Chocolate Truffle Cake....

Prepared this tasty and delicious cake for my hubby birthday…J. Struggled lot to get it done after my busy working hours. Fulfilled another dream of preparing delicious birthday cake, it tasted delicious even my husband liked it (Happy to see smile on his face, on his DAY..) . I wanted to have post in my blog of the cake on same day, spent almost 3 hours to post this recipe with correct measurements (awake till 2 am). Enjoy this post as I am enjoying the cake…

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 70 min

Serves for: 4 persons

Ingredients: 

1 ½ Cup - All purpose flour

½ Cup - Cocoa powder

1 tsp - Cooking soda

2 tsp - Baking powder

1 tin (400ml) - Sweetened condensed milk (I used Britania )

100 gms -Melted butter

180 ml – Water 

For Sugar Syrup:

½ Cup - Sugar

¼ Cup - Water

For Filling:

3/4  Cup - Chocochips

4 tbsp - Butter

½ Cup - Heavy Whipping Cream

1 tsp – Vanilla Essence 

For Ganache:

½ Cup – Semisweet chocolate

¼ Cup – Heavy whipping Cream

Direction for Preparation:

Cake Baking:

1. Sieve flour, cocoa, baking powder and soda together into the mixing bowl.

2. Take melted butter in bowl, mix condensed milk and water to it. Mix well using whisk.

3. Mix Flour mixture beat well until mixed. The batter should be in pouring consistency.

4. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease the cake tin with butter.

5. Fill the 3/4th of cake pan and bake it for 40-50 mins at 180°C.

6. Check if cooked by inserting a tooth pick at the middle of cake. The cake is done if the toothpick comes out clean.

7. Allow it to cool on a wire rack for about 15 to 20 min.

Sugar Syrup:

1. Put the sugar in a saucepan with the water and dissolve slowly over a low heat.

2. Allow to simmer till it thickens slightly.

3. Strain sugar syrup for impurities.

4. Cool and store in bottle. Use as required.

For Cream Filling:

1. Melt Butter add chocochips, leave them until the chocochips are soft.

2. Mix the chocolate mixture to heavy whipped cream by folding (gently mixing of cream and choco)

3. Now filling is ready for Truffle.

For Ganache:

1. Pour choco chips in large bowl.

2. Heat whipped cream in pan when it starts boiling (It takes hardly 3-4 min), remove from heat and pour on chocochips. Allow them stand for 2 min until chocochips become soft.

3. Stir well the cream and chocochips mixture until you get shiny silky smooth paste.

4. Add vanilla essence for flavour and mix well.

5. Cool in refrigerator, stirring occasionally, until ganache reaches a spreading consistency.

For assembling cake:

1. Cut down cake to layers of required thickness.

2. Take serving plate, place your first cake layer. Add sugar syrup to make cake moist.

3. Apply whipped chco and cream mixture of required quantity.

4. Now place your second layer of cake and follow same procedure until you finish the layers of cake ie cake layer --> Sugar Syrup --> Whipped choco cream -->

5. When all the layers are done, Pour Ganache on the top of cake let it spread naturally to get shiny look.

6. Decorate with Cherry and choco bars.

7. Serve chilled Chocolate Truffle Cake..

Apple Cinnamon Pie..

Till now not able to get my pie dish in bangalore..:( As I am always stuck with work hardly I get some weekends which are free enough,where I can do some trail and error. So yesterday I got it... thought to try my many days wish that is PIE..APPLE PIE...APPLE CINNAMON PIE...But my first worry was not having any pie dish. still managed to do it in my cake baking tray, which turned out very well, Second worry is how my pie crust turn out, trust me pie crust was very crispy and very tasty. Finally I was happy as I tried one of my favorite dish.

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 15 min

Serves for: 4 persons

Another Click...of beautiful mouth watering Pie...

Ingredients

For Filling:

2 – Apple chopped lengthwise

1 tbsp – Butter

2 tbsp – powdered Sugar

½ tsp – Cinnamon powder

For Pie:

1 cup – plain floor

100 gm – frozen Butter

2 tbsp – ice cold water

2 tbsp – butter or vegetable oil (1 egg substitute)

For Garnishing:

1 tsp – Castor Sugar

1 tsp – Chocolate Syrup

Direction for Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven at convention mode at 190C. Sift flour and mix it with Butter. Add cold water and knead into dough.

2. Mix butter, cinnamon powder, apples and powdered sugar and microwave for 3-4 min, keep aside to cool.

3. Roll the dough and cut into two layers of the shape of the pie dish.

4. Now line the dish with 1 layer, stuff it with the prepared apple filling and cover with other layer, press the edges together.

5. Brush the butter on the pie (egg substitute).

6. Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 min, at 190C on convention mode.

7. Sprinkle castor sugar and garnish it with chocolate syrup.

8. Cut into wedges and serve.

Hoolige... Diwali Special....

Enjoying Diwali with traditional food Hoolige / Obbattu...:) Happy Diwali to my readers..:)

Ingredients

1 cup - Channa Dal

1 cup - Jaggery

1/2 tsp - Cardemom powder

4 tbsp - Oil

A Pinch of Salt

For dough (Kanak):

1 ½ Cup - Maida

2tbsp - Sooji

Direction for Preparation:
1. Pressure cook channa dal for 5-6 whistel.

2. After boiling, drain all the excess water

3. Mix boiled channa dal with, powdered jaggery and boil about 10 min.

4. Smash the mixture using hand blender or in mixer (Hooran) (If you find extra water in mixture, remove it by squeezing it using muslin cloth)

5.Make dough with maida,sooji,salt and oil using required amount of water. Cover and keep the dought aside for 1 hour (Kanak)

6. Stuff dal mixture(Hooran) in douhh(kanak),use oil to palm to avoid sticking.

7. Roll stuffed dough on Plastic paper by using oil, just like chapati.

8. Fry on hot tava using oil.

9. Serve Hoolige with Ghee.

Chocolate Trifle...

My week has ended with satisfaction of completing my work on time, enjoying my Friday evening with cup of coffee. As weekend special I am not in mood to prepare any fully fledged dinner like roti, dal, rice tired of eating it…Today I wanted to have something different, while surfing through internet I came across an idea of preparing simple desert… THIS IS THE RESULT OF MY WEEKEND SPECIAL DESSERT…CHOCOLATE TRIFLE…

Ingredients
2 piece – Chocolate cake

3-4 tbsp – Fresh Cream

1 tbsp – Choco Chips

2  -  Choice of butter biscuit(I used Britania Goodday biscuit)

1 tbsp – Chocolate sauce

Direction for Preparation:

1.Take glass(I used wine glass) to arrange triffle.

2. Apply Chocolate sauce to the walls of glass. 

3. Roughly crush the biscuits, and crumble the chocolate cake keep aside.
4. First start with filling 1/4 of glass with crushed biscuits.
5. Next fill the glass with crumbled cake followed by a tbsp of fresh cream.
6. Follow this arrangement of biscuits,cake and cream until you reach end or 3/4 of glass.
7. Finally garnish with some extra cream,choco chips and chocolate sauce.
8. Chill it in freezer to maintain consistency of cream.
9. You can even use ice cream  as one more layer, arrangements and garnishing are left to your own imagination.

Modak-Ganesh Chaturthi special

Prep Time: 30 min

Cook Time: 20 min

Serves for: 2 - 4 persons

Ingredients

2 cup - Rice flour
2 and 1/4 cup - Water
3 tsp - Oil
1 cup - fresh Coconut, grated
1 cup - Jaggery
2 tbsp - Poppy seeds,roasted
1/2 cup – Milk

½ tsp - cardamom powder
¼ tsp – Saffron strands

Direction for Preparation: 

For the Rice Dough:
1. Boil the water & oil and remove from heat.
2. Now add the rice flour, cover and allow it to cool.
3. Later, knead well dough using dry flour if required and keep aside.

For the Stuffing:
1.Keep milk for boiling, when it starts boiling add cardamom powder, saffron strands and mix well.

2. Now add jaggery and stir it continuously until it dissolves.

3. Add grated fresh coconut and stir until the mixture become dry thick of stuffing consistency.

4. At last add roasted poopy seeds. Mix all the ingredients.

5. By applying ghee to your palm make small balls of stuff and keep aside.

Preparation:
1. Make balls of the rice dough.
2. Roll them using rolling pin of small puri size by applying oil if it sticks.

3. Place the stuffing ball in the middle.
4. Now join the open edges together and give it a shape like a whole garlic.
5. Steam these modaks for 10 minutes in Idli maker or steamer, take off, cool it and serve them for Habbad oota.

Soft -Crunchy Ragi Cookies

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 40 min

Serves for: 2-3 persons (12-14 cookies)

Ingredients: 

1 cup - Ragi flour

1 tbsp - cornflour powder

1 tbsp - All purpose flour (maida)

1 tbsp - cocoa powder

1/2 cup - sugar

1/2 cup – butter

1 tsp – cardamom powder

1 tsp - baking powder

1 tsp - curd

Chocolate chips 

Direction for Preparation:

1. Dry fry the Ragi flour for a few minutes in kadai, untill the raw smell disappear.

2. Take a large vessel and add Ragi flour, cornflour, all purpose flour, baking powder and cardamom powder into it. Mix all the dry ingredients.

3. Heat butter bit say about 30 – 60 seconds or until it starts melting.

4. Take another vessel and add melted butter, sugar and the curd into it. Mix the wet ingredients till the sugar melts.

5. To the above wet mixture add the dry flour mix slowly (1 tbsp at a time).

6. Once done just mix the mixture with hand to avoid if any lumps are left out.

7. Grease the baking tray with butter.

8. Heat oven to 190°C for 10 minutes.

9. Make small balls from the dough in hand by applying butter to your hand

10. Arrange them on the baking tray. Do not flatten the balls too much.

11. Add the chocolate chips on each cookie.

12. Bake the cookies at 190 °C for 12-15 minutes or till done.

13. Remove from oven, let it cool down for about 10 min. Ragi cookies are very soft so handle them with care. They taste wonderful with a cup of hot Coffee.

Choco-Chips Muffins

Trying another version of muffin with choco chips.

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 10 min

Serves for: 2-3 persons

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter (at room temp)

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup Milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour (maida)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup Choco Chips

1 tsp Chocolate Syrup to decorate

Direction for Preparation: 

1. In a bowl, mix butter and sugar together.

2. Add the vegetable oil and beat it along with the butter mixture.

3. Add yogurt, milk and vanilla and mix well.

4. Combine the flour, soda, baking powder and salt together in another bowl

5. Add it slowly into the creamed butter mixture until moistened.

6.  Add choco chips and mix it gently.

7. Line a muffin pan with paper-lined cups and fill it 2/3rd full with the batter.

8. Sprinkle some of  Choco Chips over the batter.

9. Preheat microwave for 200C about 5 min.

10. Bake them at 200C for 7-8 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

11. Cool it for few minutes before removing them from the pan.

12. Decorate it with Chocolate syrup.

Tutti Frutti - Muffins

Again got long break from work ( 5 days ), not made any plans to go out of home. As I got new mini muffins tray from my brother, I tried these eggless tutti fruity muffins. It took almost 40 min to prepare but finished all muffins in 15 min...:) Beautiful.

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 10 min

Serves for: 2-3 persons

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter (at room temp)

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup Milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour (maida)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup Tutti Frutti

Direction for Preparation: 

1. In a bowl, mix butter and sugar together.

2. Add the vegetable oil and beat it along with the butter mixture.

3. Add yogurt, milk and vanilla and mix well.

4. Combine the flour, soda, baking powder and salt together in another bowl

5. Add it slowly into the creamed butter mixture until moistened.

6.  Add Tutti Frutti gently.

7. Line a muffin pan with paper-lined cups and fill it 2/3rd full with the batter.

8. Sprinkle some of Tutti Frutti over the batter.

9. Preheat microwave for 200C about 5 min.

10. Bake them at 200C for 6-7 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

11. Cool it for few minutes before removing them from the pan.

Gulab-Jamun

In office my friend asked me about jamun preparation, I know how to do it but never tried all alone as always used to prepare with mom. Before giving her suggestion I tried this recipe in home and even given to my friend also… Initially thought of trying it with Khova and maida due to lack of time I end up doing it with MTR ready mix. I will soon update making it with Khova. It’s nice desert which can be prepared in time of 1 hour and served with ice-cream.

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 20 min

Serves for: 4 persons 

Ingredients: 

MTR Gulab Jamun mix – 250 gms

Sugar – 500 gms

Water – 1 ½ lt

Cardamom powder – 1 tsp

Kesar -1/2 tsp

Ghee – 200 gms

For dry Jamun coating:

Almond - 10

Cashew Nuts – 10

Sugar – 1tbsp

Direction for Preparation: 

1. First prepare sugar syrup, Mix water and sugar and bring it to boil and while boiling add Cardamom powder, ¼ tsp kesar. Switch of the syrup when it starts boiling. Let it cool down for sometimes, meanwhile prepare jamun.

2. Now in pan heat ghee for deep frying.

3. In bowl mix the MTR gulab jamun mix and ¼ tsp kesar, using water make dough (use water little by little as it requires very less water)

4. Make even sized balls by applying little ghee to your palm.

5. Deep fry these balls in ghee and let it cool for about 5-10 min.

6. Now soak them in sugar syrup for 15-30 min.

7. Serve hot jamun or dry jamun.

8. Coarsely grind almond, cashew nuts and sugar.

9. Take out soaked jamun from syrup and roll out the dry fruits mixture and serve it.

Kesar - Basundi..

Celebrating Raksha – Bandhan with sweet desert Basundi…J

Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 45-60 min
Serves for: 4 persons 

Ingredients:

4 cups whole milk

1 cup Sugar (adjust according to your test)

10 Almonds

10 Cashew Nuts

1 tsp of saffron

½ tsp Elachi powder

Direction for Preparation:

1 Bring the milk to a boil, and let it simmer till it reduces to 2 cups.
2. Meanwhile dissolve Almonds and Cashew nuts in warm milk for about 10 min, Chop some dry fruits and keep them aside for garnishing.

3. Also dissolve half the saffron in 1 tsp warm milk and Keep the other half for garnishing (warm these strands as it increases its smell)

4. When the milk is reduced to a thickness you like, add the sugar, stir until it dissolves completely.

5. Now make paste of soaked almond and cashew nuts.

6. Add the dry fruits paste and soaked saffron to the milk and stir it well, make sure lumps are not formed by adding the paste.

7. Leave it to cool, (The milk will thicken a bit more after cooling), Now garnish with chopped almonds, cashew nuts and warm saffron strands.

8, Add fresh cream, if you want more richness in the Basundi.

Gazar-Halwa

Always my husband use to tell my mother-in-law's recipe Gazar-Halwa, I never thought of trying it but when my wedding became 8 months old (I used to prepare sweets every month on my D'day) I thought of trying,trust me it came very nice and even he likes it...What else reason I need to share this recipe with you people..;)

Prep Time: 60 min

Cook Time: 60 min

Serves for: 4 Persons

Ingredients:

Carrot  1 kg (Preferably delli carrot, which gives nice colour and taste)
Ghee    1/2 cup
Dry fruits of your choice (I used Almond,Raisin)

Direction For preparation:

1. Wash and grate all carrot.

2. In large pan add 2 tsp ghee and saute all dry fruits .

3. When the dry fruits are golden brown, remove from pan and keep aside.

4. Now to the same pan add all grated carrot, continue to stir in break of 2 min each time.

4. Add ghee in between while stirring.

5. Continue stirring until the raw smell of carrot goes away and Carrot colour turns to reddish.

6. When grated carrots are cooked well with ghee, add all dry fruits and mix them well.

7. Now remove from heat and let it cool down completely.

8. You can store the Halwa in fridge for about week.


9. Serve the Carrot Halwa with either hot milk or ice cream. I always use to have carrot halwa with ice cream

 I just love to have it without thinking of increasing my calories...;)

To make carrot halva more delicious try adding 3/4 cup of Kova after Halwa is cool down.