Heppy Budday!

Its birthday time! I always bake for C on his birthdays and this year was no exception! He is a big fan of muffins or cupcakes rather than the big ones and so I decided to bake this classic! The basic recipe is from here. I say it makes a great birthday cake..... and its so super gooey ! :P.... Give it a try and let me know how you like it!

What you need:

Flour: 1/3 cup

sugar: 1/2 cup

chocolate:~ 2 cups chocolate morsels( Any of your favorite brand will do. I used the Ghirardelli bitter sweet chocolate morsels)

light cream:4 -5 tbsp

Eggs:2 beaten

baking powder: a pinch

baking soda: a pinch

butter: 1/2 cup and extra for the ramekins( at room temp)

salt:a pinch

Preheat the oven at 350F.

Generously wipe the ramekins with softened butter moving from bottom to the walls. Set aside.

Sift flour,salt, baking powder and baking soda together and keep aside.

In another bowl whisk the eggs ans sugar together.

In a separate microwave proof bowl put the chocolate morsels together and heat on high for 30-45 seconds. Next take it out and mix with the light cream and softened butter to get a smooth consistency.Set aside.

Now add the egg mixture to the flour whisking simultaneously. next add the chocolate mixture once it is cooled to room temperature.

Whisk lightly so as to fold in the mixture.

Scoop out equal portions in the buttered ramekins.*

Bake for 12 minutes for a molten center and 15-18 minutes for a firmer center. Cool for 5 minutes and then with a serrated knife pry out the edges . Next tip it over a dish so the the cake comes out upside down.

Enjoy warm with a dollop of caramel ice cream!

* I did not have ramekins and so I buttered my muffin pan and it turned out fine.

HAPPY NEW YEAR with Malpoa!

Happy New Year everyone! This is just wishing everybody great health and wealth and sending loads of love to all who care to visit this blog of mine !:)

Malpoa is a traditional bengali sweet dish that is served in all festivals and even in weddings. The deep fried pan cakes (well sort of!) dripping in thick sugar syrup is a favorite among all ! It is simple to make and you can tweak it as you like: like you can add kheer to the batter, or condensed milk, or maybe some chopped dry fruits and some strands of saffron . But what I made for New year was the simplest version and served hot after lunch or dinner it is simply a mouth watering delight!

What you need:

flour--1 cup

Suji/ semolina--4 tbsp

milk --1 and 1/4 cup

sugar--1 tbsp

grated coconut--1/2 cup

oil-- for frying

Sugar syrup:

2 cups sugar

1 and 3/4 cup water

Over low heat , in a pan boil the sugar and water to a syrup .It should be hot but not boiling.

Meanwhile in a bowl mix all the ingredients and whisk so that there are no lumps.

Now heat oil in a pan and add a ladle full of batter. Fry until golden brown on both sides.

Directly add the malpoa to the sugar syrup and let it soak for a couple of minutes.

Serve hot!

Banana Walnut muffins..... with an added treat

Ripe bananas are a nuisance. I cannot eat them and their final destination is the dustbin. I hate to be wasteful but when that black ugly fruit sits on the top of my fruit bowl screaming , on most weeks I end up disposing 1-2 in the garbage bag.
Yesterday however was different. The banana was ripe and the skin was black as usual and I ventured into peeling the fruit. I discovered the fruit was perfectly alright, just a bit too soft and the fruity smell was a tad too overpowering . And so I could not bring myself to throwing the poor one away. And VOILA! there it is calmly sitting in my warm muffins totally at peace..... I am happy and the banana is too(I hope!).
What you need:

flour---1 tbsp less then 1 cup
baking soda---1/2 tsp
baking powder---1 tsp
ripe banana---1 mashed
chopped walnuts---1/4 cup
chocolate chips---a handful
brown sugar---1/2 cup
sour cream---2 tbsp (at room temperature)
egg---1 beaten
butter---6 tbsp

Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Cream the butter and sugar together and keep aside.
Lightly beat the egg and add to the butter and sugar. Add the sour cream.
Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda together with a pinch of salt and slowly add to the egg mix.
Lightly fold in the mixture.
Next add the ripe banana and gently mix.
Add the chopped walnuts and a handful of semisweet chocolate chips.
Line a muffin pan with the greased pastry sheets.
Scoop out equal portions of the batter.This batter makes about 8 medium sized muffins.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until the top is puffed and golden brown. Take them out and cool for 10-12 minutes.
Lovely yummilicious treat..... just pop it into your mouth and enjoy the softness! :)



And P.S..... The added treat as indicated in the header is the "chocolate chip".... which is totally optional...... but then you know my desserts are never really desserts without a hint of chocolate..... so then..ENJOY!

Easy Apple Tart

This is a simple apple tart and an absolutely amazing one ....sweet yet with a bit of tang.... the texture is not entirely like cakes.... it is much softer and and has an amazing apple y top...
I got the original recipe from here. Just wanted to give it a try since I had two red apples sitting on the top of the microwave and staring at me. It is also also very different from a usual cake. It is a tart but without any crust making and the recipe is amazingly simple.
I am not very fond of apples. Of all the fruits the least I like is apple. Somehow I do not like the texture of apples. So whenever I buy apples I try and incorporate it into custards and fruit salads. And this apple tart is another way of making my desserts healthier.

Ingredients:
apple-1 large red one
brown sugar-1 cup
white crystalline sugar-1/2 cup
flour-1 cup
baking powder-1/2 tsp
sour cream-2tbsp
egg-2
butter-6 tbsp

I omitted the lemon zest and vanilla as I did not have them handy.

Peel and scoop out the core of the apple. Cut into wedges and arrange at the bottom of a glass pie dish .Butter the surface of pie dish generously.
Now combine the brown sugar and water and put on low heat until a thick brown sugar syrup forms. Pour the syrup on the apples evenly.
In a bowl combine the white sugar and butter and cream them.
Slowly add the eggs, sour cream, flour and the baking powder. Add a pinch of salt.
Next spread the batter over the apples and even out the batter.
Bake for 40 -45 minutes at 350F. Cool for 15 minutes before turning it out upside down with the apples on top.
Serve warm with cold vanilla ice cream.
HAPPY BAKING!

P.S.:If you do not want this tart to be too sweet just reduce the amount of sugar in the batter.

A lovely little treat----- Chococlate cream cheese filled mini tarts

One of my favorite passions have always been baking. I have always loved baked goodies and if they are sweet .... ooh!! Lovely!
The cakes and pastries in this country are a little different from what we have back home. I hardly see any layered pastries (and by pastries I mean the sweet creamy small cakes which are sold by piece at shops like Monginis or Cookie Jar or Flury's).Here I find either the cakes are fruity ( that I get at Starbucks) or the scones and muffins which are not really what I crave for.
These mini tarts are not too sweet and and i just baked them last afternoon when I suddenly remembered the most delicious boat-shaped pastries that Baba would buy us from Flury's.It has a boat shaped bottom which is the crust and it is just like biscuit and tastes kind of crumbly and the filling is the most divine chocolate and mocha cream.....
Any ways my mini tarts are just a crude version of those pastries but they taste just as good! Just give them a try!
I used a filling of chocolate and cream cheese.... if you are not in a mood for chocolate just use any of your favorite jams or jellies or any other filling that you have in mind.

What you need:

For the mini tarts:
Flour-1 and 1/2 cup
butter (cold)-2 sticks
ice cold water
salt-a pinch
sugar-4 tbsp

For the filling:
chocolate chips or any bar of -one small packet
cream cheese-1/2 cup softened at room temperature

Take a fork and mix together the salt , sugar and the flour.
Now take the cold butter and with the fork just fold it in so that the mixture is crumbly. it should not form a dough. Wrap it in a plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for 45 minutes.
Next take ice cold water and bring the flour mixture to a soft dough.
Take the dough on a floured surface and roll it out flat with a rolling pin.Do not roll out too thin.
Next take a pastry cutter or any round object with sharp edges and cut out small round sections.
Place them on greased pastry liners and fit them inside your muffin pan.
Chill them again for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile in a pan soften the chocolate chips and the cream cheese.
Do not make the filling too runny.
Bring the filling to room temperature.
Take out the small tarts and spoon in the filling. Chill again for 15 minutes.
Next bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes until the crust turns golden brown and crunchy.
Serve hot with a dollop of cold vanilla ice cream!

A ruby red jam and a hearty breakfast

Breakfasts are the first meals of the day and when it is weekend , they have to be hearty and delicious.
I am not a big egg fan... I cannot just cook 5 eggs in the morning and serve them... we both find them too heavy ..... they are better off for the later part of the day.....
So how to make the breakfasts special?.... No poached eggs, no scrambled eggs, C is not very fond of pancakes either...
And then I decided ....Why not give home made jam a try? That would be special..!
C always likes long lazy breakfasts especially on Sunday mornings when he can wake up late and sit at the table with his morning tea for hours and talk to me and twiddle with the his laptop at the same time. So I decided on a simple strawberry jam and warm baguette for breakfast....
The recipes I followed are here and here.
I combined the two for a yummy jam.....

What you need:
fresh strawberries-1 lb
sugar-17-20 tbsp
lemon zest-2 tsp
lemon juice-6 tbsp
orange juice-2 tbsp

Wash the strawberries and hull them .
I quartered all the big berries and halved the smaller ones.
Now in a deep heavy bottomed saucepan,add the lemon juice and the zest.
Put the flame on medium low.
When the juice starts boiling add the strawberries.
Cook for 4-5 minutes until the strawberries soften and start releasing their juices.
Add the sugar slowly stirring each time.
Add the orange juice.
Now let the mix cook for 25- 30 minutes at low medium heat.
Skim off any foam that forms on top.
Pour in a glass bowl and let it cool.
When it has cooled, cover and store in refrigerator for 1-2 weeks.
We enjoyed ours on warm oven roasted baguette..:)

Kacha aamer chutney or raw mango chutney

My mother loves this.She calls it Kacha aam er jhol or just a very light sweet and sour concoction with raw mango and sugar.Chutney is the thicker counterpart..... just reducing the juice over low heat....
Anyways this a summer favorite back at my place and every day a bowl of chutney is prepared and devoured straight from the refrigerator. It is cool, sweet and really really refreshing!
Over here surprisingly in our Indian grocery store we always find a basket full of wonderfully fragrant green raw mangoes. I eye them and I think ...Gosh! How badly I miss the aamer chutney from home!My mother makes great chutney..... if there is family dinner or lunch she makes sure that her chutney is perfect...
Now chutney at our place is not like the conventional pickle kind of thing that is available in jars. Rather for bengalis chutney is a sweet and tangy savory concoction that is served at the end of a heavy meal to freshen the taste buds. It is not really dessert .... well something in between the main course and dessert ....you can say!

How to make Aamer chutney:

raw mango-1 diced and the central seed removed (if you want you can add the pit too) Do not peel the mangoes.
salt-2 pinches
sugar-5-7 tbsp (depending on how sour the mangoes are)
panch foron-a pinch
white oil-1 tbsp
water- 2 cups

Heat oil in a pan and sizzle the panch foron.
Next add the mangoes and the salt.
Cook in medium heat , covered, for a minute or two.
Next add the water and cook covered until the mango pieces soften and the juice starts coming out.
If you want a thicker chutney , just simmer uncovered on low heat until you get the desired consistency.
Add the sugar when you think the mangoes are already soft and done.
Stir and remove from heat.
Pour in a porcelain or glass serving bowl.(avoid steel)
Chill in the refrigerator and serve just after lunch on the same plate and SLURP!!

Of Parfaits and summers!

Now that summer is here.... and with the heat and sun and long afternoons ,I decided to whip up a cool treat for C. It had to be healthy and tasty and of course cold. And so I decided on a fruit parfait... well mine was slightly different since I was not using granola. I had some very colorful fruits and some vanilla yogurt... and so parfait it was!


It was so scrumptious and cold and full of flavors !

What you need:

ripe papaya-1/4 cup diced
banana-1/2 of ripe one sliced
apples-1/4 cup diced
grapes-halved and de seeded
cashews- 1/2 cup chopped
vanilla yogurt- 1 and 1/2 cup (depending on the size of serving cups)
sugar-1/2 tsp
lime juice-2 tbsp
whipped cream can

Dice the fruits into small bite size pieces and toss them with the lime juice and sugar.
Alternatively you can also use honey.
Whip the yogurt smooth and add the chopped cashews.
Take the serving glass and start layering alternating the fruits and yogurt.
Top it off with whipped cream...ooohhhh lala!LOVELY!

Shimai er payesh... or Vermicelli milk pudding

Birthdays always bring back fond memories of home.The nostalgia sets in big time and my mind flies back home. There were no elaborate parties but the food was always there...sumptuous and made with a whole lot of love .
And payesh is one such thing which is definitely my mother's birthday specialties.
Back home we made this traditional Bengali pudding/kheer with rice. But at in-laws place Shimai is preferred instead of rice. And over the last two years I too have grown to love this sweet delicacy.I love to see C's face lighting up when he sees his bowl of payesh.

What you need:

milk (full cream!) -1 lt
gur-1 cup crumbled
chopped cashew-a handful
shimai/vermicelli-1/3 cup
oil/ghee-2 tbsp
sugar-2 tsp

In a saucepan start boiling the milk at low temperature. Careful not to scald the milk at the bottom. This is a long process as the heat is low medium.
Meanwhile add ghee /oil to another pan and lightly fry the shimai until they turn deep brown.
When the milk has reduced to half add the shimai and keep stirring.
When you think it is the desired consistency add the sugar.
Next add the gur/jaggery and let it dissolve into the milk and watch the as the color turns a rich chocolaty brown. Add the gur according to taste... depending on how sweet you want your payesh.And the sugar is added before the gur so that the milk does not curdle even if the gur has some impurities in it.
Remove from heat and add the chopped cashews.
Cool and serve.

So long..... enjoy your payesh... and day dream about home.....!:)