Cupcake Easter Egg

It's almost Easter, a perfect time of the year to indulge in chocolate as it's everywhere, including my personal favourite the Lindt bunny!

This year while browsing in the John Lewis Easter section I noticed a cupcake Easter egg and kept meaning to blog it. Then I saw it again (and took surreptitious pics again) and meant to blog it- then forgot. I've finally remembered but maybe a bit too late if you've already chosen your egg (and there are so many to choose from!) but thought I'd share anyways.

The eggs are by James' Chocolates and are £9 each. I've seen them in John Lewis only so not sure how widely available they are. They are also available online but might be a bit late for Easter - sorry! I'm Anne and I'm a lazy blogger!

Btw (I know Manny reads this trying to find gift ideas!) I don't want one of these - I'd prefer a bunny :)

Rava Kajjikayalu

Ingredients :

Maida : 250 gms
Sooji / Semolina : 1 cup
Sugar : 1 - 1/4 cups
Grated dry coconut : 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder : 1/2 tsp
A pinch of salt
Ghee : 2 tsp
Oil : 300 gms


Method :

1. Mix the sooji/semolina, grated dry coconut and cardamom powder with sugar. The stuffing is ready. keep aside.

2. Mix maida, ghee, salt and make a stiff dough by adding water as necessary. Cover with a wet cloth and set aside for one hour.



3. Divide into small lime size balls and roll each ball of dough into a small puri.

4. Put a spoon of stuffing mixture in the centre of the puri and close the edges together firmly.


5. Heat oil in a wide vessel to deep fry the kajjikayalu. Deep fry them till crisp and golden color.

6. Remove from oil and let it cool completely. Store in air tight containers.

true love.

the public market in seattle is full of beautiful flowers and fresh fruits and veggies. i wanted so badly to buy bundles of flowers and berries. why can't we have something like that here in utah?
dear utah, get with the program.

Home-made Piping Gel recipe - Yessss! We Can!!

If you are like me you are gonna love this recipe. I mean if you live in India and love to decorate cakes . If you are perennially, unjustifiably envious of folks who live in the US / UK - only for the sole reason that they have easy access to cake decorating shops. How unfair!! They have cake decorating stores, baking aisles in every super market and have a plethora of baking and cake stuff easily available. People at stores do not stare at them when they ask for rice paper or piping gel or fondant or Dr. Oetker's Whip It or Ener-G. Forget these things, for me it was a victory to get a muffin tray, whipping cream, cooking chocolate, good pistachio essence, flaked almonds and a lot of other basic stuff. Excuse me if I am making India sound like an extremely under-developed country.. but that's reality.  How I wished we did better in Bangalore!! Sigh!! Double sigh!!

I have loved looking at glossy decorations made with the versatile piping gel and the freedom it offers to decorate a cake. Imagine my delight when I found a recipe for making piping gel at home here. I had Googled and found other recipes too, but this one was one to be tried as it did not have gelatin and sounded so easy and do-able. I tried this successfully and was able to paint my rolled fondant. This was my first ever tryst with piping gel and a home-made one at that!! I was of course over the moon...


I have halved the recipe and made it. Even half of this makes sufficient quantity to decorate one cake. Of course it would also depend on how elaborate your design is.

INGREDIENTS

1/3 cup sugar( I have used a 1/4 measure and halved)
1 tablespoon cornflour
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

, ( I used a teaspoon or so as I felt the gel would be too sour)
1/4 cup water.

METHOD 
Mix sugar and corn flour in a small saucepan, gradually add juice then water. Stir over high heat until mixture boils then thickens. Colour as desired using liquid or powder
Dont take your eye off the ball whilst making it or it goes lumpy you have to stir it all the time. It keeps for weeks in the fridge 

The  first time I made the gel, I used it immediately after it cooled. I made the Pooh and it turned out quite well for the first time. The second time when I made the Helicopter Cake , I made the gel and kept in the fridge, found that the sugar had crystallized( less lemon juice???). I could have tried reheating it, but I made the gel again as I did not want to take any chances at the last moment with the cake. The gel was perfect again.

Its worthwhile making the gel at home. If it thickens, add a couple of drops of water and adjust the consistency. Add the water with a medicine dropper to avoid making the gel too watery. Color and decorate as u please!!

Again, tips and advice would be very helpful and extremely appreciated!

Happy Birthday to me

My birthday this year was a bit of a letdown in that I was v.ill, but was FABULOUS as I spent a lovely day cupcaking with Manny the day before and I got some amazingly fab gifts as well and was spoiled by my lovely husband and friends!

First up is my too gorgeous for words snail plate by Takae Mizutani and Sons that Manny bought for me after I'd mentioned it previously, and perhaps gone on about it a bit to him! Doesn't it make cakes just look even more gorgeous than ever!

Manny also bought me half of the new cupcake selection at Paperchase - including an apron, notebook (for my recipes), mirror, make up bag and a gorgeous little clip purse! I adore them all and felt very spoilt :) Since then I've also got myself the mouse mat and matching pen - I may return for the bunting but not sure if I have anywhere to hang it that the cats can't reach!

I also got some cupcake storage jars, a cupcake flannel and another cupcake apron from my lovely chum Renee (who also sent me tonnes of other goodies including a feast of Hershey's lip balms and Twilight goodies!)



Lots of lovely gifts and lots of yummy cakes (see the two posts below) makes Anne a very happy (and lucky) cupcake fan!

Awards Time..

I received this bunch of awards from my friends Priya Raj & N S. Thank you so much Priya and NS.. Thank you.. :)






I am very Happy to recieve this award from Shama & N S. Thank you soo much ladies.. I am very thankful for passing me the award. :)



I would like to share these awards with All.. :)

Hands of pork and purple broccoli salad

I haven't had the best luck recently and today my oven went insane when I was attempting to cook my Sunday roast. When it rains it really pours in my life it seems. I have cooked hands of pork many times before, as they are well priced, with a great potential for crackling. The trick is scoring and cooking for a long time on a very low heat. I usually cook them for about 3 hours at 120 degrees C. Today, after half an hour I noticed the skin was going black and sizzling like crazy! So I had a great time turning the oven on and off for the next 3 hours, trying to get the roast to cook and yet not burn. It turned out quite good actually. But not perfect of course, hence the little bit of black skin you see in the picture down there

I marinated the pork for about an hour before roasting, in honey, chinese 5 spice, garlic salt, pepper and olive oil, sticking ginger bits in the cuts in the skin. Then it needs about an hour of cooking time before you add the apple bits, otherwise they'll turn to complete mush. Unless of course you like that - it's just like apple sauce really

Ingredients:

Hands of pork

Ginger

Honey

Chinese 5 spice

Garlic salt

Pepper

Apples (1 for each person)

Potatoes (King Edward)

Butter

Splash of milk

Olive oil

Salad:

Purple broccoli

Red onion

Tomatoes

Lemon 

Olive oil

Sea salt and pepper

Garlic clove

I wasn't sure about using this photo as I realise it may freak some people out, but hey, that's what meat is, and I thought it was important to show you what hands of pork look like, as by hands you could think I mean trotters of something. In fact, it's quite a substantial piece of meat. That fed three people today and there would have been enough for four (instead I've just been snacking on it all evening - yum!). For under a fiver, I say that's a bargain!

Now for the salad - when someone at the butchers or at a fruit and veg stall gives me a recipe, I always listen closely, because I reckon they must know what they're talking about. I am never disappointed by these little gems, and today was no exception. The lady at the veg stall on Bethnal Green road told me how she likes to eat purple broccoli - something I have never tried before - with lamb. I didn't have lamb, but the salad worked well with pork too, as it added a tart refreshing aspect to my roast

I sliced the broccoli into slightly smaller pieces to start with, then blanched it for 4 minutes in salted water. Draining purple broccoli is quite an experience - the water that comes off it is almost turquoise, reminiscent of the soup Brigitte Jones served up at her dinner party!

Let the broccoli cool, then add the chopped red onion and tomatoes, grate the garlic on top and pour over the juice of one lemon, some olive oil and a little bit more sea salt. It turned out really great, though I think next time I may also add capers to the mix, as I think they'd work well, and I'll try it with lamb too, as originally suggested

easy doughnuts.

made these for ike for our after church breakfast and trust me, they are delicious. and so easy peasy. try them! via real simple.

Kiddie Helicopter Chocolate Cake

A helicopter cake for a 8-year old  with the picture of the helicopter drawn by the 8-year old...OK am kidding- I drew it and obviously am not going to get a prize at a drawing competition-)) This was one of the 2 cakes I made for my son's birthday yesterday. We had made a Race Track Cake for his 6th birthday and he wanted a helicopter cake, and a chocolate cake at that, this time. I made a obviously- not-so-successful  attempt at one. I tried making piping gel at home and also made a trial picture of Pooh last week to test the piping gel  and the fondant mixed with CMC. My trail piece was a success and survived in the fridge for almost a week, till my daughter broke it:-((.  I will be posting the recipe of the piping gel later this week.

We celebrated the birthday at a pizza joint and I was not sure if the fondant would stay undissolved and survive on whipped cream topping out of the fridge for a couple of hours. So I played safe and made a Chocolate Cake with chocolate ganache frosting.  Though I was not very happy with the end product, it was worth all the time and effort I took to bake and finish the cake. My son was very happy with the cake and his friends were thrilled to see a helicopter cake, and a home-made one at that. Now on to the recipe and some boring details...

The recipe is from Hersheys website and the same I had tried earlier for theValentine Cupcakes. This recipe makes a large quantity of cake and I made two cakes, one big and another small with the batter. Its a delicious moist cake, specially with a chocolate ganache topping.


Ingredients:

    2 cups sugar
    1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
    3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
    1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
    1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
    1 teaspoon salt
    2 eggs
    1 cup milk
    1/2 cup vegetable oil
    2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    1 cup boiling water

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and line cake pans, dusting lightly with flour.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. ( I sifted all dry ingredients). Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in water (batter will be thin). Fill in prepared cake pans and bake for about 40 minutes or till toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

For the ganache: I have used
1 1/2 cups cream
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 teaspoon unsalted butter

Bring the cream and butter to a boil in a heavy saucepan, over low heat. Boil for a full minute, taking care not to burn the cream. Take off the heat. Gently stir in the chocolate chips and leave for 2-3 minutes, till the chocolate dissolves completely. Stir gently with a rubber spatula till it becomes a homogeneous mixture. Do not stir or whisk vigorously as it may cause the ganache to become grainy. Once cool, whip ganache till thick and of frosting consistency. Do check this site for more tips and info on ganache.

Slice the cake into two horizontal slices. Fill and frost the cake on the top and sides with the ganache.The above quantity was enough for one 9-inch cake.

For fondant topping:
Lemon sized ball of white rolled fondant( I have used Wilton)
Piping Gel
Food colors(Wilton again)
A small pinch of CMC (Available at most super markets)
Cornflour for rolling
Brushes for painting.

I microwaved the fondant for about 5 seconds to make it soft.  Mixed the CMC into it. Then rolled it thinly and laid it on a flat plate lightly dusted with cornflour. This will help avoid the fondant sticking to the plate. I kept it in the fridge for about 5 hours to make it hard. I have traced the picture of the helicopter using wax paper. Painted the helicopter with the food color mixed in the piping gel. I wanted the outline to be black, somehow it just keep turning a dark shade of green. Was too scared to add too much color, fearing the gel tasting bitter as a result.


I have dried the painted fondant in the fridge overnight and placed it on the cake about an hour before cutting the cake. The picture color was intact for about 2 hours and then I could see the ganache beneath the fondant. The fondant was soft enough to be eaten by the time we cut the cake.  I personally do not like the sweetness of fondant, so made it a very thin layer, purely for decorative purpose. Yeah, only whipped cream to fatten me up:-))

Whew! End of my long post. Will post the other cake - Mocha Chocolate Gateaux in a couple of days.
Tips and help on using fondant welcome!!

This cake is also my entry to Divya's Best Chocolate Cake Event.

twi-hards.

ooooh twilight. yes, we went to forks/port angeles/la push while here in washington and let me tell you, it was awesome. i am no die hard fan, but i do love a good dose of vampire romance.
and la push beach is pure magic.

we're currently in the airport waiting to come home and i feel like crying. i do not want to come back to real life. it has been so great hanging out with family and friends and especially having my husband all to myself for a whole week!

washington, i miss you already.

Thotakoora Mamidikaya Pappu ~ Amarnath Leaves Mango Dal

Thotakura Mamidikaya Pappu ~ Amarnath Leaves Mango Dal

Ingredients :

Amaranth leaves : 3 Bunches
Raw Mango : 1 medium sized
Yellow lentil / Toordal / Kandipappu : 1 Cup
Green Chillies : 3 or 4
Red Chilli Powder : 1/2 tsp
Turmeric Powder : 1/4 tsp
Mustard Seeds : 1tsp
Urad dal : 1tsp
Chana dal : 1tsp
Salt to Taste
Oil : 2 or 3 tsp
A Pinch of Hing



Method :

Remove the stems from Amarnath leaves. Wash & chop the amarnath leaves and keep aside.
Wash & peel the mango and cut into medium pieces.
Wash yellow lentil properly with plenty of water.
Put dal, mango pieces, amarnath leaves, chopped gree chillies and two cups of water in a pressure cooker.
And cook till 3 or 4 whistles.
Turn off the flame and wait unill the pressure go off.
Remove the lentil from cooker and keep aside.
Heat oil in a vessel add mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal and a pinch of hing. When they start to splutter add cooked dal mixture, turmeric powder, salt and red chilli powder.
Mix well and cook about 5 minutes.
Take it out and serve with hot rice & a dollop of ghee.

Making Whoopie in Brighton

After our trip to Swallow Bakery we had planned a stop in Worthing to visit the awesome Parklife but time was not on our side so we headed directly to Brighton as we were aiming to end our mini tour there with a trip to our favourite pub, with a stop at Angel Food Bakery first for a second bit of lunch (two cupcakes = lunch!).

Luck was on our side as we managed to secure a table in the usually v.busy Angel Food and Manny managed to get the last of their chocolate whoopie pies.

Manny's whoopie was HUGE and the filling was amazing - I tried a little smidge and it was ever so tasty. I opted for a banana cupcake which came with a white chocolate and cream cheese frosting. The cake was incredibly moist and tasty and the frosting was divine. I occasionally find cream cheese frosting a bit cloying but this combination was fantastic. I really like Angel Food Bakery, it's a lovely little cafe with fabulous coffee and even better cakes - everything is incredibly fresh, and you can see the kitchen staff preparing your cakes through the window at the back. And it seems I'm not the only one who loves it - the place was constantly busy, people popping in for a cupcake or to pick up or place orders. It's nice to see an small retailer doing so well!





Again we grabbed some take away - this time opting for four as we just couldn't decide and we needed some cake when we'd finished drinking! I had a toffee apple (with a Toffifee on top - one of my favourite sweets ever!), and a vanilla. Manny opted for a chocolate orange (with piece of chocolate orange on top) and a devils food with honeycomb on top of coffee frosting.

All of the cupcakes were lovely, except the vanilla which was unfortunately inedible and ended up in my bin. The frosting tasted of nothing but butter, not a hint of vanilla, and the cake itself tasted days old (we tried to eat it on the Saturday - about 16 hours after buying it), and again tasted of really flavourless sponge, again not a smidge of vanilla flavour. The other cupcakes made up for it though and were incredibly flavoursome - and really different from the usual cupcake flavours you get! I highly recommend a trip to Brighton for these cakes, especially the toffee apple which I adored and Manny recommends the whoopies and devils food cupcake!

We shall be doing the tour again, perhaps this time with less takeaway (I was stuffed of cake by the time my birthday was over!) and next time we're definitely going to Parklife - especially now they've started doing macarons!

Lashings of cupcakes in Chichester

My birthday cupcake tour of the South East has taken me a while to write up but I still wanted to share with you this wonderful little bakery in the lovely town of Chichester - it is a definite must visit.

I have wanted to visit Swallow Bakery for some time, and finally got round to it 3 weeks ago and it was worth the wait.

Getting off the train in Chichester after being in London is like another world. We left Victoria Station on a day when a famous Dutch activist was in town so we spent our wait at the Station listening to bone head idiots who seemed to think they were the creme de la creme of Englishness shouting abuse at everyone, and surrounded by the usual fragrant part of the population that seems to be loiter in London stations. Chichester is lovely and I'm not just saying that because we found cupcakes, a great little food market, a fab kitchenware shop and a store where I found the cutest Hello Kitty purse all within 3 mins of each other. And they have a Lakeland which we didn't visit but it kinda adds to me wanting to live somewhere like this! It's a really picturesque little town - I loved it!

Anyways, to the cupcakes. Swallow Bakery is a cute little cafe, with about 4 tables and lots of lovely goodies to purchase. And the cupcakes - rows and rows of lovely looking, perfectly frosted cupcakes. I opted for a pink vanilla (my usual to test a bakery) and Manny had a double chocolate. Manny secured a table and I waited for the coffees and cake. This is where my first little problem with Swallow Bakery occurs - there were 2 tables free, however both were swarming with dirty crockery. The girl serving noticed and did nothing, fair enough she was serving. However there was another girl sitting down just near the counter reading The Sun who I did think could have perhaps gotten up and cleared the tables (sorry but even if she was on a break it's a cafe so tables need clearing, you can take a break later). We got our coffees etc and ended up clearing the tables ourselves, even when the girl behind the counter spotted this she just left them piled up on the table we'd put them on.

Anyways back to what we travelled two hours out of London for - the cupcakes. They were AMAZING. Really, really flavoursome, moist and yummy. Both were engulfed in a thick layer of really lovely frosting - some of the nicest cupcakes we've had. The coffee was great too - the perfect little cafe!

We decided to get a couple of cupcakes to take away and went back to the counter -where my second problem occurs (part of which we didn't realise till the next day). By going back and asking for takeaway we seemed to interrupt the staff chatting which seemed to perturb the girl serving to the point of putting one of our cupcakes upside down in the box. If you look at the pic above there isn't really any way just one could've ended up the wrong way up unless it was done purposely. They still tasted great though - Manny had a black and white (the upside down one) and I had an apple and fudge (I think it was a daily special). Both were still really fresh tasting and moist the day after purchase and really tasty - mine was full of lovely bits of fresh apple and the fudge on top was lovely. Manny loved the chocolate base of both his cupcakes declaring them some of the best he'd had. And again the frosting was just superb - some of the tastiest frosting I've ever had!

Staffing issues aside I highly recommend a visit to Chichester - next time we'll go back and explore a little more. If you do fancy a day out Southern Trains do a Daysave ticket which means you can explore all over the Southern network for a tenner!

Easy Dhokla Chaat

I bet if you can show me somebody who does not love tongue-tickling chaats. My mouth waters at the thought of chaat and can have it anytime of the day, any day. And  I particularly love the 'dahi' varieties with cool curd topped on the chaat during summers. And its bliss to drown it all with a cold  badam-milk... Yumm!! Its just the thought of all those excessive calories and fat which goes into these delicious snacks that stops me from running to the nearest chaat center and binging on it.

I tried making a relatively low fat and healthier version the 'Dhokla Chaat'. This one is really quick and easy if you have Mint Chutney stored in your fridge. Honestly, I have never made an attempt to make the sweet chutney at home, as I hardly use a few teaspoons of the stuff at a time.  I have used  ready-made Fun Foods Khatti-Meethi Imli chutney, which I find is real good VFM:-)

Surely there are no hard and fast rules for making a chaat.  Most things you fancy can go into the dish, in varying proportions, reasonably of course! Forgive me for not specifying the exact quantities of ingredients except the dhokla mix I used here as I just kept taking and putting the stuff from their bottles as and when my family kept coming in. So please go by your taste when you make this.

Ingredients:
Khaman Dhokla Mix - 1 packet
Mint Chutney - 1/2 cup
Sweet Chutney - 1/2 cup, diluted with some water to adjust consistency
Fresh, thick, fat free yogurt - 1 1/2 to 2 Cups
Roasted Jeera powder - 2 teaspoons
Sugar - 1 teaspoon
Red Chilli powder - 2 teaspoons
Salt to taste
Sev for garnish
Chopped Coriander

Procedure: Make the dhokla according to packet instructions. Cool and cut into small cubes. Keep aside till needed. Add salt, sugar and whisk the yogurt, chill till serving time, for at least 2 hours.
Take the required quantity of dhokla cubes in a wide bowl, add some mint and sweet chutney. (I prefer less of mint chutney and more of the sweet one). Toss lightly ensuring the cubes are well coated with the chutney.
Transfer the chutney coated cubes to the serving plate. Top with chilled yogurt, mint chutney, sweet chutney, a sprinkling of roasted jeera powder, chilli powder, sev and coriander. Serve immediately.