Whole wheat melting moments for trip to MDU

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup corn flour
225 g butter
1/4 cup icing sugar
1.4 tsp salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup icing sugar to top the cookies
sieve together flour and salt
beat butter until smooth for about 3 minutes
add icing sugar, mix and then beat until pale yellow and fluffy
add the vanilla extract, mix
add the flour
transfer to a cling wrap sheet and refrigerate for about 20 minutes
pre heat oven at 180 degrees
scoop out lemon sized balls of dough and make a smooth ball
smooth ball will ensure your biscuits are not cracked on top after baking
bake for 15-17 minutes until bottom of cookies are browned but cookie still looks white on top
transfer to wire rack placed over paper as soon as possible from the sheet
go over the top with icing sugar and dust generously on the tops
cool and pack up
should make about 36 balls with this recipe
double it to give amma and leave those without topping wiht icing sugar
buy 1/2 kg butter - 200g and 1 kg aashirwad atta on way home today at Grace.
Buy one packet cream if available
Buy on coupons.

Hummingbird cake with cream cheese butter cream for amma's birthday

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 and 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup curd
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup toasted and chopped walnuts
1/2 cup mashed bananas
1/2 can crushed pineapple
Beat together curd and sugar
Add mashed bananas if you think the curd mixture is very less for the sugar
Add the baking powder and baking soda and combine
Add the oil and vanilla extract and combine
Add the flour and mix until just mixed
Fold in the nuts and the crushed pineapple
Bake in 2 layers at 180 degrees
Cream Cheese buttercream frosting

113 gm unsalted butter. room temp about 10 minutes, should still be cool, soft to touch and in form.
Not a gooey mess. Gooey butter gives runny frosting.
If the weather is humid, reduce butter to 4-6 tbsp.
you can play with the ratio as per the weather conditions.
You know what will be the outcome when it's 100 F temp and it's an outdoor event
226 g cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or flavoring of choice
450 g sifted icing sugar

Method
1. Place butter in a large mixing bowl and beat until smooth. That about 3 mins. The bowl will be cold upon touch.
2. Add cream cheese and blend until fully combined and smooth, about 30 seconds. DO NOT over beat.
That gives a runny frosting.
3. Add vanilla extract and icing sugar, blend on low speed (stir in KA) until combined. Increase to medium speed
( speed 4 in KA) and beat until it begins to get fluffy. That's about another 4-5 mins.
4. Use at once or keep refrigerated.
This frosting will keep well in the refrigerator for several days (3 days max as per my trial)
but you may need to re-beat it for when out of the refrigerator.
Deco
Don't colour cream cheese frosting
Rosette border top
Star border on bottom
target is a smooth finish and straight sides
work in an ac room at night
use dark chocolate ganache to write happy birthday amma on the sides
check indulge cupcakes for a sample
try to make chocolate butterflies if you have time - use card stock and not books for the raised effect




 

Cheryl Rajkumar's Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting

This is my cream cheese butter cream frosting recipe. I use this for RV and other cakes. It's not too sweet, smooth and lick worthy. 

This recipe can be doubled and halved. 

I use US cup measurement. Easier for me when I do large quantities like fourtimes the recipe.

8 Tablespoons/ 113 gm unsalted butter. room temp about 10 minutes, should still be cool, soft to touch and in form. Not a gooey mess. Gooey butter gives runny frosting. If the weather is humid, reduce butter to 4-6 tbsp. you can play with the ratio as per the weather conditions. You know what will be the outcome when it's 100 F temp and it's an outdoor event 
8 oz. cream cheese (directly from the refrigerator ) I use Philly cheese always.
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or flavoring of choice
4 cups icing/ confectioners sugar. Pls use sifted sugar. Measure after sifting.

 For folks who use grams, this will be the measurement. 113 gm butter, 226 gm cream cheese, 5 ml vanilla extract , 450 gm sifted icing sugar.

Method
1. Place butter in a large mixing bowl and beat until smooth. That about 3 mins. The bowl will be cold upon touch. Add cream cheese and blend until fully combined and smooth, about 30 seconds. DO NOT over beat. That gives a runny frosting.
2. Add vanilla extract and icing sugar, blend on low speed (stir in KA) until combined. Increase to medium speed ( speed 4 in KA) and beat until it begins to get fluffy. That's about another 4-5 mins.
3. Use at once or keep refrigerated. This frosting will keep well in the refrigerator for several days (3 days max as per my trial) but you may need to re-beat it for when out of the refrigerator. I have a fridge thermometer to monitor temps. It's usually at 35-40 degree F always.

I've not used homemade CC for this recipe as philly is not pricey here. I've received feed back from my readers that they used it for CCBC and cheesecakes, with good outcome. I can't vouch for home made sub as I've never tried it for frosting n cakes.

Tip - I always make the frosting the night before and use it the next morning for covering. It settles the frosting and when re whipped it's smoother in texture. Melt in mouth types. This is my personal experience and not claiming this is the right way. Been doing this for for a while. Experiment yourself and do what suits your needs.

If your CCBC is runny, adding more sugar and beating the heck out of it doesn't help. Been there done that. It makes a cloyingly sweet and runny mess of a CCBC. Stop right there, refrigerate it so that it thickens a wee bit and thin it down with cream or milk. I use this for glazing scones and muffins. You can freeze portions and use when needed. Works just fine. 

Tarts with pumpkin halwa (kaasi halwa) filling

Diwali specials:

Tarts with pumpkin halwa or badam halwa filling
Baked karonji filled with sweet khoa
Motichoor kesar gulab cheesecake
Cashew cookies topped with toasted pista flakes for colour
Mawa cupcakes

Mini tarts with pumpkin halwa filling:

Shortbread crust for the tarts from joyofbaking; recipe is halved

Shortbread Tarts:

113 grams unsaltedbutter, room temperature

27 grams confectioners (powdered or icing)sugar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

100 grams maida

15 grams cornstarch (corn flour) or rice flour

a pinch of salt

Lightly butter, or spray with a nonstick vegetable spray, 18 miniature muffin tins (approximately 2 inch (5 cm) in diameter).
In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together (1-2 minutes) until smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract.
Mix together the flour, cornstarch and salt.
Add to the butter-sugar mixture and mix just until incorporated. If the shortbread dough is too soft to roll into balls, cover and refrigerate for about 30-60 minutes.
Take a scant 1 tablespoon of shortbread dough (about 15 grams) and place in the center of each muffin tin. With your fingertips, press the dough onto the bottom and up the sides of the individual muffin tin. Once filled, cover and place the tart pan, with the unbaked shells, in the freezer for about 15 minutes so the shortbread can become firm. (This will help to prevent the shortbread from puffing up during baking.)
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 325 degrees F (170 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven.
Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until lightly golden brown. About halfway through the baking time, if the shortbread has puffed up, lightly prick the bottom of each shortbread with the tines of a fork. Once they are fully baked, remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. When completely cooled, remove the tarts from the pan. (They can be frozen.)

Kasi Halwa

540 gm (3 cups) white pumpkin, grated

270 gm (1 1/2 cups) sugar

135 gm (3/4 cup) ghee

4 green cardamom pods, powdered

2 tbsp cashew nuts (or more if desired)

2 tbsp golden raisins (or more if desired)

 Method:

In a wok or kadhai, place the grated pumpkin and over low heat cook until the water evaporates and the pumpkin is dry. Make sure that the pumpkin is stirred constantly, if not there is the danger of it getting burnt.

Once the pumpkin is dry, add the sugar, increase the heat a little and cook until the sugar melts. Decrease the heat a little and cook until the mixture is a deep golden colour and dry.

In a small wok, heat the ghee and add the cashews and raisins and fry until they are golden in colour. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep aside.

Add the remaining ghee to the pumpkin and cook until the mixture starts to leave the sides of the pan.

Put in the golden cashews and raisins and stir in the fragrant cardamom powder.

Turn off the heat.

Assembly:

Top up each tart with up to 2 spoons of the pumpkin halwa filling.

Top with whipped cream and flaked nuts on top or even saffron strands or a raisin