I know I disappeared from the blogspace for a while now, but its because I've been spending time experimenting and learning and of course, having fun in the process.. I will compensate my disappearance by flooding you with recipes over the next few days :) For starters, here's the recipe for Masala biscuits... These biscuits are super easy to make.. It will take approx 15 mins preparation time and around 12 mins baking time.. When I first made & tasted these biscuits, I was reminded of the khara biscuits we used to buy in the neighbourhood bakery during my childhood days.. Try it...You will love them...
Masala biscuits (Recipe by Lisa & Jaya at Artisans)
Ingredients
A lil more than 1/2 cup / 50 gms all purpose flour (maida)
Think summer and the mind conjures up images of fruits and colours, mangoes in orange hues, watermelons and strawberries in deep reds, jackfruits in their greens and of course not far behind, palmyra (kati nongu) and jamuns in deep violets..
On a visit to Star Bazaar one lazy Sunday afternoon, I was strolling through the fruit section and was tempted into buying a packet of fresh Jamuns. Jamun (Java plums/Jambul/Jambun) fruits are a good source of iron. Story goes that Rama lived on the Jamun fruit for 14 years during his exile from Ayodhya and hence the fruit is called "Fruit of Gods" in Gujarat.
At first glance, I didn't pick up the fruit as I knew it would lie in the fridge for many days before we forced ourselves to finish it (past experience has taught me these things :D) but
Mug promptly dropped a packet into the trolley. As expected, the jamuns stayed in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, without the man even remembering we bought it. A gentle reminder given to eat the fruit received a creative negative response and I was left with two options : Give it away / Make something out of it. Now I wasn't too pleased with the first option, so decided to use the jamuns in a jam/sauce/juice.
I am not the always enthusiastic / energetic girl. I can be very very lazy. I had to find the easiest way of utilising the fruit. A search on the internet led me to an article in Starbroek news by Cynthia from tasteslikehome where she had posted the recipe for the Jamun juice. I zeroed in on this recipe as it was not only super simple but also a tad different as she had used spices to complement the Jamun flavour.
I had to wait another day before I could make the juice but the wait was worth it!
As I went Squish squish squish the next day to extract the pulp, I absolutely loved the violet hues of the fruit and couldn't resist taking a few pictures.
I was more than satisfied with the result, however, Mug decided that it was too "cinammony" . When you do try this recipe out, if you do not like a strong cinammon flavour, you can opt to reduce the size of the cinnamon stick or remove it immediately after the water is boiled.
Ingredients
2 cups jamun
3- 3 1/2 cups Water
1 small piece (2-3 inch) cinnamon stick
2 cloves
1 elaichi
1/2 cup sugar
Method
Add water and spices in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Let boil for 2 minutes
Wash jamun, drain and add to a large bowl.
With clean hands or gloved hands, squish the jamun. Do not remove the seeds at this stage.
Pour boiled water and spices into the bowl with mashed jamun, stir, and cover and let steep overnight. Trust the water and spices to do their job :)
Strain juice after overnight steeping; using clean hands, squeeze more juice from pulp. If required add a little more water to squeeze out all the pulp.
Add sugar to this juice and mix.
Pour juice into glass and enjoy or bottle and refrigerate.
"Cake.. VIRGIN cake.. Plain / Choc.. With/without icing.. Do not courier.. We'll figure out an alternate way :-(" was the text msg I received. The last time I baked a sponge cake for the kiddo who sent this text, way back in Jul 2009, I had to face her fury as Aru and Mug left one small piece for her (the reasons were creative, no doubt). The msg reminded me to practice baking the softest, springiest sponge cake ever..
I tried Alex Barker's recipe of the Victoria Sponge Cake and wasn't disappointed with the results. The only alterations I made was using Almond extract instead of Vanilla and adding a tsp of baking powder to enhance the softness of the cake.
Over the past few months, as I read more about cake decorations in frosting, marzipan & fondant, I've been eager to bake a cake AND make it look good. I first read about marzipan when I was in school. I remember seeing marzipan in one of the Childcraft books I had. Though the creations in marzipan excited me back then, I had never tried my hands at it. I was super thrilled when I landed on Deeba's recipe for marzipan.
The marzipan turned out to be yummm. I had to resist myself from eating the marzipan as it was. It was a little brittle to handle in the beginning. I fixed it by dabbing some powdered sugar on my hands, kneading it a little more and then making the flowers.
This one is for you kid.. with a promise to bake it again when you come here :) .. Missed you this time around..
Sponge cake (Recipe adapted from Alex Barker’s book “Essential Guide to Cake decorating”)
¾ cup soft unsalted butter
¾ cup fine sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp Almond extract
1 ½ cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder (This wasn't included in the original recipe, I added it to enhance softness)
Pre-heat the oven to 180oC/ 350oF. Line the base of the baking dish with butter/parchment paper
Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and almond extract.
Gently pour the egg mixture into the butter & sugar mix. Beat for a minute.
Gradually add the flour. With a spatula, gently fold the flour in the mix in an 8 formation.
When ingredients are smoothly combined, place the mixture in the baking pan. Flatten the tops and bake for 25 minutes.
Test with a skewer/knife. The cake should be golden, well risen and springy to the touch
Turn into a cooling rack and leave until cold
Buttercream frosting (Recipe adapted from Alex Barker’s book “Essential Guide to Cake decorating”)
¼ cup dairy butter
1 ¼ cup superfine sugar
1 tsp almond extract
Place the butter in a mixing bowl and beat until pale and fluffy.
Gradually beat in sugar and flavouring.
Beat in 1 tbsp hot (boiled but not boiling water), beating all the time till it reaches a soft peak consistency
Use immediately or cover and chill until required. Bring the frosting back to room temperature before use
Home made Marzipan (From Deeba's kitchen.. Love this recipe.. Thanks Deeba)
Almonds - 100gms
Powdered sugar - 1/2 cup
Almond essence - 1 tsp
Water - 1/4 cup approximately
Golden Syrup - 1 tbsp ( I used Maple syrup and got good results)
Method:
Bring a pan of water to a boil. Drop the almonds in; boil for 1-2 minutes. Drain.
Peel the skins off the almonds. They should easily slip off.
Spread the skinned almonds onto a baking tray and allow to dry under a medium-hot grill (180 degrees C) for 8-10 minutes.
Cool, and then grind in a coffee grinder into almond meal. Do the grinding in short spells, & stir each time to avoid it becoming pasty.
Turn the meal into a bowl; stir in the sugar, followed with the almond extract.
Add the syrup, mix in well. Now add cold water, 1 tbsp at a time, to get a play dough like consistency. Knead till smooth.
Keep covered in cling wrap until you use it. Break off bit by bit, kneading colours into the dough to colour it, and shape as required.
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