Gummy Candy

Who Doesn't love it....

In my world .....everyone loves this, some might act as if they are too old for it, but then quietly sneak a piece when no ones looking, where as others like me are not ashamed of their childish choices when it comes to candy....

I do like gummy candy, but i would never have actually tried it if it wasn't for a packet of lime jelly lying in my kitchen. Someone had given it to me, and lime is not a favored flavor in my house, so i didn't know what to do with the packet or how to use it up.

that was when i came across this recipe, and loved the simplicity of it, i also liked the idea of using fresh fruits n juices (for kids, that's really great)

So this was how i ended up using my packet of lime flavored Jello. And all the kids loved it (I'm like their favorite aunt now)

I don't know where i picked up this recipe, but it was basically the same everywhere, so it really doesn't matter...enjoy !!

Ingredients:

1/3 cup cold water or any fruit juice

1 packet jello (optional)

1 tbsp gelatin (2 tbsp if using juice)

Method:

Put water in a sauce pan, sprinkle the gelatin and jello over it and let it sit for 5 -10 minutes. Simmer over low heat, just until all the ingredients are completely dissolved. Pour into molds and refrigerate for minimum 30 minutes to set. Use un greased molds.

 You can coat the individuals candies with citric acid or granulated sugar.

If using fruit juice, sprinkle 2 tbsp of gelatin over 3 tbsp of water let it sit for 5 -10 minutes, then heat in a microwave for 30 – 45 seconds or until dissolved( can also dissolve over a double boiler). Add the gelatin to the juice, mix well and pour in molds.

Un-mold and Enjoy!!

Millionare's Shortbread Bars

Sweet Somethings.......

I always love gifting home made treats to people. Especially for my little nieces and nephews. but the problem with making such edible gifts is that they have to be durable, especially if they have to travel in the Mumbai heat in an auto rickshaw (all types of whipped cream and butter cream turn into liquid by the time you reach your destination).
So i usually prefer making cookies or bars to carry for my nieces or nephews, or to send to any other special friends and family.
So when I wanted to send something special for my sister in law (who is like the biggest fan of my baking), I remembered this recipe that i had checked out a couple of times of joy of baking.
Although it looks a bit tedious, I assure you that the end result is so absolutely delicious, you will be making this recipe again and again and again......
the first time i tried the recipe, the only change i made was to make the caramel by using brown sugar, butter and milk, instead of using condensed milk, as the recipe says, because the end result is the same (and I didn't have enough condensed milk at hand).
The next time i made it i used an oatmeal crust instead of shortbread, and it tasted even better, I guess the oats added a  nice mealy and nutty flavor that complimented the caramel and the chocolate very well.

Ingredients

SHORTBREAD:

3/4 cup (170 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups (210 grams) all purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt 

Or 

You can use the oatmeal crust recipe from my Date Squares 

CARAMEL FILLING:

1 - 14 ounce (396 grams) can Dulce de Leche or sweetened condensed milk

or

½ cup brown sugar

2 tbsp butter

3 - 4 tbsp  Milk

CHOCOLATE TOPPING:

6 ounces (170 grams) semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, cut into pieces

1 teaspoon unsalted butter

Ingredients:

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C and place rack in center of oven.  Grease with butter a 9 x 9 inch (23 x 23 cm) pan.

FOR SHORTBREAD: In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the vanilla extract.  Add the flour and salt and beat until the dough just comes together.  Press onto the bottom of your greased pan and bake for about 20 minutes, or until pale golden in color. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool while you make the filling.

FOR CARAMEL FILLING: If using Dulce de Leche then simply warm the caramel in the microwave or in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. If using sweetened condensed milk, pour the milk into a heatproof bowl and place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Cover and cook, over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 60 to90 minutes or until the milk has thickened and has turned a caramel color. Remove from heat and beat until smooth.  Pour the caramel over the baked sh+bread and leave to set.

Note: You can also do this step in a microwave oven. Place the sweetened condensed milk in a large microwaveable bowl and cook on medium power for about 4 minutes, stirring halfway through baking time. Reduce the powder to medium-low and continue to cook for another 8 to 12 minutes, or until the milk has thicken and has turned a light caramel color. Remove from microwave and beat until smooth.

Or

Caramelize brown sugar and butter and add milk and cook till thick and sticky.

FOR TOPPING: Melt the chocolate and butter either in the microwave oven or in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Pour the melted chocolate evenly over the caramel and leave to set. Cut the shortbread into pieces using a sharp knife. 

Store the shortbread in the refrigerator to keep the chocolate nice and firm. 

Yield: 16 - 2 inch (5 cm) squares

Praline Oatmeal cookies

Leftovers are not a bad thing...

Provided you know how to present them, you see the minute you tell people that you have used "left over "something in a recipe, or that you made this so and so treat to finish up something "leftover" from a previous recipe, they become apprehensive about tasting it.

But if you are clever enough to use up your leftovers and not mentioning that tiny detail to your family and friends you become a master chef in their eyes.(and no one is none the wiser).

I pride myself in using leftover ingredients that i had prepared for a certain recipe for some other recipe in innovative ways(hope i don't sound like i'm boasting).

I mean the ideas are endless once you put your head to it.
I can list a number of recipes i just made to finish off leftover somethings...

leftover egg yolks - creme caramel

leftover caramel - millionare's shortbread bars
mint truffles gone to soft - chocolate mint brownies
stale cake - trifle
and so on and on the list goes.
So when i had left over almond pralines after my almond pralines and custard cake, I thought why not put them in some cookies. and whats healthier than some oatmeal cookies.

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup oats

1/2 - 3/4th cup chopped almond praline

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degree centigrade . Mix flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Set aside, beat the butter and sugars, with an electric mixer on medium until light and fluffy; add eggs and vanilla; mix well.

gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed; stir in the oats and the chopped pralines.

drop rounded tablespoons on a greased baking tray, or parchment paper.

Bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

I covered some of the cookies with some melted chocolate, but that's your choice; they taste great just as it is too..

Seviyan barfii

Trial and Error..

Thats what comes to my mind whenever I think of this yummy dessert. One of my cousins once brought a box of these barfis to our house and one bite of it was enough for us to start guessing the recipe, so that we could recreate it later. And as soon as She got the time, My Mom along with her two helpers (me and my sister) tried cooking up a batch that would be similar to the orignal barfi that we had got.
What mummy concluded after tasting the crisp, n crunchy barfi was that, it had three main ingredients - seviyan, condensed milk and nuts.
The First batch - It was not at all the same, it stuck to our hands..and we couldn't even get out proper pieces.
Second Batch - we decided to increase the amount of vermicelli and roast the quite a lot and with a little ghee. But the result was still not perfect - it was still lacking in the crunchiness
TADAA.. THE THIRD BATCH - This one was perfect and it became a frequently mad edessert in our house, the only difference in this batch was that after spreading it on a tray, mummy put it in the oven for a bit to crisp up the top, and it turned out perfect....

Ingredients:
150 - 200 g seviyan (vermicelli)
1 can of sweetened condensed milk (400g)
2 tbsp ghee
100 g mixed nuts (almonds, pistachios, cashews or walnuts), you can toast the nuts a bit if you want.

Method:
Prepare a tray by lining with foil and grease with a little ghee.
Dry roast the vermicelli till a little fragrant. then add ghee and roast for a few minutes. the vermicelli should be golden brown and fragrant. add the condensed milk and chopped nuts. Mix till all of the vermicelli is coated with condensed milk.
transfer into lined tray immediately, and flatten with the backside of a bowl or the underside of a glass.
score with a knife into diamonds or squares.
bake the barfi in the oven for 10 - 15 minutes at 160 degrees Celsius. to crisp up  the top, and make it nice and crunchy. (you can skip this step if you like it softer)
Let cool and separate the pieces.

Perfect to carry as a gift for your friends and family

crisped to golden perfection

Marble Cake

Perfect tea time accompaniment...

Its amazing how something so simple, can look so sophisticating. When i was a child it always used to fascinate me that how can two flavors be baked in a single cake with such beautiful designs ( I also used to try fist eating all the white cake parts and then the chocolate parts from the slice).

I always used to love a slice of marble cake either with tea in the evening or in the lunch box, or a late night snack. We used to get this lovely slabs of freshly baked marble cake at the bakery which would get over in no time at all.

Its one of those things that makes you realize that beautiful things don't always need a lot of effort, its more about the technique and the thought behind it.

A marble cake is a basic white cake, with cocoa powder mixed with some of the batter and then swirled in. the technique is the same as chocolate swirl cake

i also tried this coffee swirl cake with the same technique.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup ground oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup plain, yogurt
25 g cocoa powder
2 tbsp milk

OR

2 tbsp butter, room temperature
2 1/2 tsp instant coffee granules
1/2 tsp cocoa powder
1/4 cup brown sugar


Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in eggs, one at a time, followed by vanilla extract.
Stir in half of the flour mixture, followed by the yogurt (or sour cream), then stir in remaining flour mixture. Batter will be thick.
In a seperate bowl dissolve the cocoa powder in the milk, and then mix it with half or 1/3 of the cake batter.

OR


In a small bowl, beat together butter, instant coffee/espresso, cocoa powder and brown sugar until well combined. Mixture will be crumbly. add 3 - 4 tbsp of the batter to this mixture

Spread half of the cake batter into prepared pan. Spread the chocolate or coffee batter in the center of the layer of cake batter (doesn't need to be neat), then top with remaining cake batter, spreading it evenly to cover the chocolate or coffee mixture. swirl with a knife or a wooden skewer.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the cake springs back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Allow cake to cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Plain Marble cake

Coffee swirl cake

If you have more time on hand or if you are feeling more adventurous, you can even try piping a design with the brown colour batter on the base. although my first try din't turn out rite, i guess it was because of the brown sugar in my coffee batter...maybe next time

Failed attempt at making hearts

Creme Caramel

From Scratch....

We all have had a few ready from the packet desserts or instant desserts stocked in our pantries, likr always. I know i have....from the time i can recall, my mom always had a shelf full of assorted jellos,custard powder, caramel custard, and dream whip packets in her kitchen cabinet (i mean who doesn't), these were the first desserts i learned to make. and what is there to lean really, just boil a the given amount of milk or water (as the packet says). dissolve all ingredients in the packet and pour into bowl and voila..your dessert for the day is ready.

But as i grew older, i always had this curiosity to try these same desserts from scratch, yeah i know some people just find that painstaking, but I say why not...

So over the years 

• I Have tried whipping my own cream, and after trying it have realised whipped cream powder is better and quicker,especially with the quality of cream that we get here (only 25% fat, takes a really long time to whip). An even better option i discovered is to dissolve your whipped cream powder in the single pouring cream available, instead of milk or water.it gives a real nice and thick whipped cream within minutes!!!
• I have tried making my own jelly with fruit juice and gelatin...and that didn't turn out too bad...infact i prefer that to all the artificial coloring and fruit flavors...why not have the real thing.
• Custard, well i still think i like my eggless custard powder better
• And creme caramel...yes I finally tried it. I've been wanting to try it since a long time and so i finally did. (plus i had a few extra yolks i wanted to use up instead of throwing them away after i made some garlic sauce)

i used this recipe i saw on donna hay's website, but made a few adjustments to fit my two yolks...you can make the same recipe even without the yolks, what i normally do for substituting yolks in any recipe is to - use 1 egg instead of every two yolks, works fine all the time as i usually don't like using only yolks.

Ingredients :

1/2 cup (120g) caster (superfine) sugar

⅓ cup (80ml) water

400ml milk

2 tbsp custard powder

3 eggs

2 egg yolks, extra

1/4 cup caster sugar, extra

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 150°C . Place the sugar and water in a saucepan over high heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to boil and and cook for 8–10 minutes or until the mixture is dark golden. Pour into 4  - 5 ovenproof dishes, or you can even use just one big dish if you want. Set aside for 5 minutes or until the caramel is set.
Place the milk and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until it just comes to the boil. add custard powder dissolved in a little cold milk, and cook for another minute.Remove from heat.
Place the eggs, extra yolks, and vanilla in a bowl and whisk until well combined. Gradually add the milk mixture, whisking to combine. Strain the mixture and pour into the dishes. Place dishes in a roasting pan or cake tin lined with a dish towel(prevents the dishes from slipping) and pour boiling water around the sides till it comes halfway up the the dishes. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until set. Remove from the dish and refrigerate for 2 hours or until cold. Remove the crème caramels from the fridge 30 minutes before serving. Turn out onto plates to serve.

creamy delights ..

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Picnic time....

Since the time i've seen this post, i've been wanting to try these...for someone who loves chocolate chip cookies...this is like even better, because i'm not a cookie person...i prefer cakes n muffins. And I love chcolate chip anything...

I made them to carry along on our weekend trip to Matheran. and they were perfect to snack along for int he car and all through out our trekking...

Although i didn't finally use the same recipe. i looked for a different one with whole wheat n oatmeal. I don't remember where i found this recipe. but it did turn out really good. 

Ingredients:

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup melted butter

1 egg

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup refined flour

3/4 cup ground oats

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt 

3/4 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Method:

Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius. and line your muffin tins with paper liners.

beat egg, milk and butter in a bowl. Sift all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, and whisk till properly mixed.

whisk dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir with spoon ( no electric beater required). Mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts.

I topped each muffin with a sprinkling of sugar crystals to give it a nice sugary look.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.