Remembering 2013 with a luscious chocolate pie...:)

Happy New Year to all of you.

So quickly the days go by, and here's another year to look forward to. New resolutions, new hopes and dreams (or in some cases the same old hopes and dreams!), new goals and so on. I feel the last year went by too fast or maybe in my case I just might have missed a few months in 2013! I must have slept through or they just sped by...am not really sure. You can definitely say that by looking at my posts, erratic is the best word I could come up with...

Now 2013 wasn't at all bad, it was in fact a pretty good year for me. I did a lot of baking, even though I might not have posted as much on the blog about it. I'd baked a 4 layered Chocolate Fudge Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting in September for my brother's birthday (Sorry don't have a picture). I made 5 Apple Tarte- Tatin's for a neighbors kitty party. I came up with a new recipe for Sweet n Sour Chicken (which is heavenly by the way) and made Lasagna from scratch (Yes, including the Lasagna sheets). Conducted a baking class too, where I made an AMAZING Chocolate Ganache Tart. Red Velvet Cupcakes which blew everyone's mind. And the one bowl Chocolate cupcakes with buttercrem frosting and silver dragees, which looked as great as it tasted. Oh! did I mention I made Croissants from scratch (tedious but totally worth it) and the Passion fruit Panna cotta fit for Gods.

And the bad stuff, in my baking class, we tried baked doughnuts (I don't know what made me do this, when the yeasty fried ones I've always made worked so well for me...stupid healthy stuff) and one of the girls put in a tablespoon of baking powder instead of a teaspoon, the result...disgustingly acrid tasting doughnuts...blech...yuck ( and a few choice words that I cannot use here!). Another time, my Cinnamon- Sugar Pull apart Bread which worked perfectly every single time and is a family favorite, decided to go Kaput on me...It was a soggy run down mess and just refused to cook, it sort of resembled the boys' dessert from Masterchef Australia's Girls V/s Boys first challenge...Eaton mess I think they decided to call it (It looked like crap by the way...they should've named it Disgusting mess! But I can assure you mine looked way better even though it wasn't cooked in the center).

And just when everything was going great, 2013 dealt me a BIG Bang in my face. I have this very bad habit of  imagining how I'd feel if something were to happen to me, and the worst part is sometimes it comes true (not in a good way). For example, this one time a cousin of mine jammed her finger in the car's door and I always wondered how it'd feel, and a few years later I jammed my finger in the car's door! And I can tell you it definitely wasn't pleasant...you'd think I would've learnt my lesson from that. But no, two other cousins had surgeries and I wondered how it'd feel ( I know...I know...very stupid, considering my track record) and guess what! I had to undergo an emergency appendectomy in bloody December! Oh, the horror...post-op is not a place for someone like me, I annoyed the hell out those nurses asking for water and pillows and whatnot! And the worst part nobody gave me FOOD for 4 days!!! And all this just before an interview I was supposed to attend. Well, this sure taught me to never, ever, ever wonder about such things!

Anyway I decided that to remember all the good, bad and ugly parts of 2013, it warrants a Pie...and not just any pie, it's a slice of chocolaty goodness topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings or in other words a luscious Silky Chocolate Pudding Pie!

Yum...yum...yum

Now, the recipe for the Silky Chocolate pudding, I got from Smitten Kitchen. You can have the pudding as it is, or you can jazz it up a li'l and make a Pie with it. The Chocolate base is my creation...but feel free to experiment and  make your own crust. And I topped it with whipped cream only because I was jobless and I had a pack lying around which I've wanted to try for ages. You can skip this...but why would you, it's whipped cream, it tastes amazing and it's not like it'll kill you right! And down here's how I made this wonderful confection which warms the cockles of your heart :)

Oooooh chocolate...please pretend you didn't see the mess on the whipped cream

Silky Chocolate Pudding Pie Serves 6 to 7

Here's what you'll need:

For the Chocolate Base

1/2 cup - digestive biscuits, crushed coarsely ( I used Vita Marie Gold)

1/2 cup - Bourbon biscuits, crushed

1 tablespoon granulated white sugar

2 tablespoons Drinking chocolate powder (I used Cadbury's)

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons of butter, melted

Directions

Mix all the dry ingredients together and add in the butter and combine. Now press this slightly wet mixture firmly onto the base of your pie dish or if making individual servings, into bowls. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

For the Pudding

1/4 cup (30 grams) cornstarch
1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups (710 ml) whole milk
6 ounces (170 grams) semi- or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (or 1 cup good chocolate chips)
1 teaspoon (5 ml) pure vanilla extract
Directions
Combine the cornstarch, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan, Slowly whisk in the milk, in a thin steam at first so that lumps don’t form, then more quickly once the cornstarch mixture is smoothly incorporated. Place over medium-low heat and stir occasionally, scraping the bottom and sides. Use a whisk as necessary should lumps begin to form. After 10 minutes or so (slower over lower heat is better, to give the cornstarch time to cook), before it starts to simmer, the mixture should begin to thicken, enough that it will coat the back of a spoon. Add the chocolate, and continue stirring for another 2 to 4 minutes, until chocolate is fully incorporated and mixture is quite thick. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.

If you’re concerned about lumps: Run mixture through a fine-mesh strainer.

Remove the pie base from the refrigerator and pour the pudding mixture in. Cover with plastic wrap on top of the pudding and smooth it gently against the surface before refrigerating, about 2 to 3 hours.

To serve, remove the plastic wrap, top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Eat!

If you are not making pie (your loss), distribute among individual pudding cups or one large serving bowl, and chill until it is cool and set, about 2 to 3 hours. Cover with plastic wrap on top of the pudding and smooth it gently against the surface before refrigerating, to prevent pudding skin from forming.

Until next time, Happy Baking! and have a blessedly wonderful New Year :)

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!