Strawberry-rhubarb compote

I'm always fascinated by how quickly summer creeps up on us. Its freezing one day, raining for a week and before you know it, its strawberry season and the beginning of summer!!

Munchkin and I went strawberry picking a couple of weeks ago with my parents. And since my mother finally convinced herself that freezing fruit was not a nutritional catastrophe, we hauled home 10lbs of loot! In case you're wondering how much that is exactly, its a LOT! (look below)

About 3 cups of these went into a strawberry-rhubarb compote (delish!) which in an attempt to be healthy I layered with greek yogurt (can be easily substituted with vanilla ice cream) and homemade granola (nothing to write home about so I'll spare you the recipe). The compote is also great spooned over waffles or pancakes or frozen into popsicles.
For the compote:

You will need:

3 cups strawberries (washed, hulled and sliced)
2 cups chopped rhubarb (optional)
1/4 cup of water
1 tsp vanilla essence (or) juice of half a lemon
Sugar to taste (optional)

Bring the first three ingredients to a boil on medium-high heat in a saucepan. Taste the mixture. Add vanilla essence (if mixture is too tart) OR lemon juice (if mixture is not tart enough). If you would like the mixture to be more sweet, add sugar. Refrigerate for about 1 week.

Carrot cake and perspective

Its funny how when you're obsessing about what seems like earth shattering emotional problems, life throws you a curve ball to put everything back in perspective.

That happened yesterday. I was taking my little guy on a routine trip to my parents house before heading to work. It was so routine that in order to leave early enough to miss rush hour traffic I postponed combing my mad jungle mane and just threw a sweat shirt over my pyjamas.

We were three quarters of the way there when the truck driver in front of me was swerving and changing lanes without looking in his blind spot. He almost caused one collision but the guy in the other lane was quick enough to escape. 3 minutes later he does it again, this time the black car in the next lane (in his blind spot again) didnt escape. 50 yards away from us the black car and tractor trailer truck crash! The black car swerves out of control makes a full circle, in the process hitting another SUV and truck before eventually getting to the shoulder. In the mean time I slam the brakes and instinctively look in the rearview mirror and helplessly scream as another tractor trailer truck crashes into the back of my car. I don't even remember how I got from the inner lane to the shoulder but thanks to adrenaline I did. Got out of the car, opened my son's door and got him out of his car seat. There was smoke and crashing noises everywhere, all I could do was hold on to my little boy and hope that nothing near us exploded. When the crashing stopped and people started getting out of their cars I got closer to my car and saw that in addition to other damages, my rear window was completely shattered and panicked because my son was in the back seat. Frantically I check him all over and even got the paramedics to look at him but it was a miracle that my little boy was completely unscathed.

When I think about it, things could have been so much worse. The trucker who hit me braked so hard that his tire wore out till only the metal wheel (core) was left. I really do believe he saved our life. How I changed 2 lanes to get to the shoulder is another miracle...I dont know how it happened amidst all the crashes in all the lanes. There were 6 trucks and 3 cars involved in the accident on I-95 southbound at 7.36am yesterday and not a single person was hurt. If thats not enough to give perspective to life I dont know what is.

This morning as I drank my tea and ate the carrot cake I baked a couple of days ago I couldn't help but reflect on God's wonderful blessing in saving my baby angel's life.

Here's the recipe of the cake I had for breakfast. I really do hope you enjoy this cake, it has carrots and no butter so its practically health food!

Carrot cake
(Adapted from David Lebovitz)

4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cinnamon
Generous pinches of cloves and nutmeg
1 tsp of salt
4 cups of grated carrots (loosely packed)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour one 9X13 inch or two 8- or 9-inch cake pans.

Sift together the flour, sugar, spices, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Beat the eggs until they are pale and frothy in a large bowl with a handheld mixer. Drizzle in the oil and vanilla.

Add flour mixture to the eggs and mix until just combined.

Fold in carrots, raisins and nuts into the batter. Then pour the batter into your choice of cake pan. Bake 30-35 minutes for 2X 8in/9in pans or 55 minutes for the 9X13 inch pan or until the surface springs back when gently touched. Serve at room temperature.

Chocolate dipped strawberries on Valentines day!

I'd always been a jock growing up. Maybe it was my testosterone driven cousins constantly challenging me or maybe it was my sport junkie dad. Either way I'd always be out on the ground playing badminton, throwball, volleyball or soccer. So really no one would guess that there was a helplessly feminine romantic side. I'd eagerly wait for Valentine's day, hoping each year would be the lucky one that I'd magically be bestowed a Valentine. A secret (obviously the most romantic kind) Valentine who would surprise me with a homemade card, a romantic poem and maybe even a rose. But of course high school came and went, its been more than a decade and damn it secret Valentine! Where are you??

At least I'll always have my faithful friend Ghirardelli and... strawberries. Crackly, bittersweet chocolate, covering sweet, tart , juicy strawberries. It really is the perfect drown-your-sorrow-while-waiting-for-that-bloody-secret-valentine food! ;)


You will need:

1 bar of your favorite chocolate (for me thats 60% Ghirardelli)
1lb The most perfect strawberries you can fine. I try to look for deep dark red ones with as minimal a white patch under the green tops.

Break the chocolate bar into pieces and microwave in 30 second intervals till completely melted. Hold strawberries by their green tops, dip into molten chocolate and twirl till completely coated. Place on foil/ parchment wrapped cookie sheet or tray. Once most of the strawberries are coated in chocolate (I usually have a couple leftover, which my little munchkin will happily nibble). Place cookie sheet/tray in fridge for about 5 mins! Woe-be-gone!

Good things...and pie

There are times when you can actually look at life and think, hmm things are not so bad after all. This summer was just like that it was full of... well, life. My little munchkin is phrasing sentences, helping pick fruit, watering the vegetables, swimming and being the best friend a mom could ever ask for.

School is chugging along and I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, with experiments falling into place.

I've also been teaching little kids (newborns- 3 year olds) in church this year and its so wonderful to see the little babies make their milestones-- going from staring and smiling to helping out with all the props we play with. I've never been one to coo and coddle random babies on the street (at least till I had my own) so this side of me was quite a revelation.

Another new thing we did this summer was to camp, yes, with the little guy. It was so peaceful and rejuvenating, no cell phone reception or internet, just unadulterated family time. I highly recommend it, and in fact believe it improves productivity when you get back to the real world!

Then theres the usual travel. Our goal is to mould little man into a beach bum as early as possible. And I think its working, he was enjoying Bermuda's legendary turquoise waters as much as the locals. The legendary pink sand was another story though... that he wasnt crazy about.

On the kitchen front many happy things have happened as well. I found the perfect chocolate chip and leige waffle recipes. But those will have to be for another day because they fade in comparison to mastering the elusive science of the perfect pie-crust, my nemesis for a very long time. Its finally done, I now know how to make impossibly flaky, all butter pie crust. And summer is such a great time for pie with all the different fruit you can throw in. I've already tried it with peaches, nectarines and apples, with success each time. You should definitely give it a go. Its fool proof, really it is. Pim is genius! And really how bad can life be when you have pie?! I hope you've enjoyed your summer as much we have, if not, hurry up theres still a wee-bit left!


For the pie crust (makes for a double pie crust, or 2 single layer pie crusts):

2.25 cups of All purpose flour
8 ounces salted butter (cold and sliced into 6-8 big chunks)
1/4 cup of cold water

Additional:
1 tbsp All purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar

Its all in the technique here. Pim has an awesome video that you can look at. But basically, you smoosh the butter till flat into the flour. Then with a pastry scraper in your right hand (if right handed) you scrape the flour from the edges into the middle where your left hand is continuing smooshing butter chunks into the flour. When you finally see more shaggy butter "sheet-lets" than flour, you pour on the cold water. Quickly gather the dough into a ball, wrap with plastic wrap and throw in the fridge for 30 mins.

After 30 minutes, sprinkle flour on your rolling surface. Get out the dough from the fridge and roll it out into a rectangle. Fold top 1/3rd in to the middle. Brush off excess flour. Fold bottom 1/3rd up to the middle, overlapping with first fold. Brush off excess flour. Turn 90 degrees and roll out into a rectangle and repeat the folding. Repeat this whole process of folding and turning for about 3-4 times. Divide the dough into 2 parts and refrigerate for 30 mins. In the meantime make the filling. After time in the fridge roll out one part of the dough into 1/16th of an inch and place it on greased and lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle rolled out dough with a mixture of 1 tbsp of flour and 2 tbsp of sugar. Preheat oven to 375F.

Rustic caramel apple tart filling

6 tbsp butter
6tbsp sugar
6-7 ginger gold/golden delicious apples, sliced thick
Juice of half a lemon

For egg wash:
1 egg beaten with 1 tsp of water

1bsp sugar for sprinkling over tart

Melt butter and sugar together on low-medium heat. When the mixture starts bubbling and has become a bit thick add the apples and lemon juice. Let cook for about 3 minutes. Dish out the apples and lay them in concentric circles around the pie dough (over flour and sugar mixture that was previously sprinkled on dough). Make sure to leave about 0.5-1 inch around the edges, depending on your taste. Fold the dough on the edges over the apples, making sure they're nice and snug. Bring the pan with butter, sugar and now apple juice back to heat. Increase temp to medium-high. Let cook till mixture becomes golden brown. Take off heat and pour over apples in the tart. Brush the edges with eggwash and sprinkle with sugar. This tart dough is a little bland so be generous with the sugar sprinkle. Place in 375F oven for about an hour or till the edges are nice and golden brown. Enjoy warm with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream!

Daring Bakers February Challenge-- Tiramisu

My little man had a stomach virus the week before and the poor baby suffered as I'd never seen him and hope never to again. And when we finally managed to nurse him back to health, I got the bug! I've never gotten a stomach bug ever, EVER. All those years of roadside feasting in Kuwait and India, never! Anyways, we are all better now and its time to think about cooking, baking to be precise.

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

Here's their recipe and my pictures! The pictures are a bit sad but were the best I could do under the circumstances. Better ones next time, promise!!


Ingredients:
For the zabaglione:
2 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar/50gms
1/4 cup/60ml Marsala wine (or port or coffee)
1/4 teaspoon/ 1.25ml vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

For the vanilla pastry cream:
1/4 cup/55gms sugar
1 tablespoon/8gms all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon/ 2.5ml vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup/175ml whole milk

For the whipped cream:
1 cup/235ml chilled heavy cream (we used 25%)
1/4 cup/55gms sugar
1/2 teaspoon/ 2.5ml vanilla extract

To assemble the tiramisu:
2 cups/470ml brewed espresso, warmed
1 teaspoon/5ml rum extract (optional)
1/2 cup/110gms sugar
1/3 cup/75gms mascarpone cheese
36 savoiardi/ ladyfinger biscuits (you may use less)
2 tablespoons/30gms unsweetened cocoa powder

Method:
For the zabaglione:
Heat water in a double boiler. If you don’t have a double boiler, place a pot with about an inch of water in it on the stove. Place a heat-proof bowl in the pot making sure the bottom does not touch the water.
In a large mixing bowl (or stainless steel mixing bowl), mix together the egg yolks, sugar, the Marsala (or espresso/ coffee), vanilla extract and lemon zest. Whisk together until the yolks are fully blended and the mixture looks smooth.
Transfer the mixture to the top of a double boiler or place your bowl over the pan/ pot with simmering water. Cook the egg mixture over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 8 minutes or until it resembles thick custard. It may bubble a bit as it reaches that consistency.
Let cool to room temperature and transfer the zabaglione to a bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.

For the pastry cream:
Mix together the sugar, flour, lemon zest and vanilla extract in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. To this add the egg yolk and half the milk. Whisk until smooth.
Now place the saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring constantly to prevent the mixture from curdling.
Add the remaining milk a little at a time, still stirring constantly. After about 12 minutes the mixture will be thick, free of lumps and beginning to bubble. (If you have a few lumps, don’t worry. You can push the cream through a fine-mesh strainer.)
Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic film and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.

For the whipped cream:
Combine the cream, sugar and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric hand mixer or immersion blender until the mixture holds stiff peaks. Set aside.

To assemble the tiramisu:
Have ready a rectangular serving dish (about 8" by 8" should do) or one of your choice.
Mix together the warm espresso, rum extract and sugar in a shallow dish, whisking to mix well. Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, beat the mascarpone cheese with a spoon to break down the lumps and make it smooth. This will make it easier to fold. Add the prepared and chilled zabaglione and pastry cream, blending until just combined. Gently fold in the whipped cream. Set this cream mixture aside.

Now to start assembling the tiramisu.
Workings quickly, dip 12 of the ladyfingers in the sweetened espresso, about 1 second per side. They should be moist but not soggy. Immediately transfer each ladyfinger to the platter, placing them side by side in a single row. You may break a lady finger into two, if necessary, to ensure the base of your dish is completely covered.
Spoon one-third of the cream mixture on top of the ladyfingers, then use a rubber spatula or spreading knife to cover the top evenly, all the way to the edges.
Repeat to create 2 more layers, using 12 ladyfingers and the cream mixture for each layer. Clean any spilled cream mixture; cover carefully with plastic wrap and refrigerate the tiramisu overnight.
To serve, carefully remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle the tiramisu with cocoa powder using a fine-mesh strainer or decorate as you please. Cut into individual portions and serve.

MASCARPONE CHEESE

(Source: Vera’s Recipe for Homemade Mascarpone Cheese)
This recipe makes 12oz/ 340gm of mascarpone cheese

Ingredients:
474ml (approx. 500ml)/ 2 cups whipping (36 %) pasteurized (not ultra-pasteurized), preferably organic cream (between 25% to 36% cream will do)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a wide skillet. Reduce the heat to medium-low so the water is barely simmering. Pour the cream into a medium heat-resistant bowl, then place the bowl into the skillet. Heat the cream, stirring often, to 190 F. If you do not have a thermometer, wait until small bubbles keep trying to push up to the surface.
It will take about 15 minutes of delicate heating. Add the lemon juice and continue heating the mixture, stirring gently, until the cream curdles. Do not expect the same action as you see during ricotta cheese making. All that the whipping cream will do is become thicker, like a well-done crème anglaise. It will cover a back of your wooden spoon thickly. You will see just a few clear whey streaks when you stir. Remove the bowl from the water and let cool for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, line a sieve with four layers of dampened cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Transfer the mixture into the lined sieve. Do not squeeze the cheese in the cheesecloth or press on its surface (be patient, it will firm up after refrigeration time). Once cooled completely, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (in the sieve) overnight or up to 24 hours.
Vera’s notes: The first time I made mascarpone I had all doubts if it’d been cooked enough, because of its custard-like texture. Have no fear, it will firm up beautifully in the fridge, and will yet remain lusciously creamy.
Keep refrigerated and use within 3 to 4 days.

LADYFINGERS/ SAVOIARDI BISCUITS
(Source: Recipe from Cordon Bleu At Home)
This recipe makes approximately 24 big ladyfingers or 45 small (2 1/2" to 3" long) ladyfingers.


Ingredients:
3 eggs, separated
6 tablespoons /75gms granulated sugar
3/4 cup/95gms cake flour, sifted (or 3/4 cup all purpose flour + 2 tbsp corn starch)
6 tablespoons /50gms confectioner's sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 F (175 C) degrees, then lightly brush 2 baking sheets with oil or softened butter and line with parchment paper.
Beat the egg whites using a hand held electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gradually add granulate sugar and continue beating until the egg whites become stiff again, glossy and smooth.
In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks lightly with a fork and fold them into the meringue, using a wooden spoon. Sift the flour over this mixture and fold gently until just mixed. It is important to fold very gently and not overdo the folding. Otherwise the batter would deflate and lose volume resulting in ladyfingers which are flat and not spongy.
Fit a pastry bag with a plain tip (or just snip the end off; you could also use a Ziploc bag) and fill with the batter. Pipe the batter into 5" long and 3/4" wide strips leaving about 1" space in between the strips.
Sprinkle half the confectioner's sugar over the ladyfingers and wait for 5 minutes. The sugar will pearl or look wet and glisten. Now sprinkle the remaining sugar. This helps to give the ladyfingers their characteristic crispness.
Hold the parchment paper in place with your thumb and lift one side of the baking sheet and gently tap it on the work surface to remove excess sprinkled sugar.
Bake the ladyfingers for 10 minutes, then rotate the sheets and bake for another 5 minutes or so until the puff up, turn lightly golden brown and are still soft.
Allow them to cool slightly on the sheets for about 5 minutes and then remove the ladyfingers from the baking sheet with a metal spatula while still hot, and cool on a rack.
Store them in an airtight container till required. They should keep for 2 to 3 weeks.

Bye Bye Brioche!

'

Its a slightly misleading title, but what I really mean is "bye bye old, quick and easy recipe for brioche". With all due respect to the folks at Cooks Illustrated, Dorie Greenspans recipe kicks their behind far and beyond to another galaxy.

I'm never usually in a rush to eat brioche right away and dont mind letting the dough sit overnight for far more buttery delicious goodness. The hands on time is relatively the same. Although I must admit that this time around there was a lot of unnecessary hand kneading. Why? Because my Kitchenaid stand mixer died on me!! I dont understand how! I've had it for about 2 years but dont nearly use it as much as I should... nonetheless it happened. The hubby couldn't deal with the cries of disbelief and subsequent pouting, so replaced it the very next day with a brand spanking new professional version. I've been too intimidated to wrestle the 3 cubic foot box, so its been sitting there on the living room floor for a while now. I should get it out soon, I have to make some more brioche dough so I can make these sticky buns again, just toooo good! I've been eating them for breakfast, lunch and dinner 2 days in a row...they are that good (and yes, I do tend to overdo things, but just a bit ;) ). Make sure you have a glass of ice cold milk handy, you'll need it to cut through the sweetness. Enjoy!

Brioche dough (recipe makes for 2 batches of sticky buns)

2 packets active dry yeast
1/3 cup lukewarm water
1/3 cup lukewarm whole milk
3 3/4 cups of all purpose flour
2 tsp salt
3 large eggs at room temp
1/4 cup sugar
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temp

Put yeast, milk and water in the bowl of stand mixer and stir till yeast dissolves. Add the flour and salt. Attach the bowl to the mixer and pulse for 20 seconds. Dough will be very shaggy and dry. Beat in the eggs one by one till fully incorporated and then add sugar. Beat on medium just till a ball is formed (I tried following the recipe to the t and tried kneading the dough ball for 2 additional minutes when my mixer died!). Reduce the speed to low (or in my case, throw caution into the air and get your fingers in) and add the butter in 2 tbsp chunks till all the butter is used up. You will end up with a very runny dough, don't be afraid you're on the right track. Transfer the dough to a greased clean bowl and let rise in a warm place for about 2 hours, punching it down periodically. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Or freeze dough in a ziplock bag with excess air removed for about 3 months.

For the sticky buns

1/2 the dough from above

For the glaze

1 cup granulated sugar (Dorie asks for light brown sugar but I was out)
1 stick butter
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 cup cashew nuts (D says pecans)

For Filling

1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
3 tbsp salted butter
1 cup of raisins


Making the glaze

Melt butter, sugar in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Add the honey. Pour the mixture onto a greased ovenproof 9x13 pan. And then sprinkle the nuts over it.

Making the buns:

Roll the dough out, roughly into a rectangle about 1 mm thick. Spread the 3 tbsp of the salted butter over the dough. Sprinkle the cinnamon, sugar and raisins over the dough. Roll it along its longest edge to get a nice long log. Cut the log into 1 inch pieces and arrange them on the pan with the honey glaze and nuts. Let the buns rise in a warm place for about an hour or till doubled in size. Bake in a 375 preheated oven for 30 minutes. Once the buns are out of the oven, let them sit for 20 minutes. Then place a platter over the still hot baking pan (use oven mitts!) and flip the baking pan over the platter. Serve sticky buns warm with whipped cream or a glass of milk.

Nanaimo Bars

Happy New Year everybody! Its been a hectic couple of months around here-- with the holidays, our babysitter traveling, school, work, etc etc. Not that I'm whining...because I'm not...its my resolution not to whine... so I couldn't possibly be whining-- just stating facts :) . But I do have to keep this short. I will be back later and fill you in on what's been happening around here and also give you boat loads of new recipes, because, yes, the cooking never stops! Now down to business.

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca.

I did really try to go gluten free but hunting down the different flours proved too much of a hassle. So I settled for a mix of all purpose and whole wheat flour. The crackers are not only delicious and semi healthy, they are also terribly addictive.

As for the Nanaimo bars, they seem absolutely decadent. I just finished making them this evening and am too scared of coronaries to try a chunk so late at night. But I did taste the individual layers and they taste divine. Tomorrow though, with some company and a cup of black coffee, I will attempt it and let you know and you, for your part, call the ambulance when I'm down.


For the graham crackers I followed this recipe:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
4 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup cold water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a food processor, mix together the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add the cold butter and process for about 30 seconds until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the honey, water, and vanilla. Mix for a few more seconds until the dough starts to come together in a ball. Scrape dough out of the mixer and onto one sheet of parchment paper. Place another sheet of parchment paper over the dough and roll to 1/8-inch thick (I'd never tried this before and my thickness was way off, so the crackers were slightly chewy but still yum). Chill for an hour or more.
Preheat oven to 350F. Get dough out of the fridge and with a pizza cutter cut into uniform squares. Nudge the squares apart on the same parchment paper (if uncut) and bake till you begin to smell the crackers and the edges are lightly brown (about 12 minutes). Cool and store in an airtight container for about 2 weeks.

For the Nanaimo bars

Bottom Layer
1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
1/4 cup (50 g) (1.8 ounces) Granulated Sugar
5 tablespoons (75 mL) Unsweetened Cocoa
1 Large Egg, Beaten
1 1/4 cups (300 mL) (160 g) (5.6 ounces) Gluten Free Graham Wafer Crumbs (See previous recipe)
1/2 cup (55 g) (1.9 ounces) Almonds (Any type, Finely chopped)
1 cup (130 g) (4.5 ounces) Coconut (Shredded, sweetened or unsweetened)

Middle Layer
1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons (40 mL) Heavy Cream
2 tablespoons (30 mL) Vanilla Custard Powder (Such as Bird’s. Vanilla pudding mix may be substituted.)
2 cups (254 g) (8.9 ounces) Icing Sugar

Top Layer
4 ounces (115 g) Semi-sweet chocolate
2 tablespoons (28 g) (1 ounce) Unsalted Butter

Directions:
1. For bottom Layer: Melt unsalted butter, sugar and cocoa in top of a double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, nuts and coconut. Press firmly into an ungreased 8 by 8 inch pan.

2. For Middle Layer: Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light in colour. Spread over bottom layer.

3. For Top Layer: Melt chocolate and unsalted butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, pour over middle layer and chill.

Daring Bakers Challenge--Cannoli

The Daring bakers are an online group of people who love to bake and put their skills to the test every month with something new and exciting. The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes y Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book. What a nostalgic way to start my Daring Baker's Challenge experience.

Its impossible to be in Boston and not try one of the many delicious desserts from Mike's Pastry, an unpretentious Italian bakery with very little sitting or moving space. I'd look forward to making the trek there every winter and being rewarded with a steaming cup of capuccino and either a cannoli or a gigantic cream filled pastry called the lobster tail. It soon became my favorite place to take anybody who was either new or visiting Beantown, always sure to impress. I'd never imagined making a cannoli at home, it was just one of those things I thought was better left to the professionals, you know, like twinkies, milano cookies or bagels. I was a bit worried when it was chosen. How do I juggle it with the hectic holiday cooking I thought, but didnt want to chicken out of my very first month. So I gave it a shot today and boy am I glad I did.

The shells came out beautiful, blistered (a sign of goodness), light and crispy enough to eat sans filling. But a cannoli isnt a cannoli without some creaminess so I came up with two-- a rose scented cashew pastry cream and an almond scented pear cream. The rose one was my favorite, smooth with the gentle crunch from the cashews. I enjoyed the more pronounced crunch of the pear one which I dipped in dark chocolate but it didnt really measure up to the delicate rose.

I'm sorry this was the best picture my poor camera would take after being rendered display-less with the little man's violent shaking yesterday. But don't let the picture deter you from the yummy results of this fun challenge! [update: the camera fixed itself so theres a close up of the blisteriness for your viewing pleasure.]

For the shells:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp unsweetened baking cocoa powder sifted
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp white balsamic vinegar (what I had on hand, substituted it for white wine vinegar)
1/2 cup red wine (Marsala preferred but I used Cabernet Sauvignon)
2 large egg whites
2 quarts vegetable oil (for deep frying)
1. Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl.
2. Mix in oil, vinegar, 1 egg white and enough wine to make a soft dough.
3. Place dough on a floured surface and knead for a couple of minutes till a smooth, uniformly colored dough forms.
4. Shape the dough into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and let rest in fridge from 2 hours till overnight.
5. Divide the dough into eight equal parts.
6. I used my pasta maker to roll out the dough, but you can roll it out by hand till very thin.
7. Use a round cookie cutter to cut out shapes in the dough.
8. Heat oil in a medium saucepan to 375F.
9. Roll cut out around cannoli form (metal cylindrical tubes), seal ends with egg white and drop into hot oil. Remove when light golden brown (they turn darker as they sit around).
10. Remove cooked and cooled cannoli from the form. Reserve till ready to fill.
11. Dont fill the shells until ready to serve or they get soggy.

For Filling

1 cup pastry cream (divided) from Joy of Baking
1/2 tsp rose essence

1 handful roasted and chopped cashew nuts

1/2 tsp almond extract1 quarter of a Bartlett pear chopped

4 squares good quality (Lindt) dark chocolate melted in microwave

1. Follow the recipe for simple pastry cream.
2. Divide cream into equal parts.
3. To one part, add rose essence and fill cannolis with a piping bag (or plastic sandwich bags with one corner cut off). Dip cannolis into chopped cashews.
4. To the remaining pastry cream add almond extract and chopped pear chunks. Pipe into cannoli and dip into melted dark chocolate.

Amazing Pumpkin bread

The butternut squash casserole (absolutely delicious, should post it for you soon) was packed and sent off with the 2 men of the house, the turkey is in the oven and since thats all I'm responsible for this year, I'm left killing 4 1/2 hours turkey-sitting. Keeping me company is the moistest, melt-in-the mouth pumpkin bread. I'd made 3 loaves yesterday and its a good thing because we're already short of 2! It tastes even better today and is said to freeze beautifully as well. Here's the recipe, modified from A Chow life. Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving!

You will need

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup water

2 cups canned pumpkin

3 cups sugar

3 1/3 cups sifted all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Grease three 8.5 x 4.25x 2.75 in loaf tins with baking spray.
3. In a large mixing bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Whisk oil, water, pumpkin purée, and sugar with a fork to combine thoroughly.

4. Sift flour, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and baking soda into a small mixing bowl.

5. Stir flour mixture into the wet ingredients until just combined.

6. Fold in dried fruit or nuts, if using.

7. Divide batter into prepared loaf tins.

8. Bake for 40-45 mins or till a knife inserted through the middle comes out clean.

9. Cool for about 10 minutes on a wire rack before devouring.

The Perfect Brownie

I've told you this before but please indulge my senility...chocolate bars, are not my thing. That little candy section by the checkout counter in the grocery store does nothing to me. Doesnt tempt me, doesnt call out to me-- does nothing. BUT soft chewy chocolate chip cookies, moist tender chocolate cake, gooey chocolate hazelnut spread on bread, a hot brownie fudge sundae or heck a plain ol' brownie ummm...magical unity of carbohydrate and chocolate... just the thought makes me want to reach out for the chunk of chocolate heaven thats sitting on the counter (a craving just fulfilled with a big honking slab).

Brownies are my monthly indulgence. I need a slice every 30 days or so and Baltimore sadly has not delivered, yet. I usually avoid baking my own because anything more than an individual serving is not a good thing to have around me-- it will be gone. But everything I've had in this city has been either like fudge or a chewy flourless chocolate cake and once even like a rocksolid, stale, fat chocolate cookie. To me, a perfect brownie should have a crinkly top, a softly yielding and slightly sticky center that finishes off with crumbs from the slightly crispy tops, the perfect marriage of cake and fudge. Theres nothing quite like it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a glass of milk or just by itself. I finally gave up searching and made my own batch yesterday with a Cooks Illustrated recipe. If you're as jaded with store bought brownies as I am, you should definitely give it a try, they are afterall (according to CI, look closely at the picture) designed to please everybody! Now if they would only do that with chocolate chip cookies.

Classic Brownie Recipe
(Adated from Cooks Illustrated)

1 1/4 cups cake flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate chopped fine
1 1/2 stick butter cut into pieces (12 tbsp)
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract (can be replaced by mint extract for mint brownies)
1 tbsp instant coffee powder (my little twist on anything chocolatey)
1 cup roasted and chopped pecans, walnuts or chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 325F. Foil a 13X9 inch cake pan leaving 2 inch long overhangs to pull out brownie when ready. Grease or spray pan with nonstick cooking spray. Whisk to combine flour, salt, coffee powder and baking powder in a bowl. In a large microwave proof bowl (make sure you use a large one) place butter and chocolate and melt for 45 seconds and then 35 seconds on high till completely smooth. Gradually whisk in sugar and then the eggs, adding them one at a time. Next add the vanilla. Add flour mixture in three additions till completely incorporated. If you're using nuts or chocolate chips fold them in now. Transfer batter to prepared pan and bake for 35 mins or till a toothpick (or skewer) comes out mostly clean. Remove brownie from the pan using the overhang. If you really care about the presentation let it cool before cutting into even slices, otherwise just dig in!

Chettinad chicken and Persimmon bread

I've gone on a produce binge (again) this week. I have more cauliflower, kale, broccoli, apples, quince, bananas and tomatoes than I know what do with. An aunt visiting from California brought some Fuyu persimmons to add to the list. But here’s the problem. I was minding my own business and walking by the kitchen the other day when I saw IT. Scurrying from the trash can to the oven...a little brown mouse!! That poor little guy didn’t have a clue but his sight was enough to make my skin crawl. I'm not particularly squeamish-- bugs, spiders and other creepy crawlies don't affect me whatsoever (except snakes, lizards, aligators, ok reptiles in general). I dont care how cute Ratatouille was, there are certain things I just have to draw the line at and this was it. The exterminators were called for an emergency check-in that very afternoon. But heres the other problem, they say that theres no sign of infestation and that he must have just been a stray that crawled through the doggie door and went up the pipes between the walls, apparently very common in Baltimore rowhomes!! The only thing they can do is put mouse traps around the pipes. That thought was enough to keep me away from the stove for a few days. So I’d pack hubby and my little guy to grandmas’ for meals and subsisted on frozen (pretty good) vegan burritos for the rest of the week. It wasn’t that bad really and it gave me a chance to catch up on my reading and (loooong overdue) internet scrabble. But the Californian aunty was to come over for dinner today and I had to make some food! Finally, some incentive to drag my lazy behind back to the stove. Nothing fancy, just a simple Indian meal: Fish curry, chettinad stir fried chicken, sauteed kale and for dessert, Lebovitz’s adaptation of persimmon bread (not very Indian, but oh so delicioso!).

Chettinad stir fried chicken

1 medium onion chopped
1 lb (or 3 large) boneless skinless chicken breast cubed into 1 inch pieces
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp chilli powder (or to taste)
1 medium tomato
1 tbsp dessicated coconut (unsweetened)
1 tbsp white peppercorns
1 tbsp cumin seeds (jeera)
2 tsp fennel seeds
2 cardamom pods
½ inch stick of cinnamon
2 cloves
Handful of dried coconut very thinly sliced (optional)
Juice of half a lemon
Coriander leaves chopped (garnish)
Salt to taste

Place a large saute pan on medium heat. Add 2 tbsp of vegetable oil, onions and chicken. Fry for a few seconds and then add salt, turmeric and chilli powder. Stir occasionally to avoid burning. In the meantime grind tomato and coconut to form a watery paste. Add tomato-coconut paste to chicken. Fry till all the liquid evaporates, stir once in a while. Powder peppercorns, cumin, fennel seeds, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves in a dry/spice grinder. Add spice mixture to the chicken when almost dry. Add coconut slices and lemon juice to the chicken, toss to mix well. Garnish with coriander leaves.


Persimmon bread
Adapted from David Lebovitz

3½ cups all purpose flour
1½ tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground nutmeg (increased from 1tsp)
2 to 2½ cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) melted unsalted butter and cooled to room temperature
4 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
2/3 cup whiskey
2 cups persimmon puree (Dave says to use 4 squishy-soft Hachiya persimmons, but I pureed 4 Fuyu persimmons with ¾ cup of water)
2 cups pecans, toasted and chopped
2 cups raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 2X9-inch loaf tins by buttering the insides and lining parchment paper (or dust flour instead of parchment). Mix all the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda, nutmeg and sugar) in a large bowl. Make a depression in the center and mix in the wet ingredients. Then add nuts and raisins. Bake for about 1 hour (but mine took a little longer than that), or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Gulab jamun for my munchkin's 2nd birthday

Its amazing how time flies. Feels like it was only a few months ago that I was waddling my 60lb heavier than usual self from one class to another, watching my stomach morph shapes as the baby inside me moved and then shortly after that the (literally) gut wrenching pain of my little one's fight to get out.

Lying on the metallic operating table was the most helpless I'd felt in my entire adult life. My OB who had suffered a mild heart attack a couple of weeks earlier was still sick, the idiot anesthesiologist was on his cellphone discussing stocks over my head (in the OR!), my husband sitting on a stool next to me was way too fascinated by the blood and gore to look at my side of the screen, so I just lay there staring at the ceiling feeling the bizarre painless tugging and shoving inside my belly. A few minutes into the process and one deep scoop later, the OB declares, "He's OUT! Oh! He's peed on me but its ok its sterile". And with that stream of defiance Vinodh was out into the world. He was rushed to the pediatrician who had to check his vitals, weight and length before he was bundled up and brought to me. He was the most beautiful baby I'd ever seen and I wanted to keep staring at him but the cold OR was not appropriate for the delicate new life. So he was put on top of a little bed and wheeled out to the nursery, his father right behind the nurse. A few more gut pushes and tugs later, numb and drugged, I was heaved (by about 10 people) onto a stretcher into my "birthing suite". I had to be briefed by a "Lactation counselor" before Vinodh was brought back for me to hold him for the first time. I held him for all of 10 minutes before being knocked out by the morphine. Every single detail of that day is so clearly etched in my mind that its hard to believe it was 2 years ago.

Since that day there have been so many lessons learnt, so many tests of patience, so many memories-- a baby totally dependent on you can be a little scary but that helpless little life teaches you how and one smile, a chirpy laugh, one hug and one kiss is enough to make all the fear go away and really all the bad in the world goes away too.

Celebrating Vinodhs birthday is on the scale of a small wedding. We just have so much family here and having to cater to each of their different food habits makes it all the more complicated. I'd ultimately settled on a mostly Indian menu with a couple of pasta options for the little ones and gulab jamun for dessert. Deep fried balls of dough soaked in a cardamom-rose scented syrup-- theres no way to go wrong with it.

Recipe

1/2 cup milk powder

2 tbsp all purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

Pinch of cinnamon powder (optional)

Pinch of nutmeg powder (optional)

Pinch of salt
2 tbsp yogurt

1 tbsp ghee

For syrup

2 cups sugar

2 cups of water

1/4 tsp rose essence

3 pods of cardamom (slightly crushed or powdered)

Make syrup first by putting all the ingredients in a sauce pan and bringing it to a boil. Once boiled, bring heat down to the lowest setting and leave till gulab jamuns are ready.

Mix dry ingredients in bowl, add ghee and add yogurt a little at a time to make a smooth dough. Let rest for a few minutes. In the meantime put on pan with oil for deep frying. Shape dough into small balls about 1cm in diameter. The balls have to be smooth otherwise they'll burst open when fried, they are still just as delicious but not very pretty. Drop balls into the oil and remove with a slotted spoon when they turn dark brown. Place balls into serving dish and add the syrup. Garnish with nuts of choice, I used sliced almonds but crushed pistachios would also work. Let soak for at least 2 hours (the longer the better).

Lime Yogurt cake

Clotilde's cake was so simple to make and I found it the perfect use of whole plain yogurt that I lately have been overbuying for the little guy. I make at least one of different variants of this cake every week, its the perfect snack cake, moist, light and not too sweet.

The one I made this week was particularly good, the glaze had a sweet and sharp tang that went really well with the mellow cake. The only modification I made to the original recipe was to add the zest of 1 lime to the batter. And for the glaze, I mixed the juice of said lime with 1/3 cup of powdered sugar and brushed it over the cooked and cooled cake.

Gingerbread

I took this gingerbread in to the office just before Christmas and it was such a hit that I made it for the hosts of the two Christmas parties we went to. Its more like a cake than it is the usual cookies you find everywhere in the holiday season. The original recipe called for 2 eggs but I was running short so substituted it with 1/2 a ripe banana and it really didnt make much of a difference. Its taken me a while to put it up here but the recipe is delicious!

Cake

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1/6 cup dark molasses

1/6 cup muscovado sugar

1 large egg, 1/2 very ripe banana mashed

1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger

1/3 cup canola oil
Glaze

1/2 cup whipping cream

8 ounces semisweet chocolate,

chopped 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

For cake:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9-inch square metal baking pan. I poured mine into a rectangular cake tin and baked a couple of cupcakes with the remaining batter. Line bottom with parchment paper. Butter parchment. Whisk first 6 ingredients in medium bowl to blend.
Mix warm water and baking soda in small bowl until baking soda dissolves. Using electric mixer, beat sugars, butter, molasses, egg and banana, and fresh ginger in large bowl until well blended. Add dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with water mixture in 2 additions, beating until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool on rack 20 minutes. Run knife around edge of cake to loosen. Invert cake onto rack; cool. Peel off parchment.
For glaze:

Heat cream till small bubbles form on the side. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and vanilla; stir until smooth. Let stand until cool but still pourable, about 20 minutes.

Place cake on rack set atop baking sheet. Drizzle glaze over cake.

Citron Bundt

Sometime earlier this year, hubby came across this bakery near where he was working then called CakeLove. As the name would suggest the speciality here was cakes, particularly to die for are their cupcakes. All sorts of combinations but my favorite is the simple yellow cake with coffee buttercream...yummm. When I found out that owner Warren Brown was coming out with his own cake bible, I knew I HAD to get it.

Warren's instructions are very thorough and actually quite stern, theres just something about the tone of his writing that actually made me (although measure-averse) go out and buy a measuring scale. As for his actual method, once you are done measuring and setting everything out on the counter, it goes really quick. Basically cream butter and sugar and then alternate wet and dry ingredients within about a minute and pour into a prepared baking pan, unmould and stare at the outcome. This particular pound cake was my first try of his recipes and it was super delicious (if I do say so myself!), moist, slightly crumbly, slightly tangy with warm creamy cardamom...mmmmm. You can frost it too if you like, but I chose to keep ours a bit calorie friendly.

Citron Bundt

Dry Ingredients

13.5 oz sifted unbleached all purpose flour (2 1/2 cups +3 tbsps)

1 tbsp potato starch

5-7 cardamom pods (depodded and powdered)

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

Liquid Ingredients

8 oz sour cream (1 cup)

1 orange

1 lemon

1/2 red grapefruit

2 tbsp whole milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Creaming ingredients

2 sticks unsalted butter

21 oz granulated sugar (2 1/2 cups +2 tbsps)

2 tbsp citrus zest (from lemon and orange in liquid ingredients)

5 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

To prepare citrus:

Segment lemon, orange and grapefruit in a heavy bottomed saucepan and cover with 1/2 cup sugar. Dont stir. Bring to a gentle simmer over low-medium heat, then remove from heat. Immediately strain syrup from segments and reserve segments.

For the cake:

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare baking pan using baking spray.

Measure dry ingredients into a bowl. Measure sour cream, milk and vanilla into a seperate bowl and gently fold cooked citrus segments and set aside.

Cream butter, citrus zest and sugar together. Add eggs (and yolk) one by one till each is completely incorporated. Add dry ingredients alternately with wet ingredients (sour cream mixture). Try to make it within 3-5 additions. Make sure to scrape out batter from the bottom of the bowl. Beat batter on medium speed for about 15-20 seconds. Spoon batter into prepared pan and place in oven for about 50-55 minutes or till the top doesnt jiggle anymore.

Leche Flan

My father had lots of Filipino friends in Kuwait. In fact our neighbors across the street from us had loads of parties and we were always invited. There were some party staples I always searched for-- Pancit (a noodle dish) , the most amazing fruit salad (still looking for ingredients to make this) and what they called Lamington pudding. I looooooved the "Lamington pudding", I could make dinner out of that alone. But of course back then I was too young and didnt think of asking for recipes so I'd just eat them at said parties. But a couple of weeks ago when I asked my Filipino friend for the recipe she didnt quite understand what I was talking about. And then I described it...its this really thick, creamy pudding with a beautiful dark caramel topping --"Oh! You mean Leche Flan!" she said. Apparently I grew up with a complete misnomer, its ok wouldnt be the first. My friend said that it was super easy and she could usually make it in less than an hour with about 10 mins of actual work. Great! With a baby who knows no naps thats about all the time I can spare. So I gave it a shot and she was right super quick, delicious and just the way I remembered it! My mom makes Creme Caramel which is somewhat of a similar concept-- vanilla flavored pudding with caramel syrup but the texture is just not the same. I know there is Mexican Flan which from what I remember of the one time that I tried it was similar to my mother's version but can't say for sure.

Leche Flan

Ingredients

For pudding:

1 (14 oz) can of condensed milk-- I used Carnation just b/c it was lying around
1 (14 oz) can of evaporated milk

12 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla extract

For caramel syrup

1 cup of sugar

3/4 cup of water

Method:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Put sugar and water in a saucepan and let boil on medium heat till nutty brown and thick (will still be of pourable consistency). This will make the caramel sauce. In the mean time beat egg yolks till pale. Add condensed and evaporated milk and vanilla extract. Beat, the mixture might seem too runny but its ok. Keep aside till ready to assemble everything for flan.

Assembly:

Once the caramel is ready, pour it into a mould. I used a 10in deep glass pie dish but small ramekins for individual portions will also work. Then pour the egg mixture into the mould. Seal the mould with aluminium foil. Place the mould in a larger oven-proof dish and fill the large dish with water till about 1 cm below the edge of the mould (make sure no water gets into the covered mould!). Put the larger dish with mould into oven and let bake for about 45 mins or till set. You can tell when you touch the top of the pudding lightly and your finger does NOT leave an imprint. Let the pudding stand till it comes to room temperature. To remove from flan from mould, run a knife around the edge of the mould, cover with a serving plate and quickly invert. You should hear a big sluuurp, and then remove the mould. Although you can eat it at room temperature I like mine cool, so we cut it after refrigerating for a couple of hours. Delicious!!

All that summer has to offer

I hate venturing to new locations in ghetto downtown Baltimore. Even if by some random chance of luck you find where ever it is you're going, you may not find parking, so you go into some strange street but find its a one way, then you have to go to another street and one road leads to another and before you know it you are in gangster country.

That's why I very carefully made my first trip to the nearest (downtown) Whole Foods. Not finding on-street parking, I didnt even bother going inside. The next trip, I did find parking but then asking an employee found that they have parking (for free!!) in an indoor garage. Such a valuable city commodity for free! Basking in an almost guilty pleasure, I get out of my car, walk down one flight of stairs, through automatic doors and wow! Hello, summer! Raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, cherries, mangoes, kiwis, melons, pineapples-- cant deny presentation being a major selling point in higher end grocery stores. Everything is gorgeous and before I knew it my cart was full with yummy ripe fruit of all kinds.

Walking through the aisles, I was wondering what I could do with my bounty and then I remembered my most favorite bakery as a child--Caesar's in Kuwait. Caesar's was a treasure trove of yummy bakies (aka baked goods). Pillow soft mini pizzas with a hint of marinara sauce and a sprinkling of crunchy cheddar, crispy and slightly spicy cheese twists, creamy chicken salad, super spicy and flaky meat curry puffs, dark and dense fruit cake (a christmas staple) and....mini fruit tarts. Tiny, flaky buttery crusts filled with sweet vanilla scented custard and topped with fanned out strawberries, sprinkling of blueberries and thin slices of kiwi. Yummmmm.....

My tart couldnt really be classified as mini but the flavor components were all there. I went all out and made the crust and custard from scratch. The custard was perfect but the crust was a far cry from Ina Garten's description. Not quite sure what I was doing wrong but pie crusts have never been my forte. I'm describing how I made the custard...you're on your own for the pie crust...maybe even store bought frozen crust would work well.

Fruit Tart

Completely cooked pie crust
Assorted summer fruit (strawberries, blueberries, kiwis, pineapple chunks, mango chunks, etc)
Bowl of apricot preserves (warmed in microwave for about 25 secs with 1 tbsp of water)

Ingredients for Custard (aka Pastry cream)

1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/8 cup all purpose flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/4 cup of milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract (1/2 vanilla bean if you have one)
3 large egg yolks

Method

In a bowl mix sugar and yolks together. Add sifted flour and corn starch to the bowl as soon as you can. Mix to a smooth paste.
In a saucepan, heat milk and vanilla until it comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and add slowly to egg mixture (little by little, you dont want sweet scrambled eggs) whisking constantly. Pour this egg mixture now back in saucepan and bring to a boil again, keep whisking till mixture becomes thick (almost to polenta consistency). Keep aside and cool to room temperature. If the custard becomes too thick and looks like pudding, just add a little more milk and heat to desired consistency.

Tart assembly:

Spoon the custard into fully baked and completely cool pie crust. Level the custard. Arrange fresh fruit creatively on top of the custard. Brush warm apricot preserves on top of fruit for beatiful glossy appearance.

Chocolate mousse and Valentine's Day

The past February the 14th was our first Valentine's day. My husband is not romantic and meself is jaded into a cynic. Nonetheless, our being hitched for life warranted a semi-brokeworthy splurge into this oh so commercialized celebration. Hubby got me a basket full of flowers, chocolate and a diamond studded ring, all handed over at my work parking lot in the romantic confines of his car (swooooooon!). Later, he fixed us a fancy dinner- Greek Flank Steak, chicken kebabs, baked potatoes and olive bread and we spent the rest of the evening sprawled on the couch eating dessert and watching back to back episodes of Law and Order SVU. Just my idea of perfect! Dessert was this liquor-infused, classic Valentine - Chocolate mousse layered with coffee-raspberry liquor soaked cake and strawberries. If the name isnt enough to take your breath away, just try it...

For Chocolate Mousse:

1 cup of chocolate chips (I used well chopped Ghirardelli 100% cocoa chocolate bar)
1 egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup heavy cream

For liquored cake layers
4 slices store bought butter pound cake
2 tbsps raspberry liquor
2 tbsps coffee liquor

1 cup sliced strawberries

Method

Mousse:
Place chocolate chips, egg and vanilla in blender and chop. Heat cream until hot and small bubbles appear on the side (don't boil). With blender running pour in hot cream. Blend until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Pour into a bowl, cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Just prior to serving pour raspberry liquor over 2 slices of pound cake and coffee liquor over remaining cake slices.

Layer cake, strawberries and chilled mousse in alternating layers in tall glasses. Serve.

Donut fritters

Its Saturday evening. Hubby and I are driving around, running random errands at the same time recuperating from the events of our respective schedules. He from a busy day at work and myself, like a good docile desi wife, housecleaning. And then, as if a test of endurance, Fate lodged a nail snug in the warm comfort of our car's front right tire which we notice in the Indian store's micro parking lot. Ever so optimistic hubby, assures me that it is only a 15 minute impediment, but adding the reality multiplicative factor turned it to almost an hour plus semi-chilly weather. Not letting this minor hitch deter us, we completed ALL our chores for the day EXCEPT my favorite, dinner. It was almost 9.30pm and we were starving, so with little thought our resolve of eating a healthy home cooked meal was flung out the window.

Comfortably seated at the local TGIF, waiting on our food, we browsed through the dessert menu. And what do we have here... donuts! Not the glazed ones, not the jammy ones, not even my favorite custard filled Boston cream. Just plain cake donuts, the kind (I soon found out) both our mom's used to make growing up. Theres something strangely comforting in the thought that hubby and I share nostalgia inspite of growing up on opposite ends of the globe! Bonding over food is beautiful as bonding gets...famous words, will be surprised if I don't kill myself overeating at this rate. Anyhow, the next day, I just had to try my hand at donuts. Of course I don't have the 3 hours my mom would take, on a good Sunday I might have one sixth of that! So, I hunted and found a fritter recipe that I saw Giada once make--Zeppole. Now , this is nothing like the real deal but with sufficient manipulation, a dash of nutmeg and a sprinkle of sugar, it was a soft, mushy and more importantly hasty mamma's-donut-craving-satiator!

You will need:

1 stick of butter
3 tbsps of sugar
1 cup of water
1 cup of flour
4 eggs
2 tsps of powdered nutmeg
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
Sugar for sprinkling over fritters
Oil for deep frying

Method

Bring butter, 3 tbsps of sugar and water to boil in a saucepan on medium heat. Remove from heat and add flour. Mix till a ball is formed, if this doesn't happen bring heat saucepan till a ball is formed. Transform this dough ball into a bowl, add one egg at a time and mix till completely incorporated into the dough (now slowly becoming batter). Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate till ready to fry.
In a seperate pan heat oil in medium heat. Oil is ready when the tiniest bit of batter dropped in rises to the top. Once warmed up, drop spoonfuls of batter into oil. Turn over fritters once or twice till golden brown. Remove fritters, drain out excess oil and sprinkle with sugar while still warm. Serve immediately.

Molten Chocolate Lava cake

Just plain chocolate does nothing for me. The most exclusive, decadent creamy, filled droplets of truffle heaven could beckon less. But starchy, gooey, chocolate goodness in forms of brownies, double chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chunk cookies (Clear Flour bakery in Boston, miss you!), cake, yuuuummmmm.

Well, if truffles are heaven this recipe is just pure sin. And if you make sure you dont overcook it, you will have a deliciously perfect viscous end to a special dinner.

You will need:

5 large eggs, plus 5 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
8 oz chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids), broken into small pieces
1 3/4 stick of butter
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder plus extra for dusting
8 ramekins, buttered

Method

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Beat eggs, egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl (with an electric hand held mixer) till pale yellow (approx 10-15 mins).
Put chocolate and butter on top of a double boiler set over simmering NOT boiling water. Melt gently, stirring frequently. Remove the top pan with chocolate from heat. Add small amount of egg and sugar mixture, mix well till completely incorporated. Add the rest of egg mixture and mix well. Sift flour and cocoa into bowl and gently fold it in to chocolate and egg mixture until just mixed.
Stand the prepared ramekins in a roasting pan to stabilize them and spoon mixture into them. Mixture should be just below the rim.
Bake on middle shelf for 10-12 mins (if on higher altitude 17 mins). A simple test is that the top of the ramekins should be just firm. Avoid over cooking.
Run a round bladed knife around the inside of each ramekin to loosen the desserts, then carefully turn them out onto individual plates. Dust with cocoa powder and serve immediately.