Cardamom Caramel Pudding

AKA The famous Egg Pudding

Happy New Year to all!!! Welcome 2011!!! Hope you bring blessings with you!!! Well its already making news by recording setting temperatures here today at +11c for this time of winter.
Lets starts this new year with a sweet to sweeten our lives all through the year...

Ha ha!!! I know my blog page is filled with dessert posts...I promise my next post will not be a sweet dish..So wait and watch for my next post which will be a spicy yummy flavourful easy to cook dish.

For now lets go ahead with my ever luving Egg pudding, which reminds me of our Telugu version of Junnu..I think I mentioned about it in my Vattlappam post too..but can't help its so delicious that i had to brag about it here too..more over when this egg pudding is so similar to it.

Ingredients:
1 Pkt half and half cream(use skimmed milk for healthier version, if u can comprise taste)
4 eggs
3/4 + 1/4 cups Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence
6-8 Cardamom pods
Enough water
a pinch of salt

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 160-180˚c or 350F

Keep the pudding ramekins ready to pour the hot caramel sauce.

To the quarter cup of sugar add water just enough to melt it in a pan and cook it on medium heat stirring thoroughly.

Once the color of the liquid changes dark, pour a little into each of the prepared ramekins and set aside.

Whisk eggs thoroughly and to this add milk and keep whisking till all the egg is incorporated into the milk.

To this add rest of the sugar, and mix till sugar dissolves.

Add Vanilla essence, whole,crushed or powdered cardamom, salt and mix well.

Pour this mixture into each of the ramekins containing the caramel sauce.

Fill a wide, deep baking tray or pan with water up to 2/3 level.

Now place the milk filled ramekins on the tray containing water and bake for 45 - 60 mins or till the pudding is set at 325-350F.

Once the pudding looks firm and not wobbly you can be sure it is done.

Remove from the oven and let cool till room temperature, then chill it in the refrigerator till cold.

To serve run a knife through the edges of the ramekins and turn it upside down onto a serving plate to just enjoy it like that.

Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake - Going C agian for Christmas

So Christmas is finally here..Merry Christmas to all my family, relatives back home and my friends, my blog viewers and readers across the globe. May the joy and peace of Christmas fill your hearts and overflow abundantly. Though we miss a full white Christmas here in Toronto we are happy that we have clear roads to drive back and forth for Church services...

Being Christmas, I'm still continuing the sugar rush here on my blog. As promised, here is the Chocolate Chip cake which was made by default by using chocolate chips as excuse for raisins or other dried fruits...To my surprise the day i was baking i ran out of raisins in my pantry. Then suddenly i remembered that i had this small packet of semi sweet chocolate chips lying in one of the shelves for a long time..I actually bought them to bake some chocolate chip cookies for my kids who just luv them. But when we get PC's chocolate chip cookies for just $1.99, its easier to pick them up and treat kids rather invest my precious time on baking them. So this unused pkt of choco chips came to my rescue that day, also making me create a cake which i had never baked before.

I also noticed that my kids never do like raisins added in cakes, cookies or bread..they prefer to eat them just like that. So when i declared to them that i was baking chocolate chip cake, they were overjoyed so much that they even wanted to be a part of the picture I wanted to click to post here.

So going beyond the idea of using chocolate chips in cookies and muffins, this chocolate chip pound cake is born.

Ingredients250 gms butter(softened)
1 cup white or brown sugar
3-4 eggs
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup all-purpose flour or use whole wheat flour for healthier choice
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp nut meg powder
1/4 cup Cocoa powder if you want color and cocoa flavour(I used very sparlingly, cause i had only unsweetened one)
A pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup frozen juice of ur choice( I used orange and passion fruit)
1/2 cup Evaporated milk to adjust the consistency of the cake batter.

Procedure:
Cut the portion of butter required and place it out of fridge before an hour to soften it.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour your desired cake pan.

Measure all ingredients and keep them ready,

Beat butter, sugar in a large bowl until they turn creamy. Add eggs one by one and beat on low speed of electric mixer until blended, then on high speed for 5 minutes until light and fluffy.

Combine and swift together flour, nutmeg, baking powder cocoa powder(if using)and salt in a separate bowl, and fold these dry ingredients alternately with orange juice and evaporated milk to the batter mixture. Keep mixing while adding. add the milk only if necessary.

Mix half of the chocolate chips with a little flour and add to the cake mixture. Gently mix..Do not to over-mix.

Pour into Prepared greased pan/pans.

Add a layer of chocolate chips on the top

Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes

As the cake rises fully and gets its shape, remove from the oven and add the last layer of chips. Return to the oven.

Once the cake gets a golden brown color, cover it with foil, shiny side up, and bake for the remaining time or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely

Mini Cashew Coconut Rum Cup Cakes with a hint of Cream Cheese - Going "C" for Christmas

Somehow this year I didn't marinate/soak any dried fruits for the traditional Christmas cake. So was not in a mood to bake at all. Then, last weekend when holidays started for kids, thought of making it special for them and suddenly I got a sprout for baking..after all it is not right for me to deprive kids of their childhood baking memories with mamma.

Since I did no planning for this cake baking...and didn't want to drive to pickup any stuff from the store too..I had to be creative to whip up with the ingredients at hand in my pantry and fridge.

So baked Cashew Coconut Rum Cake, in a loaf and in cake cups to make it kids friendly. Also baked a Chocolate Chip Cake which I will post next.
Cashew Coconut Rum Cake with Cream Cheese Incorporated :
Addition of cream cheese gives a dense texture to this cake. To keep the spirit of traditional Christmas cake, I thought of adding rum. Since i had open Malibu Coconut flavour I used the same. You can experiment with any flavour of choice. Since this rum is too sweet, I reduced the amount of sugar to adjust the sweetness.

Ingredients :
250 gms butter(softened)
1/2 cup Cream Cheese
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs

Flour & Powders:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground allspice (optional)
1 pinch salt

Liquids
1 tbsp Vanilla extract or Coconut Essence
2 tbsp lime juice
1 cup Malibu Rum Coconut flavour
Milk or cream if necessary

Nuts:
1/4 cup Cashew nuts broken

Garnish:
Broken Cashew pieces



Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a loaf pan or which ever shaped pan using. Insert paper cup covers into tray of cup cake moulds.

Measure all ingredients and keep them ready, Take butter out of fridge before an hour to soften it.

Beat butter, sugar in a large bowl till blended and then add cream cheese and beat again till it is incorporated into the butter sugar mixture.

Crack eggs into this one by one beating in between . After adding all the eggs beat on low speed of electric mixer until blended, then on high speed for 5 minutes until light and fluffy.

Combine and swift together flour, allspice baking powder, soda and salt in a separate bowl, and fold these dry ingredients alternately with liquid ingredients. Keep mixing. Add enough milk if the batter is too thick to arrive at the right consistency for baking.

Add half of the cashew pieces to the blended mixture.

Pour into Prepared greased pan and cups tray.

Garnish with remaining broken cashew pieces.

Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes for the loaf and 20 - 30 mins for the cup cakes.

Tip : Once the cake rises and gets the shape and is browning on the top, then remove from the oven and cover it with foil, shiny side up, and bake for the remaining time or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Remove the cup cakes from the tray and store separately.

Mango Kesari

AKA Mango Sujji Halwa / Mango Rawa Kesari
Can't believe its December already and we have less than a month to start another new year. December brings the sweet memories of preparing and celebrating Christmas back home..oh how I miss home especially this season. Thought it would be nice to post a sweet dish to kick start this festive month.

Regular readers of my blog would have followed my desserts with semolina. Its like I started making kesari with different fruit flavours..pineapple, banana and now mango..yea blog hopping one day lead me to Mango kesari..and boy it was simply delicious, though i was not welcoming the idea in the beginning, this turned out to be a really flavourful fudge like dessert. Choose ripe sweet mangoes or good quality sweet mango puree for better results.

Ingredients :
3 to 4 Tbsp - Ghee
1 cup - Semolina/Suji/Rawa
3 cups - Pureed Alfonso Mango pulp (I prefer Kesar brand)
1 cup Sugar
1/4 Tsp Cardamom powder
Few Saffron strands
2 Tbsp - Choice of nuts and dry fruits( I used cashew and raisin)

Method :
In a wide pan, melt ghee and fry cashew and raisin till color change, strain and remove. Keep aside.
In the same pan, add one more tbsp of ghee and add rawa to roast evenly till semolina turns the color slightly.
Now add mango pulp, slowly and mix thoroughly into the rawa. Keep adding and mixing till all the mango puree is incorporated into the semolina.
Add sugar and saffron milk and mix till sugar caramelizes and dissolves into the mango rawa mixture.
Add salt and cardamom powder.
Add the remaining ghee and continue mixing till the kesari leaves the surface.
Add half of the nuts and raisins. Remove from heat.
Pour into a greased tray. Cut into desired shapes or just scoop into serving dessert bowls and garnish with remaining cashew and raisins.

Count down to Christmas with Banana walnut cake

With chill winds blowing, snow flakes coming down, carols sounding, decorations all around it sure is a season for Christmas..so much so is the reason for baking yummy treats..watch those holiday cals!!!

Ripe bananas always tempt me to bake a banana cake..and since I'm fond of nuts too,so incorporated walnuts which are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids. A bit of health throw in..kind off!!! So Banana Walnut cake is a perfect combo for flavour and crunch.

Sorry no cake left after slicing to take pictures of slices..

Ingredients
400 gms butter(softened)
2 cups sugar
5 eggs

Flour & Powders:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground allspice (optional)
1 pinch salt

Liquids:
1 tbsp Banana extract
1 tbsp lime juice
1/2 - 1 cup Evaporated milk

Fruit & Nut:
1/2 - 1 cup Walnuts (chopped)
1 or 2 Bananas



Directions:

Chop Walnuts

Mash Bananas into smooth paste.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour your desired cake pans. I used a loaf pan and a square pan.

Measure all ingredients and keep them ready, Take butter out of fridge before an hour to soften it.

Beat butter, sugar in a large bowl until they turn creamy Add in eggs. Beat on low speed of electric mixer until blended, then on high speed for 5 minutes until light and fluffy.

Combine and swift together flour, allspice(if adding, baking powder, soda and salt in a separate bowl, and fold these dry ingredients alternately with liquid ingredients except milk. Keep mixing

Add Mashed Banana. Add milk if necessary according to the consistency of the batter. Keep mixing while adding. Add chopped walnuts. Gently mix to combine.

Pour into Prepared greased pan/pans.

Bake in preheated oven for 50 - 60minutes, usually banana cake longer time to bake.

Tip : During the baking process, when the cake rises and gets the shape and is browning on the top, then remove from the oven and cover it with foil, shiny side up, and bake for the remaining time or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Vazhaipoo vadai / Banana Flower Fritters / Aarati Puvvu Vada

The first time I tasted this was at one of our friend's house back home in Chennai. Her mom prepared these. I had no clue what they were. And it being a Tamil savory never got to taste growing up. Only thing I remember was these tasted damn good. They look and taste like our regular masala vada but definitely something different. Ever since wanted to know how it was made., but never took the leap to make it myself..Many a time I even bought the Banana flower, stored it in the fridge but never got time to make these, because of the time consuming part of cleaning the flower. Finally one day with help from my husband in cleaning the flower I made these at home. I never intended to have a photo shoot with these..so please don't mind my presentation. Will surely replace them with better ones if I happen to make these again.

Also Will update later with the pictures of Banana flower and the cleaning process
Ingredients:
3 cups Banana flower - Thoroughly cleaned and finely chopped
1 cup Channa Dal soaked for 2-3 hours and ground into a coarse paste
5-7 Green Chillies chopped
Handful of Curry leaves
3/4 tsp Fennel Seeds/Saunf
A pinch of Asafoetida & baking soda & turmeric each
Salt - to taste

Enough Oil to deep fry

Method :
Add all ingredients except oil, in a deep bowl and mix into a paste like below
Heat enough oil in a pan.
Once the oil is hot enough, take a small amount of the mix, shape them into round vada and drop them gently into hot oil.
Just the way we do masala/paruppu vada
Deep fry them till they are golden brown on both sides by turning once in a while.
Then remove from heat and drain them on paper towels.
Can be serve as starters or snack with evening tea.

Pepper & Herb Chicken Drum Sticks

Can't believe we are already in the 11th month of 2010. Looks like we just started a new year and now in a couple months, its gone. Out of many projects for me this year, a serious blog make-over is long due. In the past 3-4 years though I changed the style & banners a couple of times..a sophi look and an own domain is most aspired..All the more when I'm will be submitting my posts to be published in a Toronto Desi portal. Don't know whether it is possible this year, as other priorities hit the list..Well, may be in the new year...better late than never..Infact I'm holding back many good posts for the same reason that I want to publish them with on a new look.

Coming to good food part for kids after all that loads of sugar, from goodies from Halloween, I have this kid friendly chicken drum sticks. By all means this is so flavourful that adults can enjoy too. But definitely falls into that category where spice and flavour here favour kids too. Totally my own creation, especially for my picky 1st grader and honestly worth trying as I received laurels from my girl friends too.

Ingredients :
7-8 Chicken drumsticks skin removed
1/4 cup Yogurt
1 Tbsp Ginger Garlic paste
1 Tsp olive oil
Salt to taste

Spices :
1 Tbsp Black Pepper Powder
1 tsp Garam masala (home made)

Herbs :
1/2 cup each of Coriander and Mint leaves chopped

Procedure :
In a large bowl combine cleaned chicken with all the ingredients mentioned in all sections.

Marinate for at least 30 mins

Preheat oven for 350F.

Line a Baking/Roasting try with aluminium foil and grease it with olive oil.

Arrange on the chicken drum sticks on the tray.

Roast the drum sticks for 20m and turn over and roast again for 10m

Now Increase heat to 400F and roast for 2-4m or till chicken is golden brown.

Remove from oven and serve with baked potatoes or veggies.