BakeArt – Page 3 – The Secret Ingredient

Baking

Stuffed Mushroom Cheesy Crack Bread | Cheesy Mushroom Pull Apart Bread

By anshu November 6, 2015

I needn’t say more about my obsession with mushrooms and breads. Clearly it is getting out of control. At least twice a week I want something mushroomy something bready in my meals. After doing the Mushroom Spinach Stuffed Braided Bread I bring you this Cheesy Mushroom pull apart bread. This was not planned but on my search I found this recipe which was like Love at First Sight. I happily baked a bread in the evening and stuffed it with Mushrooms and Cheese. Ohh man! It was pure indulgence. I served the bread with my mommy special Tomato Soup. I happily skipped my dinner for the sheer love of this bread.

This is more like a idea than a recipe to make something incredible with bread specially for Super Ball or Cricket Matches or may be catching up a flick late night on recliners with comfy cushions. I am just saying! Or be like me. You don’t need a reason to eat Mushrooms and bread..do you?

Directions:

1. Take a loaf of french bread or any bread other than sandwich loaf. I have used the same recipe as White Sandwich bread for this but simply placed it on a baking tray without using a pan for second proof and baked it. You can also use Sourdough bread for this. Using a bread knife cut the bread lengthwise and widthwise without cutting through all the way. You will notice cavity between the bread pieces. Place it on a Baking sheet lined with Aluminium foil. Set aside. Preheat the oven for 10 minutes on 180 degree Celcius.

This is

2. In a pan melt some butter.

3. Add finely chopped mushrooms and saute them them till they release their water. Let the water evaporate.

4. Add Thyme, I used dried. Add salt and combine. Set aside.

5. Finely chop some onions and add them to a microwavable bowl. Add butter to the onions. Microwave for 2 minutes or until the butter melts. Set aside.

6. Cut strips of cheese. I have used Mozzarella because that is what is easily available here. You can use Provolone if you lay your hands on it. Insert Cheese sticks or strips inside the cuts or cavity both horizontally and vertically.

7. Top up the cheese laden cavity with sauteed mushrooms.

8. Drizzle the bread with the onion butter all over. Sprinkle the top with some poppy seeds and garnish with fresh Coriander leaves.

9. Now cover the bread with the aluminium foil and bake it in the preheated oven on 180 degree Celsius (Learn more about Oven temperatures and Conversions) for 15 minutes and uncovered for another 10 minutes or until you see the cheese melting.

10. Serve hot and relish each bite.

Other recipes with bread you can try are: Cheesy Garlic Bread, Stuffed Mushroom and Spinach Braided Bread.

More Bread recipes you can try on The Secret Ingredient: White Sandwich Bread, Russian Bublici, Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread, Chinese Black Sesame Steamed Buns, Cherry Focaccia Bread with Rosemary and Sea Salt, Rosemary Garlic Focaccia Bread, Cinnamon Raisin Bread, Beetroot Bread with Garlic and Thyme, Honey Oats Bread, Domino’s Garlic Breadsticks, No Knead Light Wheat Bread.

[whohit]MushroomCrackBread[/whohit]

[yumprint-recipe id=’178′]

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Apples

Vegan Yellow Zucchini Chocolate Brownies | No Oil No Butter No Added Sugar Chocolate Brownies

By anshu September 11, 2015

Its been a month me and my husband have been clean. No No its not what you are thinking 😉 We are not on DRUGS!!! We are eating healthy and exercising to burn those extra kilos we have gathered as a result of food blogging 😛 We are trying hard to keep our meals simple, clean and avoiding sugar as much as we can. I know its a painstaking task. But you see every Christ has to carry one’s own cross 😉

This gave me an opportunity to look into healthier and nutritious dishes. I recently made Couscous Chickpea Salad, Mexican Black Bean Mango Salad. But nevertheless the craving for sweet things gets in more too often. I tried to indulge in a dessert which is gultfree. I know Dessert and Guiltree are like the North and the South Pole. But trust me these Chocolate brownies are without any eggs, oil or butter and no extra sugar is added to it. Its sweetened with apple sauce, chocolate and maple syrup and above all it has goodness of Yellow Zucchini. Another fabulous idea to hide in Zucchini in your kiddos food without letting them know 😉

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius for ten minutes. Wash, peel and core apple. Cut into small pieces and make a smooth puree in a blender. Set aside.

2. Wash, peel and grate a zucchini. You can use yellow or green. Both will serve the purpose.

3. Place the grated Zucchini in a cheese cloth and squeeze out all the water. Set aside. You can use this water to make roti dough.

4. In a small bowl add Flax Seed meal or Flax seed powder (Learn how to make Flax seed Powder at home) and add some water. Let it rest for ten minutes and become gelatinous.

5. In a mixing bowl add apple sauce and soya milk.*

6. Also add Maple syrup and Vanilla extract.

7. Add the gelatinous flax meal mixture to the bowl and give everything a good stir.

8. In another bowl swift and add cocoa powder and whole wheat flour.

9. Also sift and add in baking powder and combine with the dry ingredients. The purpose of sieving is to eliminate all lumps.

10. Gently fold the wet ingredients in the dry ingredients.

11. Add grated and squeezed zucchini and combine using a spatula.

12. Chop some chocolate and add to the batter. Save a little for the top garnish. You can even use chocolate chips instead.

13. Line a 8×8 baking tray with some parchment paper and grease it with little oil so that nothing sticks. Pour the batter in the greased tray.

14. Top it with reserved chopped chocolate and keep it for baking in a preheated oven for 25 – 30 minutes.

15. Remove it from the oven and let it cool down completely before you cut it into squares. You can store them up in fridge in air tight containers for a few days .

Other desserts you can try here are: Blueberry Jam Bars, Pumpkin Cake Rolls, Mascarpone Cherry Compote Cheesecake Glasses,

[whohit]ZucchiniBrownies[/whohit]

[yumprint-recipe id=’167′]

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Baking

Italian Almond Biscotti | Twice Baked Almond Cookies

By anshu September 7, 2015

I remember first time I baked them I was in Mexico and we were making a trip to the State of Michoacan to the Butterfly Sanctuary to witness a spectacular Event. There are millions of Monarch Butterflies. You can see them flying around and almost obscuring the sky. You will hear the fascinating sound of their wings flapping. Its indeed the 8th wonder on Earth. Every fall, huge numbers of Monarch Butterflies gather in southern Canada to migrate. Some Monarch Butterflies travel over 3,100 kilometers to Mexico to reproduce and and then die.

The trip was a beautiful comfortable journey. These cookies kept our spirits high and energy boosted. Whenever I bake these I remember this memorable trip. Coming back to cookies, they are crunchy and so very almondy. The roasted almonds gives it an incredible texture and taste. You can dunk them in your coffee or chai and take a short trip to heaven. 🙂

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven for 10 minutes on 180 degree Celsius (Learn more about Oven temperatures and Conversion). In a baking tray spread the almonds in a single layer and toast them for 10 minutes. They will give out a golden colour and will crunch up.

2. Let them cool down a bit and roughly chop them using a sharp knife.

3. In a bowl combine All purpose flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside.

4. In a different bowl whisk Sugar and butter (Learn how to bring eggs and butter at room temperature) until it turns creamy.

5. Add in eggs and Vanilla Extract. Continue to whisk until its very creamy. Also add Almond Extract.

6. Add in the flour and mix thoroughly. It should resemble a sticky dough. Do not over mix, just till the flour is moistened.

7. Add in chopped toasted almonds and simply fold in using a spatula.

8. Sprinkle some flour on the counter slab and put the sticky dough on it.

9. Divide and shape the dough into four logs about 6 inches Long and 2 inches wide. Flatten the logs with your finger tips. You will need a lot of extra flour to do this. Place them on a baking sheet lined with aluminium foil or parchment paper. Ensure there is 4 inch space between each logs as they will expand on baking. I baked two logs at a time.

10. Bake it in a peheated oven for 35-40 minutes on 190 degree C until they acquire a slight golden colour.

11. Let them cool down a bit, cool enough to handle. Place it on a chopping board. Slice it diagonally using a serrated knife and further cut them into 3/4 inch pieces.

12. Arrange these pieces on a lined baking sheet and return them to the oven. Bake them for 7 minutes on one side and then flip the side. Bake the other side also for 7 minutes.

13. Let them cool down for 5 minutes on the baking tray and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool down completely. The cookies will crisp up only after coming at room temperature. Dunk them in your coffee and enjoy these delicious twice baked Italian Biscotti.

Other Cookies you can try here : White Chocolate Chip Cookies, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, Coconut Chocolate Cookies

[whohit]Almond Biscotti[/whohit]

[yumprint-recipe id=’166′]

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Baking

Stuffed Mushroom and Spinach Braided Bread | Mushroom Spinach Stromboli

By anshu August 30, 2015

Ever since I have perfected the art of baking a simple sandwich bread I like to experiment with my bread dough. I love to braid it, stuff it and do all sorts of crazy things with it. It is not just fun but the experience is both pleasing and delicious . I had been eyeing this braided bread – Stromboli for a long time but the last time I had mushroom and spinach on hand I simply went ahead and baked this beauty.

As I said you can do anything with your bread so you can choose any stuffing of your choice. You can braid it or shape it like a Bread Loaf with inside layering, just as I did it with Cinnamon Raisins Bread. Its your Bread you are the master. Simply give it a pinch of love and loads of patience and you will have a beautiful bread making experience.

For this recipe I have used the bread dough for White Sandwich Bread. Its extremely light and has a beautiful texture. If you like you can substitute Half all purpose flour with whole wheat flour to make it more healthy.

Directions:

1. For the dough, take some lukewarm water in a vessel. It should neither be hot nor cold, just hot enough to comfortably put your finger into it . The right temperature of the water is very important for yeast to activate. Put yeast into it.

2. Along with yeast add some sugar.

3. Give it a gentle stir with a fork and let the mixture sit and activate for 10 minutes or until you see some bubbles on top and mixture has become frothy and milky.

4. Take all purpose flour in a bowl and add salt and olive oil.

5. Add the proofed yeast to the flour little by little and mix till it comes together.

6. Bring the dough to a flat counter or your kitchen platform and knead for good 10 minutes till it becomes soft and supple. Read more about Bread baking techniques in “Basic Steps to Bake a Perfect Bread“

7. Transfer the dough to a greased bowl. And cover with a kitchen towel or cling wrap. Let it sit for an hour or so to double up in size.

8. Punch it down and deflate the dough. Knead for another 5-7 minutes.

9. Chop some spring onions along with their greens and Garlic and set aside.

10. In a pan heat some butter and olive oil.

11. Add garlic and onions and saute them till they are soft and translucent.

12. Add Red chili Flakes and saute.

13. Add sliced Mushrooms and chopped spinach. Saute the mushrooms till it releases its water and cooks.

14. Season it will salt, freshly ground black pepper and dried oregano.

15. Add whisked cream cheese to the mushroom spinach mixture and combine. Turn the flame off and let the mixture come on room temperature.

16. Divide the dough into two equal parts. Work on each dough one by one.

17. Roll the dough with a roller pin into a rectangular circle. Place the rolled dough in a baking tray lined with aluminium paper or parchment paper. I did it after braiding and it was difficult to transfer at that stage. Don’t commit the mistake I did 🙂

18. Place half of the mushroom cheese filling in the centre. Leave out place to braid the bread. Take a sharp knife and make inclined cuts about 1 inch wide on either sides of the filling. Ensure there are equal number of cuts on both sides.

19. In order to braid the bread, take one strip and cross it over the filling and press it on the other side. Alternatively take the adjacent strip and cross it over the previous one and press on the other side. Keep doing this until your full bread is braided. Cover the bread with a lint free towel and let it rest for 20 minutes or so on room temperature. It will rise the bread.

20. Brush the braided bread with Egg wash or Milk. Sprinkle the top with poppy seeds or sesame seeds or you can completely leave it out.

21. Bake it in a preheated oven on 180 degree Celcius for 25 minutes or until the crust is golden. Let the bread cool down completely on a wire rack and then slice and serve.

Other Bread recipe you can try on The Secret Ingredient: White Sandwich Bread, Russian Bublici, Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread, Chinese Black Sesame Steamed Buns, Cherry Focaccia Bread with Rosemary and Sea Salt, Rosemary Garlic Focaccia Bread, Cinnamon Raisin Bread, Beetroot Bread with Garlic and Thyme, Honey Oats Bread, Domino’s Garlic Breadsticks, No Knead Light Wheat Bread.

[yumprint-recipe id=’163′]Sending this Bread to YeastSpotting

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Baking

Vegan Chocolate Banana Cake | Eggless Chocolate Banana Cake with Flax Seeds

By anshu August 20, 2015

Who doesn’t like chocolate. And when this incredible flavour is infused with banana it becomes a divine combination. It doesn’t just end here..what if this combination is guilt free and vegan? Here’s new newest recipe of Chocolate Banana Cake which is eggless, butterless and also dairy free. I have used Flax seeds to make it rise and become fluffy. I had done another Eggless Whole Wheat Banana Bread with Melon Seeds earlier. But this recipe takes this bread to a new level of craziness.

Vegan Chocolate Banana Cake

The most enticing part of this bread was its texture. It was soft and gooey and almost melted in my mouth in its very first bite. The ripe unforgotten bananas were put to right use. My little one who is a picky eater devoured this greedily and barely allowed me to take photographs 🙂

Directions:

1. Soak Flax seed Powder in water and set aside (Learn here how to make Flax seed powder). The mixture should become like a gel in some time.

2. Grease a baking pan and set aside. I am using a medium size bundt pan for this. Preheat the oven on 180 degree Celcius for 10 minutes.

3. In another bowl sift All Purpose Flour, Baking Powder and Baking Soda. Do you see the lumps in the baking powder? That is why we are sifting everything for a lump free airy flour.

4. This is how it looks after sieving.

5. Also sieve and add cocoa powder to the flour and gently combine. Set aside.

6. Mash overripe bananas with a fork and place in a mixing bowl. Add vegetable oil and combine.

7. Add the flax powder gel to the bananas.

8. Add brown sugar or jaggery powder and vanilla extract. Give everything a good mix.

9. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently mix with the spatula. Do not over mix simple moisten the flour.

10. Pour this in the greased pan and bake on a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes on 180 degree celcius (Learn more about Oven temperatures and Conversions). The test of doneness is that the toothpick inserted will come out clean.

11. Let the cake cool down a little before taking it out of the pan. Invert the pan on a serving plate and gently tap to remove the cake. Slice and serve with your favourite cup of coffee or tea.

Other cake and bread recipes you can try here : Apple Raisin Streusel Bread, Persimmon Rum Cake, Surprise Heart Inside Cake, Pumpkin Cake Rolls, Lemon Cake with Lemon Glaze, Eggless Orange cake with candied Orange Peel Filling, Wacky Vegan Chocolate Cake, Eggless Almond Vanilla Cake, Chocolate Vanilla Marble Cakecak.

Vegan Chocolate Banana Cake

[yumprint-recipe id=’160′]

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Appetiser

Stuffed Buns with Spicy Paneer | Stuffed Buns with Spicy Cottage Cheese

By anshu July 23, 2015

Usually when I bake my weekly bread at home I make two loafs. Its raining these days and the home made bread survives only 3 days so we have to ensure that we consume it within that time before it gets mouldy. Therefore, I bake one medium size loaf with half the dough and utilize the half to make different savouries and snacks for evening time tea. I make either pizzas or plain buns or sausage flower buns and cheese stuffed buns with the same dough.

My husband loves these paneer stuffed buns and so does my father. Last when we went for picnic I baked these for my father and he greedily ate them. It was a sheer pleasure to watch my father relishing something in spite of the fact he is a picky eater.

Directions:

1. In a container take some lukewarm water. It should neither be hot nor cold, just hot enough to comfortably put your finger into it . The right temperature of the water is very important for yeast to activate. Put yeast into it.

2. Along with yeast add some sugar.

3. Give it a gentle stir with a fork and let the mixture sit and activate for 10 minutes or until you see some bubbles on top and mixture has become frothy and milky.

4. Take all purpose flour in a bowl and add salt and olive oil.

5. Add the proofed yeast to the flour little by little and mix till it comes together.

6. Bring the dough to a flat counter or your kitchen platform and knead for good 10 minutes till it becomes soft and supple. Read more about Bread baking techniques in “Basic Steps to Bake a Perfect Bread“

7. Transfer the dough to a greased bowl. And cover with a kitchen towel or cling wrap. Let it sit for an hour or so to double up in size.

8. Punch it down and deflate the dough. Knead for another 5-7 minutes.

9. For the filling chop some onions, green chilies and fresh coriander leaves.

10. In a pan add some oil.

11. Add onions, green chilies and saute them till onions become soft and translucent.

12. Add crumbled paneer and mix with onions.

13. Add Salt, Red Chili Powder and Garam Masala.

14. Garnish with chopped green coriander leaves and turn the flame off. Let the filling cool down.

15. Divide the dough into 10 parts (I used half dough to make White Sandwich Bread). You can make the size bigger but its your choice. Roll them into small balls.

16. Roll each dough into small rotis using a roller pin. You can use dry flour to ease rolling.

17. Place one table spoon Paneer mix in the centre of the rolled dough.

18. Pick the dough from the sides and close together to make a bag. Seal the edges and place on a greased baking sheet seam side down. Ensure there is ample distance between the buns, as they will expand on proofing and then on baking.

19. Cover the dough balls loosely with a kitchen towel and let them proof or expand for half an hour or so. Preheat your oven on 180 degree Celsius for 10 minutes. (Learn more about Oven temperatures and Conversions)

20. Brush them with milk and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.

21. Bake it in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes till the top gets slight golden colour. Do not bake beyond this time for your buns can get hard crust. As soon as they are out of Oven brush them with butter for that incredible shine and taste.

Few recipes you can try here are which uses yeast:
White Sandwich Bread, Vegetarian homemade Pizza, Russian Bublici, Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread, Chinese Black Sesame Steamed Buns, Cherry Focaccia Bread with Rosemary and Sea Salt, Rosemary Garlic Focaccia Bread, Cinnamon Raisin Bread, Beetroot Bread with Garlic and Thyme, Honey Oats Bread, Domino’s Garlic Breadsticks.

[whohit]CheeseBuns[/whohit]

[yumprint-recipe id=’153′]

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Baking

Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread Recipe

By anshu December 14, 2014

wholewheatsandwichbread_featured1

I tried my hands numerous times to bake a perfect bread. After a lot of hit and trial I finally figured out what goes into that perfect loaf of bread. Since then I have been experimenting with new recipes and have stopped buying bread from market. Its been half a year now and I oo don’t miss eating that crappy bread.

A lot of people say that they just cant get the bread right, the dough never rises. Its because the yeast is either expired or the temperature of water is not perfect for yeast to rise. Always check the colour of your yeast it should be whitish and not brown in colour. If its brown it means it is of no use, simply throw it in the bin. If you want to under yeast better you must read “All you ever wanted to know about yeast“. I have started using instant yeast which can be mixed with the dry flour and kneaded into a dough, leaving no room for any error. You can buy Instant yeast from our online store The Gourmet Shop.

wholewheatsandwichbread_featured3

I had earlier posted a recipe of White Sandwich bread which come out beautiful. But lately, I have tried to cut All Purpose Flour from my daily life, therefore eating Whole Wheat bread is always a better open. But to make a whole wheat bread is a little different. If you are using whole wheat flour or atta the bread comes out dense and bulky. The reason being that unlike All Purpose Flour Whole wheat flour doesn’t have that much gluten which is essential for making a airy light bread. Therefore, if you add additional gluten to the flour while kneading the bread will come out just amazing.

Directions:

1. In a bowl add wheat flour and salt.

2. Also add milk powder, Gluten and oil. If you dont know what vital gluten looks like, its just like any other flour. You can always buy at our Online store.

4. In a container take some lukewarm water. It should neither be hot nor cold, just hot enough to comfortably put your finger into it. The right temperature of the water is very important for yeast to activate. Put yeast into it. Along with yeast add some sugar.

5. Give it a gentle stir with a fork and let the mixture sit and activate for 10 minutes or until you see some bubbles on top and mixture has become frothy and milky.

6. Add the proofed yeast to the flour little by little and mix till it comes together. You dont have to knead at this stage. Just mix it with hands or even a wooden spatula. Let this sit for 10-15 minutes. This is known as autolyze.

7. After 10-15 minutes dust your counter with some flour and place your dough on it and start to stretch and knead. This kneading is different than kneading a dough for roti. You have to knead for 10-15 minutes in order to gluten to develop. Read more about Bread baking techniques in “Basic Steps to Bake a Perfect Bread“

8. How would you know if you have kneaded the dough properly. Give it a finger test. Make a ball of dough and slightly poke with your finger if you see it bounces back it means its ready to be proofed. Remember the bounce will be very slight and if it doesn’t happen you need more kneading time. Start again and check with your finger.

9. Transfer the dough to a greased bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel or cling wrap. Turn the dough upside bowl so that it is also coated with a layer of oil. The size of the bowl should be big because on proofing the dough will become double in size and there should be ample room for it in the bowl. Let it sit for an hour or so to double up in size. The time of proofing depends on the temperature of the kitchen. If the weather is cold it might take longer and if its hot the dough will rise quickly so time it accordingly.

10. Punch it down and deflate the dough. Knead for another 5-7 minutes. Divide the dough into two.

11. Grease two bread pan with oil and dust with some flour. I have used two 8 inch rectangular bread mould

12. Roll half dough into a circle using a roller pin.

13. Take one end and roll it together . Fold in the sides and pinch the seam.

14. Place the rolled dough in the baking pans with seam side down. Cover the dough loosely with a towel or cling wrap and let it rest again for 30 minutes or till it rises again. The dough will reach the lip of the pan that’s when you have to bake it. Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius for 10 minutes. (Learn more about Oven temperatures and Conversions)

15. If you wish you can score the bread with a sharp knife. You can choose to brush the top gently with milk wash or egg wash. This time I chose to just dust it with flour for a rustic look.

16. Bake it in the center rack of your preheated oven for 35-40 minute. Change sides half way for even cooking. If you feel your bread is browning too fast tent it with aluminium foil and continue to bake.

17. Remove from the tin after 5 minutes you have removed them from the oven or else the bottom with become soggy. Let the bread cool down completely on a wire wrack before slicing it.

18. Smear some butter and enjoy the delicious home made whole wheat bread.

You can also try Honey Oats Bread, Rosemary Garlic Foccacia Bread, Domino’s style Garlic Breadsticks, Vegetarian homemade Pizza, Russian Bublici, Chinese Black Sesame Steamed Buns, Cherry Focaccia Bread with Rosemary and Sea Salt, Cinnamon Raisin Bread, Beetroot Bread with Garlic and Thyme.

Sending this Bread to YeastSpotting

[whohit]WholeWheatBread[/whohit]

[yumprint-recipe id=’86’]

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