Ginger Pear Upside Down Cake

I just so love the concept of upside down cakes. The beautiful swirls of fruit created at the bottom of the pan, baked golden and glossy become the top of a beautiful cake. The first time I came across an upside down cake was when my sis and bhabhi 'S' made it for my birthday. Oh those were some days - sis and I used to bake cakes for each and every family member's birthday or any other special occasion. Our whole family used to back us up and appreciate the end products, even daddy whose drink cabinet we would raid for our supply of rum or his finest cognac for our cake experiments :). Well the recipe I am now about to share is one with a very unusual (IMHO) combination ginger and pear. I wanted to try the recipe only for this combination and the verdict - both of us liked the flavor, it looked beautiful and tasted nice but we thought this was one cake which cannot be stored for very long, it was fab on day 1, mighty fine on day 2 but beyond that the difference in taste was quite noticeable. Since this is a big cake when I make it again I will halve the recipe if I am making for just two of us or bake it when we have company.

Ingredients
1 Cup Whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp Cinnamon Pdr
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 Cup Unsulphured Molasses
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
1 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Egg
2" piece of Fresh Ginger Root peeled and grated
1/2 tsp lemon zest
Juice of 1/2 lime
3-4 slices of Pear mashed and added to cake *(Optional - I had some extra pieces ;))
2-3 Tbsp of Raisins
For Topping or should I say bottom layer ??
3 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
1&1/2 tsp Cinnamon Pdr
1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar
Juice of 1/2 lime
3 Big Bartlett Pears peeled and sliced

Method
1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. In a small microwave proof bowl, add the first four ingredients of the topping and mix till butter is melted, approx 2 mins.
3. Pour this mix in an 8"cake tin and move it around and let it coat the entire surface of the tin, then arrange pear slices all around in a circular fashion. If you are a raisin fan like me feel free to add a few on top of pears.
4. In a mixing bowl sift all dry ingredients and in another mix all wet ingredients.
5. Now mix all wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, throw in the raisins mix lightly, then pour it over the pear slices.
6. Bake for 20-25 mins or until the cake tester comes out clean. Let it cool just a little bit, slice and serve.

Applesauce + Cookies = Applesauce Cookies

So I made this big jar of applesauce a month ago when the whole blogosphere seemed to be posting apple related recipes. My confession is that I don't much like apples so for me to make something primarily with apple seemed like a waste of time, effort and materials. But then there are times when an idea just refuses to get out of your head despite all the practical reasons for not following through. So I had to had to make applesauce.  Since I have never tasted applesauce before - ya another confession ... I read a whole bunch of recipes, did not write any of them down. So in a minute I will tell you about how I made my applesauce, but for now just assume that I now have this whole bottle of applesauce in my fridge and I don't know what to do with. Well I went on a hunt for ways to use up applesauce and found this recipe for applesauce cookies on Tastes Better with Friends. I tweaked it a bit though not too much - the result floored us. I had halved the original recipe so the yield was around 20 cookies, and the two of us finished these in two days.

Well true to the spirit of the blog from where I picked up the recipe " Tastes better with friends", I am sending these cookies virtually to my dear friend 'S' and I really wish I was in India making these for her. For now enjoy these virtually 'S and you can pester 'R' to make it when her oven is not exploding ;)

Ingredients for Applesauce(Makes 450 gms or 16 Oz)
4 Apples peeled, cored and chopped
3/4 Cup Water
1/4 Cup Sugar
1/2 tsp Cinnamon Pdr
1/4 tsp All Spice
Juice of half lemon

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan, cover and cook for 15-20 minutes over medium heat. Cool & mash with a potato masher. Store refrigerated in a glass bottle.

Applesauce Cookies
Ingredients
1/4 Cup Butter
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 C Applesauce
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 Cup Raisins
1/4 Cup Crystallized Ginger Pieces chopped fine (instead of nuts in the original recipe)
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Ground Cloves

Method
1. Preheat oven to 375 F
2. Cream butter, sugar then add applesauce and blend it.
3. Sift flour with baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cloves. Add the dry ingredients to the above mixture and stir until smooth.
4. Add the raisins and ginger pieces and stir until combined. At this point, this mix was more like a thick muffin batter than a cookie dough.
5. Drop by tsp onto a greased baking sheet spacing 2 to 3 inches apart. Bake about 12 mins or lightly browned. I baked for 14 minutes.
6. At this point I should say cool completely before devouring but I love warm cookies and these were so cake like in texture I couldn't wait ....

So Ms S here they come your way ..

Mini Cake Doughnuts - Two Ways

I brought a mini doughnut pan purely for its cuteness value. It looked so cute that I had to have one. I bought it home and then had it stacked away with all my other baking pans. Now me and my friend R love doughnuts. we have spent many of our lunch breaks walking down to a donut chain called Mad Over Doughnuts in Mumbai to ogle at and share a donut and coffee for lunch yeah you heard me LUNCH or at other times just like that. So when my dear R, sent me a one liner telling me about a new job offer for her, I decided to remove my doughnut pan and bake donuts for her. So what if  I can share them only virtually ..it's the thought that counts right.

I basically followed the recipe that came with my pan and varied it only to add a couple of spoons of maple syrup to one part and a 1/4 tsp of vanilla essence to the other batch.

Ingredients
1 1/4 Cups All Purpose Flour *original recipe called for Cake flour, since I didn't have any ...
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk * I used 2-3 Tbsp Plain Yogurt diluted with water
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 Tablespoons butter, melted
1-2 Tbsp Maple Syrup * See method below
1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract * See method below
Method
1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Spray mini doughnut pan with cooking spray or oil.
2. In a bowl, mix all dry ingredients together and stir with a whisk.
3. In another bowl, add all wet ingredients, whisk till egg and buttermilk have blended. Now add butter and whisk it nicely.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk well. Do not overbeat.
5. Now divide the batter in two bowls, to one add maple syrup and to the other add vanilla essence.
6. Take a ziplock bag and fill the contents of the vanilla batter to the bag, snip a small hole and fill in the each donut cavity about 1/2 full. Bake for 4-6 minutes till the top of the doughnut springs back to touch.
7. Since I wasn't very happy with the color on top, I flipped the donuts on the other side and slipped the pan back into the oven for 2 minutes. This is strictly optional.
8. Now remove the donuts and fill in the maple batter bake for 4-6 mins.
9. For Sugar Glazed donuts - in another ziplock bag, fill in 2/3 C Sugar and dunk a few minis at a time, shake the bag till well coated, remove and repeat till all vanilla donuts a dozen of them are coated with sugar
10. For the maple glaze, in a bowl mix 1/2 C powdered sugar, 2-3 Tbsp Maple Syrup and mix well, glaze each donut and set it on a serving platter.
11. Enjoy with coffee - our choice Black with no Sugar added.

A special note for R: Remember NSE cafeteria?? Instant black coffee and "Are you girls insane looks?" of the cafeteria guys ;)

Butterscotch Cookies

Butterscotch has been one of the earliest flavors - the times when ice-cream options were limited to Vanilla, Chocolate and Butterscotch. I used to be almost torn between chocolate and butterscotch and more often than not chocolate would win out. The same happened when I decided to bake cookies for the spirited trick or treaters but instead of chocolate butterscotch chips won out and the little tricksters were treated to some delicious butterscotch cookies.

Oh well a big bad monster stole a cookie ;)

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Butter softened or cut into pieces

1/4 - 1/3 Cup Sugar * I baked 2 batches, used 1/4 C for the first I felt they needed a tad bit more so upped to 1/3 Cup for the next batch

1 Cup All Purpose Flour

1/3 Cup Butterscotch Chips

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/4 tsp Salt * Alternatively use salted butter

1 Tbsp Milk * May or may not be needed

Method

1. Cream butter and sugar till smooth in texture. Add vanilla extract and salt and stir them together.

2. Slowly incorporate flour into the mixture. The dough should resemble bread crumbs at this point.

3. Add the butterscotch chips and try to form a dough. If it does not come together add a little milk.

4. Roll into a log, wrap with cling wrap or wax paper and refrigerate for 15-20 mins till firm.

5. Preheat oven to 350 F

6. On an un-greased cookie sheet, slice and arrange the cookies from the log. It made 24 cookies for me each time. These spread beautifully so leave some space between each cookie.

7. Sprinkle some plain sugar or any colored sugar on top of the cookies and bake for 10-12 minutes a little longer if you like me like crisp cookies.

8. The wonderful aroma that comes out of your kitchen will tempt you to eat one as soon as it comes out of the oven, but trust me let them be for 10 minutes and then gobble them up. 

No one can eat just one !!!!

Fruitcake Cookies

I had been dreaming of making these cookies ever since I came across them in Ina Garten's book. These are really really rich cookies, do not spread much but taste oh so yummy !!!. These remind me of the very famous biscuits from Karachi Bakery in Hyderabad. As usual, I made some tweaks, used what I had on hand and used flax-seed meal instead of the one egg called for. For the original recipe please see Ina's recipe. Here's my version of this fruit and nut treat.

Ingredients
8-10 Pitted Dates chopped very fine
1/4 Cup Tutti Fruti (Crystallized candied fruit, usually papaya bits colored red, orange, green)
1/4 Cup Raisins + Dried Cherries
1/4 Cup Salted Cashews chopped in pieces
3-4 Crystallized Ginger pieces chopped very fine
1 Tbsp Honey
Juice of 1 Lemon
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Tbsp Sherry / Wine (Optional)
1/4 tsp Cinnamon Powder
1/4 tsp Nutmeg Powder
1/2 tsp Dried Orange Peel Powder ( can substitute with Orange Zest)
1/3 Cup Sugar
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Cup Butter at room temperature
2 & 2/3 Cups All-purpose Flour
1 Tbsp Flax-seed Meal mixed with 3 Tbsp Water

Method
1. Mix together all the dried fruits and nuts, honey, lemon juice and vanilla extract and Sherry / wine if using. Add cinnamon pdr, nutmeg pdr and dried orange peel powder and some salt. Cover the bowl with cling wrap and leave it aside overnight or atleast for 4-5 hours.
2. Cream butter and sugar till smooth. Add in the flax-seed meal mixed in water and then slowly add flour and mix till just combined. Do not OVERMIX as it will result in hard cookies.
3. Now mix in the fruit-mixture from step 1 along with any liquid residue and mix lightly till incorporated.
4. Divide the dough into two and roll them out in the shape of logs about 1&a/2 inch in diameter and approximately 18 inches in length. Wrap with cling-wrap or wax paper and refrigerate for 3-4 hours
5. Pre-heat oven to 350 F
6. Slice the cookies from the log, set on ungreased baking tray and bake for 15-20 mins until lightly golden.
7. Wait to cool and serve with coffee or tea or gobble them up just like that. I betcha u can't eat just one ;)

Gokul Pithe

I am huge fan of Bengali sweets. Most of the times when we speak of Bengali sweets visions of soft pillowy rasagullas and sandesh pop up in front of our eyes. So when I came across a very different kind of bengali sweet at the Bong Mom's Cookbook, I immediately bookmarked it for my next sweet preparation round. This Navratri I made Gokul Pithe as an offering to Goddess Amba. We enjoyed this immensely.

I halved the recipe as I did not want to make so many of them. For the original recipe head over to Bong Mom's Cookbook, she has lovely pics. I forgot to click step-by-step ones ..it happens to me when I am dealing with sugar syrup :)

Ingredients
For the filling
6 Oz Khoya (Milk Solids)
1 Cup Freshly Grated Coconut
1 Cup Sugar
a generous pinch crushed cardamom powder
a generous pinch saffron

For the coating
1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Milk
pinch salt
Water as needed
pinch of baking soda
1 tsp ghee
a generous pinch saffron

For sugar syrup
2 Cups Sugar
1&1/2 Cups Water

a generous pinch crushed cardamom powder
a generous pinch saffron

Method

1. In a saucepan, mix sugar, water, cardamom and saffron and bring to a boil till you reach a one string consistency.

2. In a heavy bottomed wok, on low heat, mix together coconut and sugar and stir till the sugar dissolves and coconut starts to turn golden brown. Now add khoya and cardamom and saffron and stir the mixture till it starts to leave the sides. 

3. Take a small amount and try to shape it into a disc, if it is sticky then return to heat and cook a bit more else it is done and you can set it aside.

4. Take a spoonful of the mix and shape it into a round flat disc approx 1.5 inch in diameter and thickness of a coin. Shape and keep aside.

5. In a kadhai add oil for deep frying on medium high heat.

6. In a mixing bowl, mix together the ingredients for coating adding enough water to make a thick cake-like batter.

7. Now coat the discs on both sides and dunk in hot oil, fry till golden on both sides. Remove with slotted spoon and add to the sugar syrup.

8. Remove from sugar syrup when they become a little soft. Enjoy

Brazilian Brigadeiros

My husband's office group had their annual picnic. The highlight of this year's picnic was to be the "Dessert Competition Event". My husband was nominated as one of the judges for the entry but he really wanted me to participate in the event, even if not to compete then as just an honorary entry. I agreed to participate then came the big question of what to make. There were to be roughly a 100 to 120 crowd expected. This was not a mandate from the event organizers but hubby dear wanted me to make something that would atleast cater to 50-60 people.
My dear friend R came to my rescue with three suggestions, Chocolate Truffles, Black Bottom Cupcakes and /or Brigadeiros. I had never heard of either Black Bottom Cupcakes or Brigadeiros so I got curious. After seeing the ingredient list for Black Bottom Cupcakes, I just earmarked the recipe for future and decided to move onto Brigadeiros. And oh la la they caught my fancy. I saw, I made and I won the third prize and no my husband did not score my entry so I won based on other two votes :)

Ingredients (adapted slightly from http://leitesculinaria.com/32758/recipes-brigadeiros.html)
2 Cans Condensed Milk
4 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
2Tbsp Cocoa Powder
60 gms Bittersweet Chocolate Bar
60 gms Milk Chocolate Bar
2 tsp Light Corn Syrup * Optional - I had it I used it :)
1 Cup Chocolate Sprinkles

Implements
Heavy Bottomed Non-stick pan
Wooden Spatula
Mini Baking Cups

Method (followed the video from streetsmartbrazil.com)
1. In a heavy bottomed pan on low-med heat, heat butter, add condensed milk, light corn syrup and bring to a boil stirring.
2. Mix cocoa powder with a little water to dissolve cocoa powder, then add this to the milk mixture. Add the chocolate pieces and go on stirring ...
3. Still more stirring ...almost 40-45 mins maybe more and yes my arms hurt afterwards.
4. The trick to know when it is ready is to part the dough with the spatula, if it takes a while to come back and merge together it is ready. Street Smart Brazil has nicely demonstrated this with a video on you tube.
5. Spread the contents onto a flat plate or a wide pan and set aside to cool in the fridge for 30 mins.
6. To make the balls, spread a little butter on your fingers and palm, with a small spoon pick some brigadeiro mix and roll it into a ball, now roll this ball in chocolate sprinkles and keep them in individual cups. This whole recipe makes about 85 of them.
7. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to make them firmer and enjoy.

As a variation, I toasted a few hazelnuts, coated them with Nutella and left them to set in the freezer. Then I rolled the brigadeiro dough flat, added the hazelnut wrapped it and rolled it in the sprinkles. Yummy !!!

Yummylicious Dark Chocolate Brownie

I  got hit with a huge craving for chocolate brownie complete with visions of warm chocolate brownie served with vanilla ice-cream. Since I am off eggs for the month of Shravan I had no option but to try and bake an eggless one if I wanted to fulfill my craving. I decided to do just that. Here's what I conjured up

Wet Ingredients
1 Cup Homemade Yogurt (Dahi)
1/4 tsp Vanilla Essence
1/4 Cup Water
1 Tbsp Honey
4 Tbsp Butter Melted

Dry Ingredients
1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1 Tsp Corn Starch
1/4 Cup + 1 heaped Tbsp Baking Cocoa
1/4 Cup 60% Dark Chocolate Chips + some for decoration * I used Ghirardeli
3 Tbsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
2 Pkts 1 Cup Instant Coffee Powder ~ approx 1 Tbsp
5-8 Walnuts roughly crushed for decoration

Implements
2 Mixing Bowls
Whisk
Measuring Cups and Spoons
9" Baking Tray

Method
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and dust your cake pan.
2. In one mixing bowl mix together all dry ingredients including chocolate chips.
3. In another bowl, mix together all wet ingredients except honey.
4. Now add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 2 or max 3 additions and mix with a whisk till the flour is mixed thoroughly.
5. Pour batter into prepared cake pan and decorate with crushed walnuts and chocolate chips. Drizzle one tablespoon honey on the walnuts.

6. Bake at 350 F for 25 mins.

7. Remove from oven and let them cool for a few minutes.

8. Cut into pieces and serve.

 

Notes:

Next time I would probably use a little more sugar

Coconut Ladoo or Coconut Barfi

I am usually terrified of trying  to make Indian sweets at home, especially the ones that involve making sugar syrup to a certain thread consistency. Heck baking is so much simpler ;) and less daunting. Even then come the Indian festive season and I still get the urge to make Indian sweets for prasad. There are a few stock pile favourites of mine and no Kheer or Payasam is not one of them. I am totally and mortally scarred of trying to make it at home ...
One of the recipes that has become tremendously popular among my colleagues and friends and kind of my signature trademark is that of white melt in your mouth coconut ladoos. These are a snap to make and there is certain pleasure to see them disappear really fast. Like I tell my friends half an hour of effort makes you look like a star. So here I am sharing this recipe on my blog. Hope you enjoy making and eating them as much as me and my friends ...

Photographs for this post taken by my friend Lahiri when we made these at her place. Thanks, Lahiri.

Ingredients
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk (In India- Milkmaid or here in US Nestle Carnation, Eagle or any other)
1/2 C Milk (2 % or whole or skim any will do)
1 Tbsp Ghee
2 Tbsp Raisins
1 Tbsp Broken Cashews * (Optional)
2 Elaichi (Cardamom) Powdered or just opened
2.5 Cups Unsweetened Dry Coconut
0.5 Cup Unsweetened Dry Coconut
Some water

Implements
Kadhai or Wok
Ladle
2 Plates
Can opener

Method
1. Heat the ghee in a wok / kadhai. Add the elaichi, then cashews (if using) let them brown a very little then add raisins. As soon as they puff up empty the can of condensed milk
2. Stir for 1 - 2 mins on med to low flame, the milk should start to bubble around the corners. Now start adding unsweetened coconut and mixing. I find that adding small quantities and mixing them as you go along is easier than emptying the entire amount at one go.
3. Add half cup milk and mix it well.
4. Since the texture of unsweetened coconut varies, the quantity required may need to be adjusted a bit. So after adding milk if you think it is a bit runny add some more coconut a tablespoon at a time. If it is too stiff add a bit more milk.
5. Now switch off the heat and take your wok off the heat.
6. Spread the dry coconut in a plate and fill a cupful of water.
7. Wet your palms with water an take a tablespoon of mixture at a time and roll them round, now roll the ladoo in the dry coconut and keep them on a separate plate. Repeat till you have exhausted all the mixture.
8. Enjoy

Notes:
1. Alternatively, you could grease a thali or a baking tray and sprinkle half of the dry coconut. Then spread the cooked mixture and sprinkle the remaining half coconut on top. Cut this into pieces for a coconut barfi.
2. I sometimes garnish each ladoo with a raisin on top. Or
3. Use Saffron water and a toothpick to make design on top of each ladoo.

Bible Cake

I already wrote about the Bible Cake in my previous post on the Edible Book Contest and also posted the pics with a promise to share the recipe in my next post. I found three or four different variations for this cake on the internet but wasn't able to zero in on any single one. So finally what I made was a mish-mash of ingredients from multiple recipes. The resulting cake was awesome.

Bible Cake
Ingredients
3/4 C      Butter
1&1/2 C Sugar
5 Nos.    Eggs
3 C        Flour
3 tsp      Salt
3 tsp      Baking Powder * Referred as Levain in the Bible verses
1 tsp     Cinnamon Pdr
1 tsp     Mix Spices Pdr  (Nutmeg, cloves, ginger and all spice)
1/2 C    Milk * Add more if required
1/2 C    Almonds Crushed coarsely
3/4 C    Figs chopped * I soaked them in water and pureed them
3/4 C    Raisins
2 tbsp   Honey

Implements / Utensils Required
Mixing Bowls
Measuring cups and spoons
Whisk
Cake Tin either 1 10 inch or 2 9*5 loaf tins

Method
1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease and Flour a 10 inch cake tin.
2. Sieve flour, salt, bakking powder, spices and set aside.
3. Cream butter and sugar. Then add eggs one at a time mixing well after each addition. Beat till a thick custard consistency is reached.
4. Then add dry ingredients in three or four additions mixing well after each addition.
5. If you feel that mixing is getting difficult add milk in between the mixing. Once both the dry and wet ingredients are mixed, fold in the almonds, raisins and fig puree. Add honey and mix. Adjust the liquid consistency of batter as needed by adding more milk if needed.
6. Pour into a prepared cake tin and bake for almost 55 to 60 mins or till a tester comes out clean.
7. Let cool for 5-10 mins before attempting to remove from the pan and onto a cooling rack

For the contest, I had used chocolate buttercream icing and white butter cream icing to give the appearance of the cover of the book and its pages. However, this cake tastes just as good with a sprinkling of powdered sugar or a drizzle of honey. Read about the history of the cake and actual Bible verses here: http://www.abetterhope.com/funpage.html