Nankhatai - Indian shortbread cookies

S made these amazing Nankhatai for Christmas.  As kids, we got to eat them a couple of times in a year, when my grandfather sent them by parcel all the way from Mangalore. We knew them then as Narayan Katar, don't ask me why they were called that! The transportation by lorry took a long, long time, but well worth the wait.  The recipe link is from Ruchik Randap, and S made only slight modifications.

Ingredients:  Makes 16 medium ones/ 20-22 smaller ones

Maida or APF - 150 gms
Powdered Sugar - 125 gms  (granulated sugar that is powdered)
Melted Ghee - 100 gms
Salt - 1/8 tsp
Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp

Optional
Few strands of saffron, Cardamom powder if you like the flavour

Take the melted ghee (ensure that it is not too hot) in a bowl and add powdered sugar gradually, little at a time, till well mixed.
Sift the flour, baking soda and salt.
Add to the ghee and sugar mixture.
Blend it well.
If the mixture is paste like add a bit of flour.  It should be kneading consistency.
Lightly knead the dough till smooth.  Place in bowl, cover with clingfilm and keep aside 4 hours.
The dough might become firmer now.  If so, gently knead and make it soft and pliable.
Preheat oven to 180 fan
Line a baking sheet with parchment.
Divide dough into equal sized portions.  Roll each portion to a ball and gently flatten the sides (only).  The centre should be like a raised dome. This will enable the cracks to form on surface.

Bake for about 10-12 minutes.  Keep checking. Do not over bake or brown .
Remove from oven and let them cool on tray for another 15 minutes, after which they can be gently transferred to a wire rack till cool.

Store in airtight container.

Jaffa Loaf

This is a easy cake recipe from the BBC Good Food.  It had good reviews and I made a few changes more because I ran short of a few ingredients.  The family loved it.  Do try it !

The original recipe is here.  The changes I made are in italics at the end of the recipe.

Ingredients:

Butter - softened - 140 g
Self raising flour - 200 g
Baking powder -  1 1/2 tsp
Golden caster sugar - 200 g
Eggs - 3
Milk - 6 tbsp
Finely grated zest of Orange - 1

Topping
Orange juice - 3 tbsp
Golden caster sugar - 50g
Dark chocolate - 50 g

Butter and line the base of a loaf tin.  Oven set at 180C

Place ingredients for the cake in a bowl - butter, self raising flour, baking powder, caster sugar, eggs, milk and zest.

Beat with hand whisk or a wooden spoon for 3-5 mins till light and fluffy. 

Spoon into the prepared tin and level the top.

Place in oven 40-50 mins till golden brown and done.

As the cake is baking heat the orange juice and sugar gently, till the sugar is dissolved.

Cake with the orange marmalade topping

Once the cake is done, remove from oven and spoon the orange mixture on it.  Leave it in the tin till it cools. Then remove and keep on wire rack.

Prepare the chocolate.  Place in bowl and melt over simmering water or in a microwave as per instructions on the pack.

Drizzle over cake and leave to set. 

My changes

I had salted butter.  I used 100 g ( ran short of butter) and 40 g of refined oil
Since I used salted butter, I used plain flour instead of self raising flour.  Take a cup of plain flour, add  1 1/2 tsp baking powder and omitted the salt)
Additional baking powder as per the recipe wasalso added
I used zest and a teaspoon of candied peel
Instead of orange juice, I used orange marmalade for the additional peel that it contained to which a little water was added and gently heated till it dissolved.  Poked a few holes in the cake and allowed it to seep inside and also coated the surface.
Plain chocolate was used instead of dark chocolate and I did not drizzle it but applied it to coat the top.

Ballymaloe - the no knead Irish Brown Bread

I quite like the kneading process in bread making. All that pull, stretch action is quite therapeutic and besides that sense of achievement when you knock the loaf out of a tin and slice to find it as good if not better than the store bought ones. I however loved the look of the Ballymaloe bread.  I wish I could use the whole wheat flour that we would get from the mill but settled for the packaged whole wheat flour that we use for rotis. The bread , the recipe is from David Lebovitz, was invented to simplify the process of bread making . This is indeed a simple, easy recipe for anyone to gain confidence in baking breads and using yeast.

By using the packaged wheat flour, the texture Lebovitz explains can change.  The dough as he said was not coarse, but a little sticky.  And I did have a problem in getting the baking parchment off the baked bread as we remove it from the tin half way through the baking process.  The baking with the loaf out of the tin gives it a crispy exterior.  

                ( The bread knife in the picture is over 50 years old :-)  )

I halved the following recipe - my comments in italics

Ingredients:
Whole wheat flour-stone ground - 400 g  (I used the packaged wheat flour)
All purpose flour - 50 g
Salt - 1 tsp
Tepid water - 150 ml + 275 ml (you may need more when you use ordinary wheat flour)
Dark molasses - 1 tbsp or 1 tsp treacle ( I used treacle)
Fresh yeast - 30 g ( I used dry yeast - 2 1/2 tsp - that is approximately half the quantity)

Mix the flours with salt in a bowl
Pour 150 ml into a small bowl and stir in the molasses, and then add the yeast, stirring a few time.
Let it stand till it foams - 10 mins or less depending on the warmth of the kitchen

Pour the yeast mixture and the remaining 275 ml water into the flour.  Do not stir till all the water is added or it will form lumps.
Stir till a batter is formed ( like an oatmeal consistency)
It may need a little more water if the dough is too stiff - that is if you have used the packaged wheat flour
However if you have used whole wheat flour like I have the dough will be sticky and rather wet.
Let it stand about 10 minutes
Grease well a 9" loaf tin and line the bottom with parchment paper
Scrape the dough into the prepared tin.
Smooth the top with a spatula or if sticky moisten the hand and pat the top
Cover over lightly with a kitchen towel.
Let it rise till it has almost reached the top of the pan ( about 20 minutes)

Just before that preheat the oven to around 230C
Bake for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, decrease the heat to 200C
Run a knife around the outside of the bread to release it from the tin, tip it out of the pan
Remove the parchment paper
Place the loaf upside down directly on the baking rack and bake for another 15 minutes or till done.
The bread is done when you tap the bottom and it sounds hollow.

Cool on the rack totally, before you slice

The bread can be eaten fresh.  Or toasted. With butter, jam and cheese.  It even tasted better a day later. 

The English Teacake

The teacake in England is more like a bun and less of a cake. It is a light yeast based bun with dry fruits.  Flat and circular.  And the recipe of Paul Hollywood has dry fruit, mixed peel and cinnamon powder giving it an amazing flavour.  Most times, the teacake is split, toasted and buttered generously. This was better than the store bought teacake.  Just out of the oven, it tasted great !  And they say it tastes even better the next day.

Ingredients: - I got 10 medium sized teacakes

All purpose flour - 350 g ( the recipe called for strong white bread flour)
Salt - 7 g
Caster sugar - 42 g
Cinnamon powder - 3/4 tsp
Instant yeast - 7 g
Unsalted butter, softened - 35 g
Water - 210 ml
Vegetable oil for kneading
Sultanas - 70 g
Mixed peel - 70 g ( I used a little less)
Egg - 1 beaten for glaze

Take a large mixing bowl, place the flour in it.
Add the salt, sugar and cinnamon to one side of the bowl and yeast to the other.
Add the butter and three quarters of the water.  Turn the mixture with your fingers
Continue to add all water ( if required a little more - I didn't need to ) - the dough should be soft but not soggy.
Use the  mixture to clean the inside of the bowl and keep gathering the mixture till it forms a rough dough.

Coat a work surface with little vegetable oil, tip the dough onto it and knead for 5-10 minutes till the dough forms a soft, smooth skin. Then put it into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave to rise until doubled in size for at least an hour or more.

Prepare two baking trays with parchment

Once the dough has doubled, tip the sultanas and mixed peel on top of the risen dough and work them into it.
After a minute, put the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until the fruit is thoroughly mixed in.

Divide the dough into equal pieces.  Shape each into a ball and use a rolling pin or fingers to flatten it to a round bun about a cm thick.  Space them apart on the prepared trays.  Put each tray into a clean plastic bag and leave to rise for about an hour or once again till they double in size.

Meanwhile heat the oven to 200C.
Bake the teacakes for 10-15 cms till risen and golden.  Cool on a wire rack.

Carrot Cake

This recipe I have tried a number of times.  I feel James Martin recipes are fail-proof.  I have made the cake with the icing, and without.  With whole meal SRF and all purpose SRF.  With and without the nuts.  It is totally up to you. If you do put the icing, chill the cake, it tastes even better.

Ingredients -
Orange juice and zest  - 1 orange
Sultanas - 50 g
Sunflower oil + extra for greasing - 150 ml
Eggs - 2
Brown sugar - 140 g
Self raising flour - 170 g
Ground cinnamon powder - 2 tsp
Mixed spice powder - 2 tsp
Soda bi carb - 1 tsp
Carrots , coarsely grated - 140 g
Nuts ( optional - walnut) - 50 g

Icing -
Soft cheese - 200 g
Butter - 50 g
Icing sugar, sifted - 85 g
Cinnamon - pinch

This step - try doing it the night before - I never have - put the orange zest and juice in bowl with the sultanas.  Or stir in the zest, juice, sultana together and microwave for a minute and keep for a few minutes to soak.

Grease and line the base of a loaf tin ( 2lb tin)
Whisk the oil and eggs

Heat the oven to 180 C or 160C fan.

Mix the sugar, flour, mixed spice and cinnamon powder, soda bicarb in a large mixing bowl
Add the sultanas soaked in the juice and zest, grated carrot, nuts and oil-egg mixture into the dry ingredients.
Thoroughly mix with wooden spoon.

Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 1 hour or till skewer comes clean.
If you find the top of the cake beginning to brown too quickly, loosely cover with foil
Cool the cake in the tin.

Once cool, remove from tin.

Icing - with electric whisk, beat soft cheese, butter, icing sugar and cinnamon till smooth.  Spread over the top of the cake.  Decorate with walnut halves.

Gingersnaps

These are absolutely delicious. Quite like the ones we had when young.  This particular recipe, however, calls for the use of black treacle.  Not very easily available in India and I am considering experimenting with jaggery molasses.  When I do I will add it to the notes.  The end dough may seem too soft and not easy to handle. If required take a couple of spoons and place on tray for baking :-) The biscuits can be chewy or if kept a little longer in the oven it will acquire a nice crunchy texture.  Either way they are delicious.  And ideal with a hot cup of tea.  Recipe sourced from here

Ingredients - Makes 36 

Butter - 165 g
Caster sugar - 200 g ( can reduce this a bit if you do not like them too sweet)
Egg -1
Black treacle - 85 g *
Plain flour - 250 g
Ground ginger - 1 tbsp ( increase if you like it more 'gingery' )
Cinnamon powder - 1 tsp ( decrease a little, it can mask the flavour of the ginger)
Bicarbonate of soda - 2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp

Caster sugar - for rolling the dough

Preheat oven 180C ( reduceto 160 C if with fan)
In a bowl cream together butter and 200 g sugar till smooth.
Beat in the egg and treacle until blended
Combine flour, ginger, cinnamon, soda bicarb, salt
Stir in the treacle mixture to form a dough
Roll dough into 2.5cm balls and roll in remaining sugar
Place onto ungreased trays

Bake for 8-10 minutes if you want chewy biscuits and longer for crunchy ones
Allow biscuits to cool in the baking tray for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely

Note -
Black treacle is sticky.  A tip - warm a spoon over a flame and put into the tin.  The treacle will slip off easily.

The final dough is quite soft and may require some help in making balls.  Use two spoons, pick and place on tray.

Orange Cake with Cream Cheese frosting

Another recipe from James Martin.  The chef uses a lot of local ingredients and the particular episode of Home Comfort that we were watching, he visits a neighbouring rapeseed farm and then proceeds to make the orange cake with the rapeseed oil.  A and I were watching the show and the minute he sliced through this dense,yummy moist cake, we felt we had to try it.  Sure enough the next day, all the ingredients were laid out on the kitchen table and I had no choice but to make it.  And I was glad I did.  The home made candied orange peel adds the finishing touch to the cake and it adds a great flavour.

I suppose one can substitute rapeseed oil with any other refined oil.

Ingredients:
Butter - for greasing
Oranges - 5 nos ( large) - try ensuring that they are sweet
Rapeseed oil - 100 ml
Eggs - 4 nos
Caster sugar - 450 g
Self raising flour - 125 g
Almond flour - 125 g
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Cream cheese - 150 g
Crème fraîche - 150 g ( I used a bit of sour cream)
Icing sugar - 25 g

Topping - ( optional - I did not use)
Walnut halves and basil cress

Oven temperature - 170C or 150C fan

Lightly grease a 9" cake tin with butter
Zest three oranges into a large mixing bowl.  Keep aside
Remove the pith from the zested oranges. Roughly chop the flesh, discarding any seeds.  Place in a bowl and blend well with rapeseed oil till smooth and well combined.  Keep aside.

Into the bowl with the orange zest add the eggs and 250 g sugar.  Using an electric whisk, whisk the mixture till pale, thick and creamy and leaves a trail when the whisk is lifted from the mixture.
Sift the flour, almond flour and baking powder in a separate bowl.
Carefully fold in half of the puréed orange mixture into the egg mixture
Followed by the flour mixture.  And then the remaining puréed orange mixture

Pour in the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 1 hour or until golden brown and risen. Check with skewer in the centre of the cake. It should come out clean. If not, cook a further 5 minutes and check again.

As the cake is baking, prepare the frosting.
Whisk the cream cheese, crème fraîche and icing sugar together till smooth and thick. Chill in the fridge till needed.
Peel the remaining two oranges with a vegetable peeler, then julienne the zest finely.
Pour 150 ml cold water into a saucepan, stir in remaining sugar.  Add the julienned orange peel, bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat till mixture is simmering.  Simmer for 8-10 mins to make a light syrup
Strain the syrup. You will only need the peel.  The syrup can be used for a orange drizzle cake or any cake, it will add a delightful orangey flavour 
Dredge the peel with caster sugar on a plate till coated.

Remove cake from oven when done, set aside to cool slightly in the tin and then on a rack till cooled completely
Now, spread the cream cheese frosting over the top and decorate with the candied orange zest and if you wish the nuts and cress. 

Mini Panetonne

A panetonne is a sweet bread from Milan that is generally made for Christmas.  It has a long drawn proofing, contains lots of dry fruits and orange zest.  It has a cylindrical base and a well risen dome shaped top.  I would not have given a thought to making it considering the process involved and also I did not have the panettone tin. But I watched James Martin in Home Comforts at Christmas, making a mini version in a muffin tin and I thought, why not?  Well here are the results.... pretty good if I should say so.. and also taking into account that I did not have a bread mixer and worked at the dough manually.  Recipe adapted from BBC Food

Ingredients:

Butter - 75 gms softened, plus extra for greasing
Candied peel - 50 gms
Dried fruits - 200 gms ( or raisins and sultanas)
Rum - 2 tbsp - you may substitute with orange juice
All spice - 1/2 tsp
Strong white bread flour- 425 gms and extra for dusting
Caster sugar - 60 gms *
Salt - 1 tsp
Fresh yeast - 18 gms ( I used 7 gms of active dry yeast)
Tepid water - 160 ml
Eggs - 2 nos and 1 for egg wash
Orange zest - 1 orange

* I would have liked a little more sugar - depending on the sweetness of the dried fruits - do consider adding another 20-30 gms more

Grease a 12 hole muffin tin with butter
In a bowl mix the candied peel, dried fruit with the rum.  Combine and keep aside.
To another bowl, add flour, sugar, salt.  Use food mixer if you have.  Makes the job so much easier.
Whisk the yeast with a little water in a separate bowl.  Then add it to the flour.
Add the remaining water and the whole egg and beat/knead till it comes together as a dough.

Beat in the butter a little at a time
Add the orange zest.  Continue to beat/knead for 4-5 minutes till the dough is smooth.
Keep it aside covered in a bowl to prove for about an hour or till it has doubled in size.

Knock back the dough.
Sprinkle over the rum-dried fruit mixture and knead the fruit into the dough either in the bowl or on a lightly floured surface.
The dough will be very sticky
Roll into a ball.  Cut 12 equal sized pieces/
Roll each piece into a ball on a lightly floured surface and place one into a muffin hole.
Cover tin with cling film and keep aside for 45 minutes till risen.

Preheat oven to 190 C / 170 C fan
Brush top of risen panettone with the egg wash.  Bake in oven for 18-20 minutes or till golden brown.
Remove from tin and cool on wire rack

Slice.  Enjoy with butter/cream or whatever.

Buttermilk Fruit Cake - Eggless

If you haven't steeped the fruits but want to make a christmas-y  cake, this is just the recipe for you.  You need two bowls one for the dry ingredients and another for the wet ones.  Not too much work for a good tasting cake.  This one is a great recipe and a cake that can be baked even if it is not the festive season.  Recipe from Joy of Cooking. 

Ingredients -  ( Serves 6-8 - 8" cake tin)

All purpose flour - 200 gms
Pitted dates - 90 gms
Granulated sugar - 130 gms
Salt - 1/4 tsp
All spice - 1 tsp
Freshly  grated nutmeg - 1 tsp
Cinnamon powder - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Buttermilk - 240 ml
Unsalted butter ( melted) - 113 gms
Raisins, sultanas, mixed peel - 195 gms
Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp

Prepare the cake tin - grease and line it with parchment paper - a 9x5 loaf tin can also be used
To prevent the dates from getting mushy, put flour on a cutting board and cut the dates in it.
Place the flour, date mixture in a bowl.
Add sugar, salt, spices and baking soda.
Stir well to combine all ingredients.

Preheat the oven to 165 C.  I used 150 fan.

In the second bowl whisk buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla essence.
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Stir the buttermilk mixture and the rest of the dried fruits into the dried ingredients in the first bowl.
Mix well.
Pour into prepared tin.  Smooth the top with a spatula or a back of a spoon.
Place in oven.  For 50-55 mins or till golden brown and pulling away from the sides.  Test with toothpick.

Remove from oven. Place on wire rack to cool for 10 mins.  Then remove from tin.

Can be had warm.  Can also store it for a few days.

Blueberry Friand

I watched a contestant making a friand in a masterchef episode.  I hadn't heard of friands before.  Besides the lady made it in less than half hour.  That caught my interest.  I later read that friands are mini cakes originally from France, but now popular in Australia and New Zealand.  These have very little flour content and can in fact be made gluten free.  The main ingredients are ground almonds, icing sugar, egg whites - which make the friand light and airy and the almond flour makes it chewy and moist.  They can be made with varied fruits like plums, peaches, cherries.  I adapted the recipe from BBC foods  The reviews were good, and most had cut down the amount of butter to half.  I did too.  

Try them.  They are chewy, light and delicious and very simple to make

Ingredients: ( 6- 9 friands depending on the tin)

Unsalted butter - 60 gms + extra for greasing
Icing sugar - 125 gms + extra for dusting
Plain flour - 25 gms
Ground almond - 85 gms
Egg whites - 3 nos
Lemon rind - 1 nos
Blueberries - 85 gms


Preheat oven to 180C fan / 200C conventional
Grease six friand or muffin tins.  ( I used muffin tins and I got 9 friands)
Melt butter.  Allow to cool.

Sift icing sugar and flour into a bowl.  Add the almond flour and mix well with fingers.

Whisk egg whites in another bowl till light and foamy.  They do not have to be stiff like meringues.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, tip in egg whites, lemon rind, and lightly stir in butter.  You will have a soft batter.

Fill in muffin tin with a large serving spoon - 2/3 full.
Sprinkle blueberries over each cake and bake for 15-20 mins till firm and golden brown.

Cool in tin for 5 minutes.  Turn out. Dust with icing sugar.

Note - You can make ground almond flour at home also.  Blanch almonds, remove the peel.  Dry them and grind fine. 

Cherry and Almond Cake

This is a lovely cake - simple to make/bake and very good to eat. It has been adapted from the BBC recipe.  

It is a lovely sponge cake with added texture and flavour of the ground almond flour.  If you do not have almond flour, blanch almonds, remove the outer peel and grind to a fine powder.  *If you want the cherries evenly distributed, wash the glaced cherries, drain dry and coat with flour and gently incorporate them into the batter.  I liked the taste of the glacéd  cherries and did not want to wash them.  Though I did coat them with flour most of them did settle to the bottom.  But the taste is just fine !

Ingredients:

Butter ( softened) - 150 g

Caster Sugar - 200 g

Eggs - 4

Almond extract - 1/2 tsp

Self raising flour - 175 g

Baking powder - 1/2 tsp

Glacé cherries - 300 g ( I had just 100 g) - quarter them *

Ground Almonds - 85 g

Milk - 100 ml

Flaked almonds - 2 tbsp

Line a 8"/20 cms deep cake tin

Beat the eggs and sugar till light and fluffy

Add eggs one by one , continue to beat the  mixture

Now fold in the almond extract, almond flour, flour, baking powder

Followed by cherries and milk

Preheat the oven to 140C fan/160C

Pour mixture into the prepared tin.

Scatter the flaked almonds on top of cake

Put into oven. 

Bake for 1 hour/1 hour 15 mins still skewer comes out clean

Remove.  Cool in tin before serving

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Papaya Coconut Muffins - Low Fat

The muffins were made by Kruttika, my daughter.  I would not have been as adventurous as her.  I only eat papaya as a fruit or use it to make a jam.  But would have had serious doubts about the flavour it would lend to a baked product.  The papaya she used was rather insipid, she said, and thought she could put it to better use. She made the muffins and said everyone at home enjoyed it !  They have a nice colour too.  She sent me pictures and the recipe that she sourced from Skinny Taste.  The original recipe states that you can substitute the papaya pulp with mango to get good results too.

Ingredients:

Papaya purée - 1 cup
Whole wheat pastry flour - 2 cups *
Sugar - 1/2 cup **
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Cinnamon powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Coconut flakes - 1/2 cup
Egg - 1 large, beaten
Vanilla - 1/2 tsp
Melted butter - 2 tbsp

Preheat oven to 160 C
Take a large bowl and combine flour, sugar, soda, cinnamon and salt
Mix till well blended.
Add coconut.

In another bowl, blend the eggs, butter, vanilla and the papaya purée
Add to the flour mixture in the large bowl and stir till all ingredients are just blended.

Pour into prepared muffin tin/ or muffin cases and put into the oven. 
Bake for about 25 mins or till toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 mins before you remove.

* original recipe calls for pastry flour - but K used 1 cup whole wheat flour, I cup all purpose flour and a handful of oats.

** K also says if the papaya is as insipid as the one she used, one would have to increase the amount of sugar.  So taste the puree before you measure the sugar.

Chocolate Banana Bread

I looked for recipe to make with the ingredients I had.  One banana that had gone too soft.  No butter.  Few eggs. Some cocoa.  A few walnuts. And I found the basic recipe here that had a chocolate drizzle.  I thought I could avoid that. As well as the pastry flour bit, since I had run out of cornflour.  Put the cocoa in and threw in the nuts. I was also dying to try out an electric hand held beater which worked very well. And the banana bread turned out quite nice.  Good enough to feature here and make again.

Ingredients:  Made half the recipe that could serve 5

All purpose flour - 1 3/4  *
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Cocoa powder - 2-3 tbsp
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Refined oil - 1/4 cup and a little more for greasing the tin
Curd / yogurt - 1/4 cup
Eggs 1 + 1 egg white ( I used just the whole egg)
Vanilla - 1/2 tsp
Banana - 3 nos - mashed about 1 1/2 cup
Walnuts - 1/4 cups


Grease a tin.  Line it with parchment paper.
Preheat the oven to 180 C

In a bowl whisk the dry ingredients - flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and cocoa.
In another bowl whisk the eggs, curd, oil, vanilla.
Mash the banana and add it to the liquid ingredients and whisk well.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, add walnuts and blend well.
Pour in the batter into the prepared loaf tin.
Bake till done.

I made half the quantity and it took me 30-35 minutes till the skewer came out clean.
Recipe calls for 50 mins.  So do check.

The loaf can be given a nice chocolate drizzle, or dust some icing sugar on top.
The cake has just the right amount of sweetness, however if you want it sweeter and you are not having a dusting of icing sugar or drizzle, add a wee bit more.
*And it also called for pastry flour - that is with a bit of cornflour- I ran out of it and did not add. Not sure what the difference would be.
All in all an enjoyable cake.

Bread and Butter Pudding

K made the bread and butter pudding yesterday.  It was delicious.  The recipe was adapted from the Panettone pudding on BBC Good Food.  She used multigrain bread and added mixed fruit, citrus peel and cinnamon. The pudding is best with old bread.  Simple to make. Quite like our Double ka Meetha without the deep frying and the ghee.  It has its share of calories.  But somehow it is light and easy to have as a end of meal dessert.

Ingredients - 
Butter - 50 gms - K used salted butter, and it only added to the taste.
Bread slices - 8 nos
Eggs - 2
Cream - 140 gms
Milk - 225 ml
Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp
Caster Sugar - 2 tbsp
Icing sugar for dusting
Cinnamon- 1/4 tsp
Cream to serve ( optional) - did not use
Raisins/Dry fruits/ Candied orange peel - as per taste.

Grease a shallow dish with butter
Preheat oven to 160C
Cut the slices diagonally or in wedges.  Keep the crusts on
Butter one side of the bread, lightly
Arrange the slices with the buttered side facing up

In a bowl, whisk milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, cream well.
Pour over the slices arranged in the bowl.  Add the raisins.

Put the dish in a round shallow plate with hot water.
Bake for 35 minutes
The top should be golden.

Dust the top with icing sugar

Serve with cream.

Jam Tarts

How I got round to making a jam tart is a long story.  We bought a papaya at the supermarket and waited for it to ripen. It did turn yellow and it looked like we had a fruit ready to eat.  That was on the outside, in the inside it was half ripe and didn't look as if it would ripen anymore.  So, it got me making a jam.

                                                  The colour is natural.  The taste was good.

And that is when I thought of making a jam tart.  I had the tart cases that C had given me.  They were rather on the larger side, and so instead of six I ended up making four tarts.

The recipe from here  is so very simple.

Plain flour - 110 gms
Unsalted butter, chilled - 50 gms ( I didn't have butter !  and so I used ghee)
Salt - pinch
Jam - as required
Icing sugar to dust ( optional)
Cream ( optional)
Cold water

Sift flour in a bowl.  Add the salt.  And the cubes of butter
Use fingers to rub in to flour so that it resembles breadcrumbs
Add a tablespoon of cold water and mix with a fork
Add a little more till it comes together like a soft smooth ball
Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes

Take out after half hour
Lightly dust a rolling surface
Roll out gently
Cut out circles, slightly larger than the tart tin ( my cases were big and I didn't quite do that)

Grease the tart cases well
Use the cut circles of flour to line the tart cases
Refrigerate again for 10 minutes

At this time preheat the oven to 180F

You can gently prick the pastry with a fork
Line pastry shells with baking paper and fill with rice, seeds or pastry beads
Bake for 10 minutes
Remove the paper with the rice/beans/weights

Fill with jam
Bake for further 8 minutes
Till brown
Remove.  Cool thoroughly.  The jam will be  hot too so make sure it has cooled.

Dust icing sugar on top or serve with a bit of cream like I did

Dilkhush - Bun stuffed with sweet coconut filling

Dil Khush literally means the heart is happy.  And for me this was a favourite from college days that we could get only at one particular local bakery.  The outer bun is nice and soft and you have an inner sweet coconut filling.  You can experiment with the filling.  This one has coconut, cashew, walnut and almonds, and tutti-frutti bits.

Recipe from here

Ingredients:
A mix of water and milk - 2/3 cup
Butter - 1 1/2 tbsp ( you can use oil too)
All purpose flour - 2 cups ( I used a cup of APF and cup of multi grain flour)
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Instant yeast - 1 tsp
Egg - 1 ( for the bun and for the glaze)

The Filling:
Coconut shredded - 1/2 cup
Tutti-frutti, raisins, nuts - 1/2 cup
Vanilla essence - few drops
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Mix all this - if you want it sweeter you can increase the sugar

Take part of the water-milk mixture.  It should be warm and not hot
Mix in a teaspoon of sugar and add the yeast, keep aside for the yeast to act
Till you get a nice frothy mixture

Add remaining warm water/milk, butter, sugar, salt and half the egg to the frothy yeast mixture.
Mix
Add the flour and knead for about 10 minutes till you get a smooth dough.
Grease another bowl.  Put the dough in the greased bowl. Cover with cling wrap.
Keep for an hour or till the dough is doubled in volume
After which the dough is knocked down and kneaded lightly for a minute
Divide the dough into two parts.
Roll into two rounds.

Take one of the rounds place on a greased parchment sheet on a baking sheet
Place the filling on it leaving about half cm on the sides.
Brush the edges with some water or milk
Then place the other round on it.  Lightly press the sides with a fork

Since the rounds I had were not really round I got a slightly not-so-round bun

Keep aside for another half hour.
Preheat the oven at 180C  ( I use the OTG at 160-170)
Just before putting in the oven brush the top with either milk or egg wash.
Make a few slits in the centre to allow the steam to escape
Bake for about 20-25 minutes till golden brown

Allow to cool on a rack
And then slice and enjoy !

Fruity Teacake

You read it right.  Teacake as it says.  For the dry fruits are steeped in hot black tea.  I honestly didn't get the taste of tea in the final product, but nevertheless this is a good cake.  It has very little fat in it.  You will find few recipes of the teacake or tea loaf or bread as they may be called that are totally fat free, but I preferred the addition of a little fat (50 gms is  very little for a cake)  and besides the recipe from BBC Good Food had great reviews and that was encouraging.  Do not ever compare it to a plum cake.  It may have similar ingredients, but is not as rich.  It actually tastes better the next day, but by then there are only a few slices left if at all !

Ingredients:
Mixed dried berries and cherries - 300 gms
( I used a pack of dried fruit )
Hot tea - 225 ml
Orange juice - 75 ml
Orange zest
Butter - 50 gms
Light brown Sugar - 100 gms
(I didn't have brown sugar)
Egg - 1
Self raising flour - 225 gms
Demerara sugar - 4 tbsp
( I skipped this step too )

The recipe was for a 2 lb loaf tin.  I am not sure of the dimensions of my loaf tin.  I had to use a small cake tin for the extra batter.

Keep the dried fruit and zest in a bowl.  Pour hot tea, orange juice.  Cover with cling film and leave for at least 3-4 hours or overnight as I did.

Grease and line the base and sides of a loaf tin.  Preheat the oven to 180C

Beat together butter and sugar till creamy.
Beat in the egg.  Followed by the flour.
Carefully stir in the fruit mixture
Spoon mixture into the tin, and smooth over the surface with the back of a spoon
Sprinkle all over with a thick layer of demerara sugar

Bake for one hour or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Allow to cool in tin and then turn out and slice and serve.

Chocolate Swirl Buns

If you like baked products that use chocolate, this one is for you.  I only messed up the rolling part and would have had more swirls if I had paid more attention to the details.  But the taste was not compromised.  I had run out of the dry yeast that I had bought in the UK.  You know how it is with the best before date that the products have. It said BBE Dec 2014.  I used it in January 2015 and sure enough the yeast was ineffective.  I then got this Indian dry yeast and I am glad it worked well.

This recipe from Smitten Kitten, and though she uses her stand mixer, I did the kneading manually.  That worked too :-)

Ingredients - makes 12 ( I used half the recipe and made six)

The Dough

Milk ( I used skim) 1/2 cup

Granulated sugar - 1/4 cup

All Purpose Flour - 2 cups 

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Dry Yeast - 2 1/2 tsp

Egg - 1 large

Unsalted butter - 3 tbsp plus more to grease the bowl and muffin tin and filling

* egg and butter at room temperature

Filling

Unsalted butter - 3 tbsp

Granulated sugar - 1/4 cup

Semi sweet chocolate- 225 gms

Salt - pinch

Ground cinnamon - 3/4 tsp ( optional) 

Egg wash - optional

I had used only part of the egg, so I beat the balance with a little milk

Make the dough - 

Warm milk.  Mix the sugar.  Add the yeast.  Let it stand for about 5 minutes till it becomes foamy and bubbly

In a bowl, whisk the egg and remaining sugar and then mix in the yeast mixture

Combine flour and salt.

Add the egg-yeast mixture.  Knead the dough gently

Add the butter and continue to knead  for about 10 minutes.  

The dough will be sticky, but not a reason for worry.

Grease a bowl with butter, place the dough in it. Cover with cling film.  

Keep for an hour or till the dough doubles in size.

Prepare the filling.

Chop the chocolate, pulse it in a mixer with salt, sugar and cinnamon.  The chocolate is finely chopped and part of it will be powdered.

Keep the butter ready

Grease a muffin tray and keep ready

Making of the bun

Once the dough has risen.  Turn on to a well floured surface

Deflate gently.  Rest for another 5 minutes

Roll it into a large rectangle.  

Short side should be 11 to 12 inches ( for six buns it can be much less)

And roll the other side as long as you can

Now spread the butter over the dough surface

And then spread the chocolate mixture

This is where I went wrong !

Tightly roll the dough over the filling from the short end all the way to the other short end.  You will get more swirls this way

Cut 1" segments and place in the greased muffin tray

Cover and keep for another 30 minutes

Meanwhile pre-heat oven to 180 degrees

You can brush the buns with egg wash or avoid it altogether

Bake for about 15-20 minutes till puffed and golden.  Keep on cooling rack.

  

Funfetti Cake

Sasha made this for the little one's birthday.  She said she had better pictures, and I waited. But since they don't seem to be coming soon, I thought I would make do with what she sent of the slices.  It still looked good to me.  She sourced the recipe from here.

Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 210 gms
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Unsalted butter (melted) - 115 gms
Granulated sugar - 150 gms
Light brown sugar - 50 gms
Egg - 1 large
Yogurt - 60 gms ( can also use greek yogurt or sour cream)
Vanilla extract - 15 ml - 1 tbsp
Sprinkles - 90 gms
Milk - 180 ml

Vanilla Buttercream

Unsalted butter - 230 gms - soften to room temperature
Powdered sugar - 360-480 gms
Heavy cream - 60 ml
Vanilla extract - 2 1/2 tsp
Salt - a big pinch

Preheat oven to 350F
Prepare 9" cake tin. - Grease well

Take a bowl.  Mix flour, baking powder, soda and salt.  Keep aside
In a large bowl melt butter ( can be in a microwave), whisk in sugars vigorously so that there are no lumps. Mixture will be gritty
Whisk in egg, yogurt, milk, vanilla extract.  Combine well
Now gradually add the dry ingredients.  Make sure there are no lumps
Batter will be thick
Add the sprinkles.  Do not overmix or the colour might bleed.

Pour the batter into prepared cake pan.  Bake for about 20 minutes, then loosely cover with aluminium foil.
See that the top does touch the top of the cake
Continue for another 10-17 minutes, till toothpick in centre comes out clean.
Remove from oven.  Allow to cool completely

Meanwhile make the frosting
Beat the softened butter until smooth and creamy.
Add powdered sugar, cream, vanilla extract.  If using electric mixer beat on high speed for 3 minutes
If the frosting is too thin, add more powdered sugar
If too thin, add more cream.

Frost the cooled cake.  And top with sprinkles.
*If you do not want the cake too sweet, go easy on the frosting

A One Bowl Tutti-Frutti Cake

Tutti Frutti in India are those colorful bits that you find in bread, cake and desserts . Most people do not realise these are made from raw papaya.  My cake is not as colourful for I had only pale yellow tutti frutti and not the bright orange or red or green.  It would have added so much colour to the cake.  I also added some mixed fruit peel to tone down the sweetness. And that was another shade of yellow !

Use an electric whisk for best results.  I could not find my adaptor plug for the new beater that I acquired.  And what was to have been a simple effortless one bowl cake was not exactly so, I beat the batter with a wooden spoon till my hands ached.  But the effort was totally worth it.

Recipe  Adapted from Edible Garden
Serves 5

Plain flour ( maida) - 1 cup
Sugar - 2/3 cup ( I reduced it just a bit )
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Egg - 1
Buttermilk - 1/2 cup
Butter unsalted - 1/4 cup softened  ( I ran short of butter, so I made up the quantity with refined oil)
Vanilla - 1/2 tsp
Tutti Frutti and Mixed peel - 1/3 cup
Salt - Pinch

Grease and keep ready a loaf pan or use an 8" cake tin

In a bowl, whisk flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda till well mixed

To this add the egg, buttermilk, butter and vanilla extract

Preferably use an electric beater at this stage so that the mixture is well aerated

Meanwhile preheat the oven to 200 C

Mix the tutti frutti and peel with a little flour and add some of it to the mixed batter

Pour into the prepared loaf tin.  Add the remaining tutti frutti on top

Bake for 25-30 minutes till golden brown and a skewer pierced in the centre comes out cleanly.

Cool completely before slicing.