RECIPE (From Martha Stewart)

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tbsp powdered sugar

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 cup milk

2 tbsp butter, melted (or vegetable oil)

1 large egg

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Assorted toppings, such as butter, maple syrup, confectioners’ sugar, honey, jams, preserves, sweetened whipped cream, or chocolate syrup

Method

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, mix the milk, butter (or oil), and egg. Now, add the dry ingredients to the milk mixture, and stir until just moistened.

Heat a large nonstick pan over medium. I prefer low, because I’ve burnt there and done that. See! Psst…I burnt my hand as well. Ha ha

Put oil in the pan and then spoon 2 to 3 tablespoons of batter for each pancake, using the back of the spoon to spread batter into a round.

After 1 or 2 minutes, you will see bubbles bursting and the pancake batter getting all settled on the pan—this is the moment when you get to play with the spatula and hone your “flipping” skills.

Flip carefully, say hi to a golden brown pancake, and cook  for 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer to a plate and continue “pan-caking” with more oil and remaining batter. You’ll have 12 to 15 pancakes. Serve warm, with desired toppings.

Look, I made a pancake omelette! Do you know how to make one?

I was mighty pleased with these pictures, until the moment I looked at Martha’s pancakes. I actually feel embarrassed.

Then, I searched on Google for thin pancakes. Turns out, these do qualify.

I have a simple store-bought fruit jam at home, which I used as the
delectable topping.

I came across two very useful links for making basic pancakes: Martha Stewart’s Basic Pancakes Video and Pancake Lovers. Enjoy!

The creaming method refers to beating together fat and sugar, then adding eggs, followed by the dry and wet ingredients. This marriage of ingredients gets complicated if you mess up the actual “creaming”, i.e., your speed and the time for which you beat.

Pastry Chef Online suggests that when you are making cookies, you must cream slowly, but if you’re making a cake, you need to cream on a higher speed for a longer period of time to get a lighter result. Oh, and also, if the recipe states an ingredient is to be used at room temperature, obey it.

This picture is an example of a flat, overmixed butter cake. Though, it tasted amazing!

But, I tried this recipe again by doing some homework on the creaming method and made a double layer butter cake with chocolate buttercream frosting.

RECIPE (Adapted from Easycooking) [Print this]

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE:

½ cup butter, softened

1¼ cups powdered sugar, sifted

2 eggs, at room temperature

1½ cup plain flour, sifted

½ tsp baking powder, sifted

¼ tsp baking soda, sifted

½ cup milk, at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla essence

FOR THE CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING: (Adapted from BBC Food)

60g butter, softened

120g icing sugar

28g  cocoa powder, sifted

1-2 tbsp milk, at room temperature

Method

Preheat the oven in convection mode to 150°C (300°F). Grease and line a 8″ round cake tin with butter/parchment paper. Place the butter in a mixing bowl and cream until light and fluffy at medium speed. The keywords here are: light and fluffy. Here is a very useful description.

Add the powdered sugar and start mixing slowly. As the mixture becomes softer and well combined, you can mix faster. The mixture is supposed to increase in volume and take on a paler colour.

Add the eggs one at a time and mix well. In another bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Combine these REALLY well.

Now, mix half of the dry ingredients to the buttery mixture, followed by half of the liquids (milk and vanilla essence). Remember to keep scraping the bowl to incorporate the ingredients properly.

Finally, add some of the dry ingredients, mix; the remaining liquids, mix; the remaining dry; mix.

Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 35-40 minutes. Cool completely. If making layers, invert the cakes and remove the butter paper.

For making the chocolate buttercream frosting, beat butter, then add half of the sugar. Mix well, and add the remaining sugar. Stir in the cocoa powder and milk. Add more milk, if necessary. To thicken the frosting, add more sugar.

Spread it evenly on top of the inverted butter cake. Stack the second layer and cover the sides and top with the frosting, until the time you’re satisfied.

These cakes are supremely moist and fragile, so just be careful when you’re stacking the layers, because confession: my second cake did break a bit, thereby giving me a tiny heart attack. But, that is why God invented frosting. Ta-da!

I am so pleased with this recipe, because 1) it is insanely easy to make these, and 2) it made me understand why everybody craves for cookie dough. I must have eaten the dough for about 4 cookies straight from the bowl.

RECIPE [Print this]

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup cocoa powder

¾ tsp baking soda

1 cup butter, softened [I used salted, so I skipped the ¼ tsp salt]

1½ cups powdered sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups chocolate chips

Method

I had to bake in 6 batches as I could only place 6 or 7 cookies at a time. When the first batch was out of the oven, I kept pondering if I should add more chocolate chips. I added a handful and put in the second batch to bake.

While staring at the oven and with the bag of chocolate chips in my hand, I still kept thinking if I should add more. 3–4 minutes later, I forgot about it, and started gobbling up the chips like popcorn. Thankfully, I didn’t finish them.

And yes, I did add some more in the bowl. You can never have enough chocolate, can you?

]]> https://bakingutopia.wordpress.com/2012/08/20/heavenly-chocolate-chip-cookies/feed/ 0 614897_306463129451579_712942979_o bakingutopia DSC03765 DSC03754 DSC03740 DSC03748 DSC03763 DSC03773 https://bakingutopia.wordpress.com/2012/08/16/100-likes-100-truffles-100-reasons-to-be-happy/ https://bakingutopia.wordpress.com/2012/08/16/100-likes-100-truffles-100-reasons-to-be-happy/#comments Wed, 15 Aug 2012 18:33:46 +0000 http://bakingutopia.wordpress.com/?p=415 Read More]]> Baking Utopia’s Facebook page recently received 100 likes. Thank you, old and new likers!

So, this week I knew I had to do something grand. I set upon myself a mammoth task of making 100 truffles.

It has been the most fun, messy, and relaxing baking adventure till date. I decided to make 4 flavours based on a special theme—my birds. I live with 3 budgerigars at home: Fiona, Nimbu, and Piplo. They are noisy, smart, insane, and the most adorable creatures on Earth. I can spend hours and hours with them.

FYI, I also did spend hours making these truffles, because just like my birds, you have to be very delicate with the ingredients that are used in the recipes below.

The recipes are highly flexible, so you can easily adapt them according to your preferences and also depending on how many truffles you wish to make. Oh, and if you’re wondering what the 4th flavour signifies, it’s me.

My Creamy Chocolate Chip Truffles

Need I explain the usage of chocolate in something that represents me?

RECIPE

Ingredients

12-15 dark chocolate cream biscuits of your choice

1 tin (400g) sweetened condensed milk [I used 1 tin for making all the
4 flavours]

100g chocolate chips

Dark chocolate, melted, for coating the truffles

Method

Crush the biscuits using a food processor or by simply smashing them in a Ziploc bag/foil bag with a rolling pin.

In a small bowl, transfer the crumbs and slowly add the milk, just enough to make a sticky mixture. Add the chocolate chips and stir. Take small mounds and roll it in your hands to form small balls. Place these on a lined plate. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 10-second intervals at 80%. Keep checking and stirring the chocolate. Dip the balls into the melted chocolate and coat them thoroughly. Refrigerate for an hour.

Place the chocolate balls on pretty paper liners and indulge. Confession: I realised that melted chocolate is so much more delicious than the solid form.

Fio’s Oreos Truffles

Fiona means fair, white, and beautiful.

RECIPE

Ingredients

12-15 Oreos biscuits

White chocolate, melted, for coating the truffles

The same method, honestly.

The white chocolate was extremely difficult to work with, because in its melted form, it tends to seize within seconds.

Fio is a difficult bird too. She’s extremely agile.

And I’m always, sort of, after her to become comfortable with me and not run away from me. Melted white chocolate, Fio, and I will be friends one day, I’m sure.   

Nimbu’s Orange-Lemon Truffles

Nimbu is a Hindi word meaning lemon.

RECIPE

Ingredients

12-15 orange flavoured biscuits

For the lemon icing (Recipe adapted from here)

½ cup butter, softened

1 cup icing sugar, sifted

½ tsp vanilla essence

a few drops of juice of 1 small lemon

a drop of yellow food colouring

Method

For the biscuits, follow the steps written above. To make the lemon icing, mix all the ingredients in a small bowl, and stir thoroughly until it is sufficiently creamy and lemony.

Don’t you just feel like eating up Nimbu? I worked with food colouring for the first time and I loved it. Many more coloured goodies to come on Baking Utopia, for sure.

Piplo’s Nutty Chocolate-Mint Truffles

Because he’s such a nutcase, this is for him.

RECIPE

Ingredients

12-15 almond and hazelnut cream biscuits (I used Puremagic’s praline
crème biscuits)

For the mint icing

½ cup butter, softened

1 cup icing sugar, sifted

½ tsp vanilla essence

a drop of green food colouring

Piplo and Nimbu are in love and thus, the above picture. Also, these truffles look gorgeous when placed together.

Some things to keep in mind:

1) When melting chocolate in a microwave, be careful about the time. After every 10 or 20 seconds, do take out the bowl and stir the chocolate, as it will also melt at room temperature.

2) For both the icings, add the colour a drop at a time. You can always add more colour, but not reduce it. Also, depending on the amount of truffles you’re making, you can modify the icing recipe. Just remember to keep the ratio of the butter to the icing sugar as 1:2.

3) You WILL be tempted to eat the biscuits just like that. You WILL be tempted to lick all the melted chocolate off the bowl. Don’t. The truffles will be worth the wait.

You can see the nutcase hiding behind the women. Doesn’t Fio look
hypnotised here?

Finally, thank you, everyone, for the support!

Over a period of your lifetime, you find several baking recipes, but, there is that one recipe that you can rely on and work with blindly.

Today, I found my foolproof brownie recipe, owing to the impeccable Smitten Kitchen. You can’t really go wrong with it. It is quick, easy, and heavenly.

RECIPE

Ingredients

10 tbsp (141g) unsalted butter, softened [I had salted, so I skipped the
¼ tsp salt]
1¼ cups (280g) powdered sugar, sifted
¾ cup plus 2 tbsp (82g) unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
½ tsp vanilla essence
2 large eggs, cold
½ cup (66g) all-purpose flour, sifted
Cadbury’s Bournville chocolate, melted, to decorate (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 140°C (284°F). Grease and line a 8 x 8″ square cake tin with butter or parchment paper.

Combine the butter, sugar, and cocoa in a medium microwaveable bowl. Put this mixture in the microwave for 20 seconds at 100%. The butter should be melted and the mixture will be warm and smooth.

Stir in the vanilla essence.

Now, add the eggs one at a time, stirring consistently. Mix in the flour and give a good stir until you feel the batter should not be baked and eaten as is. But, you realize that this is a persistent problem that crops up when you bake, so you move on, and transfer the batter to the tin to let the oven decide its fate.

I baked for 23 minutes and I am so pleased that for the first time, I passed the knife test. It was clean and crumb-free. This time, I did not under bake or over bake or had any reason to panic. Phew!

Finally, let the brownies cool completely on a rack. Then, lift up the ends of the parchment paper, and transfer it to a cutting board.

Cut them neatly into squares and serve them with love.

You could also go crazy, melt some dark chocolate in the microwave for 20-30 seconds, and drizzle it over your intensely chocolate brownies.

]]> https://bakingutopia.wordpress.com/2012/07/29/chocolate-brownies-served-with-love/feed/ 8 DSC03497 bakingutopia DSC03485_edited DSC03504 DSC03517 DSC03516 https://bakingutopia.wordpress.com/2012/07/15/chocolate-cake-with-fudge-icing/ https://bakingutopia.wordpress.com/2012/07/15/chocolate-cake-with-fudge-icing/#comments Sun, 15 Jul 2012 14:32:56 +0000 http://bakingutopia.wordpress.com/?p=317 Read More]]> All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.
– Charles M. Schulz

If I land in heaven, I would definitely want them to stock all kinds of chocolate that I could gorge on for the rest of my “life”.

For the past one month, I have been having very chocolaty weekends, owing to this blog. The end product does not always turn out as I dream of, but I’m content that this just leads to more adventures and more chocolate to experiment with!

This time, I’ve tried my hand on piping a simple chocolate cake. You can also make layers and indulge in a chocolate fudge cake. I intend to try that soon!

RECIPE

Ingredients

200g flour

25g cocoa powder

4 large eggs

225g powdered sugar

225g butter, at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking powder

For the chocolate fudge icing

45g cocoa powder

150g powdered sugar

45g butter, melted

3 tbsp milk, plus a little extra to loosen the mixture

Method

Preheat the oven in convection mode to 150°C (300°F).

Line the bottom of a 8″ round cake tin with butter/parchment paper. Then, grease the tin and sprinkle some flour.

Preparing the batter is usually tough for me because I tend to lick (ahem, taste) some off the spoon.

So to begin with, sift the flour and cocoa powder into a large bowl, and add all the other cake ingredients.

Then, mix together for a few minutes until well combined. Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until risen and firm to the touch, then leave to cool for about an hour.

For the icing, sift the cocoa powder and icing sugar into a bowl, add the butter and milk, and mix until smooth and well combined. Add a little extra milk if the mixture is too thick—you need to be able to spread it easily.

Make sure you don’t get any crumbs on the spatula while icing.

I’d recently purchased a piping bag and nozzles and I was eagerly wanting to use them. And this gave me the perfect opportunity!

I’ve tried a very basic decorative design on this cake because I really wanted it to look good in the photographs.

And, not to forget, the chocolate wafer sticks to raise the chocolate quotient.

This martini is actually a fancier version of the pudding that I usually make in a glass bowl.

 RECIPE

Ingredients

2 Tetra Pak Amul fresh cream (200ml each)

1½ cups granulated sugar

1 cup cocoa powder

½ tsp vanilla essence

2 packets Hide & Seek biscuits (you can use Oreo/Marigold biscuits as well)

Chocolate chips, chocolate wafer sticks, to decorate (optional)

Method

Another reason that I love this recipe—no sifting business involved. Just whip the cream and sugar in a mixing bowl. Then, add cocoa and vanilla essence, and mix well. You’re done!

You should now have a chocolate sauce of a rich, smooth, and thick consistency.

After preparing the sauce, take some Hide & Seek biscuits (I used 6) and put them in a small Ziploc bag or even a foil bag will do, and crush them with a rolling pin. Do this with music, it’s more fun that way! If you plan to make the pudding in a bowl, skip this step.

Then take pretty, photogenic wine glasses (or any glasses that you prefer) and assemble alternate layers of the biscuit crumbs and the sauce.

Let it chill in the refrigerator until firm, about 3 hours. The bowl pudding should be refrigerated overnight.

Decorate with chocolate chips, or wafer sticks, or anything that you feel
creative with.

I simply utilized the leftover biscuit crumbs for garnishing and decorated with chocolate wafer sticks. And this is how you make an absolutely irresistible chocolate pudding martini.

Things don’t always go as planned. I had a relatively simple plan of making moustache cupcakes for Father’s Day. Well, sadly, it was not to be.

My almost tragic story began with no moustaches. What I’d dreamt about was making chocolate cupcakes, topped with chocolate frosting, and pipe store-bought royal icing in the shape of moustaches on it. Moustaches went out of the picture when the nearby bakery went out of stock with icing.

The idea of making royal icing at home came pretty late to me, but the curtains had already fallen on my cupcake drama by that time.

I’d merrily made the chocolate frosting a day before, mainly out of excitement. But at the same time, I was too lazy to sift the three cups of powdered sugar that the recipe required, which resulted in a cruel “if-you-don’t-sift-me-you-need-to-bite-chunks-of-me chocolate frosting”. I just stored it in an airtight container and shut its mouth for the next few hours.

Then came the chocolate cupcakes. They are the protagonists of my almost tragic drama.

I hate sifting. I especially hate sifting icing sugar. It takes me hours to sift! But for the cupcake batter, I couldn’t avoid this painful process, as I’d already seen the aftermath of not doing so. The drama ensued something like this:

Scene 1

Sift flour. CHECK.

Sift icing sugar. Oh god, please CHECK.

Sift cocoa powder. CHECK.

Sift baking soda, baking powder, and salt. CHECK, CHECK, and CHECK.

Scene 2

We had a power cut. Sigh! My almost tragic batter sat untouched for an hour. Meanwhile, I listened to music, stood in the balcony, stared at the sky hoping for a godly creature to sermonize, “Let there be light”. It finally came back, and I rushed inside to execute my next step, which was to melt the butter. Within 5 minutes, the lights went out again!

Scene 3

This time, the wait lasted for 20 minutes and doubts about the cupcakes were already creeping in my mind. I wondered if I would be able to make them after all on the all-important Father’s Day. Quickly, I mixed all the wet ingredients and prayed to God – “Seriously, let there be light!”. I filled the cupcake moulds and quickly put them in the oven.

Due to my fear of burning anything that goes in the oven, I generally underestimate the baking time, which of course leads to an underbaked product. This is what happened with the cupcakes. They sank in the middle.

DAY 2

Yes, this drama ran for two days!

I had some leftover batter and so I decided to take the risk again. This time, I used butter paper for lining the tin, as I’d read that one can bake cupcakes without liners and with sufficient greasing of the tin.

It didn’t work for me on Day 1. But, on Day 2, I realized that miracles do happen. I took a fearless decision of increasing the baking time, which resulted in happy, properly baked cupcakes. My father said that this is the best I’ve ever made. And this is how my story got a happy ending!

RECIPE

Ingredients

11/3 cups flour

¼ tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 dash salt

3 tbsp softened butter

1½ cups sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp vanilla

¾ cup milk

Method (As per Day 2, of course)

Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F). Line the tin with cupcake liners/parchment paper/butter paper.

Sift flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Then, add butter and the eggs one at a time, beating very well. Mix in vanilla and milk.

It makes a gorgeous batter, doesn’t it? Now, just spoon it into the moulds. Remember to fill them ¾ full. Put in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the cupcakes are cooked and golden on top.

Let it cool for a few minutes.

]]> https://bakingutopia.wordpress.com/2012/06/19/fathers-day-special-highly-adventurous-chocolate-cupcakes/feed/ 5 DSC03022 bakingutopia 01 DSC02977 DSC02994 DSC03005 DSC03013 https://bakingutopia.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/simple-chocolate-cake/ https://bakingutopia.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/simple-chocolate-cake/#comments Thu, 14 Jun 2012 21:35:39 +0000 http://bakingutopia.wordpress.com/?p=1 Read More]]> Ratatouille. Julie and Julia. Watching food shows on television. And a close friend. These are my inspirations for entering the wonderful world of baking.

The feel of melted chocolate, the anxious wait when something is being baked in the oven, the oh-so-lovely aroma of a baked cake ready to be decorated with an oh-so-seductive frosting… All this just inspires me to create a mess in my kitchen, which you will probably witness in my photography.

So what better way could there be to begin my adventurous culinary journey with a simple chocolate cake?

I have baked chocolate cakes before, but only in the microwave. And then there was once in the convection when the batter got semi-burnt in 5 minutes flat! My oven has a tendency to heat quickly, so I’m thinking probably it gets as excited to bake as its owner.

This time, I was extremely cautious. For two and a half hours, I was engrossed in the preparation of this cake. Testimony to this is the fact that I put in the batter in the oven only for 5 minutes to bake at first. Ha! Well, it eventually baked in 26 minutes. One word of advice: let the cake cool down, and then form judgements about it.

Ingredients

100g flour

25g (3½ tbsp) cocoa powder

1 1/3 tsp baking powder

100g icing sugar

65g unsalted butter, melted

2/3 tsp vanilla essence

1 egg

55g (1/3 cup) water

Method

Preheat oven in convection mode at 130°C (266°F). Grease and line a 8″ round cake tin with butter/parchment paper.

Place a sieve in a mixing bowl and add flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and icing sugar. Mix well. While sieving, I was making my own pretty mountain as you can see.

Break the egg into a bowl and keep it aside.

Now add butter, vanilla essence, and egg and combine. Add water and mix for few seconds.

Ensure that the mixture does not form lumps. Add more water until the cake batter is smooth and shiny!

Now transfer this cake mixture into the prepared cake tin. Bake for 25–30 minutes.

Now you sit and pray that all goes well!

Take the cake out of the oven. To check for doneness, insert a toothpick into the centre. If it comes out clear or with a few crumbs, it means your cake is baked.

Now do a celebratory dance, sing loudly, inform several people about your achievement, and place the precious cake on a wire rack. And do let it cool to room temperature before serving.