Bidding adieu to 2012

Another year comes to an end and like all the past ones, we sit down and think so fondly of the bygone year. The good and the bad, the exciting and the depressing, the shocking and the hilarious moments, all come flooding in. For each of us, we have had a different set of things to learn, improve and be proud of. This is also the time we look forward to the coming year and await a new beginning. Beginning of another 'mixed bag' of an year which you await to unfold with a basketful of hopes, dreams and aspirations.

Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us-Hal Borland

Here's looking back into the year and giving the old year its due by listing some of our favorites

• First recipe post - Seafood Soup
• Last recipe post for 2012 - Rum Balls
• Most popular post - Melting Moments
• Post that got the maximum comments - Chocolate Almond Cake 
• Most colourful experiment - Sticky Toffee Chocolate Blondies
• Most Difficult recipe - 8 Texture Chocolate Cake
• Original recipe - Diya Tarts
• The no fail ,easiest recipe - Egg Pie
• Presentation loved - Shotglass Kebabs
• Favorite Cake recipe -Comfort Food-Chocolate Cake and  The Perfect Chocolate Cake
• Vishal's Best - Chicken Cheese and Fish Tikka Kebabs
• Favorite low fat desert - Mango and Banana Gelato
• Vaanya (my baby) enjoyed the most - Totoro Cream Puffs
• And finally My favorite - Twin Treats

Wishing all of you a Happy new year. May you begin the year with renewed vitality and optimism, the much needed ingredients to a successful start. May the year bring in loads of cheer, joy and happiness into your lives.

Happy Blogging!
Vishal, Amrita and Vaanya

Rum Balls-Perfect seasonal Indulgence

Indulgence is the act of indulging or gratifying a desire

Indulgence!

Winter is the season of Indulgence. I am sure all of you have been digging into your favorite comfort food this season, promising yourself with each bite that this one will definitely be the last! As much as I am a believer in eat and live healthy, I guess its time of the year to leave behind your whims and worries and enjoy everything. The best way to do that is by limiting your intake, very strictly. And that is the reason I make very little portions, like how I made lesser than 1/4 of the recipe from my favorite site Joy of Baking. 

This recipe is so versatile that there is a substitute given for almost each ingredient and as described by Stephanie Jaworski(Joy of Baking) these rum balls are the perfect adult indulgence!

It took me less than half an hour to make these yummy delights and it took hardly a minute for them to disappear!! Loved by all with the slight hint of rum and chocolate topping, these rum balls were an instant hit. Vaanya, my baby, eyed them and wondered why we were not sharing it with her. So, she got a chunk of the chocolate topping to satisfy her choco-lover genes!!

 Ingredients: For 5-6 rum balls

• 1/4 cup cake crumbs(I used my leftover cupcakes)You may use wafers, digestive biscuits or cookies
• 1/4 cup toasted and ground almonds(you may substitute with hazlenuts, pecans or walnuts)
• 2 tbsp powdered sugar(If you are using digestive biscuits, wafers or cookies with less sugar then increase sugar to 4 tbsp or adjust to your liking)
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder(I did not use as my cupcakes were already very chocolatey)
• 1/2 tbsp liquid glucose(you may substitute with honey)-used to bind the ingredients together
• 2 tbsp rum (You may adjust to your liking)You may replace with orange or apple juice if you do not want alcohol.

For topping:

• Melted dark chocolate (about 3 tbsp)for coating the rum balls
• Melted white chocolate(about 1 tbsp) for drawing lines on the rum balls

Procedure:

To toast nuts - Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius and toast nuts on a baking sheet for 8-10 mins or until lightly browned.Alternatively you may toast nuts in a pan on the gas stove. Cool completely and pulse them finely in your food processor.

Take a bowl and crumble the cupcakes finely.(If using cookies or wafers pulse them finely in the food processor)

Add the toasted and ground almonds.

Add powdered sugar, cocoa powder(I did not use this as said earlier) and mix well.

Now add liquid glucose or honey and rum. Mix very well. 

If you get a sticky mixture(I did not), refrigerate the mixture for half an hour before shaping them.

Shape the mixture into 1" balls. I got 5 such.

Melt dark chocolate on a double boiler or microwave for 1 min (watch every 20 secs) Add 1/2 tbsp of butter and mix well. Dip the rum balls in chocolate, take out and keep aside on a plate to set.

Meanwhile melt white chocolate on a double boiler or microwave for 1 min, watching every 20 secs. Put the chocolate in a ziplock bag or any plastic and snip off the end. Pipe lines on the rum balls.(Mine came out very roughly as you can see). Let it set.

Alternately you may roll the rum balls in icing sugar(or powdered sugar), cocoa powder, sprinkle or even finely chopped nuts.

Can be stored in an air-tight container for several weeks, if made in bulk.

Sending this recipe to Favorite Recipes- Christmas, Lets cook edible gifts for christmas and 16 Christmas treats

Happy Indulgence and a Happy New Year!

Amrita

Chocolatey Shortbread-The long and the short of...chocolate!!

'The long and the short of' - said when you want to explain the general situation without giving details

Shortbread - Shortbread is a type of biscuit having originated in Scotland.The 'short' refers to the short texture, meaning  sandy and break-apart as opposed to chewy or flaky

Chocolate!

The mere mention of this word brings the widest grin on any face and is universally loved by all. A bar of your favorite chocolate can brighten any gloomy day and is the perfect excuse to indulge and satisfy your sweet tooth. It is usually described as Rich, Creamy, Decadent, Smooth, Addictive, Delicious, Sinful, Devil's food!! 

I might be sounding like a Choco-maniac who loves to grab her favorite chocolate and not share with anyone! The fact is, how much ever I LOVE chocolate, I do not like to indulge in chocolate bars. I love chocolate as in a flavour in all my deserts, be it ice creams or yummy chocolate loaded pastries and tarts!! (I am so drooling!!)

Last month when my brother gifted me a pack of mini Toblerones and Skittles, I ended up using both of them in some yummy sweet indulgence. You will remember my Sticky toffee chocolate blondies using Skittles. As soon as my brother gave me the toblerones, I was reminded of this amazing shortbread I saw on Divya Kudua's blog Easycooking.

This recipe is very quick and easy to make and is very yummy. The reason I share this recipe is because above us all Vaanya, my baby, loved it! She turns 19 months today, on the eve of Christmas(does time fly fast or what). She is growing prettier, sweeter and naughtier by the day. She call me 'Mummy' in her most sweetest voice which I tell you is much more lovelier than any chocolate ever made. Some things in life are better than chocolate!!This recipe is made especially to celebrate our most sweetest day, the day she was born! 

Ingredients: I halved the recipe

• 1/4 cup or 4 tbsp unsalted butter(room temperature)
• 1/6 cup or 2 tbsp+2 tsp sugar(powdered)
• 1/2 cup or 8 tbsp all purpose flour
• a pinch of salt
• Toblerone candy bars-I used 8 mini ones. You can use half of the big bar.(Substitute with any other sweet/dark chocolate, as you like it)

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 160 degree Celsius. Grease lightly a 6 " round tin(You may use a square tin)

Roughly chop the chocolates to small pieces and keep aside.

Take butter and sugar in a bowl and beat till creamy. Mix in the flour.

Mix it well and pat the dough in the prepared tin. Level the mixture with the back of a spoon or use your fingers.

Bake for 30 mins.

Take it out of the oven and sprinkle the chopped chocolate. Leave it for some time and then with a spoon spread it well. In the beginning the chocolate might not spread well and stick to your spoon but keep doing it till it smoothens.

Leave to set for a couple of mins and then cut in any desired shape. I chose a triangular shape. You may cut in squares.

Remember to cut it soon as otherwise the shortbread will harden and will be brittle while cutting. I did that mistake and you can see the uneven edges of my triangles.

Verdict: Do I have to say it. Vaanya's pictures say it all. I wasn't sure if she can eat it as I thought the base may be too hard for her(She has only 4 teeth up and 4 teeth down, she does not have her chewing set of teeth yet) But once I gave her she chomped on it so well, loving the chocolate and the soft base. She actually came asking for more!! Mothers delight, for sure! Easy peasy and a yummy desert. Baker's delight too!

The digged in piece

Sending this recipe to Quick and easy recipes, Bake Fest#14, Kid's delight-deserts at Veena's veg nation and Srivalli's Spice your life

Happy Chocolate Indulgence and a Merry Christmas to you all
Amrita

Twin Treat-Cute Reindeer Cupcakes and Devil's Food Cupcakes

Plans are nothing; planning is everything-Dwight D. Eisenhower

Plans !

At the beginning of this month, I made a plan with the list of recipes to be made and shared on the blog. I planned to make Truffles and Rum balls, Christmas fruit cakes and all sorts of Christmas Bakes!! Another thing on my plan was to participate in the event 'Cook like a star-Martha Stewart' which my dear friend Yen of Eat your heart out is co-hosting with Zoe of Bake for Happy kids and Jocelyn of Riceball Eats for this month. One thing led to the other and the entire month breezed by and here I am barely 3 days left to Christmas, still with the plan!

Well, I made another plan!! To kill two birds with the same stone! I decided to make a Martha Stewart cupcake and do a christmassy icing. I eyed these cute little adorable reindeers on Pinterest and have been wanting to replicate them for the longest time. Every time I see them, my heart strums Vaanya's favorite Christmas carol

Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer 

had a very shiny nose. 

And if you ever saw him, 

you would even say it glows. 

I eyed these chocolicious cupcakes here and wanted to try them badly so I planned(yet again) to make half as the recipe goes and the other half with the reindeers. 

Our Christmas tree is finally put up and all the decorations are out so I made the most of it!! Everyone loved the aptly named Devil's food cupcakes  and adored the cute reindeers. The cupcakes are soft dark chocolatey and very yummy.

Ingredients: I quartered the recipe to yield 7 cupcakes

• 3 tbsp cocoa powder
• 3 tbsp hot water
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp sugar (powdered)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup sour cream(I used yogurt)
• 1-2 drops vanilla essence

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius.
Line standard muffin tins with liners.
Whisk together cocoa and hot water until smooth.
In another bowl sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Melt butter and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring well to combine. Remove from heat and pour in a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer till mixture is cooled, 4-5 mins.
Add egg and mix well.
Add vanilla essence and the cocoa mixture and beat till combined well.
Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with yogurt and beat until just combined.
Pour batter in prepared tins filling each till 3/4.
Bake for 20 mins or till a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Cool them well before icing.

Assembly:
I used my leftover Chocolate honey frosting from Chocolate Almond cake. Spread them well on the cupcakes and sprinkle some chocolate shavings for Devil's Food cupcakes.
For the reindeer cupcakes, I spread the same frosting as base. Made eyes out of blobs of white butter and mouth with some white butter mixed with chocolate sauce to get the brownish tinge. Melt some dark chocolate and put in a ziplock bag or a plastic and snip of the end. Draw pairs of eyes and reindeer antlers on a butter/parchment paper. Draw extra pieces as they are brittle and may break. Let it cool completely and carefully peel off. Put the eyes on the white butter blobs and antlers on the head. For the noses I used Skittles (remember my Skittles experiment) You can use Gems or any other small round candy with brown/dark purple and red colour.

Sending this recipe to Yen for cook like a star, Merry Christmas celebrations, Cook Joy Bake fest#14, Favorite recipes Christmas, lets cook edible gifts for christmas, foodomania's christmas-cook-off-contest, 60 days to christmas, 16 Christmas treats and celebrate christmas

Merry Christmas
Amrita

Chocolate Almond cake for Christmas

Another Baking Partners Challenge and we were given three cake recipes to celebrate the colourful season of Christmas. I loved all three and had a very hard time zeroing on to one of them. Being a complete Choc-o-holic, I had no choice but give in to the chocolate cake recipe!! Interestingly this recipe calls for Brazil nuts, and I (probably like most of you) had no idea about these nuts lest find them here. So it was decided to substitute with almonds though I wanted to try walnuts so badly as chocolate and walnuts have such a unique unseparable combination. Anyways almonds it was decided!

The cake rose like a dream filling my new make shift kitchen with the most inviting aroma. I was literally waiting and drooling for it to get baked soon. The rich chocolate smell was just way too mesmerising. Together with the chocolate honey frosting it was one of the most soft, moist and delicious chocolate cakes. Definitely a keeper recipe.

Thankfully because of this cake, Vishal finally brought out the christmas tree and all the decorations as I wanted some for my pics. Now we all await to put up the tree very soon. Christmas is certainly very near!!

Ingredients:I have halved the original recipe

For the cake:

• 1/2 cup almond meal or almonds soaked overnight and peeled
• 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 6 tbsp sugar(powdered)
• 3 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3 eggs separated, room temperature
• a pinch of cream of tartar

For the chocolate honey frosting:

• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1/4 cup dark chocolate, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp butter, softened
• 2 tbsp honey

Procedure:

Cake:

Preheat oven to 175 degree Celsius.

Take almonds and toast them for 5 -10 mins in the oven or till they dry up. Let them cool and grind them with 1 tbsp of sugar to a fine powder. (It is important to see that they dry completely before grinding otherwise you will get a paste of almonds)

Melt chocolate on a double boiler or microwave for 1 min(take care as the chocolate may burn, safest way is to microwave for 30 secs, stir and see how much is it left to be melted)

Grease and line your baking tin. I used a 6x2'' round tin.

In a bowl, sift flour and baking powder and mix the almond meal/powder.

Cream butter with 4 tbsp of sugar till fluffy and smooth. Add one egg yolk at a time and mix till all 3 egg yolks are blended well. Stir in the melted chocolate.

In another clean bowl, whip 3 egg whites with a pinch of cream of tartar till it forms soft peaks. Add the remaining 1 tbsp of sugar and beat till egg whites are stiff and shiny.

Gently fold in 1/3 of the egg white mixture in the chocolate flour mixture. Repeat till all of it is blended well.

Pout the batter in prepared baking tin and bake for 35-40 mins or till a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let it cool and remove from the tin.

Chocolate honey frosting:

Take cream in a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Add chopped chocolate and stir well till smooth. Mix the butter and honey. 
Let it cool to room temperature and refrigerate for 30 mins.
Whip the chocolate cream on an ice bath.
Spread frosting evenly on the sides and top of the cake. 
Garnish the cake by sprinkling some almond meal/powder on top of the cake. I chose a star pattern to celebrate the spirit of Christmas!

Sending this recipe to Merry Christmas Celebrations, Cooks Joy Bake Fest#14, Favorite recipes Christmas, Cook.eat.delicious-deserts, Lets cook edible gifts for christmas,  Food-o-mania's Christmas cook off contest, 60 days to christmas, Celebrate Christmas 

Happy Celebrating Christmas
Amrita