ROUND UP - MONTHLY MINGLE : CHOCOLATE EXTRAVAGANZA

The season I always look forward to is coming to an end and I truly hate that fact! But this time,I'm not all that sad because we all get to meet at my table to share our chocolate filled goodies that we have been baking for the last one month  for this event! I must say I am overwhelmed with your response... I even have a non-blogger's entry for the event! Thank you everyone for participating!

Double Chocolate Pear Tart - Swati Gehlot

Stollen à la Schwarzwälder Kirsch -Sylvia

Choco Caramel Hotopots- Priya

Grasshopper Bars -Joanne

Decadent Chocolate Cake - Jamie

Flourless Chocolate Hazlenut Meringue Cake- Arti Iyer

Choco Lava Cakes made using a Pressure Cooker - Gita Gosavi

Chocolate & Almond Biscotti -Vidhya

Eggless Nankatais -Veena

White Chocolate & Chocolate Chip Muffins -Aliena

Alice Medrich's Warm Mocha Tart - Magpie's Recipes

Dark Chocolate & Orange Cupcakes - Sarah Samuel

Chocolate Chestnut Verrines -Sarah Trivuncic

Whole Wheat Chocolate Cookies- Caffettiera

Scones -Ahkeela

Chocolate Mousse Swiss Roll -Priya

Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge -Priya

White Chocolate & Coconut Cookies - Tanvi

Truffle Brownies- Casey

Strawberry Drop Cookies- Sanjeetha

Eggless Wheat Germ Muffins - Sanjeetha

Chocolate Risotto- Reva

Chocolate Chip Muffins - Swapna

Milk Liqueur - Swapna

Peanut Butter Chocolate Kiss Cookies- Swapna

One Minute Microwave Eggless Chocolate Cupcakes - Srivalli

Christmas Yule Log -Ramya

Sesame & Chocolate Balls -Megha

Sacher Torte -Sarah

Chocolate Brownies- Priya Sreeram

Homemade Chocolate- Nithi

Coffee Cake with Chocolate Ganache -Kavita 

Chilli Chocolates / Schokofeuer -Christa

Eggless Walnut Brownie- Gayathri Raani

Choco Banana Terrine -Zareena

Chocolate Truffles- Zareena

Chocolate & Candied Chestnut Cupcake -Vanessa

Chocolate Chip Chewies -Denny

Chocolate Brownies with Fudge Frosting- Sumathy

Chocolate Rum Balls -Liya (Non- Blogger)

Rich Chocolate Cake -Liya (Non- Blogger)

Crunchy Chocolate Chip Jumbles - Liya (Non- Blogger)

Chocolate Fruit Cake -Mallika

Walnut Brownies- Sweatha

Blueberry Chocolate Cake - Monica

Spiced Chocolate Ice Cream - Bonnie

White Chocolate & Pistachio Macaroons- Reva

Chocolate Chip Muffins - Aquadaze

Rich Chocolate Mud Cake- Aquadaze

Orange & Whipped Cream Sponge Cake (with Chocolate) - Wit Wok & Wisdom

Apple Spiced Coffee Choco Drink- Sugarplum Fairy

Buttery French Shortbread with Chocolate & Caramel -Sugarplum Fairy

Speculoos- Sugarplum Fairy

And now come's Meeta's entry
Chocolate & Pistachio French Toast with Warm Maple Syrup

Last but not the least...my entries :-)
Instant Chocolate & Cashewnut Fudge

Chocolate Chip Nancuts/Nankatai

Pear & Chocolate Crumble

Thank you all once again for taking the time and effort to participate in this event. Thank you Meeta,for giving me an opportunity to host the MM for my favourite month of the year!

Here's wishing you all a Very Happy & Peaceful New Year!
Stay warm! See you all next year! :-)

GINGERBREAD MAN FOR 400,000 HITS!

There is a saying,'When it rains,it pours!' and it is no different in my case! My blog just had it's 400,000 hits (100,000 more in 1 month and 5 days!) and when I am still taking time for it to sink in, I get this email from Susan & Abraham  of Chako's Kitchen saying that my HoneyComb cake has been selected as one of the 30 Best Recipes of 2010. This is what they  had to say, 'Ria Mathew of Ria’s collection is arguably the most talented baker and blogger from India. Currently residing in US, this gifted lady whips out heavenly cakes, cookies and innovative sweets and savories and her food pictures are talk of the town. So it is but natural that her entry for the Best Recipes of 2010 is indeed one the best recipe from her. This marvelous looking Honey Comb Cake, will woo you with its rich and perfect look and I bet you cannot help but drool over her culinary creations !' (taken with permission from Chako's Kitchen). That one piece of news has kept me smiling for the whole day!


Now let's get back to some little bit of baking that I had been doing the whole of last week!I must say that I was lucky to have some leftovers from the weekend parties to feed the two of us those days, or else, I would have gone crazy baking ,cooking ,cleaning,loading the dishwasher (I hate it!) , decorating the cookies, controlling the temperature indoors to prevent the frosting from melting, answering all the queries I get in my inbox (E-mail and FB which I LOVE!) on an hourly basis mostly regarding the Fruit Cake 1 & Fruit Cake 2, answering to SOS IM's on Google Talk and FB and status updating on FB :) plus the packing for our holidays!

When I asked my niece's what they would like me to bring over for X'mas, they said, they wanted Sugar cookies and Gingerbread man . Okay, I have never made both of them. So I hunted for recipes like a crazy old blind woman who hunts for her lost needle in a haystack (eh? Did  I just say that? ).That's exactly when Aparna had to post her recipe for this fabulous Gingerbread Man and I told her, I think I'm going to make her recipe, which I did :-) I am so glad that I made it because it is so good! I couldn't stop munching on them while I was decorating the cookies. I had excuses to give...to myself.


Excuse #1 : How would the Gingerbread Man (GM)  look like without it's head?
Excuse #2 : How would the GM look like with it's head and not it's arm?
Excuse #3 : How would the GM look like with it's head and arm intact but not  it's right leg?
Excuse#4 : How would the GM look like with it's head, arms and right leg intact but....
Yeah I made good use of all the 'probabilty' stuff I learnt in my class 12.!

Now we are back home after the holidays and I am having some major 'post Christmas' blues.So before I begin to talk about it, why don't you all check out this fabulous cookie's recipe?

EGGLESS GINGERBREAD MAN
Original Recipe from Taste.com
Adapted version from Aparna. I made some adjustments to her recipe.


Ingredients:
1 stick/113 g unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2c loosely packed brown sugar/grated jaggery
1/2 c honey
2 1/2 c all purpose unbleached flour (regular maida will also work)
1 tbsp dry ginger powder
1/2 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg powder
1/4 tsp black pepper powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 350F/180C.Line a baking sheet (s) with parchement/butter paper.
Sieve the dry ingredients together and keep aside.
Cream butter and brown sugar/jaggery till pale and creamy.Add in the honey and cream till fluffy.
Add in the dry ingredients and beat till it comes together like rubbles.
Gather the dough together with your hand and knead it lightly, with your fingertips and form a smooth ball.
Flatten it, clingwrap it and leave it in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Dust your work surface and a rolling pin with flour, lightly.
Roll out the dough to 1/4" thickness and cut out the gingerbread man.
Place them on a lined baking sheet and bake for 8-10 mins depending on the size of your cookie.
Once baked, take them out and let them cool on the sheet for 5 mins.
When they are completely cooled, store them in an airtight tin.

Verdict: This was my first time baking a gingerbread cookie and I must say, this will be baked for the coming years during Christmas season. I love the spices that goes into the cookie and the smell of it gives you a warmth that no other season can bring!