IAN & ZARA

It's been extremely busy at our end for the past 2 months. Being in Kannur always keeps me busy. The last week of November and first three weeks of December saw me baking day and night to fulfill our Christmas orders. We baked,packed and couriered so many goodies across India. Then came Zara Kutty's baptism. Jobin and myself did the stage decor this time and I did her dress & accessories. I will share the photographs once we receive it. In between all of this, Zara's First Christmas came and went by so fast! I know it's late but still, I thought of sharing a photograph with you all. There's hardly anything that I haven't shared with you guys for the past 8 years! I hope you all had a great start to 2017! We were travelling for NY's and we are leaving for Thiruvanathapuram tomorrow. I really hope to come back with a recipe soon since Appan and Amma have been asking me to keep this blog of mine alive! :-)

HAPPIEST SECOND BIRTHDAY,IAN!

Our little boy turned TWO today! The past year was a very busy one for him. He learnt a lot of new things, made new friends, traveled across the globe,enjoyed getting drenched at the beach,learnt new tricks and even started to talk! He loves to sing and sings really well. We are planning to send him for singing lessons soon. He also loves to read his story books to me and one thing I've noticed is that, he enjoys reading as much as I do. I am indefinitely going to supply him with more books!The photograph you see above was taken this morning, as soon as he woke up. We hang streamers in our living room as a part of our celebration.Of course, he took it down one by one!

I was sad and happy yesterday because it was his last day as a one year old but at the same time, it's his big day tomorrow! I know that he doesn't even realise all that, but,as a mother I was just remembering all those moments of joy from the time he was born. He has been a very good boy ever since he was born. He never gave me a sleepless night,loves to eat and is totally a fuss free lovable kid! We are really blessed to have him and we thank God for that!Over the past two years, I've realised that I'm much more patient and selfless than I though I was.Being a Mother has changed me for good.

Like how I mentioned earlier, he loves to read. He has a tiny book of numbers and he likes a particular page in it because of a car. Like most boys,he loves his trucks, cars,bikes, jeep etc., He even places it in a particular order, very impressive actually and doesn't approve of that being disturbed.So, to celebrate this Little Man,I decided to bake him a cake today. A cake which resembles the car he loves from his book.I saw a cake on BHG and decided to go ahead with the idea.It's a plain Butter Cake with Buttercream frosting. I usually stay away from fondant decorations for our personal celebrations The birthday party is not until Saturday and I've planned for another cake for that day. The menu and photographs will follow! Just like his First Birthday party, I will be making every single thing! No catering in our household !

Thanks to all my dear readers who've been sending Birthday Wishes for Ian! Thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart! You are the best!

HAPPIEST FIRST BIRTHDAY, IAN!

This post has taken me the longest to write.I really don't know where to start or what to say.I want everything to be perfect when it comes to our Ian Vaava.I see myself stretching my limits to the maximum (I always thought I knew where that maximum limit of mine was,oh well!) when it comes to doing things for our baby.I am sure it's the same with almost all parents.

Can you believe that he's been with us for more than a year now? I still very clearly remember telling you about his arrival last July. I still remember the way he looked at me when I first laid my eyes on him.His eyes were wide open and he was looking straight into mine,lying down on my chest ...all bundled up.Our bundle of joy!He was and still is, the most wonderful smelling thakkudu kuttappan!

That little darling of ours just turned the BIG ONE last Monday,22 July.The party was not until Saturday,the 27th when all our close friends came together for a Picnik Birthday Party on an Island by the Mississippi. It was good fun. Ian had a lovely evening with his friends.I don't have any photographs from the party,our photographer will send them to us,shortly. Once we recieve it, I'll share some with you all!

I baked 2 cakes for him.The Mr.Bear cake inspired from Bakeaboo was for the big bash and the other one was for his little party at home.I wanted that cake to reflect what he is. So I jotted down all his current favourite words on top of the cake, so that,we will always remember what he liked and blabbered at that age.I wanted it to look as homemade as possible, so the decor was bare minimum. The dots you see around the edges of the cake was piped when he was on my hips, so the line has gone haywire! :-)

Menu for the First Birthday Party

Carrot - Lemon Cooler

Sesame Crusted Chicken Salad Tea Sandwiches

Chinese Spring Rolls

Curried Crepes with Curried Veggie Filling

Petite Caramelised Mushroom & Onion Tarts

Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches

Veggie Sloppy Joes

Cheesy Jalapeno Cornbread

Coleslaw

Birthday Cake

RUM & VANILLA CHERRY GATEAU a.k.a CLASSIC BLACK FOREST CAKE

Things have been super exciting at our end for the last 32 days, since our Ian vaava was born.Yes, he turned a month old today. He is a very good baby and doesn't give his Amma a tough time. Touchwood, the term 'sleepless nights' don't seem to work in our household. So Jobin is 'Appan' and I am 'Amma'. My Appan and Amma are 'Appu' & 'Ammu', short form of Appoppan & Ammooma.Jobin's mom will be called 'Velliammachi',like how Ian vaava's cousin's call her.Ritchie is yet to be named :-)

Ian vaava was baptised on 12 August, at the Basilica here. It's the first Basilica in America and it's beautiful! I will share some photographs once we receive it. This cake was baked 2 days before his baptismal day as we were having guests over. It's been on Amma's list for a long time, so we thought of going ahead with it...a Black Forest Cake. The fruit that Appan & Amma has been munching ever since they landed in the US are Bing Cherries. To be honest, I keep buying pounds of it in their name...I love it too! So making a Black Forest Cake was another excuse to eat up those maroon Cherries.

The cake was a simple yet super spongy chocolate sponge cake which rose beautifully and gave us 4 layers. The cherry filling was made with basic ingredients and tasted just perfect.It was my first attempt at making the filling from scratch so the ingredients were thrown in at random measurements which worked perfectly well.

The cake was very well recieved but I wasn't awake to see it. I heard it from Amma, the next day that it was a success and I knew it the minute I opened the fridge as it had almost vanished! Amma also said that Appan usually says 'Eval enthu cake ondakkiyalum nallatha nallatha ennu parayum' . I don't think he would say that again :-) The gateau was loved by all.

RUM & VANILLA CHERRY GATEAU
My own recipe
Ingredients:
Fatless Chocolate Sponge:
6 eggs
1 c sugar
1/2 c flour
1/4 c cocoa powder
1/4 c cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla

Method: Preheat the oven to 350F/180C and line 2 x 8 inch round cake tins.
In a large spotlessly clean bowl , beat the eggs and sugar for 15 mins on high.It should be super foamy and mousse like.Add vanilla and beat for another 1 minute. Sift the flour, cocoa powder & cornstarch over it and fold it in gently.Divide the batter between the two tins and bake for 25-30 mins or until springy to touch. Let it cool completely. Split each cake into 2.Dust off the cake crumbs and reserve till needed.

Rum & Vanilla Cherry filling
2 c pitted fresh cherries
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp dark rum
2 tsp vanilla
1 c sugar
1 c water

Method: In a medium sized bowl, mix together cherries, 2 tbsp sugar, rum & vanilla. Mix well and leave it covered in the fridge overnight.
In a medium saucepan, add the macerated cherries (along with it's juices), 1 c sugar, 1 c water and bring it to a boil. Switch off the heat and let it cool completely. The syrup would have thickened by now.(You will need almost all of the syrup to soak the 4 layers to get a real moist gateau.)

For filling, frosting & decorating
2 c heavy cream, whipped with sugar to taste
8 whole cherries
150g dark chocolate,shaved

Assembly: Place a layer of the cake on a cake stand,drizzle with the cherry syrup uniformly,spread a thick layer of whipped cream and then scatter some of the rum-vanilla cherries over it. Repeat. The topmost layer should be the 4th layer of cake. Cover the top and sides with whipped cream . Decorate with grated/shaved chocolate & whole cherries. Refrigerate the assembled cake overnight for the flavours to blend . Serve chilled.

So the other day, we went to our favourite Italian restaurant for dinner & dessert, which of course had to be Tiramisu. After having a piece of it, we asked Appan about how he liked it. He said ,'Ethum nallatha pakshe aval ondakkiya aa cake thanneya ethinekkalum nallathu!' Wow! Now that Tiramisu has a competitor, I must say ;-)

Jokes apart, this is seriously good! The cake layers soaked in the syrup very well lending a melt in the mouth texture. The rum-vanilla cherries were mild yet flavourful. This gateau was so good that I really don't think I would even give another Black Forest Cake recipe a try.