Mango Tapioca Pudding

Tapioca reminds me of my moms religious fasting days when they would fast for the whole day and then eat tapioca mixed with milk and banana. Yum yum I would wait the whole day just to get portion of that to eat. This lead me to come up with mango tapioca pudding a tribute to all those religious fasting days that I so terribly miss now.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup big pearl tapioca
• 2 cup milk (I use fat free milk)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla essence
• 2 eggs
• Mango pulp

Method:

• Soak big pearl tapioca in water for 4 - 5 hours. Drain and keep aside.
• Mix milk, heavy cream and sugar and bring to boil. Add tapioca and boil for 10 - 15 minutes.
• Beat eggs on the side. When the milk and tapioca comes to boil take some milk out of it and add in the beaten egg and mix well.
• Pour the egg mixture back in the boiling tapioca and milk. Add vanilla essence and combine well and stir in medium heat for 5 minutes.

Serving Tips:

• To assemble the pudding I use small desert bowls if serving at a party. 
• First put some mango pulp around the wall of the bowl to coat it lightly. 
• Pour desired amount of pudding and chill in the refrigerator until it's time to be served.
• Just before serving take out the bowls. 
• Drizzle some more mango pulp and decorate with chopper strawberries / mango / blueberries or any other fruit of desire.

Pear Mousse Cake

This was yet again my husband's one of the several demands for his birthday cake. It has now become a ritual where he looks forward to Jan when he can go wild with his thoughts of flavors he likes and wants. I still don't understand why I give him the leverage to choose the flavors. He always ends up with weirdest combinations with high expectations. And then here I am trying to figure out what to do and how to put it all together.

So this year he wanted the combination of pears and walnut. He wanted pears for sure in the whole cake and not just as a topping. So after deliberating for a while I decided to go for Pear Mousse on Walnut biscuit topped with caramelized pears. The result is as you see.

Needless to say it was a ManU themed cake and a ManU themed birthday. My husband is a huge ManU fan and thus my brother who now lives in London decided to send him a ManU jersey for his birthday. On receiving the parcel I got the idea to convert the birthday into a ManU birthday and thus the logo.

Ingredients: 

Walnut sponge:

• 4 egg whites
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• pinch of salt
• 80g / a little more than 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/4 cup almonds, peeled
• a little less than 2/3 cup icing sugar (or caster)
• 1/2 cup castor sugar

Pear mousse:

• 2.2 lbs pears (make sure the flesh is firm)
• 2 and 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 2 and 1/2 Tsp. gelatin powder (if you are not sure about the firmness use 3 Tsp. Gelatin powder)
• 1/2 cup confectioners / castor sugar
• 1/2 tsp. butter

Method:

1) The Walnut Sponge:

• Preheat the oven to 340 F. Line the bottom of a 20 cm spring form pan with parchment paper. 
• Chop walnuts coarsely. You want to make sure they are big enough but they can go through the hole in your piping bag. Grind almonds finely with icing sugar (if you don’t have icing sugar, just whizz quickly some normal sugar, then add the almonds to it until everything is a fine powder). Whisk egg whites until stiff, then fold in the remaining castor sugar and whisk for a couple more minutes until well incorporated. Mix the flour with the ground almonds, the walnuts and a pinch of salt. Add one tablespoon at a time to the whipped egg whites, mixing gently in order not to lose too much air. When the meringue is uniform, put it in a piping bag (or use a big zip lock bag with a corner cut off) and spread it on the prepared spring form pan. Cook for about 20 minutes until the outside is golden and they are soft but dried. Leave to cool.

2) The Mousse:

• Peel, core and chop the pears in small cubes. Add sugar and butter to a wide pan, and when they are melted and caramelized add the pears. The caramel will first solidify and then melt with the water released from the pears. Let it cook until they are soft but still retaining their shape. Make sure they don’t burn: if they are particularly unripe, you may need to add a few tablespoons of water. Let cool slightly, meanwhile soak gelatin in 1/4 cup of boiling water for about 10 minutes or more. Let it cool. 
• Process about 3/4 of the pear cubes together with all their juices to a smooth pure. Put processed pears back to the pan and add the gelatin mix. Mix until the gelatin has dissolved, then let it cool off completely. When the pear puree is cold, whip the cream, and then gently combine until uniform. (This is where my husband had a drooping face since the mousse wasn't the color he thought it would. He was under the impression that Pear Mousse will be green is color since pear is green. But he forgot that inside the pear is white in color. So the mousse was light brownish. So to make him happy I had to add green food color to make the mousse green)
• Put the cooled mixture in the sring form pan on top of the walnut sponge.
• Leave to cool in the fridge for at least 8 hours, or possibly overnight.

3) Caramelized Pears:

• Peel, core and cut 1 pear in four quadrants and then slice each quadrant thinly.
• Add 1 cup sugar to a heavy bottom pan along with 1/2 tsp. butter. Let is caramelize
• Add pears and let the pears caramelize well. Keep coating the pears so that the caramel is not burnt and all pears are cooked and well caramelized.
• Put this in a mixing bowl and coat the pears well again. Now start assembling the pears in a circle to cover the top of the cake (I did it the next day morning after the mousse was well set and almost 5 hours before serving)
• Add 1/2 tsp. gelatin in the remaining caramel and drizzle it on top of the pear decor.
• Put it in the fridge and let it cool and set before serving.

4) Serving Tips:

• Take the spring form pan out of the fridge and wrap the side of the pan with a warm towel.
• Run a knife around the cake to loosen it a little.
• Open the spring form pan and serve the cake.

Njoy!!!!!

Earl Grey Kulfi courtesy Aarti's Party

I adapted this recipe from Food Network show Aarti's Party hosted by Aarti Sequeira. First time I saw this recipe wasn't sure how would earl grey add flavor to our very own traditional kulfi. I was also skeptical about how well it would be recieved. But once you try it you know that Earl Grey is awesome and unbelievable.

Earl Grey not only adds flavor to the traditional kulfi it also adds this nice ligh color and aroma. However one thing that I missed was the falooda (red sewaiyan sweetened with rose syrup). I found the person who made the falooda at home and also inspired me to make it next time (the ever experimenting foodie Senda)

Ingredients

• 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
• 4 Earl Grey tea bags
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Handful finely chopped pistachios, plus extra for garnish

 Directions 

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring evaporated milk to a simmer until small bubbles form around the circumference of the pot. Meanwhile, snip the tops of the tea bags and add to the milk. Whisk in cardamom. Once the milk is simmering, turn the heat off, cover and let sit and steep for 30 minutes.
2. Strain the evaporated milk into a large bowl. Whisk in the condensed milk, heavy cream and pistachios. Either pour the mixture into ice pop molds, small bowls or a large bowl. Cover the bowls with a piece of plastic wrap to avoid freezer burn and the formation of a "skin". Pop them into the freezer and freeze overnight.
3. When you're ready to serve, run the ice pop mold under hot water to loosen it. Ot hold the moulds in a bowl of hot water for a 1 or 2 seconds only. You can do the same thing for the smaller bowls if you'd like to serve it as a little kulfi half dome. Garnish with more nuts if you like, or sweeted rose syrup and serve.  

My in laws and hubby loved it and cleaned up 8 popsickles in 2 days flat. Though I don't have much of sweet tooth yet I it enjoyed it quite a bit.

 

Brwonie Cookies

These soft chunks keeps you wondering as to whether it's a cookie or a brownie and thus the name. I love the soft chunk cookies from SPecialitie's cafe in San Francisco that's called Mudslide. Infact those are the only cookies in the whole wide world that I like. Thus wanted to try something on my own which would be a cookie but will have the texture of a brownie.

Not bad these actually becaem quite a hit among my family and when I am asked to remake something that's always a great sign of acceptance.

Ingredients 

• 12 ounces (2 cups) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 ounces (1 cup) semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (or a combination)

 Directions 

• In the top of a double boiler set over very hot water, melt the bittersweet chocolate and butter. Allow it to cool.
• Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and vanilla in a mixing bowl until frothy. Slowly add the sugar and beat until the mixture ribbons off the beaters. Add the melted chocolate mixture. Stir to combine.
• Sift the dry ingredients together. Add to the chocolate mixture and stir to combine. Fold in the chips and nuts. The dough will seem more like cake batter than cookie dough. Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the dough is well chilled (and more cookie-dough-like).
• Set the oven to 350 degrees. Line several baking sheets with baking parchment.
• Scoop up the chilled dough and roll with your hands into small balls the size of a whole walnut (in the shell). Place the cookies on the prepared pans, about 1 1/2 inches apart.
• Bake about 12 minutes or a bit longer. The tops of the cookies should look dry and cracked. Allow to cool for a minute on the baking sheet, then remove to cake racks for further cooling.

Tips

• Bake the cookies for only 9 or 10 mins if you want the extra brownie effect
• Do not leave it inside the oven for too long after baking and do not leave it on the baking sheet as well. Move it to cooling rack.
• Add pecan or walnut for added flavour and crunch.
• Substitue semisweet chocolate bits with white chocolate bits if you like white chocolates.

Maria's Killer Kahlua Cookies

Maria my Argentinian classmate shares my passion for cooking and baking. Thus in one of our class that we took together and worked on a project together all we did was shared notes and recipes. Maria baked these cookies for one of our team meeting and we chomped them down like kids. Thus I had to absolutely steal the recipe from her and make them. I had to skip the Kahlua part as I was baking these for my tiny friends. But I did make a separate batch with Kahlua as well and oh boy these cookies are good. They have the right level of sweetness and the taste of cinnamon and Kahlua is so subtle but yet so amazing. Thanks to Maria for sharing this with me and now I get to share it with my friends.

Ingredients:


2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 Tablespoon espresso powder
1 Tablespoon Kahlua
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, packed firmly
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted & then cooled a bit
1 (12 ounce) package semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpat mats.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; set aside.

3. In a small dish, dissolve espresso powder in Kahlua; set aside.

4. In a large bowl, use electric mixer to cream butter and sugars together. Add Kahlua mixture, eggs and vanilla; beat until thoroughly combined. Add cooled, melted chocolate and continue to beat until it’s mixed in. Add flour mixture and beat at low speed until all flour is incorporated into the dough, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed. Stir in chocolate chips.

5. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls (or use a cookie scoop) 2-inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are golden brown and no longer look gooey in the middles. Cool completely on wire rack.

Tiramisu Cake

This is my version of the original Tiramisu. I love this particular Italian desert and this was infact my very first attempt at baking something other than a basic cake. I made this for my husban'd birthday in 2008 but unfortunately lost all the pictures courtesy a hard drive crash. Thus this recipe never made it to my blog when I started writing.

I like to present my deserts nicely and thus making the tiramisu in a cake format gives it a neat look. The recipe is definitely not that of an original tiramisu but when you taste it you don't feel that way. However for tiramisu lovers I'll post the original recipe as well sometime soon. Another reason why I love making it this way is because most of the time I find it difficult to find the lady finger cookies. Thus trying to avoid the cookie hunt I stick to this version.

As most of you might have realized by now that I do keep looking for methods to ease out my work and take shortcuts. When not necessary to follow a strict route I seldom take shortcuts like using pre packaged cake mix. I'll do the same in this recipe too.

Ingredients

Cake:

1 pack package moist white cake mix
3/4 teaspoon instant coffee powder
3 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon coffee (diluted in hot water)
2-1/2 teaspoons coffee flavored liqueur (I use either Kahlua or original Baileys. Both taste equally good thus I am not too particular and use whatever I have at home of the two)

Filling:

1 (8 ounce) container mascarpone cheese (I buy it from Trader Joes)
1/3 cup and 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon confectioners' sugar or grind sugar at home till it turns into a fine powder
1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons coffee flavored liqueur

Frosting:

1-2/3 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon confectioners' sugar or grind sugar at home till it turns into a fine powder

1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons coffee flavored liqueur

Garnish:

1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
Semisweet chocolate bar or squares

Directions


1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 3 or 2 (9 inch) pans. I mostly use 2 or at times I even use the just pan and bake the whole cake together and then layer them
2.Prepare the cake mix according to package directions. Divide two thirds of batter between 2 pans. Stir instant coffee into remaining batter; pour into remaining pan. (Follow this direction only when you are using 3 pans. Otherwise put the two thirds white mix in one pan and mix coffee in the rest of the batter and put that in one pan)
3.Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a clean tray and cool completely. In a measuring cup, combine brewed coffee and 1 tablespoon coffee liqueur; set aside.
4.To make the filling: In a small bowl, using an electric mixer set on low speed, combine mascarpone, confectioners' sugar and coffee liqueur; beat just until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
5.To make the frosting: In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer set on medium-high speed, beat the cream, confectioners' sugar and coffee liqueur until stiff. Fold 1/2 cup of cream mixture into filling mixture.
6.To assemble the cake: Place one plain cake layer on a serving plate. Using a thin skewer, poke holes in cake, about 1 inch apart. Pour one third of reserved coffee mixture over cake, then spread with half of the filling mixture. (My husband loves doing this part so mostly he is assigned to put the liquor on the cake and he makes sure he adds a lot of it thus the cake turns out to be very very moist. If you do not have toddlers eating this cake then you can be generous in this section).Top with coffee-flavored cake layer; poke holes in cake. Pour another third of the coffee mixture over the second layer and spread with the remaining filling. Top with remaining cake layer; poke holes in cake. Pour remaining coffee mixture on top. Spread sides and top of cake with frosting. Place cocoa in a sieve and lightly dust top of cake. Make chocolate curls by holding the chocolate bar in hand and using a vegetable peeler. Run the ppeler through one side of the chocolate to make the curls. Garnish with chocolate curls. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving.

Chocolate cake with Macaroon filling

I made this cake for my cousin who was paying us a sudden visit. This cake has a tunnel of coconut macaroon filling. Bengalis will associate well with this filling -narkeler nadu (coconut ladoo). I had seen this cake at my office once and had this combination in mind to remake it. I have of course tampered with the original macaroon filling recipe and made the filling my way which gave it the more gooey consistency. It came out pretty well; just my cake became a little dry as I used a packet of pre-mixed cake batter instead of making it from scratch. Blame it on my laziness for which I of course felt quite bad later on. The picture did not come out too well with our cell phone camera but yet sharing it.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup shortening
• 3/4 cup and 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons cold water
• 1/4 cup sour cream

 Coconut Macaroon Filling:

• 1 can condensed milk
• 1/2 cup flaked coconut / grated coconut

 Vanilla Glaze:

• 1 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons butter, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon milk, or as needed

OR Chocolate Ganache Glaze

• 2 OR 4 OZ dark chocolate bites
• 2 tablespoon heavy cream / half and half

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan.
2. In a large bowl, blend together the shortening, white sugar, egg yolk and vanilla until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time using an electric mixer. Combine 1 cups flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; stir into the egg mixture alternately with the sour cream and water. Pour half batter into the prepared Bundt pan.
3. In a separate bowl mix in coconut and condensed mil. Mix well and then microwave for 5 minutes stopping and mixing in between. Drop this mixture by teaspoonfuls over the chocolate batter in the pan. Be careful not to let the filling touch the sides of the pan. 
4. Pour in rest of the cake batter.
5. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes in the pan, then invert onto a wire rack to allow the cake to cool completely. Remove cake from pan, and drizzle with vanilla glaze.
6. To make vanilla glaze, mix together the confectioners' sugar, butter and milk in a small bowl, gradually adding milk until the mixture is thick but pourable. Drizzle over cooled cake. 
7. To make the chocolate ganache glaze pour the chocolate bits in a sauce pan with 2 table spoons of cream / half and half and then melt by placing the pan on broiler with boiling water. Drizzle of cooled cake.