Orange Cake with fresh Oranges

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour

2 tbsp custard powder

1 egg

1 cup condensed milk

1/3 cup oil

1 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp Orange zest

Pureed Orange segments after removing the skin and seeds

Method

Zest an orange to get about 1 tbsp of fresh orange zest.

Separate the orange segments from the skin and seeds. Pulse in a chopper until coarsely pureed.

In a mixing bowl, whip together condensed milk, egg and oil till frothy. Mix the pureed orange and zest.

Sieve together flour, custard powder and baking powder. Fold it into the wet ingredients. 

Add some milk if the batter is too thick.

Grease a bundt pan and dust with flour.

Pour in the batter. Bake in a 350°F/180°C oven for 25-30 minutes.

Serve warm drizzled with condensed milk and garnished with orange segments.

Banana - Coconut Cake

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
2-3 mashed bananas
1/2 - 3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup dessicated coconut
3-4 tbsp oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt
10-15 glazed cherries (optional)

Method

Beat together eggs and sugar till the mixture is frothy.
Add the milk, mashed bananas, vanilla extract, oil and whisk well for 2-3 minutes.
Sieve together flour, baking powder and salt.
Add the flour to the wet ingredients and mix well to get a smooth batter.
Fold in the dessicated coconut.
Coat chopped cherries in some flour and fold it into the batter.

Pour the batter into a cake pan.
Decorate with more cherries.
Bake in a 350°F / 180°c preheated oven for 25-30 minutes.

Serve warm topped with ice-cream.

Badam Pista Ice-cream with Gulab Jamun

This is a simple dessert with homemade ice-cream and store bought Gulab Jamun mix.

Ingredients

1 pkt Gulab Jamun mix (I used MTR)

For the ice-cream

2 cups milk

1/2 cup cream

1/4 - 1/2 cup sugar (depending on taste)

3-4 tbsp roasted crushed badam pista mix ( I had this previously prepared and stored in an airtight container)

1 tsp cornflour/cornstarch

2-3 tbsp milk powder

2-3 strands of saffron

Method

Mix together milk, milk powder, cornflour and sugar together in a thick bottomed vessel. Use a whisk to mix well to make sure that there are no lumps.

Place this on the stove on low heat stirring constantly. Add the crushed nuts and saffron. Cook on low heat stirring continuously until the mixture has thickened to form a custard.

Cool to room temperature. Once it has cooled down completely, add the cream and blend well in a blender until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

Pour this into a freezer safe container and freeze overnight.

Prepare Gulab Jamuns as per instructions on the package and soak in sugar syrup.

To serve:

Add 2 scoops of ice-cream to a serving bowl and top it with hot Gulab Jamun.

Serve immediately.

Shahi Tukda

5-6 slices of sweet bread

Ghee for frying

For sugar syrup

1 Cup sugar

1 Cup water

For Rabri

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup condensed milk

1 tsp cornflour

2 tsp roasted crushed badam - pista

A few strands of saffron

Tutti frutti for garnish

Method

Shahi Tukda is usually made by deep frying bread slices in ghee. But I have tawa fried them.

Prepare the sugar syrup by boiling 1 cup of sugar in 1 cup of water for 10-15 minutes.

For Rabri : Mix cornflour with 2 tbsp of milk and add it to the rest of the milk. Pour in condensed milk. Stir and cook on low heat. Once it starts to thicken, add the crushed nuts and strands of saffron. Mix well and remove from heat.

Cut the bread slices diagonally into triangle shapes.

Heat ghee on a tawa and fry the bread slices till golden brown.

Dip the fried bread in sugar syrup for a minute. Don't leave the bread slices in the syrup for long. It will become soggy. The bread slices must be crunchy.

Arrange on a plate. Drizzle with the Rabri/thickened milk and garnish with tutti frutti.

Serve hot.

Plum Custard tart

Slightly different from the usual tart recipe, a baked delicacy that's a combination of delicious plums and vanilla custard on a mildly sweet base flavored with a hint of Indian spices.

Ingredients
4-5 ripe plums (pitted and sliced)

For the base
1 cup all purpose flour
3-4 tbsp cup sugar
1/2 cup warm milk
1 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp elaichi/cardamom powder

For the custard
1 1/2 cups milk
3-4 tbsp custard powder
1/4 cup sugar

Method

To prepare the custard, add custard powder and sugar to the milk. Mix well to make sure that there are no lumps.
Cook this mixture on low - medium flame till semi-thickened.
Set aside for it to cool.

For the base : Dissolve yeast in warm milk with 1 tsp sugar. Wait for 5-10 minutes until the yeast is active.
In a mixing bowl, mix together flour, remaining sugar and spices. Add the warm milk-yeast mixture and knead the dough.
Set aside in a warm place for 1/2 hr.

Assembling and Baking

Press the dough at the base of a pie pan and par-bake @200°c for 10 minutes.
Remove the par-baked base from the oven. Pour the custard over the base.
Arrange sliced plums on the custard.

Bake @ 180°c for 15-20 minutes.

Remove from oven, cut into slices and serve warm.

Glazed Orange Cake

A tangy  citrus  flavored  cake with warm glaze that makes it tender & moist....makes you craving for more...

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup softened butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp orange zest
1 tsp  orange extract

For  the  glaze

1/2  cup  orange  juice
1 tsp orange zest
1/2  cup  sugar

For  the  cake

Sieve together flour & baking powder & set aside. 

Cream together butter  &  sugar till frothy. Add one egg at a time & beat well.

Reduce the speed of the mixer & add the dry mixture alternating with milk. Add the orange extract & zest.

Pour in a cake  or loaf pan. Sprinkle some zest on top.

Bake in a 350F preheated oven for 30-45 mins.

Prepare  the  glaze : Mix together  orange juice, zest  &  sugar.

Cook on slow heat for a few mins till the sugar has dissolved.

Drizzle  the  glaze  over  the hot cake & the cake soak up all the glaze.

Cool  the cake  completely  before cutting into slices.

Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

Pineapple Tart

 
Do you like fresh pineapple? I do....though its a little hard to remove the skin & clean. I recently got fresh pineapple at the store for a good deal & bought it....removed the skin & cleaned it. Then cut the pineapple into bite size pieces. The kids loved them, but after a day everybody forgot about it & it sat in the back of the refrigerator. I wanted to use it up before it went bad...

This is a simple recipe with less than 5 ingredients....

Ingredients

1 fresh pineapple cored & chopped
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp butter
1 pkg refrigerated Pillsbury Crescent rolls

Method

Crush the pineapple pieces in a food processor. Pour the crushed pineapple along with its juice into a pan. Add sugar & butter. Cook on a medium heat till the juice thickens & the color turns golden yellow-brown.

Open the refrigerated dough & spread onto a greased baking sheet. Spread the prepared pineapple onto the dough.

Bake in a 350F preheated oven for 10-12 mins.

Cut into slices & serve warm.

Cherry Chocolate Cake Bites

An eggless & simple recipe using cake mix, cream cheese & condensed milk.

Ingredients

1/2 box Devil's Food Cake Mix 

8 oz pkg of cream cheese (softened)

14 oz can of condensed milk

1 cup drained & chopped Maraschino cherries

Method

In a bowl beat together softened cream cheese & condensed milk till combined well. Fold in the cake mix till there are no lumps.

Fold in the drained, chopped cherries.

Pour into a greased cake pan & bake in a 375F preheated oven for 30 - 45 mins.

Remove from the oven & cool.

Cut the cooled cake into bite size pieces.

Enjoy!! 

Diwali Special ~ Jangiri

Ingredients

1 cup urad dal
2 tbsp rice
orange food color
Rose essence

sugar & water to prepare the sugar syrup

oil for deep frying

Method

Wash & soak urad dal & rice together for 30-45 mins.

Grind well in a mixie till smooth & fluffy. Try to grind using as little water as possible. If you add more water while grinding, the batter will absorb a lot of oil while being fried.

Transfer the fluffy batter into a bowl. Add a pinch of salt & a few drops of food color. Mix well.

Transfer this batter into a squeezable bottle with a small opening on the top. Squeeze the batter in a coil shape into a wide pan with hot oil.

Cook the batter in the oil on a medium flame making sure to flip & cook both sides.

Meanwhile prepare the sugar syrup by cooking 2 cups of sugar in 1 cup of water till it reaches a one string consistency. Add the rose essence.

Transfer the fried jangiris into the hot sugar syrup. Continue with the rest of the batter.

After the jangiri has absorbed the sugar syrup, remove & set aside on a plate.

Serve hot.

Mini Fried Cherry Pies

This is a simple recipe using some pie filling & some refrigerated biscuit dough.
I had some leftover cherry pie filling from my previous recipe Black Forest Cake. I didnt require the whole can of cherry pie filling for the recipe. So I saved the leftover pie filling in an airtight container in the freezer...& used the thawed pie filling for this recipe.

Ingredients

1 can refrigerated Pillusbury Biscuits (pack of 10)
1 cup cherry pie filling (you can use a pie filling of your choice)
flour for dusting
oil for deep frying
confectioners sugar to garnish

Method

Remove the biscuits from its packaging.

On a floured surface, roll each biscuit into a thin circle. Place one spoonful of pie filling into middle. Fold over one part of the circle onto the filling, making a semi-circle. Press down to seal the edges using a fork.

Meanwhile heat oil in a frying pan.

Carefully, shallow fry the prepared pies one or two at a time.

Fry for 2-3 mins on each side on low-medium heat till golden brown.

Sprinkle the warm pies with confectioners sugar.

Enjoy at teatime.

Black Forest Cake

Black forest cake is light pastry that melts in your mouth unlike the dense butter cream cakes. I like whipped topping cakes/pastries when compared to the ones frosted with butter cream. Whipped topping cakes are lighter & fluffier.
I made this cake for my daughter's b'day & everybody enjoyed it.

Ingredients

Cake  Batter
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup butter
2 eggs

1 cup cherry pie filling
1 tub whipped cream
1 bar of chocolate
sugar & water for simple syrup
1/2 tsp cherry extract

Method
Sift together flour, baking powder & cocoa.

In a bowl, beat the butter & sugar till creamy. Add eggs & beat till frothy. Fold in the dry ingredients.
Beat well for a min. This measurement is for 1 chocolate cake. We will need 2 cakes like this. So repeat this process for the 2nd cake.

Pour each separately prepared batter into a separate greased pan. Bake both cakes in a 350F pre-heated oven for 30-35 mins.

Remove the baked cakes from the oven & cool on a cooling rack.

Meanwhile prepare a sugar syrup with 1/2 cup sugar & 1/4 cup water. When the sugar syrup is ready, let it cool & add 1/2 tsp cherry extract.

Process 3-4 tbsp of cherry pie filling in a food processor till the filling is slightly crushed. Save the rest of the cherry filling for later.

Now, to assemble the cake.

Place the 1st layer of the chocolate cake on a platter.

Drizzle with the cherry flavored sugar syrup till the cake is moist.

Spread with one layer of whipped cream. Top with the processed cherry pie filling.

Now place the 2nd layer of the cake. Spoon whipped cream onto the top layer & frost the cake using a spatula.

After the whole cake has been frosted with the whipped topping, spoon some cherry pie filling onto the middle of the top cake layer.

Now decorate around the cherry filling using  a piping bag filled with whipped topping fitted with a star shaped nozzle.

Grate the chocolate bar to get chocolate shavings. Sprinkle this on the sides of the cake.

Decorate the lower part of the cake with the star nozzle piping bag.

Refrigerate till you are ready to cut it.

Enjoy!!!

Danish Rolls

Ingredients
1 can Pillsbury seamless crescent roll sheet
2 tsp melted butter
2 tbsp sugar
1 pk cream cheese
1/2 cup strawberry preserves
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the glaze
1/4 cup milk
1 tbsp confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Method
Spread out the crescent roll sheet on a flat surface. Using a pastry brush, brush one side of the pastry sheet with butter & sprinkle with 1 tsp of sugar.

In a bowl, mix together softened cream cheese with 2 tbsp of sugar & 1 tsp vanilla extract. Spread this as a layer onto the pastry sheet.

Spread the strawberry preserves as the next layer.

Now carefully roll the pastry sheet into a tight roll.

Cut into 1 inch thick slices & place onto a greased baking sheet.

Bake in a 375F pre-heated oven for 15-18 mins.

Meanwhile prepare the glaze by heating 1/4 milk with confectioners sugar & vanilla for approx 10 mins on medium heat.

Drizzle the glaze over the warm baked danish.

Serve warm.