~ The Purple Foodie ~ A Food Blog with recipes on baking, desserts and international cuisine

Buttery Buckwheat Nibby Cookies

2010-03-12T00:10:00.003+05:30

Or rather, these should be called dangerously buttery buckwheat nibby cookies. I’ve made this cookie recipe a few times ever since my friend Kishi sent me a bag of Valrhona cacao nibs and they’ve been a hit every single time. These buckwheat cookies definitely won’t win a beauty pagent, but that’s hardly going to be a point of contention when you bite into the crumbly cookie and your mouth is filled with buttery richness and nibby nuttiness.

So, what are cacao nibs? Cacao nibs are shelled and roasted cacao beans. They have a crunchy texture with a bitter chocolatey flavour. If you’re a fan of dark chocolate, falling in love with cacao nibs is a no-brainer. Had on their own, nibs seem like a distant cousin of the coffee bean, but only nuttier and more flavourful (note: opinion may be biased because I don’t care much about coffee). And if you really need another reason to buy these then beat this – cacao nibs is one of the top brain health foods.

Ever since I first had cacao nibs in a bar of Scharffen Berger dark chocolate nibby, I’m a fan. I even put some of it in a molten chocolate cake, and my, did the nuttiness of the nibs shine through the silky-smooth texture! You can use them in baked goods just like you use nuts, chocolate chips or poppy seeds! I even used them as a garnish for the luscious caramel chocolate tartlets!

But now, back to the cookie – go make it soon! And if you don’t have cacao nibs, dried and ground whole vanilla beans might be fun and supremely flavourful too!

Buttery Buckwheat Nibby Cookies
Yield: 40 cookies
Adapted From: Pure Dessert, Alice Medrich

1 1/4th cup (5.6 oz) flour
3/4th cup (3oz) buckwheat flour
1 cup (8 oz/2 sticks) butter (unsalted is preferable)
2/3rd cup sugar
1/3rd cup caco nibs
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 175C/350F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Sift together the all-purpose flour as well as buckwheat flour in a bowl. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a larger mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar and salt (if using) until smooth and creamy, but not fluffy.
Mix in the beans and the vanilla.
Stir in the flour and gently knead until it forms a small dough.
Form a 12*2 inches log and then refrigerate it for a few hours or overnight.
Now cut pieces from a log, just like you would for refrigerator cookies.
Lay them out on the cookie sheet and bake them in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown.

Note: The cookies are quite delicate and will be relatively soft when they've just emerged from the oven so make sure to let the cookies cool on the parchment before you pick them up! Yep, this is the hardest part!

Paris!

2010-03-07T01:15:00.005+05:30

Orangefoodie was in Paris for Christmas (yep, this post is long overdue!) and this post encaptures the essence of the trip. I'm really looking forward to my trip to Paris after reading this! ~Shaheen

Photo credit: Shannon Pareil

I've only ever posted on purplefoodie's blog the one time. It's one that I'd like to forget, and luckily for me you might not even remember. But a 4 night trip to Paris begs for a post of its own, even if it isn't written by the author you are all used to.

I'm orangefoodie, and I've shied away from posting on the blog for years, so go easy on me. Of course, there's good reason. I'm not a chef or a baker or even a home-cook. Forget churros or tarts, I can't even make a cup of tea! But I do love one thing - experimentation with food. And what better place to do so than on the streets of Paris, where I vacationed this past Christmas with a gang of cousins.

Paris is just such a wonderful city. It's full of life and charm and warmth, even in the middle of Christmas winter. The people there are probably what makes the city so special. It will be hard to find such a high proportion of genial, charming people elsewhere, except maybe in an 80s' Disney cartoon. A whiff of love is always in the air. You shouldn't make the mistake I did of not taking your loved one with you. The first thing I did as soon as I got out of my hotel room was go to Le Cordon Bleu. Finding my way to the prestigious school armed with nothing but the name of a metro station that I could hardly pronounce, proved to be quite a task. In a lovely demonstration that summed up the spirit of the city, up came an old man with a walking stick, who strolled all the way over to me and walked 100 metres with me to LCB, then turned around and walked back to where he met me.

Photo credit: Mark Craft, copyright 2008
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Le Cordon Bleu, Paris, was truly a special place. I picked up a bunch of material for Purple Foodie, and sneaked into the demo room. Of course, LCB has gained tremendous mainstream popularity recently due to its coverage in 'Julie and Julia', but this is where Shaheen has wanted to go for years now. If stepping in that kitchen can thrill a cooking imbecile like me, I can't even imagine what a whole bunch of you might feel like once you do go there.

Photo credit: Shannon Pareil

I did have what would turn out to be the best ham 'n' cheese crepe I tasted in the city right outside the Metro Vaugirard. Crepes in Paris are served as fresh street food in a whole variety of flavours, Nutella and ham-n-cheese (or jambon-fromage, which sounds so much better) being the most popular. It was still early in the day, so I made my way to a lovely, old-fashioned tea room at Rue de Rivoli right opposite the massive Jardin des Tuileries. This fancy little frilly shop called Angelina is well-known around the world for their famous Hot Chocolat l'Africain - a cup of rich, thick, dark and velvety chocolate, served with a large portion of whipped cream. No gastronomic visit to Paris is complete without Angelina's hot chocolate, and this is always to be accompanied by their divine Mont Blanc pastry - made with a generous amount of whipped cream covered in chestnut puree and served on a meringue base.

Photo credit: remabulous

Lunch followed right after. Another place I was advised to visit was Au Pied de Cochon, or, 'The Foot of the Pig'. No prizes for guessing what their house specialty is, then. I had their breaded pig's feet served with bearnaise sauce. Not just pig's feet, actually. My potato frites were surrounded by parts of the pig that one would otherwise discard without a thought. Pig's foot, pig's tail, pig's snout and pig's ears (yum, yum, yum and yum!). Something tells me these guys don't need to bother with halal meat. They also have another specialty, which is their French Onion Soup. It's a huge bowl of thin soup with large slices of onion, a few slices of baguette, and a thick layer of gruyere cheese. Here's a recipe I found, which seems quite authentic. The food surely lived up to its famous billing, and I would definitely come back for more, as long as I walked for an hour beforehand.

Photo credit: mikeandanna

As you might have imagined by now, I arrived in Paris prepared. A few minutes away from my piggie wonderland was Rue Montmartre, famous for its cookware, bakeware and ingredients. Shaheen already had a list of things for me to buy for her. She's got a few pictures of the stuff I brought back for her in her earlier post, so I won't go into details. But the shops themselves were overflowing with a whole variety of products, most of which I hadn't even heard of. For a Wednesday afternoon, the place was packed with people - overflowing even. For a moment, I felt like I was back in Bombay. But I had a great time shopping, which is a surprising thing to hear from a guy like me. I'm sure you'd normally spend days trying to find a variety of products such as what they had stocked in there. Well, I went back to my hotel with 4 bags filled to the brim in under 60 minutes of shopping. So you had better remember to carry a LOT of cash before you make your way to 'Paree'. And don't tell me I didn't warn you when you end up spending almost twice your initial budget on things you never imagined you'd buy.

You already know this, but French macarons are famous all over the world. These sweet, light, colourful cookies that taste like crunchy clouds should be in your top 3 things to try when in Paris. I've heard tales of the macaron originating in Italy and Austria, but it's difficult to convince me that the French aren't the true owners of this divine piece of work. And who are we to argue with Laduree, the King of the perfect macaron. And if Laduree is the King, then Pierre Herme is definitely the Queen. They have a few branches littered across the city, and I went to the one at Rue Cambon. Now macarons are pretty expensive, but I bought a big pack of 12 - one of each flavour. I'm sure you'd like to see the hilarious videos I've taken of me eating each one of them while describing its taste, but you aren't getting your hands on that piece of gold, na. But my personal favourite flavour was good ol' chocolate and vanilla. Like I also said earlier, I can't cook, so unfortunately I can't provide you with a recipe of any kind. But, I can point you to the best resource around - David Lebovitz - Making French Macarons.

It goes without saying that the prime tourist attraction in Paris is the Eiffel Tower. This was a cold, damp and foggy morning, but it was surprisingly still quite nice. It seemed like Paris was asleep, except for a whole bunch of roadside chestnut vendors. These boys would call out to any tourist they'd see (oh, those damn tourists. Parisians supposedly hate them). "Namaste", they shouted out to us. Wait a minute...Namaste?! In Paris? No Bonjour? No Good morning? Namaste, really? Turns out that the only people on the street at that time were all Indians trying to make a quick buck from a fellow Indian. No worries. The warm, boiled chestnuts were quite lovely in that weather. A quick "shukriya, thank you" and we parted ways.

When you do go to the Eiffel Tower area during Christmas time, remember this. Walk over to the Trocadéro (Palais de Chaillot) on an empty stomach. You will recognise it by the ice skating rink you can see from on top of the Eiffel. It's another cultural landmark, and is famous for its Christmas Markets. I'm not sure this market is open at other times of the year, because the only time I've been there was on Christmas Eve. But anyway, venture out to Trocadéro and walk down the lane on your right (when facing Trocadéro), called Avenue Gustave de Suede. Make your way right down till the end of the lane, and on your right you will find the best streetfood locale in Paris. There was this one place that was run by a lovely family of four. They sold all kinds of fancy sausages and frankfurters. These huge, sloppy portions, served with a variety of sauces, vegetables and fries, are often to be accompanied by a glass of warm Christmas wine (3 Euros), and finished off with some fluffy chocolate eclairs. Trust me, you will never regret coming to this place.

The evening was spent at Champs-Élysées, one of the most famous and expensive avenues in the world. The long street is littered with cute little cafés and other places to eat. It's a sort of congregation area for many Parisians, and the place transforms itself during Christmas. Now, my stomach was exploding with all the hot dogs and eclairs that followed the hearty Italian pizza + lasagna lunch. But don't worry about that when you're in Paris. Fate takes over, and you are bestowed with the miraculous gift of being able to eat as much as you want, when you want. It is Destiny. C'est le destin.

Photo Credit: ambivalence

Just like Trocadéro, Champs-Élysées is filled with hundreds of stalls at this time of the year, selling all sorts of Christmas goodies, cakes, chocolates, breads, puddings, meat, sandwiches, and city souvenirs. But that's not the half of it. The first thing I got my hands on were some authentic blueberry pancakes and sugar-coated chocolate waffles. These hot beauties are made right in front of your eyes, but are finished off quicker than they are made. I'll never forget that blueberry sauce dripping off the sides of my waffle, with a dollop of whipped cream on top. The waffles were even better. So good that I don't even remember what they were like, they just went straight from the counter to my mouth. Don't forget to fill each square of the waffle with that thick, warm chocolate sauce (don't take the ones where they just dab some Nutella on top), and drown the waffle in sugar powder.

Be sure to allocate more than 2 hours of your day just for this road. The waffles were just the beginning. A stall selling over two dozen varieties of dried fruit was our next stop. The tropical fruit stood out amongst the others - mango, guava, fig and papaya. Next up, chocolate coated fruit! This was a typical 'carnival' stall, and the lady here gave us a sampling of each fruit. They were all dipped in 3 varieties of chocolate - white, milk, and dark. Try the more traditional fruit here - banana, apple and pear. Take some nuts and marshmallows back with you for later, and try the red chilli as well. A few other stalls made the mark as well. There was this rotund British husband and wife selling fudge - 33 flavours of it. I picked mint, chocolate, vanilla, praline and the all-time favourite - caramel. Being Christmas, there were a fair few people selling warm-gooey Christmas Cake and Christmas Pudding. These were very, very rich and heavy. The Parisians somehow know their way around fatty foods. It's either all the walking or the positive thinking, because I can't remember coming across any overweight people at all.

Still on Champs-Élysées, you'll find stalls with slabs of meat and sausages being grilled, but what caught my eye was this open stall decorated like a Canadian wood cottage. It had a large wood-fire in the center, used to grill whole salmon over two feet long! Unfortunately, my appetite finally decided to bail on me after the pudding. On my way back, I came across this young couple selling freshly made churros - long, twisty sticks of fried dough dipped in a generous helping of chocolate sauce and covered in powdered sugar. I took about a dozen with me for the ride back, but soon realised I should have taken about 40 more.

Paris in the morning is very different from the hustle-bustle that I am used to back home. The city seems to be ambling on at its own slow pace, incongruous to the manic mornings that characterise most other world metros. Even the Starbucks Cafés in Paris somehow seem a lot different than ones elsewhere. I don't know if it is the weather, the ambience, the people, the smell, but there is something special about a simple Starbucks outlet that shouts out to you in no uncertain terms that you are in a special city. I was just strolling the streets, when I heard one such café calling out to me. I hopped over there before breakfast for some...pre-breakfast. I had a Pain-au-chocolat (chocolate filled flaky pastry) for the 108th time, and a scone for the first time ever. Scones never looked interesting to me, but somehow I was drawn to this one. I knew intuition was on my side because I ended up having another one, along with some really rich hot chocolate. I've already placed my order for chocolate chip scones with Purple Foodie, so hopefully you might see a post on them some time in the future. And you don't need two guesses to figure out who's going to wipe that tray clean (I envy myself!). Anyway, I made my way back to join the others for breakfast, but picked up a fromage blanc au miel from a local store, queerly named 'We Need Soup'. This quite literally translates to 'white cheese with honey'. It's a light, soft, white cheese mixed with some cream and a tiny bit of raspberry sauce, topped with a a stream of pure honey. I suppose this makes my pain-au-chocolat, hot chocolate and two scones a pre-pre-breakfast, then?

Photo credit: Swiv

Paris does have a lot to offer, so one would think that the bus tours of the city would be the ideal way to experience Paris. That's actually far from the truth. There are a lot of fantastic walking tours of the city, and 'New Paris' seemed like the best one. Plus, it is free! They work solely on tips. Don't worry about missing out on a lot of things that a quicker mode of transportation would offer. These tours cover most of the important places to visit in just half a day. Don't also worry about walking for 3 hours. You spend a lot of time just standing and listening. Kayla, our English-speaking guide for the day, was a university student from Canada who was here to study philosophy. Many students in Paris work on these sort of fun tasks, and earn more than enough pocket-money through their efforts. Kayla kept everyone interested by creating that interactive experience that a bus tour would never be able to offer. If you are interested, then these are the places that our particular tour covered. Once you're done with it, you can head back to the Boulevard St. Michel where the tour began. Not too far from there is the legendary bookstore Shakespeare and Co, which has provided inspiration to hundreds of literary geniuses of this world. Along the narrow lane of the boulevard, you will find many greek tavernas offering cold seafood and delicious gyros. Here's a video I found that showcases the food in the area very well. There are loads of coffee shops, boutiques, souvenir shops, and ice cream parlours littered around the street. This particular gelato shop called Amorino (you won't miss it if you are on the street) offered a mind-boggling 27 varieties of hot chocolate!! Indulge.

There is a lot to be seen and done in Paris. And there is so much to be eaten, simply in terms of variety of food. French, Italian, American, Indian, Arabic, Greek, German, Spanish and Oriental; it's all there, and it's all really, really good. I ate so much in these 4 days that I gained over 5 kilograms in weight, which in hindsight was not nearly enough. No matter where you are from or where you have been, there are always new things to experience. Whether you have been to Paris before or not, make it your goal to visit it in the next 2 years, and work towards it. I'm going back this year, no doubt about it. The people, the weather, the food, the sights, the language; it is all special. The city is surreal, a magical wonderland. The length of this particular post was going so overboard, yet you won't believe the number of food incident's I've omitted and the number of places that I wanted to visit but couldn't. And of course, I've only described the food, not the hundreds of other things I did in Paris, including the visits to the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Stade de France, Roland Garros, Disney Land, Moulin Rouge, Christmas Mass at Notre Dame and many more. In fact, I haven't even spoken of the three biggest gastronomic delights of France - chocolate, cheese and wine. All these tastes of Paris are those that will stick with you for life. You will spend agonising hours trying to recreate that perfect macaron or jambon-fromage crepe. And those of you that succeed, be sure to send some over, because each bite will only help in bringing back a tiny piece of Paris.

Paris, je t'aime.

Apple Cinnamon Streusel Muffins

2010-03-01T23:42:00.006+05:30

Last night I was craving some apple cinnamon muffins. The kind I had almost a year ago at a quaint little café in New York. It was loaded with Granny Smith apples and a whole lot of cinnamon. The gigantic muffin made for a perfect breakfast with a cup of hot chocolate. Going to bed with such sweet thoughts in my head, there was no way I’d be doing anything besides baking these when I woke up this morning.

The genius of muffins is that they can be thrown together in about 5 minutes, without the need of your hand or stand mixer. It’s especially perfect for those that are intimidated by the idea of baking or for those lazy mornings when you’d rather be curled up in bed with a cup of coffee.

For the recipe, I looked up Ratio (this is one book I wish I used more of!) and adapted the muffin recipe to include apple and cinnamon. I cut up the apples into chunks, leaving the skin on, just like the ones at the café. I also tossed the apples in some freshly ground cinnamon (nothing better than a Microplane to help you through this task – I sliced a layer of my skin as well, but that’s another story.)

And you know what the best part of the muffin is? The streusel topping. The crunchy, buttery topping amplifies the taste of the muffin and after eating this, I don’t think muffins should ever be made without the streusel topping. In fact, I'm going to increase the quantity of it the next time I make muffins.

Apple Cinnamon Streusel Muffins

Adapted from: Ratio, Michael Ruhlman

Yield: 12 muffins

For the streusel topping

4 oz / 112g butter, softened

4 oz / 112g flour

2 oz / 55g caster sugar
2 oz / 55g soft brown sugar

For the muffins:

8 oz / 225g flour

4 oz / 112g brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

8 oz / 225g milk

2 eggs

4oz / 112g butter

½ tsp vanilla extract

3 Granny Smith apple, cored and chopped into cubes

1 ½ tsp cinnamon, divided – 1 tsp for the batter and ½ to toss the apples with.

Preheat oven to 350F/175C.
For the streusel topping: In a food processor or by hand, mix together the ingredients for the streusel topping until it is evenly combined. Let it rest in the fridge while you prep the muffin batter.
In a medium sized bowl, mix together the dry ingredients: flour, brown sugar, baking powder and cinnamon.
In a large bowl, mix together the wet ingredients thoroughly: milk, eggs, butter and vanilla extract.
Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and fold it in, until just incorporated.
Fold in the apples(tossed with ½ tsp cinnamon).
Spoon the batter into lined muffin tins.
Top it with the crumble mixture.
Bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

D.I.Y Notepad (with cupcakes, sprinkles and vanilla!)

2010-02-26T23:59:00.003+05:30

I’ve got something new to share with you. It’s not a recipe or a dessert I whipped up but something totally funky that you can use: a notepad. Well, there is some DIY steps involved and then it will be a notepad. You can use in the kitchen, for making your grocery lists, for scribbling recipes that your grandma gives you over the phone, for writing and sharing your favourite cupcake recipe with your friend – anything!

So how did I come up with this? A few weeks ago when heard of Moleskine coming out with their new recipe journals, I got excited, really excited. That excitement lasted all of 9 minutes because I learned that Moleskine won’t import their goodies to India. Sigh. Given the stationary and notebook collector that I am, I went on a sort of spree and bought some gorgeous notebooks – with papers in varied colours and textures. While I love them all, I didn’t quite find something with cutesy illustrations and whatnot, so I just got down to making something myself.

What you need to do to make the jot pad:

Download the PDF file
Print them on A4 size papers in different colours
Cut the sheet of paper along the lines that run through the centre folds of the page
Arrange the sheets neatly and hold them together with a paper clip or you can even punch holes and hold it together with a ribbon or use a jute rope for a rustic look.

Download here!

PS: Thank you for all the feedback through Facebook and comments about the new design. I loved creating these illustrations and making this blog more representative of personality. If you’re reading this in your inbox or RSS reader, do come over and let me know what you think!

Strawberry and Apple Jam

2010-02-19T00:28:00.004+05:30

When I saw the picture of the strawberry jam in Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics, I just knew that I had to make that jam. Gorgeous ruby red, with blueberries peeking through, the jam looked spectacular. What I found even more interesting was that Ina had used green apples with the strawberries for the jam. Her reason was to use up the natural pectin that is abundant in green apples, but mine was to highlight the flavours of strawberries and apples equally (well, almost.)

You might feel making jam might be super labour intensive and would probably think that these tasks are better left to grandmums. I used to think so too, until I realized how quickly this jam came together.

I love, just absolutely love how this tastes. I always prefer my jams chunky to get the feel of the fruit, but you can go ahead and puree it if you like a smooth texture.

Strawberry and Apple Jam
Liberally adapted from: Barefoot Contessa, Back to Basics by Ina Garten

1 lb / 500g strawberries, washed and hulled
14 oz / 400g caster sugar
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and diced
½ cup fresh blueberries (I used dried)

Cut the large strawberries into half and leave the small ones whole.
Now place the berries in a heavy bottomed saucepan, such as a Le Creuset, and toss it with the sugar.
Bring the mixture to a boil over a low heat, stirring often. Now add the apples and blueberries. Let the jam continue to boil until it reaches 220F on a candy thermometer; this should take 25-35 minutes.
Make sure to skim and discard any foam that rises to the top every so often.
Allow the mixture to cool and store it covered in the refrigerator for 1 week or can it according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Strawberry Lassi

2010-02-18T23:45:00.003+05:30

If there is anything I can drink by the gallon, it’s got to be Strawberry Lassi. Lassi is a perfectly smooth yoghurt-based creamy drink that is really popular in India (Of course, blending it with strawberries isn't traditional.) This is a season favourite that has become a breakfast staple for me (along with being a lunch substitute and a snack to satiate a midnight hunger pang!). The strawberry lassi is so gorgeous to look at, baby pink speckled with vanilla crystals, that I find myself playing with the bottle of strawberry lassi as if it were a kaleidoscope.

All you need is 4 ingredients and an immersion blender (or a fork to mash and a whisk to mix) and you will have a luscious and utterly creamy strawberry lassi ready in just a few minutes. Don’t fret if you don’t have vanilla beans at hand, you can skip it entirely and still enjoy a yummy strawberry lassi.

Strawberry Lassi

Serves: 2 for a snack or 1 for meal.
Note: You may need to vary the sugar based on how sweet your strawberries are and personal preference.

400g / 14 oz. plain yoghurt (or you can use vanilla yoghurt too, I like Dannon)

150g / 5 oz. strawberries, washed and hulled

60g / 2oz sugar

½ a vanilla bean, split and scraped

In a medium sized bowl, place the strawberries and sugar together and blend together with the immersion blender. Add in the yoghurt and vanilla bean innards and blend until it all comes together. If you’re impatient, just drink it up. If you’re Zen-like, let the vanilla bean sit in the strawberry lassi for 30 minutes (refrigerated). Serve cold.

Strawberry Butter

2010-02-17T10:53:00.002+05:30

The best things to come out of my kitchen from last year’s strawberry madness were without a doubt the strawberry pop tarts and the supremely creamy frozen strawberry yoghurt that I made over and over again (and I don’t think I can ever get enough of. Ever.)

Just when I thought nothing could possibly outdo these favourites of mine, I was in for a pleasant surprise in the form of strawberry butter. Strawberry Butter! How could I not have thought of this sooner? My favourite fruit + butter, lots and lots of butter, come together to give me straaaaawberry buttttaaah! Okay, enough of the dramatisation, but I cannot tell you how this ridiculously simple butter will change the way you have your ho-hum butter on toast. Heck, I’m not even a butter on toast kind of person, but with this strawberry butter, I’m a convert.

I made bite-sized buttery (more butter!), flaky biscuits from Dorie Greenspan and dolloped a generous amount of the butter on top . Warm biscuits, crisp on the outside, and melt-in-the-mouth soft inside, heavily scented with the strawberry butter. Betty couldn't make a better butter breakfast.

While I’m off to pull out the butter from the refrigerator to spread on some toast (you don’t need to wait for it to soften! It’s soft and spreadable!) , I’ll leave you with the recipe.

Strawberry Butter

Note: It is important to have all the ingredients at room temperature, otherwise you might end up with a strawberry butter that looks like ricotta cheese, which I actually prefer over the uniform texture, but it won’t have the smooth buttery texture you set out to achieve. If you do end up with the ricotta-like butter and want to smoothen it out, place the bowl with the butter over a water bath on a low heat and keep stirring it so that the heat is evenly distributed at all times. Soon you will see that the butter and strawberry puree come together to give you a homogeneous mixture.

100g butter

30g Philadelphia cream cheese (optional, use butter if you don’t have it)

30g icing sugar

60g strawberries, washed, hulled and pureed

In a bowl, whip the butter and cream cheese until it looks light and fluffy. Add the icing sugar and mix until evenly incorporated.
With the mixer still on, pour in the strawberry puree and mix together. You can either go for the marbled look and not mix it up entirely, or go the whole hog.

Buttery Biscuits

Adapted from: Baking From My Home To Yours, Dorie Greenspan

Yield: 12 biscuits

Note: Super easy to make and comes together so quickly. Just make sure to sift the flour with baking powder; nothing can be more nasty than getting a piece of biscuit concentrated with the flavour of baking powder. I wish I weren’t talking from experience.

2 cups / 250g all purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

2 tsp sugar

½ tsp salt

3/4th stick / 80g butter

3/4th cup / 175ml light cream (25% fat)

Line a baking sheet with parchment or Silpat and preheat the oven to 425F/220C.
Sift the flour and baking powder together. Whisk in the sugar and salt.
Working quickly (don’t want the butter to melt), with a pastry blender, cut the butter into the dry ingredients. You will have irregular shaped chunks, flakes, pebbles and whatnot. This is how it should be.
Pour the cream over the mixture and lightly knead together, until everything has come together. Dust extra flour if required.
Dust a work surface and roll out the dough to a ½ inch thickness.
Using a 2 inch cutter (in my case, I used a 1 inch cutter for bite-sized biscuits) cut out as many biscuits as you can. Use the scraps to roll out the dough for the second time.
Transfer the cut out biscuits to the baking sheet and bake for 14-18 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown. Serve warm with the strawberry butter!

Strawberry Sorbet

2010-02-16T08:00:00.008+05:30

While I’m big on collecting kitchen tools and gadgets and I'd like to think that I put them all to good use, the one thing I regret not using enough of is my ice cream maker. And every single time that I do use, I end up kicking myself for letting it gather all the dust.

With strawberries aplenty, I churned out some strawberry sorbet. While I’m more of a rich, creamy ice-cream person, I found the sorbet to be refreshing and pleasantly light. Everyone at home licked their bowls clean and made me make them another batch the next day!

With this sorbet, I’m all set to churn out some more ice-creams and sorbets. And like anything else I get obsessed with, I went and searched for some pretty ice-cream scoops. Just look at what I found! Scoops in assorted colours, an adorable pink scoop and a sturdy looking double coloured scoop. I know what I’m going to be dreaming of tonight.

Strawberry Sorbet

1 pound / 450 g. fresh strawberries, rinsed, hulled and pureed

1/4th cup / 50 g. sugar (Indian strawberries are much sweeter, so you might need more sugar)

1/4th cup water

1 tsp vanilla extract (vodka base – vodka keeps the sorbet soft)

In a small saucepan, make the sugar syrup with 1/4th cup water and 1/4th cup (or more) sugar. Let it cool.
In a bowl, mix together the pureed strawberries, sugar syrup and the vanilla extract. Stir well.
Transfer to the freezer bowl of the ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s instructions. If churning by hand, follow the instructions here.

Strawberry Week! + Strawberry Tartlets and My Favourite Pastry Cream

2010-02-15T07:42:00.004+05:30

I love strawberries. I wait all year just so that I can bite into the sweetness of this heart shaped deliciousness. Is there anyone who doesn’t love the burst of sweet, slightly tart juices in the mouth?

To celebrate my love for the fruit I thought it’d be fun to do a week of some of my favourite things to do with strawberries. So today I present to you my newest obsession: pastry cream. I tried making the pastry cream from Dorie Greenspan’s (no surprise here!) book: Paris Sweets. After reading some horror stories of people ending up with scrambled eggs, I was a little afraid, but I’m happy to report that I got it right in the first shot, and this recipe is a keeper. It is everything you’d want in a pastry cream: rich, dense, sweet smelling and speckled with vanilla caviar.

One thing I’d recommend doing in the recipe is using salted butter instead of unsalted. I just love how the subtle saltiness rounds off the flavour of pastry cream. I made individual tartlets filled with pastry cream and topped them with sliced strawberries. These are so easy to make and look so grand when set on a table: very high return on time invested! Make it with strawberries (of course!) or use your favourite fruit or whatever is in season.

Strawberry Tartlets

Yield: 24 tartlets

1 recipe tart dough from the chocolate tart dough

Pastry cream (recipe below)

3 cups fresh strawberries – hulled, washed and sliced

Pipe the pastry cream into the individual tartlets and arrange the strawberries over the top. Dust with some icing sugar. Serve!

Pastry Cream:

Adapted from Paris Sweets, Dorie Greenspan

1 1/4 cups (300 grams) whole milk

1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped or 1 tsp vanilla extract

3 large egg yolks

1/2 cup / 100g. sugar

3 tbsp / (30g. cornstarch

3 tbsp / 45g salted butter

Bring the milk and vanilla bean (pulp and pod) to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cover the pan, turn off the heat, and set aside for 20-30 minutes. Or, if you are using vanilla extract, just bring the milk to a boil and proceed with the recipe. (You will need to add the extract before you add the butter to the hot pastry cream.). Bring it back to the boil after 30 minutes and then continue.
Working in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan (or your favourite Le Creuset!), whisk the yolks, sugar, and cornstarch together until thick and pale. Whisking enthusiastically all the while, drizzle a quarter of the hot milk onto the yolks very slowly. Continue whisking as you pour the rest of the liquid in a steady stream over the tempered yolks.
Put the pan over medium heat and, whisk enthusiastically (prefer using a positive sounding word like enthusiastic as opposed to the generally used ‘vigorous’) and without stopping, while the mixture comes to the boil. Turn down the flame and keep the mixture at the boil, whisking energetically, for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat and scrape the pastry cream into a bowl. Allow the pastry cream to cool on the counter for about 3 minutes.
Stir the butter into the hot pastry cream, continuing to stir until the butter is melted and fully incorporated. Now the cream must be chilled thoroughly. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the cream to seal the surface and refrigerate for 3-4 hours.
Shelf life: 3 days when refrigerated and 1 month when frozen. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator and whip it up before using to return it to its smooth consistency.

Hazelnut Chocolate Truffles

2010-02-12T01:53:00.009+05:30

I love chocolate truffles for two reasons:

You have an excuse to grab the best chocolate in your pantry.
Truffles freeze really well. This gives you a chance to make lots of them and simply freeze them. Just pull them out whenever you feel the sudden compulsive need to satiate your chocolate craving. Like right now, at 2 am on a quiet Friday morning.

Hey, I could lengthen this list, but you don’t really need any convincing to make chocolate truffles, do you?

Now some of you might think that truffle-making is a fancy art, one that only a pro-chocolatier is adept at. Wrong. With three simple ingredients (chocolate, cream and your choice of coating) and a basic understanding of the process, you will be on your way to rolling out the most stunning chocolate creations.

And with V-day just around the corner, you can make truffles as presents for your loved one...even if you don’t know how to cook! (Thank you, whoever you are. I’m going to assume you’re hanging around here for the photography and writing (maybe?), so I’m flattered.)

I'm always looking at trying out different newer varieties for my truffles, so I’ve listed a whole bunch of variations that might be worth a try. This list is nowhere close to being exhaustive. I’m going to constantly update this with newer ideas and flavour combinations, so do share what you have on your mind in the discussion below. You can get creative and make a flavour that suits you best. But please don’t make a truffle with rice crispies or citrus peel, dust it with matcha, and then come back and tell me that your girlfriend almost choked on it. However, if you work at Patrick Roger’s and think this could be your next signature truffle (and maybe looking to hire someone), then Comment ça va?!

Truffle Flavour variations:

To stir into cream:

Alcohol – raspberry, kirsch, kahlua, baileys, Cointreau, grand marnier, Amaratto
Pistachio paste
Gianduja
Caramel

Or for steeping in cream (bring the cream to a boil with any of the following, and let it sit for at least 20 minutes. Bring it to a boil again to pour over chocolate):

Espresso powder or any other flavouring powder you may want to include
Citrus peel
Fresh fragrant flowers like rose petals (I’m so excited to try this!)
Hot Spices: ginger, chilli powder, black pepper
Sweet Spices: vanilla beans, cinnamon, cardamom
Herbs: lemongrass, mint, rosemary, lemon balm leaves, kefir lime leaves, thyme

And/or stir into chocolate ganache:

Roasted, chopped nuts
Rice crispies
Chopped white chocolate

And finally the coatings:

The ubiquitous cocoa powder
Roasted, chopped nuts: walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, pecans
Shredded coconut
Candied fruits and flowers
Tempered chocolate

The garnish (optional or when tempered chocolate is used as a coating):

Vanilla bean seeds mixed into white chocolate and spooned over each truffle
Matcha powder
Sea salt

Given my love for hazelnut, it’s no surprise that I made truffles with roasted hazelnuts. I crushed them into really, really tiny morsels (this allows you to just feel the subtle crunch and flavour that comes through, without biting into a chunk of it.) And to maintain the distinctness of textures of chocolate and hazelnut, I sifted the crushed hazelnuts and let go of the hazelnut fairy dust. I’m not a very bitter-chocolatey person, so I used 50% milk chocolate that orangefoodie got me from Paris (the Paris post is next, I swear!)

To make these truffles I consulted none other than Alice Medrich’s Bittersweet. This book of hers is one that every chocolate lover must own. Although I’ve probably said it many times before, I don’t think I can praise this book enough. This is the only one you'll need to refer to for anything to do with chocolate. Quite like how Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours is for baking.

Hazelnut Truffles

Makes: 50 truffles

Adapted from: Bittersweet, Alice Medrich

8 oz. / 225g. bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used 4 oz bittersweet and 4 oz. milk)

1 cup/ 200g. heavy cream

2 oz. / 60g. hazelnuts, toasted, then chopped up and sifted

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

To make the ganache: Place the chocolate in a medium bowl and set aside. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a boil over a low heat. Pour it over the chocolate and let it stand for 2 minutes, then stir gently, until the chocolate has completed melted. Let it cool a bit, after which you can stir in the chopped hazelnuts. Next, get a shallow container and line it with parchment paper. Pour the ganache on it and spread evenly. Refrigerate this for 4 hours or overnight.
To form truffles: Once the ganache has firmed up, score lines on the sheet of ganache inn the box to give you 50 squares. This way, you can achieve even sized truffles. Now pluck each square from the parchment and roll it into a 1 inch ball. Depending on how warm your environment is, you might need to refrigerate the rolled truffles for another hour before you can coat them.
Coat the truffles: Once rolled into balls, toss them in a plate of sifted cocoa and coat them evenly.

Caramelised Corn with (lots of!) Fresh Mint

2010-02-04T01:04:00.006+05:30

When anybody talks about corn, I’m all ears. Just given me corn, butter, salt and pepper and I can eat that for all my meals, but make sure there is lots of butter. I’m always on the lookout to have corn in a newer, more interesting way. So when I saw a mint corn recipe on The Wednesday Chef, it is anybody’s guess that I’d “Star” it in my feed reader.

While I still do not enjoy traveling by train to work, I’ve begun to focus on the silver lining. The good part about traveling by train is that there are some girls that will hop on to sell some extremely fragrant and fresh, local produce. So fresh, that you can smell the gorgeous mint at the other end of the train compartment! Plus along with this, you can catch some recipes and tips on mint usage being exchanged amongst the women, and if you’re a part of the click (knowing Marathi is mandatory for this), you can get your hands on the finished chuntey or minty chicken or mint and potato salad on the same train the next day. Funky setup.

As soon as I got my hands on a huge bunch of mint, I put aside a bowlful of it just for the minty corn recipe I’ve had at the back of my mind. I’ve never caramelised corn before, so this was a first for me. While it cooked, I loved to hear the corn popped and the whole kitchen smelled of buttery goodness. Try it, you’re going to love it. And if like me, you believe that mint and lemon is a match made in heaven, then add some lemon zest to the corn. It will smell spectacular.

Also, I added a teaspoon of sugar to the corn when it was cooking. I'm not sure where, but I read many years ago that adding sugar to corn brings out its natural sweetness. I'm yet to figure whether it's actually true or an old wives' tale. Have you heard of something like this?

Caramelised Corn with Fresh Mint

Serves: 3

Adapted from: The Wednesday Chef

15 oz fresh corn (you can use frozen as well)

2 tbsp butter

1 tsp sugar

6 tbsp fresh mint, chopped

Salt

Cut the corn off the cob from 3-4 corn ears.You can use a knife or get yourself one of these funky things if you can get your hands on them.
Wash, dry and chop up the mint leaves. 6 tablespoons looks like a lot, but it's going to wilt with the steam from the corn.
In a wide skillet, melt the butter over high heat. Add the corn and sprinkle the sugar over it and cook, stirring often, until golden and browned (kernels may begin to pop), about 10 minutes. Stir in the mint and sprinkle with salt. Make sure you add the mint right at the end - you don't want it to cook with the mint, but simply infuse the fragrance from the leaves into the corn when it's warm. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve while hot.

Mulberry Yoghurt

2010-01-29T22:37:00.003+05:30

Of late, I’ve been eating fruit yoghurt every morning. This is one breakfast item I haven’t gotten bored of ever since I discovered the goodness that a berry + yoghurt mixture can yield. Fast forward to January ‘10, I still eat berries and yoghurt with the same gusto. Of course, sometimes I use regular yoghurt instead of making my own vanilla yoghurt. But hey, such shortcuts are allowed in the mornings where all you want to do it satiate that grumbling tummy.

I like my fruit yoghurt to be really fruity – definitely not the kind that just leaves you with a hint of the flavour and you’re forever guessing what that fruit might be. Today I made myself mulberry yoghurt for the first time. And you know what made me so happy about it? It turned a much deeper shade of purple after sitting in the refrigerator for a few hours!

I loved how thick and creamy the yoghurt was - sweet and slightly tart from the berries. I can eat a huge bowlful of it and be a happy, happy woman for the rest of the day. You know the best way to maintain the thickness of the yoghurt? Blend the fruits and stir the yoghurt separately. You might feel lazy to use up more dishes – but this is absolutely critical to achieve that unctuous texture. Once that’s done, just stir in the fruit puree into the yoghurt and that’s it! Deliciousness awaits you!

Mulberry Yoghurt

150g mulberries

400g plain yoghurt
4 tbsp sugar or honey (if you'd like it healthier)

4 tbsp caster sugar (more or less, depending on how sweet your berries are)

You can either blend the mulberries with an immersion blender or roughly squish them up with a fork for some added texture. Add the sugar as well.
Stir the yoghurt in a bowl until it loosens up to yield a uniform consistency.
Now pour the fruit pulp/puree into the yoghurt and stir together until evenly blended.

Rich, luscious Chocolate Mousse

2010-01-26T01:00:00.000+05:30

Chocoholics – you’re going to love this!

I made a chocolate mousse the other day and I cannot begin to tell you how delicious it was. I’m usually the kind who feels squeamish about having raw eggs in my desserts – especially yolks, but in this mousse you just can’t tell. Make sure to use really fresh eggs. And if you are still worried about it being raw, I suggest you use pasteurised eggs, and if you’re in India where such a category of eggs is unheard of, then simply pasteurise them at home. It’s easy.

The chocolate mousse is so rich, so silky and it feels so wonderful in the mouth that you’re going to get hooked on to it. And because you can make this in no time, you can treat yourself to a luxurious chocolate dessert whenever you feel that urge to satiate a chocolate craving. Really – just read the steps below and you will know. For the best flavour, remember to use the finest chocolate you can get your hands on and you will be on your way to chocolate heaven.

I referred to the chocolate mousse recipe that I found in Pure Chocolate as well as the one on Smitten Kitchen to arrive at my version of chocolate mousse. You should totally try it. And let me warn you – sharing this is going to be hard.

Chocolate mousse

Yield: 6-8 servings

8 ounces / 225g bittersweet chocolate (no more than 60% cacao), chopped

3/4 stick / 3 oz / 75g unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces

3 large eggs, separated

1/4th cup sugar

1 cup / 200g very cold heavy or whipping cream

2 ounces / 60g white chocolate shavings

In a large bowl, set over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter and stir until smooth. Remove from the saucepan and switch off the heat.
In the same saucepan (now with the heat turned off), set a small bowl and beat yolks and sugar with your electric mixer until thick enough to form a ribbon that takes a few seconds to dissolve — this will take about two to four minutes to achieve. Whisk yolks into chocolate mixture.
In the bowl of a KitchenAid, beat the egg whites until they just hold soft peaks. Remove from bowl and set aside.
In the bowl, whip up the cream until it just holds stiff peaks.
Fold the whipped cream and beaten whites into the chocolate mixture, gently but thoroughly. Transfer to 8 (4 ounce) ramekins and sprinkle with the white chocolate shavings. Let the mousse set in the fridge for about an hour before serving.
Note: The mousse will keep for upto two days in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Caramel Tartlets

2010-01-20T00:56:00.003+05:30

Or better still the title of this post should be Oh. My. Goodness. Because that’s what I said when I bit into this luscious caramel tartlet covered with a thick layer of dark chocolate and then sprinkled with some nutty cacao nibs.

These tartlets are small and delicate with a buttery, almost cookie like crust layered with rich, thick caramel and stiff dark chocolate topped off with a few precious Valhrona cacao nibs (or some sea salt, if you like). I earnestly urge you to have this recipe in your repertoire because this really doesn't get better than this. Need another reason? You can make these much ahead of time when you have guests coming over. Even though I’d made 24 such tartlets, I didn’t get enough to satiate my caramel-cravings so I made yet another batch for myself today. I can’t make up my mind about what I liked most about them – each of the 4 distinct layers: crust, caramel, chocolate, nibs/salt blew my mind. I was afraid the caramel would be too sweet for my liking, but the bittersweet chocolate and the mellow crust did an excellent job setting off the sweetness, and the salt gave it a well rounded flavour coupled with a classy touch. I’d never been a fan of salt in my dessert, but with this tart, I’m a changed person.

I look for every opportunity I can to use vanilla beans, so I split and scraped half a bean to use for the caramel. What I also did was let the bean sit in the warm caramel for some more of the vanilla goodness to infuse into it. Doesn’t the caramel look beautiful with those specks of vanilla?

So, since I made them twice, I tried them with a chocolate ganache, as the recipe prescribes and then this time, I melted bittersweet chocolate with 2 tablespoons of milk just so that the chocolate loosens up a bit and isn’t too firm to the bite when it has set. I liked it more this way.

Chocolate Caramel Tart

Adapted from: Lottie and Doof and the original recipe is by Claudia Fleming (I so want her book!)
Yield: 1 10 inch tart or 24 small tartlets

For the Chocolate Tart Dough

8 tbsp / 1 stick / 112g unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar

1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling

1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

For the Caramel Filling

1/2 cup water

2 cups granulated sugar

1/4 cup light corn syrup / glucose

1/2 cup heavy cream

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

2 tablespoons crème fraîche (I added extra cream because this is hard to find!)

For the Chocolate Layer

3 1/2 ounces extra-bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

2 tbsp milk

Final touch

Sea salt or cacao nibs

To make the tart dough: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and confectioners’ sugar until combined, about 1 minute. Add egg yolk and vanilla, and beat until smooth. Sift in flour and cocoa powder, and beat on low speed until just combined. Scrape the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap, and form it into a disk; wrap well. Chill until firm for at least 1 hour. You can keep this refrigerated upto to 3 days.
Preheat oven to 325°F/160°C. On a lightly floured surface, roll the tart dough 3/16th inch thick and cut out dough with a round cookie cutter that is slightly larger than the tartlet mould. Transfer it to the mould and press it in gently, especially the corner of the base so that it fits securely. Alternatively, you could make a 10 inch large tart as well. Just roll the dough out in a circle and transfer the fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and press into pan. If it falls apart at all just push it back together in the pan. Chill the tart shell in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Prick the shell all over with a fork. Blind bake for 10-15 minutes until done. Let it cool for another 10 minutes or so before removing the tarlets from the moulds. Transfer them to a wire rack to cool. (The tart shell can be made 8 hours ahead.)
To make the filling: Place 1/2 cup water in a large saucepan. Add sugar and corn syrup, and cook mixture over medium-high heat, swirling the pan occasionally, until it becomes a dark-amber caramel (I removed it when it was sort of a medium amber since I knew it would continue to cook off heat), about 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat and carefully (the mixture will bubble up) and slowly add the heavy cream followed by the butter and crème fraîche. Stir until smooth. (The caramel can be made up to 5 days ahead and refrigerated in a covered container.) Pour the caramel into the cooled tart shell and allow to set, first at room temperature and then in the refrigerator.
To make the chocolate layer: Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over simmering water. Add two tablespoons of milk for a softer texture. Spoon this over on individual chocolates and immediately top with cacao nibs or sea salt, whichever you prefer before the chocolate sets. Serve!

Cinnamon Sugar Churros

2010-01-14T15:43:00.004+05:30

Have you ever tried churros?

No? Okay, you must leave everything you’re doing right now and run to the kitchen. At work? Oh well, just tell your boss that your cat’s sick and you need to take her to the vet or something. Do what it takes to get into the kitchen and get down to making these - right this moment!

This little sticks of dough blew my mind. Awfully easy to make and even easier to polish off – these deep fried goodies might just be something you’re greeted with at the gates of heaven.

Exactly how easy are they to make? Just boil some water, oil and salt, throw in some flour, mix in an egg, throw in a blob of butter then pipe it into hot oil and fry until golden brown and then finally toss it in some cinnamon sugar – that’s it! And then of course, munch away and think of the multitude of ways you can eat these. I’ve listed some fun ways of eating these churros but I'd love to hear your suggestions as well. Someone always comes up with a brilliant idea that would've never occurred to me! So here goes my list:

- cinnamon sugar

- honey

- powdered sugar

- dulce de leche

- whipped cream and strawberries

- nutella

- white chocolate sauce

- caramelised chocolate

And you know what, there couldn’t be a better time to make churros and serve them with hot chocolate than winter! Go. Make. Them. Now.

Cinnamon Sugar Churros

Yield: 6 servings

Loosely Adapted from: Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O'Connor

Note: I halved the eggs the second time I made them because it was just so dang eggy! So eggy, that my sister said it felt like she were eating an omelette! Here is a much better version of the recipe that yielded amazingly crispy churros that everyone ate up like hungry wolves.

1 cup water

1/4th cup olive oil or canola oil

½ tsp salt

1 1/4th cup flour

2 eggs

1 tbsp / 30g butter

Peanut or canola oil for deep drying

1 cup sugar

2 tbsp ground cinnamon

In a heavy bottomed pan (not aluminium) combine the oil, water and salt and bring it to a rolling boil.
Remove from the heat and add all the flour and mix it enthusiastically together. You will see that the dough clumps up around the spoon.
Place it back on the heat and stir briskly for 30-60 seconds to dry out the excess moisture.
Now in another bowl, beat the eggs together and mix it in with the dough slowly until the eggs are completely incorporated.
At this point the dough will be a slightly sticky, evenly yellow mass.
Stir in the butter and you will see that the dough isn’t sticky anymore.
Transfer the dough to a piping bag fitted with a large star shaped tip and pipe directly into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown then strain thoroughly and transfer to the plate in which the cinnamon and sugar has been mixed and coat evenly.
Serve hot!

All Good Things

2010-01-09T01:13:00.003+05:30

It feels like I’ve been away from the blog for so long. I miss baking and photographing for the blog so much. All the more because I thought that since I’m going to be baking at work, baking at home would naturally increase. But I surely didn’t weigh-in the part about traveling to work by train. For all my life, I’ve refrained from using the trains. If I absolutely had to, then I’d make sure it was on a public holiday or during non-peak hours so that I’d reach my destination without leaving the railway station looking disheveled and struck by a storm. Man, oh man, it’s a crazy world out there – I learned my lesson too late in the day that flip flops aren’t suited for Mumbai Railway. There has not been a day when my slippers haven’t been stepped on from the back less than 5 times a trip. And to top that I haven’t found All Stars in the colour I’d like or the design yet. Come to India, gorgeous Converse, won’t you? But you know what, it’s all worth it. Especially on the days we bake! One day we even visited a local bakery, where for the first time I walked through one of those huge refrigerators and freezers – the one’s I’ve only seen on television until now. Heck, I even got a private macaron-making lesson, courtesy Daniel!

And you know what, there is some excellent news! It is rather belated for me because I didn’t have a clue about this, and only realised with this tweet that The Purple Foodie is amongst the top 100 Food Blogs on Technorati! It’s somewhere around 60 now (changes everyday), and I’m quite amazed by it. Really? Amongst the top 100 blogs in the world? I owe you guys a huge thank you!

(Click on the image to see the labels on the individual items)

And some more… Here is a shot of some Paris loot that orangefoodie got for me! Thanks to Sweet Life in Paris, I knew that G. Detou and Mora are the places he absolutely must visit for all the things I need! I’ve wanted a French rolling pin for sooo long! And a Madeleine mould. And Tahitian vanilla (yay! I can check this off my 2010 To-do list!). And Fleur de Sel. And lots and lots of baking chocolate. I can't wait to use all these things – oh la la I’m in baker's heaven!

Happy 2010!

2010-01-01T21:06:00.012+05:30

Wish you all a year full of butter, sugar, chocolate, vanilla and tonnes of cupcakes!

Thank you all for being with me through 2009, each and every one of you. 2010 is going to be wonderful.

Here is a list of some things I hope to do in 2010:

Make macarons (successful ones with feet!)
Make marshmallows, now that I finally have a bottle of corn syrup!
Make verrines
Make fresh pasta
Make Spanish churros
Make soufflé (chocolate or cheese?)
Make an elaborate birthday cake
Make candied rose petals
Make my own cheese - mascarpone, mozzarella (where can I find rennet?)
Make Sriracha sauce
Read 6 chef biographies / restaurant stories
Try wild rice
Try oysters
Try Tahitian vanilla
Try Frech lavender
Try 5 (new) types of salts
Buy a blow torch (and then make crème brûlée)
Grow my own strawberries
Grow more herbs
And best of all, make a trip to Paris!

Something you think, I absolutely must try? Let me know!

PS: Here is the Best of 2009 round-up!

Best of 2009: Books

2009-12-31T00:16:00.021+05:30

This has been the year of some fantastic cookbooks for me. I’ve bought them by the dozen at bookstore sales, received them as gifts and best of all, with the start of the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge, I discovered that I could get my hands on books that are hard to find without having to plead with relatives and friends coming down from the 1st World! 'Twas the moment of epiphany.

Some books have been exceptional reads and have inspired me either to bake something from it that very moment or live in Paris! Below is a round-up of my favourite books I've read this year and what makes them so special:

Baking From My Home to Yours, Dorie Greenspan – This book is without a doubt, the most special book in my collection. Not just because it’s such a brilliant book and that I don’t need to refer to any other baking book, but also because attaining this book has been so hard. Let me tell you the story, I’d asked my cousin to order it for me and send it with her friend who was coming to India last year. That didn’t happen. So when I went there earlier this year, I got it back with me – and this my friends, was a huge ordeal! My luggage was overweight by almost 40 pounds and playing the I’m-a-young-girl-travelling-alone card didn’t really work. I sat with open suitcases at the airport and got rid of the heavy stuff – bags of nuts, chocolate, tart pans, cooling rack, etc. The book had to come out as well –after all, it weighed almost 5 pounds! But since there was no way I was leaving that behind, I ~~carried~~ juggled with a giant laptop bag, a trolley bag and a box of donuts through three airports. My arms were so sore by the end of it!

Recipes:

Chocolate Chip Shortbread (Dorie loved how these looked!)

Apple Crumb Cake

Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito – This book will make you want to get up and start baking, at least that's what it did to me – the gorgeous photos along with unconventional ideas is totally worth the book. I always like a book that has personal tones to it, so I enjoyed reading how they setup their bakery. I’ve made their black forest cookies as well as brownies, both of which were phenomenal. I’m surely going to be making a lot more treats from this book in 2010!

Recipes:

The Baked Brownie

Black Forest Cookies

Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics, Ina Garten – On the same trip to the States, I enjoyed tuning into Food Network. What I enjoyed the most on Food Network was Ina Garten’s show, so I decided that I must get this book of hers that has received such rave reviews.

Recipes:

Parmesan Roasted Broccoli with Pine Nuts

Mushroom and Bacon with Sage

Bittersweet, Alice Medrich – Although I’ve just begun reading this book, I have to recommend it because I love how it’s packed with so much information about chocolate. It answers questions like why single origin doesn’t always mean quality chocolate, why you should you cut white and milk chocolate very finely before melting, amongst other things. I like Alice Medrich’s take on bringing out the true flavour of the chocolate by reducing the fat, sugar and eggs so the chocolate can shine (and it didn't even seem like she's trying to put me on a diet). This book has such delicious sounding recipes that I ended up leaving post-its on every other page to come back to, truffles being the ones that are on top of the priority list! My only grouse – I wish this book had more photos.

A Homemade Life, Molly Weizenberg – I read this book for so many days on my way to work because just when I thought I’d read too much, I’d stop because I didn’t want this book to end! I love how Molly combines her life experiences with some very delicious recipes. And the illustrations in the book are just so adorable!

Recipe: Banana Bread with Chocolate Chip and Crystallised Ginger

The Art of Simple Food, Alice Waters – This book has taught me that the simplest of things can taste spectacular. This book is full of ideas that will cater to varied taste buds.

Recipes:

Buckwheat pancakes/Blinis

Tomato and Basil Sauce

The Sweet Life In Paris, David Lebovitz – Who doesn’t want to live in Paris? The hilarious book talks about the quirky side of Parisian culture and David Lebovitz’s life in La Ville-Lumière and the home of croissants. The book has got a recipe at the end of each chapter as well! I love that David put a list of resources and places to visit at the end of the book, this was especially helpful when I made a map of places for orangefoodie to visit in Paris for Christmas.

Best of 2009: Sweet

2009-12-28T12:59:00.003+05:30

Hazelnut Cheesecake: These cute little individual cheesecakes will put you in hazelnut heaven.

DIY Strawberry Pop Tarts: These are without a a doubt the best things I’ve baked up with strawberries! The strawberry season has just set in here and I can’t wait to make these again.

Nutella Pinwheel Cookies: The most popular cookies on The Purple Foodie – these are melt-in-the-mouth cookies with a generous swirl of Nutella and Hazelnuts.

Strawberry Frozen Yoghurt: Handmade frozen yoghurt was the best thing that happened to me in March ’09!

Dulce de Leche: Just look at how rich and luscious it looks. Tell me you’re not tempted to make some!

Oreo Cookie Ice Cream: How can an Oreo cookie lover like me not have this ice cream included in the Best of 2009 list?

Black Forest Cookies: The most chocolatey cookies I’ve ever eaten. So, so, so delicious!

Cheesecake Swirled Brownies: My favourite cheesecake recipe + my favourite brownie recipe = these super awesome cheesecake swirled brownies!

Fig Tart: Just look how gorgeous this is! And it tastes even more delicious. Make the frangipane with vanilla bean for the best smelling tart.

Best of 2009: Savory

2009-12-25T18:51:00.006+05:30

Garlicky Baked Fries: These fries have gathered a mass following ever since I’ve posted them with 109K views and still counting! Go.Make.Them.Now.

Cheddar Cheese Biscuits: Cheesy biscuits are so much more fun than just regular biscuits.

Olive and Rosemary Crackers: Made with olives and with a little parmesan cheese added- these are mighty delicious.

Herb Butter Mushrooms with Smoked Mozzarella: Cute little bites of cheese laden button mushroom make this such a delicious appetizer.

Stuffed Eggplant: These will change the opinion of any eggplant hater.

Zucchini and Goats Cheese Pizza: Who doesn’t love goat’s cheese? This pizza is such a breeze to put together.

Asparagus, Mint and Mushroom Frittata: A hearty breakfast.

Tomato Basil Sauce: The secret to a good tomato basil sauce is to add the basil right at the end so that the flavour of the herb stays in the sauce instead of evaporating away.

Parmesan Roasted Broccoli: Pine nuts + broccoli + Ina Garten = super awesome broccoli.

And Merry Christmas to all those celebrating!

The Big News + Chocolate Hazelnut Marbled Cake

2009-12-21T22:43:00.011+05:30

Before I get to the delicious cake, I want to tell you about the big news I was holding on to a while ago.

If you’re following me on Twitter or Facebook, you might have heard me gushing about finally signing ‘the contract’. No, it's not some corporate contract boohockey or a typical 9-5 job. This contract is my entry into the world I’ve only dreamed about until now. It’s a world full of butter, sugar and flour – a world I know I’m going to be happy in. Starting January 2010 I will work for a lovely, first-of-its-kind, startup French pâtisserie here in Bombay. Here, I'll work with two absolutely amazing chefs from Le Cordon Bleu, Paris - Pooja and Daniel. When I first baked with them, the day went by quickly and I lost complete track of time - that's when I knew that this is my kind of place. The two of them are so professional and so much fun at the same time. I'm going to love it here!

I’m sure as hell going to miss orangefoodie and my friends at my current workplace, but I know this is one step closer to where I want to be. 5 years ago, when I learned about Le Cordon Bleu cooking school and got my hands on their brochures, I knew I had to study there - I just had to. Back then, my parents didn’t take my passion so seriously and thought my interests were as fleeting as summer, and cooking/baking for a living sounded absolutely ludicrous to them. Luckily, they are so much more supportive of the career switch now more than ever. I am so thrilled about this - my dream of baking for a living is finally becoming a reality!

Here's a wonderfully moist chocolate hazelnut marbled cake that I made yesterday. I used Dorie Greenspan's mocha walnut bundt cake recipe as a framework to create this cake. I substituted hazelnuts for walnuts and cocoa for espresso. While recipes usually call for milk at room temperature, I've noticed that using warm or hot milk is important for producing really soft cakes that makes all the difference. Don't be scared, the hot milk won't cook the eggs. My mom wolfed down most of the cake and asked for more to take for my grandmom!

Chocolate Hazelnut Marbled Cake
Adapted from: Baking From My Home to Yours -Dorie Greenspan
Yield: 1 large bundt cake

2 ½ cups flour

½ cup ground hazelnuts

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

9oz. / 250g. butter

3oz./ 85g. bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

1 tsp cocoa powder

1 1/4^th cup hot milk

1 3/4^th cup sugar

4 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350F/160C. Butter a 10 inch bundt pan or a loaf pan and dust the inside with flour. Tap out the excess flour.
Whisk together the flour, ground hazelnuts, baking powder and salt.
In a heatproof bowl set over simmering water, melt 2 tbsp butter with cocoa and chocolate. Heat until the chocolate and butter have melted and the mixture is smooth. Set aside.
In a bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl, mix together the butter and sugar for about 3-4 minutes – this will look like a thick paste.
Beat the eggs in one at a time, until the mixture looks smooth. Add the vanilla extract.
Now either on a reduced speed, or by folding in by hand, add the flour and hot milk alternately, starting and finishing off with flour (so, flour-milk-flour-milk-flour)
Now take a little less than half the flour and mix it with the chocolate mixture that you set aside earlier. Stir till it is thoroughly blended – don’t overdo it.
What I did was add the white mixture then the chocolate mixture and then the white mixture again into the bundt pan and then run a knife through it once or twice for very visibly distinct two layers. For a pronounced marbled look, stir the knife through the batter a few more times.
Bake for 55-65 minutes or until the knife comes out clean. Let it cool for 10 minutes or so before unmoulding.
Slice and eat! It’s lovely with some mascarpone dusted with caster sugar or some chocolate sauce.

Oven-Dried Tomatoes

2009-12-17T10:40:00.002+05:30

Until now I’ve had sun dried tomatoes from a jar and only after making these cute little babies did I realize what I’d been missing out on – über concentration of flavour. They are the same as sun-dried tomatoes, except that it doesn’t sound as fancy and the job gets done a lot quicker!

While I was at the market last week, I was introduced to these seasonal tomatoes that appear for just two months in a year, so I bought myself a kilo of them. The seller extolled their flavour and when I sat to think of how to use these best, I was sure I didn’t want these tomatoes to get lost as a part of a greater dish, but be the main focus. That’s when I thought of drying them up in the oven to keep a concentrate their flavour.

I can say for certain that this has got to be the ~~best thing~~ best savory thing I’ve put in my mouth in a while (the fig tart and honey roasted almonds are so good, people!). The flavour of the tomatoes is heightened by chopped garlic and oregano – something you will never find in the regular bottled sundried tomatoes. I thought I’d use them to top a pizza or something, but man these were just brilliant on their own. I snacked on so many last night that these were all that were left to take photos this morning (and you thought I was trying to be aesthetic!) Next time, I’m surely going to double the quantity I make because they shrink so much (not that I didn’t know, but so much?) I think this would make an excellent appetizer tossed with crumbled feta or fresh mozzarella.

Oven dried tomatoes

2.2 lb/ 1 kilo ripe tomatoes

coarse sea salt

6 cloves garlic, chopped finely

1 tbsp dried oregano

freshly ground black pepper

extra virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to the lowest heat setting.
Depending on how big you’d like them, either slice the tomatoes, or halve them (the bigger they are, the longer they will take to dry up). Scoop out most of the seeds and sprinkle with salt and leave them skin side up so that the excess liquid from the tomatoes can drain out. Let this sit for about 15-20 minutes. Excellent thing to do because, this gets rid of the moisture and reduces the time in the oven.
In a large bowl, toss together the tomatoes with the garlic, oregano, black pepper and olive oil. Place the tomatoes on a cookie sheet lines with parchment and place sprinkle the garlic from the bowl on the tomatoes. Cook in a low oven at 100C/200F/Gas 1 for three hours.
If you’d really like to do it the sun-dried way then you can leave it in the sun for up to two days, taking them in at night.
Place the tomatoes in a sterilized glass jar and use within a week. If you’re going to use this over a longer period of time, then over it with some olive oil.

Fig Tart with Vanilla Scented Frangipane

2009-12-12T02:51:00.004+05:30

So I did two adventurous things today: One - baked with figs, which I have never done before. And two - succumbed to my aversion for frangipane (fancy schmancy French name for a mixture of ground almonds, sugar, eggs and vanilla).

Now it has got to be something that looks absolutely spectacular for me to want to change my mind about frangipane. For whenever a recipe called for it, I’d cross it off my list instantly since I didn’t like almond paste (or so I thought). The photo in question that made me take the plunge was that of the fig tart I saw on Chez Pim. And out of nowhere, a fig tart made it to the top priority in my mental to-bake list.

And as you can sense already, I was mighty pleased with the results! I made this fig tart for breakfast today and between the two of us, dad was the one who raced me to the last quarter.

I tried a new pie dough recipe this time from the Ottolenghi cookbook. It’s very similar to my regular pie dough recipe that you can use or instead pick your favourite pie dough recipe. Make sure to go through Pie Dough 101 for quick tips for the perfect pie crust. I used the frangipane recipe on Chez Pim and added half a vanilla bean to it – smelled so, so good (thanks to my reader D. who sent the beans to me all the way from Bangalore)! Once you have your dough rolled out, just spread out the frangipane on it and place the sliced figs in concentric circles. Then fold the edges in and crimp it up. A little bit of egg wash and a little bit of icing sugar dusted, it’s ready for the oven. Now bask in the sweet smell that envelopes the house for 40 minutes. Once ready, serve with a dollop of mascarpone cheese or a scoop of rich vanilla ice cream. Such an elegant dessert, but more than that it is a breakfast of the champions, indeed!

Fig Tart with Vanilla Scented Frangipane
Yield: 1 9 inch fig tart
Adapted from: Chez Pim

Vanilla Scented Frangipane
(Just 1/4th going to be here)

½ cup / 75g whole almonds
1/3rd cup / 75g sugar
75g butter
1 large egg
½ a vanilla bean

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Spread the almonds evenly on a baking sheet and place them in the oven. Roast them for about 10 minutes, or until slightly toasted and fragrant. Transfer to a plate and let cool to room temperature.
Put the cooled almonds and the sugar into a food processor and process until fine. Add the butter and the egg and pulse until well-combined. Stir in the innards of the vanilla bean. If you don't want to use it right away, divide the frangipane into four equal parts, wrap each tightly in plastic. They will keep in the fridge for a couple of days, and upto a month in the freezer.

9" fig tart
1 9" pastry dough
about 10 large figs or about 15 small ones
1/4 the recipe of frangipane above
Preheat the oven to 400F (200C).

Roll out your pastry dough to about 10-inch diameter. Prick a fork through it every inch or so apart.
Place the dough on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Spread about 1/4 of the quantity of frangipane on the dough, leaving about 1 inch perimeter around the outer edge of the dough. Slice the figs and place them from outside inwards to form concentric circles to cover the frangipane.
Fold the edges in, pinching a little to make sure they stick. Brush the dough with eggwash and give it a good shower of sugar. Bake for about 45-50 minutes, or until the pastry edges are golden brown.

Baking in Bombay

2009-12-11T16:40:00.002+05:30

Last update: 11th Dec, 2009.
Pulling it to the front from the archives, for everyone to know that this post is a lot bigger and better now!

So, with a whole lot of requests coming in by mail, and given that our city is getting better by the day when it comes to finding quality ingredients, it was only appropriate for me to dedicate an entire post to Baking in Bombay and make it more comprehensive rather than leaving it in my "About" page. Wow, that was a really long sentence.

Ingredients

You can find fresh herbs (chives, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, etc), cheese and cold cuts at any of the supermarkets like Hypercity or Star Bazaar.
For all those spices, Philly cheese, pine nuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, Nutella, Hershey chocolate chips, canned blueberries, tahini paste Alfa at Irla is my preferred choice. Though you could find them at Crawford Market as well.
Fancy cheeses with names hard to pronounce, marinated olives and peppers, Sri Lankan cinnamon Jamie Oliver bottled stuff Japanese ingredients, fresh endamame beans, fava beans, artichoke, imported salami, bacon and cold cuts can be found at Hypercity, Indigo Deli, Godrej Nature’s Basket.
Light brown sugar, dark brown sugar and muscovado sugar is available at Hypercity and Alfa but I really don't recommend spending so much on them (they're 10x the price of granulated sugar). You can use BlueBird Demerera sugar instead, which you can find at your local grocer. Another place I recently found brown sugar at was Godrej Nature's Basket. You can find it under the Conscious Food label.
Vanilla - Fellow Bombayites! Please stop using the tiny bottle of vanilla essences. That is not real vanilla. I was so happy to find pure Vanilla beans on a trip to Bangalore (Maison des Gourmets, if you’re interested) that I made my own Vanilla extract - it's really, really easy. I urge you to make your own. You will never use anything else. You can find vanilla beans at Godrej Nature's Basket and Indigo Delicatessen in Bombay.
And buttermilk? Sure, we don't get buttermilk here but that doesn't mean we can't make anything that calls for it. While I may have buttermilk written in my recipes (because that is the preferred choice for the recipe), I have been very successful in using the same amount of stirred yoghurt. Although, this is not the only substitution. Joy the baker has some pretty neat substitutions.
Chocolate? Just chase your friends/cousins/relatives down to get you some good chocolate (I use Ghirardelli). It' s sad that you don't get good quality chocolate here. For something that totally depends on good chocolate, use slabs of Lindt. I hear we have one supplier for Valrhona here, but it comes at a steep price (Rs. 2,000-5,000). If you're interested, e-mail me and I will help you out. Thank goodness that we get Calleabaut more easily though! They don't retail, but you can e-mail me for the price list if you're interested.
I am so happy that I found Instant Yeast at Arife in Andheri (also at Crawford Market) It’s a lot better than the crappy active dry yeast (NEVER use this) and has a much longer shelf life than fresh yeast (which you can get from your local baker).
Guess what? Bombay Foodie discovered some Endamame Beans at Hypercity!
Maido India sells some funky Japanese ingredients at Godrej Nature’s Basket and Hypercity. Buy yourself a tube of wasabi, if nothing else and it will kick your regular mayonnaise up a notch.
Lavender? While I got my lavender from the US, you can get a pot from the Lalbaugh nursery in Bangalore.
OXO has FINALLY come to India (w00t w00t!). Find OXO goodness at HomeStop.

Gadgets and Bakeware

A little about my oven: How I wish I could say I’ve got the lah-di-dah in-built oven, but I don’t. What I use is Nova tabletop oven that’s been doing a pretty good job for the past 5 years.
And a little about my KitchenAid: My uncle was kind enough to lug the 12 kilo machine from UK for me. A word of caution, do not ask friends/relatives coming down from USA to get you a KitchenAid. Although, cheaper than UK, the US machine runs on 110V. You don’t want to shorten its life by using it here on 220V. Before the KitchenAid, I used a Black and Decker hand blender that held me in good stead for a pretty long time. So, do they sell the KitchenAid here in India? There is good news and bad. Good news is that it is available in India, the bad news being that it's a little pricey. E-mail me if you want the whole lowdown on it.
I also adore my CuisineArt ice cream maker. It makes ice cream churning so much simpler, and I have my favourite Strawberry Frozen Yoghurt in 30 minutes!
Bakeware: For all sorts of cake pans, tart pans, dessert rings, muffin pans Arife at Crawford Market and Andheri Station (West) is your best bet. For better quality stuff, Teflon, non-stick (though not so much variety) head to Hypercity, Home Stop or Home Center at Lifestyle.

Books

So where do I find all these awesome cookbooks that I keep making recipes from? Gracious friends and cousins coming down from USA/UK + Flipkart.com make me very happy. For recommendations check my Amazon Store.

Some Must-Haves or “I have a friend coming down from the US/Baking Wonderland, what do you think I should get?”

Now this depends entirely on what you like to do in the kitchen the most. If cheesecakes are your weakness then a good springform pan is a must, but if you’re going to be making it just once a year then it’s really not that necessary, unless you are a kitchenware junkie like I am. But then again, we are addressing must haves. So here are some things that should definitely be on your list:

Silpat – you will never need to line your baking sheet with wax paper/butter paper/parchment paper! These are reusable and very worth the USD 20.
A Microplane zester – zesting your citrus or even hard cheese like Parmesan has never been easier. I probably sound like their marketing department, but I really do love this tool.
Anything Wilton! They have the cutest cupcake liners and silicone moulds.
If you like adding colour to your food (I absolutely detest, and the only time I gave in was when I made red velvet cupcakes), you could get McCormicks food colour. I have the set in Neon.
Dried cherries, cranberries, blueberries, apricots and whatever else you want – they keep well and they can be used in so many recipes. I love using dried cherries in my black forest cookies.(While you can get these here, you'd be better off with bulk packages).
Ghirardelli is a good chocolate to have in your pantry. If you’d like to splurge a little, definitely go get some Valrhona.
Just got tipped-off from a reader that Le Creuset is selling for really low prices in NY. So sweet talk that friend of yours into carrying some mighty cast iron for you.
I've tried to be creative and use different things as a substitute for a cooling rack without much success. I've had to space my baking across time just because I didn't have a cooling rack and had to use the wire rack from the oven as a cooling rack. This is definitely a must have! I especially love this three-tier Wilton cooling rack.

Events in the city

I update Bombay Eaters with the city’s latest food centric events. Hop over, and if you’d like to contribute to it, simply shoot me an e-mail.

Didn’t find this comprehensive enough or you know something that would be appropriate for this list? Mail me at purplefoodie(AT)gmail.com!

Locate that place!
Click on the map to get the complete address of the places mentioned above!

View Baking in Bombay in a larger map

Spice Infused Grapes

2009-12-07T01:52:00.004+05:30

What are better than grapes? Spice infused grapes!

When I was at brunch at a local restaurant a while ago, I kept going back to fill my plate up with grapes, over and over again. It was something to do with the sweet scent that accompanied the grapes that made me eat so many grapes that it put my buffet eating in serious jeopardy.

This weekend I got a pound of Red Globe Grapes (try saying this five times in rapid succession!) and set out to replicate the spice infused grapes. I pretty much eyeballed ingredients and hit the right mix of flavors in the first shot.

I LOVED how the grapes smelled! The sweet smell of star anise and cinnamon shone right through. You could serve this for a festive party - they look especially pretty in a bowl with all the spices floating. It tastes lovely and impresses your guests - what more do you want?

Spice Infused Grapes

Yield: 2 servings

1 pound Red Globe grapes

2 cups water

½ cup sugar

1 star anise

a 2 inch stick of cinnamon

1 clove

In a saucepan, bring the sugar and water to a boil, and stir till all the sugar has been dissolved.
Add the spices to it, cover the pan and let it simmer for a minute or two.
Turn off the heat and let the spiced syrup sit in the saucepan with the lid on.
While the syrup cools, wash and cut each grape into two lengthwise.
When the syrup reaches a temperature where you can dip your finger in without strong reflex actions, add the grapes in.
Let this sit for one hour for a subtle flavor and up to overnight for a more pronounced spicy flavor.

Nifty tip:
Don't discard the spiced syrup! Instead, use it to moisten a layer cake instead of the plain ol' sugar syrup.