Walnut Cupcakes

Walnut Cupcakes

Food Blogging Marathon from 2/9/2013 to 30/9/2013. 

Each day a new alphabet. 4 categories. 

Regional Food, 

Baked Dishes, 

International Flavors / Fusion flavors, 

Street Food / Condiments / Misc / Recipe less Posts on Food

My friend requested me to make some cupcakes with hardly any time to do anything fancy. She did not want icing as it was a gathering of older women and she did not want chocolate as many older people do not like chocolate so much. Plus she wanted something nice and not very ordinary. I was thinking of some fruit but did not have any on hand. Luckily I had walnuts and so I thought of making Walnut Cupcakes with coffee flavour. Flavours that adults would like and fill al my friend's criteria for her request. 

So here is a simple and quick fool proof recipe for good cupcakes. 

Ingredients:

150 gms butter

1 1/2 cup flour

1  cup sugar

2 tblsp instant coffee powder

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup milk 

1 tblsp lemon juice

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

some walnuts halves to decorate

Melt and cool butter. Add lemon juice to the milk and stir. Add warm water to the coffee and stir to dissolve. Add sugar to the melted and cooled butter and stir to dissolve. Add half the milk and dissolved coffee and mix well. Add the flour and baking powder and baking soda and mix well. Add rest of the milk and beat well for 2 to 4 minutes. 

Drop a spoonful of the cake batter into greased cupcake moulds and tap the mould to spread the batter evenly. Press one half walnut in each cupcake. I got 17 cupcakes. If you fill a little carefully you should get 18. 

Bake in hot oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes or till done.

The delicious Walnut Coffee cupcakes are ready to serve. 

This is my 5th recipe in baked category.

Logo by Preeti.

Tiramisu Style Dessert

Tiramisu Style Dessert

Food Blogging Marathon from 2/9/2013 to 30/9/2013. 

Each day a new alphabet. 4 categories. 

Regional Food, 

Baked Dishes, 

International Flavors / Fusion flavors, 

Street Food / Condiments / Misc / Recipe less Posts on Food

I wanted to make the classic Italian dessert, Tiramisu.   But unfortunately yesterday whole day it was raining very heavily and to bake the lady finger biscuits in such heavy and humid weather is a bad idea. I waited till the evening but the rains kept on pouring buckets and buckets of water. I was desperate now, as I had not prepared anything for alphabet T. I was searching the internet when I came across something really beautiful looking dessert. It was like Tiramisu in flavours. So giving up my idea of making a classic Tiramisu I made the next best. 

This being my 6th and the last one in the International/fusion category 



Ingredients:
1 8" square white cake
1 family pack coffee flavoured ice cream
coffee liqueur as needed to soak the cakes
some dark chocolate for decoration
some roasted coffee beans (optional)

 The cake being baked in the oven. I made the cake from Gayathri's blog.

Thank you Gayathri for giving this recipe.




You will find the recipe for this Geonise sponge here:

http://gayathriscookspot.blogspot.in/2013/09/genoise-cake-eggless.html



 Make a white cake and when cool cut it to four equal parts. 

Take one part and split into two.







The coffee liqueur. 1 tsp instant coffee adn 1 tsp sugar dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water. 








The coffee brushed on the cake














The coffee icecream 











The stacked cake pieces smeared with icecream. 

 






Decorated with the coffee beans








On a dessert platter keep the white cake and brush it with coffee liqueur till drenched but not soggy. Sprinkle grated chocolate over this and then spread a little softened ice cream over it and cover it with another piece of the cake. Brush this too with the coffee liqueur like before and spread some ice cream over it.  Spread some grated chocolate over it and spread some ice cream. Spread ice cream on the sides too,  Smoothen it from all sides and  decorate with coffee beans and grated chocolate. Use chocolate sparingly as the coffee flavour has to be the main flavour for it to be a Tiramisu Dessert.

While you are assembling the dessert you may have to put it in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes if the weather is warm as the icecream starts to melt. Work quickly and if necessary put it in the freezer for a few minutes before continuing. 






Serve chilled 

Jackfruit Steamed Cakes

 Jackfruit Steamed  Cakes

Food Blogging Marathon from 2/9/2013 to 30/9/2013. Each day a new alphabet. 4 categories. 

Regional Food, 

Baked Dishes, 

International Flavors / Fusion flavors, 

Street Food / Condiments / Misc / Recipe less Posts on Food

This is little known sweet snack. It is typically made where Jackfurit is in plenty and like by all. Jackfruit is a fruit which when ripe gives a sweet smell so strong that it is not like by many but in its raw or tender form the same fruit is used as a vegetables to make delicious curry/cutlets and a few other recipes. My aunt (my mother's sister) who lived in a small coastal town in Maharashtra's Konkan region used to make these as a treat for us, when we visited her during our summer holidays. It is made with the Barka or soft/juicy variety of Jackfruit.  She used to steam in small vatis/katoris. With idlli steamers and idilli stands being available everywhere during late 1960s my mother started using these to make these treats in our home. These are called 'SANDANA' in Marathi. 

Ingredients:

1 cup ripe Jackfruit pulp (blend deseeded ripe jackfruit in a blender 

                                          with a little milk to get one cup pulp)

1/4 cup jagery or as needed

1/4 cup grated fresh coconut

1 cup rice rawa or regular rawa/sooji/semolina 

1 pinch of nutmeg/jaiphal powder

1 tsp baking powder

a pinch of salt

Milk/water as required.

1/4 cup broken cashew pieces (optional)

To serve:

Ghee 

Coconut milk

Jagery

Cardamom or nutmeg powder (optional)

Mix coconut milk and jagery together till jagery is dissolved. add cardamom or nutmeg powder if using. 

Method:

Mix the jackfruit pulp and the rawa. Add about 2 cups of water or milk while stirring so the batter will be smooth. Add jagery grated coconut, nutmeg, salt and broken cashew pieces and stir to mix well. The batter should have the same consistency that of idili batter. Leave aside for 15 minutes. Now add the baking powder and mix well. Pour spoon full of the batter in the  idili mold and steam like idlis for 15 to 20 minutes. 

It can be done in Microwave oven too. I did mine in microwave for 3 minutes. 

If you do not have idlli molds it can be steamed in a thali and cut into squares.

Serve hot or cold with coconut milk and ghee. 

This is my 4th in recipe in miscellaneous category.

Logo courtesy : Preeti

Indian Savoury Cake.

Indian Savoury Cake 

Food Blogging Marathon from 2/9/2013 to 30/9/2013. Each day a new alphabet. 4 categories. 

Regional Food, 

Baked Dishes, 

International Flavors / Fusion flavors, 

Street Food / Condiments / Misc / Recipe less Posts on Food

This is a great savoury cake that is baked. This is a regional recipe from Gujarat and is called Handvo. I renamed it, as my friend from Switzerland had liked it and was unable to remember the word Handvo so I told her to remember it as Indian Savoury Cake. Traditionally it was baked by keeping the batter filled pan inside a bigger pan with hot sand/coals in it and covered with a lid with hot burning coals and left to cook this way till done or till all the burning coal is covered in ash and has cooled down. The heat of the coal and the hot sand bakes it to a prefect golden brown, crunchy goodness. This was of course the before electricity had reached our homes. 

Now of course it is done in electric or gas or even microwave ovens.

This is a very high protein and low calorie cake that is eaten in Gujarat as a breakfast or tea time snack. Each family has its own version. Here I give you my version of it.

This is my recipe for the month long Food Blogging Marathon A to Z. 

Today it is alphabet I for Indian Savoury Cake.

Ingredients:

1 cup rice

1/2 cup toor/tovar/arhar/yellow Dal

1/4 cup udid/urid Dal

1/4 cup chana/bengal gram Dal

1/4 cup Poha

1 tsp methi/fenugreek seeds

Wash and soak all the above ingredients in water for 6 to 8 hours. Grind to make a batter that is not very smooth in texture rather like idlli batter. Add 1/2 cup sour curds/dahi/yogurt. Keep aside and let it ferment overnight.

To this batter add

1/4 cup grated doodhi/lauki/ash gourd

1/4 cup grated carrots

2-4 finely chopped green chillies 

1 tblsp of finely cut ginger

1/4 tsp of haldi/turmeric powder

1/2 tsp of baking soda or baking powder

salt to taste

1 tblsp sugar (optional) 

Mix everything together and make a baking pan ready as follows:

Heat 2 tblsp oil in a small pan and add 

1/2 tsp rai/mustard seed

1/2 tsp jeera/cumin seeds

2 tblsp til/seasme seeds

2-3 sprigs of curry leaves 

3-4 dry red chillies

When all the mustard seeds have spluttered and the red chillies have changed colour to brown pour this in the baking tray and let it spread all over the pan equally. Slowly pour the ready batter over this tempering and bake in a moderate oven at 170 degrees celcius for 30 to 40 minutes or till the top is gloden brown in colour.

                                                       

  The savoury cake baking in the oven

Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes in the pan. Turn out on a plate. 

                                                         

 Close up with the tempering in the upturned Indian Savoury Cake. The sesame seeds and the curry leaves not only look pretty but add crunch to every bite.

Let cool and then cut into pieces or wedges and serve with curds and green chutney or tomato sauce.