Owner: Passionate About Baking...& beyond! URL:http://passionateaboutbaking.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2007 20:38:03 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: 'PASSIONATE ABOUT BAKING'...and that's what I am!! Have been baking at home for the over 10 years. Seem to enjoy it more and more each passing day.My blog has pictures and recipes of my art in the kitchen, and a few bits and pieces about it! Site statistics:Click here
ICED SUGAR COOKIES...A great gift for any occasion! 2007-11-06 20:56:32 "The preparation of good food is merely another expression of art, one of the joys of civilized living"Dione Lucas Iced Sugar Cookies...My all time popular cookies that kids love. They add a burst of colour to the surroundings and are fascinating. They are very delicious too as they are almond butter cookies with a sugar icing. I've been doing these for almost 8 years now, and though they aren't very easy to do, they are therapeutic. Made this batch yesterday for someone's birthday...thought of 'Bee' while doing the bees!!An extension of my canvas onto the cookie, its great fun mixing colours and indulging in food art. The trick is to make sure they are crisp after the icing...a bit fiddly for a new baker, but worth the trouble for someone who has time & patience!! The basic cookie recipe is the same one that I use for 'Smartie Cookies'. Its a very versatile one, and works well with this recipe. For the icing, I use powdered sugar mixed with just enough water to make it thic
ESPRESSO CAKE...Can you smell the coffee?? 2007-11-14 07:05:35 "Everybody should believe in something. I believe I'll have another coffee."Author UnknownMy ESPRESSO CAKE....MmmmmmmThe cake has been put together and is waiting to be cut later this evening. It's a basic coffe sponge base, smattered with luscious whipped cream flavoured with more coffee. Not too overpowering, but just very pleasing to the senses.I've done a real hurried icing, with drizzled white and dark chocolate, and dressed the edges with chocolate scrolls which I made earlier today. YUM! YUM! Post a virtual slice for all of you tomorrow...wish it could be real!!Ingredients:SpongeEggs - 5 (250gms)Powdered Sugar - 125 gmsFlour - 125gms ( flour= half the weight of the eggs i.e. 125gms )Cornflour - 2 tbs (makes the cake texture lighter)Baking powder - 1tspSalt - 1 pinchVanilla Essence/Extract - 1 tspCoffee Essence - 1 tspInstant coffee - 2 tbsp (increase or decrease as desired)Filling/Topping Cream - 500ml (whipping/35% fat)Icing Sugar - 3-4 TbspCoffee Essence- 1 tspInstant coffe
COFFEE IN A TRIFLE....Simple & Impressive Dessert for coffee lovers! 2007-11-12 11:10:04 'Just around the corner,There's a rainbow in the sky.So let's have another cup o' coffee,And let's have another piece o' pie.'Irving Berlin, 1932'COFFEE IN A TRIFLE'...Here starts a brand new week of coffee opportunities. This happens to me every November, when coffee is my favourite ingredient in my month of the 'Scorpio'! In my words, there are very few things that I would attach an 'automatic-droolamatic' quotient to. One of them is this...'Coffee in a Trifle' as I choose to call it, which I made up as I went along the way. Baked a coffee flavoured sponge this morning, for a birthday cake later this week. Nicked some crumbs from the cake, layered it with coffee flavoured whipped cream...attained nirvana in the first bite! This is a must for serious coffee lovers, and recommended for those who would like a change from chocolate. The flavour of coffee grows on you...my kids stand testimony to that! They hungrily lap up my coffee flavoured creations, savouring every last Read more:Simple
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LEMON CAKE...Baked as a gift!! 2007-11-11 08:50:35 "I feel a recipe is only a theme, which an intelligent cook can play each time with a variation." Madam Benoit LEMON CAKE sans sour cream...Made my 'twisted' & 'tangy' lemon cake again...keeping in mind Zlamushka's 'Spoonful of Christmas'. This was a gift for a friend, and looked very pretty when dressed up. Convenient to gift too, since it's already in a 'case'! This time I used something very interesting...'Lemon Sugar' that my friend got from Ukraine. They have these satchets of lemon sugar that are very citrusy and add a lovely tang and kick to the cake. This recipe made 2 nice loaves...so we had one too! Yippee!!I plan to make lemon shortbread cookies with the sugar too...in the near future hopefully! Sliced up & ready to be devoured!!Ingredients:Butter – ½ cup/100gmsEggs – 3Sugar – 1 ¼ cupsFlour – 1 ½ cupsBaking powder – 1 tspBaking Soda – ¼ tspSalt – ¼ tspYogurt – 4 tbsp / thickCream – 2 tbsp / 25 % fatJuice of 1/2 lemonRind of 2 lemon Read more:Baked
BISCOTTI...The Great Italian Cookie! 2007-11-19 18:43:26 "You'll always make good food from great ingredients,but you will never make great food from bad ingredients." Michael Chiarrello BISCOTTI in 2 TONES!! Here's what I baked yesterday...BISCOTTI. It's been on my mind for really long ever since I've been haunted by a picture posted on Group Recipes.This particular biscotti recipe is from Rogers page on Group Recipes which I have adapted to suit the ingredients I had available. The fact that the recipe uses olive oil & not butter won me over!! The recipe is a wee bit fiddly as it uses no butter which makes the dough quite sticky and squishy; but don't let this put you off. I guess that's the idea...otherwise how would we get such a great crisp cookie, low on fat! The aroma it fills the house with is heavenly. I was literally eating the crumbs off the counter while slicing it up! Suggest you try it when the kids are away... The name biscotti is derived from 'bis' meaning twice in Italian
and 'cotto' meaning baked or cooked. Bi Read more:Great
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GINGER IN MANY AVATARS...Diversity is the 'Spice of Life'! 2007-11-18 18:26:00 "Had I but a penny in the world, thou shouldst have it for gingerbread"William Shakespeare (1564-1616) GINGER GINGER EVERYWHERE...& a pile of it here!Time again for the monthly 'Think Spice
' at Sunita's World & it's GINGER this time. Known for its great digestive properties & medicinal value, ginger is widely used in cooking in this part of the world. I love the warm, earthy flavour it imparts to dishes it's added to. I use ginger quite extensively, and thanks to Sunita's spicy thoughts, have been given an opportunity to post a few recipes. With diversity being the spice of life...here goes!GINGER LEMONGRASS COOLER...I found the idea while browsing blogs many months ago trying to figure out what to do with the lemongrass I had grown. Can't remember which blog it was, but made this with ginger in mind. It tasted very refreshing, and the pinkish hue comes with the reaction of ginger & lemon juice. Lovely ginger flavour!Ingredients:Ginger - 2 inch piece / grate Read more:Diversity
ITALIAN CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES...food-as-a-gift for Christmas! 2007-11-22 18:55:53 'There's nothing better than a good friend, except a good friend with chocolate.'Linda Grayson, "The Pickwick Papers" Up, Close & Chocolicious! Italian Almond Chocolate Truffles...I had an old truffle recipe, which I played around with a bit, and made these for the first time a few weeks ago. These Italian Chocolate Truffles tasted divine, and make a lovely gift, especially after the dressing up. They are very easy to make & have an lovely almond flavour. I've made the little boxes with handmade paper & the magical glue gun. Once the boxes are filled, I wrap them in cellophane, add some ribbon & a little card, & they're all set. These truffles last well for 2-3 weeks, so they are great for gifting in the holiday season. These have made an appearance for the second time on my blog to get under Zlamushka's tree for her 'Spoonful of Christmas
'! Ingredients:Dark chocolate - 625 gmsAlmond Extract - 2 tspButter - 1/2 cupCastor Sugar - 50gmsGround Almonds - 50 gms
NATURE NEVER CEASES TO AMAZE...a pallette of colours! 2007-11-21 19:13:15 'Take nothing but pictures.Leave nothing but footprints.Kill nothing but time.'Motto of the Baltimore Grotto, a caving societyThe 'Peacock' butterfly I think...this lovely creature visited us a couple of days ago. The colours were simply amazing, & so I had to chase DH to chase the butterfly to take a picture as it was far too high for me. Just couldn't believe the beauty and balance of such a perfect,little creature. "Just living is not enough," said the butterfly, "One must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower." Hans Christian AndersonAnd then came along this little yellow one, like a burst of sunshine! And how could I leave out the khaki dragonfly? I seemed to have touched so many colours in the span of a few hours...
I'VE BEEN TAGGED...Kiwi Cake & 'Meme' in My 100th POST!! 2007-11-20 18:25:17 'Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!'SeussKIWI FRUIT in a Sponge with Fresh Cream, Almonds & MarmaladeI can't believe that its time for my 100th post. Phew...it's been a long journey by my meagre standards when I entered the world of bloggers a few months ago, with thoughts if I would last it out. Can say I'm having a great time & am still in awe of bloggers who've been around for years. It's a wonderful world out here in the blogosphere which goes by the mantra "THE MORE, THE MERRIER"!!My post for today (commemorative, if I may add) is for one of our faves...the Kiwi Fruit Cake with almonds & marmalade. Have made this cake before, but thought I'd change it a bit. The recipe is the same as before, but without ground almonds in the cake. Instead, I've used a basic sponge recipe as in the pineapple cake, & have added almond essence instead of pineapple essence. I've been tagged for the 'Life
DATE & WALNUT LOAF...AFAM - a DATE with you & HotM 10 2007-11-30 23:33:03 "Vegetables are the food of the earth; fruit seems more the food of the heavens."Sepal Felicivant AFAM (A Fruit A Month) is a wonderful blog event which highlights different fruits. The event this month is being hosted by AkshayPatra and her fruit of choice is 'DATES'. Golden opportunity for me to try the 'Date & Walnut Loaf ' which I have been dying to try but have never quite got there. Last evening was a mad frenzy of date chopping & general confusion since I got to the event announcement late as usual! Huff Puff!!! Loaf was out of the oven last night, looking good, smelling great....& I couldn't wait to slice it this morning to get pictures for the post. WOOHOO...Now that's done, the loaf has gone back to the tin...shall wait for the kids to get back from school & do the honours. What an addiction this is...phew!(They each had 2 slices; LOVED it!!)Ingredients: Flour - 1 cupBaking soda - 1 tsp Baking powder - 2 tspSugar - 1 4/ cupMargarine - 25gms (I used butte
CHRISTMAS COOKIES...the colours of the season! 2007-11-30 20:51:24 "It's good to be children sometimes,and never better than at Christmas." Charles DickensICED COOKIES SPECIALLY FOR CHRISTMAS...Christmas Cookies...I make these special 'Iced Cookies' at this time of the year when I am at my creative best ; they are my 'signature cookies' and are much awaited ! They do everything to cheer up the table, are vibrant and full of Christmas spirit. Closer to Christmas, I will be doing a batch to hang up on the small tree that the kids dress up. Our favourite Christmas cookies, 'Iced Sugar Cookies', iced in Xmas colours. The basic cookie recipe is the same one that I use for 'Smartie Cookies'. Its a very versatile one, and works well with this recipe, as well as for the 'Stained Glass Christmas Cookies'. For the icing, I used powdered sugar mixed with just enough water to make it thick & flowing, then coloured it with Christmas colours, and drizzled it on the cookies. I leave them to dry out overnight, and sometimes give them a minute in a hot
LIME SHORTBREAD COOKIES...Stringing them along for Xmas!! 2007-11-28 09:09:22 'Once in a young lifetime one should be allowed to have as much sweetness as one can possibly want and hold.'Judith OlneyLIME SHORTBREAD COOKIESA variation of Orange Shortbread Fingers from the 'Great Big Cookie Book'...an exciting book with over 200 recipes. A crisp, buttery cookie with a twang of lime! I used lime juice & rind to make this cookie; gave it a nice zesty/citrus flavour-FRESH!! Decided to go a step further later in the day, and sandwiched some with a chocolate ganache. This made it even more interesting, and a bigger hit with the kids. Here's my version of the recipe which is a very simple one;keeps in an airtight tin for up to 2 weeks (incidentally mine lasted 2 days!!)For zesting the lime, I used something really interesting & essential by my standards...a 'Microplane Zester Grater' (see picture below) that my sister got for me from the US. It's magical for zesting limes & oranges, & also for Parmesan, coconut etc. For those who haven't got one Read more:along
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BLACK FOREST GATEAU...a southern German dessert cake to die for! 2007-11-27 00:08:26 'Man cannot live on chocolate alone, but woman sure can.'Author Unknown Black Forest Gateau...The Black Forest region ('Schwarzwald') in German
y is essentially known for three distinctive features: its highlands, scenery and woods, the traditional cuckoo-clock, & the typical southern German dessert- 'Black Forest Gateau' or 'Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte' ( literally "Black Forest cherry cake") . Hmmmm...a peek into the insides!!The Black Forest gateau consists of several layers of chocolate cake, with whipped cream and cherries between each layer. Then the cake is decorated with additional whipped cream, maraschino cherries, and chocolate shavings. Here's the one I baked for my mother's birthday over the weekend. We don't get maraschino cherries here, so I used regular canned cherries. The gateau was a delicious, light cake...& it disappeared in next to no time!! It was finger licking good. Chill it well for the flavours to mature!YUM! YUM!!Ingredients:SpongeEggs - 6
STAINED GLASS COOKIES...Hold 'em against the light!! 2007-11-25 09:47:54 'Cookies are made of butter and love'.Norwegian Proverb Festive, fascinating & delicious cookies!A cut-out cookie made out of my favourite basic sugar cookie dough. Then smaller bits are cut-out and filled with broken pieces of hard-boiled candy, and put in to bake. In a while you can see the candy melting beautifully into the cut-outs & the cookie baking to a perfect brown. I make these a couple of times in the winter months; in summer they tend to get sticky due to humidity levels being high. They involve an extra bit of effort, otherwise would love to make them more often! Ingredients:Butter – ¾ cup (room temp)Castor Sugar- 1 cup (I grind sugar crystals in my coffee grinder)Egg – 1 / beatenFlour – 2 ½ cupsSalt – 1 pinchVanilla Essence/Extract – 1 tspMethod: Beat the butter and sugar till fluffy and light
. Add the salt + vanilla essence and beat for 30 seconds. With a spatula mix in the beaten egg. Put in all the flour in one go, and gather together to make a fi Read more:against
Back to baking again...ORANGE SHORTBREAD COOKIES 2007-12-07 01:32:31 "And every day when I've been good,I get an orange after food."Robert Louis Stevenson ORANGE SHORTBREAD COOKIESOrange Shortbread Christmas cookies from the 'Great Big Cookie Book'...crispy, buttery & just right on sweetness. Its the orange zest that adds a burst of fresh flavour to this shortbread. Its amazing how much of a difference natural flavours can make to food!The orange before it lost its zest!The recipe is quite similar to the Lime Shortbread Cookies one I posted a few days ago; except there are no twists to the original recipe this time, but for the shapes. If you haven't got cookie cutters, worry not! Just cut the rolled out dough into fingers with a sharp knife, place the fingers on the tray, prick the tops with a fork & bake. Great with a cuppa tea or coffee... or wrapped as a gift. Always appreciated!!"Shortbread...A biscuit (cookie) rich in butter, which is served with tea and its traditionally eaten at Christmas and New Year. Originating from Scotland and t
STREUSEL COFFEE CAKE...A Delectable Cake for Tea or Dessert 2007-12-05 06:43:25 "Laughter is brightest where food is best."Irish Proverb STREUSEL COFFEE CAKEThis recipe is adapted from one of the first baking sites I used to browse many many moons ago...the 'Joy of Baking'. Just the other day my friend from Kiev & I were chatting online & looking for poppy seed muffin recipes on this site. One thing led to another, & eventually to this delectable looking 'Streusel Coffee Cake'. This was last week, but the picture had been haunting me ever since & I just HAD to bake it. I made a few small changes here & there; one for sour cream & the other being orange rind... (couldn't resist the combination of the plump orange & magical microplaner staring at me). My sister had made an almost similar coffee cake when we were in Dallas this summer, & it was really good. I have used bittersweet Ghirardelli chocolate chips inside & mini chocolate chips in the topping! Didn't use cinnamon because of the orange rind. This is a lovely, easy t Read more:Dessert
ON A VERY DIFFERENT NOTE...CHRYSANTHEMUMS!! 2007-12-05 06:16:06 "Flowers always make people better, happier and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine to the soul." Luther BurbankJust in case you guys think I'm obsessed with baking & not just passionate about it, time to burst the bubble! I do plenty of other tinkering around too; lots of which is in the garden.Been thinking of posting these for a while, but each day was bringing a change. Now finally, here are the Chrysanthemums growing in our garden, which I have been tracking from the bud stage to full bloom. This is the season for these picture perfect flowers here in North India, & they are visible in full glory everywhere. "The Earth Laughs in Flowers"Ralph Waldo Emerson
"NUTS ABOUT STREUSEL COFFEE CAKE...with the zest of orange!" CLICK:December 2007 2007-12-03 18:57:30 “Avoid fruits and nuts. You are what you eat.”Jim Davis, 'Garfield'"NUTS ABOUT STREUSEL COFFEE CAKE......with the zest of orange!"Here's my entry for CLICK:December
2007 " Show us your NUTS" For probably the first time in my life something clicked...literally. I made this Streusel Coffee Cake day before because of an image from Joy of Baking that was maddeningly stuck in my brain. Last night, the nuts suddenly struck me as very very familiar...CLICK NUTS !!! Yippee! Now I've cut a slice, clicked a picture & I'm all set for Jai & Bee's at Jugalbandi! VOILA! Couldn't have asked for more. And as you can see, my son is making hay while the sun shines. He's been on cloud nine ever since this blogaddiction overtook me...his sister & he get to taste different stuff every other day. HE'S LOVING IT...even though he's only allowed ONE slice a day! He's perfectly happy to just sit & look at it!! The cake was simply delicious. A moist & light crumb....& tas
HEALTHY DELICIOUS LIME CAKE...with whole wheat too! 2007-12-17 19:03:08 "Good food is a celebration of life."Sophia Loren HEALTHY 'n' DELICIOUS LIME CAKE...with whole wheat
too!A day without baking is tough to pass. 3 days went by, and the symptoms began. The itch to get back & do something, bake anything..anything to turn the oven on again. My mantra...the only constant is change, a variant of Heraclitus's Greek philosophy. One of the first things we were told when I had started working many years ago... the philosophy remains. So decided to try my recipe lemon cake again, with a healthier turn to it. Substituted some regular flour for whole-wheat flour & threw in some walnuts too. Disaster struck halfway through baking...yes, the electricity disappeared. It happens very often here, so now I'm just used to it! Hmmmmm...it reappeared after an hour, & the poor cake, taking pity on me, began to rise again. Once done , it was fine!! How forgiving can life get? The kids enjoyed it, & the whole-wheat flour make no difference to them.Am gl
FUSION FOOD...Noodles with Stir-fried veggies & Chicken 2007-12-16 18:16:27 "Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch."Orson Welles FUSION FOOD...Noodles with Stir-fried veggies & chickenThis is my attempt to recreate some really delicious Pan Asian food we had the other day. I ended up with a 'confusion' of sorts; not quite authentic, even by my own meagre standards...but delicious nevertheless. We loved it, so did our young lad. Sadly my daughter didn't enjoy it too much. But for me as a mother, even 50% is passing with flying colours!! With both the kids developing strangely similar tastes one day, and then being poles apart the next, uncertainty at the dinner table is part of the game! I heave a sigh of relief the day they concur, and do a little jig!!!! Served on a bed of noodles.......When I read blog posts about the farmer's markets in the US etc, I know exactly what the feeling is. In North India, at this time of the year, the local bazaars are overflowing with fresh produce. Every little corner stall will offer coloured Read more:Chicken
CHRISTMAS TREE HANGING COOKIE ORNAMENTS...Edible & Festive! 2007-12-16 06:09:34 "Christmas Cheer Recipe-Combine loads of good wishes,heartfuls of love and armfuls of hugs,sprinkle with laughter and garnish with mistletoe,top off with presents. Serves everyone!" Author Unknown CHRISTMAS TREE ORNAMENT COOKIES......With Christmas almost here, here are a set of cookie Christmas tree ornaments...edible, colourful and festive. They can be made with an assortment of Christmas cookie cutters, topped with coloured sugar crystals, sprinkles &/or M 'n' M's . Do remember to make a hole on top of each cookie before baking; also, they need to be handled delicately whilst threading the ribbon. SPIRIT OF THE SEASON...The recipe for the sugar cookies is my basic sugar cookies recipe that can be found here. The M 'n' M's are put on the cookie prior to baking. The coloured sugar crystals, sprinkles & dragees are sprinkled onto an icing drizzled onto the cookie after it is baked. I make the icing by combining castor sugar with water to get a thick consistency. Some peo Read more:Edible
'NALLI GOSHT'...A lamb curry on the bone & a 'grindless gravy' at that! 2007-12-14 10:35:32 "This curry was like a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony that I'd once heard.....especially the last movement, with everything screaming and banging 'Joy.' It stunned, it made one fear great art. My father could say nothing after the meal."Anthony Burgess NALLI GOSHT...A robust, traditional lamb curry.Here we go again. With winter here, a finger-licking good, different curry is most welcome. This is a hearty, 'mild on spices & full of flavour' lamb curry, made from a recipe my sister-in-law sent with huge recommendations! A Sanjeev Kapoor recipe. She proved her point. Lovely tasting curry , 'grindless' (thanks once again to the microplaner), & delicious! More so, very very simple.Off to Sra's 'Grindless Gravies' ...nice one to share!This is a 'curry on the bone', traditionally slow cooked for 3 hours or more, where the juices are slowly released & the flavours mature. My energy conservation mode kicked in, & much as I would have loved to slow cook i Read more:gravy
'CITRUS' DESSERT CAKE - Happiness is...a burst of FRESH flavour! 2007-12-13 09:38:50 "Ponder well on this point: the pleasant hours of our life are all connected by a more or less tangible link, with some memory of the table. "Charles Pierre Monselet 'CITRUS' DESSERT CAKE...like a happy sunflower!!Another nice dessert I created from the lemon cake sans sour cream. We had my brother-in-law over for dinner the other day, and as usual, I wanted to try something different. Put this together as the day went by with whatever ingredients I had on hand. Must say that DH was very skeptical about this 'experiment' but held his comments fearing an outburst. I can be pretty unpredictable at times, & who knows better than him!! The cake was scrumptious. It tasted a lot like a cheesecake...but wasn't a cheesecake. BIG HIT with the kids too, who had a second slice each, after a hearty dinner!!A cake that thinks its a cheesecake, but isn't!!So I made the lemon cake, recipe posted here, right upto dousing it with syrup etc. Thereafter...Chill the cake well for a couple of hou
KHEER / INDIAN RICE PUDDING...Special Occasion Food 2007-12-12 18:36:09 "Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart."Erma BombeckTraditional Indian Desserts...KHEER / RICE PUDDINGHere's one of our great Indian desserts, quite similar to the English rice pudding, & much loved in our part of the world. The earlier recipe for rice pudding that I posted a while ago doesn't use condensed milk; this one does, and tastes very rich & creamy too. It is a popular egg less dessert, & a great way to finish off a meal. I find the freshly grated nutmeg gives this a warm and comforting flavour. The raisins & almonds are quite optional, & one, or both, can be given the miss if need be. Ingredients:Rice - 1 cup (washed & dried)Milk - 1 ½ ltrs (whole milk)Condensed Milk - 1 can / 400mlSaffron strand - 1 pinchGreen Cardamom - 5-6/ seeds crushed in pestle & mortarNutmeg - 1/4 tsp / freshly gratedRaisins - 1 handfulAlmonds - 1 handful / without skinSugar if required Method: Grind the Read more:Special
SPICY CINNAMON SHORTBREAD...Think Spice Cinnamon! 2007-12-11 01:08:02 "Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all."Harriet van HorneSPICY CINNAMON SHORTBREADThis is a sweet & spicy shortbread, not the traditional sort, because I made it with brown sugar that gave it a very different texture. In addition, I went further and sprinkled the tops with a mix of brown sugar & cinnamon before baking, which enhanced the flavour of cinnamon! Flowers on stars!!I love the 'Think Spice
' monthly event at Sunita's World. It does make you put on your thinking cap, and actually think the spice...at least with me it does! Can you imagine...I been thinking 'Cinnamon', her spice of choice for December '07, ever since I read her post. I madly tried to stick a stick of cinnamon into anything & everything, but wasn't quite there. This spicy cinnamon 'shortbread of sorts', which is my own creation, finally did it! Cinnamomum ZeylanicumNative to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), true cinnamon, Cinnamomum zeylanicum, dates back in Chinese w
MOCHA WALNUT CAKE- Healthy Nutty Chocolate-Coffee Cake 2007-12-10 06:20:44 "I orchestrate my mornings to the tune of coffee." Harry MahtarMy recipe 'MOCHA WALNUT CAKE'...with chocolate chips thrown in for good measure!A variation to my own recipe...this time it's a 'MOCHA WALNUT CAKE'. I love experimenting, and even though the kids never seem to tire of the regular stuff I bake, I'm always restless for a 'change'. The original recipe, a YUMMY PICNIC CHOCOLATE CAKE , was one that I had created & posted a while ago trying to put together a good, tasty & healthy chocolate cake, with just 1/2 a cuppa butter. This is just a variation off that one, is delicious, & has a light crumb. It tastes great warm. More than anything else, it has a portion of whole wheat flour & doesn't need frosting.Ingredients:Butter - ½ cupEggs - 4Sugar - 1 1/2 cupsFlour - 1 cupWhole wheat flour - 1/2 cupCocoa - ½ cupInstant coffee powder - 1 tbspBaking powder - 1 tspBaking Soda - 1/2 tspSalt - ¼ tspYogurt - 4 tbsp / thickCream - 2 tbsp / 25 Read more:Nutty
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KASHMIRI MEATBALLS IN A GRINDLESS GRAVY! 2007-12-08 03:04:42 "Red meat is not bad for you. Now blue-green meat, that's bad for you!" Tommy Smothers Kashmiri Meatballs in GravyKashmiri cuisine or Wazwan has always held a fascination for me by way of how different it tastes. The other day I found an interesting sounding recipe for Mutsch Kashmiri Meatballs at A Mad Tea Party. After browsing the write-up, right up to the last 2 meatballs et al, the mind was made up. This I just had to try, & promptly put it on my agenda of interesting 'must-makes' in the near future! Hesitatingly, with fingers crossed, I even used mustard oil as the recipe suggested. I made this dish a couple of days ago...it was very different & pleasing in taste; surprisingly simple to make . The last 2 meatballs were indeed at a premium!!Love the palette of colours the ingredients made!Must admit that when I read about the 'Grindless Gravies' , SRA's blog event at 'When My Soup Came Alive', I thought, NAH, impossible!! All my cooking life gravies have meant plen
VANILLA CUPCAKES FOR A CHRISTMAS PARTY...Merry Christmas! 2007-12-24 10:32:17 "'If 'ifs' and 'buts' were candy and nuts, wouldn't it be a Merry
Christmas? "Don MeredithVANILLA CUPCAKES FOR CHISTMASOK...am back again. Yesterday & today were busier than I imagined they would be. I got literally talked into volunteering to make , hold your breadth, 80 cupcakes for a Christmas party for a little play school nearby! They were in a bit of a soup, & I eventually volunteered to bake. The only memory of yesterday morning is of the muffin trays going into the oven & out!! There were cupcakes as far as the eye could see. And then the usual rush...off to school to pick the kids after guitar etc. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...this morning went in meeting with teachers before school broke-up for the holidays, and icing stars onto the cupcakes. They've been boxed and delivered!! Always enjoyable after the job has been done! Ingredients: Flour - 2cupsBaking powder - 2 tspSalt - 1/2 tspButter - 1/2 cupSugar - 1 1/4 cupMilk - 1 cupVanilla Essence / extract - 1 tspEggs - 2M Read more:Merry Christmas
'GOSHT DO PIAZA' ...A hearty & popular lamb stew. 2007-12-24 10:29:33 "An onion can make people cry, but there has never been a vegetable invented to make them laugh."Will Rogers 'GOSHT DO PIAZA'...A popular
& hearty lamb stew Dopiaza, Dopyaza "Do" is "two" and "piaz" is "onion"; so dopiaza is a dish which has twice the amount of onions, usually added in two stages. Different regions have different versions, some as far as from Bengal. This is my mother's version from North India. A beautiful blend of flavours; a hint of the sweetness of onions, & the warmth of garam masalas giving it depth. Keep it as hot or as mild as you like. A simple stew , 'grindless', & perfect for even a one dish winter meal. Serve with naan, rotis or parathas. Since it's 'grindless', it's gotta be at SRA's for her 'Grindless Gravies' blog event!! Do Piaza means "two onions' or rather double onions. Legend has it that this delicious dish was invented by Mullah Do-Piaza the renowned and celebrated cook at the Mughal Emperor Akbar's court. One of the
IT'S CHOCOLATE ORANGE CUPCAKES FOR CHRISTMAS THIS TIME! 2007-12-24 10:28:32 "Let's dance and sing and make good cheer, For Christmas comes but once a year."Sir George Alexander Macfarren CHOCOLATE ORANGE CUPCAKES Festive food for Christmas! In a span of 2 days I baked over a 100 cupcakes & iced them as well. The first 80 were vanilla cupcakes, the ones for the playschool Christmas party. These last batch I had to do a little different for my own experimentation & therapeutic pleasure! The flavours of chocolate & orange complement each other beautifully. I love the way the Christmassy ones turned out with the red, white & green; & also the pink 'n' purple 'very girly ones'. For the chocolate stars & flowers, I drizzled the stars, flowers, zigzags etc onto butter paper, & peeled them off gently once they were set. These can be made in advance and stored in an airtight box in a cool place. Fix them onto the top of the cupcake with a little melted chocolate. Makes the cupcakes look so good & 'dressed up'.Ingredients: Flour -
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