Sailaja's Recipes

Celebration Cake for friend's Anniversary!

noreply@blogger.com (Sailaja) — Sat, 26 Jun 2021 18:40:00 +0000

After long break got to use my baking tools to create this beauty for my friend. Multi tier cake with multiple flavors ( 1st tier- Raspberry buttercream frosting, 2nd tier is German chocolate).

Flowers are made with Gumpaste.

Wine Barrel Gravity Defying Cake!!

noreply@blogger.com (Sailaja) — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 00:30:00 +0000

One more cake is added to my cake designs!! .This cake is for my loved one!! Took around 10 hours from start to finish to complete this cake. Outcome is an awesome cake which was appreciated by everyone!!! Here are the pics !!

Cake- ( I couldn't take pics of all the steps due to time crunch. Will try to explain in writing)
Chocolate cake made with Chocolate butter cream. This is a double barrel cake.
Step 1- bake 4 cakes using 6 inch pan. frost 2 layers of 2 cakes separately using chocolate butter cream.
Secure bottom layer cake with dowels to support this tall cake.
Top layer cake using Balloon stick to create a gravity defying cake.
Hard part of the cake is to understand how to support the bottle. Balloon stick helped in that aspect. To be more secured i kept a gauge wire in the balloon stick to support the weight of the wine bottle. Thanks to "Bevmo" i found miniature wines made of plastic.
Step3- Secure both layers using frosting and carve in the form wine barrel .
Step 4- Frost the whole cake with buttercream and refrigerate to firm the buttercream
Step 5- Marbleize the fondant to get the wood color- I used dark brown, White and light brown to get the marble effect.
Step 6- Roll the marbleized fondant in 6 mm thickness and cut into strips and using wood grain impression mat give wood effect.
Step 7- Attach all the fondant wooden strips to the cake to complete the barrel look.
Step8- Cut out dark brown color strips for metal strips.
Step 9- Finish the work using silver dust with lemon extract or vodka to paint the nails and letters.
Step 10- prepare wine colored fondant mixing red and black and create the wine pouring effect attaching strips of fondant to balloon stick.
Optional - Prepare few grapes to give extra fancy look :)
Finally keep the bottle on top of the ballon stick.
Here is the final product pics..

Chegodilu/Muruku

noreply@blogger.com (Sailaja) — Sat, 27 Feb 2016 07:11:00 +0000

Reposting one of my favorite snack recipe chegodilu. Here is the link !!

Thin crust pizza using lavash bread

noreply@blogger.com (Sailaja) — Fri, 19 Feb 2016 02:47:00 +0000

Posting after a long time. Today's recipe is Thin Crust pizza using Lavash bread.

Pizza pic using marinara and spinach:

On the side note spring is here. look at the pics of blossoms in my patio.

Very simple recipe and dinner will be ready in no time.

Ingredients:

Lavash bread (I used trader joes wheat lavash bread)
1 tsp olive oil
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 zucchini
half cauliflower cut into florets
salt as per taste
pepper
Mozzarella cheese
pesto or pizza sauce

Procedure:

Pre heat oven 400 degree F.
Cut all the veggies of your choice and toss with olive oil,salt and pepper. If you want spicy add chili powder or paprika.
In cookie sheet spray oil and evenly distribute all the veggies and roast it till they are golden brown and crunchy. Veggies like cauliflower will take little bit longer time. Veggies like , Bell peppers will take 8 to 10 mins of roasting time.
Reduce the Oven temperature to 350F
Assembling Pizza:

on the lavash bread just brush olive oil evenly
spread your favorite pizza sauce like pesto or marinara evenly. In this pictures I used Pesto
sprinkle cheese as per your choice
evenly distribute roasted veggies
sliced onions, tomatoes, jalapeños (optional), olives ,Spinach. ( I tried different veggies different times. All taste yumm)
sprinkle more cheese (as per your taste)
sprinkle dried oregano (optional)

Keep it in the oven for 8 to 10 mins till the cheese starts bubbling
Remove from oven cut and enjoy hot thin crust pizza

Steps in the form of pics:

Lightning McQueen Car Cake!!

noreply@blogger.com (Sailaja) — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 06:38:00 +0000

Finally got an opportunity to bake one of my favorite disney character from Cars movie "Lightning McQueen" for a close friend's son's b'day. Here are the pics of the cake.

Cake Flavor - Chocolate cake filled with chocolate butter cream.

Baby Carriage cake theme cake for a baby shower

noreply@blogger.com (Sailaja) — Sun, 04 Oct 2015 18:19:00 +0000

Here is one more baby shower cake which I baked for my close friend.

Teenage boy's Bed room and Nerf Gun theme cake

noreply@blogger.com (Sailaja) — Sun, 04 Oct 2015 18:17:00 +0000

Posting almost after a year these cakes. Not good on my part, but better later than never so finally here is the post with the cakes which I baked last year for one of my friend's kids b'day party.

Dance and Beach theme cake

noreply@blogger.com (Sailaja) — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 07:34:00 +0000

It's been a long overdue since I posted anything in my blog. Finally posting pictures of the cake which I baked in November. Theme of the cake - "Interests"

Birthday girls's interests are captured in the cake. All the items on the cake are edible except umbrella. Thanks to my friend for all the help and a great idea of decorating the tier with song with musical notes.With the limited knowledge about music I decorated bottom tier with musical notes (without the lines.) of one song thinking everyone can depict the song. But we were wrong. It seems no one can read musical notes without the lines :( Lesson learned but we were super happy that we could make them read the moment we asked them to see the difference of height and imagine invisible lines :)

Overall everyone loved the concept and the creativity.

Kajjikayalu/Sweet Somas | Diwali Recipes

noreply@blogger.com (Sailaja) — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 07:02:00 +0000

Diwali means first thing comes to my mind is fire crackers and sweets. Celebrate this Diwali with this sweet dish. Crispy outside gooey inside this dish is very unique and yummy.

Ingredients:

Dough:

1 cup of all purpose flour
2 tsp semolina
1tbsp oil
pinch of salt
water

Filling:

3/4 cup sugar
1 cup sesame seeds
1 cup grated coconut powder
1/4 tsp cardamom powder

Oil for deep frying

Preparation:

Mix flour, salt, semolina and oil. Slowly add water and make into stiff consistency dough. Knead dough for at least 5 mts and keep it aside for the dough to rest. Kneading helps to get the crispy texture.

Roast sesame seeds till it turns golden color. In a food processor/mixer process all filling ingredients into coarse powder

Take the dough and form into small lemon sized balls

roll into thin poori/flat bread consistency

place 1tbsp of filling in the center and dab the edges with water and fold in to half and seal all the edges without any gaps.
using a fork or pizza wheel or pizza wheel with a design or somas cutter cut the edges. This gives that nice design. Repeat the process for the rest of the dough.

Heat oil in a wide pan. Make sure oil is not too hot. To test the heat pinch a small dough and put it in oil. if the dough comes from bottom of the pan to top then oil is ready.
Deep fry prepared somas/kajjikayalu in hot oil on medium flame. Fry on both side till they turn golden color.
Remove from oil and drain excess oil using paper towel. Store cooled somas/kajjikayalu in a air tight container. These last for 2 weeks if you can control :)

Happy Vijayadashami !!!

noreply@blogger.com (Sailaja) — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 21:32:00 +0000

Wish you all a very happy Vijayadashami with health, happiness and prosperity.

Here is the naivedhyam which I made: Tamarind Rice (Andhra Style), Moong dal Halwa

Will post both recipes tonight. Till then Have a great rest of the day !! Enjoy the festival!!!

Spinach Roti/flat bread

noreply@blogger.com (Sailaja) — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 05:40:00 +0000

Here is one more simple and easy dinner recipe for a week night.

Ingredients:

2 cups of wheat flour

1tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp Ajwain/Carom seeds (optional)

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 - 1/2 cup finely chopped spinach

salt as per taste

Oil/ghee (Optional) for shallow frying.

Preparation:

In a pan add 1/2 tsp oil and add cumin, carom seeds and chopped spinach and let it cook till spinach loses raw flavor and quickly transfer the mixture into a bowl and leave the bowl on ice bath. This will help to retain the color of spinach.
Once spinach cools down puree it to smooth paste
Mix wheat flour, salt and spinach puree and make into a soft dough. (Do not add water unless you cannot form into soft dough. If needed add water little at a time). If spinach puree is too much then increase the quantity of flour.

Cover the dough with damped cloth and keep it aside for 15 mts.

Take small piece of dough and shape into small balls.
Roll these dough balls into round shaped dusting with flour as needed.

Heat a pan/griddle and place roti on the pan.

Cook both sides of the flat bread/roti evenly by adding few drops of oil till it turns golden brown color.

Serve these rotis with curry or dal or raita. I made lentils tonight to serve with roti.

Mustard flavored Malabar Spinach Soup / (Bachhali Koora Ava Pulusu)

noreply@blogger.com (Sailaja) — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 06:20:00 +0000

It's been a hectic month so far for me. Some how managed to take few pics of tonight's dinner preparations. Result of those pics is this post. Healthy and delicious Green leaf soup a.k.a Malabar Spinach soup. In my mother tongue this vegetable is called "Bachhali". Very healthy and full of nutritious leaf vegetable. Combination of Lentils(Mudda Pappu) and soup(Bachhali Pulusu) along with hot rice is divine.

Ingredients:

1 bunch of Bachalli(Malabar Spinach)
2 green chilies slit length wise (As per your spice level reduce the number of chilies)
pinch of turmeric
salt

mustard paste:
2tbsp mustard seeds
2tbsp sesame seeds
4 red chilies (as per spice level)
1tbsp rice
small lime sized tamarind
Soak all the ingredients in water for 10 mts. Using a food processor or blender make it into smooth paste and keep it aside.

Seasoning:
1tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1tsp oil
few curry leaves
1 red chili

Preparation:

Rinse and chop malabar spinach and cook using 1/2 cup of water along with green chilies, salt and pinch of turmeric. Once the greens are cooked add the mustard sesame paste and 1 more cup of water and let it cook for 5 to 10 mts till the greens are cooked with spices. (Depending on the consistency add water if needed). Give a taste test and adjust the spices accordingly

Seasoning: In a separate pan heat oil add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, red chilies and curry leaves. Once mustard seeds starts splattering remove from heat and mix with soup

Serve with hot rice and lentils(Mudda Pappu)

Homemade Granola

noreply@blogger.com (Sailaja) — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 07:30:00 +0000

Summer means vacation, planning for additional classes, good bye to gym and welcome few extra pounds :) Even though I don't like to see summer ending but have to accept the change with a smile. Here is the simple change you can do at home instead of buying granola. Store bought granola is high in sugar, unhealthy fats and oils. Making granola at home is super easy, quick and you can control the quality,quantity of ingredients and the flavors.

For any type of granola only 3 main ingredients. Oats, Oil and sweetener

Oats are an excellent source of vitamins and minerals. It is better to use rolled oats than instant oats. Instant oats means highly processed. So try to buy whole oats

Oil- I prefer to use vegetable or canola or sunflower oil. I keep reading about using coconut oil to be more healthy but I never tried till now. I am just little skeptical about the taste using coconut oil. Next time I will try a small batch and see how it tastes.

Sweetener: Always use raw ingredients to make it healthy. Most of the granola recipes call for honey. You can either use honey or maple syrup. Make sure you use Organic honey or Organic Maple syrup. You can even substitute with Agave. Always be low on sweetness.

Use the basic ingredients and add any type of healthy ingredients as per your taste. Be creative in your flavors.

Here is the recipe which I used today

I made two varieties today. One with nuts and another one nut free.

Ingredients:

6 cups of rolled oats

1/4 cup of oil

1/3 cup of Organic Honey/Grade b Maple Syrup/ Local honey/ Agave

1/4 tsp nutmeg powder

1/4 tsp cinnamon powder

1 tbsp flax seeds (optional)

1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/3 cup of chopped nuts ( I used walnuts and pecans)

1/4 cup of dried fruits ( I used cranberries and cherries)

Process:

Pre heat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit

grease two baking sheets using oil or use parchment paper

In a large bowl add oil,honey,spices and mix well

Add oats, coconut to the oil mixture and mix well either using clean hands or spatula. Make sure oats are coated well with oil mix.

At this point I made the mixture into two parts. One part I added chopped nuts and mixed well.

Spread the mixture in the prepared pans evenly in a thin layer. Bake for 15 mts or until the mixture turns into gold color. Make sure you stir the mixture for every 5 mts or else the granola will be burnt on one side. Once granola turns into golden color remove from oven and allow it cool stirring occasionally. (Stirring helps to keep the heat distributed evenly)

Now add dried fruits to the cool mixture. Store the cooled granola in airtight container.

Serve with unsweetened milk or greek yogurt.

Eggless Strawberry Ice Cream

noreply@blogger.com (Sailaja) — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 00:42:00 +0000

Making ice cream at home is time consuming. But results are worth. I always wanted to make ice cream at home but always procrastinated with some excuses. Finally few weeks back opened my ice cream maker and made this yummy ice cream. But as usual I got busy with work and did not get a chance to blog. Today finally spared some time to blog about this yummy recipe.

Here is the recipe adopted from Cuisinart recipe booklet. (Original recipe calls for heavy cream. I used

whole milk instead of heavy cream)

3 cups of fresh strawberries

4 tbsp lemon juice

1 1/2 cups of sugar

3 cups of whole milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

In a small sauce pan combine sliced strawberries, lemon juice and half cup sugar and cook on medium heat for 5 to 6 mts till strawberries are soft and sugar is melted. Let the strawberries sit and macerate in juices for 2 hours. Puree the berries along with juices in a blender.

In a small pan combine milk and sugar and cook on medium heat stirring constantly till milk starts to boil. Remove from heat and let it sit till it reaches room temperature.
Once Milk and Strawberry puree comes to room temperature keep it in refrigerator to chill for 2 hours.
Now as per your ice cream maker instructions prepare the freezer bowl.
Combine milk, strawberry puree and vanilla extract and pour in the freezer bowl and turn the machine on till the mixture is thick. My ice cream maker took 20 - 25 mts to thicken the mixture. The ice cream will have soft and creamy texture. If you want firmer consistency keep it in air tight container and place in freezer for few hours. Remove from freezer and serve.

Set Dosa or Challa Pongaralu or Sponge Dosa or Poha dosa

noreply@blogger.com (Sailaja) — Sat, 14 Jun 2014 06:45:00 +0000

Today's recipe is one of many varieties of dosa. This is my all time favorite dosa. Soft, spongy, little sour in taste with spicy Ginger chutney is an amazing combination for breakfast/dinner/snack. This dosa is prepared in a different way soaking ingredients in sour yogurt. Yogurt helps in fermentation and flattened rice/poha gives that soft, spongy texture to dosa. This dosa looks and feels like pan cakes.

My mom makes best poha dosa ever. I always tried to make but every time it was not the same texture like the way my mom makes it. Finally I am getting the right consistency for past few weeks.

Here is the recipe. Next time when your kid asks for pan cakes try these and surprise them. I am sure they will love it.

Ingredients

3 cups of rice/parboiled rice

1 cup of poha/flattened rice

2 tbsp urad dal

3 tbsp oats (this is my variation from my moms)

1tbsp fenugreek seeds

2 cups of sour yogurt

Wash all ingredients and drain the water.
Soak ingredients in sour yogurt and add enough water till all the ingredients are fully submerged. (Approximately 1 cup of water)
Soak for 5 to 6 hours or overnight
Drain and reserve the liquid and grind to a smooth paste using the reserved liquid in a blender
Add salt and mix well and keep it aside for fermentation for 3 to 4 hours.
If you are living in cold temperatures keep the batter in oven with the lights on. If your oven doesn't have light then pre heat oven to 100 F for 5 mts and switch off the oven and keep the batter for fermentation
Once the batter is fermented it will double the quantity (Make sure you keep the batter in bigger container to avoid overflowing.)
In a pan add few drops of oil once oil is hot add two small ladles of batter and drizzle few drops of oil around the edges and cover it with lid
cook till the base is cooked and top is softy and spongy/airy with lot of holes.
Turn and cook on the other side for 1/2 mt
Serve with spicy chutney or sambar or both.

Mumbai style Grilled Veggie Sandwich

noreply@blogger.com (Sailaja) — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 06:30:00 +0000

Are you tired of eating same type of food every day? It is tough to make variety for weeknight dinners. With the office work and household chores I would rather make something simple than planning for a variety. But I get bored of eating similar food for a week. Today is was one of those days , so I ended up making Mumbai street food style sandwich.

Here is the simple,easy and delicious grilled veggie sandwich

Ingredients:

Bread (Wheat or white or whole grain)
Green chutney (Coriander, mint chutney) (Recipe below)
cheese slice or grated cheese (optional)
veggies as you like
Sandwich masala powder to sprinkle on the veggies ( you can use chaat masala if you do not have sandwich masala powder) I used store bought sandwich masala for today :)
butter

Recipe:

Spread butter on the bread slices .
Spread evenly green chutney on the buttered slices
assemble veggies and sprinkle sandwich masala powder and cover with the other slice bread (butter /chutney side down)
Press it firm and apply small amount of butter on both sides and place on the hot griddle

Cook on both sides till it turns golden color.

Remove from griddle cut diagonally and serve.

After a taking one single bite of this sandwich I will bet you will be in dream world) Crispy sandwich just melts in your mouth.

(Sandwich masala powder recipe from Tarladalal
1 tsp cloves
1/4 cup cumin seeds
2 tsp black peppercorns
2tsp fennel seeds
1/4 inch cinnamon
1tsp black salt
1tsp dry mango powder

Dry roast cloves, cumin, cinnamon, fennel and cinnamon til they reach golden color.
Combine roasted ingredients along with salt and dry mango powder and using a coffee grinder grind into powder and store in a airtight container

Green chutney Recipe:

1 bunch of coriander leaves
1/2 bunch of mint leaves
5 green chilies (adjust as per your taste)
1 lemon (cut and extract juice)
salt

using a blender or food processor blend all the ingredients into smooth paste (Add water if necessary to attain smooth paste consistency). Adjust spice accordingly

Cupcakes with high heel shoe and purse toppers for Mother's day

noreply@blogger.com (Sailaja) — Tue, 13 May 2014 03:55:00 +0000

Over the weekend baked these beautiful cup cakes topped with gum-paste high heel shoes and purses. Also made a two tier cake with cascading roses.

Here are the pics for the same

High heel Shoe themed Ombre cake

noreply@blogger.com (Sailaja) — Sat, 19 Apr 2014 17:21:00 +0000

One more custom design cake for a milestone birthday. This cake is for my co-sister's best friend birthday. First time ever my cake traveled coast to coast. I am glad to find that cake reached safely without even one scratch. I should pat on my back for packing so carefully and thanks to my friend cum co-sister who took care in the flight.

Since the birthday girl loves high heel shoes made a high heel shoe. Shoe made with gum paste on last friday night. It took 4 hours 20 mts to complete the shoe.

Initially I planned to decorate the cake with fondant frills considering long flight journey. But my luck was so bad and fondant just gave up on me. Even after 4 hours of trials still fondant did not work and kept breaking the moment I kept on the cake. I was almost in tears just having 5 hours of time left before the flight and finally decided to go with butter cream and made frills with butter cream.

Here is the final product.

Some times I really think is it worth to spend this much time on cakes. But looking at the final product and a smile on birthday person's face makes me feel good. Let's see how long I continue making cakes.

Cricket theme Cake for a milestone birthday Party

noreply@blogger.com (Sailaja) — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 06:31:00 +0000

Over the weekend baked this beautiful cake for a milestone birthday. Theme for the party was cricket.
So went with cricket theme cake.

It was a two tier cake. Bottom tier was german chocolate and top tier was mocha butter cream filling.

Bat, ball and pads are edible. Bottom tier a photo reel with all the milestone pics to depict Stadium Advertisement.

Here are the pics of the cake.

Helpful Tip: How to de seed Pomegranate in less than a minute?

noreply@blogger.com (Sailaja) — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 17:39:00 +0000

I love pomegranate, but removing kernels from pomegranate takes hell lot of time. That's why I always try to minimize buying pomegranate. 1 month back I found this easy trick on youtube to remove pomegranate kernels in just less than a minute. How cool is that? It is really a cool trick!! I immediately tried it and I loved it.

Here is the video for the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyTRkUTtgic

Instructions:

Cut pomegranate in half around its circumference
Take a large wide bowl
Take one side of the pomegranate holding seeds side down. Use a heavy kitchen spoon or spatula and pound the pomegranate all around until all the seeds removed into the bowl.
Repeat the same for other half of the pomegranate too.
Enjoy the healthy fruit !!

Best Eggless Chocolate cake with chocolate mocha butter cream frosting!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Sailaja) — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 06:24:00 +0000

Over the weekend I baked a chocolate cake for a 2nd year birthday party. It was a short notice when my friend requested to bake this cake. So decided to make simple theme cake.

Since the cake is for a boy went with race track theme cake.
Made two race cars with fondant. Cake is egg less chocolate cake filled with chocolate mocha butter cream.

This is the best chocolate cake I ever made till now.

Will post the recipe for the cake soon.

Gluten-Free Swiss Chard Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Sailaja) — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 05:32:00 +0000

Spring is here!! Warm weather means outdoor activities. With the weather getting warmer I take every opportunity to spend time outdoors. Over the weekend went for a nice long walk with my friend-cum-co-sister. Both of us went to farmers market and bought some fresh veggies. It is nice to be surrounded with family and friends.

Tonight's recipe is the result of the trip to the farmers market.

Ingredients:

1 bunch swiss chard
1 tbsp tamarind juice or 1 tbsp lemon juice
Homemade Tamarind juice: 1 tbsp of dry tamarind soak in 1/4 cup of water for 15 mts and remove the juice while squeezing the pulp with your hands.
1 small onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves finely chop
1tsp rice flour to thicken soup (optional)
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp oil
1/8 tsp of black pepper (as per your spice level)
red chili powder/paprika (as per your spice level)
salt as per taste

Wash and remove the stems of the chard and finely chop.
In a stock pot add oil, once oil is hot add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Once mustard seeds starts spluttering add chopped onions and chopped garlic.
Once onion turns translucent add spices and chopped greens
Add water till the greens are sub merged in water. Approximately 4 to 5 cups of water.
Let the greens cook. (Might take approximately 8 to 10 mts)
Once greens are cooked add tamarind juice and cook for 2 mts. If you are using lemon juice add after removing from heat.
If the soup is too thin mix rice flour in 1tbsp of water and add flour mixture to soup and let it cook for 5 mts. (Rice flour mixture helps to thicken the soup). This is truly optional depending on your choice
Give a taste test and adjust spices and remove from heat.
Enjoy hot with some crackers on side or with white rice

Ice Cream cake for a birthday Party

noreply@blogger.com (Sailaja) — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 05:41:00 +0000

I scream, you scream we all scream for ICE CREAM!!!. I haven't met any kid who doesn't like Ice cream. Over the weekend I made this tasty ice cream cake for my nephew's b'day party. All the kids loved the cake.

Ice cream cakes are very easy to make. For next pary try and make yummy ice cream cake. I am sure all your guests will be surprised when they find out it is home made.

As per b'day boy wish I made vanilla cake filled with cookies and cream and vanilla ice cream frosted with whip cream.

Ingredients:

2 - 1.75 quarters of your choice of ice cream keep it out of freezer till it is smooth and easy to spread like frosting consistency not too thin (Don't melt it to liquid form)

Stabilized whip cream frosting ingredients: (if you want frost with whipping cream)

1 cup of whip cream
1tsps of agar agar/ gelatin powder
4tsps of water
1tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup of powdered sugar

Any type of cake for base or crushed oreos/cookies mixed with 1/2 stick mleted butter

Instructions:

In a springform pan keep plastic wrap and keep the cake base or cookie mix. (If you are using cookie mix press firmly. Plastic wrap helps to remove the cake easily from springform pan once frozen
spread 1st ice cream flavor and put it in freezer for 2 to 3 hours
Adding one more layer of cake (Optional)
add another flavor ice cream and spread it on top of the cake or frozen ice cream layer and put it back in freezer for 6 hours or overnight.
Depending on your choice of frosting frost the cake 2 hours before cutting the cake and freeze it back. if you are frosting with whip cream make sure use stabilized whipcream made with gelatin or Agar Agar(vegetarian version). Regular whip cream seperates if you keep it in freezer. I preared stabilized whip cream using agar agar.
Stabilized whip cream frosting:

Combine agar agar or gelatin in a cold water and set it aside until thick. Warm it in microwave for 30 seconds until gelatin dissolves. Remove from heat and cool slightly. In a stand mixer or hand mixer whip cream, sugar and vanilla until slightly thickened. While beating slowly, gradually add agar agar/gelatin mixture to whipped cream mixture. Whip at high speed until stiff.

Remove cake from freezer 15 mts before you cut the cake.
Use a warm knife to cut the cake. Warm knife helps to get nice cuts.

Energizing Green Smoothie for a perfect morning

noreply@blogger.com (Sailaja) — Fri, 28 Feb 2014 04:11:00 +0000

Do you have enough time to prepare big breakfast on a weekday? I don't. My day starts like as if I am running a marathon. To keep my energy going through out the day I need an energy drink. I love grab and go breakfast option. One of those smart, healthy breakfast option is smoothie. Here is the energized green smoothie for a great start. Just takes 5 mts to prepare this nutritious smoothie to start your busy day.

Ingredients:

1 frozen banana
1 blood orange
1 navel orange
1/2 cup tightly packed organic spinach
1 cup filtered water
1tsp plant based protein powder (Available in wholefoods) (Optional)

Instructions:

In a powerful blender add all ingredients(start with liquid first and add rest)(This will help blender to blend easily)
Belnd until Smooth and Enjoy.

Eggless Beet Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Sailaja) — Mon, 17 Feb 2014 01:36:00 +0000

Before you raise your eyebrows about beet cakes I will just say try once. How many of you successful in making your kids eat beets? I guess may be 30% will be successful. Next time try these cup cakes and I bet they will ask you to make again and again and you can proudly say you made them eat beet(not in the direct form but at least you are giving them nutrients in a different form)

You can make these vegan too by replacing dairy milk with non dairy milk.

Inspiration/Source: Here is the actual recipe which inspired me to make.

Prep Time: 20 mts. Yields 16 cup cakes
baking time for cake - approx 30 mts
Baking time for beet -- 1 hour

Ingredients

Dry:
1 cup all purpose flour or whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4tsp salt

Wet:
1 beet roasted and pureed. (Recipe to roast beet below)
1/4 cup oil
1 cup milk (If you want to make it vegan then use non-dairy milk)
1tsp vanilla extract
1tsp apple cider vinegar

Roast beets:

Pre heat oven to 375F
Remove beet from stem and clean. In an aluminum foil add beet drizzle 1/4 tsp of oil( olive oil is best but you can substitute with vegetable oil too) and wrap and bake for 1 hour till it is tender (Test for tenderness- Insert a knife in the center of the beet and it should just go smoothly without any resistance.)

Cake:

Pre heat oven to 375 F and line cup cake pan with cup cake liners.

Puree cooled beets in a food processor.

Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder and mix with a whisk and keep it aside.

In a large bowl add milk, vinegar, sugar, oil, vanilla extract and beet puree and mix with whisk or stand mixer or hand mixer for 3 mts. Now add dry ingredients slowly mix using hand mixer or whisk till everything incorporated without any lumps

Pour batter into cup cake liners 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 mts or until tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean. Once cups cakes are baked , cool completely on a cooling rack and frost or dust with cocoa powder or just eat as it is.

Buttercream frosting: yields 2 - 2-1/2 cups
1 cup butter (If you want to make it vegan use vegan butter) room temperature(softned)
4 cups sifted confectioner/powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1tbsp milk

In a large bowl beat butter, vanilla extract until creamy . Add sugar slowly while mixture running on slow speed. Now add milk and blend/mix until light and fluffy. Depending on the consistency adjust milk. If you are trying to make roses with buttercream then I will not add milk without checking the consistency of the frosting. It is always better to add less than more. If by mistake you added more milk then add more powdered sugar to get the right consistency.
At one point you will observe your frosting is looking like curdled. Don't worry keep whisking till you see light and fluffy texture.

I like to use less frosting so I cut the recipe in half.

Decorate cooled cup cakes with yummy frosting.