There is something about lemon

There are summer desserts (the ones with berries) and there are winter desserts (lots of chocolate and alcohol mixed in with spices). Also in between are the fall desserts (everything pumpkin). In India, fruits and vegetables aren't as seasonal in nature as in the West. But still, I understand the lure of the sweet tartness provided by berries in summer and the warmth of spices in winter.

If there is one type of dessert I refuse to sort is anything made of Lemon. It provides the required freshness and tartness desired in summers and also to me provides the comfort of tang in the winters. I see myself tucked into a quilt digging into a warm lemon pudding. It reminds of the summer to come.

Which is why I think I baked this lemon pudding cake twice, once in April for the boy who was moving to start a new job in a different city, and once again in Feb, just because.

Look at that above picture. Don't you want to grab a spoon, gather around the cake tin and just dig your way through it? Which is exactly what the boy did (single-handedly) in April, and what my roommates and I did recently.

This is kind of cake you would bond over, fall in love over.

This is also the kind of cake that will stand out in a fancy dinner party, just bake it in individual ramekins.

Go on, head over here for the recipe.

Flaming Chocolate Whiskey Cake with a Meringue Icing

I have been living by myself for about eight months now (not including my stay on campus during my PG), I have never really felt lonely or missed my family all that much. Except when festivals come around.

When festivals come around, I feel this need to replicate the customs of home. Obviously in my case customs mean food, so I am usually on the phone with my mother jotting down recipes as I try to re-create home. Ganesh Chaturthi had me making modaks (kozhyakottai) and Diwali saw me make coconut and almond barfi. 

Chirstmas isn't celebrated at home, but is a festival I love, because it gives me an excuse to listen to carols and to bake a cake. This time though, I decided to be a bit gimmicky. We threw a big Christmas lunch (16 people is a big deal for 4 girls who are used to cooking for no more than 4-5 people), and went all out with the decorations, so obviously the cake had to be at par. 

Presenting the FLAMING CHOCOLATE WHISKEY CAKE WITH MERINGUE ICING. 

I used the New York Times recipe for the cake. I would suggest baking the cake a day earlier than when you need it, resting makes it incredibly moist and beautiful.

Browned tops of the meringue icing

 For the meringue I looked up a bunch of recipes on the net and just whipped up 8 egg whites till they formed soft peaks and added a cup of sugar, and beat it till the peaks were stiff. No cream of tartar, because I don't know where in India would I have gotten it. 

The cake on fire

The cake was set alight by a cup of brandy which I heated on the gas till it became unstable and caught fire by itself. Once it is burning just pour it on the golden meringue. 

It looks really fancy, but it is one of the easiest cakes I have made. Do give it a try!

What happens when you have to leave your city

I have not blogged for almost 3 weeks now. It feels weird. It wasn't intentional, no. I just couldn't help it.

I left Bombay on the 23rd of this month to start my PG at MICA. Before that it was just 2-3 weeks of whirlwind shopping, goodbyes, farewell lunches and dinners and baking.

I have been at MICA for a week now and have had absolutely no time to come online for more than 15 minutes. Our classes haven't started yet, but the orientation keeps us busy.

I baked a lot (thrice) in the 2 weeks before I left, my waistline is proof of that. Here is what I baked.

It was my sister's 17th birthday, so I decided to make something lavish. This cake is called a Rich Dark Chocolate cake. Why? It has 250 grams of dark chocolate in it. This cake means business. It is a round hunk like gouda and has no allusions of being spongy light.

To make it a but more jazzy I slathered the cake with a Cointreau sugar syrup. Which is just equal measures of sugar, water and cointreau. The icing is a white chocolate icing from here. I added 2 tbsps of Cointreau to it too! 

This is what the cake looked like after 10 minutes of being cut. 

I had promised a Khushi that I would bake cupcakes when she visited me, in exchange for a ballet performance. I baked 40 mini cupcakes. The cakes were Devil's Food Cake and the icing a white chocolate butter cream icing. 

Then came my friend's 21st. So I baked yet again, last time before leaving Bombay. This cake was also the Devil's Food Cake generously doused in the Cointreau sugar syrup and topped with a Cointreau butter cream. It was a big hit!

Any icing imperfections can be hid under chocolate shavings. I learnt that when I baked this.

There! That is what I baked. I will post again about what I was fed.

My first meal in Ahmedabad was also great. A yummy Gujju thali.

How have you all been? Any views on mess food? My mess is pretty amazing. 

21 cupcakes

I love Birthdays and parties. I am the unofficial party planner in my group of friends and also the unofficial baker. A friend of mine recently turned 21 and we celebrate all 21st's as surprises.

I surprised her with 21 cupcakes!

I know I am pretty awesome :p.

I decided to bake marble cupcakes for her using this recipe.

I love the swirly pattern that you can make with this cake.

Usually a marble cake is used as a tea cake and can be quite dry. You can use brown sugar instead of white sugar to add more moistness or just add some tablespoons of maple syrup to the batter to make it soft and moist.

The cake is covered with a chocolate ganache icing.

I find ganache very easy to make. I heated 600 ml of Amul Fresh cream on low heat till it started bubbling on the edges and turned off the heat. Then I added about 400 grams of chopped dark chocolate. I used a mixture of Cadbury Bournville (which is pretty decent) and Trader Joe's dark chocolate. You can vary the proportion of the cream to the chocolate depending on your resources.

the 21 cupcakes

There is also a picture of me with the cupcakes on my About Me Page.

What have you done for your friends on their birthdays?

Home-made Pizza with a Tomato Pizza sauce

About two years ago, I would never ever have considered making a pizza base at home. Whenever we wanted a home-made pizza we would buy the ready-made bases, which in retrospect just seem tasteless.

My Uncle had come to India about 2 years ago and we made one at home with pretty crazy toppings. He called it "gourmet pizza" because it did have carmelised onions, goat cheese and pumpkin (Yes, Pumpkin on a pizza tastes dee-licious). I was fascinated with how the dough grows and is practically a living thing. I am still awed.

So, when my friends came over for lunch I made pizza for them with a simple tomato sauce base and with peppers as toppings.

Pizza Base:
Ingredients:
1 cup water
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/8cup olive oil
3 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp dry yeast

Method:

• In 1/2 cup of water add the sugar and the yeast and leave for 15-20 minutes till the yeast rises completely
• Mix the above mixture in the flour, add rest of the ingredients and add water when necessary
• Cover with a cloth and let it rise for about an hour or two
• bake on 220C

This recipe makes around 10 inch bases. It can be refrigerated or frozen, but has to be thawed out completely before you use it. bake till the edges become golden. Cooking time varies with every oven. 

Pizza Sauce:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Tomato Paste

2-3 tbsp Tomato Ketchup

4-5 finely chopped pods of garlic

2-3 tbsp Olive Oil

2 tsp basil

4 tbsp water

Method:

• Heat the olive oil and add garlic and basil and saute till fragrant
• Add the tomato paste and ketchup and water to get the desired consistency
• Let it simmer till it cooks

The sauce it pretty versatile. If you reduce the amount of oil it can also be used for spaghetti. 

Make sure that you put in the base for 2 minutes in the oven so it rises before you all the sauce and the toppings. 

If the sauce it oily enough then you don't need to coat the base with Olive Oil (so that the sauce doesn't soak through).

Go crazy with the toppings and the sauce!

Mother's Day Special: Oreo Pie

Kraft buying Cadbury has to be a good thing. It has made Oreo cheap and widely available in India and I hope that they start producing other range of craft products here too.

My sister and I were obsessing over Oreo's since their recent launch. We would find just about any occasion to buy them. While thinking about making an Oreo inspired dessert, I thought of cheesecake, and while looking for recipes I found this by the Purple Foodie.

The recipe calls for Philadelphia cream cheese which is available in India (supermarkets like Hypercity) but costs a bomb (Rs.400 for 8 ounces). So I decided to make it for the big lunch I made for my friends and also thought it would be fit for mother's day.

Why Mother's Day? Well because after tasting it, my mother who was in a migraine induced half sleep stage, got up and came to me all bright eyed to tell me how awesome it was.

INGREDIENTS: 
Oreos: 45 (I ate 3-4 while preparing the dessert)
8 ounces/ 226gms Cream Cheese
200ml whipping cream
1/4cup melted butter
1/2 cup caster sugar

METHOD

• Crush around 28 cookies.( Make sure there aren't any big pieces left. Use a mixer is necessary.) Mix with butter and line the dish. 
• Beat the cream cheese with the sugar till it is fluffy
• Whip the whipping cream and add it
• Mix in the rest of the crushed cookies
• Pour in the dish and let it set for about 4-5 hours

Make sure you use Philly cream cheese as it gives a slight sour taste to the pie, which is just heavenly. 

Eat, serve and enjoy. Also, you will love the compliments which will come your way.

how we celebrate the end of exams.

The exams are over! I am almost a graduate now, with only a marksheet between me and my degree.

We girls went slightly mad post exams. And what do we do when we go mad? We eat.

Here is what I ate the last two days.

clockwise from left top: Sprouts and green salad with feta cheese at KGC; Homemade Pizza; Penne Pesto; Oreo Pie

The salad was at Kala Ghoda Cafe, which was brilliant! I loved the Feta cheese. 

The rest three I made at home for my girlfriends. Recipes to follow!  

Celebration: Devil's Food cakcupcakes with an Oreo icing

After an year of studying for and dreaming about my post-graduation I have finally managed to secure admission to MICA! I was am still ecstatic and can't believe I will be moving out in around 2 months.

I knew I had to celebrate, even though I am supposed to be studying for my exams. Celebration is equivalent to baking for me, and my new muffin tray was calling out to me to be used. Also the fact that Oreos are now cheaply available here, and have caught my recent fancy, meant that I just had to bake cupcakes with something Oreo.

I decided to bake a Devil's Food cake cupcake with a Butter Cream Oreo icing.

For my cupcakes I used my trusty-never-fail-go-to-guy, Sanjeev Kapoor. Here's the recipe from his site.

The baking time for cupcakes was around 20 minutes. It really depends on your oven. They were the softest cakes i have ever had/baked. they felt like cotton when I took them out. 

A good thing about them is that, post refrigeration they get your slightly dense cupcakes consistency. Also, I think if the cakes are so soft you can go ahead and add hidden surprises in the cupcakes, like mini-oreos, chocolates, chocolate chips without altering the recipe at all. 

I made the Butter Cream Oreo Icing myself. 

As you all can see I suck at icing. I couldn't find my piping bag and any ziplock bags, so had to be content with smearing icing onto them with a spatula. 

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients: 

7 oreos (or 1 small packet)

100 grams salted or unsalted butter (I used salted)

4 tbsps of icing sugar (I am sure normal powdered sugar will do just as well)

Method: 

• Cream the butter and sugar till they are creamy and light
• powder oreos in your mixer/food processor/beat them by hand to desired crumbliness
• Mix Oreo and butter mix 

TADA! 

It really is that simple. This icing is really rich. If you want a lighter one you can add egg whites to it. 

My family and friends gobbled them up in no time. 

I also got a big envelope (they couldn't find a bag) full of assorted chocolates from my friends. I guess they know what exams do to me. 

I can't wait for the farewell parties to begin. ;)

So, what are your recent food obsessions?

P.S: A shoutout to Siddhartha for the header. I will send a lot of cupcake love your way.