Very Berry Strawberry Cake

I love strawberry. and though the strawberry season in my city is no more than a few weeks i have been preserving it in my freezer for year long consumption.. here's a post link on how to preserve... http://chefshruti.blogspot.in/2010/03/strawberry-preserve.html

So while I love them with Ice creams and even my daily Wheat flakes, I am always looking for good recipes for the same. and here is one awesome recipe..  You can use any berry that u can get Blueberry, Raspberry etc if you are luckier than me..;)) Cake is really simple with a crusty exterior and soft mushiness inside.. Enjoy!!

You need -

1 1/2 cups sifted All-Purpose Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Salt

1/2 cup softened Butter ( in case using Amul/ Salted don't add salt)

1 cup granulated Sugar

4 Egg Whites ( alternatively 2 whole eggs)

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 tsp Lemon zest

3 tbsp Sour Cream or  Regular Cream

1/3 cup  milk

1 cup of fresh Blueberry, Strawberry or Raspberry ( whichever you can get or all mixed..)

For the Crust

3 tbsp softened butter

1/3 cup brown sugar or plain sugar

1/4 cup All-Purpose Flour

1 tsp ground Cinnamon

How to:

1) Mix flour, baking Powder,Salt. keep aside.

2) In a large bowl mix butter & sugar for the cake. Whisk well.

3) Add eggs, Vanilla, Lemon Zest. Mix well

4) Add cream & the flour mixture. Gently Fold the ingredients adding milk as you need. Do not over mix.

5) Use a 9" baking Pan. I used a loose bottom tin but you can use any regular round or Square pan. Dust it well before Pouring the mixture. Level the mixture using spatula.

6) In a bowl mix the ingredients for Topping. Sprinkle the fruits and the topping mix over the cake making it as even as possible.

7) Bake at 180 deg C for 40 minute..

Easy Chocolate Squares

            I am back to Blogging after nearly a year.. a year full of activity  but total laziness to blog anything at all.. been archiving pictures of what I made but never got around posting them.. Thank God for FACEBOOK which reminded me this morning that there has been no activity on the page..:)
now for this renewed beginning, as the cadbury Dairy Milk ad says "Kuch meetha ho jaaye". what better way to begin than a chocolate recipe.

             The best thing about this recipe is that it hardly takes any time and is so yummy that it finishes before you know. Before we talk about the recipe let me tell u a few things about ingredients. In terms of chocolate to use you have a lot of options. It can be chocolate buttons or cooking chocolate bars. Often I have read people mention percentage of cocoa in the chocolate or a great brand. Personally i really never found any difference .. but if you prefer a certain brand go ahead use that.. i buy whatever that i can considering i live in a smaller town and it is a bit of a luxury to choose brand.. and never found any difference in results..you may opt for semi sweet or dark chocolate depending on your taste preference.
the original recipe is from www.chefinyou.com but i have tweaked it to my liking.

You need

• 350 gms of any cooking chocolate chopped or chocolate buttons
• 400 gms Tin of condensed milk ( Nestle milkmaid wud do)
• pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons of butter( unsalted) if using salted Amul etc don't add extra salt
• Cinnamon or any other spice if you like ( optional)
• 200 gms assorted nuts roughly chopped ( cashews, almonds, walnuts etc)

How to Make

In a large heatproof glass bowl mix chopped chocolate/ buttons, condensed milk, salt, butter, cocoa powder and spices if using.


Heat the mixture using double boiler.. a double boiler is essentially a glass bowl kept above a simmering pan of boiling water. the water shud not touch the sides of glass bowl. this way chocolate melts using indirect heat of steam.

Once the chocolate melts add the chopped nuts. and pour the mixture into a square tin lined with greased baking or parchment paper. Let the mixture cool. refrigerate for 2-4 hours .

Once set u can cut squares of your choice out of it. And wrap using a chocolate wrapping paper. Or better just eat it like that..:)

The left over special Parantha

Left over has always been a great head ache for people like me who love their food very fresh.. When I lived as a P.G in Mumbai , I remember my catholic land lady had a cook coming in the morning to cook for both lunch and dinner.. eeeouch.. I can honestly give her the leverage given her age.. I despite being working full time have preferred to cook fresh for the meal.. hence the major issue is to finish tiny quantities of leftover veggies.
This recipe is my mother's who uses it to finish off smaller portions of cooked dal, vegetables or gravy's. Very easy and very very tasty.

You need
Whole wheat flour
Left over vegetable or dal mashed into coarse puree.
Salt to taste
Red chilly powder
Ajwain
Oil / ghee for parantha's
Method
Mix the salt, chilly and ajwain in flour.
Knead the flour using the vegetable paste. Use a little water if required. usually it will not need.
Roll out parantha's and use ghee or oil to cook.
Serve with butter/ dahi or pickles..:)

CREAMY TOMATO SOUP

Vir Sanghvi.. a noted food critic says that you can judge a restaurant by the quality of their SOUP. Now at regular so called multi cuisine restaurants across India soups are perhaps the least cared for item on menu.. Standard ones are cream of tomato or cream of mushroom.. worst a lot of them serve the canned or powdered varieties..

Taking a cue from Mr. Sanghvi I started guessing what wud be the food like by sipping soup.. ;)

If the soup is the canned variety then food wud be invariably average..

Most people even restaurants use corn flour to thicken soups.. That is not a very tasty and healthy option. It is the method of making soup that ensures creamy consistency. Here is a simple and easy way.

serves 2-3 persons

YOU NEED

4 Tomatoes

1 Onion finely chopped

Butter

1 bay leaf

Salt and pepper to taste

1-11/2 cups water or vegetable stock / chicken stock

Coriander to Garnish

HOW TO MAKE
Blanch tomatoes and remove skin and large seeds. Chop coarsely.

In a saucepan heat butter. Add bay leaf and saute onions.

Add tomatoes and cover and let it simmer.

After 10 -15 mins remove the bay leaf and in a

mixer blend tomatoes into paste.

Take the paste in a pan and add stock.

Let it simmer and add salt & pepper.

Serve hot garnished with coriander and cream (optional).

KASHMIRI PULAO

Rice can be an extremly versatile grain.. pulao or pilaf is equally versatile ... same rice grain can taste really different with addition of different ingredients and spices.
This kashmiri pulao uses some very basic ingredients yet is very yummy. the best part is the chopped fruits and nuts which add crunch to the pulao.

You Need
• 1 cup basmati rice
• 2-3 cloves
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg powder
• 2-3 green cardamom
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 green chilli, sliced thinly
• 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
• few tbsp of ghee
• 1 cup of mixed nuts ( almonds,cashews, walnuts and raisin)
• 1 cup milk + few strands of saffron
• 1 cup water
• chopped fruits (grapes and apples )

How to Make
In a pan roast dry fruits using little ghee. Set aside
In another pan add ghee . Add all the spices ( nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, bay leaf and cumin)
Add ginger garlic paste and chillies.
Add washed rice and saute rice till aromatic.
Add milk and water. Cover and cook.
Add nuts just before rice is fully done.
Serve hot garnished with fruits

Home Made Brown Bread

We were planning to bake bread at a friend's house.. her mom in law said" why work so much when you can easily get a bread for 15 bucks at the bakery." quite famously I told her " coz we are wonder women.. baking, working, nappy changing, house keeping all at one go..;).."
On a more serious note i feel baking bread at home has more to do with satisfaction than taste.. since we don't generally have enough muscle power to knead the atta well.. resulting in a heavier bread than commercial bakery breads. so if you can build bread muscles bread baking is for you..:)
This one is a good recipe that I have adapted from http://www.chefinyou.com/

You need
2-1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/ tsp salt
2 tbsp brown sugar( can use normal sugar color wud be lighter though)
1 tsp active dry yeast
4 tbsp butter
7/8 cup lukewarm water ( almost a cup of water)
How to Proceed
Mix salt in the flour and Rub in the butter with your fingertips making it grainy mix.
In about 1/4 cup water out of the total , mix sugar and yeast. Be careful about water not being more than 26 deg Celsius. Let the mixture stand until it becomes frothy.
Add the yeast mixture to the flour and make a soft dough using rest of the water.
The dough has to be soft and not sticky..knead using all the muscle u can develop :)
Put the smooth dough in a oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap or towel.
Let it rise until doubled in a warm air draft free space.
Once doubled punch down the dough and knead again.
Make it into a smooth cylinder shape and place it in a loaf pan and again cover and let it rise again in the pan until almost double in height.
Bake in a preheated oven at about 200 C or 425 F for 25 to 30 minutes or until the crust is golden. Make sure not to over bake or the bread will be hard and brittle.

The Coffee Cake

The name coffee cake can be deceptive. This wonderfully soft cake does not use coffee at all. It is essentially a coffee/ tea time cake which doesn't need any dressing/ icing .. thanks to the nutty top of the cake.. Though the use of sugar in topping does tend to darken the top, but who minds it as long as the cake's tasty.. You can add or subtract the topping ingredients as per personal choice. Want nuts, don't want chocolate etc etc..

For Coffee Cake Topping
1 cup (100 grams) walnuts or pecans
1/4 cup (50 grams) light brown sugar
1/3 cup (50 grams) mini chocolate chips
1 tablespoon (15 grams) all purpose flour
For Coffee Cake:
2 cups (200 grams) sifted cake flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons (140 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup (160 ml) sour cream or plain yogurt

Making the Topping:
In a small bowl stir together the sugar, chopped nuts, chocolate chips and flour. Set aside.

Making Cake

Butter and flour spring form pan.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter until softened .

Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until light and fluffy .

Add the eggs. Beat in the vanilla extract.

With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture (in three additions) and sour cream (in two additions) alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Mix only until combined.

Spoon half of the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with an offset spatula. Sprinkle the nut topping on top of the batter.

Bake for about 40 - 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature.