Classic Mawa Cake

Recipe :-
3 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup mawa powder. I used the milk mawa powder from Indian store
2 sticks butter unsalted ( room temp)
6 large eggs ( room temp )
2 tsp elaichi powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sour cream / butter milk / greek yogurt
Prheat oven to 350 f and grease two pans with butter and flour
1. Beat sugar and butter for about 5-7 mins on medium speed.
2. Add one egg at a time and beat
3. Sift together flour , baking powder , baking soda, salt. Then add elaici powder and mawa powder and mix well.
4. Add 1/2 cup of sour cream / buttermilk / greek yogurt to the egg mixture and beat again
5. Now andd 1/2 of the floyr mixture abd mix well. Repeat step 4 and 5
6. Now mix using a hand whisk . Dnt over beat
7. Pour into cake pans and bake for 45-55 mins or until done

*You can cut the recipe into half*

Drizzle recipe :-
1 cup icing sugar ,  milk as needed , elaichi powder.
Mix elachi powder and icing sugar . Add milk slowly to make a pouring consistency. If you thing it’s too runny add a little more icing sugar

Drizzle on top and garnish with chooped pistachios while the icing is still wet

Magic Chocolate ball

 I remember my first rendezvous  with this dessert at Hakkasan, a high end restaurant in Mumbai; and wished to try recreating it ever since. The dessert is a chocolate lover's delight and you are sure to be in chocolate coma. The dessert is an experience meant to be enjoyed on a special occasion.
The chocolate sphere is the main hero of this dessert. Inside it is a piece of chocolate brownie topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream - this is the classic combination.

I adapted this recipe  for the chocolate ball. Chef Byron has explained the recipe wonderfully and I would strongly recommend reading the recipe in detail before proceeding.

1. Using a double boiler method, heat 1 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips ( I used regular store bought brand). 
2. Add 1 tsp of coconut oil to the chocolate chips while they are melting. Coconut oil makes the melted chocolate runnier, thus  easier to spread the chocolate in the mold. Also it makes it easier to unmold it and imparts a nice sheen to the chocolate 
3. Once the chips have fully melted, remove the bowl from the boiler and mix using a spatula thus helping the chocolate to come to room temperature. 
4. Wash and dry a ornamoldOrnament Ball before filling it with chocolate. 
5. Now fill one half of the mold with melted chocolate, approximately a quarter of the way up. Secure the other half and gently roll the ball in all directions to coat all the sections of the mold. If you feel the chocolate is a little thick, you can gently tap the ball to help the melted chocolate spread. Make sure there are no gaps.
6. Now place the ball in the freezer for minimum of 30 mins, flipping every 2-3 mins  ( for the first 10 mins )to ensure the chocolate cools evenly.
7. Remove the mold from the freezer and gently open it. If the chocolate has cooled well, the mold will easily open. 
8. Next heat up a stainless steel plate and gently press the ball on to the dish , in order to melt the bottom part of the sphere. The opening should be just enough to be able to fit onto your piece of brownie. 
9. Now put the sphere in the fridge until ready to use.
10. In a shallow dish , place a small piece of chocolate brownie, topped with a scoop of vanilla icecream and place the sphere on top . Garnish with raspberries or strawberries on the side.
11. Heat 1 cup heavy whipping cream in microwave until hot and pour on top of 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Let it sit for 5 mins and then stir well until the cream and chocolate is well combined.
12. You may want to strain this mixture for a smoother sauce, 
13. Before serving heat the sauce in the microwave at 30 sec intervals until hot. 
14. Pour the hot sauce on top of the sphere and watch the magic happen.

Tom Kha with Soba noodles

I  love Thai and I love soba noodles. Soba noodles are Japanese thin noodles made using buckwheat flour, which makes them very healthy and nutritious.
This is my take on a Tom Kha soup. Adding soba noodles makes it a one pot meal.

This recipe serves 4
Ingredients :-

• 1 onion sliced
• 2 garlic cloves crushed
• 2 tsp Red curry paste
• 2 Thai chillies
• some lemongrass chopped or 1 tsp lemongrass paste
• 4 cups Veg stock /chicken stock / fish stock
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 8-10 medium shrimps or chicken breast
• 1 15 0z can coconut milk
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp red chilli paste
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Cilantro leaves roughly chopped
• Cooked Soba noodles/ rice noodles. 

Recipe:-  

1. Heat oil in pan and sweat some chopped garlic and sliced onions.  
2.  Add red curry paste and saute well. 
3. Add lemon grass and chicken / fish / veg stock and boil for 15 mins. 
4.  Strain and reserve the stock. 
5. Add sliced mushrooms , shrimps to the stock and bring to a boil. 
6.  Add 1 can of coconut milk , chilli paste and little brown sugar and cook.
7.  Squeeze some lemon juice and add chopped cilantro 
8. Add cooked noodles 
9. Serve hot. 

A simple Loaf of bread

Bread  making is therapeutic. Right from seeing that yeast bloom to your bread getting baked in the oven , the process gives makes me excited and anxious everytime I bake bread. I have been baking Mumbai style Laadi Pav by loyally following  Shital's Famous Pav Bread .This recipe is hands down the best one and comes closest to the authentic taste of laadi pav.

I have made a few changes to her original recipe and adapted it to come up with my own version of a simple loaf of bread.

 

Ingredients :-

• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast.  
• 1 cup lukewarm milk ( 2% preferred)
• 1/4 cup lukewarm water ( 100 F)
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 3 cups all purpose flour . 
• 1 tbsp oil ( Vegetable/Canola/Avocado oil) 
• 1 tsp salt. 

Procedure :-

1. In a wide bowl, mix milk, water , sugar and yeast. Let the yeast bloom for 5 mins until it is frothy.
2. In the same bowl, add the all purpose flour and salt and knead for 1 mins. 
3. Then add oil and knead well. You can remove the dough on a clean surface and knead. 
4. The dough will be sticky. Add some flour, little at a time, while kneading. 
5. Do not add a lot of flour. The more you knead the less sticky the flour will become. 
6. Knead for 8 mins and then keep it covered in a warm spot ( cool oven for ex. )for about 45 mins . 
7. After 45 mins, the dough should have doubled in size,  knead the dough again , dusting little flour again , for about 8 min more mins. 
8. Take a bread loaf pan and grease it with some oil.  Shape the bread dough as directed here and place it covered again in a warm place for another 45 mins, 
9. After the 30 min mark , preheat the oven to 375 deg F for 15 mins. 
10. Bake the bread for 25 to 30 mins. 
11. Remove from oven and let it cool in the pan for 10 mins and then take it out of the pan and cool completely on a cooling rack. 
12. The bread is best enjoyed with a dollop of salted butter.

Do give this recipe a try and let me know .
Happy Baking !!

Black Forest Cake

Recipe for chocolate cake -
This recipe fills one 9 inch round pan.
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup + 2 Tbps cocoa powder
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 1/2 stick butter 
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 tbsp Baking Soda
Pinch of salt

Grease a baking pan with butter and flour and preheat oven to 350 deg F.
Mix all the above ingredients ( wet + dry) in a bowl and beat well , either in a stand mixer or electric mixer, on medium high for 3 mins, making sure that you scrape the sides of the bowl at regular intervals.
Spread the cake mixture evenly in the baking pan and bake at 350 F for 45-50 mins or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Remove on a cooling rack and let the bake cool completely.

Whipped cream for the Black Forest Cake
4 cups heavy whipping cream
2 cups icing sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract

Keep the Heavy cream chilled in the refridgerator until you are ready to whip it. I also keep the mixing bowl and the whisk in the fridge for 10 mins before using. This makes sure that the cream develops soft yet stiff peaks.
In the chilled bowl, add the chilled cream and vanilla extract and using either an electric beater or whisk attachment of your stand mixer, beat the cream on medium high for 1 min. Then slowly add the icing sugar 1 cup at a time and beat on high for 2 mins or until you see nice stiff peaks. Do not over beat as this will curdle the cream making it into butter.

Remove the whipped cream in a bowl and place in fridge until you are ready to frost the cake.

For assembling the cake
1 9 inch cake
Whipped cream
1 can/bottle of Maraschino Cherries. ( You can easily find a bottle in any grocery store)
Chocolate shavings. ( Grated chocolate bar)

Divide the cake into 3 parts using a serrated knife. Level the top portion of the cake and reserve the top uneven layer . Remove the liquid from the cherry bottle. Brush the cake with this liquid so as to make it soft. Alternatively you can also use sugar syrup to make the cake wet.
Then add some whipped cream on the top of one layer and a few cherries.
Then place another layer of cake , repeating the above step.
Do this for all the layers.
Frost the cake with the remaining whipped cream . Crumble the cake slice we have reserved and gently pat it on the sides of the cake. Place this cake in the fridge for 15 mins so that the crumbs dry out and stick to the sides.
Then decocrate the remaining cake and add grated chocolate and a few cherries. Keep refridgerated until ready to serve.

Ragi-Atta Barfi / Gul Papdi

Here is my take on the traditional gujurati mithai - Gul Papdi. The authentic Gul Papdi is made using simple 3 ingredients - atta , ghee and jaggery. I tried to make it more nutritious by adding Ragi (Nachni flour) and Mixed Nut powder.

Ingredients-
1 cup atta ( Whole wheat flour)
1 cup ragi flour
1 cup ghee
1 1/2 cup grated jaggery (I used Indian Kolhapuri )
1/2 cup mixed nut powder ( dry roast almonds , pista and cashewnuts and grind to a fine powder)
2 tbps desicated coconut
1 tsp cardamon powder
A pinch of nutmeg
Poppy Seeds for garnishing
Greased Plate

Method-
1. In a heavy bottom pan, add ghee , atta and nachni and roast on low flame for about 20 mins or until the raw flavor is gone.
2. Now add the nut powder and desicated coconut , cardamon powder and nutmeg.
3. Roast again for about 5 mins,
4. Now switch off the flame and add the grated jaggery. Mix well until all the mixture has well combined and the jaggery has almost melted.
5. Immediately remove the mixture on to the greased plate and using the back of a spatula spread evenly. Do this very carefully as the mixture will be very hot.
6. Sprinkle the poppy seeds and cut into desired shape when the mixture is still hot.
7. Initially the barfi will be very crumbly, but once it cools down completely , you will have melt in the mouth gul papdis.
8.This recipe yields approximately 35 barfis.

Chocolate Marie Truffles

Recipe-
1 packet Marie Biscuits
1 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
2-3 Tbsp Condensed Milk
1 Tbsp Desicated Coconut
1 tbsp melted unsalted butter

6 Ounces Chocolate Chips
1 tsp Shortening

 Method:
1. In a food processor, grind the marie biscuits . Add the cocoa powder and pulse again.
2. Remove the mixture in a bowl and add the desicated coconut and mix
3. Now add the melted butter and then the condensed milk, 1 tbsp at a time and mix well using your hands. The condensed milk will help bind the mixture and everything will come together in the form of a semi-soft dough.
4. Roll small balls and place them on a greased dish.
5. You can eat them as it. They are super yum. Only a few made it to the next stage. Many were jusy gobbled up my us.
6. Refridgerate the balls for atleast an hour.
7. Using a double boiler method, melt the chocolate and add the shortening. You can skip the shortening, but adding it gives a nice shine.
8. Bring this chocolate to room temp.
9. Now dip the truffles, one at a time into the melted chocolate. Remove it using a fork. Tap the fork twice or thrice , so that the extra chocolate drips back into the chocolate bowl.
10. Place it on a wax paper or a greased plate. You can use a toothpick to slide it down on the wax paper.
11. Sprinkle some decicated coconut while the chocolate is still wet.
12. Place all the truffles in the fridge for at least 1 hour before consuming.