Date and Honey Loaf

I'm back! Our family and friends who were visiting us have left and the house now feels empty and calm (except for the kids). We miss all the fun we had with people around the house. While my in-laws were staying with us, I didn't have to entertain the kids rather they were getting spoilt with all the attention they got from their grandparents and older cousins. Now I have to keep them entertained all the time.

The date and honey loaf was something I made a while ago and have been meaning to post this recipe. I don't do bread and have very little success when making bread. I think it’s the lack of my skills in using yeast that is the culprit. With yeast I find that the temperature of the water should be right and that is where I think I usually go wrong. However, after a lot of trial and error, I think I'm beginning to have some success with bread. I've learnt that the best way to determine the right temperature for the water is to stick your finger in it and be able to leave your finger in the water for a few seconds comfortably.

Yeast is a living organism and is in the air around us and comes from the fungus family. Yeast needs a supply of energy for its growth and sugar supplies this energy. To learn more about yeast in baking click here to see more in detail.

The bread was delicious. It was soft and springy, lightly sweet with the honey and dates. Lovely with a hot cup of tea or coffee.

Ingredients:

• Butter for greasing
• 9 oz/250 g/1¾ cups strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
• 2¾ oz/75 g/½ cup strong brown bread flour
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ oz/7g envelope active dry yeast
• 7 fl oz/200 ml/scant 1 cup lukewarm water
• 3 tbsp oil
• 3 tbsp honey
• 2¾ oz/ 75 g/1½ cup dried dates. chopped
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds

Method:

Grease a 2 lb/900 g loaf pan with butter. Sift the white and brown flours into a large bowl and stir in the salt and yeast. Pour in the water, oil and honey and mix to form a dough.

Place the dough on a lightly floured counter and knead for 5 minutes or until smooth, then place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or so or until doubled in size.

Knead in the dates and sesame seeds. Shape the dough and place in the prepared pan. Cover and let stand in a warm place for additional 30 minutes, or until springy to the touch.

Bake the loaf in a preheated oven, 425ºF/220ºC for 30 minutes or until the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Serve cut into thick slices.

Recipe adapted from Perfect Baking

This recipe is going to Iamfoodblog for the weekly event of YeastSpotting.

Raspberry Banana Upside down cake

I woke up this morning to pretty roses on my door step, a warm hug from my 2 beautiful kids and a bunch of gifts my 5 year old made in school. She made 2 beautiful cards, a bright colored jewelry box, nicely wrapped in pink tissue paper and before I could unwrap the tissue she was jumping around saying open it mama, open it. There was a bracelet in the box that she had made, orange, purple and candy cane striped beads. She described how she made it and was as thrilled as I was. I wore the bracelet all day.




To all the mothers out there, Happy Mother's day!

My neighbor invited us over for lunch and I decided to take dessert. I had no time to shop and my pantry was running low on chocolate. My plan for making something chocolatey wouldn't be possible. So plan B - I found 2 ripe bananas and a packet of frozen raspberries in the freezer. I used the raspberries for a layer in the cake and thought upside down cake would be perfect. This is how the cake was born, with things that were screaming in the fridge and freezer to use. The cake came out beautifully. The raspberries gave a lovely tartness and the banana added a lot of flavor to the cake. I served it with a sprinkle of icing/confectioners sugar.


Ingredients:

1 stick butter(113gms)
100 gms sugar
2 eggs
150 gms self raising flour
2 over ripe bananas
1 tsp vanilla extract
1tbsp milk
1tbsp sugar
1tbsp confectioners/icing sugar(optional)
120z Frozen raspberries

Method:

Preheat the oven 350F. Butter a springform cake tin. Sprinkle and coat the tin with the confectioners/icing sugar. Top it with frozen raspberries and keep aside.

Beat the butter and sugar till pale in color. Add eggs one at a time beating well. Add the mashed banana's and vanilla extract. Beat it for a few more minutes and add the flour in batches. Add one table spoon of milk and beat for a few more minutes.

Pour the cake batter on top of the raspberries. Level the batter with the spatula and bake it for 45 minutes - an hour or until a skewer comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely before turning it on a platter. Serve with confectioners/icing sugar.

Note: The cake is more like a tart. If you prefer, you could double the amount of self raising flour, sugar and butter to get more of a cake. Also, the cake is quite tart from the raspberries. You could try substituting raspberries with other berries, like blueberries, blackberries or even cranberries.

Tip: To ease up on cleaning put the springform cake tin on a cookie sheet wrapped with aluminum foil while baking. The juices from the berries does leak out.

Farida's Zebra Cake

Zebra Cake

It has been a while since I blogged.  First, it was my three-week vacation that I extended to two and half months as we were having so much fun.  Then, the two little ones had to deal with jet lag when we returned and this was followed by my 5 year old starting kindergarten. I was more anxious about her first day then she. Just when we were getting into a routine...Ramadan started.  So although late, let me wish everyone Ramadan Kareem and also a very belated happy Onam!

During my vacation, I did absolutely nothing other than enjoy good food and time with my family.  I did jot down some new recipes to share with everyone here. With all the activities that my 5-year old is involved in, I hope to post at least one recipe a week or so.  Hopefully I can keep up.

As I was blog hopping before I went for my vacation, I came across Farida's excellent blog of Azerbaijani food - not something that I was familiar with.  I love her blog - there are some excellent recipes, photos and  some step by step instructions with photos.  The Zebra cake is from her blog.  Although she has corrected her recipe recently, I had made this cake before she had corrected and did reduce the amount of cocoa powder according to my judgement.  The cake came out perfectly and I was dying to cut it to see the zebra stripes.  I am definitely going to make this cake again; although I might experiment and tweak it a bit.  Maybe add lemon or orange zest or perhaps use almond extract instead of vanilla.  If these adjustments work out, I will surely update this post.  Until then, all I have to say is thank you Farida for posting and sharing the recipe for this beautiful cake.  

Like Farida says - Nush Olsun! Enjoy!

This photo is going to Jugalbandi for this months click event, the theme is crust

Ingredients: 

• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
  
• 1 cup/8oz/250g granulated sugar
  
• 1 cup/8 fl oz/250 ml milk, at room temperature
  
• 1 cup/8 fl oz/250 ml oil 
  
• 1/3 tsp vanilla extract/powder
  
• 2 cups/10 oz /300g all purpose flour
  
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 2 tbsps dark cocoa powder
  

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350F/180C

In a large bowl, combine eggs and sugar.  Using a hand held electric mixer or wire whisk beat until the mixture is creamy and light in color.

Add milk and oil, and continue beating until well blended.

Add vanilla powder/extract and baking powder to the mixture.  Gradually add the flour and beat until the batter is smooth and the dry ingredients are mixed well.

Divide the mixture into 2 equal parts.  Keep one portion as it is and add cocoa powder to the other and mix well.

Lightly grease the cake pan with oil/butter or PAM for baking spray.

Next is the most time consuming part, but it is worth every minute.

Start with 3 heaped tablespoons of plain batter into the middle of the baking pan. Then scoop 3 tablespoons of the cocoa batter and pour it in the center and on top of the plain batter.  Do not tilt the pan, the mixture will spread on it's own and fill the pan.  Continue this way till you finish both batters.  There are some excellent step by step pictures in Farida's AZcooking blog check them here.

Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes  or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Farida says do not open the oven door at least for the first 20 minutes or the cake will shrink and not rise.

    Enjoy!

Lemon Almond Tart

Lemon Almond Tart 

I had couple of friends come over for lunch.  As I was planning the menu for lunch, I realized that one didn't like chocolate and the other didn't like anything fruity for dessert.  I was stumped - what can I make for dessert that both of them will enjoy.  None of the recipes in my extensive collection gave me any ideas.  

Then as I was strolling in the supermarket to get some inspiration, I found this lovely book on tarts.  It is called TARTS written by Sarah Banbery.  The book was on sale and is worth every penny(look at the price here). I have baked few of the tarts and they have all been magnificent. There are savory tart, fruity tarts, a mixture of first course individual and cocktail size tartlets. There are some useful tips that apply to all recipes which help make your dough success every time.  Here are the tips...

TIPS:

• Allow a little more butter and flour than the amount stated in the recipe, extra flour for rolling out the dough, and a little additional butter to grease the tart pan.
  
• Always roll out the dough and line the pan before chilling, as this will stop the dough from shrinking.  In this way you can trim the dough edges before baking to give a neat finishing edge.  Always chill dough before cooking.
  
• Keep the raw dough trimmings to plug any cracks or small holes, which may appear after baking the tart blind. Simply press a little of the raw dough into the crack and the heat of the cooked pastry will fix it in place.
  
• Preheat the oven with a heavy baking sheet in it on which the tart shell can be placed. THis will cook the dough better and makes it easier to get the tart in and out of the oven.
  
• To bake blind, use parchment paper, which you can scrunch up then smooth out to fit into the tart snugly.
  
• Use large eggs
  
• The butter and water for the dough should always be as cold as possible and the flour should always be shifted.
  
• If not using the food processor simply sift the flour and salt into a large bowl and rub in the butter by hand.

This tart has a beautiful texture that comes from the almonds.  The almonds gives a nutty flavor to this otherwise tart tart.  It is different from the classic French Tart Au Citron, which has a smooth filling.  This tart is lovely with a hot cup of tea or coffee and can be served warm or cold.

Ingredients:

Pie Dough

• 11/8 cups of all purpose flour
  
• pinch of salt
  
• 31/2oz/100g cold butter, cut into pieces
  
• 2 tbsps superfine sugar
  
• 1 egg yolk
  
• cold water
  

Filling

• 3 lemons
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 1/2 cups superfine sugar
  
• 11/2 cups ground almonds
  
• 1/3 cup whipping cream
  
• 1/3 cup water
  

Method:

Lightly grease a 9 inch/22 cm loose bottom fluted tart pan.  

Sift the flour and salt into a food processor, add the butter, process until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. (I used my clean hands to do this)

Tip the mixture into a large bowl, add the sugar and egg yolk, and a little cold water, just enough to bring the dough together (most probably you won't need water, but if you do, then put only few drops at a time)

Turn out onto a counter dusted with flour and roll the dough 3 1/4 inches/8 cm larger than the pan.  Carefully lift the dough into the pan and press to fit. 

Roll the rolling pin over the pan to neaten the edges and trim the excess dough.  Fit a piece of parchment paper into the tart shell, fill with dried beans, and let chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375F/190C

Remove the pastry shell from the refrigerator and bake blind for 10 minutes in the preheated oven then remove the beans and paper and bake for an additional 5 minutes.

Put the juice and finely grated rind of 3 of the lemons in a large bowl and the eggs, 1/2 cup of the sugar, the ground almonds, and the cream, whisking to combine.  Pour into the pastry shell and bake for 25 minutes.  

Remove the tart from the oven.  Serve warm or cold with whipped cream.

Note:

In the recipe, the author makes a topping with lemon slices and sugar.  I didn't do this as I didn't want to add more calories to the tart.  But you can take it a step further... here is how she did it.

Ingredients for the topping:

2 Lemons,

1 cup super fine sugar.

Method:

Thinly slice the remaining 2 lemons discarding the seeds and ends.  Put the remaining sugar and water in a pan and heat until the sugar is melted.  Let simmer for 5 minutes, add the lemon slices and boil for 10 minutes.   Arrange the lemon slices over the surface in a spiral pattern.  Drizzle the remaining lemon syrup over the slices.  Serve warm or cold.

The top most picture is going for Click the food photography event hosted by Bee and Jai @ Jugalbandi.  This months theme is yellow for Bri and is a fundraiser for food blogger Bri from Figs with Bri. (See my previous post)

Also this is my last post for this month, I am going on vacation and will be back by mid July.

Amazing control - Chocolate brownie cake

My 4 year old was so much into cakes, brownies, candies, chocolates, cookies, basically anything and everything sweet that it was next to impossible to control her. She used to cry for something sweet every time. She wanted a sweet fix so often - when she woke up, before she went to school after she came from school, at snack time, at bedtime - that we had started referring to her as the "cookie monster".

Whenever we went to our friends, she would somehow find their stocks of sweets, be it cookies, candies or even gummy bear (children's vitamins). It was embarrassing for me at times.

Last month, I took my 1 year old for his annual check up, while I was waiting for his turn at the waiting area, I came across this pamphlet about baby bottle tooth decay. I was reading about it and just happened to carry the pamphlet home. At home, my 4 year old came to me as usual for a sugar fix, when I showed her the pamphlet.
There were some pretty graphic pictures about the tooth decay; teeth that were very badly discolored, broken and the lips were stretched to show the teeth and gums. I told her that if you eat a lot of sugary things eventually your teeth will have a bad decay and may look like this. I expected her to say, Oh! whatever mum, but I still want candy. Instead I was very much surprised by her reaction.

She started sobbing! She vowed that she is never ever going to touch anything sweet. I was so sure that this reaction will last maybe half an hour, and she will forget all about it and come back for a sugar fix.

Guess what?

It has been more then a month and for a girl, who was always sugar high, has not asked for a sugar treat. Isn't that amazing! She has controlled herself so well that I started feeling guilty about the whole thing, and started telling her that it was okay to have some cookies or candies. So, now we have compromised and she has agreed to have something sweet on Saturdays after lunch. I wish I could be like her and control my sugar rush.


I made this chocolate brownie cake this weekend as we had some friends over. This cake is very dense; it is almost like a tart in that it is not spongy. It is fudgy, like a brownie should be and absolutely delicious. It is lovely as it is, or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The method is also very simple; there is no need to beat the eggs a lot. Most of the ingredients are melted on the stovetop in one pot and then the rest of the ingredients mixed through and baked for 30 minutes. This is an easy, no fuss cake, and is just too good to resist.

So this one is for her - for her amazing control.
Love you dear,


Ingredients:

• 100g butter
• 175g caster sugar
• 75g brown sugar
• 125g chocolate (semi sweet)
• 1 tbsp corn syrup
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract /essence
• 100g plain flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder

Method:
Heat oven to 350 F/180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Grease and line a 20cm cake tin.

Place the butter, caster sugar, brown sugar, chocolate and corn syrup in the pan and melt gently on a low heat until it is smooth and lump-free. Remove the pan from the heat.

Break the eggs into the bowl and whisk with the fork until light and frothy.

Add the eggs, vanilla extract or essence, flour, baking powder and cocoa powder to the chocolate mixture and mix thoroughly.

Put the mixture into the greased cake tin and place on the middle shelf of the oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Remove and allow to cool for 20-30 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving.

Serve with ice cream and or plenty of fresh fruit.

Chocolate Hazelnut Praline Tart

My husband and I complement each other when it comes to entertaining. He loves to have people over and I love to cook; I get a chance to try new dishes, be it curries or desserts.

Each one in our family has a sweet tooth. So, I make brownies, tarts and cakes usually when we have people over or I take them with me when we are invited over to someone's place.
Although, I must say that with a clingy toddler and a 4 year old who wants to help me cook, the kitchen usually looks like it was hit by a tornado by the time I have finished cooking. Pots and pans, kitchen towels, spoons, and the bottom two shelves down from the pantry are usually scattered on the floor. With all this commotion, it certainly has been hard for me to cook with high speed or efficiency. The time I enter the kitchen to cook a simple meal is a lot longer and time consuming, so we don't entertain as much as we used to. But occasionally we still do have people over.The last time we had guests, I made this chocolate hazelnut praline tart. My friends absolutely loved it and wanted the recipe right away.

Adapted from BBC GoodFood Magazine

For the PASTRY:

• 140g/5oz Butter
• 100g/4oz Golden caster sugar(I used regular caster sugar)
• 225g/8oz Plain flour
• 50g/2oz Almond meal or ground almonds

For the FILLING:

• 85g/3oz Blanched hazelnuts (I didn’t blanch, I used store bought chopped hazelnut)
• 50g/2oz Golden caster sugar, plus 4 tbsp
• 200g/8oz Dark chocolate (70% cocoa) – (I used Ghirardelli semi sweet chocolate bars)
• 100g/4oz Butter
• Splash of Frangelico liqueur or brandy – I didn’t use any
• 1 Egg, plus 3 Egg yolks

METHOD:

Make the pastry. Cream butter and sugar, and then add flour and almonds. Bring everything together with the egg. If the pastry is very soft, chill it for 20 minutes or so. If not, roll out to fit a deepish 23 cm fluted flan tin, if the pastry breaks, press scraps of pastry into the gaps, leaving a light overhang. Chill for 20 minutes.

Heat oven to 400F/200C/fan 180C/Gas 6. Line the case with baking parchment and baking beans, then bake for 10 minutes. Remove beans and cook for another 10 minutes until golden.

Meanwhile, toast nuts in a pan until starting to brown. Scatter over 4 tbsp of sugar; cook until it caramelizes, then tip nuts onto a baking tray lined with parchment. Leave to cool, then roughly chop. Over a pan of barely simmering water, melt chocolate, butter and alcohol (if using) together, and then set aside to cool slightly. Over the same pan, use a hand blender and beat the egg, yolks, and remaining sugar until pale and fluffy. Take off the heat, and then fold in the chocolate mix.

When case is cooked, remove from oven and turn the heat down to 320F/160C/fan 140C/gas3. Scatter most of the hazelnuts over the base, then tip in the chocolate mix, pressing it down slightly. Cook the tart for 15-20 minutes until chocolate has almost set. Leave to cool, the serve scattered with remaining nuts.

NOTE: Use cold ingredients for the pastry. The tart can be made up to 1 day ahead.

Glossary for Baking

Here are some terms, names and alternatives to help everyone understand and use recipes perfectly.

Almonds:
Flaked: sliced nuts.
Ground: I use packaged commercially groundnuts.
Slivered: nuts cut length ways.

Arrowroot: used mostly for thickening. Corn flour can be used instead.

Baking powder: is a raising agent. Mostly made from cream of tartar and bicarbonate of soda in the proportions of 1 level teaspoon cream of tartar to ½ level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda. This is equivalent to 2 level teaspoons baking powder.

Bicarbonate of Soda: baking soda

Butter: 125g = 1 stick butter

Cheese:
Cottage: fresh, white, unripe curd cheese, can use low-fat variety
Cream: also known as Philly.
Parmesan: sharp-tasting hard cheese used as a flavor accent. I use fresh Parmesan, although finely grated is readily available.

Coffee and Chicory essence: Slightly bitter syrup based on sugar, caramel, coffee and chicory. If not available, dissolve 2 tsp instant coffee powder + 1tbsp brown sugar in 1tbso boiling water.

Cream: Light pouring cream also known as half and half.
Sour: a think commercially cultured soured cream.
Thickened (whipping):double cream or cream with more then 35% fat can be substituted.

Flour:
White self-raising flour: Substitute plain flour (maida) and baking powder in the proportions of 1cup(150g) plain flour to 2 level teaspoons baking powder. Sift together several times before using.

Golden Syrup: Maple, pancake syrup pr honey can be substituted.

Molasses: the end product of raw sugar manufacturing or refining.

Semolina: a hard part of the wheat, which is sifted out.

Sugars: I use coarse granulated sugar, also known as crystal sugar, unless otherwise specified.
Brown: a soft fine, granulated sugar containing molasses.
Castor: also known as super fine, is granulated sugar
Icing: also known as confectioners sugar or powdered sugar.
Raw: natural brown granulated sugar.

Microwave Lemon Cake

I mentioned in an earlier post about the BBC GoodFood magazine that I thoroughly enjoy reading, and how my hubby dear surprised me with an annual subscription when we moved to the US two years ago. More on the story here…That subscription ran out and then with the new baby and house, we didn't renew it.

A month ago, I opened the mailbox and there it was, the magazine. As I had started blogging, he surprised me with yet another annual subscription. Was I thrilled or what.

This lemon cake (although called as a lemon pudding in the magazine) is perfect when you don’t have enough time to prepare and bake, but want a quick sweet fix. It takes 5 minutes to prepare and 4 minutes to make. And best of all it is made in the microwave and not in the oven.
Ingredients:

• 100g/4oz Caster sugar
• 100g/4oz-softened butter
• 100g/4oz self raising flour
• 2 eggs
• Zest of lemon (I used zest of orange)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 tbsp lemon curd

Method:

Mix the sugar, butter, flour, eggs, lemon/orange zest and vanilla together till creamy, then spoon into a medium microwave proof-baking dish. Microwave on high for 3 minutes, turning half way through cooking, until risen and set all the way through. Leave to stand for a minute.

Meanwhile, heat the lemon curd for 30 seconds in the microwave and stir until smooth. Pour all over the top of the cake and serve with a dollop of whipping crème, scoop of ice cream or just as it is.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lemon curd is not readily available in some countries, and I have had some request for the recipe to make Lemon curd. Also, you could substitute Lemon drizzle for Lemon curd, which is an easy option and requires only two ingredients. :-) The recipe for Lemon curd and Lemon drizzle follows.

Lemon Curd

Ingredients:

• 4 lemons, rind and juice
• 4 eggs
• 110g/4oz butter
• 450g/1lb sugar

Method:

Grate rind of lemons and squeeze out juice. Put sugar, rind and juice, butter and beaten eggs into a large basin on top of a pan of simmering water. Stir with a wooden spoon until thick and curd coats the back of the spoon. Pour into warm sterile jars, cover, seal and label. Refrigerate.

Lemon Drizzle:

Ingredients:

• 50g/2oz icing sugar
• 1 lemon, juice only

Method:

Make the lemon drizzle topping by mixing together the sugar and lemon juice.
Spoon over the cake.

Brown Butter Sandwich Cookies with Rosemary Caramel

Three out of the four in our family have a sweet tooth (can’t say anything about the fourth one yet, he is not even one, we’ll have to wait and see). We have chocolates, kajukathlis and pedas (Indian sweets) in the fridge and freezer, candies and cookies in the pantry and pies on the kitchen counter. There's seemingly a sweet treat on every corner of the kitchen. When it looks like our sweets stash is diminishing, I bake even more. If I ever feel guilty, I soothe my conscience with my belief that I bake 'cause I like baking.

I got this recipe from the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board. I didn’t make the caramel as I had a jar of dulce de leche that was waiting to be finished. So these cookies were a perfect way to finish them.

The butter in the cookies make it really soft and rich, the caramel makes it chewy and gooey and the savory taste of rosemary gives these cookies a new dimension. These cookies won’t stick around for too long.

For the cookies:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup/2 sticks butter, divided
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 egg beaten
• 1tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• ½ tsp baking powder

In a small saucepan, over low heat, heat ½ cup butter until nut brown in color, (after foaming subsides) being careful not to burn. Remove from heat to cool.

In a bowl cream together remaining ½ cup butter and sugar, until light and fluffy. Add brown butter and mix well. Add flour, baking powder and mix until blended. Flatten dough into disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill dough until firm, around 1 hour or more.

Pre heat oven to 350F/180C

Roll out dough and cut into small (2 inch) scalloped rounds with a cookie cutter. Bake on a parchment lined cookie sheet, around 8-10 minutes, or until edges begin to brown. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Rosemary Caramel:

• ½ cup butter
• 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1-cup brown sugar
• ½ cup corn syrup
• 1 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. Melt butter over low heat in a heavy saucepan.
2. Place sprigs of rosemary between 2 sheets of waxed paper and pound until flattened.
3. Place the sprigs in butter and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Remove the sprigs from butter. (At this point, I used 3/4 cup of Dulce de leche from the jar *)
4. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Increase heat to medium high and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring frequently.
5. Reduce heat to medium and continue boiling, stirring frequently until caramel reaches 242F(use a candy thermometer) remove from heat.

Spread the rosemary caramel on a cookie and top with another. Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to one week.

* The recipe above calls to use a candy thermometer. If you don't have one and don't want to invest in one, then there are a couple of other ways to make Dulce de leche. A recipe and link follows.

Caramel:

225g/8oz light brown sugar
142 ml pot single/light cream
50 g/20z butter, cubed
100 ml water
1/2 tsp salt

Put the sugar and 100 ml water in a heavy based pan, heat gently until the sugar dissolves, turn up the heat until it turns dark amber. Stir in the cream in four additions until smooth and shiny - take care as it will bubble up. Melt the butter with the sprigs of rosemary in a different pan(follow the steps 1-3 from the recipe above). Stir in the butter and 1/2 tsp salt to the caramel. Spread over the cookie and top with another.

or

Please see David Lebovitz's recipe.

Pistachio, chocolate, oat cookies

My 4 year old is a fussy eater. The only way she’ll eat oats is if it’s hidden in a cookie. I am always on the lookout for recipes in cookbooks or online to make something that my 4 year old will eat without a fuss.

When we lived in Belgium, the only English-language non-news channel to watch on TV was BBC1 and BBC 2. I loved the cooking programs on these channels and discovered some great UK chefs such as Jamie Oliver, Nigela Lawson, Rick Stein, James Martin, Gordon Ramsey, and of course, Madhur Jaffery. It was hard to get any English reading material, be it a book or a magazine in Brussels. There was one English bookstore in the city and one newsstand at the Brussels airport that had a limited section of English books and magazines. Whenever we traveled outside Brussels, we would hoard up on some UK magazines, such as, BBC GoodFood, Olive and Delicious. I would read every article in these magazines, articles on the use of fresh seasonal produce, nutrition, kitchen layout, recipes, etc. Later, when we moved to the US, I obviously didn’t have to hunt for English-language magazines but I did struggle to find the UK magazines I loved, especially GoodFood. Bookstores like Barnes and Noble had them in the international magazine section but they cost a lot.

Then one day… I opened my mailbox and there it was – the latest issue of GoodFood. Huh! How did this happen? My darling hubby surprised me with a yearly subscription. Was I thrilled or what? I have every copy of the magazine. One section of my kitchen cupboard is devoted to this beautiful tried and tested team. Every so often, GoodFood would include a special supplement, such as one on cakes, another on pastas, etc. They are all just pure mind blowing recipes.

The following recipe is adapted from one of the bonuses that I got with my subscription.

Ingredients:

• 125g/4 ½ oz unsalted butter
• 125g/4 ½ oz caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 125g/4 ½ oz porridge oats (old fashioned - not the instant ones)
• 75g/2 ¾ oz plain flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 100g/4oz shelled pistachio nuts, chopped
• 125g/4 ½ oz chocolate cut into chunks or chocolate chips

Method:

Heat oven to 180C/fan160c/gas 4. Lightly oil two baking sheets or use SILPAT.

Cream butter and sugar together. Beat in the egg, vanilla, flour, baking powder and oats until well combined.

Stir in the pistachio nuts and chocolate chucks and mix well.

Divide the mixture into 16 and spoon, spaced well apart onto the baking sheets. Press down slightly with the back of a fork and bake for 15-20 minutes until slightly golden on the edges.

Allow to cool slightly before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Almond pistachio shortbread cookie

These cookies remind me of the biscuits that we get in the local bakery back home. They are great with a hot cup of tea or coffee.

Ingredients:

• 75g/ ½ cup shelled pistachios toasted
• 250g butter, chopped
• 160g/1 cup confectioners (icing) sugar
• 225g/1 ½ cup plain flour
• 2 tablespoons rice flour
• 2 tablespoons corn flour
• 90g/ ¾ cup almond meal
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 55g/ 1/3-cup confectioners (icing) sugar

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 150C/300F.

Chop 50g / 1/3 cup of the pistachios, leave the remaining pistachios whole.

Beat butter and sugar in medium bowl with an electric mixer until combined. Stir in sifted flours, almond meal and chopped nuts.

Shape level tablespoons of mixture into mounds. Place mounds about 3 cm apart on greased oven trays or SILPAT, press a whole pistachio on each. Bake for about 25 minutes or until firm. Lift cookies onto wire racks; when cool brush with orange juice, stand for 5 minutes. Dust cookies with extra sugar.

Cheats version of Molten chocolate cake

This is a very easy desert. It hardly takes any time to prepare or bake. You can also make it a day ahead and keep it in the refrigerator. All you need is to reheat it in the microwave for 15 – 30 seconds before serving. When you take a bite, the hot melting chocolate in the mouth is heaven. And then another scoop and you're surprised by the melting milk chocolate oozing out. You will never fail to impress anyone with this easy dessert. This is a chocolate lover's paradise.



Ingredients:

• 113g/1 stick unsalted butter
• 113g/1 bar semi sweet chocolate (I use Ghiradelli)
• 1 bar milk chocolate (I use Ghiradelli)
• 3 eggs
• 85 grams sugar
• 50 grams flour

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Butter and flour 6 ramekins (or spray it with PAM for Baking). Melt butter and chocolate in a microwave for 1 minute. Stir and keep aside.

Beat eggs and sugar, for 5 minutes or so, till it leaves a trail. Add the flour and melted chocolate and mix well. Divide the mixture in the ramekins.

Break the milk chocolate bars, and push one or two milk chocolate pieces in each of the ramekins. Bake the cake for exactly 12 minutes. Cool the cake.

You can make this cake a day ahead and heat each ramekins for 15-30 seconds in the microwave. Run a spatula around the sides of the ramekins and unmold the cake. Serve it with few fresh strawberries or vanilla ice cream or just as it is. This is surely my comfort food.

Kissables Cookies

I first started baking when we lived in Sydney. Until then, I had no idea how to bake or even how to SWITCH ON an oven. I was somehow intimidated by the oven, maybe because when I grew in India, we didn’t have one. At home, cakes were made on stove tops, in a pot. I have come a long way from the first time I baked. 

Now, I love baking and try out different cookies, cakes, puddings etc. I have also started to alter some recipes to include ingredients I like or have in my pantry. These cookies are colorful and festive and are also a fun party treat. My 4 year old loves helping out when I bake, and today when I baked these cookies with Hershey’s kissable she was just too thrilled and couldn’t wait to eat them once they were baked. You can alter the Kissables with M&M’s.
Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 100g/4oz unsalted butter, softened.
• 100g/4oz light or dark brown sugar
• 1 tbsp honey
• 150g/6oz self–rising flour
• 85g/3oz Hershey’s Kissables (see note)

Method:

Heat oven to 180Cfan/350F. Beat butter and sugar together till light and creamy. Add the honey. Stir in the flour and mix till incorporated. Stir in the kissables. Divide the dough to 12-14 balls onto the baking sheet, don't flatten them. Bake for 10 -12 minutes until pale and golden at the edges. Cool on wire rack.

Note: I made this recipe with Hershey's kissables (as you can see in the pictures they are the ones with the color coating on them), but I found that the cookies were a bit salty for some reason, you could replace the kissables with chocolate chip or m&m's.