HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

It's that time of the year when I bake Lamingtons. Usually, I would make a tower of Lamingtons along with a separate big cake for him to cut. Since we were away from each other for the last couple of birthdays, I decided to make him one big tower of  his most favourite Lamingtons and took the other cake off the list so that he can concentrate on his most favourite thing! This is the first birthday where Ian was with him. Ian was super excited to cut the cake and was super shy when asked to feed a piece of cake to his Appa.

Honestly,I look forward to eating them every year now. Even though these can be baked throughout the year I chose not to. Special things are meant for special occasions only...atleast in our little world!

You can find the recipe here.

STRAWBERRY BLENDER SHERBET

The weather was perfect when I made this Sherbet. Not anymore. It is getting cooler here and this is not the kind of weather where one would want to eat a Sherbet. Well, I can eat a DQ Oreo Blizzard even in peak winter, but,not a Sherbet in Fall! Let's just face it. Oreo Blizzard is just plain awesome! I don't know what goes into it and I really don't want to know about it too...why spoil the fun?! Every time we go through a Drive-through, Ian senses it very quickly and says 'Mam' by the time we stop by the menu board!

Jennifer's recipes are fun and simple to make. The fresh Simple Strawberry Pie I made a few weeks ago was my first attempt with her recipes. It was simple yet totally delicious. I liked the fact that it uses fresh strawberries in a small amount. We rarely buy berries in bulk. It's always a small box,a pint or so. Whenever we buy berries,it is usually used up in cakes or as a filling for cakes. Off late, I've been trying things differently and made an amazing Blueberry Lemonade with fresh blueberries. I must say that was a very smart move from my side! It was just so,so refreshing and tasty!

This one is no different. A very small portion of ingredients are blended together (yes, blended!) to make a very refreshing Sherbet. A Sherbet has a small portion of dairy in it and that makes it different from Sorbet.The first one I ever ate was an Orange Sherbet a few years ago ,and I was bowled over by it. When I came across this recipe in her cookbook,I decided to give it a try just to see if I could make a decent Sherbet at home. I think, I did!

The recipe calls for frozen fruit,which,is the most simplest thing to make. Just clean your fruits,lay them in one layer on a cookie sheet and pop them into the freezer. Once frozen, transfer them into a ziptop bag,seal and freeze for future use. Also,simple syrup is just equal parts of water and sugar boiled together for a minute and cooled.You can save the remains for future cocktails,lemonades,iced teas etc.,

STRAWBERRY BLENDER SHERBET
Makes 2 cups

Ingredients:
2 cups frozen strawberries
1/4 cup simple syrup
1/2 cup milk

Method: Blend all the ingredients together,2-3 minutes until smooth. Transfer into a tight lidded freezer friendly container and freeze until firm,4 to 6 hours,stirring every 1 to 2 hours.

I want to tell you something. This recipe would taste just like it's ingredients. So, if you are not a fan of strawberries alone,do a half and half with another frozen fruit. We love frozen desserts,for that matter any dessert,so it was a hit with Ian. He knows where the frozen desserts are kept from the time he started to walk. Our freezer is in the bottom half of the refrigerator which makes it even easier for him to reach for all the ice creams, sorbets and sherbets!
  

CAFE AU LAIT POTS DE CREME

Things are cool and calm here.We are doing fine and I am super duper lazy to get back into my old full swing blogging mode.Infact,I've been cooking a lot of new stuffs but never reaches out for my camera sitting in my closet to photograph that delicious thing I just made.Why you may ask? I am in that winter hibernation mode I think,all I feel like doing is...put our baby on his floor mat,just stretch my feet out over our black ottoman,grab the brand new phone of mine and What'sapp away to glory with my wonderful,wonderful hostel friends. There's no other better way to catch up with them,at the moment.

This soft set pudding was made over the weekend when Jobin's friend from college and wife came over to  for dinner. I made it a day in advance so that one thing is ticked off my To-Cook list before our friends came in.This is such an amazing make - ahead dessert and such a crowd pleaser,especially if they are big time coffee lovers like me. I have to tell you, I love my big cup of coffee everyday. A big cuppa in the morning and a small one in the evening.

I started watching food network shows while I was pregnant and found it really lousy except for certain shows.But this time around, I find another set of shows which are interesting.I found this recipe from one such show,Melissa's Ten Dollar Dinners. I watched her make this on her show and immediately made a note in my mind to try it out as soon as I could. We,as a couple,love entertaining so I didn't have to wait long for a chance for me to try it out.

CAFE AU LAIT POTS DE CREME
Ingredients:
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoon instant coffee powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
a pinch of salt
1 egg plus 2 egg yolks

Method:Preheat the oven to 325 F and prepare a water bath.
In a medium saucepan,mix together milk,cream,sugars,coffee powder,vanilla and salt. Bring to a slow boil on low heat stirring ever so often.In a medium bowl,beat together the egg and egg yolks. Drizzle in some hot milk-cream mixture to temper the yolks and then add the remaining stirring all the way. Divide the batter into four 100ml /4 oz ramekins and bake for 22 mins or until the egdes are set and the centre is still wobbly. Remove them from the water bath immediately and cool completely.

When I took a bite of this wonderfully soft set pudding,it really melted in my mouth. While I was doing so, there were a pair of tiny eyes eyeing my action. Vaava's eyes are always eyeing our mouths . I am sure he will steal and eat if we don't give him food ;-) So after seeing the way he was looking at me, I gave him some to taste. Oh boy! I should have known what I was getting into! :-) His mouth was wide open for more ...gave him another bite and his mouth was open even wider,drooling big time this time!!

A big thanks to all who have been visiting this little corner of mine on the internet! It's been a pleasure having you here :-)