Red Moonrise

Decorated Cookies Inspired by Kerala

2014-10-03T11:50:00.003+05:30

I love traveling and all the new sights, sounds and experiences it brings. But I've come to realise that travel has something more to offer: design ideas! So here's what a recent trip to Kerala has led to:

The idea for this set took root in Kerala itself, while I worked on our Onam pookalam. I started thinking of how a pookalam would be such a great thing to cookie-fy: just let your imagination loose with the designs of your choice! Then I considered other Kerala icons. Coconut trees were a given, because I have a cutter :D I didn't want to go the Kathakali route as honestly, I find the green face-black eye combo a bit freaky! Kris really wanted me to make elephant cookies, especially because of her nettipattam fascination, but without a cutter I found it a bit tricky to pull off. Then it struck me, simple and sweet - a kasavu print!

This Onam was my first time wearing a kasavu sari, beautifully draped thanks to my dear sister-in-law's expertise. The basic kasavu look is a golden border (of varying thickness) against white or cream. That is what I've tried to replicate in this cookie, and it's incredibly simple to do. Just cover the cookie in white royal icing and let it dry completely, for about 6-8 hours. Then mix some edible gold dust with clear vanilla extract / lemon juice to get a paint consistency and use a square brush going from one side to the next. Then of course, you can get more adventurous, like the kasavu saris I saw when I went shopping this time, with intricate embroidery and even some north-south fusion happening!

Next, I got started on the coconut trees.The trickiest bit of course, is the leaves. You could pipe them on, and I did give that a shot. Not fun. Much easier, and also way more fun, is to do them using a technique called wet on wet icing, where you fill in a base colour and then immediately pipe other colours on top of it, so that the new icing sinks into the base icing. You can then manipulate the colours to create swirls or shading effects.

You'll need royal icing in:
- Brown, filling consistency
- Dark green, piping and filling consistencies
- Light green, filling consistency
- Yellow, filling consistency
- Orange, filling consistency (only if you want to add coconuts)

1. I started off filling in the trunks with brown icing and letting them dry, at least 2-4 hours. Then, working with one cookie at a time, outline the leaf part with dark green piping icing and fill in with the fill consistency.

2. Immediately pipe a line of light green icing starting from the center and moving out to the tip of each leaf.

3. Follow with the yellow on top of the light green, and you can be a bit random with this, as the yellow doesn't need to be uniform; I just found that the odd bit of yellow here and there made it pop a bit.

4. Now the fun part! Use a toothpick, or other pointy tool and drag it through the icing in sideways swirls from the top of the line to the tip of the leaf. Clean the pick on kitchen paper and then drag it through the center of the leaf from top to bottom.

5. Finish all the leaves in the same way. You can go back and do some more swirls if the icing needs to be spread better. Allow to dry till set 6-8 hours.

6. Add coconuts with the orange icing. If you want to be more realistic, use orange piping icing to add those funny bead-like thingies, like in the last tree. I asked hubby if he knew what they were, and apparently that's like the flower of the tree, can you believe it?! Use a brown food marker, or food paint and add random lines across the trunks if you want.

And now, best for last, my pookalam cookies!

I used some of my smaller flower and circle cutters to trace the outlines on the cookies with food markers, and freehanded the details in. Normally, cookies are decorated as described above for the trees: outline with a thicker icing and fill in with a looser one to get a smooth finish. But since a real pookalam is made with flower petals, it has a textured look. The easiest way of recreating that effect I felt was to use one thick icing to fill each section. Give it about 5 minutes to set, and then using a fondant tool (pictured) or a toothpick, start poking at the icing and disturb the surface to get that texture. It's important to use thick icing and give it those few minutes to begin to harden, as looser icing will just merge back and won't retain the texture. Then just leave it 4-6 hours to set completely.

Here's my complete set of pookalam cookies. I stuck to colours that are typically used and the designs can be anything you like. This is the sort of decorating I enjoy the most, where you can play around with several colours and patterns.

So if you love decorating as well, keep those eyes peeled the next time you take a trip; along with souvenirs, you just might find some brilliant inspiration too!

Elephants & Butterflies: Our Onam Recap

2014-09-15T17:44:00.000+05:30

Onam pookalam at Cochin Airport

I love celebrations and parties, and all the work that goes into making them successful. It can get a bit stressful at times, but it is also bunches of fun. These days, I find myself enjoying the process more because Kris is ~~allowed to be~~ more involved. Though it is sometimes irritating when your child wants to "help", on the whole, I love it when Kris participates. Viewing the world through her eyes is both entertaining and enlightening. She brings in ideas and opinions that never cease to amuse and amaze. So I'm incredibly grateful to God for the past few weeks and all the experiences we've had.

Exactly six years ago, I blogged about my first Onam in Kerala. How time flies, and how it changes! This Onam was not only the first we've celebrated since Kris was born, we were also back in Kerala for another all-out celebration with my in-laws.

The day before Onam, we visited a nearby temple to view some of the festivities. It also happened to be a beautiful, moonlit evening. In addition to the visual treat, there is also traditional music that is played. Kris was initially overwhelmed, as it is unlike anything she's seen (or heard!) before.

She was most keen on seeing the elephants, but once there, she didn't want to get too close to them. So we watched the mahouts standing on the backs of the elephants and go through elaborate rituals of displaying and changing the umbrellas they're holding. A new word we both learned from my husband is "nettipattam" - the golden headdress all the elephants are wearing. She's now so fascinated with them, she wanted to buy a nettipattam when we spotted one at an airport shop!

Here we are on Onam morning, making the pookalam (floral floor decoration) at the entrance to our home. This was one of the things I was most excited about sharing with Kris. I had showed her pictures of different pookalam patterns before we left for Kerala so she'd have some idea of what it involved. I left the choice of design up to her, and she decided on a butterfly. A very apt choice for my in-laws home, as my mother-in-law runs a beauty parlour called Butterflies :)

This time, it was just my husband, Kris & myself who worked on the pookalam, as the rest of the family were getting ready to gather at my sister-in-law's home, where the Onam sadya (banquet) was to be held. I think this was a great learning experience for Kris as you need considerable patience to complete a pookalam, right from plucking the petals to filling in the design and then tidying up.

The sadya is the traditional feast eaten on Onam and other important occasions in Kerala. It consists of a variety of pure vegetarian dishes served with rice. (Please excuse the poor quality, the pics were all hurriedly clicked on our phones). The most interesting feature of course, is that it's eaten off a banana leaf. It is also customary to sit cross-legged on the floor, but comfort and convenience came first for us, so we served the meal at the dining table :) When I was growing up, my mother and maternal grandmother always got together to prepare the usual Onam fare, and the big thrill for my sister and me was to eat from the banana leaf. So I'm really happy that Kris got a chance to experience this as well.

Then post-lunch came the photo session. Most of the photos were clicked around the pookalam my niece made. All the women had dressed up in Kerala's signature sari - white/cream with the traditional golden border called kasavu. For me, this was one of the best parts of our trip, getting all dressed up in Indian finery! Kris too loved her pavada, a blouse and full-length skirt. While her cousin sisters sported different colours, I got Kris a set in the typical Kerala kasavu style that she's now looking forward to taking to school. That's yet another thing I'm grateful for, that my daughter shares my love for dressing up! I'm signing off this post with a photo that my little girl took of me and her aunts (I'm on the left). Nope, I didn't crop too much off this; it was a headless shot to begin with, as in her words, she was trying to get the pookalam in the shot as well :)

Wholewheat Ginger Cookies {Fuss-free Baking}

2014-08-07T15:58:00.002+05:30

Ginger is one of my favourite flavours. The fragrance of a ginger-infused dough, both as it makes and bakes, is just intoxicating! You've got to have baked with it to know what I'm talking about, so read on and give this one a try.

I stumbled across these Ginger Cookies a few years ago while searching for healthier treat options. Now most "healthy" treats may be good for you, but I'll be honest: they don't really hit that sweet spot. Not so these cookies. Made with oil, wholewheat flour and raw sugar (and ginger of course!), they are healthier than your regular cookies and also deliciously satisfying! I make most of these cookies plain, which is what my hubby and daughter take along in their snack boxes, and the ones with sprinkles are my daughter's back-from-school treat.

Wholewheat Ginger Cookies (adapted from eatingwell.com)

Yield: 3 dozen

2/3 cup canola oil
3/4 - 1 cup raw sugar (I used the whole 1 cup)
1 large egg
4 tbsp molasses OR treacle OR golden syrup (I use treacle as I prefer its taste over molasses)
2 cups sifted wholewheat flour (I use our Indian chapati flour)
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/4 tsp ground ginger

1. Preheat oven to 180C and line 3 baking trays with parchment / baking paper.
2. Mix flour, soda, cinnamon and ginger together. Set aside.
3. Whisk oil and sugar in a large bowl till combined. Add the egg and whisk till mixed in, followed by the treacle and mix till all the wet ingredients are well combined.
4. Sift the dry ingredients over the wet and combine with a spatula till they are blended in.
5. Drop tablespoon-sized scoops of dough onto baking trays, spacing them a couple of inches apart. I put 12 on a tray.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes till set, but still slightly soft when touched. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before storing in an airtight tin.

Notes:
- The original recipe involves rolling 1-inch sized balls of the dough and then dipping it into sugar. I just dip a few scoops of dough in sprinkles, and leave the rest plain, they still taste beautiful. Feel free to dip in sugar or sprinkles of your choice.
- Depending on your cookie preference, bake for 10 minutes for a softer cookie and for the full 12 minutes for a crunchier one.

This recipe is a particular favourite of mine as it ticks all the right boxes: fuss-free, check; healthier, check; absolutely scrumptious, check! As there's no butter and therefore no heavy mixing required, my almost-five-year old could take a more active role and in fact, mixed all of the wet ingredients herself. It boosts her confidence in the kitchen and gives her that creative satisfaction. Ginger is not a universally loved flavour, so I'm delighted that my family shares my enthusiasm for it. Even my husband who dislikes most other cookies loves this one, so this recipe is an all-round winner!

Rainbow Ruffled Fondant Flower Tutorial

2014-07-18T14:44:00.001+05:30

My friends over at Pretty Paper Studio have a rainbow theme for this month's craft challenge (do check out their gorgeous work on their blog). Inspired by the colours, I wanted to play along too, though not with paper, but my preferred medium - fondant! I decided to combine rainbow colours with my current favourite decoration - ruffled fondant flowers.

Before we get on with the tutorial, here are some of the things you'll need:

Fondant (or gumpaste or a mix of both) - in six colours.
Scalloped circle / flower cutters in various sizes.
Rolling pin.
Icing sugar (or cornstarch), for dusting.
Ball tool, for ruffling the edges of the flowers.
Foam pad.
Soft sponge pad.
Water and a paintbrush (reserved for decorating purposes only).
Kitchen paper.

My cutters come from various sets, as I don't have a single set for small flowers. The foam and sponge pads are Wilton's. Also, remember to keep your fondant wrapped tight in cling film when not in use.

And now the tutorial.

1. Dust your work surface with some icing sugar and then roll out your red fondant till it's about 1 mm thick. Cut out the base layer of the flower with your largest cutter, and place it on the foam pad.

2. Hold the ball tool like a pencil with half the tip on the edge of the fondant and half on the pad, and roll back and forth with a gentle pressure; the fondant thins out and ruffles up. Don't overdo it as the fondant can rip.

3. Gently lift your ruffled red fondant layer and place on the sponge pad. The flower will be assembled on this pad. Hold the ball tool upright and press down gently on the center to cup the layer.

4. Roll out the orange fondant and cut with the second-largest cutter. Ruffle the edges on the foam pad. Brush a tiny amount of water on the center of the red layer. Lift the orange layer, center it over the red layer and place it down. Press down gently with the ball tool so it adheres.

5. Roll tiny bits of kitchen paper into tubes and prop up any edges that are drooping too low. Once the fondant has had a couple of hours drying time, you can carefully ease the paper out and the fondant will stay raised.

6. Repeat steps 3-5 for the yellow, green and blue fondant, making sure you use cutters of decreasing size. I rolled a small ball of purple fondant and adhered it to the blue layer with a dab of water.

7. You can leave it at this, or optionally press down a white pearl cachous in the center of the purple ball and add lines to the edge of the purple fondant by pressing down with a toothpick or a knife tool. Remember to place kitchen paper tubes wherever needed.

Gently transfer to a baking paper-lined tray, or leave it on the sponge pad to dry 4-6 hours before handling, and your rainbow ruffled fondant flower is ready!

As you can see, I used my flower to top off a freshly frosted cupcake. Just press down gently while the frosting is still soft. To adhere the flower to a fondant surface, I'd recommend using a dab of royal icing or sugar glue instead of plain water, to give it a stronger bond.

Hope you've enjoyed this tutorial!

Anzac Biscuits {Fuss-free Baking}

2014-06-16T17:38:00.000+05:30

Baking is one of my greatest pleasures, and for the most part, I've been fortunate to be able to indulge that passion with all the necessary equipment and gadgets it calls for. But that hasn't always been the case. I lived in London a few years ago, and while it was a great experience overall, it also required a few compromises, baking-wise. As our stay there hinged entirely on my husband's work, I was reluctant to make any pricey investments in baking equipment, knowing we could have to pack and leave any time.

That's when I began searching out recipes that were simpler and easy to put together, without the need for special mixing equipment. Even today, when I'm blessed with a better-equipped kitchen, there is a different kind of satisfaction when I find simple, easy-to-mix recipes that turn out well. And that is why I'm introducing a new series: Fuss-free Baking!

Maybe you're an occasional baker or someone just starting out, maybe you have certain constraints like I did. Or maybe you're just tired or rushed for time and want to whip up something quickly without dragging out the mixer. Recipes that are labelled Fuss-free Baking will be easily mixable by hand and have fewer ingredients. You will still need 1-2 baking trays and either a scale or measuring cup to measure ingredients, but at least the need for mixing equipment can be avoided.

I'm starting off with a biscuit recipe that I first heard of only after moving to Australia. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. Wikipedia traces the origins of this biscuit back to World War I when it was a favourite of army wives to send for their husbands due to its long shelf life. After having made it in school recently, my daughter asked me to make some at home as she found them very yummy. Since it is a classic Aussie recipe, I turned to an Aussie culinary icon for guidance. Here it is:

Anzac Biscuit Recipe (adapted from Donna Hay)

Yield: approx 3 dozen biscuits.

2 cups (180g) rolled oats

1 cup (150g) plain (all-purpose) flour (I used 1/2 cup plain and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour)

⅔ cup (150g) caster (superfine) sugar

¾ cup (60g) desiccated coconut

⅓ cup (115g) golden syrup

125g unsalted butter

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

2 tablespoons hot water

1. Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F). Mix the oats, flour, sugar and coconut in a bowl.

2. Cook the golden syrup and butter in a saucepan over low heat, stirring, until melted.

3. Mix the bicarbonate of soda with the water and add to the butter mixture. It will fizz. Take off the heat and pour into the oat mixture and mix well to combine.

4. Drop tablespoonfuls of the mixture onto baking trays lined with baking / parchment paper and flatten to 7cm rounds, allowing room to spread.

5. Bake for 8–10 minutes or until deep golden.

6. Allow to cool on baking trays for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. The 5-minute rest time is essential as the biscuits will still be soft on coming out of the oven, and only firm up as they cool.

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The cooked butter and syrup give this biscuit a mild butterscotch flavour. You may also have noticed that Anzac biscuits are eggless; that is one of the reasons they keep so well. The baking time is up to you and what type of biscuit you prefer: you can see the difference in colour where one batch baked for 10 minutes leading to a darker, crunchier biscuit, and another I baked for just 8 minutes, making a chewier one. I personally prefer the crunchy ones that have a nice snap when you bite into them. I also love the way the oats stand out against the darker biscuits.

I hope I've given you enough reason to try making these biscuits. If you like something with a dash of chocolate, you can try these equally fuss-free chocolate chip cookies.

Mothers & Daughters: Appreciating the Other Side

2014-05-11T15:44:00.000+05:30

This conversation took place a few weeks ago, while we were sitting in church waiting for Mass to begin.

Kris, in a serious whisper: "It's hard work being a mum, isn't it?"

My heart just filled up at this unexpected insight from my four-year-old. "Yes, it is." I whispered back to her, smiling mistily. We sat in a companionable silence for some time, till she turned to me and whispered just as seriously as before, "It's hard work being a daughter too."

Being in church, I had to subdue the laugh that bubbled up to a quiet chuckle. But as I sat there and thought about what she'd said, I had to agree, it's hard to be a daughter. Especially now that she has a basic level of understanding and thinks she knows all there is to know, it must be very hard to come up against the boundaries we set for her. Very hard to accept and act on our advice, when she thinks she knows best.

With all my attention focused on trying to be a good mum, and doing the things good mums should do, I don't think I'd ever really thought about our relationship from her perspective before. Smart remarks like that make me realise that my baby is a baby no longer, but very much her own person, with her own views and opinions that hubby & I need to take into account as we move ahead on this parenting journey. So I have to thank my little Kris for helping me to become more empathetic and open-minded as a mother.

On Friday, I received a wonderful bag of "surprises" that she'd made at school. It included a card, the drawing above of the two of us (did you see my green nail polish?!), a cloth bag with a similar picture painted on it, and a Mother's Day survey! It had questions on what I do, my likes and strengths, how we spend our time and so on. Her answers are both heartwarming and hilarious. They were written down by one of her teachers, and here I have to say, kudos to those ladies for getting 20 four-year-olds to answer a bunch of questions!

Highlights from the survey:

What does your Mum cook the best?
Answer: Mango curry and rice.
(Only, it's not Mum who used to make this, it's Dad! But Mum has learned how :D)

Why do you love your Mum?
Answer: Because she makes lovely cookies.
(So the way to her heart is also through her stomach!)

I love that the school has taken the effort of carrying out this little survey, as it has given us a beautiful memento of Kris at age four, how she sees me and what she values about us. It's rewarding to know that in addition to the "hard work", she sees us as having a loving and fun-filled relationship .... with food and baking being a big part of it, of course :)

An Easter Education

2014-04-27T18:03:00.000+05:30

"Is Easter the Easter bunny's birthday?" went the innocent question from my daughter Kris last year. Even as I laughed and pulled her in for a cuddle, I began wondering how I would tackle this. I grew up in a country where Easter was not a national celebration; it was significant only to the Christian community and we all knew that the central figure in the Easter story is Jesus (the bunny was way low-profile back then). Kris is growing up in an environment where all the major Christian festivals may be national holidays, but where Jesus is far removed from the mainstream celebrations and associated imagery. Santa becomes the star at Christmas, and Easter is the bunny's time in the limelight.

So it's quite understandable that Kris thought Easter revolved around the bunny. Of course I wanted to set her straight, but how do you explain death and resurrection to a three-year old and not leave her scared, or scarred? At the time, I simply told her that Easter was about Jesus, who was 'taken away' by the 'bad people', but that He managed to come back and save everybody, and that is why we celebrate Easter.

Kris putting the marzipan crosses on Hot Cross Bun Cookies

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against Santa or the bunny. I think they add a fun element to these celebrations and I happily share Kris's excitement in the Easter egg hunts and hat parades. We enjoy making Easter bonnets and bunny masks and as you can see here, we've been busy baking to share treats with our friends. But at the same time, I feel it's essential to remember what's really at the heart of this celebration, and more importantly, to take the time to help my child understand that too.

Easter sugar cookies. Left: bunny-scape. Top right: Easter egg cookies. Bottom right: Easter gift basket.

Kris is now a year older, and wiser (sort of :D). Because of tv and her peers, she now has words like 'dead' and 'kill' in her vocabulary, which gave me room to be more specific about the Easter story this year. We've been going through her kiddy Bibles, reading the stories from them, and this has led to some memorable conversations. I will always cherish the priceless expressions that race across her face as she tries to absorb it all.

Our talks have also had another unexpected effect: in teaching Kris, I am learning afresh too. In searching for words to explain our faith in its simplest terms, I found myself reconnecting with it more profoundly than I ever have before. And it feels like I'm discovering the beauty of it all over again, which when you think about it, is exactly what this period should achieve.

Easter Sunday then dawned and we had a quiet morning at home. I was feeling rested and renewed. We video-chatted with my family and when my mother asked Kris why we were celebrating, she said it was because Jesus died and came back to save us. I lit up with her answer .... and then deflated a moment later when she said, "but the bunny is the bigger part about Easter." {sigh}.

It's going to take quite a few Easters before she really gets it. I know it's a slow and lifelong process. Her questions haven't abated in the week since, and I'm encouraged that she wants to keep reading from her Bible, instead of me making her do it. Of all the things we do together, I especially treasure the time we've spent discussing Jesus over the past few weeks. I only hope I'm able to sustain her interest, and help her budding faith flourish.

An incredibly fragile royal icing filigree cross atop a simple vanilla cake with cream cheese frosting & toasted almonds.

One Direction Cookies

2014-03-28T13:40:00.001+05:30

I've said it before, I'll say it again: the human capacity for creativity and inventiveness never ceases to amaze me. And I'm so very grateful to live in a time where ideas can be exchanged instantly, and inspiration is just a click away. Like it was in the case of these cookies.

This set was requested by a friend for her niece, who is a huge fan of the band. My immediate response when she asked me was pure bafflement: how on earth do you convert real people into cookies? She assured me that she'd checked online and it had been done. I then looked up 'One Direction cookies' and one of the first image hits was this incredibly cute set by Sweet Sugarbelle.

Now I stumbled across Sugarbelle's blog a couple of years ago when I first began decorating, and since then I've been in awe of her work. She possesses a unique knack of creating dramatic designs out of the simplest cutters, and sometimes combination of cutters. See, there's that relentless creativity at work. So she designed this brilliant template of the band members and very generously shared it for free on her blog, along with a tutorial.

Sugarbelle uses something called a Kopykake projector, which is designed for use on cakes and other sweets. It projects the design to be piped directly onto the sweet, which makes it very easy to pipe complex patterns. Again, there's that inventiveness: a projector to simplify decorating. Who thinks of all these things?! Sadly, I don't own such a projector so I did it the old-fashioned way: cut out the easier part of the template (which was the face and ears), traced around them with an edible ink marker, and freehanded all those fussy hairstyles in.

I did not want to replicate Sugarbelle's platter in its entirety, so I added some different designs with the music notes and stars. I took a quick shot of the stars as I worked on them. Cookie decorating doesn't have to be difficult; something as simple as piping dots along the border can also make a big difference.

This set was a first for me in a couple of ways. It's the first set of my cookies to travel; they went from Sydney to Bangalore and survived intact, thank you God! The other 'first' is making cookies based on real people. And of all the people in the world to cookiefy, I'd have never gone in this direction (yes, I absolutely had to say that :D), except for being asked. So a big thank you to my friend for trusting me with this, and a big thank you to Sugarbelle for sharing that super-creative template! I've got to say, despite my personal feelings (or lack thereof!) for the band, I love these little guys :D

Milestones and a Macaron-Covered Cake

2014-03-10T12:56:00.000+05:30

I think '30' started getting hyped up a few years ago. Or is it that I only started paying attention to the hype the closer I got to 30? Anyway, the closer I got, the more I started thinking about it and I guess I was mostly neutral; I never flipped out, but neither did I go, yaaay I'm going to be 30. Till some tragedies occurred close to home and shocked me into thinking straight: every day you're here, is a day to be glad for.

So I thought turning 30 deserved a special effort, when usually I just buy a couple of slices from my favourite bakery. And I hoped that if it turned out alright, I might be able to share recipes and ideas here. The cake itself came out great, though my macarons, while tasty enough, have a long way to go before they're technically proper.

The cake is the same Devil's Food Cake I made for my daughter's birthday last year, and the recipe is at the end of this post. This time, I used a third of the measurements to make three 6" layers each, that were sandwiched with buttercream (recipe over here). I used half this buttercream recipe and flavoured it with peppermint extract instead of vanilla. I divided the buttercream into two batches, dyed to match the two macaron colours. The frosting is a dark chocolate fudge, that I tried for the first time, and came out superbly. I had wanted to put a big flower on top, but honestly was a bit intimidated by them, till I found this easy technique.

I wanted to use macarons somehow, as they are my daughter's favourite dessert at the moment. However, they are notoriously tricky to get just right, and even on my fourth attempt I am far from getting the perfect texture. Should you want to give them a shot, here's a good video to get you started. I placed some unfilled macaron shells on the cake, and later kept some filled macarons around it. For the filling, I used the same peppermint buttercream as in the cake.

Now on a personal note, I had wondered if I should share some .... thoughts, on turning 30, but then I er, thought about it, and didn't feel like I had many :), except that sense of inexpressible gratitude. Even after reading this touching post by my friend Neelu, I didn't feel like I had much to say, as I thought she said it all, and said it brilliantly.

But then my birthday arrived. Start to finish it was beautiful, by God's grace. I received some wonderful, unexpected surprises. Wishes flowed in from friends and most of my family .... except for one person. My daughter :). She refused to wish me all day, right up to when we were about to cut the cake later that night, at which point her dad said enough was enough: wish mum now! She did, with a sheepish grin, and sang happy birthday as well.

The reason for all the drama? She's anti-birthdays at the moment. All you folks out there freaking about turning 30, 40, whatever, my little girl's got you beat. She's worried about turning five! Why? Because she doesn't want to leave preschool and the teachers she loves, doesn't want to go to 'big school' and doesn't want to grow up :) So for her right now, birthdays (mum's and her own included) are silly.

Then, the next day I received this incredible gift from my family. All my dad had told me before, was to expect a couple of DVDs in the mail. I sat to watch the first without a clue as to the contents. Words can't express the sheer joy I felt when I saw what it was: the recordings of mine and my sister's first birthdays!

Video recording had just taken off in India when I was a baby, and my first birthday was the first recorded event in my family. We had these on the old VHS tapes (remember those?), and over time they started gathering mildew and couldn't be viewed properly. So with a great deal of sadness, we all wrote them off as lost causes. I don't think any of us watched them in at least a decade. But on a recent trip back to our house in India, my dad found the tapes and got the salvageable portions converted to DVD format.

It's a priceless gift for all of us, something we thought we'd never see again, carefully restored. Even more priceless, because they include people we loved, like my grandfathers, who are not with us anymore. Precious memories in a tangible form that I can now share with my child, and show her at least some part of her history, and where she comes from. And yes, also help her to understand that she is not the only one who's had to deal with growing up; I too was a child like she is now, and I too had to grow up and go to big school and so on :)

All of these things made me realise that I actually do have a few thoughts that I'd like to share, so here goes:

Embrace your age wholeheartedly, and be thankful for it. If you ever start feeling otherwise, spare a thought for all those who weren't lucky to make it to whatever age you are now.
No matter where you reach, never forget where you've come from and the people who've been a part of your journey; more importantly, those that have helped you on that journey.
Change is inevitable, and seldom easy. But you do your best to deal and go on trusting He knows your way forward.
This is an echo of what Neelu said in her post, that I feel more strongly about now, having seen those DVDs again: document your life story! I am so grateful to my parents for choosing to record our birthdays; and so grateful to God for every moment from those first milestones to this one.

Inspired by Turquoise: Pirate-themed Cookie Tutorial

2014-02-21T12:20:00.000+05:30

Ahoy me hearties! I'm very excited to share this 'tutorial' for pirate cookies that I made a couple of days ago. But before we get into the how-tos, a bit of background.

Last week, I made a big batch of turquoise icing for this set of christening cookies below. Working on this set, I realised that I'm a lot more comfortable piping patterns, than I am creating people and faces. I rarely do character cookies, and can't remember if I ever tried making any people-type cookies, prior to these angels.

I had some leftover turquoise and white icing from this project, plus extra cookies, and I wanted to put it all to use. I started thinking of designs, and whenever I think turquoise, the first image that pops to mind is the ocean. The first time I saw this gorgeous colour in nature, was as a young girl at Dubai's Jumeirah Beach. I clearly recall feeling awestruck that water could be this mesmerising shade, and it's a fascination that still endures. From there, it was an easy leap to do something pirate-related, also because the little person in my house is pirate-mad at the moment.

Supplies Needed:
Sugar cookies - round or square.
Edible food pens (or toothpick, to mark out the design).
Royal icing, in turquoise, black, brown, flesh tone, white and pink. Consistency should be between flood and piping.
Piping bags & tips (I used Wilton tips #1 and #2).
Thin paintbrush (that is reserved for decorating purposes).
Food colour in red, orange or gold.
Gold and silver lustre dust (optional).

I began this project by sketching out some ideas. I don't normally do this, but when the design has several parts, it's better to have a guide. I then marked out the design onto the cookies with edible ink pens. If you don't have these, you could still gently mark out the sections with a toothpick or a scribe tool. It would be harder to see, but it'll do the job.

To get your icing colours and bags ready, I recommend watching this terrific video that, pardon the drama, changed my life :) Honestly, it saves me loads of time. So for this project, I just turned some turquoise icing into brown, and then turned some of that into black. I tinted some of the white icing into the flesh toned icing, and a bit of that into the pink.

A note about the icing consistency: normally, you'd have a piping consistency for outlining and details, and a flood consistency that's runnier for filling in. To make life easier, I just stuck to the one consistency somewhere in between the two - the best way I can describe it is as between toothpaste and shampoo. It also works because each part of the design is quite small. So you outline and fill with the same piping bag, and run a toothpick along after you've filled in the areas, to even out the icing.

These cookies require a bit more patience than usual as you can't pipe all the icing in one go. Couple of reasons for this: one, is to avoid dark colours bleeding into the light ones; so I piped the dark areas first and let them dry for 30-40 minutes before adding the lighter colours. The second reason is to create dimension ... or is it definition? Or maybe both :) This is a technique I've picked up from the top cookiers around, and that I've applied here to the pirate hats and the ocean. It's just a matter of piping in sections and letting each section dry before piping the adjoining areas. You'll see what I mean as we go along.

Girl Pirate Photo Tutorial:

1. Outline and immediately fill in the pirate hat. Leave to dry about half an hour.
2. Pipe in the brim of the hat.
3. Add the t-shirt. (See, now it occurs to me that I could've done this the same time as step 1. Hopefully, I've saved you some time :D)
4. Once the hat has had at least one hour drying time, add the face icing, leaving gaps for the eye and mouth. Leave to dry for 30 min.
5. Add the neck and the white icing. There are a couple of ways of doing the eye: one is to pipe a dot of black icing as soon as you've piped the white icing; the black dot will sink into the white. This is what I did, and thankfully it didn't bleed much. Alternatively, you could wait for the white eye to dry before painting on the black part with food colour or drawing it with an edible ink pen. Optional: If you've piped the black dot on, immediately add a tiny white dot over that.
6. Pipe the hair. I gave one girl curly hair, and the other straight. The only problem with using a thinner consistency of icing is that you can't pipe the hair in one go; if you try to do this, the icing just melds into one blob. So pipe alternate strands, and once they've dried a bit, fill in the gaps.
7. Final details: you can either pipe or paint the eye-patch on. Use the thin paintbrush dipped in black food colour to do eyelashes (optional), and the smiley face on the hat. I used edible food pens in orange and gold for the other facial details: mouth, nose and freckles. Alternatively, use the thin paintbrush and paint these details on. The scarf is also optional: I piped it on with the pink icing and added the white dots immediately.

Pirate Ship Photo Tutorial:

1. Pipe the body of the ship and the lines for the masts. Leave to dry for half an hour.
2. Pipe alternate sections of the water. Leave to dry.
3. Fill in the remaining sections. You can see that you've got the effect of waves now. We wouldn't have that definition if it had been piped in one go.
4. Pipe the sails. Once the waves are dry, you could add a touch of white icing randomly to look like whitecaps. I used the paintbrush to drag it along the bottom of the ship to resemble spray.
5. Final details: Pipe the black flag; once it's dry you could paint on the X with a bit of silver dust mixed with a few drops of water. Mix gold dust and a few drops of water, and paint on the portholes and some random lines.

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Comparing the cookies to the sketches, I think the ships turned out way better, especially after adding the details with gold. I'm going to need more practice to get the faces to turn out exactly as I picture them. But this project got me out of my decorating comfort zone, so it was a good learning experience. It was also great to take the simplest of cookie shapes and come up with a creative design. It takes patience, but it's really rewarding to make your vision materialise bit by bit. Please note that this tutorial is how I went about making these cookies and is just a guideline; if you've got a better way, go for it (and let me know too!)

French-inspired Valentine's Day Eiffel Cookies

2014-02-04T11:47:00.002+05:30

I've had France on my mind recently, for a couple of very good reasons. The first is a French film called The Intouchables. I had wanted to write a bit about this incredible movie in this post, but as I began, I felt that a movie as fine as this was, and that I enjoyed so very much, merited its own post. So I will come back to The Intouchables later, and move on to the second reason I've been thinking of France.

My husband picked up this enchanting book for our daughter from the library. It was the illustrations that caught his eye and had him bringing it home. It is a very recent book by an Aussie author, and is about a young hare, Ruby Red Shoes, who lives with her grandma and is going on holiday to Paris with her.

I sat down to read it to my daughter Kris one bedtime. She was a bit skeptical as she is with any new book that she hasn't chosen herself. But on the first page itself was something that captured her attention immediately: the grandma hare's name - Babushka Galina Galushka! The moment I read that aloud, Kris went into a fit of giggles and couldn't wait to hear more.

To my pleasant surprise, what followed was a charming and humorous tale of young Ruby's escapades in Paris. You can feel the author's love for Paris in every page with her vivid descriptions of Parisian life and the gorgeous illustrations (she's also the illustrator). I thoroughly enjoyed it and so did Kris, but at four, she is too young to fully understand and appreciate the depth and charm of this lovely book. But at least we got to introduce her to a new country, a new city and bits of its fascinating culture.

The next morning, Kris was bubbling over about the book. Hubby decided he'd draw her a picture from the book. Both of them love to draw and that's one of their usual father-daughter activities - him teaching her how to draw different things. He started drawing the Eiffel Tower, and as he began, I remembered an old purchase, and immediately dashed off to the kitchen .... to return triumphantly with this: an Eiffel cookie cutter!

Kris was suitably impressed.
In awed tones, she asked: "Did you get it in Paris?"
My disillusioning response: "Ummm, actually I got it at Sydney Fish Market."

Crazy, but true! We had been to the main fish market a couple of years ago when my family was visiting. Among assorted varieties of seafood, you also have the odd stall selling knick-knacks at the fish market. So while the fish-lovers went nuts buying seafood, I went nuts buying cookie cutters! Anyway, the Eiffel cutter had been buried and forgotten in my cutter collection since then, but digging it out a few days ago triggered some ideas. I had been wanting to bake something 'love'ly with Valentine's Day around the corner, so I thought with all this talk of France and Paris in the house, why not do some French-inspired cookies?

You can use any rolled cookie recipe for this. I used the basic sugar cookie from Glorious Treats. My Eiffel cutter being fairly small and slim, it doesn't leave a lot of cookie surface area to comfortably replicate the details of the real Tower. And in all honesty, even if I did have the room I probably wouldn't have gone with the actual lines, I just wanted to have fun! I thought of outlining the tower in roses. The hitch here was that piping roses that tiny would be next to impossible. So I thought, why not try painting? I remembered a post read long ago, again on Glorious Treats, that I felt would work perfectly here.

It was great fun, hand-painting these cookies. I used regular supermarket liquid food colours for this project, and a paintbrush and palette that are expressly reserved for decorating purposes. I found painting a lot easier than piping, though you do need to be mindful of how much colour you get onto the brush; too much and you get blobs.

I also wanted to include some sentiment cookies, and I thought since they're French-inspired after all, I should convey those sentiments in French. Now this is one of those areas in decorating that gets me really nervous - text! I hate having to pipe out names and messages. But I have to say again, painting was a lot easier than piping.

This was the first time that I've tried painting on cookies. You do need a bit of patience to get it done, but I think it's well worth the effort. It took me about 15-20 minutes to complete each painted Eiffel cookie, and half that time per sentiment cookie. For the other Eiffel cookies, I just outlined them in bead piping and tried out this incredibly easy technique for tiny royal icing roses from Sweet Sugarbelle.

A couple of weeks ago while I was first considering ideas for Valentine's Day sweets, I was headed in a completely different direction. It was only reading that darling little book and the following events that sent me down this hand-painted path :) It's funny where you find your inspiration sometimes. Hopefully I've inspired at least one other person to try this out!

Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies for Young Bakers

2014-01-17T14:07:00.000+05:30

I've sort of been on a chocolate-chip cookie baking spree lately, ever since my daughter told me that of all the things I bake, those are her absolute favourite. She likes knowing what's cooking in the kitchen, and loves watching especially when I bake. Even more so when I bake her favourite.

It makes my husband and I very happy that she's interested in food, so we try to involve her whenever she comes to the kitchen. Sometimes it's something as simple as fetching a ziploc, but it gives her a sense that she's contributed. Given the nature of some types of cooking, it's not always safe for a four-year old to participate, but she's good about watching from afar. I want to sustain her interest in food, which is why I love this recipe I'm sharing now, because she was able to do most of the work herself. And that look of mingled joy / wonder / pride on her face as she realised she had done it made the whole process that much more precious :)

Most cookie recipes begin with creaming butter and sugar, for which I normally use either electric beaters or my bench mixer. But while I was researching chocolate chip cookies, I came across these fantastic posts (here and here). Prior to reading them, it had never occurred to me that you can use melted butter as well.

The great advantage of using melted butter, especially when you've got eager beavers ready to assist, is that you don't need heavy-duty mixing equipment. A whisk, or even a simple fork, will suffice to combine the butter with the sugar and egg.

Then, as I further browsed through this great site by Baker Bettie, I found an easy recipe for 5 ingredient chocolate chip cookies. I had never seen such a no-frills version of this hugely popular cookie before. It runs on my husband's favourite cooking principle: minimum effort, maximum results :). Again, it's perfect when you're baking with young kids as there's hardly any prep work involved and you have the payoff ready in minutes!

I tweaked Baker Bettie's recipe by using melted butter, adding vanilla, and using the standard two types of sugar - white and dark brown. Because of the melted butter, my four-year old was easily able to do most of the mixing herself. I gave her a spatula to mix the flour and chips in, and showed her how to fold them in gently without them flying out the bowl :)

Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yield: approx 3 dozen (with a tablespoon-sized scoop)

1/2 cup or 113 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp caster sugar
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
1 1/4 cup plain flour
3/4 to 1 cup chocolate chips (milk, dark, white .... whatever you prefer)

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Line baking trays with parchment paper.
2. I melted the butter in a glass mixing bowl in the microwave in 30 second bursts (or melt over the stove in a saucepan if that's easier for you). Once mostly cooled, add both sugars and whisk till smooth.
3. Add egg and vanilla and mix till combined.
4. Use a spatula to gently mix in the flour and chocolate chips.
5. Drop tablespoonfuls of dough a couple of inches apart onto the lined baking trays. Bake for 10-12 minutes, just till the edges of the cookies have browned.
6. Take out of the oven and leave on the tray to cool for a couple of minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool fully. Store in an airtight container when completely cooled.

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Does this make the most decadent chocolate chip cookie in the world? No. But despite its humble beginnings, it's a delicious cookie, perfect for a quick teatime treat, or for initiating first-time bakers of all ages.

One final note: most sites tell you to use a scoop to drop the dough; I tend to use the tablespoon from my measuring spoon set which is the same thing, except there's no release mechanism so I have to use a butter knife to plop the dough from spoon to tray. The reason I do this is to make smaller cookies. My daughter and I have a two-cookie deal at snack time; when the cookies are smaller, I don't mind so much if she can't resist an extra cookie :)

Cookie Tealight Stands

2013-12-22T15:45:00.000+05:30

I made these saffron cookie tealight stands for Diwali earlier this year, and I'd promised a post on how to make them, so here goes.

The idea for these cookies comes from a book called Decorating Cookies by Joanna Farrow. You can use the rolled cookie recipe of your choice to make these stands. For this project, I've used a gingerbread cookie recipe as I'll be using these stands during Christmas.

One important point that I'll highlight in the beginning, and that isn't mentioned in the book, is to get simple glass tealight holders. You put the tealights in the glass holders and place the holders on the cookie base. This way, the cookie doesn't get direct heat from the tealight and stays fresh longer.

What you need:
Cookie dough (recipe of your choice, I'll link to some suggestions at the end)
Small glass tealight holders (check your dollar stores or Ikea)
Cutters - sharp knives / steel piping tips / straws
Template of your design (optional)
Decorations - cachous / dragees / sprinkles
Royal Icing - stiff consistency (piping consistency for decorating, optional)

You begin by rolling out your cookie dough and cutting out shapes for the front and the base of the stand. For the front, I've simply cut rectangle shapes, but you can use any shape you like. Just make sure it's big enough to cover the glass tealight holder. Cut circles, or squares for the base, and again, ensure it corresponds to the size of the front piece and is big enough for the tealight holder.

Note: If using fancy shapes for the front piece, you have to cut a straight line across the bottom of the cookie so that it'll rest evenly on the base. For the saffron cookies in the first picture, I used a round fluted cutter for the front cookie, and I had to trim the end off so that it would sit straight on the base.

Cut out your design on the front. I've just used a piping tip to cut circles out in the shape of a Christmas tree. A piece of drinking straw will also work well to cut out circles. If you have a more elaborate design, make a paper template. Place the template onto the cookie and cut out the design with a sharp knife.

If you want to use sprinkles, I feel it's easier to put them on before baking. I've used silver dragees / cachous here. Be gentle when you put these on; don't push them through the cookie.

Then bake the cookies as per recipe instructions. I bake mine a tad longer as I like my cookies crisper.

Once the cookies are cooled, you can decorate the front pieces with royal icing if you like, and let it dry for a few hours. I'm not sure how the warmth of the tealights would affect a cookie that's fully covered with royal icing, so both times I've made these tealight stands, I've kept the royal icing to a minimum and it's been perfectly fine.

Assembling the Tealight Stands:

1. Put the stiff consistency royal icing into a piping bag or ziploc bag with the end snipped off. Pipe a couple of thick lines onto the base cookie, about 1 cm away from the edge.

2. Place the front piece onto the thick icing, making sure it's standing straight, and then push down very gently.

Ensure that the front cookie isn't tilting forwards or backwards. If it starts to tilt, take it off and pipe more icing onto the base and place it again.

3. Once the front is securely standing on the base, fill in any gaps between the two cookies with more icing. You can see in the third picture how thin the icing looks on the left once the front cookie is placed on the base. So for more support, pipe one more line of icing on the back of the cookie. The book says you can prop up the front cookie with a small glass if need be. Let them dry for a few hours, and your edible tealight stands are ready to use!

You can store these cookies in a container deep enough to hold them, or if you don't have one, the book says you can leave them on a board or baking tray and wrap around loosely with cling film.

This is a fun project, and I hope you try it out and that it lights up your celebrations as well. Have a blessed Christmas and New Year!

Links to rolled cookie recipes:
Rolled Sugar Cookies - Glorious Treats
Chocolate Sugar Cookies - Glorious Treats
Eggless Saffron Cookies - Divine Taste
Gingerbread Cookies (recipe used for this project) - Craftsy

DIY Crepe Rose Wreath

2013-12-09T15:01:00.000+05:30

There is a section on this blog I grandly titled 'Food & Craft', with some food-related posts and zero craft-related ones. I am pleased to say that I am finally able to notch one for craft, with this my debut crafty post.

Having a craft-loving daughter, we're pretty much cutting / gluing all year through. But for me personally, this is the one time in the year that I go into craft overdrive. I absolutely love decorating for Christmas, and while I love buying knick-knacks for my home, it gives me far greater pleasure when I look around and see things that we've made ourselves.

Like this wreath, for example. The idea for this sparked at my daughter's playgroup a couple of months ago, when the craft activity organized by one of the mums involved simple crepe streamers. As I supervised my daughter, I was idly twisting a piece of crepe round and round, and I thought, well that makes a really pretty rose. Voila!

If you've ever made a ribbon rose, this is the same thing. But I was so charmed by this, I got all fired up and made a, ahem, tutorial, so here goes. Pardon the photography :).

What you'll need:

1. A frame (I used a cane one, about 8" wide, but you could use a thermocol one, or wire etc.)
2. Crepe streamers / ribbons in the colours of your choice.
3. Green garland (or shiny tinsel) 2 metres long, to luxuriously cover a frame this size.
4. Floral wire (not pictured).
5. Any additional decorations (like the glittery bow I used).

Crepe Rose How-to:

1. Cut a strip of the crepe, about 20" long (less for a smaller rose, more for a bigger one). Fold the top left corner down; it makes for a neater center.

2. Take the bottom left corner and start rolling it inwards, towards the top.

3. Once the center is formed, hold the flower steady and begin draping the strip around it, pleating it occasionally (I've got a picture to illustrate this in the next set, bear with me :)).

4. Make sure you scrunch the bottom half of the rose tightly, this helps the 'petals' poof out more.

5. When you reach the end, fold the top corner of the strip down and bring it down round the base.

6. Secure the rose together by twisting floral wire around the base. I've used extra wire so that it can be inserted through and tied to the wreath frame.

Two-Colour Rose:

Being Christmas, I used white as my second colour. Place the inner crepe strip slightly lower than the outer one, to show off both colours. Make the rose as above. I find that, as you're draping the strip, slightly pleating it backwards every now and then gives the rose a more ruffled look, which I feel makes the rose prettier.

Assembling the Wreath:

1. Insert the rose's wire through the frame and secure it lightly. Don't get fussy about this, as the roses will be firmly fixed when you loop the garland on.

2. Finish attaching all your roses.

3. Pick a spot and start looping the garland around the frame, making sure you cover the starting point once. Pull the garland tight around the roses to hold them in place.

4. For a wreath of these dimensions, I looped the garland thrice between each of the roses for a nice, healthy wreath. Tuck the end point neatly away; I assume this garland must also have some floral wire in it as it stays in place, and doesn't need anything else to secure it.

You can finish the wreath with bows, or other decorations of your choice. This baby now graces our front door :) If you can't get a hold of a wreath frame, the roses also work beautifully on Christmas trees, like so:

I hope this inspires you to get crafting this Christmas too!

Saffron Cookies with Rose Icing

2013-11-23T16:43:00.000+05:30

Have you ever had one of those experiences where you encounter something so potent it immediately transports you elsewhere, makes you forget where you are? Before you get any ideas, I'm not referring to anything illegal :), but the exotically fragrant combination of saffron, cardamom and ghee, like in these cookies.

I first made a batch of these cookies a year ago. The sensory experience began as soon as I opened containers and the ingredients exuded their individual fragrances. But the magical moment was when those scents combined. Instantly, I was back in India, memories of countless mithai shops and festival celebrations swamping my mind. I actually stopped working and just stood there, eyes closed, till that wave of nostalgia receded.

Since then, I've made these cookies quite a few times. I was initially drawn to try this recipe as it is eggless, and I thought it'd be handy to have a good eggless rolled cookie recipe. But I go back to it every now and then because it is such a powerful, not to mention delicious, reminder of some of the best things of home.

The original recipe comes from Divine Taste, a beautiful blog run by the sister of a dear friend, and can be found here. I've stayed true to it, except for the pistachios. Though I like munching on pistachios by themselves, I've never cared for them strewn across any sweet. The cookies still taste gorgeous plain, but my decorating instinct insisted on some adornment, so the next time, I drizzled a simple icing sugar glaze over them.

Even then I wasn't fully satisfied. Something kept nagging me and I knew there was potential to enhance this cookie still further. I started thinking of flavours that would complement the saffron, and the answer struck almost instantly - rose water.

Rose Icing
1 cup sifted icing sugar
2-3 tbsp rose water

Add the rose water gradually to the icing sugar, just till you get the consistency of honey. Put the icing in a piping bag or a ziploc bag with one corner snipped off a bit. Alternatively, you can just drizzle the icing from a spoon, only the drizzles wouldn't be as uniform.

The only downside of this icing is that it doesn't dry hard; so you can either ice the cookies right before serving, or then store them in a way that the icing doesn't touch anything else. If you would like to package these cookies as gifts, I'd recommend using royal icing as it sets hard. Rose water blends beautifully with royal icing, and when you use this icing you have the added advantage of being able to pipe on any design you fancy. So you can add rose water gradually to the royal icing till you get drizzling consistency, or just add a few drops till you get piping consistency.

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The last time I made these cookies was this Diwali. Since it was the festival of lights, I used these cookies to try out an idea I'd come across recently - cookie tealight holders!

I decorated these with some gold cachous and rose royal icing. I'm pleased to say my edible tealight stands lasted brilliantly through all the nights of Diwali. I'd really wanted to get into a how-to over here, but then felt this post would seem unending. So I promise I'll be back with a post on making these tealight stands.

In the meanwhile, please try out the cookie recipe. Whether you choose to leave them plain, garnish with pistachios or decorate with rosy icing, I can guarantee you a truly memorable, definitively desi cookie!

Pink-guins and a Beautiful Chocolate Cake!

2013-10-27T10:31:00.000+05:30

My daughter turned four recently. Her birthday is the single point in the year when I don my party planner's hat. To decide on a theme I started thinking of all the things she liked at the time. Thanks to Happy Feet and Madagascar, she liked penguins then, so I thought it'd be cute to make some sweet lil penguins - in the form of cake toppers, cake pops and cookies.

Straightaway, I knew I wasn't going to stay true to nature and make my penguins black. Though it's one of my favourite colours, I wanted a more childlike, cutesy colour scheme. Pink and purple popped into mind instantly. I know it's a cliched combination, but the more I considered it, the more I liked the idea of making pink-guins!

I'd planned to do a plain white cake with pink-guins, and pink and purple polka dots, but when I visualised it, I felt that it might need a third colour to liven it up. I was leaning toward silver, but I wasn't fully convinced it was a good choice. For inspiration, I visited one of my favourite craft stores hoping to pick up some ribbon for the goodie bags.

What I found was this:

It's a roll of masking tape, or washi tape, that is mostly used in paper crafts. Pink and purple dots, along with brown and that beautiful, vibrant, perfect golden yellow. Jackpot!

I used the tape for two things. Firstly for the goodie bags.

And then on the packaging for the cookies that went into the goodie bags.

Now about the cake itself. I gave the choice of flavour to the birthday girl, and the reply was immediate: chocolate! How much I loved her in that moment! Then it changed to chocolate and strawberry, then one layer of chocolate and one of strawberry, strawberry layer on top, chocolate down and ..... I didn't like which direction this was headed in, so I said two layers of chocolate with strawberry buttercream in the middle, which met with reluctant approval. Here's how it ended up looking.

The igloo was a simple vanilla cake baked in this bowl-shaped cake pan I bought because it was ridiculously cute. But the credit for the igloo concept goes to my sister. The idea struck her the moment she saw the the pan. And the credit for the flowers goes to my daughter. I'd wanted to do polka dots, but a birthday cake without flowers is taboo apparently. But kudos to her because I think the flowers worked out beautifully, better than the dots would've.

The only part of this whole penguin parade that didn't turn out as I'd hoped were the cake pops.

They look ok enough, but problems with getting the texture of the chocolate coating right combined with a lack of time and energy had me go through the dipping stage hastily, without much finesse. Anyway, despite their less-than-perfect appearance, they were delicious and the kids loved them, which is what matters in the end.

And now finally, as mentioned in the title of this post - the beautiful chocolate cake! I'd been trying out various chocolate cake recipes off the Internet lately but not really liking any. Then I found this gem in a book I borrowed from the library. Let me tell you why I love this cake: it's quick to put together, it's moist and delicious without being overly rich, it keeps wonderfully. Best of all, even after being stashed in the freezer for a month, once it was thawed, it tasted as beautiful as on the day it was baked.

The birthday cake above is two of these cakes sandwiched with strawberry buttercream. Apologies for not having any pics of the inside of the cake.

Devil's Food Cake (from Good Housekeeping Great Cakes)

100g (3 1/2 oz) unsalted butter, softened

225 ml (8 fl oz) milk

1tbsp lemon juice

225g (8 oz) plain flour

1 tsp bicarb of soda

50g (2oz) cocoa powder

250g (9oz) golden caster sugar

3 medium eggs, beaten

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (160 fan oven), gas mark 4. Grease two 20.5 cm (8 inch) sandwich tins and baseline with greaseproof paper. Alternatively use one 9x13 inch pan for one rectangle layer.

2. Pour the milk into a jug, then add lemon juice or vinegar and leave for 5 min. Sift the flour, bicarb of soda and cocoa powder together.

3. In a large bowl, cream the butter with half the sugar until light. Gradually beat in the eggs, then mix in the rest of the sugar. Add the reserved soured milk alternately with the flour mixture - around a couple of tbsps at a time.

4. Divide the mixture between the prepared tins and level the tops. Bake for 30 min. Leave in the tins for 10 min, then turn out onto wire rack to cool.

Easy Royal Icing Easter Eggs

2013-03-22T09:09:00.000+05:30

I had so much fun with the swirled icing effect in my last decorating project, that I decided to try it again for these cuties. Very simple, and I had the best time making them! First of all, you need some royal icing. Traditionally, royal icing is made with raw egg white whipped with icing sugar. But as I've never been comfortable using raw whites, I use either meringue powder or egg white powder instead.

When I first came to Sydney and started searching for meringue powder, I found that Wilton (which is perhaps the most popular brand) was quite expensive here, and also not widely available. A bit of Googling put me onto a local Aussie product called Pavlova Magic, which is about a third of the cost of Wilton's meringue powder and easily available at every supermarket. So that's what I've been using, and the icing turns out quite well.

If you search the Net, there are several different recipes for royal icing, most of which yield huge quantities. I adapted my recipe from this delightful site, and toned it down to produce about one to one and half cups of icing. You can scale this up, as per your requirements.

Royal Icing Recipe

2 tsp meringue powder
3 tbsp water
Pinch of cream of tartar (optional)
1 1/2 - 2 cups sifted icing sugar
Few drops clear vanilla extract* (or other flavour of your choice)

Firstly, all your equipment must be scrupulously clean; traces of grease or any other impurity spells doom for this icing.

If using handheld electric beaters, lightly whisk the meringue powder and water together. Then whisk the cream of tartar, if using (this acts as a stabilizer; some folks use it, some don't ... I do, because it's available, but don't worry if you can't get it). Then add the sugar a cup at a time, and the extract.

If using a stand mixer, you can mix everything together straight away. Either way, you need to beat it on low speed till the mixture forms stiff peaks.

This makes your basic icing, which can then be thinned down with more water to different consistencies. To store, transfer icing to an airtight container, preferably a glass one, and keep in the fridge. It will last you a couple of weeks, at least. The sugar and water tend to separate over time, so you'll need to re-whip the icing before using.

* If you want pure white icing, use clear extracts. Regular vanilla extract will still get you white icing, but it'll be an off-white.
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To make these Easter eggs, you'll need piping consistency icing (like toothpaste), which is best kept in a piping bag with a small round tip (like Wilton #2), and flood icing (like honey) in plain white, and in the colours of your choice. For the flood icing, I didn't bother with piping bags. I spoon the base icing in, and I keep a bunch of these tiny plastic containers handy for when I need different colours in small quantities (and where details aren't really important). You also need some toothpicks, one per colour, and some extras for swirling, and a damp paper towel to clean them. Lastly, your work surface: you need a template of egg shapes, which you can either draw or print; put the template on a baking tray, place a sheet of parchment paper over the template and you're good to go.

1. Outline the egg with the piping icing. Fill in with the flood icing. Get a blob of coloured icing on the blunt edge of a toothpick and drag across the white icing. Add the colours in any order.

2. Using a separate toothpick, start at the bottom and drag the pointed edge up and around the inside of the egg, ending at the middle. Clean off the tip.

3. You can go from the outside inwards, or start at the middle and work your way outwards, till you've swirled your way through and distorted the original lines.

4. On this egg, I used horizontal lines again, but instead of swirling them up and down, I moved the toothpick sideways for a different effect. Feel free to experiment here.

Once you've made as many eggs as you want, leave them on the parchment paper on the tray to dry out overnight, or at least 8-10 hours. Once they're fully dry, gently peel the paper away from one corner and you'll be able to lift the eggs clean off. You can store these eggs (or any royal icing shape for that matter) in an airtight container pretty much indefinitely. They last for ages and won't spoil.

Use them to add an Easter touch to cakes & cupcakes.

Keep Calm & Carry On Cookies

2013-03-11T12:02:00.000+05:30

A few days ago, I gave my driving test. The evening before the test, I was desperately thinking of ways to soothe my jittery nerves when it came to me: Keep Calm & Carry On. I'd been seeing this everywhere of late, online, on t-shirts, on trays & mugs too. I repeated it a few times, and found that it worked: I started feeling calmer. To carry the positivity forward, I began thinking of what I'd bake to celebrate passing the test. After racking my brains, I thought, why don't I just cookie up my new mantra (with the emphasis on 'car', because well, that's how my sense of humour works!)

At that time though, I'd no idea how important this quote would turn out to be. The test was a harrowing experience, more so because it was my second attempt and to top it off, I messed up bigtime straight out of the gate. I think it was just the grace of God and this mantra that helped me hold it together for the rest of the test.

After I got back home (and got over the shock of actually passing!), I threw myself into baking; the other project to follow here shortly. These are regular chocolate sugar cookies, recipe from Glorious Treats. To decorate these, I used royal icing and two methods. I filled the red ones and left them to dry overnight before piping the text and white outline.

For the others, I used a technique that's called 'wet-on-wet' icing, which is as the name suggests: you pipe one colour over the base colour while the latter is still wet so that it blends in with the base instead of being raised above. With wet-on-wet icing, you can do one of my favourite things, which is to swirl the icing around with a toothpick.

1. Outline the cookie as desired (you can leave out the inner lines, if you wish; I was just trying out a different pattern).
2. Fill in one section (or entire cookie), and immediately pipe lines over.
3. Take a clean toothpick and drag it down through the icing from top to bottom.
4. Wipe off any icing on the toothpick and now drag across the icing in the opposite direction.

Keep going this way till you've finished that section (or the entire cookie). Remember to clean the toothpick on a damp paper towel after every swipe.

For a different effect, try piping one circle, or two concentric circles, and then dragging in and out with a toothpick. That's what I did for the flower cookies on this platter.

Even though you have to work quickly here to finish swiping before the icing starts hardening, I still find this a relaxing style of decoration. I'm always awed by how just a few simple strokes with a humble toothpick can create such lovely, swirly magic. Especially after coming through a stressful experience, decorating these cookies was the perfect way to unwind.

Chocolate Flowerpots: Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Grass & Flower Cookie Pops

2013-03-06T10:32:00.000+05:30

Sometimes, ideas spark when you get a new toy and want to play with it. In this case, the 'toy' in question was the Wilton tip # 233, which is most commonly used for piping grass (or hair). So when we'd planned to invite a bunch of guests for an informal meal, I thought a platter of flowerpots would be great for dessert.

All the recipes used here for the cupcakes, cookies and frosting are from Glorious Treats. The only major change is that I decided to make mini-cupcakes instead of regulars. Now, I don't remember exactly how many minis this recipe yields as I did snack on a couple as soon as they were ready (who wouldn't!), but it was more than 40.

For the flowers, you could just plop some sugar ones over once you've piped the grass, but I decided to try my hand at cookie pops. Apparently the sticks used for cookie pops are different from those used for cake pops. Since I didn't have any of the former, and also since I had mini cupcakes, I thought using toothpicks would be better. I painted them green with some diluted food colouring (and a paintbrush reserved only for decorating purposes!), and let them dry before using.

When making pops, it's safer if the cookies are a little thicker than usual, so they don't break during the popping process. I used my smallest flower cutter here. Once the shapes are cut, hold the cookie in one hand and with the other insert the toothpick. Think screwdriver here; you need to slowly rotate the toothpick applying gentle pressure till it's in about 1 cm. Check the back of the cookie and gently smooth over any breaks. Also, you must be sure to put the blunt side of the toothpicks into the cookies, to avoid any nasty pokes when biting into them.

Once all the cookie pops are ready, bake as usual depending on the size. I was quite apprehensive about how they would turn out as they seemed very fragile when I'd placed them on the tray, but surprisingly (and happily!) they're quite sturdy when they're baked. I had also made slightly bigger flower cookies (no pops), and leaf cookies just to strew about in the platter.

To decorate, I used royal icing in several colours. Just on a whim though, I decided to try decorating these cookies without any specialist equipment. I used a teaspoon to pour flood consistency icing on the cookies, spreading it out with a toothpick. Let this dry fully for a few hours. Then, for the petals, I blobbed icing with the blunt edge of a toothpick and then pulled it into shape with the sharp end.

I think they turned out alright for the most part, barring a few unsightly blobs here and there. So you definitely need piping bags and a selection of tips for consistent, professional work and to achieve various effects (like the grass and this basketweave). But even if you don't have this equipment for whatever reason, don't let that stop you from decorating sweets. It is still possible to make cuties like these with common kitchen items and imagination!

Eggplant Parmigiana

2013-02-26T16:39:00.000+05:30

As a child, I was a painfully fussy eater, especially when it came to vegetables. Things like okra, karela (bitter gourd) and broccoli I don't eat to this day. Eggplants were on this list of no-nos too, till my mother introduced me to grilled eggplant slices in pita wraps. For whatever reason, that preparation helped me overcome my aubergine aversion. Now, eggplants are a regular feature in my kitchen, cooked in several different ways. My absolute favourite way to have eggplant, however, is alla parmigiana.

What it is, is simply layers of three key components: eggplant slices, tomato sauce and cheese, baked together. If you scour the Net, you'll find that there is no one definitive recipe; people put their own spin on the three basic ingredients, so you can confidently adapt this to your taste and the available ingredients, and be assured of success.

I'm starting off with the recipe for the tomato sauce. I make this basic sauce almost every week, to go over pasta, or even to dip pita bread or chapati in. I play around with the herb & spice combinations all the time, as the same flavours too often gets boring. So again, flavour it the way you like. I've used pepper and chilli here to give the dish some zing; leave it out entirely or up the quantities if you want real heat. This sauce can be made ahead of time and will keep in the fridge for a week.

Basic Tomato Sauce
2 x 400g cans chopped tomato (which I then roughly pureed)
1 medium onion, chopped
3 large garlic cloves, finely minced (works out to 2 tsp)
1 tsp ground pepper
1 tbsp dried oregano (or basil)
1/2 tsp chilli flakes (optional)
Salt, to taste
Olive oil, for cooking

1. Put a heavy-bottomed saucepan on low heat, pour about 3-4 tbsp olive oil and immediately add the minced garlic. I got this tip from Nigella: you want the garlic to heat gently along with the oil and release its flavours without it going brown and bitter.
2. Once the garlic starts sizzling lightly, add the pepper and chilli flakes.
3. Add the chopped onion and raise the heat to medium; saute till the onions are translucent.
4. Add the tomatoes, then the salt and oregano and stir.
5. Turn the heat back down to low and simmer covered for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure it doesn't catch.
6. Turn off the heat, and let it cool uncovered. Check the seasoning, and add more if required.

Note: To make the sauce more nutritious, you can add chopped carrot and celery after adding the onions and saute till they're softened; then add the tomato. If you want a completely smooth sauce, puree the whole thing after it's cooked .... fussy kids wouldn't even realise they were eating carrot & celery!

Eggplant Parmigiana
2 eggplants
1 tsp chilli powder (optional)
The tomato sauce (described above)
100g grated parmesan (or cheddar; use more or less as per your preference)
Olive oil, for cooking
Salt, to taste

1. Wash, dry and trim the stalk and base of the eggplants; then cut into 1 cm thick slices.
2. Mix the salt and chilli powder together and sprinkle over the eggplant slices.
3. Heat about 3-4 tbsp olive oil in a skillet, and when it's good and hot, start frying the eggplant slices on both sides till golden brown. Set aside on a plate.
4. Once all the slices have been fried, you can begin layering. In an oven-safe dish, start with a layer of tomato sauce, topped with eggplant slices and then a sprinkling of the cheese, followed by more sauce, eggplant and so on. You should end with the tomato sauce topped with a generous layer of cheese. With this quantity and the dish I used (a glass baking dish, roughly 6 1/2" x 10"), I got 3 layers.
5. Pop the dish into a preheated oven and bake at 190C for 30 minutes, till the cheese is golden.

Note: To cut down on calories, you can omit the cheese in the inner layers, reserving it only for the top.

Eggplant Parmigiana can be served hot or cold, as a side to a meaty main, or as the main itself, with pasta or salad.

Chocolate Lovers' Cupcake

2013-02-13T05:54:00.000+05:30

Before I get on with this post I must take a moment to bow down in gratitude .... just for being alive, for the universe aligning itself to get me this recipe, and for being able to prepare and savour these magnificent cupcakes. A tad over-the-top? Make it, and then decide.

Knowing my love for baking, a friend lent me this book: The Crabapple Bakery Cupcake Cookbook by Jennifer Graham. They're a Melbourne-based business, and currently supply to cafes and markets in that city. (Guess what's on my to-do list if ever I make it to Melbourne?) I'm so glad I got my hands on this book, because every single recipe I've tried from it has been fabulous, and this gorgeous chocolate cupcake tops them all. In fact, I'll even go so far as to say that it's the best cupcake I've ever had.

Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes

(Makes 12 regular cupcakes)

175 g butter

225 g dark cooking chocolate, chopped

1 1/4 cups caster sugar

3/4 cup almond meal

1 cup cocoa

5 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 140C. Line muffin tray with cupcake cases.

2. Combine butter, chocolate and caster sugar in a heavy-based saucepan over low heat. Mix continuously with a flat-bottomed wooden spoon until melted and smooth. Let cool slightly.

3. Sift the almond meal and cocoa into a bowl. Add the chocolate mixture and beat for 1 minute on low speed till thoroughly combined.

4. The original recipe in the book was for 24 cupcakes which I've halved. It said to add the eggs two at a time, beating after each addition till just combined. I added the eggs in three additions of 2, 2 and then the last egg and vanilla extract together. Over-beating will make the cupcakes crack during baking.

5. Divide the batter between the cupcake cases. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or till a skewer inserted comes out clean*. Remove cupcakes from the tray and let cool fully on a wire rack before frosting.

* In the book, the cupcakes were baked in foil cases with a baking time of 30 minutes; it said that with paper cases, it'd take longer. In my oven, with paper cases, these took the entire 45 minutes. So please check on the cupcakes according to the cases you use.

Buttercream Frosting

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 cups icing sugar, approx
1 tsp vanilla extract (or flavouring of choice)
2-3 tbsp milk or heavy cream

1. With electric beaters (or in a stand mixer), cream butter to get it smooth. Add sifted icing sugar a cup at a time, and work in gently before turning beaters on. Beat till all the sugar is incorporated.
2. Add vanilla extract and milk a little at a time just till you get the frosting to a soft peak consistency, so that it'll hold its shape for piping swirls. But don't worry even if you happen to add too much milk; you can always thicken the frosting back with more sugar.

3. Place the frosting in a piping bag fitted with a large star or round nozzle and pipe the frosting on to the cupcakes. Top with sprinkles or flowers of your choice.

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Now I tried to be as careful as I could to not over-beat the cupcakes. The tops still ended up cracking. Not the end of the world. At first bite, they still tasted like heaven, and that was just without the buttercream. With it, it ascended to a whole new level. It really was an emotional moment for me, to have finally found the perfect chocolate cupcake.

I'm also a big believer in make-it-ahead-of-time food, that gives you plenty of breathing room to get dishes ready without rushing like crazy. This way, you enjoy the process as much as the result. That's why I was delighted to read that this cupcake keeps for 1 week, unfrosted. One more reason to love this recipe!

I have to say though, that if you like your cupcakes light and fluffy, this is not the cupcake for you. I cut one in half to illustrate:

This is at the other end of the spectrum from light and fluffy. Look how gorgeously gooey, how decadently dense it is! Pure bliss if you're as choco-crazy as I am. Again, I am so immensely glad I found this recipe. Definitely not your everyday thing, this is truly worthy of any special occasion.

Basket of Roses: Mini-Sponge Cake with Buttercream

2013-01-31T09:43:00.000+05:30

Do you know how sometimes things you've seen as a child can leave a lasting impression on your mind? For me, some of those things are the pictures from my mother's cake decorating books. My mother is an avid baker. She baked and decorated most of the birthday and special occasion cakes in our house. She didn't have the benefit of classes; what she did have were these gorgeous books my father would get, and she learned from those.

As a child, I would pore over those books, the pictures of one stunning cake after another holding me in thrall. One of the images that has gripped my imagination all through the years is that of a basket cake with chocolates on top. Attempting something similar was on my to-do list for a long time. And I finally got the opportunity for our anniversary a few days ago.

The cake itself is a simple sponge cake. I prefer using this type of light, fat-free cake, especially when it's going to be smothered in luscious buttercream, so that it's not too rich overall. I cut out two rectangles from a regular 9" cake for my 'mini-cake'. (If you're a smart one like my sister, you might wonder why I didn't just bake a rectangular cake; answer: I don't own a rectangle pan!) And why a 'mini' cake? Simply because this was the first time I was trying basketweave piping; I've learned the hard way, to start small when you try something new.

Sponge Cake (adapted from Taste.Com)

25g cornflour
25g plain flour
25g self-raising flour
2 large eggs, at room temperature
75g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and line a 9" round cake tin with parchment paper. Sift the flours together three times (the original recipe includes a pinch of salt, which I omitted; add if you prefer).
2. Using electric beaters, beat eggs and sugar on medium-high for 6 minutes, or till pale and tripled in volume.
3. Sift flour mixture over egg mixture in small batches, and carefully fold with a metal spoon. Be gentle with the sifting and folding, so that the air that has been incorporated in step 2 is not knocked out. Fold in till the flour is just combined.
4. Pour the batter carefully into the tin. A great tip from Taste.com was to spin the tin gently to level the batter. Bake for 20 minutes, or till the cake is beginning to pull away from the sides and springs back when gently touched. It's really important with sponges to know your oven, as over-baking can result in a dry cake, instead of a light, fluffy one. My oven is hotter, so I took the cake out at about 18 minutes.
5. Turn the cake onto a wire rack, and peel away the parchment paper. Leave to cool.

Buttercream Frosting / Filling (adapted from Wilton)

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 cups icing sugar, approx
1 tsp vanilla extract (or flavouring of choice)
2-3 tbsp milk or heavy cream

1. With electric beaters (or in a stand mixer), cream butter to get it smooth. Add icing sugar a cup at a time, and work in gently before turning beaters on so that you don't get a snowstorm of sugar in your face.

2. Add milk and extract and beat to combine. The amount of milk you add depends on what the buttercream is for. If it is to cover a cake, you might need more than 3 tbsp to get a spreading consistency. If it is for piping, different types of consistencies are needed for different patterns. I make a sort of master batch of stiff buttercream (like you need to pipe roses), and then take out smaller amounts and add enough milk to get thinner consistencies. I find it easier to add milk to thin down buttercream, than to add sugar to thicken it, but that's me. Store the buttercream in an airtight container in the fridge.

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I actually made the cake a few days before I needed it, cut out my rectangles and wrapped each first in parchment paper and then in cling film, and stuck them in the freezer. I haven't worked with thawed cakes, and wanted to see how they turned out. Pretty well, in fact. I just took them out of the freezer, unwrapped and left them to reach room temperature before decorating.

Once at room temperature, sandwich the two layers with buttercream. Then apply a crumb coat - which is simply a thin layer of buttercream all over the cake to seal in the crumbs, so that they don't get into your final icing. Refrigerate the cake till the buttercream has set. Then transfer to your serving platter before beginning the basketweave.

For the basketweave effect, Wilton's instructions are pretty straightforward; I followed it exactly. And once I got into the rhythm of it, it turned out to be quite easy. The only hitch in the process is that as you pipe, the warmth of your hands warms up the buttercream, making it droop instead of holding its shape; so you'll need to periodically chill the piping bag. Ideally, two bags would be best, so that you can work with the other while the first is cooling down and so on.

For the top, I just dolloped some green buttercream and spread it over. I had wanted to pipe leaves as well, but a bad back got in the way.

For the roses, while I did use the Wilton method, the written instructions left me hesitant. Youtube was more helpful. Of all the rose-making videos I watched, I found this one to be the most complete. You can make buttercream roses and place them on the cake immediately. I made mine out of royal icing; once they've air-dried for a couple of days, store them in an airtight container and they last almost indefinitely. I prefer doing this as you can have the flowers ready weeks in advance.

I loved this because most of the elements - the flowers, the cake and the frosting - can be made well ahead of time. Even the crumb-coated cake will sit well in the fridge for a day. That leaves you with only the piping work for the day before you need the cake. This would be a lovely cake to gift someone special .... just imagine, a basket of roses that's entirely edible!

Easy Chocolate Chip Mini-muffins

2013-01-22T03:31:00.000+05:30

Post the festive season baking / decorating frenzy, I had thought to take a break for a few days. But sure enough, once a 'few days' had passed, I felt the urge to get the oven up and running again. Since we'd just come through the richness of all the Christmas sweets, I had to pick something that would appease my conscience as well as satisfy my tastebuds. When that's the case, I find that muffins are usually the answer.

I love muffins for their effortlessness. Just a few simple steps get you warm yumminess in minutes, perfect when you really want some baked goodies but can't be bothered to go to a lot of trouble. After searching the net for recipes, I chose to tweak a Nestle regular muffin recipe to get the mini-muffins. The added attraction for this particular recipe was that it had the lowest amount of fat, just two tablespoons - that's the conscience appeased!

These are also great picnic snacks, very easy to carry and munch when you're out, about and on the move. I ended up taking a boxful of these mini-muffins to a play date at a nearby park, where they were enjoyed by the kids and us bigger kids in disguise.

Easy Chocolate Chip Mini-Muffins

(Makes 36)

1 1/4 cup self-raising flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp melted butter (I substituted canola oil here)
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 - 3/4 cup chocolate chips (depending on how chocolatey you want them)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Prepare mini-muffin trays by greasing, or lining with cases. I always use the cases.
2. Sift the flour into a bowl; add the sugar and chocolate chips.
3. Mix the wet ingredients in another bowl; you don't need beaters, just use a whisk, or even a fork.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the flour, mix gently till just combined.
5. Spoon the batter into the cases to about 1/2 cm from the top, to leave room for the muffins to rise.
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or till a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Turn the muffins out onto wire racks to cool. Once fully cooled, store in an airtight container. These are best consumed in day or two.

Christmas 2012 Cupcakes and Cake

2013-01-05T10:10:00.000+05:30

Wrapping up 2012 with the cakes I baked.
Red velvet mini-cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and handmade fondant Santas, that hubby took to work.

Orange mini-cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and chocolate button reindeer.

And last but not the least, 2012 Christmas fruit cake.

And now, looking forward to another year of baking & decorating!

Christmas 2012 Cookies

2013-01-02T10:24:00.000+05:30

A wonderful 2013 to all who read this! I can't believe we're here already, Christmas week seems to have gone by in a sugary flash. Not much to say in this post, except that I'm truly grateful for all the people and occasions that allowed me to indulge in sweet mayhem. Here are the cookies I made this festive season. They are all orange-flavoured sugar cookies, except the candy canes and trees, which are chocolate sugar cookies.

Thrilled that I managed to get these trees standing for the shot!

Since it is summer here after all, I gave these candy canes below a flowery touch.

Jingle Bells and Silver Bells!

I don't own any snowflake cutters at present, but a simple star cookie works out just as well. The smaller stars are simply covered in royal icing and then sprinkled with sanding sugar.