Passionate About Baking

Dresden Stollen... Stolen my heart, it has!!

2009-11-23T15:27:00.001+05:30

“Sometimes I want to clean up my desk and go out and say, respect me, I'm a respectable grown-up, and other times I just want to jump into a paper bag and shake and bake myself to death”

Wendy Wasserstein

It's all her fault. I wish I could have stolen it. Jamie tweeted she was pulling out a freshly baked Stollen from her oven a few days ago. 'Pleeeeeeeease' came the shout, 'we want some too!!' Diva & me fought for it, but I knew I had to make mine soon. Diva had a better chance of getting to Nantes to Jamie's oven before me, so I took a stab at making my own pretty quick.

The recipe for the Christmas Stollen (Dresden Stollen) is a beautiful one from Murasaki Shikibu or Ayako @ Samurai Viking Cuisine. Once the Stollen is baked you need to let it mature for 2 – 3 weeks. Leave it in a cold dry room, wrapped in aluminum foil. If you don’t have a nice cold, dry room – you’ll have to let it mature in your refrigerator, in which case wrapping it up in Saran Wrap is recommended. Typically this is done in the last week of November in German households.

Made the Stollen and it was absolutely delicious. Used the changes Jamie suggested, and made some additional ones like substituting fruit with whatever I had on hand. I used quark which I made at home. You can find the recipe here. The only issue I had was the crumbly texture. I didn't get a smooth, beautiful crumb like the one Jamie's picture had, and I think I can blame that on differences with oven temperatures, the kind of flour available here, and my impatience.

More importantly I think too on the lack of self restraint. The Stollen had flooded the house with delicious warm smells, and I just couldn't resist hacking some off ... too soon maybe. The timer was set on 30 minutes once the loaves were out ... At the buzz, I was there with my bread knife. Crumbly or not, this was mighty delicious stuff!

There is an interesting tale about Stollen... According to some sources, this sweet bread which dates back to 1400 A.D., used to be much more boring due to a 'butter ban' which had been implemented by the Roman Catholic Church. However an appeal was made to the Pope, and the Pope decided that after doing appropriate 'penance' you could use butter and milk!

Thank you Ayako...nom nom nom. My first Stollen was made, the remainder of which was soon sitting wrapped in foil in a cool place. Trying (seriously am) to leave it 2-3 weeks in hibernation. Am trying to feed it to my blog meanwhile... With temptation as strong as this, I'm back with news that it now slices beautifully. Yes, I have not been able to resist temptation & was back pulling the foil of this morning. Sliced some for the kids 'tiffin'/snack for school, and have to say it still tastes divine. Cake like, rich & yet not heavy. You must make some...still a month to go for Christmas!

Christmas Stollen (Dresden Stollen)
The recipe is from 'Backen macht Freude' (Dr Oetker)
Ingredients:
500g AP flour
2tsp baking powder
1tsp baking soda
200g Sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar
4 drops sweet almond extract (Use bitter if you can get some, or bitter almond oil, the edible kind - don't put arsenic in your Stollen!)
1tbsp Rum
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 eggs
175g butter
250g "Quark" (I make my own. Link here)
100g dried currants
100g raisins
100g dried craisins
50gm candied ginger/orange peel
Zest of 1 orange
150g ground almonds For the 'icing':
50g butter
50g powdered sugar

Method:
Place the flour, baking powder, baking soda, almond meal, cardamom & nutmeg in your processor & give it a whiz.
Add chilled grated butter & process till you have breadcrumbs.
In a bowl whisk together quark, eggs, almond extract, rum (if using).
Add wet ingredients to flour mix and stir together until all the dry ingredients are moistened, and start to come together into a ball of dough, sticky but workable.
Knead on a well-floured work surface, adding just enough extra flour until it forms a nice, soft, smooth but not sticky dough.
Preheat the oven to 250°C. Bake it for 45 minutes at 180°C and then for another 15 minutes at 160°C. The 'icing':
As soon as the Stollen is done brush melted butter onto the hot stollen and dust it with the powdered sugar.

♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥

I have to add that I used golden raisins in my Stollen that Madhuli mailed to me very recently. She sent me a beautifully wrapped gift & I was so touched. Each bit packed with love, a separate card on each, handwritten notes & even a recipe of her grandmothers with a masala mix her aunt made.

My Stollen also happily used parchment paper that Avanika large heartedly mailed to me from Mumbai when she heard we don't get it here. Thank you, you wonderful foodies, my Stollen was sweeter because of you!

Some more happy little bits I'd like to share...
I am honoured to be included in the list of nominees for 'Best Indian Food Blogs' here.

Voting begins in a day.

Also would like to thank EC for featuring me in the Sunday Super Blogger series here.
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LAVENDER MASCARPONE CAKE... & a Thank You Cards Giveaway

2009-11-20T22:59:00.005+05:30

“Birthdays are nature's way of telling us to eat more cake.”
Author Unknown

I changed my blog header 2 days ago with pictures of my birthday cake. How ambitious of me when I thought I'd post the recipe alongside. 2 days have zipped by & I am still struggling with my thoughts. Time, or the lack of it, is to blame, but I got a couple of emails this morning conveying how 'torturous' it was not to find the recipe posted and just pictures! Then my dear tweetbuddy Yogalili tweeted...

@vindee waiting as patient as a spider for the lavender cake post......

& again...

@vindee Get thee to thy master's lair...your grace!!! I be a hungry lavender lovin minyon!!

...so here I am!

(You have to see the picture of the cake Yogalili made soon after.

It's at the bottom of this post. She is brilliant!!)

Was my birthday a couple of days ago, and an opportunity to bake another cake. The boy tried very hard to convince me that they would 'buy' me a cake, "Mama it's you birthday, watch TV all day!"...Ultimate comfort in his eyes??? LOL, he's never seen me plonked in front of the TV, so he figured that might be some sort of ultimate luxury for his darling mother. He's been at home for the past 2 weeks as his class in school is shut with 8 cases of H1N1, and it never seems to end. All he sees me do is racing from here to there like a headless chicken, with the odd whinge thrown in!

So much to do & so little time! But I always find time to do what I want to, so what if it kills me, so cake I had to bake. Was thinking coffee but alongside was toying with the idea of lavender in a cake. How would it be? Actually Shaheen @ Purple Foodie had very large heartedly mailed me half her stash of lavender some time back, with some more goodies. The bag included a cherry pitter (yes, Jamie, a leap out of stone-age for moi), some interesting spice mixes, a muffin book & a box of sprinkles! Sweet isn't she, this Purple foodie? That bag of lavender was calling my name, and it finally helped me chart a path to my birthday cake.

Finally settled for a light fatless sponge, sandwiched and frosted with lavender mascarpone. Made some marzipan flowers from left over home made marzipan from my Cinnamon Buttercream Autumn Cake here, which won me a beautiful cake decorating book from the Ivonne & Lis from the Daring Kitchen! This was my first time making roses, following a step by step tutorial from beautiful cake book by Peggy Porschen's Pretty Party Cakes.

My flowers weren't as smooth for 2 reasons. One I think is that store bought marzipan is smoother so gives a better end product, and secondly as Peggy says in her book, with practice the roses get better & better. I was quite happy with my first attempt. I even hand cut the leaves, and maked the veins on them from a great tutorial that Alice from Savoury Sweet Life posted here. Do stop by & see her absolutely gorgeous cake ... it's a piece of art!!

This lavender mascarpone cake was a delicious departure from chocolate. Soothing as lavender is said to be, it was elegant & subtly flavoured. Lavender married the mascarpone sensuosuly, like they were meant to be together. My only regret was that I should have increased the amount of cream on the frosting. My recipe reflects the increased amount...

Lavender Mascarpone Cake
Ingredients:

5 eggs (250gms)
100gms flour (half the weight of the eggs, including the cornflour)
2 tbsps cornflour
1tsp baking powder
1 pinch salt
100gms sugar(less than half the weight of the eggs)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Purple food colour, optional
Filling/Topping
600gm mascarpone (homemade recipe here)
200ml cream (25% fat, that's all we get here)
1/2 tsp lavender
3-4 Tbsp icing sugar for filling
2 tbsp sugar ground with 1/4 tsp lavender seeds for topping
Food colour

Method:
For the sponge
Preheat oven to 190C , reduced to 180C after 10 mins of putting the cake in. Grease and line a 8" springform cake tin.
Sift the flour + baking powder + salt 3 times.
Beat the eggs and sugar well with hand beater till very thick ribbon falls and holds in place for at least 5 seconds (beat for approx 10mins). Add vanilla extract & beat for 1 min.
Gently fold in the sifted flour; mix lightly so that air doesn't escape.
Turn gently into tin and bake for 30-35 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 3 layers.Filling:
To flavour mascarpone, stir the lavender into 1/4 cup mascarpone & leave to infuse overnight.
Whip 400ml mascarpone with 4tbs powdered sugar until thick and holds peaks.
Place the bottom most layer of the sponge on your serving platter, spread half the lavender cream on it. Repeat with next 2 layers. Topping:
Whip remaining 200gm mascarpone with 200ml chilled cream and lavender sugar till holds peaks.
Reserve 1-2 tbsps for piping on top. Frost cake top & sides with rest. Put sponge fingers as a border if you like. Top with marzipan flowers. Chill well before serving.

♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥

My birthday was made even better by this sweet Delhi blogger, Nachiketa, who came along to wish me with a Coffee Tiramisu that she made especially for me. Drop-dead gorgeous cake, delicious & full of my beloved coffee, and beautiful flowers too. Thank you Nach... the cake was perfect in every way & so me...!

On another note, I have a 'Custom Thank You Cards' giveaway promotion on my blog today from one of my blog sponsors, UPrinting ! Holidays are just around the corner, ‘tis the season to be merry and giving custom thank you cards is the perfect gift to express your warm thoughts to your loved ones. One lucky reader will be jingling all the way with a pack of 50 Custom Thank You Cards with envelopes, all for free! UPrinting cards are made from high-quality paper and cardstock and will surely bring holiday cheer to your friends and family.

Prize Offered: (50 ct.) 7 x 5" (folded to 3.5 x 5") Custom Thank You Cards with plain envelopes.

If you wish to part of the giveaway, please leave a comment on how you would use the cards. I'd love to hear about your creative ideas!

The giveaway is on until November 28th. The prize will be announced thereafter.
Eligibility: Limited to US Residents due to shipping costs.

Disclosure : I will be receiving fifty (50) thank you cards from UPrinting.com for hosting this giveaway.

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Am adding a picture of the cake Yogalili made soon after I blogged my recipe. My son's immediate reaction... "Wow, will she give it to us? I want it now!!"...

...Thank you YL; you are a 'dream' student, sponge fingers & all !!

THE BLOGGERAID COOKBOOK ... a cookbook with a heart!

2009-11-18T23:41:00.004+05:30

Bloggers Uniting to Aid in the Alleviation of Hunger...

We've been at it for a while. It all began with 2 wonderful, large hearted and fabulous ladies who joined forces in aid of world hunger. Val @ More Than Burnt Toast & Giz @ Equal Opportunity Kitchen began weaving a dream, an almost impossible dream, but hey, they did it! They focused on expanding their message and how to help others in need, in this worldwide crisis of world hunger. Val & Giz launched BloggerAid, and united a band of bloggers from across the globe, inspiring us to create & contribute original recipes for a cookbook.

Now finally, after many months of editing, checking, re-editing, designing covers, giving suggestions, voting on the cover etc, we are excited. The members of BloggerAid-Changing the Face of Famine, have published a cookbook where 100% of the proceeds target children and education through the World Food Programme called School Meals. Purchases can be made by clicking here.

Do you like the book cover? (I am editing my post to reflect Giz's comment.) Actually, the idea for the 'globe nestled in a pair of small hands' for the cover was one I suggested much earlier during the design stage. I was amazed at the response & passion it evoked at the time. Was even more ecstatitic to know that it finally won in the voting stage by a large margin. The photographs for the cover (this one & the other proposed one) were both taken by a fabulous Sydney lifestyle blogger, Peter G of Souvlaki For The Soul. He is an extremely talented food blogger and photographer.

The BloggerAid-Changing the Face of Famine Cookbook is now available through the Create Space estore. The estore is a connection of Amazon. You won't find the book on the Amazon.com site - royalties for the School Meals Programme are much higher through the estore. The children need as much support as we can give them!!!

This side, 'Oven Roasted Baby Potatoes & French Beans' was my contribution to BloggerAid for our special cookbook. There are exciting recipes from across the globe to be found within this beautiful book. The BloggerAid Cook Book is a collection of international recipes illustrating that we can work together and unite for a greater cause. The over 130 authors of this cookbook are food bloggers from around the world who have endeavored to make a difference by raising funds for the World Food Programme and encompassing their passion for "all things foodie" at the same time.

BloggerAid Changing the Face of Famine
Bloggers Making a Difference...

...We are a growing group of international food bloggers determined to make a difference in aid of world famine. The love of food and community that brings us together drives the compassion of its members to reach out to our world to help those less fortunate than we are. Banded by a mission of helping to make a change in a world where starvation affects such a profound number of people, we will raise money and awareness for the hungry in communities both at home and abroad.

Want to join in? Check out the link here.

100% of BloggerAid-CFF's proceeds from the cookbook will be sent directly to the WFP's School Meals Programme, which benefits an average of 22 million hungry children each year. School meals are important on many levels. In countries where school attendance is low, the promise of at least one nutritious meal each day boosts enrollment and promotes regular attendance. Our children are the key to a better future.

In Val's words... This book is a virtual way for all of us, wherever we may be and however rich or poor we may be, to pull up a chair at the same table and share what we have. Click here to buy The BloggerAid Changing the Face of Famine Cookbook.
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SPICED APPLE CAKE ...Autumn Warmth!

2009-11-16T17:00:00.001+05:30

“Goodness comes out of people who bask in the sun, as it does out of a sweet apple roasted before the fire”
Charles Dudley Warner

Sometimes, or rather often as in my case, you see a tweet about a blog post, get to the post & you just know you are so making it, and soon. This was just what happened when my dear friend Petah tweeted about a Spiced Pear Cake the other day. 2 reactions were immediate - WOW!!, and the other... WHAT? Petah & baking sweet stuff? Don't recall seeing any bakes at his blog, evah, so I almost fell off my twitter column.

Lori & me raced across to his post. Sure enough, there was cake on his delicious Greek blog, the focus of the post Ricardo’s Spiced Pear Cake. When you see good food, the dish should catch your eye … IT DID!! I fell in love with it when I saw the cross-section of the cake with the pear embedded in it.

Fruit in baked treats has always been my weakness. This year it's reaching new heights, as I've baked extensively with pears, apples, peaches, apricots, plums & persimmons. There's nothing I find more charming, and the mind got thinking about the cake instantly. No pears at home, but just knew apples would work beautifully too. I had the fruit stewing pretty soon, and 'snail buddy' Petah was being tweeted for his wise advice.

The cake was a winner. Moist, bursting with Fall flavour, pretty ... one the kids loved too. It's a cake which has something warm for everyone. Sweet enough to satisfy the 'dessert' craving, cinnamon & spice flavours to keep you happy, very Autumn & very indulgent ... without being too heavy on calories. I dressed it up a teeny bit with a sifting of pumpkin pie spice, drizzle of powdered sugar dissolved in a little milk, and slivered almonds.

Spiced Apple Cake
Adapted from Food Network Canada
Inspired by Peter M @ Kalofogas
Ingredients:
Poached Apples
5 small apples, with stems
Juice of 1 lemon
4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 x cinnamon stick
Spice cake
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup ground almonds (see note)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg

Method:
Poached Apples
Peel the apples, leaving the stems in place and the apples whole. Working from the bottom, core the apples using a melon baller. Place the apple in a bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice. Set aside. Place the water, sugar and cinnamon in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the apples and the remaining lemon juice. With the syrup barely simmering, poach the apples until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a plate and let cool to room temperature. Set aside 60 ml (1/4 cup) poaching liquid.

Spice cake
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a rectangular tart pan {or line a 10 x 20-cm (4 x 8-inch) loaf pan with parchment paper, allowing the paper to overhang the long sides. Butter the other sides.}
In a bowl, combine the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, spices and salt. Set aside.
In another bowl, cream the butter with the brown sugar using an electric mixer. Add the egg and beat until the mixture is smooth. With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients, alternating with the reserved poaching liquid. Pour the batter into the loaf pan. Stand the apples in the batter, touching the bottom of the pan.
Bake 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the cake between 2 apples comes out clean. Let cool on a rack and unmould gently.

Variation: If you prefer, you can replace the ground almonds with another kind of finely chopped nut (hazelnuts, walnuts, etc.).

♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥

Before I go I have to say thank you to some foodie friends who have chosen to give me some precious awards. Each award makes me feel very honoured and special. Am thrilled to have found so many talented & fun bloggers that make blogging ever so worthwhile. You inspire me no end. Thank you from the bottom of my heart...

Barbara @ Barbara Bakes for the 'Inspiration Award',Rebecca @ Chow & Chatter for the 'Friends Award',

and Bash @ Madam Sucre, & Mimi @ Mimi's Kitchen for the 'Kreativ Award'.

" You make my day S M I L E ! Glad we met!! "

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CASHEW CHICKEN KUNG PAO... & FOOD BLOGGER CONNECT!

2009-11-09T11:45:00.003+05:30

“Ponder well on this point: the pleasant hours of our life are all connected by a more or less tangible link, with some memory of the table.”

Charles Pierre Monselet

Life is full of memories, surprises, connections. Who would have thought that 20 years ago the Berlin Wall would be broken down calling an end to the cold war? Then I was too young to even understand what it meant. The politics meant nothing in my secure little world, but I did get 2 pieces of the Berlin Wall from a cousin who stopped by Germany around that time. In those days, they used to let out hammers & chisels at 5 $ an hour. You could chip pieces of the wall & take them away as souvenirs. Novel way to bring a wall down...

Talk about cementing relationships, building walls, breaking them down, building relationships ... word play I find intriguing. I remember my cousin telling me that my 2 precious bits of the wall were a lot of hard work to chip because the wall was strong & made of concrete!! I looked at the 2 bits the other day, read editorials, saw news reports & pictures from the 60's and got goosebumps. Somehow thankfully, the world has moved forward from such tumultuous grey times ... leaving us with memories of days gone by, some sad, but mostly happy! It's always a good time to reflect back, look at the days gone by ... ...and then again, look forward to what life has to offer. My free spirited nature finds boundaries very restrictive, which brings me to blogging. Ah, the freedom of blogging without boundaries, and with it comes sweet joy. October came with a nice surprise ... a call for a food bloggers meet in the UK - FOOD BLOGGER CONNECT. The first of its kind being held in London on the 28th of November 2009, the prospects exciting beyond words. Food Blogger Connect is a fabulous conference/party being held in London on Saturday, November 28 at the Lebanese restaurant Levant. This is your chance to meet your fellow food bloggers face to face over a great meal, get to know them better, share ideas, network, plan. We will have an incredible line-up of speakers – some of whom you can help choose depending on what food-blog-related topics you want to hear about – with time for questions and discussion. And as a plus, we are all meeting up on Sunday for breakfast and a morning foodie tour.It's being organised by 4 very creative and passionate food bloggers, each very talented & fun all the way. Beth of Dirty Kitchen Secrets , Jamie of Life’s a Feast, Hilda of Saffron & Blueberry and Mowie of Mowielicious. My UK visa's finally arrived & there's excitement in the air as I will finally get to meet some of my favourite food bloggers. We tweet to each other everyday, virtually live each others lives on twitter, walk into each others kitchens, share our food, find 'FEET', swap ideas, squeal over highs & weep over lows ... am sure you get the drift. It's a tight knit community, addictive to the hilt, very supportive, filled with silly banter, & is growing bigger by the day.

This Cashew Kung Pao Chicken reminds me in many ways of my foodie friends, especially the four wonderful Food Blogger Connect folk. Like them, this dish is full of flavour, colourful, addictive, adaptable, forgiving, accommodating & popular! I saw it a few days ago at Cathy @ Noble Pig & knew there was no time to waste. I had to make it soon. I did, & it was finger licking good. I added some veggies to it, and garlic of course, because I can't think of a meal without garlic. I might add the veggies in towards the end next time, or saute them right after the cashews, reserve and toss back in the end as a variation. This was the first time I tossed lunch together, from scratch in 30 minutes flat; so QUICK and easy to put together. It also accepted the garlic, extra chili flakes & veggies with open arms. We loved this delicious & simple all time favourite chicken; oh-so-good over steaming hot rice. YUM!! Try it & you won't ever order out for it again!

Cashew Kung Pao Chicken
Adapted from Cathy @ Noble Pig
Adapted from Food & Wine by Cathy
Ingredients:
500gms boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2" pieces
5 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tablespoons sherry (I used apple wine)
1 Tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons sugar
2 Tablespoons white-wine vinegar or rice vinegar
2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
1/3 cup water
2 Tablespoons cooking oil
3/4 cup cashews (or peanuts)
4 spring onions, white bulbs and green tops cut separately into 1/2" pieces
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 small head of broccoli, broken into florets
1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
3-4 garlic cloves, sliced

Method:
In a medium bowl, toss the chicken with 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of the apple wine and 1 tablespoon of the cornstarch.
In a small bowl, combine the sugar, vinegar, sesame oil, water and the remaining 4 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of apple wine and 2 teaspoons of cornstarch.
In a wok or large frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over moderately high heat. Add the cashews and stirring until light brown, about 30 seconds. Remove from the pan.
Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Add the garlic & chili flakes. Stir for 2 minutes till fragrant & light pink. Add the white part of the spring onions, bell pepper & broccoli and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds.
Add the chicken with its marinade and cook, stirring, until almost done, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the soy sauce mixture and the scallion tops and simmer until the chicken is just done, about 1 minute longer. Stir in the cashews. Serve over steamed rice.

♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥

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CINNAMON BUTTERCREAM AUTUMN CAKE... for the Daring Kitchen

2009-11-08T00:13:00.007+05:30

"I dream for a living"
Steven Spielberg

How would you like to attend the New York Cake Convention thanks to the wonderful people at the U.S. Confection Connection? That's right, I read it correctly, but sadly a contest I am not eligible for because I don't stay in the US or Canada.

Still, anything with cake decoration, especially a theme based one gets me thinking, and a few mails exchanged with Ivonne where she said... "I really hope you take part, Deeba! Even though it's for US/Canada residents, we are offering a prize to a participant outside of North America. It's a cookbook but still ... we hope you take part!" ... and I continued to dream!

Heck, The Daring Kitchen, in conjunction with the U.S. Confection Connection, is offering one lucky person the chance to attend the New York Cake Convention from January 2 to January 5 on an all-expenses paid trip. You've still got time to submit your creation by midnight, Eastern Standard Time, on November 9th. All you Daring Baker kind of people who qualify... go for it!

Cake decorating is a passionate hobby for me. I don't get it professionally perfect, as I have no professional training, and lack the tools & basic ingredients like whipping cream etc, but I manage to some extent. A comment by Manggy on twitter a while ago on this Chocolate & Strawberry Mascarpone Cake for Pink October, made me do a jig of joy. He said something to the effect of it being my signature style, and then it dawned on me. He was right , (like he always is...LOL)! COOL! I've actually developed a signature style over the years without realizing it!

So when I saw the shout out for the competition on Daring Kitchen and Ivonnes blog, Cream Puffs in Venice, I knew what I wanted to do. Even better that the contest was theme based; so much easier to focus. My thought ... a fat less sponge with a butter/clarified butter/cream frosting & my signature piping on top. Turned out to be a bit of an uphill drive as piping the buttercream wasn't as smooth as I wanted, so I had to scrape it off & begin all over again. I finally smoothened the cake out with a light whipped cream cover, left it to set & then piped swirls free-hand.

Mr PAB was kind enough to film it as I had promised Happy Cook I would definitely take a video the next time I attempted the piping. I promised her a lesson in piping, but distances being what they are, this seemed a better idea. I recycle milk bags we get here for piping designs etc. Pardon my green nails but I hastily abandoned making marzipan leaves to get this filmed. My first video...

Simplistic cake decorating is my passion, and I enjoyed doing this. A contest asking you to decorate a cake to represent what the Autumn means to you...Starting with a 9-inch cake as your base, create a visual representation of one of the most colourful, beautiful seasons: Autumn.

Your cake can be homemade or store-bought, but you MUST start with a completely undecorated cake. It can also be a single layer cake or a multi-layer cake, that’s up to you!You can use any medium to decorate your cake (i.e., buttercream, fondant, sugarcraft), however, it must all be edible (no non-edible decorations) and it must all be made by YOU!!! This is my cake on Autumn ... a beautiful season, when the leaves beginning to turn beautiful colours, where brightly coloured pumpkins stand out in contrast to pale leaves. Colours that weave dreamy designs, each complimenting the other. My inspiration ... Colours of Autumn & Pumpkins. My cake ... Cinnamon Buttercream Autumn Cake, with pumpkins made out of home made marzipan!

Cinnamon Buttercream Autumn Cake
Ingredients:
Sponge
4 eggs (200gms)
125 gms powdered sugar
125 gms plain flour
2 tbsp cornflour/optional (makes the cake texture lighter)
1 tsp baking powder
1 pinch of salt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tsp cinnamon powder

Buttercream filling & frosting
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
2 tbsps clarified butter
2 tbsps low fat cream
3-4 tbsps powdered sugar
2tsps cinnamon powder (to taste)
Icing Sugar - 3-4 Tbsp

Topping
200ml low fat cream
1-2 tbsps powdered sugar food colours as required
Marzipan for pumpkin patch
Home made/from scratch recipe here
Method:
For the sponge
Preheat oven to 190C , reduce to 180C after 10mins of putting the cake in. Grease and line a 9" spring form cake tin.
Sift the flour + baking powder + salt + cornflour + cinnamon powder 3 times.
Beat the eggs and sugar well with beater till very thick ribbon falls and holds in place for at least 5 seconds (beat for approx 10mins).
Add vanilla extract and beat for 1 min. Gently fold in the sifted flour; mix lightly so that air doesn't escape.
Turn gently into tin and bake for 30-35 mins till done. Once done, remove from tin after 5 mins and leave on rack to cool completely.
Cut horizontally into 3 layers. (Mark side with colour to make it easy to stack back later)

Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting/Filling
Whip all ingredients until thick and frosting holds peaks. Sandwich & frost cake with cinnamon buttercream. Leave to set in fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Topping:
Whip the low fat cream & sugar till holds peaks. Colour as desired.
Reserve about 2-3 tbsps in a baggie, and lightly frost the cake to give a smooth finish. Garnish with marzipan pumpkins & leaves.
Chill well before serving.

♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥

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Just got a mail from the lovely ladies of the Daring Kitchen...

Hi Deeba!!!

Guess what ... you're our winner of the copy of Roland Mesnier's Basic to Beautiful Cakes! While we're sorry your entry couldn't count towards the trip to NYC, your creation was so beautiful you were the hands-down winner among our non-North American entries. Congratulations! Send us your address and we'll send you a copy of the book!

Ivonne and Lis

IT'S RAINING PIES HALLELUJAH...SIMPLE PUMPKIN & CREAM PATISSERIE

2009-11-05T14:30:00.008+05:30

“Promises and pie-crust are made to be broken.”
Jonathan Swift

My love affair with pumpkin pie, all things pie continues. The first ever one I made was the Praline Pumpkin Pie from this stunning book Park Avenue Potluck CELEBRATIONS, a book published for cancer cure research & a celebration of food in every way. It's a gorgeous book, with stunning photographs taken in stately NY homes, and is divided into seasonal menus. I found that quite a unique and novel idea. That pie was quite the best pie I've ever made, and so I decided to explore my love for pumpkin more. There are a lot of folk who don't like 'pumpkin' anything & I'm really glad to discover we're a pumpkin loving family as far as desserts go in any case. So now I try and keep some puree in the fridge to try something new. Pumpkin puree on hand makes pie making easy. Cookie dough makes it fun. This was a less luxurious pie as compared to the Praline Pumpkin Pie, which would be my first choice for special pie, but was delicious nevertheless. The kids enjoyed chomping straight warm slices of it. The shortbread cookie dough added some luxury and delicious flavour to it. You can use a regular pie base too if you like.

Simple Pumpkin Pie

Recipe by Julia, author Of Dozen Flours
Adapted from Megans Cooking here
Ingredients:
One regular pie shell, or a pie shell made out of brown sugar shortbread dough, baked blind & cooled

Pumpkin Pie Layer
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree

Topping
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Drizzle
1/4 cup low fat cream
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C.
Filling:

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.
Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Spread evenly over the pie shell.(mixture will be thick and cookie batter-ish.)
Combine white sugar, walnuts & cinnamon in a little bowl. Evenly sprinkle cinnamon mixture over the top of the batter.
Bake for 33-40 minutes (maybe more depending on your oven) or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean. Let the pie cool completely (about an hour).

Optional: After the pie is completely cool, mix a little low fat cream with pumpkin pie spice and drizzle over the top. Alternately, serve warm slices with unsweetened whipped cream.

From one who never quite made pies of this sort before. Looking back, I now am amazed at how far I've come & how adventurous I've become. From someone completely eggophobic, to someone who now makes pies using eggs ... WOOT! Makes me do a happy jig, and keeps the family guessing what the next dessert is going to be.

The second pie is a result of a what I thought was a ruined pastry shell meant for the Praline Pumpkin Pie, a dessert which was an absolute celebration of everything pie ... smooth, luxurious & satisfying. My first attempt was far from perfect, maybe given the warm weather. Had to use it elsewhere. I also had 4 egg yolks left over from the Daring Bakers macaron challenge and a shout out on twitter had Pam @ The Cooking Ninja to my rescue, with MILs cream patisserie recipe. For me, who wouldn't touch egg yolks with a barge pole, it was a paradox of sorts. But the cream patisserie was a real breeze. I even began to enjoy the ease of working with the yolks!! Could I dunk it into the shell and make pie? Did!!

A while later Hilda gave me words of assurance that it may just work, and Pam was all enthusiastic about experimenting. I had nothing to lose...and the experiment came out a winner. WE HAD PIE!! A delicious pie, topped with a strawberry concentrate I made with frozen strawberries & topped with grated chocolate curls... Can you tell how good it was? The family loved it!

Crème Pâtissière, Strawberry & Chocolate Pie
Ingredients:
A 9" pie shell (Pam has a good recipe for short crust pastry/pâte brisée)
1 quantity French Pastry Cream (recipe at bottom)
1/2 cup strawberry conserve
Dark chocolate at room temperature for topping

Method:
Pour the cool pastry cream into the pie shell and leave to set overnight.
Ladle the strawberry conserve/concentrate, and spread gently but uniformly. Grate chocolate directly over the pie. Refrigerate till ready to serve.
Crème Pâtissière (French Pastry Cream)
as adapted minimally from The Cooking Ninja
Enough for 1 9" pie shell (serves 4 otherwise)
Ingredients:
½ litre milk
4 egg yolks

1/2 a vanilla bean
130g fine sugar
2 sachets vanilla sugar
30g cornflour
a pinch of salt
Method:
Bring the milk, vanilla sugar & a pinch of salt to a gentle boil in a pot.
In the meantime, whisk the egg yolks and sugar with a wooden spoon in a big bowl until the mixture becomes pale and light. Stir in the flour slowly until it is thoroughly mixed with the egg mixture.
Pour the boiling milk into the mixture a little by little while whisking continuously to avoid curdling. And then stir in the rest of the milk until the mixture is well combined.
Transfer the whole mixture into a pot, with seeds scraped from the vanilla bean, and heat it under low setting. Stir it constantly with the wooden spoon or spatula scraping the sides and bottom until it has thickened.
Once the custard has thickened, take it off the heat, pour it into a clean bowl and let it cool down.

Just before I leave you, I have some fun news for fellow foodies and Macapassionatas!

Jamie @ Lifes A Feast and I have finally organized the second great Mac Attack and with it, we have created our own virtual Mac Kitchen, a place where we can bake macs together, share recipes, share failures and successes, ask questions, help each other through the difficulties and the bumps along the road, encourage and cheer each other on MACTWEETS!

Spread the word to other foodies and food bloggers! Don't be afraid! Let the Mac Games begin!

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APPLE & WALNUT BROWN BUTTER TARTLETS

2009-11-02T21:57:00.010+05:30

"Stressed spelled backwards is desserts. Coincidence? I think not!"
Author Unknown

Yay, it's November! Really surprised how silently it snuck up on me, and am still wondering what happened to poor old October. It went Q U I C K, but I'm not complaining as I love November, not least because it's my birthday month. It is possibly the best month of the year in North India, the onset of a beautiful winter, temperatures more like a European autumn as Pam said the other day. Our winters see new leaves sprouting, chrysanthemums, carnations, oodles of farm fresh vegetables & bright sunny days. We wake up to slightly nippy mornings, with the slightest hint of a morning mist, birds chirping & kids bundled up already walking briskly to school. Yes, days of gorgeous weather are here again! Did I forget to mention 'cricket season'? Yes, that too!

The downside, these are days far shorter than I can handle. Day breaks late, the sun sets by 6pm & the kids are home before you know it. I can keep talking till the cows come home, but the thing is that I am stressed. The lad is leaving on a 3 day trip to the 'The Himalayan Bear Stream Camp', nestled in the Himalayas, and is driving me crazy. I have packed & unpacked his rucksack a trillion times, he is talking non-stop, wants to take 4 dozen cookies just in case he doesn't like the food ... H E L P! In the midst of this mayhem, I am trying to post an apple dessert that I fell in love with, and have made twice this week. It's also apple season in full swing here, and this year’s seen a good apple crop. Last year we had unseasonal weather and a failed crop, but this year seems good. I saw a 'Peaches to the Rescue' post at An Edible Symphony, Muneeba's delicious blog, and the mind was set. This I had to make, and make soon, but I knew I'd use apples or maybe pears since peach season was long gone. Her post sang to me, & played on my mind all day long. I made it soon enough, twice in a week actually because it was DELISH. The second time around I made it in dessert rings without a pastry base. Cut the calories, but kept the taste...nom nom nom!! Browned butter in the list of ingredients immediately caught my eye. I find the use of clarified butter/browned butter/ghee in baking particularly interesting & intriguing. Most Indian households always have a jar of ghee/clarified butter on hand, and there's nothing more convenient than using it. If you find a box/carton at your local Indian store, it's worth the buy. More so because it has a long shelf life, and doesn't need refrigeration. Just make sure you store it in an airtight container in a cool place. I used clarified butter in here in Dark Chocolate, Ricotta & Ginger Tartlets with Vanilla Poached Pears , and here Plum & Dried Black Grapes Frangipane Clafoutis and also in this Chocolate Genoise Cake with Mocha Mascarpone. Ghee is the traditional Sanskrit word for clarified butter. Chefs often use clarified butter because it will not burn during frying (this is known as a high smoking point), and possesses a more buttery flavor. Ghee lacks hydrogenated oils and is a popular choice for health-conscious cooks as well. Additionally, since all the milk proteins have been removed during the clarifying process, ghee gains further nutritional value because it's lactose free, making it a safer alternative for those who are lactose intolerant.
Several cultures make ghee outside of India. Egyptians make a product called samna baladi, literally meaning "local ghee", virtually identical to ghee in terms of process and end result. In Ethiopia, niter kibbeh is made and used in much the same way as ghee, but with spices added during the process that result in a distinctive taste. Moroccans (especially Berbers) take this one step further, aging spiced ghee in the ground for months or even years, resulting in a product called smen. In Northeastern Brazil, a non-refrigerated butter very similar to ghee, called manteiga-de-garrafa (Butter-in-a-bottle) or manteiga-da-terra (Butter of the land), is common. In Europe it is also widely used. For example, Wiener Schnitzel is traditionally fried in a version of ghee called Butterschmalz.

Apple Brown Butter Tartlets
adapted from Peachy Keen Brown Butter Bars from An Edible Symphony
Serves 8 I used some 4" puff pastry pie shells I made with left over Daring Bakers puff pastry dough for one lot, and went sans base, that is just fruit, for another lot. Both were great, and I loved the good taste & lower calories in the baseless ones! The kids got just the crustless ones which they loved! Do check out An Edible Symphony for her crust recipe.
Ingredients for the filling:
1/2 cup vanilla sugar (or regular sugar)
2 large eggs
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup clarified butter/melted ghee
4 apples, peeled and sliced
Method:
Preheat oven to 190C.
For the filling, blend eggs, salt, sugar and vanilla in a bowl. Add flour and whisk until smooth. Very slowly drizzle in the browned butter until smooth and completely blended.
Arrange two layers of apple slices on the pre-baked crust, (or within a foil lined dessert/tart ring if going sans pastry).
Sprinkle with chopped walnuts.
Pour the brown butter mixture carefully over the fruit. Sprinkle with brown sugar.
Bake for 20-25 mins till golden and puffed (or 40-45 minutes if baking 1 large pie).
Serve warm or at room temperature with some unsweetened whipped cream, or vanilla ice-cream for added luxury. ♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥

I have a winner for the 'Custom Stickers' giveaway promotion on my blog from one of my blog sponsors, UPrinting !

The winner is Michelle @ Big Black Dogs. Congrats Michelle. Will just mail you...

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CUTE SPOOKS FOR GREAT HALLOWTWEET...Meringue Ghosts

2009-10-30T22:45:00.003+05:30

"Ghosts, like ladies, never speak till spoke to."

Richard Harris Barham

Onto my last post for the Great HallowTweet and it's been a fun ride this week. Thanks to a call from Renee @ Flamingo Musings, and I joined this fun & spooky ride. Take time to stop by the blogroll with the lit-up pumpkin on my sidebar & check out some Great HallowTweet posts.

The kids got adventurous this week on seeing the ghosts I meringued around with. The son decided to dig out to a book to make face paint at home, and the daughter wanted to paint his face.

He, who is always in for some wayward fun, was a good volunteer ... until she began plastering him. But it was too late, and this is how it ended. Spooky... and she did a good job! She also sat the whole day melting candles left over from Diwali to make a set of candles for Halloween. She didn't let me burn it for too long though!! I made these meringues out of egg whites saved for my Daring Baker French macarons. I had plenty saved because I was ready for failure, but that didn't happen this time. I had a pretty easy macaron ride, thanks to Monsieur Lebovitz's recipe, so I turned to GHOSTS! The son had a poetry week in school and they explored interesting forms of poetry including haiku, autobio, acoustic, CinQuain, limericks, etc. The students each made a little poem book with their creative thoughts. The poems made for interesting reading. Let me share his autobio with you which had mention of 'ghosts' so...

Your first name... Rohan
Four descriptive traits... kind, cool, peacfull, awesome
Sibling of... brother of meher
Lover of (people, ideas)... Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, my dad
Who feels... sad, happy, good
Who needs... PSP, computer, TV
Who gives... Love, Peace, Joy
Who fears... dark, my sister, ghosts
Who would like to see... Jeff hardy, Matt Hardy, Kane
Resident of (your city)... Beverly Hills
Your last name... Rajpal

Of course I asked him to pass these meringue ghosts if they frightened him. I got a 'charming' smile back as if to say, but these are sweet Mama. Here are my ghosts, and a few mice. The mice 'happened' because there was just a bit of meringue left in the bag. I used roasted pumpkin seeds to give them ears. You can use flaked almonds too.

My little ghosts were meant to be white but they began to turn brown about 30 minutes into baking a 100C. Maybe an element issue with my poor old oven, but they tasted darned nice. The kids loved the crispy exteriors and slightly chewy interiors. I think they liked these creatures better than macs!

Meringue Ghosts for Halloween
adapted from Joy of Baking
2 egg whites (120 grams)
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 powdered vanilla sugar

Method:
Preheat oven to 105C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Beat the egg whites on low-medium speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat the whites until they hold soft peaks. Add the sugar, a little at a time, and continue to beat until the meringue holds very stiff peaks.
Spoon the meringue into a large self-sealing plastic bag. Use a sharp pair of scissors to snip 1/2 inch off from one corner of the bag to form a makeshift piping bag.Hold the bag upright and squeeze the meringue, forming a wide base, a slightly smaller middle, and a curled top (almost as if you were piping a soft-serve ice-cream cone) to form a chubby, upright ghost shape.
Carefully press two candy eyes or two silver dragees or miniature chocolate chips into each meringue ghost.
Bake the meringues for approximately 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 hours or until they are dry and crisp to the touch and easily separate from the parchment paper. Turn off the oven, open the door, and leave the meringues in the oven to finish drying several hours, or even overnight.
♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥

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DARING BAKERS MAKE FRENCH MACARONS...YES, TIME FOR FEET AGAIN!

2009-10-27T12:57:00.002+05:30

"Continuous effort—not strength or intelligence—is the key to unlocking our potential."

Winston Churchill

It's the 27th again, time to post the Daring Bakers challenge, a wonderful & fun group brought together by Lisa of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice. This month we were led into a merry dance; the challenge was to find 'FEET'. Hail the great French macaron/macaroon, an elegant French cookie that I find entirely temperamental and fiddly. One that has reduced me to tears in the past, brought me to my knees in the quest for 'feet'...yet one that gave me untold joy when I finally found them.

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

Unless you’ve been frozen in permafrost for the past five years, you’ve likely noticed that cupcake bakeries have popped up all over like iced mushrooms. Knock one down, and three take its place. Much has been made about not only the cupcake’s popularity, but also its incipient demise as the sweet du jour. Since we seem to be a culture intent on the next sensation, pundits, food enthusiasts and bloggers have all wondered what this sensation might be. More than a few have suggested that French-style macaroons (called macarons in France) might supplant the cupcake. This may or may not come to pass, but the basic premise of the French macaroon is pretty damned tasty.In the United States, the term “macaroon” generally refers to a cookie made primarily of coconut. But European macaroons are based on either ground almonds or almond paste, combined with sugar and egg whites. The texture can run from chewy, crunchy or a combination of the two. Frequently, two macaroons are sandwiched together with ganache, buttercream or jam, which can cause the cookies to become more chewy. The flavor possibilities and combinations are nigh endless, allowing infinitely customizable permutations.

French macaroons are notorious for being difficult to master. Type in “macaroon,” “French macaroon” or “macaron” in your search engine of choice, and you will be inundated not only with bakeries offering these tasty little cookies, but scores and even hundreds of blogs all attempting to find the perfect recipe, the perfect technique. Which one is right? Which captures the perfect essence of macaroons? The answer is all of them and none of them. Macaroons are highly subjective, the subject of passionate, almost Talmudic study and debate. Chewy? Crisp? Age your egg whites? Ground the nuts or use nut meal or nut flour? Cooked sugar syrup, or confectioners’ sugar? In the words of a therapist, what do you think is the ideal macaroon? The answer lies within you...

A mac obssessed group of us foodie pals on twitter had ventured into mac territory a few months ago, and it took me many attempts before I got it right. 'Many' translate into 6 attempts on a single morning, in a mad frenzy, batch after batch, failure after failure. It was on the 7th attempt that I finally tasted success with David Lebovitz's French Chocolate Macarons with Pistachio Buttercream. All credit went to a great bunch of tweeples who held my hand. Of them many were Daring Bakers - Meeta, Aparna, Hilda, Jamie, Ria & Barbara! Jamie was crowned the Mac Queen...and boy, am I glad I got all that experience. What worked for me then was a much lower temperature and David Lebovitz's recipe; I now call him the 'Mac Mastah'!!When the challenge was announced this month I was doing the salsa, the flamenco, the tango, the cha-cha-cha ... even the macarona, if there was one! We needed 'FEET' here, and I knew just what I had to do; also knew just how to behave if they failed. No more tears, no more panic. Many egg whites lined up, almond meal made from scratch & I was ready to roll. Popped batch one into the oven with the DB recipe, and the first lot at 93C turned out beautifully, with the prettiest feet developing. All was lost at 190C & my tray bubbled over. UGH! I should have known, because that's just what happened when I tried a David Lebovitz recipe during the mac attack at 190C.

Then again, no drama. Calmly wrapped the parchment paper, binned it & began all over again, but this time with my tried & tested 140C variant on the Lebovitz recipe, sans cocoa. Found colour inspiration and sound advice from Trissa @ Trissalicious. One look at her blog, & her beautiful coloured macs, returned me to an uber confident baker, unfazed by failure. Exchanged mails with her, and was back at it in no time, again with a 1 egg white batch. I divide the batter into 5 portions and added a drop of neon colour to each. Ended with vanilla sugar flavoured, pretty coloured French macarons, not perfect, but good enough for me. Loved doing the challenge, maybe because it worked for me. I sandwiched them with a vanilla butter cream, and the kids loved them. I'd do this again soon, but for the fact that I find macarons far too sweet. I might try them again in the winter with a bittersweet chocolate filling, or might try them again just because I love the way they look! They really are stunning little creatures!I did a batch with pumpkin pie spice too, just because I had some pumpkin puree left over from this Praline Pumpkin Pie here, and I wanted to make something pumpkin pie spice flavoured. These turned out delish too, but we finished them sooner because of the pumpkin puree filling, as it had more moisture. I preferred these to the vanilla buttercream ones, as I found them less sweet.Awesome tasty cookies. I'm including them here for the Great HallowTweet ... a Halloween Bloghop by Renee @ Flamingo Musings (refer my post here)!

Vanilla Macarons with Vanilla Buttercream
as adapted from David Lebovitz's recipe
(I made half this recipe )
Macaron Batter
1 cup powdered vanilla sugar
½ cup powdered almonds
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
Liquid neon colours

Method:
Preheat oven to 140 degrees C.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and have a pastry bag with a plain tip (about 1/2-inch, 2 cm) ready.
Grind together the powdered sugar with the almond powder and cocoa so there are no lumps; use a blender or food processor since almond meal that you buy isn't quite fine enough.
In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they begin to rise and hold their shape. While whipping, beat in the granulated sugar until very stiff and firm, about 2 minutes. (They should stay in the bowl if you hold it upside down. try at your own peril!!)
Carefully fold the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula. When the mixture is just smooth and there are no streaks of egg white, stop folding and scrape the batter into the pastry bag (standing the bag in a tall glass helps if you're alone).
Divide into bowls and gently mix in the colour if you want too. See Trissa's post here.
Pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1-inch (3 cm) circles (about 1 tablespoon each of batter), evenly spaced one-inch (3 cm) apart.
Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the counter top to flatten the macarons, then bake them for 15-18 minutes.
Let cool completely then remove from baking sheet.

Vanilla Bean Buttercream
Double the ingredients if you are making the whole recipe above.
50gms butter at room temperature
50gms powdered vanilla sugar
1/4 vanilla bean
1 tbsp light cream
Method:
Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into a bowl with all the ingredients, & whip together to firm consistency.
Pipe onto cookies & sandwich. Store in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Note: For pumpkin spice macarons, 1 added 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice to almond meal & blended for a few seconds. For pumpkin buttercream, I mixed 1 tbsp of pumpkin puree to a white chocolate ganache. These macs should be consumed faster because the moisture content in the pumpkin buttercream could lead them to be soggy faster than the regular buttercream.

♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥

Do stop by and see the other Daring Bakers around the world find their feet HERE!

Thank you Amy @ Baking Without Fear for this wonderful challenge!

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Persimmon Flan - I've Got My Eye Set On You...BOO!

2009-10-25T14:56:00.000+05:30

"Where there is no imagination there is no Horror."

Arthur Conan Doyle, Sr.

I've got my eye set on you, also got my mind set on you, you Bootiful flan!

When Renee @ Flamingo Musings asked last month if I celebrated Halloween, and if I'd like to join her and gang for the Great HallowTweet, a halloween Bloghop, I was quite unsure. Nothing like Halloween here, and actually we don't get 'scary stuff' in stores that I could include in my posts. So I was compelled to say no, but the temptation drew me in. As days went by, ideas kept cropping up, with twitterverse on fire with hallow tweets galore, I was sitting on the edge. I eventually jumped on board the Great HallowTweet and was having fun in no time. I had a flashing thought from a brilliant Halloween post from Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella, & decided to top my flan with an eyeball made out of marzipan. Made some marzipan (from almond meal that I made for my mac escapades), and have to say that my foodie journey is becoming more and more exciting! This flan is made out of persimmons, my first adventure with this very temperamental and unpredictable fruit!

Persimmons, known to the ancient Greeks as "the fruit of the gods" are rightly royal fruit. Had seen this stunning fruit on blogs before but never met one in my life. The sight of the basket full at the local market brought me to a grinding halt. The man at the shop tried desperately to sell me bruised, soft fruit, insisting that the others would 'catch my throat', and I gave the poor soul a disdainful look. ''Trying to palm off yesterdays fruit to me, eh?", so I lovingly sat & chose beautiful firm persimmons in gorgeous fall colours!

A few tweets later, discussions with the Greek God of Food, Petah @Kalofagas, and I was harshly enlightened. What a fruit the persimmon is. Astringent beyond belief if unripe, and luscious to eat when bruised & soft. There are 2 popular varieties, the hachiya and the fuyu, the latter being less astringent, and therefore an easier one to deal with.

I find the persimmon too fiddly for me, somewhat like French macarons. Strange comparison you might think, but both have the potential to bring you to your knees. I've been there, done that, with both the persimmon and with macarons, so I really know! Both have the foodie in me perplexed. Just when I think I've got a handle on either, they reduce me to tears! Lesson learnt - Fruits of the God & 'he' knows how to figure them out! Unfortunately, I found the fruit downright fussy for me. It took me one astringent bite to decide. ACK, it had 'caught my throat'! Thereafter began my battle. Sat them in a brown paper bag for days. Are they ripe? Cut one ... ugh! Finally got 2-3 ripe fruit & was forced to chuck 2-3 unripe ones. Hmmm... just when I was ready to throw the towel in, I saw a tweet from Lisa @ Lisa is Cooking. She made Persimmon Flan, and boy did it look good! WOW!! That was enough for me to get back into the game. I discussed ingredients with her on ever dependable Twitter, and with great inspiration from her, arrived at this beautiful flan. I wouldn't say that it had a discernable persimmon taste (or maybe I know only of astringent tastes), but the flan was drop dead gorgeous, and very delicious. No eggy taste either. Beautifully behaved, it turned out easily from the mold. I made 3 4" flans, and 8 tiny little ones in fluted tart pans.

Persimmon Flan

Inspired by advice from Lisa @ Lisa Is Cooking
Persimmon puree
5-6 very ripe fuyu persimmons, calyx (cap)/stem removed
1 stick cinnamon
1 tsp cinnamon powder (optional; you can even use pumpkin pie spice)
juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup soft brown sugar
1/4 cup apple juice

Method:
Place all of the above in a heavy bottom saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes, a bit more if the fruit aren't very very ripe.
Cool & refrigerate overnight for the flavours to marry.
Discard the cinnamon stalk (& seeds of the persimmon, if any. Mine were seedless), whiz in the blender. Yield 1cup persimmon puree.Caramel
1 cup granular sugar
1 tbsp water
Method:
Make a caramel out of 1 cup granular sugar. Heat 1 cup sugar in a heavy bottom pan,& stir gently only when it begins melting.Once it is golden brown & completely melted, remove form the fire & add 1 tbsp of water. BE CAREFUL at this point as it is dangerously hot, and will splutter. Allow them to bubble for a few seconds & come together. Quickly pour into your molds & twirl the molds around to coat bottom and sides (or only bottoms if you like).Custard:
1 cup persimmon puree
200ml low fat cream (25%)
4 small eggs
1/2 cup almond meal
1 tin/400ml condensed ilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon powder
Method:
Preheat oven to 170C
Place all of the above in a big bowl & whisk for 1 minute to blend.
Pour into prepared caramel lined molds, just below the tops.
Place in a roasting tin, and pour enough hot water in the roasting tin to some about half way up the sides of the molds.
Bake for 25-30minutes, until a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Cool, and then chill. (Do not try to turn out the custard warm/hot. It will fall apart) Run a knife around the edges, or give the mold a good shake, and turn it out into he serving plate. Pour any remaining caramel over the top. (Tastes mighty fine with a LITTLE drizzle of cream too)

♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥

Be sure to take the Halloween hoppa which you will find on my sidebar & check out the rest of the gang on the Great HallowTweet! Thanks for taking me on Renee ... BOOOOOO!!
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ROASTED PLUM & BROWN SUGAR CAKES...delicious dessert!

2009-10-23T08:00:00.000+05:30

“What is more mortifying than to feel that you have missed the plum for want of courage to shake the tree?”
Logan Pearsall Smith

T'was the day after Diwali, and the bazaars were finally nice and empty. The festive frenzy had ceased, & I could stroll at leisure. The fruit vendor came to me with a clutch of plums, firm, large & very tempting. While he tried to talk me into buying them, I could see Aran's beautiful Roasted Plum Muscavado Sugar Cakes in the back of my head. I didn't need convincing at all! Came home bounding with renewed energy. Yes, indeed a bonanza to find some plums when fall is here, and time for a bake with fruit again. Made the cakes with whatever I had on hand. Me, being me, the adventurous 'substitution baker' played around. No muscavado sugar here, so used soft brown sugar. Didn't have sour cream, so used my own oft-used concoction of hung yogurt, low fat cream & a dash of lime juice. Also added some almond meal to it. I still have a bagful I made for my escapades with French macarons in eager anticipation of 'feet'!

I like the addition of almond meal to bakes. It adds oomph to the texture, making each bite more interesting, and is also nutritionally good. Just 1/4 to 1/2 cup of almond meal in desserts is becoming more of a norm with me. So far, the experiments have ended on a positive note! These turned out to be pretty cakes indeed, and the house smelt so good. I made just half the recipe, using my 3" tart rings I had bought from a trip into Old Delhi not too long ago. I love an opportunity to use them, and this was just the thing. Petit fours, individually plated desserts etc are the love of my life. A little dusting of sugar, a tiny dollop of cream, just the tiniest hint of silver leaf, a few slivers of almonds ... all dressed up & looking good!! Just the way I like it...

Roasted Plum and Soft Brown Sugar Cakes
adapted from this recipe @ Canelle et Vanille
Makes 6 mini cakes, 3" each
Ingredients:
90 grams butter, room temperature
75 grams soft brown sugar sugar
60 grams granulated sugar
Zest of 1 lime
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
90 grams sour cream (I used a mix of hung yogurt + 1 tbsps low fat cream + juice of 1/2 lime)
90 grams flour
30gms almond meal
1/2 tsp baking powder
2-3 firm, ripe plums
Soft brown sugar for sprinkling Method:
Cream butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, lime zest and vanilla together until light. Add the egg, and beat. Scrape the bowl well. Add the sour cream and mix. Add the flour and baking powder and mix until batter comes together.
Lightly butter and flour mini cake molds (I used tart rings that are 3"x1"). Pipe the batter into the molds. Place thin slices of plum on top and sprinkle with some more brown sugar.
Bake at 180CF for about 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Wait until slightly cool to unmold them gently.

Serve warm, with a little dollop of cream, if desired!

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PRALINE PUMPKIN PIE ... FALLING FOR DESSERT!

2009-10-20T09:39:00.000+05:30

"No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers."

Laurie Colwin

An exciting new cookbook, Park Avenue Potluck CELEBRATIONS is being published today. When Kelsey @ The Naptime Chef invited me for the virtual "dinner" party for the books' publications, I was delighted, and said yes quickly. Kelsey and I had met earlier at Monica Bhide's virtual dinner for Modern Spice, and we hope one day we meet in real time too.

Park Avenue Potluck Celebrations is a beautiful user-friendly cookbook, and is once again, a fundraising vehicle for cancer care and research. This book is the highly anticipated follow-up to the best selling cookbook, Park Avenue Potluck.

Created and authored by members of The Society of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), the new cookbook is to be released nationwide in October 2009 and offers advice on how to celebrate in style with a compilation of sensational recipes, entertaining ideas, party-planning tips, and personal anecdotes from New York’s most celebrated hostesses. Award-winning food writer and contributing New York Times columnist, Florence Fabricant authors and edits each recipe as well as contributes to the book.In addition to having fun, this virtual dinner party will be supporting the fight against cancer. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of Park Avenue Potluck CELEBRATIONS will provide funding for The Society’s patient care, research and education programs at MSKCC. Founded in 1946 by a group of pioneering women, The Society strives to bring comfort and care to improve the quality of life of patients treated at the Center.

Kelsey offered me a choice of making a drink, appetizer, side dish, entrée or dessert. I tried very hard not to follow my heart, and go for an appetizer or main course, but that didn't happen. Heart won over the head. Dessert it had to be, and what better choice for Fall than this fabulous Praline Pumpkin Pie from this beautiful book.

I have to admit this is my first go at making pumpkin pie, something I've wanted to do for long, and now can see what we've been missing. India is not a 'pumpkin puree in a can' country, and if we need pumpkin puree, we just need to do it from scratch. The recipe was exciting enough to get me to do just that. Making pumpkin puree is simple as can be, and what's better than fresh pumpkin puree whenever you want it, and at a fraction of the cost.

Bought a 500-600gm pumpkin, halved it, took the innards out & roasted it in the oven at medium heat, cut side down, for about 35-40 minutes. Scraped the roasted pumpkin, hot, from the peel, & mashed it immediately with a fork. I added the sugar & the pie spices into it at this time itself . The favours were beautiful. The puree can be made in advance and kept in the fridge for a couple of days. Yield approximately 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups of pumpkin puree.

The pie was delicious beyond belief. This was the first time I'd seen a pie recipe with a praline topping, and was slightly skeptical in the beginning. One bite transported us to pie heaven, and banished all doubts. The caramelised walnuts with brown sugar & butter took it to an all new level. The combination of flavours made for a perfect fall marriage. Unsweetened whipped cream added the guarantee of luxury! I'm not to good at making pie shells from scratch, so this was my second attempt. The first pie shell was used in another pie, which I shall post later. I hope to get a crash course in making pie shells soon.

Praline Pumpkin Pie
from Park Avenue Potluck CELEBRATIONS
Makes 8 to 10 servings
Ingredients:
½ recipe Pastry for Pies (page 185)
2 tablespoons apricot jam
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons canned, frozen, or freshly cooked unseasoned pumpkin puree
¾ cup granulated sugar
1¾ cups heavy cream
6 tablespoons whole milk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons dark rum
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup light brown sugar
½ cup coarsely chopped pecans
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Method:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Roll out the pastry and line a 9-inch glass pie pan. Trim the edges and crimp with a fork. Line the pastry with a sheet of foil and pile in pastry weights or dried beans. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then remove the foil liner and weights and bake for another 10 minutes, until lightly colored.
Remove from the oven and cool.
Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Brush the bottom of the crust with the jam. Place the pumpkin puree in a large bowl and beat in the granulated sugar, 1 cup of the cream, the milk, eggs, rum, spices, and salt. Pour into the prepared crust, place in the oven, and bake for 20 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake for about 20 minutes longer, until the filling is set. Remove from the oven and cool completely on a rack.

Preheat the broiler. Combine the brown sugar, pecans, and melted butter in a small bowl and sprinkle over the top of the pie. Cover the crimped pastry edge with a strip of foil and broil for a few minutes, just until the topping bubbles, watching carefully so it does not burn. Transfer the pie to a rack and cool completely, about 1 hour.
Whip the remaining 1 cup cream and serve it with the pie.

♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥

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A LITTLE SWEET & 100's of SPICE ... Ras Malai & Spicy Chickpeas for Diwali!

2009-10-17T18:18:00.005+05:30

"Light is good from whatever lamp it shines."
Author Unknown

"I can't wait for tomorrow..." that phrase has been echoing through the house since yesterday. The boy is over the top excited , and the daughter wonders why he can't 'grow up'. His excitement is for Diwali, one of the prettiest festivals in India. Diwali, is popularly known as the "festival of lights"; it's most significant spiritual meaning is "the awareness of the inner light".It's to do with lighting of lamps, making rangolis or floral designs on the floor, and for the boy, the chance to shoot off some fire crackers... and enjoy more sweets! He has 3 'most favourite' festivals, as he calls them ... Holi, the festival of colour, Diwali, the festival of light (or crackers in his case), and Christmas. Both kids enjoyed the flowers, festivities, sweets and crackers when young, though crackers have been significantly reduced in number over the past few years. Too much pollution. We haven't been able to convince the kids to let them go entirely though, but we still try, year after year! Giving in to the hubs sweet tooth, I often try something new on Diwali, both sweet & savoury. I did Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Fudge and Spicy Almonds last year. Was twittering with Alessio @ Recipe Taster the other night, and he said he made some yummy Indian pudding with condensed milk and cream. That set me thinking, and I eventually settled for Ras Malai, an Indian soft cheese based dessert. This was a stove top recipe, but there is another one, ricotta based, baked in the oven that I will try soon.It's a very popular North Indian dessert, and was surprisingly easy to make at home. 'Ras' meaning juice and 'malai' meaning cream. It's a soft cheese based dessert, where the cottage cheese roundels are cooked lightly in a sugar syrup to form a sponge like cloud. These are then gently squeezed and immersed in a creamy reduced milk base, flavoured sensuously with saffron & cardamom. Mine didn't come out a 100% light because I used 2% milk for the cottage cheese / paneer, but they tasted out-of-this-world good! Make sure you serve them chilled, which is how they taste best. I made one batch out of ricotta as well, and that was delish too. They're a great make ahead dessert & very indulgent. I'm sending these off to Mansi @ Fun & Food Cafe for her event, Sweet Celebrations.

Ras Malai
Adapted from this recipe @ Show Me The Curry
Ingredients:
Ricotta or cottage cheese from 1 litre of whole milk (recipes here)
1 cup sugar
2 cups water
1 litre whole milk
1 /2 tsp saffron + 1/4 tsp granular sugar
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
Almonds & pistachios, soaked,peeled & sliveredMethod:
Run the ricotta/cottage cheese in a food processor until smooth. Will take about 2-3 minutes in short pulses. You can even knead it by hand, but it will take a lot longer to get it absolutely smooth.
Divide the ricotta /paneer into 10-12 equal portions a little smaller than the size of a ping pong ball.
Roll the portions in your hands until a smooth ball is formed. Lightly press the ball until it flattens out.
In the pressure cooker dissolve 1 cup sugar with water, and add the flattened ricotta / paneer.
Close pressure cooker lid and cook until one whistle sounds. Immediately switch off the stove and set the timer for exactly 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes, carefully take the pressure cooker to the sink and pour cold water over the lid to remove the pressure.
Remove the cooked ricotta /paneer with a slotted spoon into a bowl and allow it to cool.
Meanwhile, the milk in the non-stick pan should have reduced to half. Add sugar to taste, cardamom powder and nuts. Switch off the stove and keep milk aside.
Once the ricotta /paneer is cool enough to handle with your hands, gently squeeze out the sugar syrup from the ricotta / paneer and place the roundels in a serving dish.
Pour the prepared reduced milk over and chill in the refrigerator. Garnish with additional chopped nuts.

For savoury, I went to a recipe I've had bookmarked for ages, a spicy chickpeas recipe off Cathy's blog @ Noble Pig. I loved the way she wrote that you can have a few thousands of these. I changed the spices a teeny bit to adapt to an Indian theme, and they were yum. A nice twist to the regular chickpeas / cholas / chanas we eat at home. Play around with spices as you like, but don't forget the lime! I daresay this will also make a nice tossed Indian salad with chopped onions and tomatoes too.It was fun making the spicy chickpeas, and you can make it simpler by using canned chickpeas. Do stop by at Noble Pig to see her version, made out of canned chickpeas.

Spicy Roasted Chickpeas
adapted from this recipe @ Noble Pig
Ingredients:
250gms of of chick peas, soaked overnight & cooked with 1 tsp of salt (Don't overcook or they'll get mushy)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon black rock salt
1 teaspoon roasted cumin powder
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
Lime wedges Method:

Drain the chick peas well, shaking the colander to remove as much water as possible. As Cathy says...It's okay to take out a bit of aggression on the peas, they won't mind.
Combine rinsed chickpeas, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon black rock salt salt and 1 teaspoon roasted cumin powder. Mix well to coat the chickpeas. Spread the chickpeas out on a foil lined baking sheet, one large enough to hold chickpeas in a single layer.
Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes or until chickpeas begin to brown, shaking pan twice during baking.
Remove chickpeas from the oven. In a small bowl, combine the chill powder and paprika. Place the mixture in a small sieve to sprinkle over the cooked chickpeas. Bake another 5 minutes or until a dark, golden-red. (The more the chili powder, the darker the red. Mine are less 'hot' because of the kids)
Serve with lime wedges. Do not forget to serve these with lime wedges.

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RED BELL PEPPER, WALNUT & GOUDA FRENCH FOUGASSE...a little banter!

2009-10-16T01:00:00.002+05:30

"Everyone is kneaded out of the same dough but not baked in the same oven."

Yiddish Proverb

In our foodie web world, I find a couple of things that seem to unite people the most these days - desserts, bread and blogging. It's virtual unification without borders. A connection made at different levels, be it blogs, twitter, social networking sites, virtual cookbook launches ... one thing is common, and that is GOOD FOOD!! My post today touches a couple of these. One of them is bread, something that is inherent to cuisine across the world, often a basic part of the menu. The idiom, break bread, or eat together, adds to the charm of bread. World Bread Day 2009 is here again; the fourth edition of this great event hosted by Zorra @ Kochtopf.

The theme this year is open, just bake a bread with or without yeast, use sourdough, experiment with different flours, add some seeds... It's up to you! I was there last year too, and this year am sending Zorra my all time favourite bread, one that is most loved in our house, the French Fougasse. Rustic and ever so adaptable, a bread that you can even go sweet with if you like. I often make one loaf at a time, and store the rest of the dough in the fridge up to 3 days.

The other issue I wanted to highlight was a social initiative by some food bloggers. It's exciting news for us over at BloggerAid as our cherished book reaches the final stages of printing. I submitted a recipe a while ago, and it's going to be part of this delicious cookbook. BloggerAid…Changing the Face of Famine is an international network of food bloggers united behind the cause of ending global hunger. Members use their blogs as a platform for raising awareness about hunger in communities at home and abroad.

Have you thought of writing your own cookbook? The Cookbook People can make that happen. In their words " We're committed to helping families keep their cherished recipes, so we designed our own family cookbook software. Matilda's Fantastic Cookbook Software prints your home-made family cookbooks. One copy…or as many copies as you want. Whenever YOU want. Because you make it yourself on your own computer! "

The Cookbook People have not only donated a software package as a prize to BloggerAid, they went the extra mile. They set out a challenge to all members of BloggerAid - Changing the Face of Famine. They are willing to donate $20 to our charity for every member who creates a blog post about their site. Take a trip over to their site - have a look around. They will ship worldwide and are wonderful people to work with.

French Fougasse with Roasted Red Bell Pepper, Walnut & Gouda
adapted from The Practical Encyclopedia of Baking
Ingredients:
450gms all purpose flour
280ml warm water
20gms fresh yeast
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp sea salt
1 bell pepper, roasted and chopped
100gms Gouda
1 cup walnuts, chopped
Olive oil for brushingMethod:
Take 4 tbsps of water from the 280ml, & dissolve the fresh yeast into it. Stir the salt & 2 tbsp olive oil into the remaining water.
Make a well with the flour, & pour the dissolved yeast & water mixture into it. Knead to a dough, kneading further on a floured surface for 8-10 minutes, till it gets smooth & elastic.
Place in an oiled bowl, cover the bowl with cling wrap & leave in a warm place for about an hour until doubled.
Punch down & divide into 4 balls of dough (or 2 if you have a big oven)
Roll out to about an 8" circle, grate 1/4 of the cheese over the base, and top with a 1/4 of the bell pepper & walnuts.
Season lightly with salt and freshly ground pepper.
Fold over the dough 2-3 times on itself to incorporate the stuffing. Shape each back into a ball.
Flatten each & fold the bottom third up, & top third down to make an oblong.
Roll into ovals with a flat base, cut slits diagonally, three on each side. Pull slightly to open the cuts.
Place on oiled baking sheets. Cover with cling wrap & leave to double for 35-40minutes.
Preheat the oven to 220C, brush the loaves with olive oil, & bake for approximately 25-30 minutes till golden brown. Cool on racks. Serve warm or at room temperature.

♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥

This post has been 'Yeastspotted'

JACKET TATERS...Spuds We Like & a Giveaway

2009-10-13T17:00:00.007+05:30

"Worship the potato? The idea seemed silly to me. But then I thought, what else is more deserving of worship? It's simple, it comes from the earth, and it can kill you if you disobey it."
Jack Handey

Time for a savoury bite, and here's a simple post. With the weather changing, it's time for hearty soups, apple-walnut salads and comfort food. This jacket potato fits snugly into these sorts of everyday comfort meals. There are very few people in this world who don't like taters, so here's a recipe to add to the mighty variety this humble vegetable offers. It's a recipe that my sister gave me many years ago, much before I began blogging, and I use it often. As an impromptu snacky meal, a side, or as a fun dish for the kids, it never fails to comfort the hunger pangs. There's nothing to it, other than piercing with the tines of a fork, & then microwaving till done. Pile it as high as you like, play around with the fillings, make it low cal as I do, or high cal as you might like. Then dig in & enjoy these spuds!

Jacket Baked Potato

Take as many largish potatoes as you like. Scrub them well, with a firm vegetable brush, under lots of running water.

Pat them dry on paper towels, then pierce with the tines of a fork all around. This is to ensure that moisture gets released while cooking in the microwave & they don't burst!

Take a 1/4 tsp of vegetable oil per potato in your palms & rub over the skin.

Microwave at full power for 5-6 minutes, then check to see if they are fork ready & done. If not, give them 2-3 minutes more. (The baking time will vary with the number of potatoes you choose to bake at a time.)

Once done, let it rest for a minute, then slice each horizontally into two. (Be careful- HOT POTATO). Scoop out the hot baked potato flesh potato, leaving the jacket intact.

Mash the scooped out bit with a fork, season it with salt & pepper, add some mayo, grated cheese, boiled egg, spring onions etc, mix well & pile back into the baked potato shells.

Greshly grind some pepper over them. Serve warm!

I have a 'Custom Stickers' giveaway promotion on my blog today from one of my blog sponsors, UPrinting ! Their custom stickers are perfect for creating product labels, unique business cards, promotional stickers and more. They are offering me and my readers an opportunity to try this amazing product for ourselves. Learn more about their stickers by visiting these links, “Sticker Printing” and “Uprinting”.

Giveaway Prize Details

250 Stickers/Labels for One (1) lucky winner

Sizes: 2” x 3.5”, 2” x 4”, or 3” x 3”

Paper: 70 lb Label Matte

Specifications: Full color front, blank back; 4 Business Day printing

To sweeten the pot, they are offering FREE UPS Ground Shipping in the USA (Canadian residents need to pay shipping and taxes).

Offer is not available to residents outside the US and Canada.

If you wish to part of the giveaway, please leave a comment on what you would use the stickers for. I'd love to hear about your creative ideas for these stickers!

The giveaway is on until October 29th. The prize will be announced thereafter.

I will also be receiving 250 Stickers/Labels from UPrinting.com for hosting this giveaway.

STIRRING UP SOME TURKISH DELIGHT!

2009-10-10T22:51:00.003+05:30

'Eat sweet and speak sweet'

Turkish proverb

Another PINK for October, and this time it's candy! When Ilva said she was making Turkish Delight last month, I jumped right in too. Another opportunity to use Indulge - 100 Perfect Desserts by Claire Clark which I reviewed for BloggerAid recently. This would mean 3 down , 97 to go, as I had done an Apple & Black Grape Bande Aux Fruit & a basic chocolate sponge from the book recently. Getting to a 100 desserts, page by page! Claire Clark is counted among one of the world’s best pastry chefs, and has been a celebrated chef at The French Laundry. She has an easy style of writing, & a personal touch which offers a little culinary connection with each recipe. Turkish Delight is part of the Petits Fours section of the book, and at first glance I thought, 'Cool, will sail right through'. It was another thing that I was eating my words pretty soon. Delightful as this Turkish delicacy might be, it comes with it's baggage of work. Ilva tried once, not quite right, and then went on to her second try, which she did beautifully. Turkish Delight ((Rahat) Loukoum) or Cyprus Delight (Loukoumi) is a confection made from starch and sugar. It is often flavored with rosewater, mastic or lemon; rosewater gives it a characteristic pale pink color. It has a soft, jelly-like and sometimes sticky consistency, and is often packaged and eaten in small cubes dusted with icing sugar or copra to prevent clinging. Some types contain small nut pieces, usually pistachio, hazelnut or walnuts.

Well I managed something, something tasty, but not exactly how it should have been. Was a little sticky & gooey, and got labelled TD Slugs by none other than my good friend Jamie. Am waiting for her to have a go, but knowing her French expertise, she'll have perfect ones, so I shall hold my breath! I hope I will get it looking better next time. It tasted very nice,; a tad too sweet for me though.

I used some rose extract to flavour them that Man Friday got for me from his nephew who works in a rose factory. Excellent stuff. It lent a mild flavour to the TD, and I also added some blanched & peeled pistachios and almonds. The Turkish Delight did taste good! By the way, I always thought rose extract was pink in colour? Well, discovered that it's not!! it's actually a very light creamish white, almost like whey!Offered candy to the kids when they came home, & both jumped on them. 'Oooooh they're like the ones in Narnia', hollered the son & wolfed down a whole slug, almost choking. Then the daughter descended into the chaos. 'PRETTY!', Madame declared, 'very pretty!' I was like 'bow scrape'. She took one, savoured it, licked her chops, took another. 'These are good you know. Mmmmmm, very addictive too!' By piece number 5, I had grabbed the box & done away with it. Too late, I was already peeling sugar high kids off the ceiling by the evening!

TURKISH DELIGHT or LOUKOUM
from Indulge by Claire Clark
Makes about 40 pieces
450 g/ 1 lb caster sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
145 g/ 5 oz corn starch/cornflour/Maizena
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
2 tsp rose water
To finish:
250 g/ 9 oz icing
50 g/ 1,75 oz corn starch/cornflour/Maizena
- Line a 15 cm/6 in square baking tin with cling film, then oil the film lightly. Make sure the sides of the pan are lined as well as the base.
- Place the caster sugar, lemon juice and 250 ml/9 fl oz water in a large, heavy-based pan. Stir over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved, the turn up the heat and bring to the boil. Put a sugar thermometer in the pan, reduce the heat and simmer without stirring until the sugar reaches soft-ball stage (118 C/ 245 F). Remove from the heat straight away.
- While the sugar is boiling, combine the corn starch and cream of tartar, then mix to a smooth liquid with 250 ml/9 fl oz water. Place in a heavy-based sauce pan and bring to the boil over a medium heat, whisking continuously (start to heat the corn starch mixture as soon as the sugar has reached the 118 C/ 245 F and is resting; this allows the sugar to sit just long enough to cool but not so long that it gets to thick to pour). Pour the hot sugar syrup into the corn starch mixture and continue to simmer over a low heat for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring frequently to prevent it sticking. It will change to a very light golden colour. As it reaches the last 15 minutes of cooking time, you will need to stir it continuously to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning. (This was the tough part for me to figure out. Should have given it more time)
- Stir the rosewater and add a few drops of red food colouring, if desired. (I added some blanched chopped pistachios & almonds). Pour into the lined tray and spread evenly. Leave to cool in the tin, uncovered, overnight.
- The next day, sift the icing sugar and corn starch for finishing on to a sheet of baking parchment on a tray. Cut the Turkish Delight into cubes and roll them in the mixture on the tray.
Claire's Notes:
I like to leave my Turkish Delight for a day once it has been coated in the icing sugar, so it firm up on the outside a little. Leave in a cupboard, uncovered, on a tray.

♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥

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CHOCOLATE & STRAWBERRY MASCARPONE CAKE FOR PINK OCTOBER

2009-10-07T08:15:00.007+05:30

“Well, we don't expect him to look pink and wonderful, do we?”
Roger Williams

I love October. The weather's finally changing. There's a nip in the morning air, ever so slight, but it's there. It's October, and with October comes DH's birthday. DH, or Mr PAB, is the reason behind my blog, my biggest source of inspiration, my biggest admirer, and yet my biggest critic. He calls a spade a spade, and as much as I cringe to criticism, I have to be grateful that he doesn't mince words. He is reserved, very much so, doesn't have a runaway tongue like me, and talks as little as I do lots! Is the wind beneath my wings, my free spirited nature ... this pink was for him!

I made a chocolate Sachertorte for his birthday 2 years ago, and frosted it with pale pinks ... A Pinktober Cake for a blogging event in support of breast cancer. Mr PAB didn't have an issue with a pink birthday cake, and was even happier to see pink back this year. I got distracted last year & fell back into my coffee mode. Made a Chocolate Coffee-Almond-Meringue Layer Cake for his birthday, and still regret not having gone pink in 2008. This year am firmly back on track. He noticed the pink comeback this year, and surprisingly, so did the daughter. She asked me why I made pink for Papa every year. The pink seems to make more sense to her now. Her friends' mother is just recovering from a second bout of breast cancer, and a neighbour of mine has just been diagnosed with it.

These beautiful flowers of the Rangoon Creeper have something to do with my 'this time of the year pink obsession'. The plant blooms 2-3 times a year, and happily always in the first week of October too, lending gorgeous shades of pink to our garden. (I virtually met Purple Foodie over a conversation about these flowers 2 years ago!). They are inspirational, and I spend many a morning just sitting looking at them. I picked the colours off the flowers to frost my cake this year.The RANGOON CREEPER (Quisqualis indica) is a large woody creeper which is a native of Malaysia, south-eastern Asia and tropical Africa but has become so popular as a cultivated plant that it is now one of the commonest creepers to be found in Indian gardens. The Circular Garden where the Mughal Gardens end has its share of this creeper. Popular Indian names for this creeper are Madhumalati and Radhamanohari. The outer surface of the flowers are slightly flushed with pink, the inner surface after the bud has opened is pure white, which slowly turns pink and finally a rich red. As the flowers open in succession there are to be found flowers of all ages on the plant, hence the effect of the numerous blossoms, some white, some pink and some red, is very striking. The flowers are beautifully scented in the evening. Back to the cake... The basic cake, a chocolate sponge, is a recipe from 'Indulge - 100 Prefect Desserts' by Claire Clark that I recently reviewed for an event for BloggerAid. I am eternally grateful to BloggerAid for getting this book to me, as it has everything dessert I can dream of. The chocolate sponge for this particular cake forms the base for the 'Bitter Chocolate, Praline Brulee, Espresso Torte' in her book, which I very nearly made. It was the espresso / coffee factor that nearly nudged me off the pink factor, but I caught myself just in time. The sponge turned out lovely & moist. However, it was nowhere near done in the suggested 20 minutes, and when I opened the door to check a couple of times, it deflated from a good height of 4 1/2" to a rather uneven 3"! Well to salvage it for my base, I cooled it in the tin (as suggested), & placed a weight on it. Left it in the fridge overnight. I managed to get 2 even slices from it in the morning. Worked fine for me, and was decadent, chocolaty & moist!

The rest of the cake was made on a whim. Made mascarpone (yes, 'again') because it's a firmer soft cream cheese, with a flavour we love. Got talking to Manggy on twitter, and took his expert advice on the filling, layering etc. He suggested that it was better to add some gelatin to stabilise the mascarpone, given our hot weather. Always err on the side of caution: maybe even 1 teaspoon in the cream would do. Never a better piece of advice, and I am GLAD I asked him! Worked perfectly! Also took on Hilda's suggestion, which she gave me a while ago, on an alternative for acetate sheets. We don't get acetate here, and in the middle of a twitconversation, I happened to mention it. She was quick on an alternative, suggested using transparencies instead from a stationery shop. I've stocked up on those, and it's the best thing that happened to me. Loved the ease of working with them. Thank you Hilda, and thank you Manggy ... ever grateful for your expert advice.

Pink for October 2009
In the month of October, the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month is recognized by survivors, family and friends of survivors and/or victims of the disease. A pink ribbon is worn to recognize the struggle that sufferers face when battling with the cancer. Pink for October is an initiative started by Matthew Oliphant, which asks that any blog and website owners willing to help make people aware of breast cancer, change their template or layout to include the color pink, so that when visitors view the site, they see that the majority of the site is pink. I went PINK for October to show my support for breast cancer awareness. Do stop by HERE if you want to learn more, or are game to go pink!

Chocolate & Strawberry Mascarpone Birthday Cake
Chocolate Sponge
adapted from Indulge by Claire Clark, page 156

100gm dark chocolate, chopped fine
100gms butter

4 medium eggs
185 gms (6 ½ oz sugar) sugar
60gms (2 ½ oz) plain flour
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease an 8” Spring form tin, and line the bottom with parchment.
Place the chopped chocolate & butter in a pan over boiling water & stir until melted. Don't let the base of the pan touch the water. Remove from the bowl of water, and keep warm on side of stove.
Beat the eggs & sugar until light and fluffy, and the batter triples in volume. It should leave a trail when it falls back.
Gently fold in the chocolate butter mixture, keeping as much volume as possible.
Sift the flour over a piece of parchment & fold in very gently.
Turn batter into the prepared tin, even the surface, and bake for 20 minutes until the top springs back, or the tester comes out clean. (Mine took over 35 minutes)
Leave to cool in tin.

Filling
350gms mascarpone (home made recipe here)
100ml light cream (25% fat)
3-4 tbsps ground vanilla sugar / or castor sugar (adjust to taste)
1 tsp gelatin
Method:
Sprinkle the gelatin over 1/8 cup of cold water & leave to soften. Mix well.
Horizontally slice the sponge in two. Put the lower layer onto your serving platter, and encircle with acetate to form a snug ring mold.
Whip the mascrapone, cream & vanilla sugar until it forms stiff peaks. Sieve in the gelatin, and quickly whisk in well to mix uniformly. Pour over the base of cake, into the acetate mold.
Drop 5-6 tbsps of strawberry concentrate/conserve & marble with a wooden pick.
Leave in fridge to firm up for about an hour or so. Top with the second layer & leave to chill for another hour.

Frosting
250gms mascarpone
3 tbsps ground vanilla sugar (or castor sugar)
1/2 tsp strawberry essence (optional)
Food color for piping on top
Dark chocolate etc for garnishing
Method:
Beat the mascarpone, essence & sugar till firm peaks form.
Reserve 2-3 tbsps in a baggies for piping designs on top.

Frost just the top of the cake, within the acetate mold & leave to set ( within the acetate so it doesn't flow off the sides), OR, if you want to frost the sides as well, remove the acetate gently, & frost all around. I left the cake covered in the fridge overnight for the flavours to mature.
Pipe designs gently on top as you like, grate dark chocolate with a microplane zester to cover the sides, and place a few chocolate shavings on top. Chill until ready to serve.

♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥

Don't miss a post

This post found mention on

Food Shots
Refrigerator Soup Headlines 7th Oct '09
Dying for Chocolate

FRUITY APPLE SPIRAL SWIRLS ... for Monthly Mingle

2009-10-04T20:40:00.000+05:30

"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."
Henry James

It's time for Monthly Mingle, Meeta's little baby that she so lovingly created in 2006. It's being hosted this time by Aparna @ My Diverse kitchen. The Monthly Mingle call this month is for high tea snacks, something I used to find quite challenging not so long ago. No longer though since blogging has opened untold avenues. 'Don't know what to make' is passe! Now it's more like, "shall I make this, this, this, or, oooooh this"!

The call was for 'High Tea Treats', & I immediately got transported to the Ritz, a hotel we oft halted outside often while wandering around Central London. Never did we step in, for in those days the pockets were empty, and so The Ritz intimidating! Known for it's afternoon tea service, the picture in my mind of The Ritz is a whimsical one ... well laid tables, dainty linen, polished silver, fine china, delicate pastries, elegant petit fours, scones, clotted cream, jam ... !

Reading Indulge-100 Perfect Desserts by Claire Clark led me into the kitchens in the basement of The Ritz Hotel in Piccadilly where she worked as a pastry chef in 1984. I quote from her book, "I dreaded the run up to the weekend, when the hotel held its famous tea dances. We would slave away all week constructing the intricate, delicate and elegant pastries to give ourselves time to make, roll, cut and bake vast amounts of scones on the day."

I associate British cuisine with high tea, a tradition as elegant as it is beautiful. My first exposure to this lovely tradition was back in the 80's when a bunch of us girlfriends had gone over to stay in a castle up in North England that was being restored by a Scottish lady. The memories are quite faint now, but I vividly remember a couple of things ... the huge gate-posts made of stone with carved lion heads, early morning mist, beds of lavender, the beautiful guest rooms in hues of pastel pinks & lilac, interiors daintily done up in hand-made lace and linen made by Irish nuns ... & fresh scones for tea!

I made 'Coffee-glazed Chocolate chip scones' almost exactly a year ago from Ari's Baking & Books, and some 'Dark Chocolate, Craisin & Walnut Scones' from a David Lebovitz recipe more recently. So this time, for the Monthly Mingle, I explored BBC Good Food for tea snacks, and found plenty of eye candy there. Beautiful options from the Olive Magazine amongst others, but I eventually settled for this rather rustic roll ... Fruity Spices Swirls. I had all the ingredients on hand, & the recipe seemed simple, allowing me room for change. It's very difficult for me to stick to a recipe to the T, as my mind tends to wander off marking its own path. These fruity swirls are something like an apple strudel, but sans the hard work of rolling paper thin pastry. Then again, something like a Swiss roll, but with rustic pastry. The pastry isn't flaky & buttery, but is still light & full of apple, raisin & nuts tossed in a spiced sweet butter... These are an entry for the episode of Monthly Mingle that you are hosting Aparna. No eggs is just how I know you'll love these. I even substituted the egg yolk wash for a glaze with milk to make them a 100% vegetarian! This was a fun recipe, and the resultant swirls were delicious eaten warm with tea. Big hit with the hub & kids too. I sliced 15 portions as against the 10 in the original recipe as one of the reviewers said that the portions were big. I stored the leftovers in the fridge, and the daughter devoured them back from her camping trip. I was told they tasted good cold too!

Fruity Apple Spiced Swirls
Adapted from this recipe at BBC Good Food
Ingredients:
2 tsp pie spice
3 tbsp demerara sugar
4 tbsp soft butter
1 eating apple , peeled and finely chopped
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup dried black grapes
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
350g flour
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
85g cold butter , cut into cubes
4 tbsp demerera sugar
1/2 cup yogurt
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp milk, to glaze

Method:
Toss chopped apple in lime juice & add raisins, black grapes & walnuts.
Beat 1 tsp pie spice and 2 tbsp demerara into the butter, then stir in the apple and raisins.
Mix the remaining spices in with the flour.
Put the flour mixture, 1 tsp pie spice, salt and baking powder into a food processor, then whizz in the butter until it disappears. Pulse in the sugar, tip into a large bowl, then make a well in the middle. Warm the yogurt, milk and vanilla together in the microwave for 1 min or in a pan; it should be hot and may well go a bit lumpy-looking. Tip into the bowl and quickly work into the flour mix using a cutlery knife. As soon as it's all in, stop.Put a flat baking sheet in the oven at 220C. Turn the dough onto a floured surface, then roll to about 40 x 30cm. Spread with the fruity butter, then roll up from the long side, tucking the ends over neatly. Cut into 1" slices. Brush with milk and scatter with 1 tbsp demerara. Flour the baking sheet, then bake for 14 mins until golden and risen.

Eat warm, with more butter if you dare. (We didn't!)

♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥

As I wrap up, I'd like to thank 2morrowknight for the including my name is his list of 10 top foodies tweeters in his article on The Huffington Post here - 10 World Class Chefs on Twitter Who Make it Sizzle. Thank you!!

COOKIES FOR A FRIEND...Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-10-02T07:22:00.005+05:30

“The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.”
Elisabeth Foley

I saw these cookies at Brown Eyed Baker a few days ago, & my first thought was how lovely and comforting they looked. Said to be the famed Neiman Marcus cookies, off a recipe that has been making the rounds via e-mail for ages, they have rave reviews. The difference in these cookies is the way the oats are added. They are ground into an oat flour and give the cookie a lovely texture, more wholesome than the plain flour chocolate chips cookies, yet lighter than regular oat cookies.

I think these cookies bridge the gap perfectly, & I had to make some for Jamie when she asked me if I could do a guest post for her beautiful blog! I was honoured that she thought of me. Please stop by at Jamie's Life's A Feast for the rest of the post...

While you are here, I'll ask you to please consider voting for 2 special friends for two ongoing contests...

1. For Jamie's blog Lifes A Feast for Blogger Choice Awards 2009 HERE for Best Food Blog where she shares her favorite recipes; stories of her life through food.

2. For Helene's Gingerbread Cake at the Bread Contest at Phamfatale.

♥ Thank you ♥

PEAR TART WITH ALMOND CREAM...

2009-09-30T20:54:00.006+05:30

"And with Yeats you lean against a broken pear tree,

the day hooded by low clouds."
~William Collins

The last week has gone in some kind of daze with the kids home all the time because of an Autumn break. (Autumn never actually got here by the way). Then it was time for the 13 year old to leave on her annual camping trip to the foothills of the Himalayas, so we spent 2 days shopping for unnecessary items of little or no consequence. I shall attempt to share some pictures with you when she gets back if they are scenic and 'shareable'. Teen pictures have a different flavour altogether, or so I have learnt, with weird angles and are very people centric!!

Also got truly bitten by many 'blocks' - baking block, writers block, bloggers block...and twitter block over the past few days. My good friend Peter @ Kalofogas managed to tempt me 'out of the gutter' on hump day and sorta dragged me back on my feet. Ilva and I discovered we were on the same boat...you know what we mean. Last night I was in the dumps, and so was she. She suggested on twitter that we get back some kind of mac thingy going again to boost our flailing spirits to get our happy mojo back! Good idea...In the midst of this involved discussion, just as I thought I had peace at home, the boy began whining with unbearable growing pains again. I hurriedly abandoned the computer & rushed to his rescue...which might explain the first few comments on my 'wordless Wednesday' post. (Thank you Manggy for always hitting the nail on the head...ouch). Yes, I stand guilty of pressing the wrong button, and publishing the post sans 'words'. Left some candy out on my blog at night for my friends ('they' know what I'm talking about), almost kicked myself this morning. Was suitably embarrassed! But oh well, it gave me something to write about huh? Wednesday has gained new significance and a sense of identity since yesterday. Coincidentally, I pressed the button on Wordless Wednesday with a wordless post! Hmmm...

Hump day makes more sense...a reference to making it through to the middle of the work week as getting "over the hump." on Wednesday.
In the folk rhyme, "Wednesday's child is full of woe".
In Richard Brautigan's In Watermelon Sugar Wednesday is the day when the sun shines grey.
In the 1945 John Steinbeck novel Sweet Thursday, the titular day is preceded by "Lousy Wednesday".

Happy October. We should be leaping off rooftops enjoying some good fall weather, cool air etc, but it isn't happening. Global warming at it's worst and we still suffer from temperatures as high as 37C. Very summer weather but no stone fruit. Unseasonal for this time of the year; the only saving grace is that pears and apples are here! So here is a Pear Tart with an Almond Cream that I made a few days ago with the seasons first bounty of pears. I mixed up a few recipes for a tart from here and there because all I wanted was to make a beautiful frangipane based pear tart but didn't want to use butter in the almond cream. This came out beautifully, even though I misjudged the size of the tart pan, and used one an inch bigger than I should have. Perils of collecting too many tart pans when one standard size will do! Sigh... anyway, I managed to cut out the butter from the almond cream, and substitute it with single cream (25% fat) which is all we get here locally, and it worked out well. Ideally I would have liked to have the fanned pears peeping out beautifully, but they kind of disappeared under the cream because of the tart pan size. However, the tart was delicious, full of all things good, so I had to share it!

Pear Tart with Almond Cream
Ingredients:

4 small medium firm pears

1 cup sugar

1/2 vanilla bean

1 1/2 cups water (approx)

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup whole almonds; ground with skins

200ml single cream

1/2 tsp almond essence

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3 tbsp vanilla sugar

1 1/2 tbsp flour

For the pastry

5 oz plain flour

1/8 tsp salt

4 oz cold unsalted butter, frozen

1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

1 tbsp fresh lime/lemon juice

For the pastry:

Put the flour & salt into the bowl of a food processor & blend briefly. Grate in the cold butter & blend till a breadcrumb like mixture forms.

Add beaten egg yolk & lime juice, and pulse till it comes together to form a ball. Wrap in cling wrap & chill for 30 minutes.

For the pears:

Take about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of water & 1 cup of sugar. Scrape 1/2 a vanilla bean into it, and bring to a simmering boil. Use a pan size good enough to submerge the pear halves.

Peel and 1/2 the pears, and put in pan with sugar syrup. Poach on simmer till just done, but firm. Leave to cool in syrup, and then drain well. Reserve syrup for other uses like a base for lemonade or fresh lime-ginger juice, or thicken further to use as ice-cream sauce. It is delicious. Thick syrup also makes a good garnish for plated desserts.

Assembling tart:

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to 1/8" thickness, enough to line the tart pan.(I used a slightly large tin in error since I was experimenting, so I lost out on volume)
Transfer to an 8" tart dish and trim.
Stand cooled, poached pears on paper towels for 1 minute. Remove the core with a melon baller. Slice each half thinly crosswise, keeping in shape and fanning them out slightly.
Transfer to the tart with the help of a metal spatula, and place on bottom of tart pan, arranging like spokes of wheels.
Whisk the egg, yolk, cream, almond extract and vanilla extract well with the ground almonds, and ladle over the pears. Sprinkle with the sugar.

Bake for 10 minutes, reduce the temperature to 180C, and bake till the almond cream has set and the pears begin to caramelise, about 20 minutes.

Serve warm or at room temperature. This is nice served with additional chilled poached pears, whipped unsweetened cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥

HUFFING WITH THE DARING BAKERS...TIME FOR PUFF PASTRY!

2009-09-27T10:07:00.003+05:30

"All things require skill but an appetite"

George Herbert

VOLS-au-VENT with The DARING BAKERS

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

Lisa of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice, the fun and talented creators of The Daring Kitchen, commented on this challenge ... 'The September 2009 Daring Bakers' Challenge has been chosen by Steph of a whisk and a spoon. Steph chose Vols-au-Vent, which we are pretty sure in French means, “After one bite we could die and go to heaven!” They obviously knew what they were talking about! This pastry is entirely captivating, simple & fun... all you gotta do is get the weather right! Knowing I was heading for trouble, I tried it thrice, & didn't get very far in the puffs department. The taste department was amazing though! Do stop by at Steph's beautiful blog to see the recipe, and some great filling ideas! Thank you for a FAB challenge Steph. I enjoyed it despite the odds!

I got the better of the Daring Baker challenge for September halfway through the month, or so I thought I did. I really really love puff pastry, and this has got to be the best I've tried. Well, the best given the temperature & weather conditions. Didn't manage the beautiful puffs that should have been achieved, but blame that on oozing butter & panicky situations. I tried it a second time again, with tips flying thick in secret direct messages across twitter, but obviously butter will melt if the weather is hot, and this ain't no rocket science! With the temperatures still wildly fluctuating & heading straight back into the 37C's range, AND given that we have suddenly encountered massive butter shortages in the market (why this month?), I chose to make half the pastry dough. By then time the butter began oozing crazily all over the place, panic struck. I forgot all counts of the number of turns etc & made the fridge my best friend as Steph said. Yes, the fridge is the only person to count on when making puff pastry. This is an absolutely beautiful pastry to make. the dough is a breeze, especially if you have a processor. It's done in a matter of minutes, which you can cut down even further if you just look at the video of Michel Richard making the pastry with Julia Child keeping him company, & you'll fall in love with pastry. The man is GOOD. He sings, he's enthralling & he's downright fun! Of course I made the mistake of seeing the video after I made my pastry, but well. Can't wait for the weather to get cooler & try this again ... whatever I managed, tasted mighty fine. You won't believe it but DH saw the other posts on the forum over my shoulder, & gasped! Should I have read the writing on the wall? Ho hum ... there I was again that very night, whirring puff pastry in the processor for second time, while the family sat watching Bourne Supremacy! I guess I was trying to achieve puff supremacy...well it didn't quite happen. The second time around was a bit better, marginally I might say. There was a third attempt too...oh well never mind! Did get some more ' PUFFS' but will have to wait for better weather to get to the real thing. The second time around, made some more mascarpone (becoming a habit I tell you, YUM YUM!), and flavoured it with Nescafe Taster's Choice medium roast coffee. Delicious, divine, decadent dessert...oooh, we loved it! I went both savoury & sweet on the challenge, and made both options with a base of home made mascarpone. Yum Yum! I think I'm in love with this soft cheese, and with the idea of using it to its versatile best! This mushroom filling was one I made up as I went along, & is the very first time the daughter has willingly enjoyed mushrooms in any form! VICTORY!!

Mascarpone, Mushrooms & Roasted Bell Peppers
Ingredients:
200gm mushrooms; sliced fine
1/4 each roasted red & yellow bell pepper (I always have some in the fridge)
1 small red onion; chopped fine
3-4 cloves of garlic chopped fine
Red chili flakes, salt & pepper
1/2 cup of mascarpone (recipe here)
Knob of butter
1 tbsps olive oil
Method:
Sweat butter & olive oil on simmer with the onion, garlic & red chili flakes till translucent.
Add the sliced mushroom, salt & pepper & saute on high heat till they wilt & release moisture. Reduce heat to minimum, add the mascarpone, stir well to dissolve it in. Take off heat, stir in chopped roasted bell peppers. Adjust seasoning.
Pile into shells. makes enough filling for about 12 3" shells (not sure how deep though; mine never got deep enough)

Mascarpone with seasonal fruitIngredients:
1 cup mascarpone (recipe here)
3-4 tbsps vanilla sugar
1 tsp saffron vanilla, optional
Chopped seasonal fruit (mango, kiwi fruit, star fruit)
Method:
Whisk mascarpone with vanilla sugar & saffron vanilla till smooth.
Pipe into canapes & add chopped seasonal fruit.
makes enough for 6-8 3" shells
Add the mascarpone

Whipped Coffee Mascarpone
Ingredients:
1/2 cup mascarpone (recipe here)
3-4 tbsp vanilla castor sugar
1 tbsp instant coffee granules
1 oz dark chocolate
Method:
Melt the dark chocolate in a baggie, & drizzle over the edges of the bottom shell.
Leave in fridge to set for 10minutes.
Meanwhile, whip all the remaining ingredients together until firm enough to pipe. Taste & adjust sugar if required.
Pipe into shells & garnish.
Makes enough for 6 3" shells

Do stop by HERE and check out the rest of the Daring Bakers huffing and puffing with puff pastry vols-au-vent around the globe!

Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: NO MEAN BEAN - A VANILLA BEAN

2009-09-27T06:03:00.004+05:30

Ah, you flavor everything; you are the vanilla of society”
Sydney Smith

When Foodbuzz invited proposals for September's 24 24 24 I knew it was time to explore my favourite bean, and I'm thrilled they picked me. No, I'm not talking about the French bean, neither the kidney, not the haricot, unfortunately not the java bean...and NO, not even Rowan Atkinson. It was time to get to the heart of the VANILLA BEAN!

My exposure to this intriguing bean, in essence, actually knowledge of it's very existence came via 2 of my favourite blogs - Canelle et Vanille & Tartlette. Both blogs beautifully inspirational, nurtured by 'Pastry Chef' bloggers who are large hearted in terms of sharing their knowledge & vast experience in the world of exotic desserts.

I got my first bean in great anticipation & couldn't for the love of me believe this old wizened looking thing was 'the' bean in question. I soon got a precious tube of Madagascar vanilla beans from the States, & my sister never let me hear the end of it. Then picked up a tube of Indian vanilla beans on a visit to Chennai - 3 for the princely sum of Rs 300! A chance conversation with Ria lead to my discovery of a more affordable & better grade Indian vanilla bean. It's a fine bean at a fine price. Where would you be able to buy a Grade A vanilla bean at 25 cents?

~~~~~~~

My post today, as part of the Foodbuzz 24 24 24 is a 'SALUT TO THE VANILLA BEAN'! I briefly explored the history behind the bean, and the varieties of beans available.

A bit of vanilla background...

Vanilla originated in Mexico and for ages no other country in the world has known the secret of its magnificent flavor. First taken out of the country by the Spanish conquistadors, vanilla pods were stolen and replanted in the former Bourbon Island - the actual French Reunion Island. To this day the term "Bourbon" vanilla still applies to vanilla originating from that part of the world.

Vanilla beans are grown in four main areas of the world. Each region produces vanilla beans with distinctive characteristics and attributes. Madagascar is the leading producer in the world, with a quality known among vanilla extract producers as the most distinctive and flavorful - Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla. This is due to a particularly auspicious combination of climate, geography and traditional know-how. Indonesia is the second largest producer of vanilla, with a vanilla that is woody, astringent and phenolic. Madagascar and Indonesia produce 90 percent of the world's vanilla bean crop.

Mexico & Tahiti are the 2 other major areas of vanilla bean production. Indian vanilla bean production is in very nascent stages, but demand is slowly picking up as they begin to cure the bean the traditional way. It's popularity is slowly increasing in the international arena.

Once I began using pure natural vanilla extract, the chemical substitute or 'imitation vanilla essence' became a thing of the past. I make my own vanilla sugar & pure vanilla extract. At any given time I have 3 bottles of extract on hand - 2 under construction, and 1 in use. It takes a good 4-6 weeks to get the bottle of extract ready.

Good quality vanilla beans & some vodka is all you need. Vanilla sugar is even easier. Just tuck a split and cut vanilla bean into t ajar of sugar, shut tight, give it a good shake every alternate day. By the end of the week you will have the beginnings of sweet smelling vanilla sugar at your disposal! Keep replenishing the sugar as you use it. I even grind my sugar at times, with a piece of vanilla bean and sift it to get vanilla castor sugar!

My post today is a bit lengthy, so I divided it into a couple of sections...

I'll begin with a VANILLA conversation with Aran @ Canelle et Vanille who was good enough to take time off her busy schedule and sweet talk vanilla with me. Thank you Aran, appreciate your having done this!

Canelle et Vanille’

Aran, a professional pastry chef, is a Basque ex-pat living in the US. She blogs at Cannelle Et Vanille, her blank canvas for creating anything and everything sweet that comes out of her heart. Her beautiful blog reflects the smells and tastes of her childhood.
She is available for recipe development, food styling and photography.Press regarding her blog includes The UK Times Online, Cravings Magazine, BBC's Olive Magazine, Southern Weddings Magazine, Pastry & Baking Magazine, Saveur.com, Design*Sponge, RealSimple.com, Decor*8 and many other blogs.

1. Your first thoughts when I say ‘vanilla bean’ are…
Warmth, childhood, grandparents
2. Do you find vanilla beans indispensable in your kitchen as a baking ingredient?
Yes, I use it in most of my recipes whether it is as a main ingredient or to enhance a recipe.
3. Do you always have vanilla beans on hand?
Yes, I always buy in bulk as they are cheaper this way and store them tightly wrapped in an airtight container.
4. In a month, how many vanilla beans would you use on an average?
Because they are so expensive, I really stretch the use of my beans. I might go through 10 beans a month (that I always reuse in other forms) and 4 oz of vanilla extract.
5. Do you have a favourite variety of the vanilla bean?
There are many varieties now but Bourbon is still the most readily available and what I tend to use most. Tahitian has a floral note and a bit of a less sweeter aroma, which I really like. I recently tried some African varieties that were excellent as well.
6. What in your opinion is the best way to showcase the flavor of the vanilla bean?
If I am using vanilla bean, I like that to be the main flavor component of the recipe. It really doesn't need much, just a little steeping or incorporated into a cream is perfection in itself. Also, I think a tiny pinch of salt always enhances the flavor of the vanilla.
7. Have you heard of or used savoury vanilla extract or saffron vanilla extract?
Yes and I actually just recently used vanilla fleur de del in a recipes in my blog (http://cannelle-vanille.blogspot.com/2009/08/vanilla-fleur-de-sel-caramel-and.html). I have heard of saffron vanilla but have never used it myself. Will have to try that soon.
8. What is your favourite recipe using this flavourful bean?
So many... but maybe because we are entering autumn season, the roasted apple and vanilla bean souffle is one of my favorites...(http://cannelle-vanille.blogspot.com/2008/10/roasted-apple-and-vanilla-bean-souffle.html)
♥ Thank you Aran ♥

So much sweet talk and it's time to unleash a VANILLA based DESSERT onto the post. I had mascarpone on hand, home made & fresh and was looking for a delicious vanilla based end to it. Also had figs and oranges on hand. Twitter to the rescue as usual, and help came via wonderful friend Hilda @ Saffronberry. Ever willing to help anytime, never fails to amaze, she suggested Vanilla Mascarpone Cream Hearts from a gorgeous blog - Nordljus.

So, I made these Vanilla Mascarpone Cream Hearts with an Orange & Dried Fig Compote, inspired by the beautiful dessert on Keiko's beautiful blog. Thank you Hilda for twittering to my rescue & for the brilliant recipe suggestion. About the dessert - it was an elegant, delectable dessert, and the compote complimented it beautifully.

Vanilla Mascarpone Cream Hearts with Dried Fig & Orange Compote
Adapted from this recipe at Nordljus
Serve 6
Ingredients:
300g Mascarpone (homemade recipe here)
125g vanilla castor sugar
1 vanilla bean
200ml low fat cream, chilled
125g thick plain yogurt

Method:
Chill the bowl and blade of a food processor in the refrigerator.
To make the cream hearts, blend the mascarpone, seeds of 1 vanilla bean and vanilla castor sugar in the food processor until smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a plastic spatula occasionally to keep the mixture evenly distributed. Add the cream and yogurt and blend briefly to incorporate.
Line 6 porcelain heart moulds with a double layer of wet muslin and carefully spoon in the cream mixture until the moulds are full and the surface is even. Put the moulds on a tray with a lip (to catch the whey - important), then cover with plastic film and refrigerate for at least 8 hours before serving.

To serve, lift the cream hearts out of their moulds using the muslin, then invert each heart onto the berries and carefully remove the muslin. Arrange figs and orange segments around, and spoon the compote over the cream heart.

Orange & Dried Fig Compote
Ingredients:
10-15 dried figs, snipped with kitchen scissors
Zest of 1 orange
Juice of 1 orange
Slices of 1 orange, pith etc removed, chopped
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
Some extra figs and orange segments for serving, optional Method:
Simmer everything gently for 10-15 minutes, till soft & syrupy. The syrup will thicken as the compote cools. Cool before use.

To wrap up, I managed to get in touch with 2 vanilla bean producers down in South India to get a sniff of vanilla bean production in India. I am enjoying using my precious beans; you can too if you like. I've put the contact details down at the bottom for both the producers!

I've have had good fortune of trying out a couple of varieties of vanilla beans, Madagascar included, and find that the Indian Vanilla beans I sampled from Vanilco turned out to be quite good. In my humble opinion, it's a good quality, flavourful bean, and meets the criteria for a good quality bean. I spoke to Paul Jose, the manager at Vanilco Bean Company, one of the biggest suppliers of vanilla to the ice cream industry.

Vanilco heads a consortium of 2500 vanilla farmers, & in Mr Jose's words, they face a unique dilemma. The slightly higher price of natural vanilla leads to most ice cream manufacturers using an imitation vanilla or a chemical substitute, so demand for pure vanilla is slack. In India very few manufacturers sell real ice cream, as 'Ice cream' is in name only. 'Frozen Dessert' is mentioned in small print', as both vanilla and vanilla ice cream are products with standard identity, and it's usage would mean higher prices.

Vanilco was the 1st producer complany in India established in 2004. They produce vanilla beans and 39 other value added products for both domestic and international markets. They market their product in selected tourist destinations in South India under the brand name Vanilla India.

They have a diverse range of products which include Savoury vanilla, Saffron vanilla, Vanilla Cocoa powder, Vanilla tea / coffee, Vanilla paste and Vanilla sugar. The beans are not expensive compared to their US and European counter parts. In South India 1 vanilla pod will cost only around Rs. 5 to 10 (US$1=Rs48 ... so you can get 4-5 beans, sometimes more, for a $). His message - The only way to promote natural vanilla is to create awareness among the public that natural vanilla is available in India, and that it's better to use as compared to chemical substitutes.

VANILLA INDIA PRODUCER COMPANY LTD.
Tel - +91 484 5599233, Cell +91 9349 256746

(Disclaimer: The pictures included above are not reflective of the Vanilco product. They are the author's pictures)

I found that this sentiment echoes across the sector. John.P. John, CEO of Tharakan & Company, another major vanilla bean producer in India since 2000, said the same thing.

Thakaran and Company market their product under the brand name 'Nature's Nurture', and are willing to courier their products to domestic consumers. They are manufacturers of finished good from vanilla beans, apart from being a supplier of the bean. They claim to be the only manufacturer of Natural Vanilla Extract with Cold process technology, which gives both aroma and taste of vanilla.They also manufacture Pure Natural Vanilla Powder, Natural vanilla Paste, Vanilla seeds etc, supplying vanilla beans in transparent tubes and vacuum pouches to the domestic market. They also offer it worldwide.In his words... Most vanilla beans under production either head for export are are used for vanilla extract. Per se, the vanilla bean is still struggling to find demand in the local market.
Tharakan & Company,
Ph +91 481 2516619/ +91 481 2516119
Cell +91 94470 37383

CAPPUCCINO BUTTERMILK MUFFINS...Virtual Connect & O Food Contest

2009-09-22T11:24:00.004+05:30

"Caffeine isn't a drug, it's a vitamin!"

Woke up groggy one morning. Had been up till 1.30am battling blogger issues. Then the son decided to wake me up at 4.30am with a painful foot. They're 'growing pains' the doctor once said; the lad has P L E N T Y. 'Why me, why today', was the only thought I had! For some insane reason, I was wide awake thereafter. Had to find something therapeutic to do. Hadn't made them a snack for school the day before because I had been dog tired. A thought ran through my head - 'I'm going to bake some muffins' ... the first time I've actually baked at 5.30am! Reached out for my recipe folder on the counter & opened the most in demand comfort bake - Cappuccino Muffins. I love making these. They are simple, get put together real quick, and above all, connect me to Nic @ Cherrapeno where I found the recipe.

Nic and me get on famously, and our email exchanges are sometimes quite hysterical & funny. Makes me a happy baker carrying out a virtual conversation with her! We do also catch up on twitter sometimes, though not as often as we'd like to. Nic and I have plenty of giggles that keep us in splits! I just love 'food with a connect' - a memory, a conversation, a giggle attached to it, something like the macarons we made in a mac attack on twitter not so long ago.

They are lovely muffins & pack a punch in each bite. Soft and delicious, with a deep coffee taste. I think using buttermilk instead of milk makes them a tad lighter. Maybe it's just a figment of my imagination, but well...I find them to be just perfect comfort food. Grab a warm muffin, curl up with a cup of coffee, a good cookbook...bliss!

Cappuccino Buttermilk Muffins

adapted from Nic @ Cherrapeno

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsps baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup vanilla sugar
1/2 cup melted butter, cooled
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsps instant coffee
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Method:

Mix coffee into melted butter. Whisk well.

Whisk eggs lightly into the buttermilk with the vanilla extract.

In a big bowl mix well the following - both flours, vanilla sugar, baking powder & salt.

Now pour in the buttermilk mixture & the butter mixture, and mix in gently by hand till moist. DO NOT over mix or muffins won't be nice & soft. Fold in chocolate chips lightly & do not over mix.

Fill up the prepared muffin tins 2/3 full, sprinkle a few coffee beans if you like. Bake in preheated oven at 180C for 20-22 minutes.
Cool on rack.

♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥

This is my entry for the 2nd Annual O Foods Contest for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. 'CAPPUCCINO BUTTERMILK MUFFINS'. Do head across to Michelle's at Bleeding Espresso and be part of tradition in honor of award-winning pastry chef Gina DePalma, author of Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen; Gina has been fighting ovarian cancer for the past year and a half, and in addition to physically battling the disease, she has also started the Cowgirl Cure Foundation to raise awareness and money for research as well.

CONTEST RULES

O Foods Contest for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, and for the second year in a row, Sara of Ms Adventures in Italy and Michelle of Bleeding Espresso are hosting the O Foods Contest to raise awareness of this important health issue.

There are TWO WAYS to take part in the O Foods Contest:

ONE: Post a recipe to your blog using a food that starts or ends with the letter O (e.g., oatmeal, orange, okra, octopus, olive, onion, potato, tomato); include this entire text box in the post; and send your post url along with a photo (100 x 100) to ofoods[at]gmail[dot]com by 11:59 pm (Italy time) on Monday, September 28, 2009.

PRIZES for recipe posts:

1st: Signed copy of Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen by Gina DePalma, Executive Pastry Chef of Babbo Ristorante in NYC, who is currently battling ovarian cancer, inspired this event, and will be choosing her favorite recipe for this prize;
2nd: Signed copy of Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home by Mario Batali (winner chosen by Sara);
3rd: Signed copy of Vino Italiano: The Regional Italian Wines of Italy by Joseph Bastianich (winner chosen by Michelle).
OR
TWO: If you’re not into the recipe thing, simply post this entire text box in a post on your blog to help spread the word and send your post url to ofoods[at]gmail[dot]com by 11:59 pm (Italy time) on Monday, September 28, 2009.

Awareness posts PRIZE:

One winner chosen at random will receive a Teal Toes tote bag filled with ovarian cancer awareness goodies that you can spread around amongst your friends and family.
———
From the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund:

Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic cancers in the United States and is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women; a woman’s lifetime risk of ovarian cancer is 1 in 67.
The symptoms of ovarian cancer are often vague and subtle, making it difficult to diagnose, but include bloating, pelvic and/or abdominal pain, difficulty eating or feeling full quickly; and urinary symptoms (urgency or frequency).
There is no effective screening test for ovarian cancer but there are tests which can detect ovarian cancer when patients are at high risk or have early symptoms.
In spite of this, patients are usually diagnosed in advanced stages and only 45% survive longer than five years. Only 19% of cases are caught before the cancer has spread beyond the ovary to the pelvic region.
When ovarian cancer is detected and treated early on, the five-year survival rate is greater than 92%.
And remember, you can also always donate to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund at our page through FirstGiving!

Please help spread the word about ovarian cancer.
Together we can make enough noise to kill this silent killer.

APPLE AND BLACK GRAPE BANDE AUX FRUITS...& BLOGGERAID

2009-09-19T06:45:00.005+05:30

“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”
Martin Luther

This fall, BloggerAid...Changing the Face of Famine, a dedicated group of food bloggers will make their mark on global hunger and kitchens around the world when they release “The BloggerAid Cookbook." The proceeds from the sale of this cookbook will benefit Friends of WFP. It's thanks to this beautiful, dedicated and hard-working group, and to Absolute Press, UK, one of the UK's leading publishers of food and drink books, that I am fortunate enough to review 'INDULGE - 100 Perfect Desserts' by Claire Clark, as part of a fun event BloggerAid is hosting. Agreements have been reached to partner cookbook publishers with BloggerAid…Changing the Face of Famine to offer members participation in book and product reviews. Thank you BloggerAid...

INDULGE ... a book that brought the whole house buzzing with sweet excitement. It's gorgeous and utterly delicious; an enviable book to own! The son immediately said...'Now you have 100 more desserts to try Mama'!! My daughter stopped & stared at every page, falling at my feet begging me to bake stuff out of it. Imagine the pressure!! She even cleared her room, and wrote down things-to- do list! Such is the power of food!

Leafing through the book made me want to try everything as soon as possible. Claire Clark is counted among one of the world’s best pastry chefs, and has been a celebrated chef at The French Laundry. She has an easy style of writing, & a personal touch which offers a little culinary connection with each recipe. The book is conveniently divided into different sections – biscuits and cookies, cakes, pastry, meringues, desserts, mousses and jellies, puddings, ices and petit fours. Each recipe has an inspiration, intriguing attention to detail, and beautiful presentation. There's something for everyone!

About the book ... "It's aimed at people with a passion for pastry - domestic cooks, mainly. But then when I'd finished it I thought, 'this is a student book', because all the recipes I've included are my 'first' recipes, including the basic building blocks I use all the time," she says. "If you want a recipe for ganache, it's there. If you want a strudel dough, or a custard recipe or Battenberg recipe, they're there as well."

At the beginning of each section you can find an all important talk through of basic processes, equipment, & common follies we tend to commit. Claire is generous to share her experiences, and brought many smiles to my face during the course of reading the book. The time she blew up the pastry oven, brought some tiles down from the roof, getting blacked out in the process & reaching hospital, had me in shock, & then, fits of laughter. She honed her craft under legendary Swiss patissiers Ernest Bachmann and John Huber, and served as pastry chef at The French Laundry in California, which is among the state's best known and loved restaurants. Her book is a perfect bed time read to ensure sweet dreams!

The recipes vary in levels of difficulty & complexity. She offers cookies easy as breeze, a minimalistic pudding on one end of the spectrum, and an all out stunning Opera Cake on the other. There’s something too to match every occasion. Of course I skidded to a halt the minute I saw the macarons page. The current obsession still very much there! Bookmarking hopelessly … macarons, eccles cakes, apple strudel, franscutti, apple bande aux fruits, apple charlotte, crème caramel....apple anything got precedence actually. After all, it's FALL!

The book is exciting, and Claire's write up reflects it beautifully. " I wanted this book to sum up everything I love about my occupation. To be extravagant, luxurious, serious but playful, decadent, rich & truly irresistible." I had to bake something quick. A book as good as this is entirely gawkable! A classic! I sat immersed in it for long periods of time, wanting to make everything in a hurry. But the flu got the better of me. Despite the racking cough & bouts of high fever, I still hit the kitchen to INDULGE! I would have liked to make something chocolatey (the book offers enough options), but having just finished off a rather decadent round of double chocolate ice-cream, decided to go with fruit. Apples & pears galore occupy the fruit basket in my kitchen, so I joyfully turned to the Apple & Blackberry Bande Aux Fruit. No blackberries in India, but me the queen of substitutes, always finds a way out. I used dried black grapes instead, soaked in boiling water with a little sugar & 1 tsp of almond essence, as suggested by Pamela @ Cooking Ninja when we had been discussing blueberry muffins on twitter earlier. Great idea because I got the look, and the taste too. What did we like about the dessert? Everything. A beautiful pastry; easy to make, well behaved, light & indulgent. The frangipane had just the right amount of sweetness, the almond taste enhanced every so beautifully by the essence, the apples most welcome with autumn creeping up here, & the berries or grapes adding to the dessert. I find the use of the rectangular tart tin entirely charming & am always looking out to use it. I made the tart during the day, & left it out at room temperature. We had it at night for dessert with unsweetened whipped cream, and black grape compote, which added just the right bit of luxury to it. You can also serve it with Creme Anglaise as the author suggests. The dessert got me high fives from everyone who had it, me included. I had some extra pastry dough & almond cream left over, and made a small tart with it, using a sliced pear on top. Since this was a review, I adapted it just minimally for certain ingredient substitutes, otherwise following the recipe. This is the first of my adventures into this beautiful book by an outstanding author I have recently discovered ... and this will not be my last. The only thing that will hold me back, if at all, is the large hearted use of butter, even in biscuits and cookies, but then, that's what being indulgent is all about!

Apple and Black Grapes Bande Aux Fruits
adapted minimally from Indulge by Claire Clark

Ingredients:
50gms black grapes (or blackberries)
2 apples
3-4 tbsps apricot glaze
2-3 tbsps icing sugar
1 tbsps Calvados or cider
For the sweet pastry
110gms softened unsalted butter
50gm Castor sugar
1 medium egg
1/2 capful pure vanilla extract
210gm plain flour
a pinch of salt

For the almond cream

Ingredients:
125gm softened unsalted butter
125 gm Castor sugar (I used powdered vanilla sugar)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
grated zest of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
40 gm plain flour
125gm ground almonds
Method:
You will need an oblong tart tin for the recipe. I had extra dough so made one small round 4" tartlet as well, and 1 extra pie shell.

Pastry:
Make the pastry in the food processor by placing all the ingredients in the bowl, and pulsing gently,till they form a soft but not sticky dough. Flatten to about a 1/2" disk, wrap in cling wrap, and rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Almond Cream:
Cream the butter & sugar till pale and fluffy.
Add the beaten eggs, a little at a time, beating well between each addition.
Mix in the zest & vanilla extract.
Sift the almond & flour together on a piece of parchment paper, and add to the creamed mix in one go.
Fold in the dry ingredients.

Assembling:

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface. Use to line the oblong tart tin, pressing it well into the base and up the sides. lightly roll the pin over the top of the tin to remove the excess pastry.
Spoon the almond cream into the lined tart tin so it is about two-thirds full, and level with a spatula or palette knife. Set aside in a cool place, but not the fridge, while you prepare the apples.
Peel & core the apples, cut in half, and then slice thinly, keeping them together in a half shape. Place the apple halves onto the pastry cream, pressing on them lightly, so they fan out slightly. Dot the black grapes around the apples.
Bake for 25 minutes, until the pastry is brown & the almond cream springs back when touched. Check to see if it's cooked by inserting a small knife into the centre of the flan; it should come out clean.

Bring the apricot preserve to a boil with 1 tbsp of water and pass through a fine sieve. Brush this over the tart to seal in the moisture & give it a shine.
Now combine the icing sugar & Calvados / cider in a small bowl until smooth & clear; it should be runny. Brush the mixture on top of the apricot glaze.
Serve the tart was with lashings of hot Creme Anglaise or unsweetened whipped cream & compote.

♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥