2 minutes Mango Kulfi / Indian mango ice-cream

Kulfi always evokes memories of childhood.
During our summer vacations,we used to wait for the ' kulfiwalllah' and the ringing bell from his cart brought us out running from the house. A 50 paisa kulfi bought us a lot of happiness. The joy of licking the stick clean of every morsel! And waiting for others to finish cos ours got finished too soon..Sometimes we used to ask him to dip our kulfi in the the thick and sweet Rabdi. That was a special treat for us. Mmmm....wish I could be there right now.




Summer is associated with mangoes in India. Its everywhere... in shakes, ice-creams, smoothies and juices. So why not in Kulfi ?!

This is an easy recipe for the busy working mommies who can make it in the morning and serve it up for kids post lunch.

You will need

Ingredients
Mango pulp- 1 and 1/2 cup
Sugar- 3 tbsp
Evaporated milk
Pistachios-1 tbsp, broken or chopped into thin slices

Method
Mix all the ingredients together in a electric mixer, except pistachios.
Check that the sugar has to be completely dissolved.
Put a pinch of pistachios in all the mold and then pour the mix. Top it up with the remaining nuts, if any.
Freeze till its set, overnight is best.
Enjoy on a hot sunny day...or anytime really :)

Makes 12 kulfis appoximately depending on your mold size.

Rainy season and cupcakes- Egg free Apple cinnamon cupcakes

Its raining, its pouring....and we are baking cupcakes!!

Occasionally it rains sooo much that you need to bake something....anything.

Okay, that's probably my excuse for baking these cupcakes...but they are good and my little one is relishing these little beauties.

Cinnamon apple cupcakes

Ingredients (adapted from Divinetaste)
Apple (green)- peeled, cored and chopped
Sugar- 3/4 cups
Baking soda- 1tsp
Butter- 100 gm
Baking powder- 1 tsp
Whole wheat flour- 3/4 cup
White flour- 1/2 cup
Cinnamon powder- 1/2 heaped tsp
Vanilla essence- 2tsp

Method

1. Pour 3 tsp water in a pan and add the chopped apples..cook till soft.
2. Pre-heat the oven at 150 degree centigrade.
3. Mix well the baking powder, cinnamon powder, wheat flour and white flour, sieve them together.
4. Cream the butter and sugar.
5. Blend the cooked apples and mix baking soda in it.
6. Now add the apple puree to the butter and sugar mix.
7. Add all the dry ingredients to this mixture. Add vanilla essence.
8. You will get a thick batter, do not overbeat.
9. Spoon the batter into cupcake liners.
10. Bake for 25 min or till the skewer comes clean.
11. Enjoy warm. You can refrigerate it and re-heat it, but it taste best when its fresh.

I have not used any icing here, but a small amount of glace icing with lemon should taste good.

Coconut Cookies (eggless) / Nariyal ke biscuit

Sometimes you want nothing chocolate-y, sometimes you just want wholesome goodness, sometimes you need to have coconut cookies...
So I baked a batch of whole wheat coconut cookies, which turned out pretty neat.

The recipe is very simple and can be found at more places than one...I really cant remember where I jotted it from.

Ingredients

1. Whole Wheat flour- 1 cup
2. Softened butter - 100gm (1/2cup)
3. Grated coconut- 1 cup + 1Tbsp for topping
4. Icing sugar- 3/4 cup
5. Baking powder-1tsp
6. Coconut Extract- 1/2 tsp (optional)
7. Milk- 1-2 Tbsp

 Method

• Pre-heat the oven at 180 degrees centigrade.
• Cream the sugar and butter. Add the extract.
• Mix the baking powder with the flour thoroughly. 
• Add the flour to the creamed sugar and butter. Mix well.
• Add grated coconut and make soft dough. Add milk if the dough seems to be too dry.
• Prepare the baking sheet by brushing it with a little butter.
• Take extra grated coconut in a flat bowl.
• Make small rounded balls, press them on the coconut flakes/grated coconut so some if them stick to it.
• Place on the sheet leaving room for the cookies to expand.
• Put the tray in the oven for 12-15 min. Keep your eyes on it. they should not burn.
• When slightly browned at the edges and just about to set, take them out let it cool in the tray for a minute or so.
• Remove and store in an air-tight container.
• Bake the rest in a similar manner.

Enjoy!!

A birthday and Pineapple Cake

 We celebrated the birthday of my mother in law this month. She is a perky and fun-loving person with a genuine smiling face. It is very easy to talk to her and she befriends you with her laughter charm. Given the special person she is, I wanted to make a cake really suited for her birthday.

Pineapples are in abundance here and they are as sweet as it can get. We've been feasting on ripe pineapples almost every day during the duration of their (my mother and father in law) stay. So this cake came out to be the perfect choice for this joyous occasion.

Pineapple layer cake
Make a 9" round cake (ref: here and here)
Note:
If you are using fresh pineapples then soak the slices in thin sugar syrup. This will prevent pineapple from turning bitter. Otherwise used tinned ones.
For the Sponge:
Ingredients:
250 gm (1 & 3/4 cups) plain flour
2 tbsp vanilla custard powder
4 tbsp icing sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda/ sodium bicarbonate
1 tin/400gm sweetened condensed milk
100 gm (1/2 cup) butter
175 ml (3/4 cup)  milk (can use water instead)
2 tsp good quality vanilla extract
Method:
1. Grease and line the bottom of an  9” round cake tin with greaseproof paper.
2. In a mixing bowl, assemble the flour, custard powder or cornstarch, icing sugar,  baking powder and baking soda, mix with a spoon or a fork.
3. Preheat the oven at about 150 degrees centigrade.
4. Put in the condensed milk,  butter, vanilla extract and milk into the mixing bowl containing the dry ingredients. Beat with an electric hand mixer, whisk or spoon  until the mixture comes together and there are no lumps. It should not be overbeaten otherwise it'll cause the cake to be hard.
5. Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake for an hour at 150 degree centigrade.
6. The cake is done when a knife comes out clean when inserted in the centre of the cake.
7. Cool the cake.
Cream icing
Ingredients
Whipping cream- 500ml chilled
Icing sugar- 4 tbsp
To Prepare the Cream:
1. Chill 2 Bowls in the Fridge. Chill the Beater/Whisk.
2. Divide the Whipping Cream in 2 Bowls. Add 2 Tablespoons of Sugar to each bowl along with the Cream.
3. Put one bowl back in the Fridge to Chill.
4. Beat the Whipping Cream, & the Sugar in one bowl till the cream is thick,  fluffy & forms peaks.
5. Repeat with the other bowl of cream.
To assemble the cake
1. Slice the sponge cake into 2 halves carefully
2. Keep the bottom half in the serving plate and sprinkle with pineapple juice till its well soaked.
3. Spread a layer of cream and top it with thin pineapple slices.
4. Very carefully keep the top portion on the prepared one and soak it again with pineapple juice.
5. Spread the cream over the cake to cover the sides and decorate with more pineapple slices.
6. Chill for a few hours or overnight for the flavors to set in.
 

Enjoy!!

Strawberry fro-yo (frozen yoghurt)

Recently saw frozen strawberries at the supermarket and was happy to buy my fill. Fresh strawberries are a rarity here. Even if they are available, you'll not buy them because of their quality.

Back to the recipe. This is another quick one when you have little time at your hands, but need to have a sweet something ready till dinner time.

STRAWBERRY FRO-YO

Ingredients
Strawberries- 1/2 cup, chopped
Full fat Yogurt- 4 tbsp
Vanilla extract-1 tsp
Sugar- 1/3 cup (adjust according to the tartness of the berries)

Method
Throw everything into a blender and mix well
Keep for freezing in a metal or a plastic container

Suggestions
Add whipped cream to make it more ice- creamy.
Serve with fresh strawberries and a mint sprig.

Golden Yellow custard cake

A few months back I met a lovely person. Even though she is a little elder to me, I absolutely did not feel out of place with her. The casual and welcoming attitude, the helping nature, a positive outlook to everything and an understanding of mindset…What could I ask more in a friend?

So when her cute little daughter told me that her mom's birthday is coming soon, I started thinking of ideas to show my appreciation towards her. There is nothing better than making a cake for a birthday. Chocolate cake has become too common (no brainer!) and so I surfed my favorite sites for that perfect cake.

Anushruti of divinetaste,has some amazing eggless cake recipes. This is one of her b'day cakes.

I'm happy that my friend liked the cake so much, that she asked for the recipe.

This is for you Dee, Happy Birthday!!

GOLDEN YELLOW CAKE (adapted from the recipe here)

Ingredients

1. All purpose Flour (maida) - 2 cups
2. Granulated Sugar- 1 & 1/4 cups
3. Vanilla custard powder-1/2 cup
4. Milk-1 cup+ 1 Tbsp (if required)
5. Baking powder-2tsp
6. Baking soda- 1/2 tsp
7. Vanilla extract- 1tsp
8. Butter- 100gm (1/2 cup)

Method

1. Prepare a round cake pan by greasing and then dusting it lightly with flour.

2. Tap to remove excess flour from the pan.

3. Heat milk in a pan. Stir in the sugar and after it melts completely, set it aside to cool at room temperature.

4. After the milk reaches room temperature, pour it into a large mixing bowl, add custard powder and vanilla extract and mix well with a whisk. Put in the butter and mix again.

5. Heat the oven to 160⁰C or 325⁰F.

6. In a bowl, sieve the flour , baking powder, baking soda together for proper mixing. Alternatively you can put them together and mix well with a fork.

7. Add this flour mixture to the custard mixture and mix well so that no lumps remain. You can use a hand blender also. Add the flour mixture periodically. It'll make it easy to mix in the batter.

8. Put the prepared batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 55-60 min. or till a skewer comes out clean. I usually use toothpicks to check.

Perfect to bring smile on the face of your loved ones.

Choco strawberry cake- B'day special

Yesterday was my birthday. It was the first birthday after my marriage. So to make it special I decided to bake a homemade cake (hey! that rhymes). Thanks to Anushruti of divinetaste, my eggless cakes come out very nicely. This recipe is adapted from her recipe.

Ingredients
1. 160 gm strawberries
2. 2 cups maida/ white flour/all purpose flour
3. 1 & 1/2 cups brown sugar
4. 1 Tbsp coco powder (i used Cadbury's)
5. 1tsp cinnamon powder
6. 2 tsp baking powder
7. 1 tsp baking soda
8. 1/2 cup olive oil
9. 1/2 cup yogurt
10. 1 tsp vanilla essence/extract
11. 1 cup milk

Method
1. Sift the white flour, baking powder, baking soda and coco powder together
2. In another deep bowl mix brown sugar, yogurt, oil and milk.
3. Pour half of dry ingredients in the wet ingredients and blend with a hand blender, Combine the rest of the half and again blend it. Alternatively keep sprinkling dry ingredients and mixing it with a long spoon.
4. Now stir in the vanilla extract, the chopped strawberries & the cinnamon powder.
5. Pre heat the oven at 150 degrees centigrade.
6. Pour the cake mix in previously prepared(greased and floured) pan.
7. Keep the pan in the oven and keep for about 50 min. or till a skewer comes out clean.

I also used her chocolate butter frosting recipe to decorate the cake.

Ingredients
1. 1/3 cup cocoa powder
2. 1/3 cup butter, softened
3. 2 cups icing sugar
4. 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
5. 1 to 2 tbsp hot water


Method
With the help of a hand mixer or a wire whisk, mix the cocoa and butter. Stir in the powdered sugar, vanilla and hot water. Beat until you get a smooth frosting which can be spread easily.

My frosting was a bit runny, I might have accidently put more water. I used up only half of the running chocolatey liquid. So, if you dont want to store anything, I suggest halving all the measures for the frosting.

Just to give a more berry-like touch, I decided to put in raspberry jam.
When the cake was cooled then I cut it into half and smeared the jam inside. After placing the top portion and pouring the frosting, the rough edges got covered. Not to mention that it tasted totally delicious!!

Tasty tip- Chill the cake after frosting and enjoy after a few hours.