Sweet Indulgence – Page 5 – The Secret Ingredient

Baking

Eggless Orange Cake with Candied Orange Peel Filling

By anshu February 28, 2015

I have never been fond of Orange Flavour specially the artificial flavour in ice lollies, squashes, sweet orange candies. But when I saw the recipe of this cake it enticed me. The recipe said it is made with fresh orange juice and candied orange peels. The idea itself was so inviting that I took a plunge and decided to bake this cake.

To my surprise the cake came out delicious, fluffy and moist in spite of being eggless. The most impressive thing about this cake was the center filling with candied orange peel. It took this cake to the next level of deliciousness. Now you will understand why I chose this special cake for my 100th post on my blog 🙂 🙂

Directions:

1. Make Candied Orange Peels and keep aside. You can follow this recipe. Grease a Bundt pan or any pan of your choice. Do not forget to dust it with flour so that the cake can come out easily after baking. Preheat your oven for 10 minutes on 180 degree Celsius. Learn More about Oven temperatures and Conversions.

2. In a bowl add All purpose flour, salt and baking powder. Combine them together and keep aside.

3. In another bowl add melted butter and sugar, Whisk them together. You can even use an electric whisker,

4. Add Yogurt or curd and keep whisking together till everything is smooth and lump free.

5. Add Vanilla extract and combine.

6. Pour half of wet ingredients in dry ingredients and combine.

7. Add Orange juice and mix everything. Add rest of the flour mix and combine.

8. Add little milk to make the batter runny. Gently mix until everything is moistened. Do not over mix.

9.Pour half the batter in a greased pan and spread the candied orange peel all over the surface.

10. Now pour rest of the batter on top of the candied peels.

11.Bake in preheated oven on 180 degree Celsius for 40-50 minutes or until the toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let the cake cool down completely before you invert it on a tray. Otherwise the cake will break. Cut into slices and enjoy the delicious, moist orange cake.

You can even try our other cakes and breads like Apple Raisin Streusel Bread, Persimmon Rum Cake, Pumpkin Cake Rolls. You can learn how to make Candied Orange Peel at home.

[whohit]OrangeCake[/whohit]

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Dessert

Khajoor Til Ke Laddoo | Quick Sugarless Dates & Sesame Balls

By anshu February 25, 2015

This post is specially for diet conscious people or people who are watching their weight. These dates ball are quick and easy to do with minimal ingredients. When you want to snack on to something guilt free or quench your mid night cravings this is a perfect treat. Store them in air tight jar and these go a long way. They look small but they are very filling, so ensure you make small sized balls.

When I made them last time I never got an opportunity to store them for they were gone by the evening. Yes me and my husband had 6 each ;). A little dieting never hurts anyone 😛

Directions:

1. Remove the seeds from the dates.

2. Dry roast the almonds and walnuts or pecans in a pan in batches. You can use any nut of your choice. Ensure you keep tossing them for you don’t want to burn them. Coarsely grind them in a grinder leaving a few chunky pieces to give texture to the balls.

3. In the same pan add the sesame seeds and toss them to get a slight colour and crunch on them. Roast them on a low medium flame.

4. Add the pitted dates in a coffee grinder or normal grinder and make a sticky paste.

5. In a pan add little butter or ghee or if you are vegan add coconut oil or any neutral oil.

6. Add the dates and cook them in ghee for about 2-3 minutes. The dates will absorb all the butter.

7. Now add the ground chunky nuts and mix them to combine evenly using a spatula. Soon everything will be well combines in one thick paste.

8. Let the mixture cool down a bit. Take a spoon full of it in your palm and make a smooth ball with it.

9. Place all the balls in a plate and one by one roll them in roasted sesame seeds.

10. Store them in an air tight jar and enjoy them whenever you feel like snacking!

[whohit]DatesLaddoo[/whohit]

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Baking

Vegan Eggless Chocolate Muffins

By anshu February 6, 2015

There are many who say they cant bake. After numerous failed attempts they have given up on baking. This recipe is for those who have lost all faith in baking and for those who want to debut in baking muffins. Do not worry this is the basic recipe to make that perfect moist cake without the use of eggs. What can be more perfect than baking these moist chocolate muffins for your Valentine this Valentine’s Day.

Directions:

1. Line the Muffin Tray with Muffin Liners and Preheat the Oven to 180 Degree Celsius for ten minutes. (Learn more about Oven Temperatures and Conversions).

2. In a bowl add All Purpose Flour and Sugar.

3. Add Baking Soda and Cocoa Powder.

4. Give it a gentle whisk to combine. Set aside.

5. In an another bowl add warm water and vegetable oil.

6. Add Vanilla Extract and White Distilled Vinegar.

7. Mix dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.

8. Whisk together till everything moistens and the batter is lump free. Do not over mix.

9. Using a spoon fill 2/3 of the muffin cup with batter.

10. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until the toothpick inserted comes out clean.Let them cool down before you dig in. You can ice it, glaze it or eat just like that.

You can try Other Cake recipes like Surprise Heart inside Cake, Pumpkin Cake Rolls, Persimmon Rum Cake and Apple Raisins Streusel Bread.

[whohit]EgglessChocolateMuffins[/whohit]

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Apples

Apple Raisins Streusel Bread

By anshu January 25, 2015

When apples are in abundance you look haywire for some interesting apple recipes. This is in continuation to my post of Apple Cinnamon Pancakes. I made this very delicious cake with streusel or crumple topping. It gives this bread such an amazing texture. The bread has a lovely flavour of fresh apples and raisins. You can have a slice with your warm cup of Coffee or tea. Its perfect when you invite some friends over for an evening tea or serve it for dessert at dinner table with a scoop of Vanilla Ice cream.

Directions:

1. In a bowl combine All Purpose Flour, Cinnamon Powder,baking powder and Salt.

2. In a small bowl add raisins and 1/4 cup of Flour mix and toss them together. Set aside.

3. In another bowl add milk and eggs.

4. Add Vanilla Extract, Orange Zest and Sugar.

5. Add Oil and whisk everything together to form a frothy mixture.

6. Peel, core and grate apples and add to the wet ingredients.

7. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold them using a spatula until every thing is moist. Also add the raisins and combine.

8. Preheat the oven on 350 degree Fahrenheit (Learn more about Oven temperatures and conversions). Grease a 9×5 loaf pan and line it with Oddy Uniwrap Parchment paper. Pour the batter into the pan and keep aside.

9. For the streusel or crumble in a bowl add cold butter cubes, all purpose flour salt and sugar. Using your finger tips or a fork combine them to form a crumbly mix.

10. Sprinkle the crumble on top of the bread batter evenly leaving no space.

11. Bake it in oven for an hour or until the toothpick inserted comes out clean without any wet batter. Let it cool down completely before slicing. Enjoy!

You can even try our Persimmon Rum Cake, Spiced Raisin Bread and Pumpkin Cake Rolls.

[whohit]AppleBread[/whohit]

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Bihari Cuisine

Tilkoot | Pounded Sesame balls with Jaggery

By anshu January 13, 2015

Its Makarsankranti, the festival of harvest celebrated by Hindus in India and Nepal. It has a special significance as it marks arrival of Spring in India and it is a traditional event. We celebrate this day by making sweets with Jaggery and Sesame. This tilkoot is made by pounding sesame and mixing it with melted jaggery.

This is a specialty from the states of Bihar and Jharkhand. They are ideal for midnight snacking specially in winters.

Directions:

1. In a flat bottom pan add sesame seeds and roast them on low flame by continuously stirring them.

2. Make sure to keep stirring as they burn very fast and taste not so good. The sesame seeds should be slight golden in colour and will acquire a crunch on getting toasted.

3. Put these sesame seeds in a blender to make a course powder, serving 1/2 cup for mixing later.

4. Pulse the blender for a short duration as longer time will take out the oil from the seeds and it will turn into a thick paste.

5. Cut jaggery into small pieces.

6. Add ghee or clarified butter in a wok.

7. Add jaggery or gur pieces into the melted ghee.

8. As soon as the jaggery melts put the flame off.

9. Add the sesame powder into the melted jaggery and mix evenly.

10. Also add the whole seeds reserved earlier.

11. At this stage act fast and make them into balls using your fist. If the jaggery mixture becomes cold it will be difficult to bring it together. apply ghee on your palms and squeeze the mixture and make it to look like a ball.

11. Serve them at room temperature and store them in an airtight container. Stays good for a very long time.

You can also try Besan Laddoos, Rasgullas and even Sooji Halwa.

[whohit]TilKoot[/whohit]

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Baking

Persimmon Rum Cake

By anshu January 11, 2015

persimmonrumcake_featured1
Some days back the food groups on facebook were infested with posts to guess this new kind of fruit ultimately revealed as Ram Phal, Japani Phal and in English Persimmon. I couldn’t restraint myself when I saw these babies in the market. They were at a throw away price so I bought them a kilo. Now after eating a few I was thinking where else can I utilise them. I found this incredible recipe to make a spiced cake with persimmon, just perfect for the cold weather.

persimmonrumcake_featured2

The persimmons were sitting on my shelf for a few days now so they had become super ripe just the way they are needed for this cake. The cake came out so moist and delicious that my husband declared it the best cake baked by me so far.

Directions:

1. Wash and Cut the persimmons into half.

2. Scoop out the pulp with the help of a spoon and throw away the peels.

3. Put the pulp in a blender and make a smooth puree. Set aside.

4. In a small saucepan pour some rum and raisins and bring them to a boil on medium low heat. Remove from heat and cover. Let them come to a room temperature.

5. In a bowl add All purpose Flour, Cinnamon powder, Baking Soda and salt.

6 . Also add nutmeg powder for that extra spice.

7. In the same bowl add castor sugar and mix everything. Set aside.

8. In a different bowl crack eggs and add the persimmon puree and also add rum soaked raisins.

9. Also add to this vanilla extract. Combine everything making sure everything mixes evenly.

10. Grease a ten cup pan spring pan or bundt pan. Also preheat your oven to 175 degree Celsius.

11. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour the wet ingredients into it.

12. Also add melted butter. Also add toasted walnuts or pecans.

13. Combine everything using a spatula till everything is moistened. But do not overmix.

14. Transfer it to a greased pan and even out from the top by tapping the pan.

15. Bake in preheated oven between 40 minutes to 1 hour or until the inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove from Oven and let it cool completely. Invert the cake into a serving plate.

Slice it like that only or you can top it with Cream Cheese Icing.

You can even try Persimmon Sorghum Cup Cakes with Cream Cheese Frosting, Pumpkin Cake Rolls and Spiced Raisin Cake.

[whohit]PersimmonCake[/whohit]

persimmonrumcake_featured3

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Baking

Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chips

By anshu January 3, 2015

When you and your son loves peanut butter, what can be a better way to use whole of it than baking this soft, gooey chocolaty cookies. We loved baking these delicious babies and equally enjoyed devouring them.

If you like the flavour of Peanut butter these cookies are definitely for you. You can store them in your cookie Jar and relish with your favourite cup of coffee or even tea. Bake them for your friends and gift them as personalized presents. Nothing brings more joy than that.

Directions:

1. Preheat your Oven to 350 Degree F (Learn more about Oven Temperature and Conversions).In a bowl add some All Purpose Flour and baking soda.

2. Add salt to it and combine the dry ingredients and set aside.

3. In a different bowl add butter at room temperature and mix white and brown sugars to it. Cream them together using a whisker, till sugar and butter have creamed together.

4. Add egg and vanilla essence and mix until combined. If you want to make them eggless see the notes below*.

5. Add Peanut butter and mix further til you get an even mixture.

6. Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture.

7. Combine them together till no dry flour is spotted.

8. Add chocolate chip cookies and fold them in the batter. Do not overmix.

9. Take an ice cream scooper and place one scoop of the cookie dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I have used Oddy Uniwraps Parchment Paper, because it makes baking a breeze. It makes the cookies bake perfectly without sticking to the paper or tray and makes cleaning hassle free.

10. Press them gently to flatten them using your fingers,

11. If you wish you can make patterns using a fork. Bake them on a preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes till they become slight golden in colour around the edges. Let them cool on baking sheet for a minute and then transfer on wire rack to cool completely.

12. Enjoy with your favourite Cup of Coffee.

You can even try other cookies like Chocolate Coconut Cookies and White Chocolate Chip Cookies.

[whohit]PeanutButterCookies[/whohit]

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Baking

Pumpkin Cake Rolls | Halloween Special Pumpkin Rolls

By anshu October 8, 2014

Honestly, my love for Pumpkin was never sudden. Infact I always considered pumpkin as a vegetable to make Indian cuisines or my Grandmother’s delicious Kaddu ka Halwa . Until Mexico happened and that is were I discovered that pumpkin is more than we think it to be. My respect for pumpkin grew overnight as I started experimenting with Pumpkin Puree. I learnt to make this Puree at home which made it a ready to make ingredient which can be used to make Pumpkin Rolls, Pumpkin Muffins, Pumpkin Bread and much much more.

In the west Pumpkins are symbolic to Halloween, a famous festival to remember saints, martyrs and all departed souls. Pumpkin is used to make feasts and even used for carving. The warmth of Pumpkin Puree along with spices makes the winter cozy and comfortable. So how are you celebrating your halloween. Treat or Trick? 😉

Directions:

1. Line a Large rectangular baking tray with Parchment Paper and brush it with Vegetable Oil . Set aside. Pre heat the Oven to 375 Degree Fahrenheit. Learn more about Oven Temperatures and Conversions.

2. Sift All Purpose Flour, Salt, Baking Powder and Pumpkin Pie Spice (Learn to make homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice) using a sifter, so that the flour becomes lump free.

3. In a large bowl whisk together eggs and sugar so that the mixture becomes thick and pale in colour.

4. Add in Pumpkin Puree and Vanilla essence together to the egg mixture and combine together. You can make Pumpkin Puree at home or you can use canned pumpkin puree.

5. Add the sifted flour mixture to it and combine to get an even batter. Do not over mix.

6. Spread the batter on the baking sheet lined with Baking Sheet. I have used Oddy Uniwraps Parchment Paper, because it makes baking a breeze. It ensures the cake bakes perfectly without sticking to the paper or tray and makes cleaning hassle free.You can use spatula to evenly spread the batter.

7. Bake it in preheated oven for 12 to 14 minutes or until the cake has cooked thoroughly.Let it cool for 5-7 minutes.

8. On your counter spread a kitchen towel and dust it with Confectioner’s Sugar generously. Remove the cake from the baking tray along with parchment paper and place on kitchen towel with parchment paper facing upwards and cake downwards. Now carefully remove the parchment paper.

9. Roll up the cake along with towel into a jelly roll starting from the shorter side. Let it cool completely for an hour or so.

10. Now for the filling you need butter and cream cheese at room temperature. Cream them together using a whisk. Add to it confectioner’s sugar or powdered sugar and little vanilla essence.

11. Add zest of orange or clementine to it and mix.

12. Now unroll the cake and spread the cheese filling on top using a spatula.

13. Now roll the cake again but this time without the towel. Try not to crack the cake. But if you get cracks never mind. 🙂

14. Wrap this with the kitchen towel from top and let it set in refrigerator for couple of hours. You can even do it over night.

15. After refrigeration for several hours unwrap the cake roll on a tray .

16. Cut it diagonally into half from the center.

17. Keep slicing it on an angle into smaller pieces.

18. Serve with your favourite cup of Coffee or simply like that.

Other things you can try with Pumpkin are: Pumpkin ka Halwa, Pumpkin Puree Buns.

PumpkinRolls_Featured2
[whohit]PumpkinRolls[/whohit]

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Dessert

Makhane Ki Kheer | Foxnut Milk Pudding | Phool Makhana Kheer

By anshu March 27, 2014

Navratras are approaching and this recipe is simply ideal for all those who wanna fast and also for those who wanna taste the Navratri food despite non fasting 😛 I know many such people in my family including my husband. I never tasted this kheer until my mother in law made it soon after I got married.

It tasted amazing and I learnt from my Mother in Law and now I am sharing it with you. For those who are unaware of Makhanas or Phool Makhanas, they are nothing but Lotus dried seeds also known as Foxnut. You can eat this during any vrat or any festivity.

Directions:
1. Put Makhanas in a bowl and soak them in water for couple of hours or so till they become soft and gooey.

2. Coarsely grind the soaked makhanas in a blender. You can also make a smooth paste if you prefer but I like it chunky. Set aside.

3. In a deep bottom pan add milk and give it a boil.

4. Add crushed cardamoms to the milk and boil for another 5 minutes on low flame . If you prefer you can even use powdered cardamoms.

5. Add coasrsely blended Makhanas to the milk and give it a stir. Boil for ten minutes till the kheer attains a thicker consistency.

6. Add a can of condensed milk or sugar as per your taste. Stir continuously.

7. Add Chopped Pistachios or dry fruit of your choice. and give it a mix.

8. Add few strands of saffron and mix.

9. Serve Hot and Enjoy.

Other traditional sweets you can enjoy during the festivity are: Pumpkin Halwa, Sooji Ka Halwa, Gajar Ka Halwa, Rasgulla, Attey Ka Halwa.

[yumprint-recipe id=’13’][whohit]MakhaneKiKheer[/whohit]

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American Cuisine

Blueberry Jam Bars

By anshu February 14, 2014

Its Valentine’s Day, the day of love. Love doesn’t just mean loving your partner but it has a wider definition, it includes your parents, your kids, your friends and any one who means to you. This has been a hectic month for me for I am shifting my base from Mexico to India. I have been utterly busy doing packing with less than ten days left for my departure. Probably this is my last post from Mexico. Well coming back to the topic. Since, I had little time I wanted to make something easy and also utilise things I have on hand. Trust me this came out sinfully delicious.You can use any jam you have on hand and make these heavenly bars and tell your loved ones how much you love them.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven at 375 degrees (Learn more about Oven temperature and Conversions) and line a 9×9 inch baking pan with parchment paper and spray it lightly with non stick spray, set aside. Since I was running out of parchment paper I lined the tray pan with aluminium foil and sprayed it with cooking oil.

2. Mix together the flour, salt and baking soda and keep aside.

3. In a bowl cream together butter and sugar. I used vegetable oil because as I said I had to utilise the things I had. The bars still tasted incredible.

4. After the butter or oil has been creamed with sugar add an egg and some vanilla extract. Also add orange zest. It brings in some contrasting flavour. Give the mixture a good whisk.

5. Add the dry ingredients and combine well with the wet ingredients.

6. In the lined baking pan transfer 2/3 of the crumbled dough and rest keep aside for topping. With the help of hands spread the crumbled dough evenly in the pan.

7. Now heat the jam in a bowl in the microwave for 5-8 seconds so that it becomes loose and easy to spread. With the help of a spoon spread the jam over the dough.

8. Now distribute the remaining dough in pieces all over the jam.

9. Keep the baking pan in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or till the bars start getting golden colour.

10. Take it out of the oven and let it cool completely for couple of hours. If you cut it while it is still hot it can run out and become messy. Cut it into bar sized chunks.

Spread your love.

[yumprint-recipe id=’11’] [whohit]BlueberryBars[/whohit]

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