Tres Leches cake

This season is all about indulging isn’t it? I have been baking non- stop for almost the whole of the December; making edible gifts for friends, baking workshop, cake orders and also baking for dinner parties. My oven baked many batches of fruits cakes, brownies, apple roses, peanut crunchy bars, vanilla cake, cupcakes etc. Some nights, I used to be up in the kitchen until midnight baking and my legs ached like hell. But I really enjoyed making home-made gifts. This year I took a plunge and also tried my hands on some non - edible DIY gifts which I am really pleased with and can’t wait to share it with you all soon.

Anyway coming back to topic, I always like to try out new dessert recipes when I have friends over and Tre leche cake has been on my list for some time. I made this dessert when we had friends the other day and it was enjoyed by all. To be honest I won’t call this phenomenal, especially when I compare it with my other desserts, but the good thing is, it is so easy to put together and it’s yummy.

Recipe source - here

Ingredients

Plain flour – 1 ½ cup

Butter – ½ cup/ 115 gm ( melted)

Sugar – ¾ cup

Eggs – 5 large

Baking powder – 1 tsp

Salt – pinch

Vanilla extract – 1 tsp

For soaking

Condensed milk – 1 can /390 gm

Evaporated milk – 340 gm can

Milk – 1 cup

For whipping

Whipping cream/double cream – 2 cup

Icing sugar – 3 tbs/ as per taste

Vanilla extract – 1 tsp

Fresh fruits (optional)

Method

• Sift flour, baking powder, salt and keep it aside.
• Cream eggs and sugar in an electric mixer for few minutes. The mixture will increase the volume.
• Add vanilla extract and beat again.
• Add the dry ingredients and fold in.
• Finally add melted butter and fold in.
• Pour the batter in a greased 9 inch cake pan and bake for 30 -35 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
• Whisk condensed milk, evaporated milk and milk together in a bowl.
• Transfer the cake onto a plate and poke holes on the hot cake and pour/spread the milk mixture slowly  on top of the cake with a spoon.
• Let the cake cool for 1 hour.
• Whip the cream with icing sugar and vanilla extract and spread it on top of the cake.
• Decorate with fresh fruits or as you like. 

Prawn Tempura

Hello all,

Hope you all are enjoying the festive time. It’s all about good food and catching up with friends for us this time. I have been looking forward to relax this holiday but bizarrely holidays are busier than usual and time is flying.

We spent our Christmas at G's place and it was an amazing one this year. I feel stuffed even when I think about it.  G did most of the cooking; in fact she cooked up a storm. The only thing I made was this prawn tempura and a banoffee pie.

It was during one of my skype conversation with mother in law that she mentioned about this cookery show she has been watching and about the tempura recipe she was impressed with. I was in luck when I searched for the programme in youtube and got the recipe here.  The tempura tasted great when served hot. Before I took them to the party I quickly took few pictures for the blog just to break the silence. I have many food pictures in my drafts and some of them are really keepers, perhaps my New Year resolution this year should be to update the blog as much as I can. More than anyone I think I refer back to my blog for recipes so it would really help me to save the time when trying to recreate the recipe!

Before I sign off let me wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Ingredients

Prawns (large) -20

For batter

Corn flour – 3 tbs

Plain flour – 5 tbsp

Egg white– from 1 egg

Salt

Pepper – ½ tsp

Water – as required

Bread crumbs to coat (optional)

Toothpicks (optional)

Oil  for deep frying

Method

1. Deshell the prawn leaving the tails and keep it aside.
2. Insert a toothpick inside the prawn ( this is to keep the prawns straight after  frying as prawns tends to curl when they cook)
3. Make the batter with the ingredients mentioned under batter and dip the prawns in it and coat them in bread crumbs.
4. Deep fry the prawns in a low flame for 3-4 minutes or until done.
5. Remove the toothpicks from the prawns and serve hot with some dipping sauce.

Enjoy !

Pesarattu/ Cherupayar dosa /Moong dosa

Hope you all are doing good. It has been a while  since I disapperaed isn’t it ? More than 2 months to be precise. My past two months have been really the best two months ever. I was holidaying in  Dubai and India for almost 6 weeks. It was an amazing one this year, catching up with friends and family, fun outings, Onam festival, get togethers … Infact after this years holiday we haven’t  recovered yet. The longer you go probably longer it takes to get back to routine, but gradually things are getting back to normal.

Coming to todays recipe, Its Pesarattu, it was something new to me until  I got to taste it from my friend  next door who is from Andhra. This recipe is from her and we all love this protein packed dosa at home. I pair it up coconut chutney and onion chutney and it works as a  treat for  us usually  on  weekends.

 Ingredients

Whole green Moong/ cherupayar – 1 cup

Rice – ½ cup

Ginger -  2 inch piece

Green chillies – 2-3

For topping

Onion – 1

Coriander leaves – finely chopped few

Oil

Method

Soak Moong and rice overnight.

Grind it with green chillies and ginger to a smooth batter.

Batter shouldn’t be too loose.

In a griddle or pan pour the batter and spread it as thinly as possible.

Sprinkle some finely chopped onions and coriander leaves on top.

Cook for a minute or so and flip it over and cook the other side.

Serve hot with peanut chutney, onion chutney or coconut chutney.

Curd rice/ thayir sadham

It has been only cakes recipes in my blog lately so I had to take an extra effort to post something different before another cake recipe and this Thayyir sadham which I prepare quite often these days  perfectly fitted the bill. The weather in this part of the world has been super hot and at home I don’t feel like eating  cooking any dinner on a hot day and  this curd rice is a life saver on such days...  a perfect comfort food for a hot day ! 

Ingredients

Rice - 1 1/4 cup 

Carrot - 2 grated

Cucumber - 1/2 of cucumber ( finely chopped)

Ginger minced - 1 tsp

Coriander leaves - finely chopped 

Yogurt - 1 cup

water - 1/4 cup

salt

for tempering/tadka
oil

Mustard seeds -  1 1/2 tsp

Peanuts -2 tbs ( optional)

Urad dal - 2 tsp

Whole red chilli - 2

Asoefitida/hing/ kayam - a pinch

Curry leaves

Method

• Cook the rice and drain. Mash it with a spoon.
• Transfer the mashed rice into a saucepan and add yogurt/curd and water and place it on a low flame until yogurt is warm.
•  Add grated carrot, chopped cucumber, ginger, coriander leaves and salt and remove from fire.
• For tadka take a small pan and add oil and when its hot add mustard seeds when it sputters add urad dal , peanuts  and when it becomes light brown add  whole red chillies, curry leaves and hing and heat for few seconds and remove from fire. 
• Add tadka to the rice and serve hot !

Eggless Vanilla cake

This has been the longest silence ever I guess….Life has been busy but I am not complaining about it. I like it this way rather than warding of boredom. I spend most of my weekends baking cakes these days, making peoples life sweeter! Not doing it professionally yet but with encouragement I get from friends I have a feeling that I am in the wrong profession ! 

My FB friends already know that recently I took part in two Bake off competitions and won prizes  in both and I have to say  it  has boosted my confidence a lot to try out new recipes and this eggless cake has been a result of that. So this recipe is for my future reference really. I have tried few eggless cakes before but was never happy with the results, but this cake has got a nice texture. It is soft, spongy and light. I don’t have a picture of cake slice to show you the texture as it was made for a friend for her hubbys birthday, but she saved a slice for me to taste and I was really happy with the outcome J

Ingredients

Cake flour -   1 ¼ cup /140gm (1 cup plain flour+ ¼ cup corn flour)

Baking powder – 1 ½ tsp

Baking soda – ½ tsp

Salt – pinch

Condensed milk – ½ tin/ 200 ml

Melted butter – ¼ cup /60 ml

Vanilla extract – 1 tsp

Boiling water – 75 ml

Method

• sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and keep it aside.
• In a separate bowl take condensed milk, melted butter, vanilla and beat until mixed.
• Add boiling water to it and beat until mixed.
• Add the dry ingredients to it and fold in gently.
• Pour the batter into two 8 inch cake pans and bake in an preheated oven at 180 degree C for about 20 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
• Cool the cake in the pan for few minutes and then invert them onto a wire rack and cool completely.
• Sandwich the cake with buttercream  or icing of your choice.

Pineapple Cream Cake

Hello all, Hope you are well. Apologies for the long silence, as much as I wanted to post something here I couldn’t get my hands over the camera to click even one single picture the whole two months!! At one point I even thought that was the end of my blog and I almost forgot my username and password!!  In winter I used to blame lights for not taking pictures and blogging but now there is no reason, just lack of motivation …sigh.

Today’s recipe is a Pineapple cake which I made for a friend this weekend. I am posting it here for my own benefit really as it was a total experiment and another friend who tasted it said it was so yummy and definitely blog worthy J  

Here goes the recipe

Ingredients - serves  8

For vanilla sponge ( I use 200 ml cup)

Cake flour- 125 g / 1cup

Caster Sugar – 120gm ( ¾ cup)

Butter – 50 gm /1/4 cup (melted)

Eggs – 4 large

Baking powder – ½ tsp

Pineapple extract/ vanilla extract – 11/2 tsp

Salt – pinch

For sugar syrup

Sugar - 2 tbs

Water – ¾ cup

Pineapple essence – 1 tsp

For filling

Finely chopped pineapple – 200 gm

Whipping cream – 600 ml

Icing sugar – 2 tbs

Pineapple extract – 1 ½ tsp

Method

Making the cake

•  Measure cake flour, baking powder, salt in a mixing bowl and keep it aside.
• Beat eggs with sugar and vanilla extract until its thick and trebled in volume for about 5-8 minutes.
• Sieve the dry ingredients from mixing bowl to the egg mixture and fold in gently.
• Add in the cooled melted butter and gently fold in.
• Divide and pour the batter into two 7 inch cake tins and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degree Celsius for about 10-12 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
• Cut each layer horizontally into two and you will get 4 layers of cake.

Making the sugar syrup

In a pan add 2 tbs sugar, water and bring it to boil or until sugar is dissolved completely. Add pineapple essence and remove from fire. Let it cool down.

Making the cream

Beat the cream adding little icing sugar and pineapple extract until soft peaks are formed. Keep it aside.

Assembling the cake

Once the cake is cool enough take one layer and place it on a cake stand moisten it with sugar syrup. Spread the whipped cream on top followed by finely chopped pineapple pieces. Repeat the same on other layers and decorate it as per your wish. Chill it for some time for the flavours to mingle.

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese frosting

Hesitantly spring has sprung here; trees are beginning to green as tiny buds of leaves ornate the branches! Blooms of daffodils have painted yellow everywhere and air is fresh with promise!! Spring is definitely my favourite season of the year. Days are much longer now and we love spending our days outside on weekends.

 It’s almost Easter now and our school is breaking up for Easter holidays on Friday. To join the holiday spirit and spread some love I decided to bake a carrot cake last weekend and take to work. It was enjoyed by everyone who got a share of it! In fact it went down way too quickly and I couldn’t share it with everyone. I was asked for the recipe and hence the posting it here quickly. . I wonder why carrot cake is related to Easter? Does anyone know why? Nonetheless here goes the recipe….

Recipe source – Joy of baking

Ingredients

Plain flour – 2 cup/ 260 gm

Baking powder - 1 ½ tsp

Baking soda – ½ tsp

Salt – 1/2 tsp

Ground cinnamon – 1 ½ tsp

Carrot – 2 large / 2 ½ cup finely grated

Oil ( any flavourless ) – 1 cup

Eggs – 4 large

Granulated white sugar – 1 ½ cup/300 gm

Vanilla extract – 2 tsp

Walnuts –   1 cup/ 100 gm

Method

• Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt in a bowl, sieve it and keep it aside
• Break the eggs into a bowl and beat it with an electric mixer for about 1 minute until it’s frothy.
• Gradually add sugar and beat for 3-4 minutes until its thick and light coloured.
• Add oil, vanilla extract and beat until mixed.
• Add flour mixture and beat until just mixed.
• Add grated carrot, chopped nuts and fold in.
• Pour the batter into greased   two 9 inch cake tins and bake it in a preheated oven 180 degree Celsius for 25- 30 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.

Recipe source - Nisha

Cream cheese frosting

Cream cheese- 225 gm

Vanilla extract- 1 tsp

Icing sugar- 1 cup

Double cream-   1 cup

Method

• Add Cream cheese to a mixing bowl and beat for a minute until it’s soft.
• Add vanilla extract, sugar and beat until sugar mixed.
• Add cold double cream and beat to get a smooth spreadable consistency.

 Assembling

• Place the first layer of  cake onto a cake stand and spread the half of the icing on top
• Place the second layer on top and sandwich them. Spread the remaining icing on top.
• Decorate as per your liking, I kept it simple and just spread some walnuts on top.

Chilli Tofu and Happy Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year to all. I knew that Chinese New Year was this week but wasn’t aware that it was today until I checked my twitter. I felt like eating some Chinese today but since there is  no descent Chinese near our place and I had to satisfy with my comfort food, rice and dal instead!! Anyway since its Chinese New Year I am here with a recipe which was in my drafts and which  may fall into a Indo Chinese category perhaps?

I cannot really say Tofu is a delicious thing, it’s quite bland and the first few times I cooked with Tofu it was a disaster. I gave up on Tofu in spite of its health benefits until I came across my friend’s recipe. Nupur was confident that I will like it and gave me few tips to enhance the flavour too. It was so yummy like she said and Tofu started coming with me often in my shopping bag!  I started adding baby corn to it and  liked it even more as it gave a crunch to the recipe.  This is a healthy alternative when you crave for some Manjurian and it’s quite quick to make too.

Ingredients

Tofu (extra firm) – 300 gm

Baby corn – 200 gm ( cut )

Capsicum/pepper – 1

Corn flour – 1 ½ tbs for Tofu + 1 1/2 for baby corn

Plain flour/ Maida – 3 tbs

Ginger garlic paste-  1 tsp

Salt

Pepper

Water – 1/8-1/4 cup

Oil for shallow frying

For the sauce

Onion -2 medium

Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp

Ginger minced – 1tsp

Garlic minced – 1 tsp

Green chillies- 2 (cut diagonally)

Tomato sauce/ tomato ketchup - 3 tbs

Soya sauce - 2 tbs

Chilly garlic sauce - 2  tbs

Cornflour - 1 tbs

Water - 3 tbs

 Sesame seeds – 1 ½ tbs (roasted)

Method

• Take the extra firm tofu and gently squeeze the water and then remove the excess water with a kitchen tissue.cut them into cubes and dust them with 1 ½ tbs corn flour, salt and pepper.
• In other add1 ½ tbs corn flour, 3 tbs plain flour, salt, pepper, ginger garlic paste. Add some water and make a batter ( not too thin) . Add the cut baby corns and coat in well in the batter.
• In a pan add some oil and shallow fry both tofu and baby corns flipping the sides until they are golden brown. Drain it and transfer into a plate with kitchen tissue.
• In the same pan add minced ginger, minced garlic and fry for 1-2 minutes.            
• Add cubed onions and chopped green chillies and saute until onions are soft.     
• Add tomato sauce, soya sauce, chilly garlic sauce and cook for few minutes until oil starts to separate.  
• Add chopped capsicum and stir for 1-2 minutes.    
• Now add the fried tofu cubes and baby corns and coat it in the sauces and cook it covered for 3- 5 minutes.
• Finally dissolve 1 tbs of corn flour in 3 tbs of water and pour this to the paneer and mix well. Cook for another 1-2 minute and turn of the flame.      
• Sprinkle with freshly roasted sesame seeds and serve hot.

 

Kerala Chicken Stew

Many many  years ago when I went for a Wedding reception in Kochi they served appam with a Kerala chicken stew. I was probably only 8 years then but when it involves food I have a photographic memory! There was karimeen fry, fish molly , pork ullarthu and lots of other yummy food. Now when I think about it seemed like a posh reception to be serving a buffet party that long ago! Any way the taste of that food is still lingering in my mouth and appam and chicken stew became my favourite food. I do make this stew a lot at home and my son loves it too. I usually makes the stew for dinner and pair it with appam and next morning I make some fresh idiyappam to eat the left over stew and I have to say those two combination are probably the match made in heaven !

Ingredients

Chicken with bones – 500gm

(Whole garam masala)

Fennel seeds/ പെരും ജീരകം  – 1 tsp

Cinnamon stick/പട്ട – 1 small stick

Cloves/ ഗ്രാമ്പു – 3-3

Cardamom/ഏലക്ക – 3-4

Star anise/ തകോളം - 1

Bay leaf / പട്ട ഇല – 2

Onion (medium) – 2 chopped + ½ thinly sliced

Ginger garlic paste – 1 ½ tsp

Potato – 2 small

Carrot – 1

Coconut milk – 1 cup ( ¾ cup thin milk + ¼ cup thick milk)

Green chillies – 2

Curry leaves – 2 sprigs

Cashewnut – ¼ cup  soaked in water and ground to paste (optional)

Coriander powder- 1 tsp

• Turmeric powder – pinch (optional)
• Pepper powder- 1 tsp
• Salt
• Oil/Ghee
• Water

Method

• Marinate the chicken with salt and pepper and leave it aside.
• In a saucepan/kadai/ ചീനചട്ടി  add oil and add the whole garam masala ingredients mentioned and when it starts to give a good aroma  add the chopped onions. Saute the onions until light brown in colour.
• Add ginger garlic paste, green chillies, curry leaves and saute until raw smell goes off.
• Add coriander powder, pinch of turmeric and fry for a few seconds.
• Add the chicken, cubed potato and carrots and add the thin coconut milk too. Cover and cook until chicken is almost done.
• Finally add the thick coconut milk, cashew paste and water as required and when it is about to boil remove from fire.
• In a small pan add oil/ghee and add thinly sliced onions and fry till brown. Add the fried onion to the gravy.
• Serve hot with Appam/Idiyappam /chapathi or Porotta!

Blueberry Pancakes for Pancake Day !

It’s pancake day/Shrove Tuesday again and I can’t believe in about 1 ½ months’ time it will be Easter! I wasn’t aware of this day until a friend of mine invited me for a Pancake picnic few years back.  I didn’t even know how to make pancakes then and thanks to my friend for introducing pancakes to me.

 I make pancakes quite often now and that’s why you don’t see many pancake recipes in my blog. Things that I make often usually never finds its way to my blog as I postpone clicking pictures every time. But I knew that Pancake Day was coming soon and it seemed like a good time to post it. I have never been so organised in my life before, I actually drafted a post ready for today and was waiting for a good day to shoot pancakes to add the pictures but unfortunately that didn’t happen and I forgot all about it until the gals mentioned about the Pancake Day. I didn’t want to wait another year for posting this, so believe it or not, I did the shoot this morning. I even did a photo set up the last night and all I did  today was  I made the pancakes, shifted them to a plate and clicked them even before my son was up!

Recipe source-here

Ingredients

Plain flour/ Maida – 2 cup+ 2 tbs( for tossing blueberries)

Eggs -2

Buttermilk -2 cup (if not mix 1 cup milk with 1 cup yogurt)

Granulated sugar – 2tbs

Baking powder – 2tsp

Baking soda- ½ tsp

Blueberries- 1 cup + 1/2 cup ( for serving)

Cinnamon powder – ½ tsp(optional)

Vanilla extract – ½ tsp( optional)

Salt – a pinch

Unsalted butter/oil for frying

Method

• In a bowl add  flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon powder salt and mix.
• Beat egg, vanilla and buttermilk until combined.
• Toss the 200 gms blueberries in 2 tbs flour and keep it aside.
• Add the egg mixture to dry ingredients and mix until combined.
• Finally add the tossed blueberries and fold in gently. Let the batter stand for 10 minutes.
• Heat a pan and spray /brush with some oil or butter and pour 2 tbs of batter. Cook for 2 minutes on one side, flip it over and cook the other side for another 1-2 minutes.
• Serve with some fresh blueberries and maple syrup