Tiny Tots Cuisine

Spicy Chicken Pizza

2015-09-03T16:06:00.000+12:00

Who doesn’t love pizzas? You just can’t go wrong with pizzas. So with weekend coming around and if you’re leaning towards ordering from Dominos or Pizza Hut, how about whipping up your own masterpiece for half the cost and with all the toppings you love! Sounds delish right?

Now to simplify things, of course I’m using store-bough pizza crust. Wait, wait before you kill me, I’ve included a link below to a beautiful homemade pizza crust for you supermoms and dads that want to do this extra step J. But as for me being the lazy person I am and wanting to get out of the kitchen ASAP, I don’t see the harm in using a store bought one. I think it tastes just as nice and no one I’ve ever served this to have complained. I’m sure you can think of 101 reasons why I should make my own dough, but for now let’s just agree to disagree, OK? J J

As for the toppings, oh my, that’s just a whole new world of exciting flavors and combinations waiting to be explored. You can put in as much or as little toppings as you want. You don’t have to even use my recipe. I’m just putting this out there so you know you can do it this way too. Mr. R and I like our pizzas a little spicy whereas Isaac prefers them milder and very cheesy. So I usually make 2 of them and then add in more sauce if anyone wants them.

Like I said your options for toppings are endless but we love chicken with mushrooms & capsicums and sometimes a little bit of red onions too. There are a few steps I do to get the chicken and the toppings ready but trust me it is so worth the effort. And I’m one of those people who never have any leftover cooked chicken I can use, so I have to cook up a batch. But if you do have some shredded chicken you can use then lovely!

So let’s get to it shall, we?

Spicy Chicken Pizza with Mushrooms and Capsicum

Ingredients:

Pizza Base, 2

Mozzarella or any other cheese, as needed

Chicken thighs, 3

Soya Sauce, 2 teaspoon

Vinegar, 1 teaspoon

Black Pepper, ½ teaspoon or as needed

Turmeric, a pinch, optional

Capsicum, 1 medium, diced or sliced

Button Mushroom, 200 grams, sliced

Tomato Sauce

Mayonnaise (mild) or Chipotle Southwest Sauce (spicy)

Salt, as needed

Italian Herbs, optional

Olive Oil, 1 teaspoon

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. If you have a baking stone, place it in the oven to pre-heat.

2. Marinate the chicken with the soya sauce, vinegar, ¼ teaspoon black pepper powder, and a pinch of turmeric. Keep for 10-15 minutes. Cook the chicken in the pressure cooker for 2 whistles.

3. Once the chicken has cooled enough to handle, shred the chicken and keep aside.

4. Heat a teaspoon of olive oil in another pan. Add your mushrooms and capsicums and quickly stir fry on high heat for a couple of minutes. You don’t want the vegetables to brown, just to wilt a bit.

5. Now reduce the heat to medium flame and add in the shredded chicken and season with some salt & pepper. Stir until well combined.

6. Drizzle a bit of hot sauce here if you like. Mix well and take the mixture off the heat.

7. Now to layer the pizza. First top the crust with some mayo or the chipotle southwest sauce.

8. Then some tomato sauce. You can go as heavy or light as you want; there is no right or wrong amount.

9. Next add your chicken mixture.

10. Top liberally with mozzarella or any cheese of your liking.

11. Sprinkle some Italian herbs, more hot sauce if needed.

12. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until dough is crisp and cheese is melted. Repeat with remaining dough for second pizza, or bake the pizzas side-by-side if your oven is big enough.

13. Serve while hot. Yummy pizza ready!

Simple Batman Cake

2015-08-14T13:20:00.000+12:00

How To Make a BATMAN Cake

My eldest son turned 4 this week. Where has these 4 years gone I don't know! I can still vividly remember the sleepless nights, the feeding time tantrums, those cheeky heart-melting grins and his first words.. It seems like just yesterday Issac was still crawling around in diapers, but now he's turning into a young man!

As I look at him now I sometimes have to take a second glance because he has changed so much. My baby boy is turning into a young boy. He is always so curious and so talkative! I have to pinch myself still that I was so blessed to have such a sweet and healthy child. Yes--he has his moments but what child doesn't? He is always telling me, "I love you Amma" .Oh how I love to hear these words. It just melts my heart!

So my little man asked for a batman cake this year. To be honest, I’ll surely be glad when we are over this Super Heroes phase cos all the remaining super heroes he could ask for look darn hard to do! But for the record this Batman cake has to be the easiest cake I’ve done so far. All the frosting and decorating took me about 3 to 4 hours tops. And as soon as Issu saw the cake he said, "Wow, this cake is beautiful. Thank you Amma!" Oh, I almost hugged him to bits then & there. He was so proud of the cake that he readily posed for pics with the cake without me even asking him to.

I baked the cakes a day before and kept it in the fridge so that made the whole process a lot easier. The cake & frosting recipe are from Sweepolita. All the cakes I’ve tried from her blog have turned out perfectly and the fudge frosting was perfect, not too sweet. The cake & frosting recipe can be found here. For the decorations, I bought pre-colored fondant so this process was way easier than making my own. I got the pintables off the internet and just used them as stencils.

I’ll give you a brief outline of the steps I did to bring this cake together but I’m sorry I don’t have any step by step pictures this time.

First bake the cakes and allow them to cool completely. I prefer to bake the cakes a day or more ahead and refrigerate them so there are fewer crumbs when we apply the frosting.

Make the fudge frosting and fill and layer your cooled cakes. Apply your crumb coat and chill in the fridge for at least 20 mins. Apply your next layer of frosting and smooth it out as best as you can. Keep it back in the fridge to chill or just set aside while you prepare the fondant decorations.

My cakes were only an 8 inch cake so the batman logo pretty much covered the width of the cake. So I decided to cut out the yellow fondant in a circle the same diameter as my cake rather than the usual oval yellow shape the batman logo nests in. I just used a cake board I had which was the right size to cut out the circle.

Roll out a lemon size chunk of fondant and roll it out like a chappathi J. Print out the Batman logo, cut carefully around the logo. Place fondant on a sheet of baking paper, place batman logo on top of the flat fondant. Use a sharp knife to cut around the edges and remove the excess fondant. I dipped a little paint brush in some water and brushed the top of the fondant to clear away corn starch residue and also to give it a glaze. Set aside to dry.

Now repeat the same with the yellow and red fondants. For the callouts I used the template from here.

I cut out the “Happy 4 B’day” and “Issac” from some bright orange fondant I had using the fondant alphabet cutters.

Add the shapes to the cake, pressing into the buttercream. I used a bit of edible adhesive to stick on the red callouts as I was scared they would just slide off. To stick the alphabets on I used my yet brush again to wet the underside of the alphabets and stick them on.

Chill until ready to serve. Voila! I told you it was easy JJ

Spicy Chorizo & Spinach Pasta

2015-04-28T14:08:00.000+12:00

This is a tasty and filling pasta dish with chorizo, spinach and whole lots of pasta! It’s quite simple to throw together for a yummy dinner and it’s also great for next day leftover lunches for the office. The whole deliciousness of the sauce lies in its spiciness, so just this one time cook something else for the kids so that doesn't stop you from going crazy with that Cajun spice! J

If you don’t have Cajun spice in your pantry you can still just use chili powder, black pepper or some chili sauce for the heat. It’s a very versatile and forgiving dish so you can experiment with different spices and sauces to flavor it and I promise it will still turn out pretty good.

Spicy Chorizo & Spinach Pasta

Adapted from: Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

6 Chorizos, cut into bite sized pieces

3 teaspoons Cajun Spice, more to taste

250 grams macaroni or any pasta of choice

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

2 Tablespoons Butter

3 cloves Garlic, Minced

1 tomato, diced

2 cups of fresh Spinach

2 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth

1/2 cup White Wine

1 cup Heavy Cream

Freshly Ground Black Pepper, to taste

Method

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain when pasta is still al dente; do not overcook!
Sprinkle 1 1/2 teaspoons Cajun spice over the chorizo. Toss around to coat. Heat 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a heavy skillet over high heat. Add the chorizo and sauté for a couple of minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a clean plate.
Add the remaining olive oil and butter. When heated, add onions, and garlic. Sprinkle on remaining Cajun spice, and add salt if needed. Cook over very high heat for 1 minute, stirring continuously so they don’t burn. Add tomatoes and cook for an additional 30 seconds. Add in the spinach and stir until just wilted. Remove the vegetables from the pan.
With the pan over high heat, pour in the wine and chicken broth. Cook on high for 3 to 5 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Reduce heat to medium-low and pour in cream, stirring/whisking constantly. Cook sauce over medium-low heat for a few minutes, until cream starts to thicken the mixture. Taste and add freshly ground black pepper, and/or salt to taste. Sauce should be spicy!
Finally, add the chorizo and vegetables to sauce, making sure to include all the juices that have drained onto the plate. Stir and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until mixture is bubbly and hot. Add the drained pasta and toss to combine. Bon Appetite! J

Banana Cake with Chocolate Ganache

2015-04-16T10:03:00.000+12:00

For those who have never baked before, baking can seem very daunting. I know it was for me. I did not know where to start or what to do. Even most of the recipes that were said to be simple just looked scary with all the random ingredients and instructions a page long. Today’s recipe is a good one for beginners. It’s a basic moist and delicious banana cake recipe with an even simpler chocolate ganache. There are no surprise ingredients in here, just your everyday ones and the instructions are fairly simple to follow. For anyone who is going to try their hand at baking for the very first time, here are a few tips that I wish I had known before I started baking.

1. Read a recipe completely. No skimming or scanning. Go through the whole recipe ingredient by ingredient, step by step at least twice. This is so you don’t get halfway through the recipe and realize you've accidentally overlooked a key ingredient or tool needed.

2. Always bring your standard ingredients like eggs, butter and milk to room temperature unless the recipe specifically calls for cold ingredients. In case you forget this step to quickly bring eggs to room temperature just immerse them in a bowl of warm water. And I've also read somewhere to soften butter quickly, grating the butter will help.

3. Always preheat your oven. Almost every recipe has this as the first step for a reason!

4. Always using proper measuring tool unless specified otherwise. Use the liquid measuring jars for liquids and the nested measuring cups for dry ingredients.

5. Sifting your flour and baking soda and baking powder does really make a positive difference to the texture of the cakes.

So now that’s out of the way, here’s yet a banana cake with chocolate ganache recipe that you are going to love. It is super simple and easy to follow. And of course, the end result is yum! With regards to the ganache, don’t let the fancy name put you off. It’s even simpler to make than it sounds. It requires just two ingredients- chocolate and fresh cream and voila you have a decadent frosting to top your cake with. Please do try these recipes out and I’d love to hear how it turned out for you. Also feel free to send me pictures of your cakes too J

Banana Cake with Chocolate Ganache

For Cake

Recipe Source: Bakericious

Makes two 8 inch cakes

Ingredients

2 cups plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp baking powder

250g salted butter (at room temperature)
1 1/2 cups castor sugar
4 eggs (at room temperature)
1 tsp vanilla essence
4 tbsp milk
1 1/2 cups mashed banana (about 3 bananas)

Method

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place the rack in the center of the oven. Grease and line two 8 inch round baking tins with baking paper.
Sift together the plain flour, baking soda and baking powder. Keep aside.
Cream the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl.
Add in eggs, vanilla essence and milk and mix well.
Add mashed banana into the mixture and mix well.
Finally add in sifted flour and mix well and pour into a prepped cake tin.
Bake until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. If the top layer turns brown after 15 minutes, cover it with a piece of aluminium foil and continue to bake.
Cool cakes in the pan for 10 minutes then move onto a cooling rack.

For Ganache

Ingredients

400 grams dark chocolate, broken into pieces

250mls fresh cream

Method

Pour the cream into a medium pot and heat it until it is almost but not quite boiling. You’ll know it’s ready when bubbles start to form around the edge of the pot.
Remove from the heat and add the chocolate.Let it sit undisturbed for 2 minutes, then stir until the chocolate is fully melted into the cream.
Whisk until smooth and glossy. When you start to stir it, you think it won’t come together, but it will.
Allow to cool slightly before pouring over a cake. For fluffier icing, allow to cool until thick and then whisk until light and fluffy.

Homemade Plum Jam - No Pectin

2015-04-08T10:23:00.001+12:00

A friend of ours stopped by with a bag full of beautifully ripened plums just picked from her trees a couple of weeks ago. Instantly I knew I had to make some jam because there was no way I could eat through that whole bag myself as neither my husband or kids were too fond of fresh plums. I chucked the bag in the fridge and forgot all about it until recently. I finally got up the courage to make my own jam. This is the very first time I made my own jam so wasn't sure what to expect. But let me tell you the process is really simple and the results delicious!

This is the perfect way to make some of your own homemade pectin free jam and I promise it tastes much better that the store bought one. All you need is fruit, or in this case plums, sugar, and a squeeze of lemon. That is it. Pretty easy, right? This recipe is a bit of a cross between plum jam & plum preserve I think. It still has some fruit chunks in it but it still spreads nicely onto the breads and pancakes.

You really don’t need any special jam making equipment here. I was only making one bottle, which by the way turned out too big though. Well, now I know for next time to get a smaller bottle. J The only pain in this process was sterilizing the jar for the jam. I washed it in hot soapy water, rinsed and dried in a low oven at around 120C until I was ready to bottle the jam. I did not do the whole water bath canner process as I was going to make only one jar of jam and intended to use it immediately and not store it for later.

Let the jamming begin!!! J

Homemmade Plum Jam

Recipe Source: Rhubarb & Rose

Makes about two 500ml jars

INGREDIENTS

1kg plums

Juice of one lemon
750g caster sugar

METHOD

Rinse the fruit in running water. You want to start with really clean fruit because we won’t be removing the skins. The skins mostly kind of dissolve during the cooking process and are almost unnoticeable in the final product.

Put 1-2 small ceramic plates in the freezer. This plate will be used to check the jam is cooked enough to set or not.

Halve and de-stone the plums and juice the lemon. Mix the plums, lemon juice and sugar in a heavy bottomed, large saucepan.

Cover and leave to macerate for at least an hour to allow the sugar to extract some of the juice. I left mine for over 5 hours.

Heat the plum mixture over medium-high heat, stirring as needed to prevent sticking, until jam starts to foam & boil, about 15 minutes.

Continue to cook, stirring minimally and lowering the heat if necessary to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of your pan, until foaming has subsided, about 15 minutes longer. Scrape any foam off jam surface with a stainless steel spoon as needed.

Continue to cook after foaming has subsided until bubbling has slowed and jam looks glossy, 5 to 15 minutes. The color of the plum will turn darker when they cooked.

You can pick up and discard the skins with a fork, if desired. Or be lazy like me and just stir them in, and be happy that you are reserving all that nutritional value of the fruit into the jam!

When the plum halves have broken down and jam has thickened, begin testing for doneness: Get the plate from the freezer and place a bit of the jam over it. Again, put this plate in freezer for a minute and then remove from it. Test the jam, run a spoon or your finger through the jam and if it leaves the track clear, it is ready. If jam is too runny, return to heat and cook, stirring frequently and repeating the spoon test every 5 minutes, until jam passes test.

Remove pan from heat and allow mixture to rest for 1-2 minutes. Pour the jam into the sterilized jar/s and put the lid on while it is still hot. The jar should also still be hot, or at least warm. I let the jar cool down on the bench and then stored it in the pantry. Store the jam in the fridge once you've opened it.

This explains the testing of doneness for jams a bit more and has pictures to help you understand.

Enjoy!

Masala Dosa

2015-03-26T12:52:00.001+13:00

Dosa. That just says it all, doesn’t it? I’m yet to meet a South Indian who doesn't love dosa and the 100’s & 1000's of varieties of it. Almost every household would have this for breakfast at least twice a week. My mom used to make them small and thick and fluffy and that’s how we loved it whereas at my husband’s house they love it big, thin and crispy. I love both versions and never can have enough.

For those of you who have never heard of dosa’s before, as per the Wikipedia definition “Dosa is a fermented crepe made from rice batter and black lentils. It is a staple dish in South Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. It is also popular in other parts of India, and other countries like Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Nepal, Malaysia and Singapore.”

Today’s recipe is one of the numerous varieties of dosa that’s out there – Masala Dosa. This is simply a thin and crispy dosa stuffed with a beautifully spiced potato filling. Did you know that Masala Dosa was listed as one of the World's 50 most delicious foods compiled by CNN Go.com?? I didn't but then there are some many things in this world I don’t know, so let’s just not go there! Anyways, this dish is a deliciously healthy and fulfilling meal and is quite simple to make if you ask me. It is a bit time consuming but the wait is definitely worth it!

The dosa batter recipe can be used as your base to make your everyday dosa's be it thick and soft & fluffy or thin and crispy, anyway you like it. The basic process is the same; the difference is in how you make the actual dosa. Mine is a very basic recipe and the very first time I've attempted this so I’m putting a disclaimer here. If I've made any mistakes or if you know of a way I can make this better, please feel free to pen your comments and I’ll gladly take them into account next time I make these. And yes, you can be certain there will be a next time!

Please see my notes below for some handy tips.

MASALA DOSA

Dosa Batter

INGREDIENTS

2 cups uncooked Rice (refer notes)

1 cup Urad Dal (Uzhunnu)

1 cup Cooked Rice

1 tsp Fenugreek Seeds (Uluva)

Water as required

Salt as required

METHOD

Soak the raw rice, urad dal and fenugreek in enough water for at least 4-5 hours. I left it overnight.
Once ready to grind, wash and rinse the rice and dal mixture and place in a blender/mixie/grinder.
Add the cooked rice, just enough water and grind until smooth.
Add salt, pour into a pan. Cover and let the batter ferment for 8-9 hours. I again left it overnight in the oven(refer notes).
After it is fermented, the batter will rise and your dosa batter is ready to use.

NOTES

I've used basmati rice for the batter but you can also use parboiled rice or idli rice.
I used my Philips Mixie as I do not have a grinder and the dosas came out perfectly.
If you are living in Christchurch or somewhere similar that is cold, you can add a pinch of baking soda to aid the fermentation. I didn't need to add this time but might need this in winter.
I kept the batter in my oven, switched off & light on. You can also leave it on the water heater but I haven’t tried it.
Use a reasonably large container to put the batter so it has room to ferment and rise. No need to use air tight container.
This batter can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days. Just leave outside for about 15-20 minutes if using a refrigerated batter.

Right, now while that is fermenting away you can make the potato masala filling for the dosa.

Potato Filling

INGREDIENTS

3 big Potatoes

1 medium sized Onion

1 Carrot, grated

2 Green chilli

1 tblsp ginger paste (refer notes)

¼ tsp Turmeric powder

Salt

To temper:

3/4 tsp Mustard

1 tsp Uzhunnu/Urad dal

5 Cashew nuts

Curry leaves

METHOD

Wash and pressure cook the potatoes with enough water to immerse them completely for about 3 whistles. Peel off the skin and mash it well. Keep aside.
Heat a pan with oil and temper with the items given under ‘to temper’. Let the cashews turn golden but take care not to burn.
Add the ginger paste, green chilli, onion, carrot and sauté well until the onion is translucent and soft. No need to brown the onions.
Add 1/4 cup water and turmeric and stir.
Add the mashed potatoes and mix well. Sauté for 2-3 minutes, add oil if needed.

NOTES

Of course fresh ginger would certainly taste better here, but me being the lazy me opted for the quick and easy option to use ginger paste! J

Preparing the Masala Dosa

Heat your non-stick pan. No need for oil on your non-stick. But if using an iron skillet/tawa spread some oil to prevent the dosa from sticking.
Spread the dosa batter in a circular motion on the pan getting it as thin as you can. Work from the inside to out of the circle, thinning it as you go.

Drizzle some oil or better yet ghee when the edges start browning and is cooked.
There’s no need to flip the dosa, just spread a ladle full of masala prepared in the middle and fold.

You can fold into half or as a triangle, your wish. Repeat with the rest of batter.

Take off the heat and serve hot with some chutney or sambar. Yum!!

Creamy Zucchini Soup

2015-03-18T12:20:00.001+13:00

I do like soups on the odd occasion but I would not say I am a huge fan. There are times when I've had a soup and its completely blown me away. Like that beautiful mushroom soup the cafe next door at the university used to do, but then for some unknown reason had to go and change their recipe and it was never as good as it was the first couple of times. That was just wrong! Or the wonderful chicken and noodle soup that's just absolutely perfect for the soul when you have a cold that just refuses to go away. And also times when I have had a soup that was just as bland as canned baby food!

Soups are my usual go to when I need to use up some veggies hiding in the fridge and I have no idea how to use them in a curry or might not have enough to make a thoran (Kerala stir fry). Also I feel they are perfectly comforting for the dark and grey weather we are having in New Zealand at the moment.

I think I may have found another recipe to add to my list of favorite soups.This zucchini/courgette soup is just perfect for that midweek meal that takes under 30 minutes to whip up and its one pot dish so less mess to clean up afterwards. Need I say more??

There are many many ways you can change this soup to suit your taste buds. I found that just using black pepper as per the original recipe did not spice it up enough for me so I added some additional green chilies to take it up a notch and loved the hint of chili with the creamy soup. I'd skip the chilies when making this for the kids, or better yet just add them in after you've kept some soup aside for the little ones. If you're battling a cold or a flu adding some ginger and turmeric into this soup can also help you feel better and might be just as magical as that chicken soup!

This is a simple recipe that is also quite healthy if you ditch the cheese and olive oil or maybe use it sparingly. Serve it hot or cold paired with some delicious toast for a scrumptious light lunch or dinner.

Creamy Zucchini Soup
Adapted from: Skinny Taste

Ingredients:
1 small onion diced
4 cloves garlic
4 medium zucchini, skin on cut in large chunks
500 ml Vegetable stock (or more if you want a thinner soup)
2 tbsp reduced fat sour cream
3 green chilies, sliced (optional)
Salt and black pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese, grated (optional)
Olive oil (optional)

Method:
1. Combine vegetable stock, onion, garlic, chilies and zucchini in a large pot over medium heat and bring to a boil.
2. Cover and simmer until the vegetables are tender.
3. Remove from heat and allow to cool enough to blend in a mixie/blender. Or if you have an immersion blender just purée with an immersion blender directly, no need to cool.
4. Add the sour cream and purée again until smooth.
5. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust to taste.
6. Sprinkle with some parmesan cheese and drizzle some olive oil. Serve hot.

Notes:

It doesn't matter how you cut the zucchini since you’re cooking it until it’s very soft and then puréeing it.
You can also use chicken stock and might just taste even better. I used vegetable as we are meat free during lent.
If you don't have sour cream, you can use fresh cream too. Add it in at step 4 but return to the stove on low heat until hot but not boiling.
You can add more stock or water if you don't like your soup too thick.

Parmesan Crusted Fish Bites

2015-03-03T15:34:00.000+13:00

When Isaac grew out of his picky eater phase I could not thank God enough. But then two days later, Lucas, who has always been my perfect eater, started turning up his nose at food. OMG! I don’t know what started it or triggered it, but just like that one day he decided he was not going to be my perfect eater and was just going to put me through the drama I used to have with Isaac all over again. I give up! What is up with these kids? Aren’t they supposed to eat more as they grow older? With my boys they seem to eat less as they grow up!!! Grrrrrrrrr

So its back to the drawing board for me. I have to come up with different and interesting recipes that he will like at least enough to take a couple of bites out of. The funny thing is that they both have entirely different tastes. For example, Lucas likes fish whereas Isaac will throw up if I gave him anything but those store bought fish fingers. Isaac likes chicken but Lucas will just chew the chicken for a bit, get all the juices out and just spit out the meat…. Oyez, lucky me! J

So for most of the part any recipes that I put up from now on will be Lucas’ favourites and hopefully something Issac might eat too. Today’s recipe is a fish one and I know it’s a winner coz both my kids managed to eat a couple of pieces.. This parmesan crusted fish bites were delish. Yes, I had a couple too and so did my husband! J For adults, I’d recommend pairing it with a spicy sauce like Southwest or Chipotle sauce and for kids just ketchup should be fine. This was very simple and quick to make and since it was baked, quite healthy. Serve it with some steamed veges and rice on the side and there you’ve got a completely balanced nutritious meal for your baby!

You can use any white, flaky fish fillets here like cod, tilapia etc. I used Terakihi as that’s what I had on hand. I used Parmesan cheese as it has a strong sharp flavour that is perfect for flavouring fish. And also you can use regular breadcrumbs if you do not have Panko in your pantry. Panko is just Japanese breadcrumbs, pretty much the same as regular breadcrumbs but I think the bits are a bit bigger and coarser than regular ones.

This is such a simple and effortless dish that if you have all your ingredients ready to go, you can make this entire meal in 30 minutes start to finish. J

Parmesan Crusted Fish Bites

Recipe Source: Rasa Malaysia

Ingredients:

8 oz fish fillets (thawed), cut into nugget pieces
1 cup panko (bread crumbs)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Method:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut the fish into 1.5-2 inches pieces, pat fry with paper towels. Set on a dish.
Spread panko in a thin layer on rimmed baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes, until light brown. Transfer the panko to a shallow dish and mix in the Parmesan cheese and salt. Drizzle the oil and mix well. Set out the flour and eggs in separate dishes. Place a wire rack on the baking sheet, lightly coat with cooking spray.
In small batches, coat the fish in flour, shaking off any excess, dip in egg, and lastly coat well with panko. Transfer to the rack. Bake the fish until desired tenderness, about 15 minutes, turning when halfway through. Serve the fish nuggets with ketchup.

Cheesy Broccoli Bites

2015-02-25T14:40:00.000+13:00

I’m back, from my extra-long holiday. I know, I Know. It wasn't supposed to be this long but I just have not been able to back into our routine of things until now. Work had been keeping me pretty busy and so had the boys and life as you know it. But the important thing is that I’m here now J

So what have I missed? For us, it was an absolutely wonderful 6 weeks in India. I hated coming back and would have easily stayed longer if I didn't need to keep my job! It was wonderful catching up with family and friends and time just flew by way too quickly, as always. The boys too loved it there and had a fabulous time. It was wonderful to eat homely cooked meals 3 times a day and being able to put my feet up and do nothing (most of the time, anyway!). It was great while it lasted. Now back to reality.

So kids back at day-care and we're back at work. Of course, what else did I expect? Anyways, it took me a while to get out of my holiday mood and back to working mode. I have been cooking and baking plenty all this while but just haven’t had a chance to put it all up here. I've been on the lookout for some different yet tasty vegetarian recipes that are simple to whip up and let me tell you, these broccoli tots are delicious. These turned out awesome, perfect as a side dish or a snack and a great way to get the kids to eat their vegetables! They are great as finger food for kids and are just as tasty for a healthy side to your dinner. Team it with some meat for kids and maybe some rice or pasta and you've got a fulfilling meal in under an hour! Whohooo! Even my husband enjoyed this as a snack teamed with some southwest sauce. Double win! J Don’t believe me? Try it for yourself, you won’t be disappointed!

Cheesy Broccoli Bites

Slightly adapted from http://www.superhealthykids.com/cheesy-broccoli-bites/

Makes 10-15

Ingredients

2 cup chopped – broccoli, raw
2 large – egg
¹/₂ tsp – salt
¹/₂ cup, crumbs – panko (japanese bread crumbs)
¹/₄ cup – parmesan cheese
¹/₄ cup – colby cheese or any other
2 tbsp – olive oil

Directions

Steam 2 cups of broccoli
Add broccoli, egg, salt, panko or bread crumbs, and the cheeses to a food processor.
Blend just till chopped finely.
Using 1 tablespoon at a time, form into balls.
Heat oil in a skillet. Drop balls of broccoli mixture into pan. Flatten with a spatula and cook until both sides are crispy.

Notes:

For a healthier option, you can bake but maybe drizzle a bit of oil so it becomes crispy.
You don't have to use two types of cheeses. Just Parmesan alone will do.

Rava/Semolina Kheer

2014-11-21T15:15:00.001+13:00

Whoohoo! Next Friday this time I’m going to be at the Airport waiting for our flight to India. Yes, we are going on holiday for 6 weeks. It’s been almost 2 years since we've been home. This will be Lucas’ first visit to see his grandparents and extended family. I’m so excited! J

I can’t wait to get back home and catch up with family and friends. And the families too are excited to meet Chackochi and see Kochu all grown up. And of course we can’t wait to meet the latest addition to my husband’s family. We have a beautiful little nephew enter the world as of Tuesday this week. Yay!! So I am counting down days and there’s only 6 days to go!

And because I’m going to away for some time I thought I’d put up a few recipes I had floating around and have been meaning to put up , like forever. So brace yourself for an onslaught of delicious recipes in the next few days! Today’s recipe is a sweet dish that you can whip up in less than 30 mins and satisfy that sweet tooth with everyday stuff you’re bound to have in your pantry.

Almost every Indian household is bound to have rava/semolina stocked up. As it’s such a versatile ingredient, you can make amazing dishes with semolina. The recipe of the day is Rava Kheer. This pudding is easily digestible and it doubles even as a baby food. I’ve been giving this to Chackochi when he was recovering from his viral fever and had not gotten his appetite back. I’d reduce the amount of sugar mentioned in the recipe if you’re going to use it as baby food though.

You can serve the kheer hot, warm or chilled. Here are some pics to drool over if you still haven’t made up your mind if or not to make this delicious pudding. Speaking of which, can you believe I took these pics on my phone and not a professional camera? Look at that clarity! JJ

Rava Kheer/Rava Paysam

Recipe adapted from: Veg Recipes of India

Ingredients

3 tbsp suji/rava/semolina
3 cups milk
1 tblsp condensed milk (optional)
¼ tsp cardamom powder
2 tbsp cashews
2 tbsp sugar or add as required
1 tbsp ghee

Method

Heat ½ tsp ghee in a pan. Then add cashews and sauté for about a minute on a low flame until golden. Keep aside.
Add the remaining ghee to the pan and add rava to the ghee. Fry till the rava becomes fragrant.
Stir continuously so that the rava gets fried evenly. This takes about 3 to 4 minutes on a low flame.
Add milk and stir.
Add sugar. Stir and bring the rava kheer to a gentle simmer. You can thicken the kheer more if you prefer.
Lastly add cardamom powder and the condensed milk. Stir the rava kheer and switch off the flame.
Serve in individual bowls and garnish with the fried cashews.
Serve yummy rava kheer hot or warm or refrigerate.

Notes:

You can leave the condensed milk out if your making this as a baby food
You can make it more nutritious by adding some dry fruits like raisins or prunes etc as well. I’d add them in Step 6
You can make the kheer as thick or thin as you like. To make it more loose add a bit more milk and don’t simmer as much.
Few saffron strands can be added to the kheer too.
For a rich flavor, use full fat milk.

Chicken Puffs

2014-10-31T15:04:00.001+13:00

Yay! The weekend is here again. Thanks to the public holiday on Monday earlier this week; the work week has been a short one. Don’t misunderstand me, I love my job, but I totally love the weekend and time with my family more! JJJ Baaah who am I kidding, a weekend for me just means this;

Right getting back to business, to kick off an awesome weekend, here’s a recipe for some awesome chicken puffs. Who doesn't love these chicken puffs. Every time we go back home for the holidays and we walk into a bakery, the first thing I’d order is a chicken or egg puffs. I absolutely loved these as a kid. And am sure so did every other kid that grew up in Kerala. Ahh, brings back such fond memories, don’t you agree?These do take a bit of time to make and assemble if you’re doing a bulk lot like I did, but the end result is totally worth it!

And there’s also a little bonus recipe at the end for what you could do with any leftover pastry strips you have. Chackochi loved those little puff pastry bites I made and gobbled up quite a few of them. Try out these recipes and relive your wonderful childhood memories J

Happy Weekend people!

Chicken Puffs

Ingredients

Chicken thighs - 3

Puffs pastry sheets - 4

Onion - 1 medium

Ginger paste - 1/4 tsp

Garlic paste - 1/4 tsp

Chicken masala – 1 1/2 tsp

Pepper powder as needed

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp

Soya sauce - 2 tblsp

Egg - 1 (optional)

Instructions

Thaw the puff pastry, as needed, separating the sheets at room temperature. Thaw until completely and evenly moist, but not dry.
Cook the chicken in a pressure cooker with the soya sauce, turmeric powder & pepper powder. After cooling down, shred the chicken and keep it aside. Reserve some of the chicken stock.
Heat oil in a pan and add onion and salt. Sauté well. When it turns light brown, add ginger-garlic paste and mix well. Add chicken masala, garam masala and pepper powder into this mixture. Once the raw smell goes, add the chicken to this and mix well. If the mix is on the dry side, add a bit of the chicken stock and combine well. Keep aside.
Heat the oven to 190 degrees C.
Meanwhile, cut the pastry into medium sized squares. Don’t worry about wasting the pastry, I have a quick recipe to use those up too, just scroll down .
Spread the masala mix onto the puff pastry. lengthwise. Rub all the sides of the inner part of the pastry with a bit of water so that it acts as an adhesive. Fold the puff pastry over the masala and seal it. Place the puffs about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Whip up the egg in a bowl. Brush the top of the pastry with the egg wash. This will give the puffs a nice golden color when baked.
Bake it until it has puffed up nicely & golden brown. Take care not to overcook or else the bottom of the puffs may burn. Serve warm. Yum!

Sweet Puff Pastry Bites

Now for those little strips of left over pastry, just roll or fold them up into little shapes as you like, bake until golden. Once cooled, dust them with some icing sugar to coat and devour! Yummy, yum yum!

Tres Leches Cake with Strawberry Compote & Whipped Cream Frosting

2014-10-29T10:42:00.004+13:00

The long weekend has just passed and I feel like I need another weekend to get over my long weekend. Yawn! J

Someone very near & dear to our family was celebrating her birthday last weekend and of course we wanted to surprise her with a cake. We conspired with her kids and everyone made out that she was just too old to have birthday cakes anymore and so they would just do dinner out and not make too much of a fuss. Oh, loved the look on her face when we brought in the cake!

Again, I went through the whole confused and overwhelmed with ideas phase before I decided on this cake. I wanted to move away from our traditional chocolate cake as everyone just expects it as a birthday cake. But I didn't want to do a vanilla cake either as I didn't trust my icing skills enough to take a plain vanilla cake to the next level with its deliciousness. I toyed around the idea of doing a marble cake with mocha icing but of course my “buddy” said it was too simple for a birthday cake and that I should expand my baking horizons JJJ

So while searching high and low for an awesome cake which was simple enough for me to pull off, I came across this cake on Raspberri Cupcakes and I was drawn to it instantly. It just sounded divine and when I looked at the recipe it just seemed too simple to be true.

And so with my “buddy’s” approval I decided on this cake even though I was very apprehensive about the whipped cream icing. I haven’t mastered whipping up cream to perfection yet; I always either over beat it or under beat it! But I was up for the challenge and thought I could always just make a vanilla butter cream icing if whipped cream failed me J But that was the novice baker in me speaking. Let me tell you now, butter cream wouldn't have done justice to cake like the whipped cream. It just has to be whipped cream icing or nothing!

The Tres Leches cake (Spanish for 3 milks cake) is one of those absolutely must try before you die type of cakes! The preparation is similar to a "poke" cake, where a cake is first baked, then poked and a mixture poured over it. I was a bit apprehensive about layering a cake that was soaked in three types of milk. Wouldn't it be all soggy and fall apart when I try and layer it? But then I trusted the experts and went for it. And I am so glad I did. The cake is so moist and light without being too soggy or coming apart as soon as you touch it.

Three forms of leche, or "milk," are poured over a baked cake to create its signature indulgence evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and heavy cream. And then adding whipped cream and fruit to a classic tres leches cake recipe just made it undeniably delicious. You can use any fruit in season, alone or a combination and you just can’t go wrong. The original recipe uses rose water to flavor the Strawberry compote which I think would be divine but I didn't have any on hand and so gave it a miss. But the compote still tasted quite good on its own.

The cake as such is pretty simple to make with very few ingredients. And the milk syrup is just combining all 3 milks and pour. Voila! J

Tres Leches Cake with Strawberry Compote & Whipped Cream Frosting

Recipe Source: Raspberri Cupcakes

(makes a 2-layer 8 inch round cake)

Ingredients:

For the cake:

1 cup plain (all-purpose) flour

1&1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

5 eggs

1 cup (225g) caster (superfine) sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract/vanilla bean paste

1/3 cup milk

For the milk syrup:

3/4 cup evaporated milk

1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/3 cup thickened (heavy) cream

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F, reduce by 10° if fan-forced). Grease and line two 8 inch or 9 inch (I used 8”) round baking tin with baking paper.
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
Separate eggs. Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow.
Stir in milk and vanilla.
Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.
Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, gradually add 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.
Fold egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined, make sure there are no lumps.
Pour equal amounts into prepared tins and spread to even out the surfaces. Bake for 20 to 35 minutes or until the center of the cake springs back when lightly pressed and a toothpick comes out clean. Turn cakes out onto two rimmed plates and allow to cool.
Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream in a small pitcher.
When cake is cool, pierce the surface all over with a fork several times. Slowly drizzle the milk mixture; try to get as much around the edges of the cake as you can.
Allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for at least 30 minutes.

For the strawberry compote:

500g (2 punnets) fresh or frozen strawberries

4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice + 2 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp rose water (optional)

Place strawberries, sugar and lemon juice and zest in a small saucepan on medium heat, stirring until it comes to a simmer.
Continue to cook, stirring regularly for about 5-10 mins or until mixture thickens slightly and strawberries soften.
Remove from heat and stir in the rose water. Cool completely, can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for about 2 weeks.

To assemble cake:

600ml thickened (heavy) cream

2 tbsp icing sugar

To decorate: strawberry flavored wafer sticks, sprinkles (optional)

Place cream and icing sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat on high until soft peaks form (take care not to over mix).
Carefully transfer one of the soaked cakes to your cake stand/plate. Cover with a thin layer of strawberry compote (too much will cause the compote to ooze out the sides of the cake).
Sandwich second cake on top. Use a spatula to cover the entire cake in whipped cream and smooth.
Decorate to your hearts content.. Serve immediately with leftover strawberry compote or chill until ready to serve. Can be stored in an airtight container for 2 days.

Chocolate Biscuit Pudding

2014-10-23T10:54:00.000+13:00

My mind is blank… Today I have no musings or craziness to share with you. Maybe that’s a good thing. Don’t want to scare you off with all my crazy talk J so let’s just dive straight into today’s yummy recipe. If you are searching for an easy dessert recipe, then look no further. This chocolate biscuit pudding is a perfect choice. It is so simple to prepare, the ingredients are stuff you’d usually already have in your pantry and the good thing is that it can be prepared a day ahead making it a perfect choice for entertaining guests.

The actual recipe from Ria’s Collection is perfect as is. I do variations of it each time I make it. The one I’m posting here today has butterscotch custard topping instead of Ria’s whipped cream layer. There are so many ways you could do this and still be sure it would come out tasting awesome every time. You just can’t go wrong with this J

I just used store bought butter scotch custard. If you don’t have any custard or whipped cream handy just do the biscuit and chocolate layers and forget the 3^rd layer and still get a yummy dessert. Like I said, the possibilities are endless!

Chocolate Biscuit Pudding

Recipe Source: Ria's Collection

Ingredients:

Marie biscuits, crushed- 200 gms( about 40 biscuits)

Salted Butter- 100 gms( about 1/2 cup)

Milk-1 1/2 Cups

Sugar- 1 Cup

Cocoa powder- 3 tbsp

Cornflour-2 tbsp

Vanilla extract-1 tsp

Custard – as needed, around 1 cup (optional)

Dark chocolate squares - for garnishing (optional)

Instructions:

In a bowl, mix together the crushed biscuits and butter until soft and sand like. Spoon in half of it into the dessert glasses and press it with a spoon and level it. Keep aside the remaining biscuit crumbs.
In a sauce pan, combine milk, sugar, cocoa powder and corn flour. Mix well until combined. Heat until thick, whisking continuously. Allow it to cool and then add in the vanilla.
Add a layer of the prepared chocolate pudding to the glasses, repeat layers finishing off with biscuit crumbs.
Top it with the custard or whipped cream, if desired. Refrigerate for about 3 to 4 hours. Serve cold.
You could also decorate it with a small piece of dark chocolate or even sprinkle bits of 100’s & 1000’s or a bit of leftover biscuit crumbs! J J

Enjoy!

Poori Bhajji

2014-10-17T11:27:00.000+13:00

I know the posts have become a little irregular these days; I got a bit side tracked with my boys and illnesses. Thankfully, everyone’s back to their good health now and so here I am J

Right now I’m going TGIF! It’s been an emotionally draining last couple of weeks and I’m so looking forward to the weekend and spending time with my darling’s.

Speaking of darlings, my boys are as mischievous and cheeky as ever. They are growing up so fast. Kochu is quite the chatter box. Chatter, chatter, chatter! All day long if he can help it! J And Chackochi too is starting to say stuff, though most of it is still baby talk. Of the few words we can understand he loves to say “No”, “Stop it”, “oh oh” and “Mama”. He goes around calling everyone Mama, even our housemate! He’s getting teeth left and right and so his looks are changing fast. Here are a few long overdue pics of them J

Right, so today’s recipe is Poori Bhajji. Doesn’t your mouth just water thinking of those deliciously hot, crispy golden balls of whole wheat goodness paired with that simple vegan potato curry.. Ooh Yum! So a couple of weekends ago, we had some guests over and I made this. I wouldn’t generally recommend making this when you have guests, only because poori is best served hot and you really don’t want to be toiling over the stove when you have guests waiting. But my hubby has been craving Pooris for quite some time and so he talked me into making these.

I forgot to take a photo with the Poori and Bhajji all plated together. I had to take a pic later on of the bhajji as I totally forgot in the hurry of serving our guests. I do have a few pics of the poori though as I got hubby to snap some as we made it.

It’s a real simple meal yet astonishingly tasty and filling. The kids didn’t want much to do with the curry but both of them had a couple of pooris and loved it. It’s definitely one of those worth the effort kind of dishes. The Bhajji is pretty simple to make and comes together pretty soon and tastes pretty close to what we’d get at the Aryas hotels in Kerala. Do try it. Happy Cooking & have a great weekend!

Poori Bhajji

For the Poori: (makes 15-18 pooris)
Recipe Source : Veg Recipes of India

2.5 to 3 cups whole wheat flour/atta

1 tsp oil

water to knead the flour

oil for frying

Method:
Knead the wheat flour into stiff dough with water and oil. Make small balls of the dough. Roll into rounds having 4-5 inches diameter.

Heat oil for deep frying. Fry the pooris in oil till they get puffed and are golden brown.

Tips for Preparing Poori:

The dough should be slightly stiff not soft like the dough of the chappati/roti
While rolling the poori, apply a little oil on the poori and then roll. This way, you won’t need to dust the rolling board with wheat flour. This ensures that the oil stays clean when you fry the pooris and you won’t see dark burnt flour particles inside the oil.
Make sure the oil is neither too hot nor cold. If too hot, the pooris get browned quickly. If not hot enough then the pooris absorb oil and become too oily.
The pooris should puff while frying. If not, then something has gone wrong….. Either the dough has not been kneaded well or the pooris have not been rolled out evenly or the oil is not hot enough.
You can also add some suji/semolina to the pooris. It makes the poori a crispier.

For the Potato Bhajji/ Potato Masala
Recipe Source : Jeyshris Kitchen

Ingredients:

Boiled Potato – 3

Onion (big) – 2

Green chilli – 2-3

Ginger – small piece

Kadala Mavu – 1 tblsp

Turmeric Powder – ¼ tsp

Garam Masala- small pinch

Mustard seeds - ¼ tsp

Urad dal/Uluva – ¼ tsp

Curry leaves/Karivepella

Coriander leaves

Lemon juice – few drops

Oil – 2 tblsp

Salt – as needed

Method:

1. Peel the skin of the boiled potatoes and mash two of them. Cut the remaining one into cubes.

2. Thinly slice the onions and finely chop the curry leaves and green chilli.

3. Grate the ginger.

4. In a pan, add oil and throw in the mustard seeds, urad dal, ginger, green chilli and curry leaves.

5. When the urad dal turns golden brown, add the sliced onions and sauté for few minutes till the onions becomes translucent.

6. Now add 1/2 a cup of water to this and cook the onions for a minute.

7. When done, add the mashed and cubed potatoes.

8. Make a paste with besan/ kadala maavu in 2 tblsp of water and mix well without any lumps.

9. Add this to the potato mixture and add salt, turmeric powder and garam masala. Add 1 cup of water to bring this to a gravy consistency.

10. This masala will absorb water once it comes to boil. So don’t worry if it is thin.

11. Switch off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves.

12. Add lemon juice (if using).

Chocolate Brownie Cake with Cookie Dough Filling

2014-09-19T15:44:00.000+12:00

I made this cake for a family friend’s birthday, Uncle V J. It was meant to be a surprise as he didn't know we were doing this for him. It was fun conspiring with his kids and sneaking into the house to decorate it while Aunty lured him away from the house saying she needed to get some fresh air!

I’m not sure why I chose this cake. I wanted to try something different and I've never had a brownie cake with cookie dough filling before. And now that I've tried it, I’m not entirely sure I’d make it again. No fault of the cake though. The cake was perfect just as the recipe said it would be. The cake layers were typical brownies – chewy, chocolaty and moist. Not sure what else I’d expected from a brownie cake. Duh!

It was Yum, don’t get me wrong, but I think it was just personal preference. Everyone else thought the cake was nice (or they were being really polite!!! JJJ) but I think I prefer my cakes to be light, moist and definitely not chewy. So as you’d have guessed by now, I’m not a huge fan of brownies or fudge.

Then why the heck did I make this cake, you ask? Beats me!!!!! This just looked so decadent in the photos at Lemon Sugar, I just couldn't resist.

The cake is rich, dense and prefect for the chocolate lover. It might be even more awesome with some whipped cream or even some French vanilla ice cream. As far as layer cakes go, this has to be the easiest cake to make. Just bake the brownie layers, make the filling and pour over the ganache. Tada!!!! JJ

Don’t let me put you off this cake, it is really decadent and yummy, just not my absolute favorite cake. You should have a go and tell me what you think. You never know I could be totally wrong and this could be “The” cake from Heaven for you! JJ

I followed Lemon Sugar’s recipe for the cake and filling but slightly adapted the ganache recipe as I didn't have any corn syrup on hand and couldn't be bothered going to the supermarket at 11pm at night. I think that might be why my ganache didn't turn out as glossy as hers. You can check out the original recipe here.

Chocolate Brownie Cake with Cookie Dough Filling

Recipe Source: Lemon Sugar

Ingredients

Brownie Cake:

1 and 1/2 cups vegetable oil

3 cups sugar

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

6 eggs

1 and 1/2 cups flour

1 cup cocoa powder

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Cookie Dough Filling:

3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

3 and 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 Tablespoons milk

2 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Ganache Frosting:

1/4 cup + 2tblsp heavy whipping cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cup Chocolate chips

Extra chocolate chips, for garnish

Method:

Brownies:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees (F).
Prepare three 8-inch round baking pans with cooking spray and parchment.
In a large bowl, combine sugar and oil. Stir with a large wooden spoon until completely combined.
Add eggs one at a time, stirring and incorporating each completely before adding another.
Add vanilla, stir to combine.
In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder.) Whisk to combine.
Add dry ingredients a little bit at a time, stirring until just absorbed each time. I added mine in 3 batches. Do not over-mix, just stir until dry ingredients are fully incorporated.
Pour batter evenly into three prepared pans.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with wet crumbs.
Cool completely, then remove from pans and set aside.
Prepare filling.

Cookie Dough Filling:

In a large bowl (I used my stand mixer) beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
Add confectioners' sugar, and beat to combine.
Add flour and sugar, beat until combined.
Add milk and vanilla, beat until light and fully.

Ganache Frosting:

Heat the whipping/heavy cream till small bubbles start appearing around the edges. Turn off the heat. Pour chocolate chips into the cream.
Allow to sit for 30 seconds, and then slowly stir with a rubber spatula until cream and chocolate fully combine, and chocolate melts completely.
Stir in vanilla, and again stir until completely combined. Set aside while you assemble the cake.

Assembly:

Place one layer of brownie cake on your serving platter. Spoon about 1 cup of frosting over the top of the cooled cake, and spread just to the edge of the cake.
Place another layer on top of the first. Press down slightly to secure.
Spoon another 1 cup of frosting over the top of the layer, and spread just to the edges of the cake.
Spoon remaining frosting into a piping bag with a star tip for decorating.
Place top layer of cake over the frosting. Press down slightly to secure.
Place cake in refrigerator for 10 minutes.
Remove chilled cake from refrigerator. Slowly pour about 1/2 cup of ganache over the top of the cake, and using an offset spatula, slowly spread it to the sides of the cake, just barely pushing it over the edge. Add more ganache until you reach your desired coverage.
Place cake back in refrigerator for 20 minutes to allow ganache to firm up.
Pipe decorations around cake, sprinkle with chocolate chips and drizzle with leftover ganache.
Enjoy!

Banana & Chocolate Muffins

2014-09-17T16:25:00.003+12:00

I haven't been having the best week and I was debating as to whether or not to post something here. But then I thought writing was my outlet, this is where I can think aloud and just have a yarn.

Everything that has happened this week makes me think how different my life is now to what I imagined it would be. How my priorities have changed after marriage, after kids. I was never one of those girls who wanted to have a houseful of babies, who just wanted to get married and have babies and stay home with them. I mean, I was okay with kids but it wasn’t my thing. Kids never found me endearing whereas my husband is just the opposite. Even an absolute stranger baby would just jump into his arms!

I was unprepared for how completely life changing I found motherhood, how I found joy here. People tell you a lot about how much parenting will change your life and they’re right. But usually they mean that you won’t ever sleep in again (you won’t) and a few other things about how much we “give up” to become parents. No one tells you how much you’re going to laugh. No one tells you how much wisdom resides in these small humans, how much they will teach you about love and life and friendship and forgiveness and worship. No one tells you how good and freeing it is to leave your selfishness behind.

Now my husband and my kids are my life, my top priority.Everything else comes second. My heart breaks and aches every time anyone of them gets hurt or upset. I wish I could bear all their aches and pains and wrap them in wool and put them away from harms way. But I know I can't and every ache and pain they go through will only make them stronger. I have to believe that. For them. For me, for my sanity...

Hmmm ok I know I'm getting carried away. As usual. Too much of deep thinking here for a Friday! I'll stop now. J

Moving on, these have got to be the most delicious banana muffins you'll have ever tasted! Forget those doughy, banana bran muffins, these banana and chocolate muffins literally melt in your mouth.
This is the sort of recipe to have around when you get one of those calls to say you're getting visitors in a few minutes. I've made this so many times, I almost know the recipe by heart now :)

I had some bananas that were going black and of course chocolate. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever NOT had chocolate in the house! JJJJJ Anyways, these muffins are a bit on the dense side, but full of flavor and really moist. Plus, they rise up beautifully! These are great for a snack on the go or even breakfast. ENJOY!

Banana & Chocolate Marbled Muffins

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup brown sugar (well packed)
150g butter, melted
2 Tablespoons Golden Syrup
2 teaspoons Vanilla Essence
3/4 cup mashed banana
2 eggs
3oz bittersweet chocolate

Method
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees. Grease muffin tins or use muffin tin liners.
Sift the dry ingredients together and make a well in the centre.
Melt the butter and golden syrup together.
Add the vanilla essence and bananas to the butter mix. Then add the eggs.
Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
Remove 1/2 banana batter, mix in 3oz melted chocolate to one half.
To each muffin liner, add 1 medium scoop of banana batter, 1/2 small scoop chocolate batter, 1/2 scoop medium banana batter and finally 1/2 small scoop chocolate batter. Swirl gently with a toothpick.
Bake for 12 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Kadala/Chickpea Biryani

2014-09-05T14:50:00.000+12:00

I just realized pretty much all my recent posts have been something sweet. Tsk Tsk! Naughty me J

And so today’s recipe is a healthy, absolutely yummy one pot meal, that you can quickly whip up and serve warm with a side dish of raita or just plain yogurt. The first time my mom made this for us I was very skeptical because as far as I was concerned biryani must have meat in it. Full Stop. No more discussion. But I've had to eat my words. I didn't know a vegetarian biryani could be just as tasty as a good chicken biryani. The highlight has to be that this is a one pot meal which means less dishes to clean up after J Well, that’s a big plus for me anyway!

And not to mention it so full of protein because of the chickpeas and is quite filling. It’s a great alternative to the usual rice and thoran (vege side dish for rice).

Kids too will like this dish. Notice I didn't use the word ‘love’ here J I think ‘love’ would be too strong a word. It is still a vegetarian dish after all! J Issac, my fussy eater, crinkled his nose and made clear he did not really approve of it but he still finished everything on his plate, so you be the judge. It might be hard to get the kids to try it, but I think once they've had a taste, they’ll like it for sure! Though I think Issac would rather drop dead than admit he actually liked a rice and chickpea based dish his Amma made for him. Hehehehe JJJ

Apologies for the not-so-great photo!

Kadala/Chickpeas Biryani

Recipe Adapted from Magic Oven, Lakshmi Nair

Ingredients

Basmatic Rice – 2 cups

Chickpeas soaked overnight – 1 cup

Cinnamon stick – ½ inch

Cloves - 3

Star anise -1 or 2

Bay leaves

Cardamom – 2

Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp

Kashmiri Chili Powder – 1 tsp or as per your spice level requirement

Coriander leaves – 1 handful

Mint leaves – 1 handful

Tomato – 1 medium

Sliced Onion – 1 large

Green Chili – 2 (optional)

Ghee – 2 tbsp

Water – 3 cups

Method:

1. Wash and soak the rice for 15 mins and drain it.

2. Make the coriander leaves and mint leaves into a paste with little bit of water. Keep aside. This step is entirely optional though, you can even just finely chop the leaves as add as is.

3. Heat the ghee in a pressure cooker and add the whole masalas (cinnamon, cloves, star anise, cardamom & bay leaves) and sauté until nice aroma comes out.

4. Add the onions, green chilies, salt and sauté until they turn translucent.

5. Add the tomatoes and sauté until they turn mushy.

6. Next add red chili powder, and turmeric powder and sauté well.

7. Then add the coriander leaves and the mint leaves paste and mix well.

8. Add the washed and drained basmati rice and stir gently for about 3 minutes.

9. Now add the chickpeas and the 3 cups of water and close the pressure cooker and let it cook on a medium flame. Once you've heard 2 whistles, switch off the heat and let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes.

10. Once you open the cooker, fluff the rice with a fork rather than a spoon so that the rice does not stick together or break as you stir. Serve hot with some yogurt/cucumber raita.

Notes:

• You can even add some chicken masala at Step 5 if you wish.

• Another taste enhancer would be to substitute the plain water for chicken stock.

Best Ever Chocolate Nutella Layer Cake

2014-09-04T15:19:00.002+12:00

A couple of days ago, I made an ever-so secret birthday cake for one of my housemates. Chocolate, naturally: the cast iron crowd-pleaser of cakes. Searching for the perfect recipe, I came across this.

Of course I was a bit hesitant at first, as hmm, chocolate cake with Nutella- been there done that. But as I read through her description about how light and smooth and satiny the frosting was and gorgeous the cake looked in the photos, I knew I had to give it a go. But I think the final decision maker was the fact that I could make the frosting/icing using my food processor. Whoohoo! It just can’t get any easier than that! The sour cream in this frosting nicely balances the sweetness of the Nutella and dark chocolate and icing sugar. This is a keeper for sure!

And the chocolate cake recipe? It might just be the best chocolate cake I've ever had. And you know I've had my fair share of chocolate cake. I still love Maria's Ultra Moist Chocolate cake and that would be my first choice for a quick and delicious single layer cake with no icing, but I think this is my definite go to recipe for a rich, moist chocolate cake perfect for layering and frosting.

I’m not kidding when I say this is the cake that will make you a star. It will become your secret weapon for dinner parties and special occasions and you'll never look at another chocolate cake recipe again. JJ

An update; my latest cake with this recipe for another friend's birthday...

Best-Ever Chocolate & Nutella Layer Cake

Recipe Source: Sweetapolita

Yield: One 3-layer, 7-inch round cake

Ingredients

For the Cake:

2 1/4 cups (285 grams) all-purpose flour
2 1/3 cups (470 grams) superfine sugar
3/4 cup (90 grams) dark Dutch-process cocoa powder (I use Cacao Barry Extra Brute)
2 1/2 teaspoons (12 grams) baking soda
2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking powder
1 teaspoon (8 grams) salt
1 1/4 cups (300 ml) buttermilk
3/4 cup (180 ml) brewed coffee or espresso
2/3 cup (160 ml) vegetable oil
3 eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon (15 ml) pure vanilla extract

For the Frosting:

4 1/2 cups (565 grams) confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 cups (340 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (280 grams) Nutella (or other hazelnut spread)
3/4 cup (180 ml) full-fat sour cream
11 ounces (330 grams) best-quality dark chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
1 tablespoon (15 ml) pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Instructions

For the Cake:

Preheat oven to 350° F. Prepare three 7-inch round cake pans with nonstick spray and parchment rounds.
In bowl of electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, sift all dry ingredients, including sugar. Combine eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla in a measuring cup and beat lightly with a fork.
Add milk mixture to the dry ingredients mix for 1 minute on medium speed (you may need the plastic splash-guard that comes with mixer). Divide batter evenly among prepared pans--each pan should contain about 600 grams of batter.
Bake the first 2 layers for 20 minutes and rotate pans in oven. Continue to bake until toothpick or skewer comes almost clean (a few crumbs), about 5 more minutes. Cool on wire racks for 20 minutes. Repeat with remaining layer, and then gently invert onto racks until completely cool.

For the Chocolate Frosting:

Put all of the ingredients in a food processor, and pulse until smooth and glossy, about 1 minute. The frosting will be very soft. Refrigerate the frosting until it thickens slightly, about 15 minutes.

Sweetapolita’s Notes:

If you don’t have 7-inch round cake pans, you could also use 8-inch cake pans. The layers will just be ever-so-slightly shorter.
Because the frosting has sour cream in it, it’s best to refrigerate this cake if it hasn't been gobbled up after a day. Keep refrigerated at that point, and serve at room temperature (although it tastes pretty great cold too).

To make the little sugar flowers I used for decorating the cake, I followed the tutorial here. Its really quite simple and you can make ahead of time and just store in clean, dry and air tight plastic ware until showtime!

NUTELLA POUND CAKE

2014-08-27T13:56:00.002+12:00

You know how you'd be sitting in the car waiting for the traffic light to turn green and your minds wanders and you think of random things or replay something that happened the day before? No? Not Really?? I do that very often! Maybe it’s just me J . So this morning I was waiting for one such light to turn green and Kochu’s face came into mind. How he smiled at me when I offered him a whipped cream covered cake bowl to lick yesterday. He smiled, and was amazed I let him get all sticky and messy!

Remembering his and Chackochi’s expressions made me think, when I’m gone, what will Kochu remember the most about me? Yes, of all the things I could have thought about, this is what came into my mind. But seriously, when I’m dead and long gone, I hope Kochu will remember me for letting him lick the cake mixer bowl clean before he remembers me yelling at him for wrenching Chackochis arm when he wants Chackochi to come with him.

Kochu’s at that age where I am constantly yelling “No!” and “Stop!” on a regular basis. L He is always doing things he shouldn’t be doing and he knows that he shouldn’t be doing. This means I yell at Kochu… a lot. Certainly a lot more than I let him lick the cake bowl. Oh dear… Hmmm how depressing!

Alright, so mental note, even if I don’t stop yelling so very often at Kochu, at least make sure I let him have fun just as much too. So that when I’m gone, he’ll remember me for the fun we had together J

I know what you are thinking; I’m crazy but don’t you think about stuff like this too?? J

Right, crazy talk aside, today’s recipe is for the best ever Pound Cake I’ve ever had! The cake was literally gone in a couple of hours so it was a definite hit. Everyone asked for seconds and thirds. I haven’t made a cake that was this popular before.

And the of course addition of Nutella to it just takes it up a notch. You can omit the Nutella and make just the cake. I swear it will still taste just as heavenly. I made another variation of this as well a Butter Brownie Cake which was just as good. I’ll put up the recipe soon. But this is a definite must try recipe and I promise you’ll never look for another pound cake recipe again!

The original recipe actually layers the Nutella on quite thickly, but I didn’t put on as much and so my cake looked more like a marbled tea cake than a Nutella Layered Pound Cake. But the next time I make this (probably very soon!) I might actually layer the Nutella as thick as the original recipe does too. Oh my waistline is definitely not going to thank me for it, but all for the love of food, right?! J

NUTELLA POUND CAKE

Recipe Source: RasaMalaysia

Makes one 9”x5” Loaf pan

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 oz / 225 g / 1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar (I used 1 cup)
One 13-ounce (350 g) jar Nutella

METHOD:

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Lightly grease and flour a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan, tapping out any excess flour.

2. In a glass measuring cup, lightly beat the eggs with the vanilla.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk the 1 1/2 cups of flour with the baking powder and salt.

4. In a large bowl, using a handheld mixer, beat the butter with the sugar at medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes.

5. With the mixer at medium-low speed, gradually beat in the egg mixture until fully incorporated.

6. Add the flour mixture in 3 batches, beating at low speed between additions until just incorporated. Continue to beat for 30 seconds longer.

7. Spread one-third of the batter in the prepared pan, then spread half of the Nutella on top. Repeat with another third of the batter and the remaining Nutella. Top with the remaining batter. Lightly swirl the Nutella into the batter with a butter knife. Do not overmix.

8. Bake the cake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

9. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto a wire rack, turn it right side up and let cool completely, about 2 hours. Cut the cake into slices and serve.

Milk and Cookies Cupcakes

2014-08-19T10:24:00.001+12:00

The final lap to Kochu's birthday celebrations was making some cupcakes to take into daycare for Kochu to share with his friends. I tossed and turned about making him another cake but this was just a day after the whole Spider-man cake saga and to tell you the truth, I was all caked out! I couldn't bring my self to bake and decorate another whole cake and so in the end I decided to go with cupcakes.

You just can't go wrong with cupcakes. Kids love them!

Milk and cookies are one of those things that makes everything better. It’s also a perfect snack. But this time, milk and cookies came in cupcakes version. These Milk and cookies cupcakes have very good texture , dotted with mini chocolate chips.

The frosting is very milky and creamy and isn’t too sweet. This combo of this frosting and chocolate chips cupcakes, really does taste like milk and cookies. Decorated with mini chocolate chip cookies and extra chocolate chips, these are really great treat. I made the mini cookies as well from scratch, but they’re really just for garnish and you can skip them if you like. Except that they’re delicious, so please make them.

Have a go and tell me you and your kids didn't love it! :)

Milk & Cookies Cupcakes

Slightly adapted from Lemon Sugar and Raspberri Cupcakes

Yield: 24 cupcakes

Vanilla Cupcake

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 and 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 oz mini chocolate chips, plus more for garnish
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour (to coat chips)

Method:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Beat together eggs and sugar until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Add flour, milk, oil, baking powder and vanilla and beat for another minute. Pour mini chocolate chips into a small bowl. Sprinkle 2 Tablespoons of flour over chips, and mix to coat. Fold coated chips into batter.Pour batter into lined cupcake tins, filling each tin 2/3 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes (or use a cake-tester). Remove from cupcake tin right away, and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yield: 36-48 mini cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated (white) sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg, room temperature
6 oz mini chocolate chips

Method:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with a silpat mat or parchment paper, and set aside.

Beat together butter and both sugars until creamy and fluffy. Meanwhile, combine flour, salt and baking soda in a small bowl. Add egg and vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until just combined. Slowly add the flour mixture and beat until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

Spoon a very small spoonful (about the size of a large marble) on to the cookie sheet. Bake for 4-5 minutes or until the edges are just beginning to turn brown. Remove from oven and allow to sit on the cookie sheet for another 1-2 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack, and repeat.

If your kitchen is warm, it would be a good idea to keep the batter in the fridge between batches. Otherwise, they will spread too much.

Allow cookies to cool completely before garnishing.

Milk Frosting

Ingredients:

3 sticks (1 and 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, cool room temperature
3 and 1/2 cups confectioners/powdered sugar
7 oz sweetened condensed milk
2 Tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Amerigel Brown color (optional)

Method:

In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth and creamy. Add the powdered sugar, and beat to combine. Add condensed milk, cream and vanilla extract, then beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

If you want to get the double color toned frosting like mine:

Divide the frosting into two bowls. Add a couple of drops of the brown gel color to one bowl. Mix well to incorporate the color. Keep the other half of the frosting white.

Fill a piping bag with both colors, brown on one side and white on the other.Firmly squeeze the bag until you’re getting equal parts of each icing from the tip.

Generously frost cooled cupcakes.

Spider-man Birthday Cake - Black & White Cake with Creamy Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

2014-08-14T14:46:00.002+12:00

If your birthday honoree can't decide whether he or she wants vanilla or chocolate, this cake is the perfect choice because it delivers both. For Kochu there really wasn't much confusion, chocolate would win hands down every time, but I wanted to do something different. I was bored of making plain chocolate cakes.

I knew I wanted a layered cake and in different flavors, but just wasn't decided on the flavors of the layers yet. I initially thought I'd go with a chocolate cake layer and a butter cake layer. But then I was worried that my butter cake layer would be too soft/moist to stand up for a layered cake. So I scrapped that idea. That was when I came across this beautiful black and white cake at Lemon Sugar. This is an awesome blog with so many beautiful cake and cupcake recipes that are to die for! I've already bookmarked quite a few of her recipes to try later. The frosting though I had to adapt a bit to my liking and measurements but it is pretty much still the same recipe.

Even though the WASC cake start with a plain vanilla cake mix it, ends up with a luscious yellow cake that is just so moist and yummy. And the chocolate cake, need I say more? It is chocolate after all! And then came the frosting. Smooth, buttery, need I say more?? J

Put it all together, and what do you get? A wonderful combination of flavors and once again, another recipe that produces an elegant dessert that is fit for the fanciest of dinner parties. The cakes were light and fluffy, the fillings smooth and rich, all the flavors blending together into a harmonious whole. I was quite pleased with the cake: it is surprisingly light in texture but satisfyingly substantial - you can taste the richness of the chocolate, the delicate crumb of the cake, the weightless give of the fr

osting beneath your bite. This is really a cake where using good ingredients will make it shine.

Here's a couple of pictures of the cake. Again, not so great pictures, but you'll get the idea!

I hope you’ll give this one a try. If you're looking for a striking cake for a special occasion look no further, this is a must try recipe! J

Chocolate Cake

Recipe Source: Lemon Sugar

Yield: Two 9-inch layers

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Prepare two round, 9-inch baking pans by coating them with cooking spray and a parchment round. (Cut a 9 inch round circle of parchment, place in bottom of pan sprayed with cooking spray.)

In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla and beat on medium speed for two minutes. Slowly stir in boiling water, and note that the batter will be very thin. Pour evenly into prepared pans.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and cool on wire rack until completely cool.

White Almond Sour Cream Cake

Recipe Source: Lemon Sugar
Yield: Two 9-inch layers

Ingredients:

1 box white cake mix (see notes)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white/granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
4 egg whites
1 and 1/3 cups water
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup (8oz) sour cream
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoons almond extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees (F). Prepare two round, 9-inch baking pans by coating them with cooking spray and a parchment round. (Cut a 9 inch round circle of parchment, place in bottom of pan sprayed with cooking spray.)

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients. With a hand mixer, beat ingredients for about two minutes or until batter becomes smooth and silky. Pour evenly into prepared pans and bake for 30-37 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. (Mine usually takes 34 minutes.)

Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and cool on wire rack until completely cool.

Creamy Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Adapted from: Lemon Sugar
Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter at cool room temperature
6 cups icing sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 Tablespoons vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon of water

In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and icing sugar on low speed until just combined. Increase speed to medium and beat until well-incorporated, about 3 minutes.

Add the vanilla, water, whipping cream and salt, and whip on med-high speed until fluffy and smooth--about 3 more minutes. If consistency is too thick, add more water 1 teaspoon at a time, then whip again for 30 seconds or so. If your frosting is too thin, you can add more icing sugar a few tablespoons at a time until you achieve desired consistency.

Assembling the cake

Trim any doming or top crust from cake layers using a very sharp serrated knife.

Place a small dollop of frosting in the center of a cake plate or 10″ round thin foil-covered cake board, and place the bottom cake layer on top, face-up.

Place ~1 cup of frosting on top of the cake layer, and spread evenly with a small offset palette knife. Gently place 2nd cake layer, face up, on top. Repeat until you come to your 4th layer, which you will place face down.

Put a generous scoop of frosting on top, spreading evenly with a small offset palette knife and working your way down the sides until you have a thin layer of frosting over the entire cake. Chill until set, about 30 minutes.

Remove from refrigerator and apply another "coat" of frosting.

Decorate cake as desired. This is enough frosting to fill three layers and frost the remainder of the cake. I do recommend a crumb-coat before your final coat of frosting.

Notes:

I used AmeriGel colors to color the icing - Red Red and Royal Blue
For the box cake mix I used Betty CrockerVanilla Cake Mix
Store, covered in a cake dome, at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in refrigerator for up to 5 days. Best enjoyed day 1 or 2 at room temperature.

Spider-man Birthday Cake for Issac's 3rd Birthday

2014-08-12T12:15:00.001+12:00

Our Kochu Varkey (Isaac) is 3 today! It feels like only yesterday I had written a post about him getting his first tooth! Time is just flying by. He has grown from an absolutely adorable baby to a smart and very talkative boy that he is today. Every now and then he says something that totally amazes me and I realise my baby is growing up! My big boy, mwah!

Ever since we had Chackochis birthday party, Kochu kept constantly reminding me that he wanted a Spiderman cake for his birthday. Gulp! Spiderman? Really?? Why couldn’t he have just asked for a chocolate cake covered with M&M’s or a banana cake with chocolate icing or something simpler?

Isaac’s birthday is really today, 12th of August, but it being a working day, we had a small cake cutting celebration with Family in the weekend. A themed cake just seemed too daunting to me. I was, more than once, tempted to just order a cake from the professionals! But then again, I wanted to make it for him, to see his face light up when he saw the cake first thing in the morning. Just seeing his joy and surprise would make up for all the pain and effort needed to make that cake with 2 hyper-active kids and a husband with a fractured ankle! And besides this is the first birthday when he actually understands that it is a special day and it’s all about him! So I certainly did not want to let him down!

Like you all know I’m an absolute novice at baking. I’ve only started making cakes and the first thing he asks me is for a Spiderman cake?? I’ve been stressing over this for weeks! I spent hours on Pinterest looking at different cake designs. I didn't want to make anything too difficult... I know my limitations! I really liked the Spiderman face design but I really suck at drawing and was sure I wouldn’t be able to get the shape of his head right. Actually, I wasn’t even sure what I wanted do until a couple of days before I started making the cake!

For the cake I decided to go with a layered cake of Hershey’s Perfectly Chocolate Cake and the White Almond Sour Cream Cake with Vanilla buttercream icing. The light, creamy buttercream holds it all together without being too sweet or sugary. I thought even if the cake didn’t look good, at least it should taste good!

The recipes made two 9 inch layers, but I prepared two 9″ round cakes, and two 8″ round cakes of both flavours, so I could get the tiered cake.

Once I had the cakes baked and cooled, Renju used a serrated knife to level them off. I whipped up the buttercream and then divided them into two bowls and added the red and blue colours to each to get Spidey’s colors.

I made some homemade marshmallow fondant earlier in the week to make the spider and also for the “Happy Birthday” letters and the stars. It was the very first time I worked with fondant, and let me tell you it is not a simple thing to work with! Oh the time I spent kneading that thing to get the colours I wanted!!!

I wanted 2 colours that I would have to dye the fondant. Dividing the fondant into 2 portions, I took one of the portions and placed it in the microwave for 10 seconds. Sometimes the fondant can be a little hard to work with when you take it straight from the fridge. Make sure to ONLY microwave it for 10 seconds. Any longer, and the fondant will be way too soft, believe me, I learned the hard way! And a note to the wise, next time I’d definitely use chocolate colored fondant and then dye black. White fondant just took forever to become black!

Kochu declared it was the tastiest birthday cake I have ever baked. He was very happy with how it looked and tasted as he kept coming for more! J

All in all I was delighted with it. And for someone who's been baking for less than a couple of months it's a pretty good achievement! Kochu loved it which is the most important thing.

Please be warned, this is just my very humble effort at a Spiderman themed cake. Sorry I didn’t take any photos during the making process because I was really stressed!

Recipes for the cakes and buttercream icing to follow soon! J

Cheesy Carrot Bites

2014-08-11T11:48:00.000+12:00

Feeding a growing boy gets really interesting once he decides to be independent and feed himself. The teachers at day-care warned me that this was starting to happen and that Chackochi wouldn't let them feed him anymore. So that meant only one thing- prepare myself for finding dried up bits of food in random places all over the house! Yuck!

One of the ways to avoid a little of the mess and to allow him to still explore the fun of self-feeding is of course finger foods. So he gets to have some independence and I get to still give him something tasty and nutritious.

This Cheesy Carrot Bites recipe is just another take on my Sweet Corn Mini Fritters. The recipe is quite versatile and you can make numerous variations of these! I made note of some options in the Notes section after the recipe, just to give you an idea. If you come up with a new flavor combo that your baby loves, let me know!

They're delicious, honestly. And, plus, how easy is the recipe! My favorite way for a recipe to begin is ‘Preheat the oven…’ because it shows that the prep doesn't need too much fiddling around with. The next best thing to see is ‘Combine all ingredients’ – can’t get any easier than that. J

And you can also prepare these in advance and freeze them for up to a month. How cool is that! In my opinion, these are best straight from the oven. When I reheated them in the microwave, they were a bit soggy, but still tasty! (Yes, I had a couple too; they looked way too tasty to resist ;))

Cheesy Carrot Bites

Recipe Source: Recipris

Makes 15-20 medium-sized balls

Ingredients:

½ cup grated cheese (I used a mixture of Parmesan, Cheddar and Mozzarella)

¾ cup breadcrumbs

½ cup grated carrots

2 eggs, whisked

Olive oil spray (as needed)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C.

2. Combine all ingredients apart from the oil, and mix well.

3. Take a tablespoon-sized portion of the mixture and squeeze it gently into a ball.

4. Lay on a lightly greased baking sheet, and repeat with the remaining mixture.

5. Spray the tops of the balls lightly with spray oil, bake until lightly golden, about 15-20 minutes. ( I got distracted and I left them in for about 30 minutes, so they ended up a bit more brown than I would have liked)

6. Serve immediately.

Notes:

Option 1 - Substitute 2 cups of shredded zucchini for the carrot. Add 1/2 cup ricotta and increase dry ingredients by 1/4 cup. Remember to squeeze out the moisture from the zucchini or it will be soggy.

Option 2 - Substitute 1 cup shredded sweet potato and 1 cup shredded pear (use a firm pear like Bosc) for the carrot

Option 3 – Add 1 Cup of shredded apple to the above recipe

Chocolate cake with Nutella Icing

2014-07-30T14:08:00.004+12:00

Today is Potluck Lunch day at work. A group of people in the team cook and bring a dish to share with the whole team. Everyone takes turns, so those that cooked this round need not cook in the next rounds until its their turn again. I'm in today's round and I've bought Pork ularthiyathu and Moru Kachiyathu. Someone bought in the rice (I hope!).

Yes, I thought I'd go traditional here rather than making pasta or a curry that everyone would normally have. The people in my team are foodies and love to taste new cuisines. Everyday at lunch they pretty much drool over my tiffin and so I thought I'd give them a taste of some real South Indian food. But I'll let you in on a secret, the pork ularthiyathu was cooked by Renju, not me! He likes to cook especially meat. Pork is one of Renju's specialties (even though I initially taught him! ;)). So looking forward to lunch today to see what they think of our cuisine.

I am so enjoying my new job much more than I thought I would. The work environment is great and the people are too! Don't get me wrong the people at my previous company were awesome too, lovely people and I've made some friends for life, but not everyone was as friendly and welcoming like the people at the new place. So I'm glad I decided to make the move. Phew! :)

Ok, that's enough of rambling for now, let's get on with it. I was browsing through my recipes and wondering what to blog about and realized I hadn't shared the recipe for the layered chocolate cake I made for Chackochi's birthday. Oh, that cake was my pride and joy, how could I have forgotten about it!

Again, this recipe is from Marias Menu and haven't changed anything except left out the hazelnut praline in mine as kids were eating it. It a delicious, decadent and rich cake for sure. Definitely a cake for special occasions. Unfortunately like the Ultra moist cake, I don't have a picture of a slice so you can see the inside of the cake. It just all disappeared too fast! Maybe next time (and you can be sure there'll definitely be a next time!)
Isn’t the little banner cute? It’s just a couple of bamboo skewers with baker’s twine and some card stock diamonds. More fun than candles, I think!

Chocolate cake with Nutella Icing
Recipe Source : Marias Menu

Cake:
Ingredients
Plain Flour – 2 cups
Cocoa Powder – ½ cups
Baking Soda – 1 ½ teaspoon
Salt – ½ teaspoons
Butter – 115 grams
Sugar – 1 cup
Brown Sugar – 1 cup packed
Eggs – 2, at room temp
Vanilla Essence – 2 teaspoons
Lukewarm Water – 1 cup
Buttermilk – ½ cups (refer notes for substitute)

Method:

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease your 2, 8 inch cake tins well and dust with flour or cocoa powder.
Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
In another bowl, beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with water and buttermilk, beating on low speed until just combined. Mix on medium-high speed until no traces of flour remain, for about 30 seconds; do not over beat.
Divide the batter evenly into 2 round pans. Bake for about 30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Nutella Butter cream Icing
Ingredients
Unsalted butter – 250 gms, softened
Nutella – 440 gms
Icing sugar – 2 cups
Milk – 2 tbsp

Method:

Beat butter until smooth. Add Nutella and beat together until thoroughly combined. Slowly add icing sugar, mixing until combined. Add 1 tablespoon of milk. Add additional milk or icing sugar as needed to reach desired consistency.

Assembling the Cake:

Place bottom layer of cake on a cake board or a plate.
Spoon approximately 3/4 cup of frosting on to cake. Using an offset spatula, spread to 1/2 inch thickness.
Add top layer of cake. Spoon approximately 2 cups of frosting on top layer, and slowly work frosting over top and down the sides of the cake to form a crumb coat.
Smooth frosting to desired thickness, completely covering the cake. Don't worry if you can see chocolate crumbs in this layer of frosting, we'll cover them in the next step.
Allow frosting to harden in refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Using remaining frosting, evenly spread frosting over the entire crumb cake.
Garnish as desired, and enjoy!

Notes:

1 cup buttermilk = 1 tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar + enough milk to make 1 cup. Let stand for 5 minutes

Simple Banana Cake

2014-07-23T14:42:00.002+12:00

Since making Lucas’ birthday cake I've been more and more interested in baking cakes. I've got one of my kitchen drawers filled with cake recipes I've wanted to try like forever and I've slowly started choosing one recipe for each week and make it my top priority on a Sunday morning. Another reason for doing this is to try and decide on a cake flavor for Kochu’s upcoming birthday. So I’ll try the different cakes and see which one he likes best. So far the banana cake seems to be the top contestant.

And so we come to today’s recipe. When you go to the effort of baking a cake, especially if you're not a regular baker, like me, it’s only natural to want to start with the best recipe out there. I searched for the best banana cake recipe and this one stood out from the crowd. It’s an Annabel Langbein recipe. She is pretty much Nigella Lawson of New Zealand, so I trusted her when she said this was the Best ever Banana Cake recipe. And after trying out the cake, I will say this much, it was damn good. I haven't tried many other banana cake recipes to compare it with but I'd say this one would be a hard one to beat!

This cake is just simply delicious and moist. According to Annabel, the secret to a great banana cake is sweet, ripe bananas – the sugar content increases as they ripen, making them sweeter, and of course they are softer and easier to mash so they break down more easily in the cake batter. This is a great way of using up those brown bananas instead of throwing them out. Don’t just take my word for it, go ahead and give this recipe a try and tell me it isn't the best banana cake ever!

Simple Banana Cake
Recipe Source: Anabel Langbein

Ingredients
250g butter, at room temperature
1½ cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 very ripe bananas, peeled and mashed (about 2 cups)
2 tsp baking soda
½ cup hot milk
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder

Method
1. Preheat oven to 170°C. Grease and flour dust your 9inch cake tin. I used my silicon bundt pan for this.
2. Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then vanilla and bananas.
3. Dissolve baking soda in hot milk, add to mixture and stir to combine.
4. Sift in flour and baking powder and fold gently into mixture using a big spoon and a large scooping action to keep the mixture light. Do not over mix.
5. Spoon mixture into prepared tin and smooth top. Bake until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean and the top is springy to the touch. Mine was ready in about 50 minutes, but i got distracted and left it in for about 60 minutes! Oops! :) It was a tad bit overdone as you can see in the pics but still tasted awesome.