My Fail proof Brownie Recipe

Brownies...just saying the word makes me think of warm, chocolatey and chewy slices of goodness which will instantly put anyone in a good mood. A brownie will make you more friends than anything else. And why not, when it tastes so good! And I am sure that anyone with access to an oven would have baked a brownie at least once in their lives. Brownies can be used for just about anything...for example, You have messed up big time and need to say sorry - bake some awesome brownies, pack it very well and give it to the person...and you will definitely be forgiven. Have some guests coming at the last minute for dinner and you have no dessert, whip up brownies, serve with whipped cream and caramel or chocolate ganache...Voila! you have a 'killer' dessert. Your child has a bake sale at school, make a batch of brownies. So many uses for such a simple thing!

Here's what wikipedia has to say on the subject: "A chocolate brownie is a flat, baked square or bar developed in the United States at the end of the 19th century and popularized in both the U.S. and Canada during the first half of the 20th century. The brownie is a cross between a cake and a cookie in texture.[1] Brownies come in a variety of forms. They are either fudgy or cakey, depending on their density, and they may include nuts, frosting, whipped cream, chocolate chips, or other ingredients."

Now, everyone has their own version of the best brownie recipe. Considering the amount of brownie recipes available on the internet, it's a definite possibility that everyone has at least a few recipes in their kitty. As they are fairly easy to bake and use only a few ingredients, none of which are fancy stuff ( unless you plan on wowing the audience with brownies using Ghirardelli Chocolate or Valrohna or even Hershey's Cocoa for that matter) it's inexpensive too. And moreover most recipes don't call for a stand mixer or even a handheld mixer for that matter (which is definitely a plus point according to me), and use only about two bowls at most which reduces the washing up (this I love, because I hate washing up!). I take laziness up a notch by spreading out some clean papers and sieving the dry ingredients on them ( see, I reduced washing up by using only one bowl).

I definitely have more brownie recipes than most, I have a whole book-full! I have every conceivable kind of brownies - chocolate, triple fudge brownies, s'more brownies, pretzel ganache brownies, blondies and even a lemon and lime brownie (this is my all time fav!)...and many many more! The brownie recipe below is one that I can whip up last minute, as this is a no effort brownie and I mix this using a whisk. And as the title says, it is a fool proof recipe!

My fail Proof Brownie Recipe
Ingredients:
All purpose flour 1 1/3 cup
Granulated sugar 2 cups
Cocoa Powder 3/4 cup (use a very good quality, I use Hintz or Hershey's)
Baking Powder 1 tsp
salt 1/4 tsp
Chopped nuts 1/2 cup
4 large Eggs (lightly beaten)
Vegetable Oil 2/3 cups
Vanilla extract 2 tsps
Milk 2-3 tbsp
Assorted nuts 1 cup ( to scatter on top of the brownie)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 degrees Celsius). Line and grease a 9 X 13 baking dish.
2. Sieve the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Add the sugar and 1/2 cup of chopped nuts and mix well ( The nuts should be well coated with flour so that they don't sink to the bottom when you bake the brownie).
3. In another bowl, mix together the lightly beaten eggs, the vegetable oil and the vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients gradually to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Add two tablespoons of milk to the batter and mix until combined. If the batter feels too thick add another tablespoon of milk and mix until just combined. Do not over mix.
4. Pour into the prepared baking dish, scatter the assorted nuts on top (if using) and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Cut and serve. Yields 24 pieces.

Until next time,
Happy Baking!

I thought I'll talk about something other than food or recipes

Since I started this blog I've only posted about my love for food, cooking and recipes. So, I thought I'll also share my love for other things. Lets start with my love for books. Whenever I am not baking, you'll definitely find me reading. I've so many books right now, I don't know where to put them...that does not mean I'll lend them! I've had awful experiences with people who borrow my books. They either think they can keep it for themselves or tear chunks off my precious original beauties (them idiots!humph). I buy books whenever possible, I spend most of my money either on books or baking ingredients. The salespeople at Crossword in Indiranagar even know what kind of books I like. Whenever I am in Bangalore I make sure I go to Crossword almost every sunday morning, it's like a ritual. And I always end up buying some book or the other, mostly because I feel I just cannot leave the book behind. I feel the books speak to me (overripe imagination and all).

And for all those of you who don't know what Books are, here's the definition of books from Wikipedia:
"A book is a set of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of ink, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf, and each side of a leaf is called a page."
Interesting fact, again from Wikipedia: The word Book comes from Old English "bōc" which (itself) comes from the Germanic root "*bōk-", cognate to beech.^[2] Similarly, in Slavic languages (for example, Russian, Bulgarian,Macedonian) "буква" (bukva—"letter") is cognate with "beech". In Russian and in Serbian and Macedonian, another Slavic languages, the words "букварь" (bukvar') and "буквар" (bukvar), respectively, refer specifically to a primary school textbook that helps young children master the techniques of reading and writing. It is thus conjectured that the earliestIndo-European writings may have been carved on beech wood.^[3] Similarly, the Latin word codex, meaning a book in the modern sense (bound and with separate leaves), originally meant "block of wood".

Here's a list of a few of my favorite books (I can't name all of them in one post)-

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (my all time favorite)
To Sir, With Love by E.R. Braithwaite
Love Story by Eric Segal
Doctors by Eric Segal
The Godfather by Mario Puzo
Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran
Don Quixote (Don Quijote de la Mancha Completo) by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra,
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Othello by William Shakespeare
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo
Those pricey Thakur Girls by Anuja Chauhan
The Family by Mario Puzo
Prizes by Eric Segal
Princess by Jean Sasson
Mayada by Jean Sasson
Love in a torn land by Jean Sasson
The Sicilian by Mario Puzo

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
The Devil Wears Prada (The Devil Wears Prada #1) by Lauren Weisberger
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
The Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
The Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan
The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Nefertiti by Michelle Moran
Child of the Morning by Pauline Gedge
P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern
Chocolat by Joanne Harris
Rage of Angels by Sidney Sheldon
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
Asura - Tale of The Vanquished by Anand Neelakantan
Asterix and Obelisk by René Goscinny

I will try and find links to the e-books for those of you who are interested in reading and post on this blog.


Until next time, Happy reading :)

The Real Coffee Cream!

This post is dedicated to the infamous Coffee Cream. I really don't know where exactly this recipe came from, but I do know it's one of the easiest and best desserts ever. My aunt taught me how to make it first. From then on it's been served at simple dinner parties, as well as weddings. And since it's so simple and inexpensive to make, you can make it in large quantities as well.

Now the explanation behind the title of the post 'The Real Coffee Cream!'. It all started with showing a few of them how to make it, and then the recipe went viral with every Tom, Dick and Harry (or the ladies version of them, coz in Coorg only the ladies cook) knew about this and as long as it was made well I didn't mind. Random people came up and said it was a wonderful dessert and I liked it that they liked it too. Then there are a few people, who feel it's beneath them to ask another person for a recipe (especially if it's me) and come up with their own recipes. Now, I don't mind or care if the end result is the same and it tastes good (after all, everyone has their own version of roast chicken or bread pudding, and the same goes for this). The trouble is when they try fiddling around with ingredients and unnecessarily complicate a simple recipe and the end product not only looks awful but tastes awful too. And finally, there are a few more people who've come up to me and said "this is Ok, another person I know makes it better" ( and that too in front of other people...bitchy much!!!). The best one has been at a recent family wedding, where I had made Coffee Cream for dessert; a nosy-good for nothing-busybody comes up, lifts the serving spoon and smells it (the horror! shoves the spoon up her big, fat nose...idiot, we all gagged at the sight) and coolly asks me what it's called (even though there is a card right in front of her with the name of the dessert, silly old cow!), and when I explain it to her very nicely she turns her nose up at me and tells another person (who we both know doesn't know how to make it, and her version makes us all puke just looking at it!) makes it so much better than me! So I've finally decided it's better to ignore such stupid fools and share my recipe.

Now after all that explanation; Coffee cream is nothing but a cheats version of Coffee Panna Cotta, we just gave it another easier name! All you need is a tin a Sweetened Condensed milk, Good quality instant coffee, gelatin ,Heavy Cream and a blitzer. See, very simple na! All you need is 4 ingredients and people mess that up too, bah!

Coffee Cream (or rather Coffee Panna Cotta)

Time: It takes no time unless you count the setting time.

Serves: As many or as few as you want.

Here's what you'll need:
Unflavored Powdered Gelatin - 1 1/2 Tablespoons
Water - 6 Tablespoons
Good quality instant Coffee granules - 3-4 Tablespoons ( use 3 tablespoons if you don't want it to be too strong, and I use Bru Gold coffee)
Sweetened Condensed milk - 400 ml ( that's 1 tin)
Heavy Cream - 400 ml ( I use Milky Mist cream, you can use Amul if you want, though Amul is light cream the amount of gelatin is enough for it to set well)
Chocolate curls to garnish (optional)

Here's How you do it:
1. Empty the tin of sweetened condensed milk into a large blitzer jar.
2. In a small saucepan, heat the water until it comes to a rolling boil. Meanwhile, place the gelatin in a cup, pour the boiling water over and stir well and make sure all the gelatin is dissolved. You can strain it to remove any residue. Add the coffee and stir until completely dissolved. Let it cool slightly (not too much, it should still be warm or else the gelatin starts to set).
3. Pour the Coffee and gelatin mixture into the blitzer jar with the sweetened condensed milk and give it a good blitz, for about a minute or two. Check to make sure everything is mixed well.
4. Pour heavy cream into the jar and blitz immediately for less than a minute (make sure the cream is fresh or else it'll curdle and instead of a dessert,you'll have a disaster on your hands!).
5. Transfer the Coffee Cream into a glass dish, or into individual glasses, cover with cling film and let it set in the refrigerator for at least 4-5 hours. Serve chilled garnished with chocolate curls if you wish.

Note* You can make the same thing with Strawberries (or any berry), all you have to do substitute 200g of the berries in place of the coffee, and blitz the berries first, add condensed milk and gelatin, blitz again and finally add the cream and blitz and then set for 4-5 hours before serving.
If you don't dissolve the gelatin well, the gelatin granules settle at the bottom of your dessert and you'll have yuck-nog for dessert, so be very careful.

Until next time, have fun and Happy Baking!

So much for my steely resolve...

People who want to lose weight really shouldn't know how to cook, let alone make wonderful, full of calorie- desserts! I really hate myself right now. When I left home last month, I'd promised myself that I wouldn't bake or make anything that was loaded with calories, because, to quote my cousin Tanya- I put on weight if I breathe too much! And I've been pretty strong too, for someone who has a serious sweet tooth (and also has Anand sweets right opposite her house!). I stuck to a no rice diet, exercised religiously and even went to yoga thrice a day sometimes (overzealous much!). But two days ago, my steely resolve flew out the window as did the promise not to eat anything sweet.

It all started with the half finished loaf of bread in the fridge (damn you half finished bread loaf!). Last month, when I was home, I had this mad craving for bread pudding. I know what you'll think; of all things in the whole wide world, I wanted bread pudding. But it's not any ordinary soggy bread pudding I wanted, it was Nigella's Chocolate chip bread pudding! And the way she describes it get's your mouth watering. Since I didn't have all the ingredients she used, I made up my own recipe and the result an amazingly soft, crisp on top, slightly soggy at the bottom bread pudding with melting chocolate chips! Two days ago, I spied some bread in the fridge and I decided to make some again, since Tanya's just got braces for her teeth and can only eat soft food...and what better soft food than bread pudding. Again most of the stuff we needed, we didn't have them and we borrowed from our very nice neighbours. And once again the recipe doesn't fail and I have three adoring fans.I don't have a picture to upload coz it was finished so fast.

Soaked bread cubes packed with chocolate chips

After the bread pudding I was guilt ridden. I know I shouldn't have, but then I couldn't. And then I made Panna Cotta with Passion fruit jelly yesterday! I'd promised my aunt whose a vegetarian that I'd make something she could eat, so the panna cotta. The best part about it, well other than that it was fantastic, was that I told that idiot boy (read cousin Tushar) that I ate all the passion fruit! Bazinga! He ate most of the passion fruit without sharing, so I'd say he deserved it ( well, apparently not enough...coz he got a share of the panna cotta). Any way, I ate that too...so I have to do some extra exercise (youch). Here's a picture of the damn panna cotta with passion fruit jelly.

I love this...don't you?

Oh and here's a picture with my cousins Tanya and Tanu 

the one in black's Tanya, the pink lady's Tanu...The other one's obviously me the pretty one! :D

And now the recipe...I know Anton Mosimann's bread pudding is the best (or so I hear, I've actually never tasted it or attempted to make it either). But until I do, (or probably even after I taste Anton's) this is the most amazing bread pudding! EVER!

My version of Chocolate Bread Pudding with Chocolate Chips

Ingredients

250g - Stale bread (either white or brown) with the crust on, cut into cubes

100g - Chocolate chips ( dark or milk chocolate), I always add extra

2 eggs, at room temperature

500 ml full fat milk

1 tbsp - brown sugar (light or dark)

1/4 cup - granulated white sugar

1 tbsp - good quality cocoa powder

2 tsp - vanilla extract

2 tbsp - dark rum, optional

1 tbsp - freshly brewed strong coffee, optional

1 tsp - cinnamon powder

4 tsp - demerara sugar, for sprinkling

Instructions

1. Tip the cubed stale bread onto a greased round pie dish (approx. 23cm). Sprinkle the chocolate chips on and make sure to mix it well with the bread, so that they're evenly distributed.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, brown sugar, granulated white sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, cinnamon powder, rum (if using) and coffee (if using), until all the sugar is dissolved. Pour this mixture over the bread and chocolate chips.

3. Squish the bread cubes down slightly using your fingers and allow it to soak for 20 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Sprinkle on the demerara sugar over the pudding mixture and bake for 30 - 40 minutes.

Serve hot with whipped cream or ice cream, or else just enjoy it as it is with a cup of coffee.

*If your bread isn't stale, then leave slices to dry first, for a while, on a wire rack before cubing and using.

Until next time (I will tell you about my love for Chuck Hughes)...Happy Baking!

Four posts in one day...ha! so much for laziness!!!

I guess I am wired from all the yoga today, hence so many posts. Also, I felt a wee bit guilty about ignoring the blog for so long and decided that I better catch up and post some stuff. And also, I forgot to mention that I had baked 4 wonderful Tarte Tatin's for Anjali Aunty's kitty party and I got rave reviews for them. I baked another Tarte Tatin last week for my aunt's party, so I guess I can say I am getting to be quite an expert at baking them. After all they are so easy.

Tarte Tatin with Tanu's finger!

Also I came up with a new recipe for Sweet n Sour chicken. It all started with an intense craving for Sweet n Sour chicken when I was at home in Coorg; and since there are no great Chinese restaurants nearby, I had to make some myself. It was sooooo goood, I think I almost bit off the tip of my li'l finger (hee hee). See picture below. Recipe to follow soon.

ooohhh...I wanna have some now!

I also baked some Red velvet cupcakes. I am crazy about red velvet cupcakes, and who wouldn't be...they look so pretty and taste so good too! And they are so moist...add a little cream cheese icing on top and it's the bees knees! See picture below.

The red velvet cupcakes just out of the oven...I didn't put on any cream cheese frosting coz there were no cupcakes left to frost, we ate 'em all :)

And finally to the recipes...the recipe that I am sharing is one of my own and it's easy (a li'l time consuming, but all good things to those who wait or something along those lines). And it's another of the recipes from the baking class.

Mushroom Pasta Bake

Ingredients:

Pasta – 200g pack (You can get any pasta of your choice, farfalle, penne, rigatoni, macaroni, fusili, ziti, alphabet pasta, paprdelle, rotini, penne rigate, conchiglie, orecchiette, rotelle etc.)

Mushrooms – 300g (You can get any mushroom of your choice or mix them, button mushrooms, shitake, porcini, chanterelles, oyster mushrooms etc) (cleaned and chopped)

Olive Oil – 1 Tablespoon (or any cooking oil) plus 1 Teaspoon of oil for boiling the pasta.

Salt to taste

Worcestershire sauce – 1 Tablespoon

Crushed Black Pepper – 2Tteaspoons

Garlic – 4 large cloves crushed

Parsley – 2 Tablespoons (chopped finely)

Coriander leaves and stalk – 1 Tablespoon (chopped finely)

Mint leaves – 1 tablespoon (chopped finely)

Dried Rosemary – ½ Teaspoon

Dried Thyme – ½ Teaspoon

Dried Oregano – ½ Teaspoon

Dried Chilli Flakes – 2 tablespoon

Cheddar or Mozzarella Cheese – 200g (grated)

1 large onion cut into rings

1 large bell pepper (capsicum) cut into rings

1 large tomato cut into rings

For the Béchamel Sauce:

Wheat Flour – 100g

Butter – 100g

Warm Milk – 400ml

¼ cup pasta water

Salt to taste

Crushed black pepper – 1 teaspoon

Cinnamon or Nutmeg powder - ½ teaspoon

Instructions:

Fill a large saucepan with water, add 1 teaspoon salt and bring to a rolling boil. When the water starts boiling, add a teaspoon of oil, then add the pasta and give it a stir. Cover the pot and let boil for 15 to 20 mins. Keep stirring in between or the pasta will stick together and burn. Also, keep checking to make sure the pasta is not overcooked. It should be just cooked “al dente”.

Once the pasta is cooked right, then immediately strain into a colander to remove the pasta water. Reserve ¼ cup of the pasta water and set aside. Run cold water over the pasta to stop the cooking process and set aside.

In another pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil, fry the crushed garlic and then add the mushrooms to the pan. Add salt to taste, Worcestershire sauce, pepper and the herbs and and sauté them till it is cooked. Add 2 tablespoons of the grated cheese and set aside.

To make the béchamel sauce, on low heat, roast the wheat flour till slightly brown, add butter and stir vigorously till you have a roux (the flour and butter mix to form a thin paste). Stir so that there are no lumps. Now pour in the milk and whisk continuously to remove all lumps, keep stirring until you feel the sauce thickening. Now add the pasta water, keep whisking, also add the salt, pepper and cinnamon or nutmeg powder. Whisk until you have a thick but pourable and smooth sauce.

Into a large baking dish, first add a 2 tablespoons of béchamel sauce and spread to cover the base. Now add the pasta and half the béchamel sauce and 2 tablespoons of grated cheese. Mix lightly. Next add the mushroom and cheese mixture and spread on the pasta. Spread the rest of the béchamel sauce and sprinkle half of the remaining grated cheese. Arrange the onion rings, bell pepper rings and tomato rings and sprinkle the rest of the grated cheese on top. Finally sprinkle the chilli flakes on top of the grated cheese.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes or until the cheese melts and top is bubbling and is lightly golden and crisp. Serve hot with fresh garlic bread.
And for all you meat loving types who can't live without it, you can add minced meat or even sausage to the same recipe.

Until next time, Happy Baking :)

In loving memory of my Rusty

On 6th August 2013, my best buddy our wonderful dachshund doggie passed away. We were all heartbroken, coz he'd been with us since October 2002. He was the most amazing dog ever and will be sorely missed.

Here are few things about my doggie I want you all to know (even if you don't want to know I am telling).
1. Rusty loved flowers (yup, he truly did) especially hibiscus (mostly red or orange colored ones, but he was fine with all colors as long as they were hibiscus). Every morning my Dad cleans the Prayer room and throws out the flowers, Rusty was ready for just this and moment he chucks the flowers, he'd start eating the stamens ( I don't know why...I guess he loved the taste).
2. Rusty was so scared of our other dog Roxy (I call her rakshashi or demon dog, coz she acts like one), he'd always leave a part of his meal for her or else that demon dog'd try to kill him.
3. He never ever ever left the house like the other dogs did, he'd just stay in front of the porch and not leave until my Dad put him back in his kennel.
4. For all the fear of Roxy, he never shared his biscuits like he shared his meal...and she knew not to mess with him for that biscuit.
5. Rusty loved coconuts, he'd keep the hard shell with him for days and keep digging into it until even the smell of the coconut is gone. Actually he ate most fruits...coconuts (especially tender coconut), avocado, jackfruit and even mangoes.
6. For some reason Rusty hated our Ganesh Bhatta ( the brahmin who comes to our temple for puja). Every Monday morning he'd refuse to get back in the kennel and when Ganesh Bhatta came inside he'd chase him all over the place.
7. This one time when my Dad had just come back a few months after his surgery he was alone at home and went upstairs to check the doors and windows. Rusty and Jojo (the dog we had before Roxy) searched all over and when they didn't find him climbed up the stairs to find him (Rusty never climbed stairs, being a dachshund he couldn't). Such was his loyalty and love towards our family.
8..And lastly, whatever I baked Rusty always got a share of it. He'd eat me up if hadn't given him a piece.

He was such a love, that li'l dog...so loyal and loving. We will all miss him, even that Roxy. She searched for 2 days and kept whining all the while (so much for bullying him all the while!).

Rusty

xxx

How Do I bake when there's no power or even post on this blog???

I know I haven't posted anything in a while and now I am trying to make for it by writing 2-3 posts on the same day. I won't say I've been really busy, because I have and I haven't been busy; make whatever of that you will. I have been just plain lazy. I went back home to Coorg in June and the day I reached, it started pouring and still hasn't stopped. And to make it worse we had no power for weeks together (I felt like I was in a an episode of that TV show Revolution). Oh! and the icing on the cake (a cake that wasn't baked coz there was no power!!!) we had Elephants living in our coffee estate! The happy Pachyderm family ( daddy elephant, mommy elephant and a very mischievous and destructively happy baby elephant) decided to park their humongous bottoms next to the Jack-fruit tree which is very close to our house (I could actually see them from the bedroom). For three nights in a row they'd walk all over the place, did some intelligent construction so that their naughty Li'l baby didn't fall into our lake and gave our poor dogs a fright! Well all's good now, coz the pachyderm family decided they were better off in the forest.

Since I didn't bake anything, here's another recipe from the baking class...This is not as simple as you expect it to be, but if you read the ingredients list and the recipe thoroughly and follow the instructions you can't go wrong. And you'll have a beautiful cake as proof!

Marble Cake

Ingredients:

5 ounces (140 grams) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 tablespoon brewed coffee (optional)

2 1/4 cups (295 grams) all purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (170 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/4 cups (250 grams) granulated white sugar

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup (80 ml) sour cream or plain yogurt, room temperature

1/2 cup (120 ml) milk, room temperature

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter, or spray with a non stick spray, a 10 inch (25 cm) bundt or tube pan ( If you don't have one, use a normal round pan).

In a heatproof bowl, placed over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate with the coffee. Remove from heat and set aside to cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until the mixture is light and fluffy (about 3-5 minutes). Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and sour cream.

With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and the milk to the batter, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Remove a little more than half of the batter and place into a separate bowl. To the remaining batter stir, or beat, in the melted chocolate. Place the batters into the prepared bundt pan by alternating spoonfuls of vanilla batter with the chocolate batter. Then, with the end of a wooden skewer or knife, gently draw swirls through the batter to marbleize  it ( make swirly patterns on the cake). Don't over mix.

Bake for about 35 - 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center just comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 20 minutes before removing the cake from the pan to cool completely. Can dust the top of the cake with cocoa powder or powdered sugar (I don't do this, what's the point of going to the trouble of making all those swirly patterns just to cover it up?). Serve warm or at room temperature. This cake is best the day it's made, but it will keep for a couple of days at room temperature or it can be frozen.

Well then...until next time... Happy Baking!

Baking Classes, power yoga classes and going crazy at a Book Fair in Bangalore!

The past few months have been filled with fun and absolute craziness. I was in Bangalore at my aunt's place. The first few days I spent calling every yoga class in Indiranagar ( I had to lose all the weight from the baking spree). Most of them were either too far off or offered only 3 classes a week, BUT I had a lot of weight to lose (according to my mother... not me, I think am just well rounded with just the right amount of curves!). Finally after days of phone calls, I decided to try out Fit n Fine Power yoga centre (next to Namdhari's on the ESI Hospital road) and I actually enjoyed it. I didn't even mind getting up at 6:30 A.M and walking from home to the yoga class. Now I believe all those people who said yoga makes you feel better on the whole, and it's not just about losing weight. You have a positive attitude all throughout the day and you just feel better about yourself.

After yoga class I really didn't have much to do with my time, so when my cousin suggested that I start a baking class for kids at home I jumped at the idea. Tanya designed a very beautiful flyer for me and told all her friends about the classes. Three people attended my baking class ( I know...so much for all the big plans). There was Netra (Tanya's friend, who's always super excited about everything), Soni (our neighbour and Tanu's friend) and finally Tanu (my cousin). It was all in a rush, I got all the recipes printed out and all the stuff ordered in 3 days. The 16 days of those classes were so much fun (Of course, there were a few disasters with the power going off and all) and the girls managed to learn some great stuff. Here are a few pictures.

This is the poster that Tanya designed

These are the cupcakes we made in the baking class, it was a moist chocolate cupcake with buttercream icing and sugar beads...pretty no.

And finally the book fair at the Basava Samithi Hall...this is where we went totally crazy! This book fair happens every couple of months at the same place and they sell books by weight ( 100 Rs for 1 kilo, so you can imagine my excitement). The place is stuffed with all sorts of books and arranged neatly too. Last year, I took my brother with me to the fair and we bought around 6 kilo's (and I found Keith Floyd's cookbooks). This year, Tanya and I went twice and I guess we bought around 10 kilo's! Tanya and her friend Riya went through all the boxes underneath the tables for more books. I got Keith Floyd's cook book again along with the Ballymaloe cook book. All in all, a really really good bargain (coz most of those cookbooks cost an arm and a leg!).
 And finally here's a recipe from the cooking class.These cookies are amazingly moist and make a great snack.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 3 dozen

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups (about 12 ounces) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips

Directions

1.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180 C). In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

2.   Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper (or you can use aluminium foil to line the baking sheets) .

3. Bake until cookies are golden around the edges and set in the centre 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week (I assure you, there won't be any left to store).

Simple apple galette

Last week I had promised you all that I would post the recipe for an apple galette. Well, here it is. This recipe is so easy even a child could do it. I found the recipe on smitten kitchen. It seemed easy enough, but I made a few changes to it.
Simple Apple Galette
Adapted from the smitten kitchen
Makes one 4 inch pie
Ingredients
For the pate brisee:
1 1/4 cups - All purpose flour
1/2 cup - cold butter (cut into cubes)
1/4 tsp - salt
1 tsp - sugar ( add another teaspoon if you want it sweeter)
2 tbsp to 1/4 cup - very cold water
For the apple filling:
2 nos. - granny smith apples (green apples, you can use any other firm apple like fuji, washington or golden delicious)
1 tbsp - softened butter (cut into cubes)
2 tbsp - granulated white sugar
1/2 tsp - cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp - nutmeg powder
1 tbsp - lemon juice
1/2 tbsp - lemon zest
For the apple and lemon syrup:
the peel and cores of the 2 apples
1/4 cup - granulated white sugar
2 tbsp - water
1 tbsp - lemon juice
1/2 tbsp - lemon zest
Instructions:
For the pate brisee:
1. Mix the flour, sugar, salt and the butter using your fingertips, until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
2. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in 3 tbsp of water. Mix well until you have a smooth dough. The dough should be soft and smooth to touch.
3. If the dough feels crumbly, add another tbsp of water ( no more water after this) and mix till smooth.
4. Immediately wrap the dough in cling wrap and refrigerate for 30 mins before using.
For the apple galette:
1. Peel and core the apples and reserve them. Cut the apples into thin slices.
2. Mix the sugar, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder and lemon zest and add to the apples. Pour the lemon juice over this.
3. Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator and flatten it slightly. Place it between two sheets of cling film and roll into a circle slightly larger than your pie dish and 1/4 inch thickness. Place the rolled dough in the refrigerator for 10 mins.
4. Place the chilled rolled dough on a 4 in pie dish with extra dough hanging on the sides.
5. Place the apple filling inside the dough. Place the softened butter cubes on it. Now, fold the dough sides so that they overlap over the pie. It should be folded so that a small circle of folded dough is on the edges and a circular hole shows the apple filling.
6. Sprinkle 1/2 tbsp of sugar on the pie and bake in a preheated oven at 180°celcius for 30 - 40 minutes. Watch so that it doesn't burn. Once done, remove from the oven and allow to cool.
The apple and lemon syrup: (to be made in the last 10 mins of baking time)
1. Place the cores and peels in a pan with the sugar, lemon juice, and water. Bring to a boil. Remove the peels and cores, add the lemon zest and return to heat, until its syrupy. Take off heat, cool slightly and then pour over the apple galette. Cut and serve with a dollop of ice cream or eat as it is.
I can assure you, one bite of this galette is definitely not enough.
Enjoy! And until next time happy baking :)

The Apple of the fairy tales

Apple has always been one of my favorite fruits. When anybody says apple, the first thing that comes to my mind is a magical world like in the fairy tales. My first encounter with apples in fairy tales was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I am still in love with it. Imagine a magical world filled with a lovely princess, a jealous   wicked witch stepmother (of course, I don't like her and wouldn't want her anywhere near me), seven very cute dwarfs, a poisoned apple and the most important part of all...Prince Charming...the savior and hero (who wouldn't want one of that...I wish they made more of them...i definitely could do with one!). 

Just when I thought I was the only adult obsessed with fairy tales and apples and prince charming to boot, I found a kindred spirit! It is a blog by Claire Massey called thefairytalecupboard.blogspot.in. She actually wrote a whole post on apple based fairy tales and she calls it "Once upon an apple day...". This is what I call fairy tale land.

apple day from 2008

144 varieties were on display ranging from popular eaters and cookers to rare culinary apples such as Ladies Finger of Hereford (inspected in the picture above by organiser John Lloyd) and cider apples like Yarlington Mill and Tremletts Bitter. 

Now they even have movies and TV shows based on fairy tales. And being such a big fan, I have watched every single one of them. I think the best thing about fairy tales are the happy endings. Maybe that's the reason I am obsessed with them. Apparently in UK, they have an Apple day, celebrated on 21 October, was launched in 1990 by Common Ground. It is a day intended to be 'both a celebration and a demonstration of the variety we are in danger of losing – not simply in apples, but richness and diversity of landscape, place, ecology and culture too'. I wish we had something like this here too! 

fairy tale based tv shows and movies

Wiki trivia: There are more than 7,500 known cultivars of apples, resulting in a range of desired characteristics. Different cultivars are bred for various tastes and uses, including in cooking, fresh eating and cider production. 

Cultural aspects

Apples appear in many religious traditions, often as a mystical or forbidden fruit like in the Garden of Eden.

In Norse mythology, the goddess Iðunn is portrayed in the Prose Edda (written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson) as providing apples to the gods that give them eternal youthfulness.

In Greek mythology, the Greek hero Heracles, as a part of his Twelve Labours, was required to travel to the Garden of the Hesperides and pick the golden apples off the Tree of Life growing at its center.

The apple was thus considered, in ancient Greece, to be sacred to Aphrodite, and to throw an apple at someone was to symbolically declare one's love; and similarly, to catch it was to symbolically show one's acceptance of that love. An epigram claiming authorship by Plato states:

I throw the apple at you, and if you are willing to love me, take it and share your girlhood with me; but if your thoughts are what I pray they are not, even then take it, and consider how short-lived is beauty.  

—Plato, Epigram VII 

Here are some of the different varieties of apples found in nature:

Braeburn 

The Braeburn apple usually is orange to red in color on top of a yellow background. This apple is excellent for snacking and good in salads, pies, sauces, baking and freezing. These apples are available from October to July.

Cameo 

The Cameo apple has white spots on a red skin. This apple is excellent for snacking, salads, pies, sauces, baking and good for freezing. The Cameo apple is harvested in September and October and is available to consumers from October to August.

Cortland 

The Cortland apple is a sweet red apple over a greenish-yellow background that comes with just a trace of tartness. This type of apple is a good choice for snacking, salads, pies, sauces, baking and good for freezing. The Cortland apple is available from September to April.

Baldwin 

The Baldwin is an all-purpose red-skinned apple, which is mottled and has streaks of yellow on it, with a mildly sweet-tart flavor. This apple is fairly crisp texture, and originates from the New York region, available from October to April.

Fuji 

The Fuji apple is a sweet, reddish-pink apple that was introduced to the U.S. from Japan, which is where it derives its name from (Mt Fuji). This apple is a good choice for snacking and good in salads, pies, sauces and baking. The Fuji apple is not a good apple for freezing. This variety is available from October to August.

Gala 

The Gala apple can be distinguished by its pinkish stripes over a yellow background. The apple is sweet and is excellent for snacking, salads, and sauces. It is good for pies and baking, though one wouldn’t recommend it as freezing apple. Gala apples are available from September to May.

Granny Smith 

The Granny Smith variety is crisp and juicy, with freckled green skin and sweetly tart flesh. It is one of the best choices for eating and cooking, is grown in New Zealand, Australia, California, and Arizona, which makes it available year-round. It can be stored in the fridge for a maximum of 240 days.

Ginger Gold 

One of the early season varieties, this yellow apple has a sweet but mildly tart flavor. The Ginger Gold apple makes an excellent choice for snacking and salads. It is a good choice for pies, sauces, and baking too. This apple, however, is not a good candidate for freezing. The variety of apple is available August through November.

Honeycrisp 

Honeycrisp is red and yellow and is a relatively new variety, which made its first appearance to the retail world in 1991. Since it is sweet and crisp it makes an excellent snacking apple, and is good for salads, sauces, and freezing. This apple is also good for use in baking, but it is not recommended for use in pies.

Jonathan Apple 

The Jonathan variety is spicy and fragrant, juicy, sweet-tart, is good for cooking, except when cooked whole and is excellent for snacking. It can be stored in the refrigerator for a good 120 days.

Idared 

The Idared is one a sweet and tart apple that is one of the most versatile varieties. This apple works wonder as a snacking apple, as a freezing or even a baking apple, for making pies as well as sauces. This apple is available from October to August.

McIntosh 

The McIntosh is brilliant green variety of apple that is sweet with just a trace of tartness. This apple is a favorite in lunchboxes, which makes this variety of apple excellent for snacking and for making sauces. The McIntosh apple does come across as a baking or freezing apple though it is one of the most preferred choices for making pies and for salads. This apple is available from September to June.

Rome Beauty 

The Rome Beauty is a mildly tart red apple, which makes an excellent baking apple. This apple is as good for use in pies, or sauces as it is for making salads, eating as a snack, as well as freezing and is one of the most versatile varieties.

Apples in Cooking

The best thing about apples is that it pairs well with almost any other fruit. Baked apples are a delicacy. I am completely obsessed with apple pie, and it all started about 8 years ago in the most unlikely of places...Pizza Hut! (can you imagine?). They had apple pie on their dessert menu and we decided to have some...and it when they bought it to us...ooohhh deliciousness!!! Imagine a steaming plate of apple pie, a huge blob of butterscotch ice cream on the side and cinnamon sprinkled all over. I just died and went to heaven! And then they just decide to stop serving it. Man! why do people do such horrible stuff? S o I went in search of the best apple pie. The coffee day version was absolute crap...it took all my will power not to puke into that plate...yuck! Just Bake was the same too. And finally, tired of all the disgusting versions of apple pie that I forced down my gullet,  I decided to make my own apple pie. And when it came out of the oven, it was even better than the Pizza hut version. Ha! Though if you feel really lazy and/or in dire need of comfort food, you can try the apple pie at Daddy's Deli or at Spoonful of Sugar in Indiranagar, Bangalore.

Now, I make Apple Tarte Tatin, Apple Galette, French Apple Tart and many, many more amazing apple based treats. 

Apple Tarte Tatin that I baked for Dad's 61st Birthday

Since Mum's a vegetarian, I baked her this Apple Galette with lemon glaze for her birthday

And the most amazing part about apple based desserts is that it's very easy to make but the end product is beautiful and tastes wonderful. All you need is the apple (of course!), some sugar, butter (what dessert tastes good without this?), cinnamon and any shortcrust pastry base and I guarantee that you'll have magical dreams for a long time to come... :)

Recipe in my next post...and until time, Happy Baking!

Cinnamon Heaven...:)

I am in Cinnamon Heaven. The past few days I've been obsessed with this spice, so I've baked (and hogged) a whole load of cinnamon goodies. There's this earthy scent to cinnamon that gives your baked goodies a rich aroma and a unique taste which is all the more better. 
Cinnamon has been known from remote antiquity. It was imported to Egypt as early as 2000 BC, but those who report that it had come from China confuse it with cassia.According to Wikipedia, cinnamon was so highly prized among ancient nations that it was regarded as a gift fit for monarchs and even for a god: a fine inscription records the gift of cinnamon and cassia to the temple of Apollo at Miletus.^[11] Though its source was kept mysterious in the Mediterranean world for centuries by the middlemen who handled the spice trade, to protect their monopoly as suppliers, cinnamon is native to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malabar Coast of India and Burma. Cinnamon, as a warm and dry substance, was believed by doctors in ancient times to cure snakebites, freckles, the common cold (thanks to Dr. Ganapathy who says there's nothing like cinnamon for the common cold and cough), and kidney troubles, among other ailments.

Cinnamon and sugar is probably one of the best flavors in the world. Add a tablespoon of finely ground cinnamon to a quarter cup of granulated white sugar and you have cinnamon sugar. It makes a nice addition to hot chocolate, doughnuts, churros and various other desserts. My apple pie is incomplete without cinnamon in it. 

The past few days I've baked Cinnamon Rolls, Braided Cinnamon Wreath and Cinnamon Bread. Here are a few pictures. 

The braided cinnamon wreath

This is one of the best cinnamon sugar confections. You may believe it is very hard to do, when in fact it is quite simple. The taste is incredible. I need to make a few changes to the recipe and then I promise I'll post it some time soon.

Next, we have the cinnamon roll...ahhh!...just typing those words makes me crave for one yummy gooey soft roll. 

doesn't it look perfect...

I have several recipes for cinnamon rolls, but the one I loved the most was by Stephanie Jowarski of joyofbaking.com. You'll find the recipe at the end of the post.

comfort food

And I've saved the best for last, the Cinnamon sugar pull apart bread. I think  JOY THE BAKER deserves an award for this recipe. I tried it just because the pictures looked too good to resist. I never expected to fall in love with it. My dad and I polished it off in 2 hours. This bread is now at the top of the list of my favorite comfort foods. This bread will definitely give you some sweet dreams. Recipe to follow.

As promised, here's the recipe for the Cinnamon roll.

Cinnamon Rolls (Buns) Recipe

by Stephanie Jowarski

Makes 8 rolls

Ingredients:
Dough:

4 1/2 - 5 cups (590 - 660 grams) all-purpose flour

1 package (1/4 ounce) (7 grams) (2 teaspoons) active dry yeast

1 cup (240 ml) milk

1/3 cup (75 grams) unsalted butter

1/3 cup (66 grams) granulated white sugar

1/2 teaspoon (2.5 grams) salt

3 large eggs

Filling:

3/4 cup (160 grams) packed light brown sugar (I used dark brown sugar and it turns out just fine)

1/4 cup (35 grams) all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, cold (cut into pieces)

1/2 cup (120 ml) raisins or currants (optional)

Half-and-half (or light cream) (I used milk)

Glaze: (Optional)

1/2 cup (58 grams) powdered (confectioners or icing) sugar

1 - 2 tablespoons half-and-half (light cream)

Cinnamon Rolls: 
In the bowl of your electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment (can use an electric hand mixer), combine 2 1/4 cups (295 grams) flour and the yeast.

In a small saucepan, stirring constantly, heat the milk, butter, sugar, and salt just till warm (about 120 degrees F) (50 degrees C) and the butter is almost melted. Gradually pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture, with the mixer on low speed. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Then beat this mixture on high speed for 3 minutes. Replace the paddle attachment with the dough hook (or knead by hand), and knead in as much of the remaining 2 1/4 to 2 3/4 cups (295 - 365 grams) flour until you have a soft dough that is smooth and elastic (3 to 5 minutes), but not sticky. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl, turning once. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until almost doubled (approximately 1 1/2 - 2 hours). Then gently punch the dough to release the air and let rest for 10 minutes. 

Meanwhile, make the filling. In a bowl stir together the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Cut in the cold butter with a pastry blender, or two knives, until the mixture is crumbly.

Roll the dough into a 12 inch (30 cm) square. Sprinkle the filling evenly over the rolled out dough and top with raisins (if desired). Lightly brush one end of the dough with a little half-and-half or light cream (to seal the edges of the rolls). Roll the dough to form a log, starting at the end opposite the edge you brushed with cream. (Do not roll the dough too tightly or the centers of the rolls will pop up during baking.) Slice the log into eight equal-sized pieces. Arrange rolls in a greased 13 x 9 x 2 inch (33 x 23 x 5 cm) glass baking pan. Cover rolls loosely with lightly greased plastic wrap, leaving room for rolls to rise, at room temperature, until almost doubled (about one hour). (At this point you can refrigerate the Cinnamon Rolls overnight (up to 24 hours). Next morning, remove the rolls from the refrigerator, take off the plastic wrap, and let stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes.) Break any surface bubbles with a toothpick. Lightly brush rolls with half-and-half or light cream. Bake in a 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) oven for 25 to 30 minutes or till light brown, and a toothpick inserted into one of the buns, comes out clean. Also, if you lightly tap on the top of the buns they should sound hollow. If necessary, to prevent over-browning, cover rolls loosely with foil the last 5 to 10 minutes of baking. Remove rolls from oven. Brush again with half-and-half or light cream. Cool 5 minutes and then invert onto a baking rack and re-invert onto a serving plate or platter. Drizzle with the Powdered Sugar Glaze.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Happy Baking!