LEMON CUPCAKES from my mentor!

Dear Ria and Jobin,

Congratulations to the cutest couple who finally ended their long distance romance and boarded the bus of dreams and happiness, to start a beautiful journey together in life! Though I have not met you or talked  to you in person, for me Ria was always that chirpy new blogger who kept knocking on my blog doors in the beginning of 2009, asking for new posts , when I was on a long hiatus from the blogosphere ….the girl who  got magic on her fingers to weave ‘gold flowers’ and mint ‘gold coins’ ………and Jobin, you’ re her prince charming who promised her a cheese castle when she finally joined you in your kingdom……… A couple who easily found a place in my heart!

So, sometime towards the end of last year when Ria approached me to do a guest post for her blog to keep her ‘hungry blog’ alive in her absence at the time of for her wedding, I immediately said ‘yes’ and started dreaming in pink shades of wedding petite fours…those pretty little heart shaped iced beauties and in my dreams I dotted some of them with silver dragees and embroidered some with cute little white hearts and oh yeah, they looked so pretty and appropriate for the occasion, in my dreams!!!!

Amidst making promises, planning and decorating, what I ignored was the fact that I had been baking a cute little thing in my oven and it would be ready in a short period and from there, the once taken for granted things – like sipping a cup of my morning tea with the love of my life, after an undisturbed 6-8 hours of sleep or brushing teeth looking at the mirror and wondering why the morning skin glow is not like the usual or throwing myself into the couch to adore the beauty of clear blue sky through my French windows or read a book- would be a luxury that the time and sleep deprived are not even privileged to dream of …..and to even think about ‘blo….’ was an unpardonable mistake !

Yet the promise I made was always at the back of my mind, especially on those sleep deprived nights while rocking my little king, all swaddled up and cozy in my arms. But I couldn’t bring myself to write even a line as the shores of creativity had got drained up and  I was caught up with a serious blogger’s block and the only words that flow in my mind now are ‘nap time, feeding time, diaper change’ !!!But an hour back when I checked your blog, I realised that the parade of guest bloggers was over long time back and you re well settled in your new kitchen and have started hosting parties and buying tubs of cream cheese and touching real peaches for the first time in your life!  J So, I had to try scribbling something with one eye fixed on the baby monitor and that blinking red light makes me restless!

I know that parade and party is over and the entire blog world celebrated your wedding and though late, I send you these humble cupcakes from three of us….perfect to relish on one of those afternoons when both of you relive the memories of your long distance romance……let there always be a sunshine smile on your faces and I wish you both years and years of togetherness and happiness J

Lemon Cupcakes

(Recipe Source : Gorgeous cakes by Annie Bell)

For the cake:

• ½ cup ( 1 stick) unsalted butter, cubed
• ½ cup raw ( or regular) sugar
• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 2 medium eggs, separated
• 5 tablespoon milk
• 1 cup flour, sifted with 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp sea salt or regular salt

For frosting:

• 1 ¼ cup confectioners sugar, sifted
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice strained

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 F
• Cream the butter and sugar in a food processor until almost white. Incorporate the lemon zest and egg yolks, then the milk ( it may look curdled at this point) . Transfer the batter to a large bowl. Sift the flour and baking powder twice, then fold them, a third at a time, into the batter, as lightly as possible, followed by the second half. Arrange paper cups inside a muffin tray and fill two thirds full with batter.
• Bake for 17-20 minutes until risen and springy to the touch. Remove and let cool.
• For frosting, blend the confectioner’s sugar with lemon juice, and tint it pale yellow with a little coloring. Smooth a heaping teaspoon of frosting on each cake. Let set for about an hour.

Hope both of you will enjoy these lemon cupcakes that are so soft, spongy and springy. If you ‘re in a romantic mood, place a sugared violet or any other flower of your choice over this “ sugary blanket of sticky lemon frosting” J

With lots of love and prayers

Shn

Dear Shn,

Shn...that name was intruiging for me! And Mishmash...even more! It was not just that ,it was actually your way of bringing life and re-kindling old memories and the dishes that faded along with it. But, when I went through your archive, it showcased an array of baked goodies and whatnot!! I just simply love your blog!!

I really thought you were a 'strict' woman, because there was something so 'no- nonsense' about you.And when it was time for me to ask you for a guest post, I was seriously scared, but, at the same time I wanted one from you! :D  So I gathered up all the li'l courage that I ever had ;) and sent you an email. And the response was a yes! WOO HOO! 

Thank you SO much Shn, for accepting my offer and taking time from your busy busy days to think, bake, click & write for me! I wouldn't have had any problem if you sent the post after your li'l King's First Birthday too! :) 

The cupcakes look SO cute , and I love that you dreamt a lot about doing that 'petit fours' for us :) As usual, your pics are marvellous!

Thank You!

Lots of love and prayers,

Ria 

FRESH FRUIT & CREAM CHEESE TARTLETS ...and I give up my throne of 'Substitution Queen'

Cream cheese was my dream cheese #1. We rarely got anything other than processed cheese in Kannur, so getting a good cheddar was a blessing! When I joined Daring Bakers last April, we had to bake a cheesecake and I was bent upon not substituting with storebought paneer instead I made it at home.

So in my first interaction with a US supermarket, I was in search for cream cheese. Needless to say, I was surprised & confused! There were SO many varieties! I didn't know which one to pick up. I kept asking Jobin which one is 'that' cream cheese I was dreaming about :) He was as confused as I was! Finally I just picked up one slab! That was the first time I ever touched a cream cheese! :D LOL! I might be sounding very childish...but I just cannot help it! :)

 Then the next day, we went shopping for fruits . That's when I touched fresh peaches in my life for the first time! Aaaannndd I grabbed a big box of them. Then strawberries, plums, mandarin oranges followed suit! :)

My niece's adore fresh fruits! And they were asking  me to make something out of them. So I thought of combining the cream cheese + fruits. And last night I bought a box of frozen pie crust too! I am on a spree to make my life a LOT easier...let me use those 'dream' ingredients without substituting it! I am tired of being a substitution queen! I give up my throne! ;)

Then the recipe hunt started and I finally I decided upon making some fresh fruit tartlets. They were seeing me cook & click at the same time and I must say, it is definately not an easy job handling kids+cream cheese+ cut up fruits+ a crackly crust! Oh yeah! And when it comes to clicking pics... I could see my bouncer falling into the tartlets and whatnot! :)


FRESH FRUIT & CREAM CHEESE TARTLETS

Ingredients:
Puff pastry sheet/Pie crust-1
Cut up fresh fruits - as needed
Cream cheese-6 oz [Hung yoghurt is a good substitute]
Orange rind-1/4 tsp
Powdered sugar-3-4 tbsp or to taste
Vanilla extract-1 tsp

Method:

• Thaw & roll out the pastry sheet slightly on a cookie sheet and perforate it with the tines of a fork. Bake it for 10-12 mins at 180 deg C.
•  Thaw the cream cheese for atleast 30 mins on the counter & mix it well with powdered sugar,orange rind and vanilla.
• Once the pastry has cooled down, spread a thin layer of cream cheese mixture and then arrange the fruits on it.
• Chill well. Slice and serve.

I will be back shortly with another new recipe, mostly with another set of new friends :)

VANILLA BUTTER CAKE with CREME PATISSIERIE & VANILLA STRAWBERRY COMPOTE FILLING

So, I am back :) &I have no idea where to start with, so let me just say, we are happily married and is leading a beautiful life. I have moved to USA and we are currently living in Virginia. It was very cold when we landed here, but now, it looks like spring is settling in. So,while I was going through a phase of multiple changes in my life...I had my lovely blogging friends who took up my space and made it their own :) Thank you Maria,Avanika,Jamie,Deeba,Aparna &Divya SO much! Our wedding was made a celebration in the blogosphere.A big thank you to all my wonderful wonderful blogging friends!

Now lets get back to the cake. I made this a month or so ago for a prayer meeting in our church. It was the last one before I left the country, so I wanted to bake something special. The vanilla butter cake is a firm favourite in my house now.We were throughly hooked onto it after the Tiramisu Cake episode :) So keeping that as the base, I sandwiched them with my favourite pastry cream and a vanilla strawberry compote . It was an instant hit at the church. Will you believe me if I said it go over in less that 5 mins? :) It actually did! :)

VANILLA BUTTER CAKE with CREME PATISSIERE & VANILLA STRAWBERRY COMPOTE FILLING.

Vanilla Butter Cake:

Recipe source: Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients:

2 cups cake flour( I substituted using this proportion: 1 cup cake flour = 3/4 cup flour + 2 tbsp cornflour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature (I used salted butter)
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk

Method:

• Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
• Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add the sugar and beat for another 3 minutes. 
• Add the eggs one by one, and then the yolk, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla; don’t be concerned if the mixture looks curdled. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk, adding the dry ingredients in 3 additions and the milk in 2 (begin and end with the dry ingredients); scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed and mix only until the ingredients disappear into the batter. 
• Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.

• Bake for 28 to 30 minutes, rotating the pans at the midway point. When fully baked, the cakes will be golden and springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the centers will come out clean. Transfer the cakes to a rack and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unmold them, and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature right-side up.

Creme Patissiere /Pastry Cream:

Recipe source: Joy Of Baking

1 1/4 cups milk

1/2 vanilla bean, spilt lengthwise

3 large egg yolks

1/4 c granulated sugar

1/8 c all purpose flour

3 tbsp cornflour

3/4 tbsp rum

Method:

• In a medium-sized stainless steel bowl, mix the sugar and egg yolks together with a wooden spoon. (Never let the mixture sit too long or you will get pieces of egg forming.)  Sift the flour and cornstarch together and then add to the egg mixture, mixing until you get a smooth paste.  Set aside.
• Meanwhile in a saucepan combine the milk and split vanilla bean on medium heat until boiling.  (The milk will foam up to the top of pan when done, so watch carefully.)  Remove from heat and add slowly to egg mixture, whisking constantly to prevent curdling.  (If you get a few pieces of egg (curdling) in the mixture, pour through a strainer.)  Remove vanilla bean, scrape out seeds, and add the seeds to the egg mixture. (The vanilla bean can be dried and placed in your sugar bowl to give the sugar a vanilla flavor.  This sugar can then be used in baking where you would like a vanilla-flavored sugar, e.g. pies, cakes, cookies.)

• Place the egg mixture back into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until boiling, whisking constantly.  When it boils, whisk mixture constantly for another 30 - 60 seconds until it becomes very thick and it is hard to stir.
• Remove from heat and immediately whisk in the liqueur (if using).  Pour into a clean bowl and immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a crust from forming.  Cool.  If not using right away refrigerate until needed, up to 3 days.  Beat before using to get rid of any lumps that may have formed.

Vanilla Strawberry Compote

Recipe: My own

200 g Strawberries

3-4 tbsp Vanilla sugar, or to taste

1/2 Vanilla bean , split lengthwise 

Method:

• Wash and halve the strawberries.Mix it with sugar and leave to macerate in a saucepan for 20 mins.
• Scrape out the seeds from the vanilla bean and add it to strawberries.
• Cook on meduim flame till stawberries start oozing out water .Mash it with a fork.
• Cook till thick and spreadable. 

Soaking Syrup for cakes:

Icing sugar- 200g

Water-400 ml

Method:

• Mix icing sugar and water completely and soak the cake layers using it.

For the icing:

200 ml whipped cream (I used non-dairy whipped cream)

Assembly:

•  Cut the cake into 3 layers, hoziontally.
• Place the first layer on the cake stand and soak it by sprinkling the syrup uniformly.Spread the pastry cream on it.
• Place the second layer on top of the first layer and soak it. Spread the vanilla strawberry compote on it.
• Place the third layer and soak it. 
• Cover the top and sides of the cake with whipped cream,and decorate with strawberry slices, chocolate curls, silver dragees etc.
• Chill for atleast 2 hours. It is best served when chilled.

DEEP DARK CHOCOLATE CAKE from my first guest!

' A comment on CHOCOLATE BISCUIT PUDDING  from Divya Kudua' was the line that made me happy for weeks together as it was the first comment I ever recieved on my blog! :D And slowly that blogger became my friend...a real good friend! We made plans for meeting up but my stupid phone had to show some problems then and our plans flopped! BIG time! ARGH! Nevertheless we have our share of fun through twitter and chat! 

Do not forget to check out her lovely blog...she has a Best Chocolate Cake event happening out there with a GIVEAWAY! So what are you'll waiting for??


Over to my lovely friend Divya :)

Hello all,I take great pleasure to be on Ria’s blog doing a guest post for her while she’s away enjoying her newly married status.Hope you are having a great time baby!!

It was a few months back[or is it more than a year already?] that I hopped on to Ria’s blog.I immediately connected with her style of writing and left a comment not knowing that I was the first person to post a comment on her newly-started blog!!Yay..:).We started commenting on each others blog,chatting on Gtalk and tweeting on Twitter.We exchanged phone numbers too and spoke to each other and it felt so good to actually hear each others voices and giggle over it!!

She was so excited about her marriage and is a head-over-heels-in-love bride.I haven’t come across a bride who did her own make-up and baked her own wedding cake.Now come on,isn’t the pre-wedding time to enjoy and have fun and be stress free??The only way she de-stressed herself was to crochet golden flowers for her wedding attire and planning her wedding to the last detail.Three cheers to you.Jobin is very lucky to have you as his life partner.

When she asked me to do a guest post for her,I actually got goosebumps.I mean,look at her blog-her recipes,her wonderful pictures,would I be able to do justice to her blog?I was not so sure.But a bride has to have what she wants and this is my humble attempt to “feed” her blog while she’s away.During her pre-wedding “ban” on baking by her mom,she was craving for some Chocolate cake and I didn’t have to think twice about what I was going to bake for her!!

Let us raise a toast to the wonderful couple Ria and Jobin.Hope you have a wonderful time with each other and Wish you both a very very Happy Married life!!

Deep Dark Chocolate Cake
Recipe source - Hersheys

Ingredients

Sugar - 2 cups
All Purpose flour - 1 3/4 cups
Hershey's Cocoa - 3/4 cup [ I used Cadbury's]
Baking Powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Baking Soda - 1 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Eggs - 2
Milk - 1 cup
Vegetable oil - 1/2 cup
Vanilla extract - 2 tsp
Boiling water - 1 cup [ I added a tsp of Instant Coffee Powder to this]

Method

Heat oven to 350°F.

Grease and flour two 9-inch round pans or one 13x9x2-inch baking pan. [I used two 8' round pans]

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl.

Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of electric mixer 2 minutes.

Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).

Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes for round pans, 35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

For the frosting

Dark Chocolate - 200 gms [ chopped ]
Cream - 200 ml

In a pan boil the cream on a low flame till it heats up and bubbles start forming on the sides of the pan.
Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolates.
Stir well and let it cool to room temperature.

For the garnish

Melt about 50 gms of dark chocolate in a Microwave.
Pour the melted chocolate on a sheet of parchment paper and spread it thinly using a palette knife.
While it starts setting,use a heart shaped cookie cutter to make impressions on it.
Keep the chocolate in the freezer for a while and then remove the heart shaped chocolate from the parchment paper.
Keep refrigerated until use.

Assembling the Cake

In a serving plate place one cake and spread 1/3 of the ganache.
Place the next cake over it and cover it with 1/2 of it.
Spread the rest of the ganache all over the cake.
Place the heart shaped chocolates over it.
Chill and serve.

My best wishes and regards to the lovely couple!!

CRUNCHY PEANUT HEARTS from my Bon Amigo!

There are these friends, whom you instantly contact for help...be it anything! And Aparna was one among  them.I must also mention that I wouldn't trouble her for anything other than things related to food!We met in Goa in September and she helped me in my search for some fresh cream too :) And Oh yes! how could I forget that...she packed some of her homemade cookies for me! She is a FAB baker and a perfect vegetarian cook! And now, while I am trying to settle in this new country, she is helping me 'feed my blog' :) Thank you so much A! :)

Over to Aparna...

When Ria requested me for a guest post for her blog how could I refuse? I first met Ria and got to know her in the “virtual fellow food blogger” kind of way and then met her “for real” when she came down for a visit to Goa a few months back.

A few months back she told me she was getting married, and asked if I could do a guest post (and I quote Ria here) “to feed my hungry blog” during the time she would be busy with wedding related stuff. Well, a friend in need is supposed to be a friend indeed!

She got married 2 weeks back and since I couldn’t make it to the wedding, the least I could do was bake her some virtual goodies. Now, I know that some insanely rich and decadent cake or confection would be more fitting as a wedding present.

But if I know anything at all about weddings in India and the days that follow, it is that Ria would be extremely happy to see some very simple uncomplicated food. Perhaps some crunchy cookies to go with her cup of tea?

Its funny how when I started blogging, I had very few cookbooks and used to feel very limited by the lack of variety of recipes to cook/ bake. Now I have many cookbooks, I seem to have so many recipes that I don’t even remember which book contains what anymore!

Late last year, Ria had sent me a bunch of vanilla beans (think she’s a vanilla bean bearer to lots of us foodies!) and also a copy of The Big Book of Beautiful Biscuits (that’s cookies to some of us). True to nature, I flipped through the pages, admired the book, put it on the shelf and then somewhere along the line forgot all about it!

When I suddenly realized that I had promised Ria a post, I remembered her book and it seemed a good idea to bake something from it. I really like Australian Women’s Weekly books because they contain simple recipes with short ingredient lists, and have always worked very well for me.

And my daughter likes cookies, which her friends like even better!

So here are some Crunchy Peanut Hearts, very slightly adapted from the original.

These cookies have quite a few pluses in my opinion. They’re made from an AWW recipe, they don’t need butter or oil, they have fibre (oats), they contain no eggs and are very good, I didn’t need to go shopping for any of the ingredients, and here’s the best part of all. I just dumped everything in my food processor and voila, the dough was ready!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup rolled oats, coarsely powdered

1/3 cup dessicated coconut

1 tsp finely grated lemon rind

1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter

1 tbsp honey

2 to 3 tbsps water

Method:

Sift the flour, baking soda and cinnamon into a bowl. Add the sugar, rolled oats, dessicated coconut and lemon rind and mix well. (I did all this in my food processor bowl)

Rub the peanut butter into the dry ingredients (I did this on the food processor but using the plastic dough making blade) until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Now add the honey and water, a little at a time, stirring till a soft dough forms.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface, knead lightly till smooth, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Take the dough from the fridge and divide into two portions. Roll out each portion into 1/4" thickness, dusting lightly with flour if necessary. Cut out cookies with a 2 1/2" fluted cutter or cutter of desired shape.

Place on lightly greased baking trays and bake at 180C for about 10 to 12 minutes, or till golden brown. Allow the biscuits (cookies) to cool on the trays for about 5 minutes and then cool completely on a rack.

This recipe makes about 30 biscuits (cookies) but I got 40 since my biscuit cutter was a bit smaller.

COFFEE CAKE WITH COFFEE MASCARPONE FROSTING

Dear All,

I am happily married now and this is my first day in the US. And I don't think I'll be doing any serious cooking for another 2 weeks or so, since we need to settle down.So here is Deeba , my cake partner, taking up my space to do her bit of writing and baking :) Deeba needs no introduction,she is like Mary Poppins ( I just watched the movie last night in the flight) pulling out or rather baking all these gorgeous stuff one after another! So here is another one from her! Hope you all enjoy what she has baked for me :D I really wish I could taste this cake in real! Thank you so much Deeba! HUGS!

When Ria invited me to do a guest post for her, I didn’t have to think twice. Yes of course. I got to know her about a year ago when she found me through blogging as we share a love for food, especially cakes. The food blogging world being what it is, she quickly became my primary source for vanilla beans and an active twitter friend!

Time flies and how, and the time for her to get married and join her darling Jobin is finally here. As she said, it's been a LONG 5 years. I will miss my 'vanilla bean girl', but she's off to greener pastures. Here's a cake I made as a birthday present for my Mom's friend, and I made a border for it inspired by Ria's post not so long ago. This style of making cake borders got my attentiuon instantly, and I have put it to great use...

in this Strawberry Bavarian Cream Cake,

and in these Nanaimo Bars too!

 

You can find a simple tutorial here if you like.

This is just what I love about blogging...the sharing of ideas and talent!  

I am sharing a very basic sponge cake recipe here today which forms a great base for any cake. It's easy to remember too and is one I use for my Swiss rolls all the time. It's 3 eggs + 1/2 cup flour + 1/2 cup sugar. This time I've used some baking powder too, which I don't use while making Swiss rolls. The recipe can be easily doubled to give you a 8-9" bigger cake. Do make sure you double the frosting too if you decide to double the sponge ingredients!

 Good luck to you Ria... All the very best always.

This post is for you!

Coffee Cake with Mascarpone Frosting

Recipe from Deeba @ Passionate About Baking

Makes one 6" cake, 8-10 servings

Coffee Sponge

3 eggs

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup vanilla sugar (or plain)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 pinch salt

2 tsps instant coffee powder

Filling/Topping

100gm mascarpone (homemade recipe here)

200ml cream (25% fat, chilled)

1/2 tsp instant coffee

3-4 tbsp icing sugar

Lace Border

50gms milk, dark or white chocolate (I find milk chocolate works the best)

Chocolate shavings and coffee beans for garnishing

1/4tsp cocoa if you want to make a web on top

Method:

For the sponge

Preheat oven to 190C. Grease and line a 6" cake tin.

Sift the flour + baking powder + salt 3 times. Keep aside.

Beat the eggs, coffee and sugar well with hand beater over gently simmering water till it triples in volume. A thick ribbon of batter should fall falls and holds in place for at least 5 seconds (beat for approx 10mins).

Gently fold in the sifted flour; mix lightly so that air doesn't escape.

Turn gently into tin and bake for 20-25 mins till done. Don't overbake or sponge will be dry.

Once done, remove from tin after 5 mins and leave on rack to cool completely. Cut horizontally into 2 layers.

For Filling Topping:

Whip all ingredients together until you get desired consistency. Cream should be thick and holds peaks.

Adjust sugar if need be. 

Assembling:

Use about 1/3 to sandwich the cake, and frost the sides and top with the rest. Leave to set for about 20 minutes in the fridge.

For the lace border

Melt the chocolate in a ziploc bag. Snip a TINY hole in one corner for piping.

To make a border for the cake, measure the height of the border that you would like, and the circumference of the cake. Cut our parchment paper to this measure and squiggle patterns or doodle with melted chocolate on it. (If you are unsure, keep a pattern under the parchment and trace out with melted chocolate). Wait for it to almost set, where the paper is still flexible and the chocolate is not set hard. Wrap it around the cake and press gently to the frosted sides so that the pattern sticks to the sides. Mine didn't hold a 100% because I didn't frost the sides, but it was fine anyway.  Chill for about 30minutes in the fridge to set the chocolate. Gently peel off the parchment.

♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥