during our Delhi-Bangalore Drive

Guilt free baking and eating

Tags

baking, dessert, fiber rich, Friday Feast, muffins, NaBloPoMo, oat bran, recipe, sweet tooth, whole wheat

I have found a new die hard fan of my baking… my dear darling son 🙂 every now and then he comes and tell me mumma please oven make something… and he is happy with whatever I make muffins, cake, cookies… So I have been thinking of baking something which feels healthy too and then while browsing I chanced upon this recipe of  Oat Bran Muffins at joyofbaking (BTW which is a site I adore) and what a delightful recipe it is….Healthy to the core… it has whole wheat, oat bran, for sugar it uses honey and brown sugar instead of the processed white sugar… not too much oil… hell I can eat while dieting also 😀 and it tastes super yummy too

Ingredients

• 1 cup (130 grams) whole wheat flour
• 1 cup (150 grams) oat bran
• 1/3 cup (75 grams) light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest (outer skin of orange)
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) honey
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla essence
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 1/4 cup (300 ml) milk
• 1/2 cup (70 grams) raisins

Method

• In a large bowl, stir together the flour, oat bran, sugar, baking powder(the original recipe also asks for baking soda which I skipped, for some reason I have a great dislike for soda) , salt, ground cinnamon, and orange zest.

• In another bowl whisk together the lightly beaten egg, honey, vanilla essence, oil, and milk.

• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and stir just until moistened. Gently stir in the raisins. (The batter will be quite thin.)

• Pour or ladle the batter to fill the muffin cups, and bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 16 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool slightly before serving.

Go enjoy guiltlessly, the muffin has such a nice & different flavor to it… a little nutty I would say with all the fibre of oat bran and whole wheat

Apple Coconut Kheer

Tags

apple, blogging, cocunut, condesed milk, dessert, Friday Feast, friends, milk, recipe

I had another recipe in my for today but we surely need to have some sweets to celebrate Hitchy’s interview at Blogadda…. what say guys?

Hitchy you rock and u know that… So here’s Apple-Cocunut Kheer for u 😉

Apple Coconut Kheer

Ingredients

• 1 apple peeled and grated
• 1/2 cup coconut grated
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup condensed milk
• 2 tbsp sugar
• some cashew nuts and raisins
• 1 tsp ghee

Method

• Put ghee ,nuts and coconut in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 2 mins
• Add warmed milk and the rest of the ingredients and microwave on high for 6 mins

bingo its ready…  and take my word it was yummy… so heres to hitchy!!!! I provided the drinks yesterday and here are the sweets today!!!

Dude keep entertaining us… U rock… hugs and cheers to the blog samaj….

PS: some tips

1. keep stirring in between to prevent overflow
2. Use a big bowl to prevent the milk from overflowing

Chocolate Truffles

Tags

chocolate, chocolate truffles, cocunut, dessert, recipe

I used to make a lot of chocolate truffles once upon a time and then someone it vanished somewhere…. And when I saw the recpie in Cooking & more by Tarala Dalal I thought of making it again

Ok first drooling and then the recipe 😀

Ingredients

• 400gms milk chocolate
• 200 gms dark chocolate
• 200 ml fresh cream
• 50 gm desiccated coconut

Recipe

• grate 200gms milk chocolate and 200gms dark chocolate
• bring cream to boil and take it off the stove
• add the grated chocolate and whisk slowly till mixed
• keep in the fridge for 1 hr stirring every 15 mins
• Take out and make small balls by rolling (pat ur hand with a little water if it sticks but just a little too much would mean making the ball very soft)

• Melt the rest of the milk chocolate using a double boiler or in microwave… I melted it in microwave incase u do the same remember never to melt chocolate on high always in medium around 450W… stir every 1 min till its melted and little shiny

• Dip the inner balls in melted chocolate and leave it to chill for 10 mins
• Roll over the balls in desiccated coconut… and go eat

For the outer coating u can also use cocca powder, sweet candies, nuts but if u do that roll it over before chilling but after the coating is semi set

This morning I was chatting with Itchy and she asked do the inner turn soft and I said not as soft as market but I will have to eat my words here… N says its as good as market… infact I didnt tell him that I made and gave it to him and only after he said wow… its just melting in the mouth I told him I made it 😀

And another reason I am proud of myself I didnt eat it 🙂 🙂

I have some cooking chocolate and coconut left… thinking what to do with it…any suggestions?