Monday, June 22, 2015

Mango and Kitkat cupcakes


Cake Flour - 360 gm (See how to make Cake flour in instruction)
Sugar - 180 gm
Baking powder - 1 and 1/2 tsp
Baking soda - 3/4 tsp
Salt - 3/4 tsp
Oil - 3/4 cup
Vanilla extract - 4 tsp
Milk - 1 cup
Mango - 1/2 cup puree
Apple cider or any vinegar - 1 and 1/2 tbsp

1. Make 3 cups of cake flour - fill a cup with maida, remove 2 tbsp and add 2 tbsp corn flour to it.
Mix and Sieve this 5 to 6 times to make cake flour.
2. Peel and puree one average/big sized mango - fine puree is good
3. Mix together milk and vinegar to make buttermilk and leave alone for 5 minutes
4. Beat together the buttermilk and the sugar until sugar dissolves.
5. Add the mango puree, oil and vanilla extract and beat together
5. Sieve together the cake flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
6. Fold into the liquid mixture until just mixed
7. pour carefully into cupcake liners.
This will make 18 average sized cupcakes

Whipped cream:
Whip 1 cup whipping cream to soft peaks.
Add a couple of drops of color and whip to stiff peaks to frost the cupcakes.

Kitkat cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcakes:
Ingredients:

Cake Flour - 2 1/4 cup ( See how the cake flour can be made here.)
Sugar - 1 1/2 cup
Unsweetened cocoa powder - 7 1/2 tbsp
Baking Soda - 1 and 1/2 tsp
Salt - 3/4 tsp
Water - 1 and 1/2 cup
Oil - 12 tbsp
Apple Cider or any vinegar - 3 tbsp
Vanilla extract - 2 tsp
Instant Coffee - 3/4 tsp (Optional)

Method:

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Line 18 cupcake liners.
2.  In a large bowl whisk all the dry ingredients.
3.  In a small bowl, whisk all the liquid ingredients with the coffee granules.
4.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  Whisk until everything is well mixed. Do not over mix.
5. Fill the cupcake liner about 2/3rd.
6. Bake for about 15 to 17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the cupcake center comes out clean. (Few crumbs clinging is absolutely fine... as it will be moist)
7.  Cool the cupcakes completely before you dig in, so that it is nicely set.

Caramel Sauce

Granulated white sugar – 2 cups
Unsalted butter – 200 gms
Fresh cream – 1 cup
Salt – 1 tablespoon

1. In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, add the sugar. Bring it on fire on medium flame. Keep swirling up the pan until the sugar starts melting. Do not use a laddle or spatula to keep mixing. Just use swirling up motion on the pan. If the base caramelizes quickly, remove the pan from fire, use a wooden spatula to mix up and scrape the bottom of the pan and put it back on fire. Do not be tempted to keep stirring this step all the time. It will crystallize the sugar.

2. Keep the flame in medium and wait until the sugar dissolves completely, while caramelization also happens simultaneously

3. Once the sugar has melted, you could wait for few seconds until the colour changes to amber. Here you can choose to stop at a lighter shade of caramel or until it goes up to 2 shades darker. The darker the caramel, the better the flavour. But you should also be careful that you do not smoke it up. So at this stage you have to carefully watch and decide when to stop the caramelization process by adding the butter as in the next step.

4. Remove the pan from the stove and add the butter. Keep stirring with a wooden spatula until the butter completely blends with the sauce. It will whiz up, so you keep yourself a little far away from the pan.

5. It might seem impossible for the butter to get combined with the caramel, but keep stirring and the both will come together.

6. Add the salt and cream and mix well again.
Whipped Caramel Milk Chocolate Ganache

7. Bring back the sauce on fire on medium heat for about 3 to 5 minutes until the sauce boils and thickens up a bit. Switch off flame. Cool sauce in room temperature and transfer to an airtight container and you can store it in refrigerator for about couple of weeks. Before using on your cake, you need to thaw the sauce or microwave it in 5 seconds interval.

Milk Chocolate – 450 gms
Dairy fresh cream – 150 gms
Caramel sauce – 1 cup ( Make from this recipe )
Whipping cream – 1/2 cup, cold

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Rajesh 37 Bday cake


Eggless Chocolate Mud Cake

Makes 2 – 8″ cakes or one 13″ * 9″ sheet cake

Ingredients:

Butter-250 gm
Dark Chocolate-200 gm
Water-1 cup
Caster Sugar-2 cups
Curd-1/2 cup
Flour / Maida – 2 3/4 cup
Baking Soda-1 tsp
Baking Powder-1 1/2 tsp
Cocoa Powder-1/4 cup


Procedure:

1. Grease & line 2 8" cake pans

2. Preheat oven to 180°C.

3. In a sauce pan mix together butter, chocolate, water and sugar.

4. Keep on medium flame and keep on stirring until the butter and chocolate are completely melted.

5. Remove from flame and allow it to cool for 10 minutes. Mix curd.

6. In another bowl sift together maida, baking powder, baking soda and cocoa powder.

7. Add this to the warm chocolate butter mixture and whisk until incorporated.

8. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

9. Cool on wire rack, wrap it with a cling wrap and refigerate.

Eggless dark chocolate mousse filling

 Eggless Dark Chocolate Mousse:

Ingredients:

Dark Chocolate-175 gm

Amul Low Fat Cream-200 ml

Cold Fresh Cream ( whipping cream)-250 ml

Veg gelatine / Agar Agar Powder-1/2 tsp

Cold Water-1/8 cup



Procedure:

1. Mix veg gelatine to cold water and set aside for 5 minutes.

2. Chop room temperature chocolate and place it in a bowl. Heat 100 ml amul cream and when it starts boiling pour it on the chocolate.

3.  Mix until the chocolate has melted. Allow it to cool.

4. Add the bloomed gelatine mixture to the remaining amul cream.

5. Heat it. At first it will be very thick and jelly like.

6. When it starts heating it will start thinning.

7. When it starts boiling, add it to the melted chocolate and mix well.

8. Mix.

9. Keep on mixing until it is completely incorporated. Place it in fridge until cool.

10. Whip the cold fresh cream until soft peaks form.

11. Add a portion of the whipped cream to the cooled chocolate mixture and mix until incorporated.

12. Now add this back to the whipped cream.

13. Using a spatula, gently fold the chocolate into the cream without deflating it.

14. Refrigerate for atleast one hour.

15. It is so light and delicious.

Dark chocolate ganache

400 g dark chocolate
200g cream

Heat cream till bubbly and pour over chopped dark chocolate

Follow Subhashini's method to get sharp edges on ganache.

Get a colour printout done for the super man logo
Write 'Happy Birthday to our Super Man' on a white fondant banner in beautiful cursive writing.

Make a star bottom and shell on top

saturday kitkat cupcakes for deepika
2 coffee, 1 chocolate

Monday, June 15, 2015

Whole Wheat peanut butter blondies

http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2014/01/24/whole-wheat-peanut-butter-blondies/


Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup (185g) creamy peanut butter*
  • 1/3 cup (80ml) melted coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup (90g) loosely-packed light brown sugar (or dark brown sugar)
  • 1/4 cup (60ml) milk*
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (126g) whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/3 cup (42g) peanuts
  • 1/3 cup (60g) dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips

OPTIONAL CHOCOLATE DRIZZLE

  • 1/4 cup (45g) dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 teaspoon creamy peanut butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line an 8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper, making sure there is enough overhang on the sides to easily remove the blondies. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix together peanut butter, oil, and brown sugar until smooth. Whisk in the milk and vanilla. Add the flour, salt, and baking powder. Mix until combined. Use your arm muscles - the batter will be very thick!
Transfer batter to baking pan and press it into place using the back of a spatula. Sprinkle the top with peanuts and dark chocolate chips, pressing them gently into the batter.
Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until the edges are just barely browning. The top will look very soft.  Remove from oven and cool completely before slicing into squares or hearts. The first batch I made two years ago, I cut into the blondies too early and they all crumbled. Be sure to cool for at least 3 hours or overnight(preferred) before cutting.
For the optional drizzle: melt chocolate chips and peanut butter together. Drizzle over cut blondies. Blondies stay fresh in an airtight container for up to one week at room temperature.

Make peanut butter at home:

Homemade Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter 
Makes 1 medium jar
Time taken: 5-10 mins
Adapted from NeverHomemaker

Ingredients
1 cup of roasted skinned peanuts (use ready roasted variety to save time)
1/2 tsp salt (avoid if using salted roasted peanuts)
50-100 grams of dark chocolate, chopped or use 1/4 cup chocolate chips
1 tbsp cold pressed coconut oil (or any edible coconut oil)

Equipment required
A food processor or mixer

Directions
  1. In a food processor or mixer, blend all of the above until it turns into a fine paste. Scrape down the sides of the jar 2-3 times and run the mixer for a total of 2-3 minutes until everything comes together to a buttery consistency.
  2. With a silicone spatula, scrape everything into a clean dry glass bottle.
  3. The butter solidifies in the fridge. When left out it is a nice spreadable consistency and I prefer to leave it out. Prepare a small quantity at a time so that there's no chance of spoilage.

Chocolate fudge frosting


chocolate fudge frosting

FROSTING:
150 g dark chocolate
113 g butter
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
220 g icing sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put chocolate, butter and espresso powder in a metal bowl set over a saucepan filled with 1 inch of simmering water (do not let water boil or allow bottom of bowl to touch water). Cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until butter and chocolate have melted, espresso powder has dissolved and mixture is smooth. Remove pot from heat. In a large bowl, whisk confectioners' sugar, half-and-half and vanilla together until smooth. Beat chocolate mixture into sugar mixture until glossy.

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Plans for Ani's 3rd bday


rose milk ice cream

chilled steel bowl and blades
mix up the condensed milk, food color & rose milk essence
whip up half a cup of heavy cream to soft peaks
add the 2 packets of milky mist cream and try to get it to soft peaks again
fold the condensed milk mixture into the whipped cream
pour into a shallow container, cover with cling film and freeze overnight.
to be made on friday night and had on saturday after temple visit.
sprinkle pistachios over the icecream while serving.

Ani's cake

vanilla cake
dark chocolate ganache frosting
filling - white chocolate & strawberry filling
fondant cover

electric yellow fondant draping on the cake

Thursday:
Fondant cutouts and make dry
Make Bheem, Krishna, Kirmada
Other characters if possible.
cover the cake board with fondant and allow to dry

Friday
bake the cake at night
make the rose milk ice cream

Saturday
ganache it in the morning
take time to do this.
drape on saturday night