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M y Love for Vegetable puff has been intense ever since a kid.. Every year we come to Bangalore for vacation, I would request my uncle to take us to the baker and buy me a Puff. After we grew up , we would hop in ourselves ,stealthily eat them at odd hours :)
After we moved to Uk , I used to drool thinking off a puff.. I was introduced to making at home by a distant cousin Vidya a few years ago.. I just loved it and decided it to make it at the next occasion after returning home.. Have made this classy puff a couple of times and offcourse filling is entirely our choice.. every time it would vary ...
I had picked up the puff pastry sheets 2 weeks ago for a party starter.. but now since there is a slight change in plan , I decided to use it up for our evening snack.
Enjoy this lovely quickly snack and do let me know how it comes out.


INGREDIENTS:

Puff Pastry Block	:1 Packet
Plain/ All Purpose Flour	:for dusting

For filling:

Vegetables of choice	:1 cup (I have used Peas , Sweet corn , Carrots and french Beans)
Onions	:1 nos sliced length wise
Tomato	:1 nos chopped finely
Ginger- garlic paste	:1 Tsp
Garam Masala	:1 Tsp
Green chillies	:1 nos chopped finely
Salt	:To Taste
Cumin Seeds	:1/2 Tsp
Oil	:1 Tsp
Coriander leaves ( optional )	:I havent used in this preparation

DIRECTIONS:
Preparations:

• Remove the puff pastry block from the refrigerator and follow the instructions from the packet.
• Chop the vegetables finely and cook them in microwave and keep it aside.

Method:

• In the mean while lets prepare the filling for the Puff . Heat 2 tsp of oil , add cumin seeds and allow it to splutter.  Add Ginger Garlic Paste , chopped green chillies and saute for 1 min. 
• Add sliced onions and a pinch of salt and saute for 2-3 minutes until they turn slightly brown.
• Add chopped tomato and cooked vegetables and saute them for 5 min. Sprinkle Garam masala & salt to taste and mix well.Keep the mixture aside .
• Spread the puff pastry sheet using a rolling pin . Use plain flour/all pupose flour for dusting.  Cut it into desirable size.  I have Cut them into 8" by 8" square . Placed 2 tablespoon full of mixture and sealed them by pressing the edges. Repeated this process for the rest of the mixture. 
• Preheat the oven to 180C. Dust the baking tray with a bit of plain flour. Place the vegetable puffs in the tray and bake them until they turn golden brown or nearly for 30 minutes.
• Serve hot with Ketchup or just as it is.
  

Cheers

  Yes.... You heard it right.. An eggless Chocolate cake.. and guess wot ?? It didnt taste any different and the texture and the softness stayed right throughout :) This was one of my happy baking...time and I will truely cherish.... Using an egg is not an issue at all.. The thought that if I bake a cake at any point of time in India, the elderly crowd wud just stay away coz its got an egg... So didnt want to drive them away from such delectable desserts .


Well.. since this recipe has my first layering & frosting effort... I did read a couple of blogs , webpages to know how its really done and tried to understand the different kinds...Felt it was difficult .. only until I started the process. Didnt realise when it was all done...
Madhuram's Eggless Baking is the lovely blog that I came across everytime in my search .Totally appreciate her for the choice of ingredients and  the substitutions. For the Original Cake Recipe click here . I have done a couple of variations - Used Self Raising flour instead of All Purpose flour ,Low fat stirred yogurt instead of Silken Tofu. Used Low fat Baking Vegetable Oil instead of Canola Oil & eliminated the use of salt. I tried a Ganache frosting and not the one in the recipe..

Sending this lovely delectable layer cake to

• Show me your Cake Event hosted by Divya of Dil Se
• Cakes & Cookies Event hosted by Sara of Sara's Corner
• In Love with Delectable Desserts, Pastries & Ice Creams Event hosted by RV of Food for 7 Stages of Life
• Cakes & Cookies Event hosted by Mahima of Indian Vegetarian Kitchen

INGREDIENTS:

For the Cake:

Self Raising Flour	:2 Cups
Baking Powder	: 1 Tsp
Baking Soda	: 2 Tsp
Unsweetened cocopowder	: 3/4th Cup
Granulated White Sugar	: 1.5 Cups
Low fat Vegetable Oil for lighter baking	: 1 Cups
Hot Coffee Decoration	: 1 Cup
Milk	: 1 Cup
Vanila Extract	: 1 Tsp
Low fat stirred yogurt	: 1 Cup

Ganache Frosting :

Butter	:2 Tsp
Chopped Dark Chocolate	: 80gm
Chopped Milk Chocolate	: 100gm
Creme fraiche or ( Heavy Cream)	: 300ml
Vanilla essence	: 2 Tsp
Royal Icing Sugar ( Silver Spoon Brand)	: 200gm

DIRECTIONS :

Preparations:

• Hot Coffee Decoration: Mix 1 tsp of Dogwe Egbert Instant coffee with 1cup of Boiling Water .
• Yogurt Mix : Mix every 3 table spoon of stirred yogurt with 1 table spoon of water.

Method:

Cake Preparation:Method for any cake preparation is the same..Preheat the oven . Mix all the dry ingredients & wet ingredients separately. Prepare a well and incorporate the wet ingredients slowly  into the dry and blend well.We follow just the same process here too.

• Preheat the oven to 180 C . In a large mixing bowl , mix Self Raising Flour , Baking Powder , Baking Soda  & Granulated Sugar . Swift them well with a spatula and make a well kind in the center.
• Add the butter at room temperature , Hot coffee mix , Milk , Vanilla essence  & stirred yogurt one by one with regular mixing after each incorporation.
• Using an hand blender , wisk the mix for about 1-2 minutes until all the lumps are gradually gone.
• Grease the Cake tin with a lil butter and dust a bit of coco powder all around. Pour the cake mix in the tin  upto 3/4th and place it in the oven.  Remaining mix could be poured into a muffins mould.
• Bake for nearly 1h -1.10h until a wooden skewer inserted comes out neat. (My cake wasnt done in 30 minutes like most recipes said.)  Let it rest in the wire rack for a while( about 30 minutes) until the cake cools.This is a highly impatient period when we cant wait to see out results of our efforts.

For Frosting :

• Heat the sauce pan filled upto 3/4 full of water in a medium flame and place another vessel over it.
• Add 2 tsp of butter and once it begins to melt , add  the broken chocolate pieces in batches and keep stiring until they all melt. Incorporate Creme fraiche and a couple of drops of vanilla essence and keep stiring for 30 seconds. Include the icing sugar and stir for another 2-3 minutes.
• Keep this indulgent frosting aside for 30 minutes (room temperature) until it cools a bit and starts holding itself.

Assembling:

• Carefully turn the cake upside down from the baking tin and place it in a large plate. Since I didnt use 2 separate cake tins , I had to carefully slice it horizontally with a large knife and keep it aside in another large plate. This gives us 2 layers. We will need aditional flat spatula's to move and lift the cake coz there is a tendancy to break.This procedure requires FRAGILE handling.
• Now over one of the cake layers , spread the frosting with a knife and allow it to flow in the sides.
• Gently and carefully place the second layer over the first . Pour the frosting all over the cake and gently spread over the top and sides.
• I didnt have any decoration... Wasnt prepared with it.. SO used  Dark Chocolate chips to do the decoration bit.. and  my Indulgence chocolate cake was ready to be served.
• Allow the cake to cool and settle and serve after an hour or the next day.
  

Cheers

 Love the color , Love the simplicity of its taste , Love it for the way it is !  The Pound Cake.
2 weeks ago , we were invited to a friends place for a dinner to celebrate their newest arrival's 3rd month Birthday... Until the kids turn 1 , we just cherish every moment and love to celebrate any milestone.
So decided to make this special ones birthday a little more spl with a Pound Cake and some  Condensed Milk Cookies.
They loved it ... Infact half was over in a day at home & rest of it , the baby's mother finished it the next day. :) She anyways doesnt have to worry about calories and fat  ,coz she is still feeding .




Isnt it delicious.. Well Well.., I have no intentions in taking any credit for this Pound Cake recipe . I got the recipe from here. 



CONDENSED MILK BISCUITS

I had about 1/2 can of condensed milk left over from the Cake .. and was wondering wot to do.. Thats when this post on chocolate-hearts from Sushma's blog popped up.
Just did a little a variation by not adding nuts & used dark chocolate chips instead of milk ones.



KITCHEN NOTES :
The cake was moist n fresh for 4 days when stored in an airtight container.
I got a feedback from neighbour granny that  the biscuits were fresh and delicious.. even after 2 days:)

Cheers

Huh.... Wot a piece of satisfaction... when We can make our own bread.. For me , baking a bread was just like a dream... and never knew it could be made so easily......
Yup.. I baked  Pav(bread of  Pav bhaji & I learnt it from Vah Chef  .Isnt it lovely... Till date I have only picked up Wartburtons dinner rolls in London or used to go to a baker in India... and pick it..
Remember a friend making fun of me... during school days.. saying.. Sandy.. you making pav Bhaji...   just impossible.. You wud pick a packet of Pav from the market..  , buy a packet of ready made bhaji too and serve them together taking all the credit....  Just recollected this funny incident when I baked my pav at home.



INGREDIENTS:

All Purpose Flour(Maida)	3.5Cups
Dry Yeast	3.5gm
Butter	3.5 table spoon
Sugar	1/2 tsp
Salt	3/4 tsp
Water	2 Cups

This measurement will yield 11 Pav's .

PROPORTION FOR PAV PREPARATION IS:

1 Cup AllPurpose Flour : 1 gm Yeast : 1 table Spoon Butter


DIRECTIONS:

1. In a medium size bowl , add sugar & to it add the dry yeast. Stir it well. Now add 1/2 cup of  warm water & stir them well. Remember do not add hot water . It will kill the yeast rather than making it active.
2. Lets add about 1 3/4 cup water altogether to this yeast mix. It is said flour will need about 55% roughly for making a soft dough.
3. In a clear large flat bowl , add the flour, required salt  & yeast water slowly and knead it well. Knead the dough for a little more time than the chapathi dough.  The dough might be sticky ,but with the addition of butter we will get a nice soft dough. Punch  & knead a couple of times again so that the air molecules dont get retained .

4. Cover the dough with a cling film or a Plastic sheet in a way that the vessel is sealed well. keep aside this dough for 1 hour.  After an hour the dough is sure to rise .

5. Knead the dough about 2 or 3 times again & now make medium sized balls and place them on a greased baking sheet dusted with a little bit of all purpose flour.PS: Apply a little bit of vegetable oil or butter on your palm while making the balls . There is a tendancy to stick a bit.

6. Place the dough balls nearly touching with each other. Now again wrap the dough balls with a plastic sheet and keep it aside for about 30 min.  You will find the dough balls have a taken a bit of a flat shape. Using a kitchen paper towel , give the dough balls a bit of milk wash .This will help the bread to get a little brownish on the top.
7. Preheat the oven at 190 C  & now bake the bough balls for 30 minutes. Hot Pav (Bread ) which is soft & fluffy(with a rebounce effect) is ready for your Pav Bhaji or Vada Pav..

8. For recipe of Mumbai's original Pav Bhaji click here. & for making Vada's click here.

Try them &let me know how you like it !!!

Y ellow is the color !! Spring is in ...Flowers are blooming , minds are getting fresher , enthusiasm is gearing up .. so what is the wait for.... Let the doors open... Get springy in season and self :)

A fresh mango was sitting in a corner of my fruit basket.. for the last 1 week.. Before it went any stale.., H placed it at the edge of the kitchen counter... This was an indication tat I better not forget it...  Errr... was the first expression came from within... Then a big smile... saying "What are u waiting for ? " Lets get baking... To my coincedence , I had a can of sliced mango also nearly lost in my pantry cabinet...   This was the chance to get both to action and clear my stock toooo ....
I did have eggs stored , no dearth of dairy products too... But dunno why... Just could not accept the fact of bringing Mango and eggs together for my cake.... So wot did I use ??? Ener - G , the egg replacer .. Thanking my brother who brought them for me couple of months back...





INGREDIENTS:

Plain Flour	11/2 Cups
Granulated Sugar	3/4th Cup
Sunflower Oil	1/4th Cup
Mango Puree	11/2 Cup
Ener - G	1.5 Tsp
Semi Skimmed Milk	1/4 th Cup
Vanilla Extract	1 Tsp
Baking Powder	2 Tsp

Decorations:

Icing Sugar for Dusting
Pieces of Mango
Broken pieces of walnuts





DIRECTIONS:

• Wash the mango and scoop out the pulp from the mango from the spoon . This mango was kind of a big one ..Wouldnt say of the sweet varieties I have had... but definitely categorise to the mango clan :)
• Puree the mango using ur handblender or mixer.. make it up 11/4th cup + . I have used parts of canned mango for the puree tooo and saved few pieces of fresh mango for the topping!!
• Finally they made it up to 11/2 Cup. Alternatively you can use Mango puree.. Beat in the sugar into puree until the right sweetness is obtained. Since the mango puree wasnt very sweet , I have used 3/4th cup . The cake was mild in sweetness. If the puree is sweet enof , reduce the sugar accordingly. Beat in the vanilla extract and the oil .
• Onto another clean mixing bowl , bring together plain flour & baking powder . 
• Prepare the Ener- G mix , our egg replacer by bringing together : 1.5 Tsp and 2 Tblspn of water. Mix them well. Alternatively you could use 1/4th cup of yogurt or 1/4th cup of silken tofu beaten smooth.
• Egg lovers can use 1 Egg if you are not keen on getting eggless.
• Gradually add the mango puree mixture onto the flour mix and give it a good whisk in between additions. Add the whole puree in 3 batches. Now lets incorporate Ener-g mix with a good stir too.The batter was seemed quite thick , I have included 1/4 th cup of milk to give it a good consistency.Final good whizz and we are all set to pour the batter in the cake pan.
• Preheat the oven to 180 C . Grease a 8" cake pan and now pour the batter .Give the pan a good shake by gently tapping it on the counter. This enables the batter to be spread evenly. 
• Fingers crossed and I placed the cake pan into the oven. 30 min Up and the suface was slightly brown. Put through a skewer to check and we were all done !!! Voila...  
• Unlike most times , I kept myself patient and allowed the cake to cool in the pan itself after bringing them out in the oven. Got my limelight settings ready in the mean while and clicked pics of this yummilicious tea cake& everything that was surrounding.. My lil one seemed to be soo much co-ordinated with the color that I couldnt resist clicking.

• For decorations , I have dusted some icing sugar . Topped it with mango pieces and walnut bites . Serve the mango pieces on them only when ready to eat .This could make the cake soggy otherwise.
• Enzoy this lovely cake and do join me in welcoming our much awaited spring!!!!

For Printed Version click here



INGREDIENTS:

Plain Flour / Maida	2 Cups
Salt	A Pinch ( I have not added in my cookies)
Egg	1 No
Sugar	3/4th Cup
Butter	125 gm
Baking Powder	2 Tsp
Vanilla Essence	3/4th Tsp

DIRECTIONS:

• Cream butter and sugar together , then add Egg  & give it a good blend. The recipe called for 1/2 Cup of Sugar but I have increased it to 3/4th Cup.. Taste is just right for us.
• Tip in Flour , Salt and Baking powder into a different bowl and mix well.
• Combine the flour mix along with the butter mix and blend until the dough ball forms. Wrap this dough ball in a cling film and chill it for atleast 1 hour until it gets firm. This dough is really soft to handle and I could not make any shapes . Hence chilled the dough.
•  Once the dough is firm, remove it from the cling film and make shapes of your choice. I have prepared the traditional round balls roughly 1" and flattened them with my palm. Also did the star shapes to attract lil V. Make sure the cookies are slightly thick and not very flat and it willl get crisp v fast.Grease the baking sheet and arrange the cookies in line. Refrigerate for another 10-15 minutes before placing them into the oven. Check if the cookies are a bit firm,only then the shape will be retained.
• Preheat the oven to 180 C . Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes or until it slightly turns brown.Allow it cool for 15 minutes...  ( Tis a secret that we enjoyed it warm too ) .This proportion together yields roughly 25 of them !
  
•  These butter cookies are just delicious ..  crunchy and melting in your mouth !!

Boooom !!!!! We had a double birthday bang along with a valentine party that I have been planning for Soo long  on Sunday , the 14th of Feb.!.. A sooper dooper hit...
I would love to thank all my blog friends who helped me in finalising the menu for the party... Guess wot?? My H decided to print a Menu card for the party ...so that every person who comes in , gets to know the ingredients and its authenticity :)



I managed to click shots for most of the delicacies except the Veg Biryani :) Will be posting them in subsequent posts.

Also presented my home made Birthday cake for the boyz celebration... Verdict was.. it was clean sweep... I got my best evercompliment for it.. It tasted better than a professional baker's cake. Wot more wud u expect ?? :)


I made this Chocolate Cake on Friday ( on the Maha Shivrathri Day) - 2 days before the D -Day. So cudnt taste the ingredients as I made it with egg this time. But it did look Yumm... :)
Coming to the recipe ... I have used my own Eggless Chocolate Indulgence Cake  recipe but with a few replacements & Tried a Chocolate Fudge Frosting here.

Ingredients  :

For the Cake:

Self Raising Flour	:2 Cups
Baking Powder	: 1 Tsp
Baking Soda	: 2 Tsp
Unsweetened cocopowder	: 1/2 Cup
Plain Chocolate	: 75gm
Granulated White Sugar	: 1.5 Cups
Low fat Vegetable Oil for lighter baking	: 1 Cups
Hot Coffee Decoration	: 1 Cup
Milk	: 1 Cup
Large Eggs	: 4

Frosting Ingredients :

Chocolate(Dark ,Plain,white)	:225gm
low baking fat butter	:100gm
Icing Sugar	:200gm
Really fresh double thick cream	:170gm
Vanilla Essence	:1 Tsp

Decorations:

Smarties
Piping Bag
Cheese Grater
Dark Chocolate /Plain Chocolate
Icing Sugar
Candle

Directions

• Separate the white and yolk from the egg.
• Melt the Butter at Room Temperature.
•  Prepare the hot Coffee Decoratation by mixing 1.5 Tsp Dogwe Egbert Instant Coffee Powder with 1 Cup of Water.

Cake Preparation:

• Preheat the Fan Assisted Oven to 180 C. In a large Mixing Bowl , add Butter & Sugar. Beat them well using an electric mixer until really smooth.Now incorporate the yolk and beat well.
• Add the dry ingredients - Self Raising Flour , Baking Powder , Baking soda & coco powder followed by wet Ingredients - Hot Coffee decoratation & Milk  one by one with regular mixing after each incorporation.
• Beat the White separately until a rising peak is achieved . Now add the chocolate pieces after melting them in the microwave for a minute to the Egg White Mixture. Mix Well. Add this White Mixture to the large mixing bowl containing the rest of the ingredients.
• Using an hand blender , wisk the mix for about 1-2 minutes until all the lumps are gradually gone.
• 
  
• Grease 2 Sandwitch Cake tins of 21cms with a lil butter and dust a bit of coco powder all around. Pour the cake mix in the sandwitch tin upto 3/4th and place it in the oven. Remaining mix could be poured into a muffins mould.
• Bake for nearly 45minutes until a wooden skewer inserted comes out neat.  Let it rest in the wire rack for a while( about 30 minutes) until the cake cools.This is a highly impatient period when we cant wait to see out results of our efforts.

For Frosting :

• Add all the chocolate pieces in a large microwave safe bowl and melt them in the microwave with regular stirring every 20 secs. By about 2 minutes everything will be melted. Incorporate the melted butter, fresh double thick cream, vanilla essence and icing sugar and stir until all lumps are gone.
• This Chocolate Fudge Frosting begins to hold itself right from the begining. Incase it gets a bit hardened because of cooling, just microwave for 30 secs to achieve the desired consistency.

Cake Assembling:

• Carefully turn them upside down from the sandwitch tin over the large plate. Make sure they dont crumble.
• I did hurry a bit , so my cake from the large cake tin did crumble.(Moreover it was of the silicone variety).
• Traditional tins did the wonder.
• First decorate the cake drum . I dusted a bit of icing sugar all over and scrapped a few dark and milk chocolate pieces on them. Now place the first cake over it. Using a knife spread the Fudge Frosting all over the cake and in the sides. Dip Knife in Hot water inbetween spreads .It did help me .
• Gently place the second cake over the first.  Spread the Frosting all over and allow it to flow over the sides too. Using a clean knife , spread them neatly in the circumference of the cake.

Decoration:

• Preparare a mixture for the piping bag. Take a little of the mixture aside and add the icing sugar and mix them well . This mixture will be thicker than the frosting one. Fill the piping bag and draw lines all around the cake , just like I did.
• Add  chocolate crumbles at the tip of the cake to complete the cake drum.
• For the top decoration , use  a cheese knife and grate dark chocolate and plain chocolate alternatively in the sides to achieve curls & cover the cake. Decorate the edges with smarties .
• I chilled this cake for 2 days and put it out of the refrigerator few hours before the cake cutting.
• Enjoy this preparation of my birthday cake with your loved ones.

Cheers

J  ust 10 min of preparation and rest on the baking time!!! My  21/2 yr lil one would always stop himself by the cake section inTesco's when we buy bread.. Poor thing , I would tell him  letz go home and I will bake u one... Dont know wot preservatives the sponge cake's have got at the store...

But this time I kept up my promise and baked the cake as soon as I returned from the grocer. Victoria Sponge is the easiest I could do and very quick..... Ved did not allow me to take lot of clicks as he was desparately craving.. for more pieces..  I thoroughly enjoyed it.. baking and serving .. It has been an absolute pleasure...






Adapted from Good Food Channel


Cheers

M  uffins are something that I just bake anytime. There is no time or day or muhurat that I need to plan to make.. This muffin was a result of staying awake with my lil one late nite.. Lil V slept late evening.. and before I wud hit the bed ,he wakes up at 11.30pm ... Oh oh.... I wud have been a bit upset generally if tat happens... But this new year , just decided for myself to get a little more patient.
Spent the next 2 hours cleaning , playing and baking this delightful muffin at 1 am .



Loosely adapted from the book 1 Mix,50 Muffins. I have altered wee bits to suit my flavours .Above all halved the amount , jsut perfect to make 6 Muffins.






Cheers