Bread Masala Toast

It is simply called toast in Bangalore bakeries. I remember just getting overjoyed whenever someone got us these super hot toasts to eat. I still remember we had to split one single toast between 4 kids and we fought on who got the bigger piece. It was a serious fight back then but now they are all sweet memories. Sad part of it is, now I can buy or make and eat as much as i want to, but it is not as much fun :(... miss my bro and cousins :D. Sorry for getting nostalgic and emotional, let me talk about the toast a bit more. It is good as a snack for kids and adults, good for breakfast too... add some cheese for a little extra flavour. If you are planning a tea party or just an informal get together, this will be a hit with your friends. If you want them to be of  bite size pieces, just cut them after they bake.

Prep time: 20 mins

Bake time: 15 min

Pieces: 6 to 8

Ingredients:

1. Grated carrots: 3 cups
2. Onion - 1 medium sized, finely chopped
3. Ginger - 1 inch piece grated or 1 tsp paste
4. Garlic - 2 pods grated or 1 tsp paste (optional)
5. Tomato - 1 medium sized, finely chopped
6. Green chillies - 5 to 7 finely chopped (use according to how hot you want the toast)
7. Garam masala - 1/4 to 1/2 tsp (use on how spicy you want it to be)
8. Cheese - about 1/2 cup, grated (optional). If you have slices, use them 1 per each slice of bread.
9. Bread - 6 to 8 slice. (any bread of your choice, I used whole wheat.)
10. Coriander/Cilantro - a handful, finely chopped.
11. Curry leaves - 4, finely chopped.
12. Oil - 2 tsp
13. Salt - to taste

Method:

• Heat oil on medium heat in a pan and curry leaves.
• Add onions and a pinch of salt and saute till it gets slightly transparent.
• Add ginger, garlic and green chillies and saute till the raw smell goes away.
• Add carrots and saute till well cooked.
• Add tomatoes and saute till well cooked.
• Turn the stove off, add coriander and mix well.
• Preheat the oven at 350F and on a baking sheet arrange the bread slices and sprinkle cheese on top of them. 
• Spread the curry you just made and bake them in the oven for 15 minutes. [check after 10 mins, bake time may vary depending on the oven]
• If you do not have an oven, toast the bread on a pan over the stove top.  Flip the slice and sprinkle with cheese while the other side gets toasted. Then spread the curry.
• If you toast bread in a toaster, sprinkle cheese when the toast is hot and spread the curry, toast is ready to eat.. Enjoy!

Khara Biscuit / Savory Biscuit

This biscuit reminds me of Iyengari bakery in Bangalore. There are some signature items made only in bakeries of karnataka, and This is one of those items. If you don't like eating the sweet version of biscuit, just cut the sugar and add a twist by blending green chillies and some herbs to make these amazingly tasty biscuits... the aroma which they emanate when they bake its sublime ... Makes an excellent snack for kids, great for tea parties and other informal occasions. Hmmm.... Here goes the recipe.

Prep time: 20 mins

Bake time: 15 to 20 mins

Servings: 16 to 20 pieces.

Ingredients:

1. All purpose flour/Maida - 2 Cups
2. Unsalted Butter/oil - 3/4 cups, if you use oil 1/4 to close to 1/2 cup will be enough. If you use slated butter, use less salt or no slat depending on your taste.
3. Salt - 1 tsp
4. Sugar - 2 tsp
5. Baking powder - 1 1/2 tsp
6. Yogurt - 2tbsp or the amount needed to make the dough.
7. Cilantro/ coriander leaves - 1/2 tbsp finely chopped
8. Green chillies - 6 to 8 finely chopped
9. Curry Leaves - 1/2 tbsp finely chopped
10. Dry feugreek leaves/kasuri methi - 1 tsp or you can use fresh finely chopped leaves 1/2 tbsp(optional)
11. Mint - 1/2 tbsp finely chopped (Optional) 
12. Dill leaves - 1/2 tbsp finely chopped (optional)
13. Carom seeds/ ajwain - 1/2 tsp 
14. Grated Ginger - 1/2 tsp

Method:

• Sieve the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder into a large plate or tray which will enable you to work with the flour easily.
• To the sieved flour, add pieces of butter and rub till the flour forms granules like semolina/rava. If you use oil, please use 1/2 the given quantity first. If you use all of it at once, it may make the dough instantly.. this will do the recipe no good. Keep in mind, you may not need all the oil...if 1/4 to 1/2 cup works then just use that. The oil absorption depends on the flour. The whole point is to blend fat and flour together to make a semolina like consistency.
• Now add all the chopped ingredients and rub a little more. Keep in mind to  do so gently, if you apply a lot of pressure while rubbing, the texture of the biscuit will go hard.
• Add yogurt little by little and start to make the dough. It should form a ball like the pie crust or chapati dough. You may need less or more yogurt to make the dough, so add it carefully.
• Now Divide the roll into two balls and roll them to 1/2 cm thick sheet. 
• Cut the Biscuits out into your desired shape and repeat the same process for the rest of the dough. You can use biscuit cutter to give them interesting shapes...
• Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and dust a cookie sheet or a baking tray, arrange all these Cookies in it. Be sure to leave a little space between each of them as they expand while baking.
• Set it on the middle rack of the oven and bake it for 15 to 20 minutes or till you see a light brown bottom of the cookie and golden brown top... 

They are ready to eat as soon as they cool.

Tips:

Use cold butter for extra flaky texture.

I have used less oil or butter coz i wanted to make it low fat. You may use slightly more butter if you need. I have used Whole wheat flour as well, you can try blending, 1/2 of all purpose and whole wheat...All whole wheat flour takes away from the good taste. If you are baking it for the first time, use all purpose flour, next trial you can use whole wheat or blend  :D.

Chocolate, Rum & Raisin cake....

The name says the good stuff in this goody bake. This is one of the best moist cake recipes' I have ever baked or eaten. Moist dose not mean juicy, Juicy cake is different... this is soft and moist. I Used a recipe of Ina Garten to get the cake it's moisture and added my twist to take it in a different direction. This recipe will yield a huge cake... Good as a party cake (not for kids). If you want to bake this cake for kids, just eliminate the rum part. Use finely chopped dry fruits and nuts. You may notice,I almost never frost my cakes, even if i do, it is with whipped cream and a very thin layer, reasons being... I do not want the extra fat and sugar from the icing/frosting and fondant, and secondly, the food colours are so bad. lot of chemicals. If you want to decorate your cake, one tip from me is, use less of icing if possible and always use fruit pulp to colour your icing [whenever you can].

Prep time: 15 Mins

Bake time: 30 - 40 Mins

Servings: Upto 12

Ingredients:

1. All-purpose flour - 1 3/4 cups plus more for pans for dusting 
2. Sugar - 2 cups
3. Good cocoa powder - 3/4 cups
4. Baking soda - 2 tsp
5. Baking powder - 1 tsp
6. Salt - 1 teaspoon
7. Buttermilk, shaken - 1 cup 
8. Vegetable oil - 1/2 cup + a little more for greasing 
9. Eggs - 2 at room temperature [you can use just the egg whites, I did the same. Not the egg substitute, it makes cake very hard. Just separate yolk from white]
10. Vanilla essences - 1 tsp
11. 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee or boil 1 cup water and pour it over 1 1/2 tbsp of instant coffee.
12. Golden raisins - 1/4 cup
13. Spiced rum [or any rum] - 3/4 cup (optional)
14. Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp or 1/2 inch stick
15. Nutmeg powder - 1/2 tsp
16. Cloves - 3
17. All spice powder - 1/2 tsp  

Method:

• Typically you will need to soak the raisins in rum and all the spices for at least 20 - 40(max) days before you bake the cake. If by chance you can't, soak it atleast for 24 hrs. Mix all the spices, rum and raisins in an air tight jar and keep it some place cool to marinate well. Do not keep it in direct sunlight... 
• Stiff all the dry ingredients together. like, flour, sugar, coco powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
• In a big bowl, first beat the eggs till they get frothy next add vanilla essence and beat for a few more seconds.
• Add butter milk in small batches and beat till well incorporate.
• Add  Oil  and beat till well incorporated. 
• Now add dry ingredients in 4 batches till all of it is well incorporated.
• Pour coffee into the batter and fold it gently till it gets well mixed.
• Drain the raisins into a bowl (keep the rum) now sprinkle raisins with some all purpose flour and toss them till they get well coated. Add them to the batter and slowly fold them till they get evenly distributed. Do not over do this process.
• Preheat oven to 350F/175F, grease and dust  big baking pan or pans (2, 8 inch), pour the batter in it/them [if you are making two then divide the batter equally ]
• Bake for 30 - 40 minutes or till the toothpick or some thin stick you insert in the cake comes out dry.
• Cool completely and pour the rum all over the cake and let it soak for an hour before you enjoy it. If you want to frost, do it when the cake is warm. If you want to use whipped cream icing or icing, do it when cake is completely cooled.

Tips:

Exclude rum for kids and just bake a dry fruit and nut cake. Just finely cop all the dry fruits and nuts, do toss them in the flour and fold them into batter before you pour into the baking pan. Use all the spices and coffee mentioned.

You can eliminate coco powder and bake a plain cake.. you will have to eliminate coffee as well when not using coco. If you want to add coffee, just add 2 tsp of instant coffee powder with the eggs and beat well.

For egg substitute.. visit http://tipnut.com/egg-substitutes/ ... Substitutes may not work as good as eggs themselves. Please try any of them and let me know if they do work like eggs...

General Info:

Eggs in a recipe may provide for moisture, binding or to incorporate air in the dish. So when you use egg substitutes, think of the purpose of the eggs in that particular recipe, binding/airiness/moisture and then use the substitute accordingly. Fruit sauces are good binders and moisture providers. Baking soda substitutes provide airiness and so forth...

Mango Cream cake

 I baked this cake just like that, no special occasion. I bought this new baking pan and had to use it, so baked a sponge cake and layered it with mango whipped cream. As simple as it sounds, it tastes amazing. This cake will make you want more.... My idea was to make a mousse cake, turns out, to make mousse we need gelatin. I don't like to use gelatin and the fancy gelatin substitutes like, pectin and agar-agar are not readily available where I live, so dropped the mousse idea and made it work as cream... I almost never use food colour in my cream or cakes or decorations as we eat lot of chemicals unknowingly, why should I add some with my knowledge. I don't like to use a lot of icing and fondant coz, they have a lot of sugar and some fondants have gelatin as well.... So it is up to you to make the cake decorations and fillings, however, baking the cake must be followed as it is given.

Prep time: 20 minutes

Bake time: 15 to 20 minutes

Serving: 8 to 10

Ingredients:

For sponge cake:

1. All purpose flour - 1/2 cup + 2 heaping tsp (for later use, not with the half cup)

2. Baking powder - 1/2 tsp [measure flat, not a heaped]

3. Sugar - 1/2 cup

4. Eggs - 2

5. Egg yolks - 2

6. Oil/molten butter - 2 tbsp

7. Vanilla essence - 1 tsp [substitute with the flavour of your choice. Vanilla blends with almost anything]

For whipped cream:

1. Heavy Cream - 1/2 pint

2. Mango puree - 1 cup

3. Sugar - 2 tsp

Method:

To bake the sponge cake:

1. Stiff* flour and baking powder into a big bowl and set aside.

2. In two small bowls, separate the 2 egg yolks from whites. In order to do so, crack the egg's shell, gently and slowly break the shell with out piercing the yolk over a bowl. Let the white flow out of the shell into a bowl, transfer the yolk into another half of the shell and let the remaining yolk flow out. Repeat the some process with the other egg. Put the whites away. Add these yolks to a large bowl. Crack the other two eggs into it, add vanilla and beat them till they get frothy.

3. Add some sugar and beat till it gets dissolved. Repeat the process till all the sugar is used and when you lift the beater, the egg-sugar mixture must form ribbons.

4. Now add 1/4 of the stiffed flour, and beat till it blends completely. Repeat the process till all the flour is well incorporated.

5. In a small bowl, pour the oil and add 2 tsp heaps of all purpose flour, mix it well incorporated and add to the cake batter. Beat till it gets well mixed.

6. Preheat* oven to 400F for 15 minutes. While the oven is heating, grease* and dust* the baking pan you want to use. ( 9inch rectangle or an 8 inch round) pan. Pour the batter in and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. You will know the cake is done when u insert a stick in the middle of the cake and it comes out dry. Cool completely before you taking out of the pan.

7. You can bake the batter in 2 separate pans, if you do not want to cut the same cake into half.

8. After the cake cools, take it out of the pan, cut it in to half horizontally with a sharp knife. Be very careful not to break the layers while doing so.

9. Pour some mango pulp on the inside of bottom layer, spread it around with a spoon and add dollops of mango whipped cream (method given below). Spread it evenly. Place the other half of the cake on top, repeat the same process. And cover the sides of the cake with remaining whipped cream. Or you can pipe it into nice design on top and sided of your cake.

10. Place the cake covered in the fridge 4 hours before you can serve. 

Method to make Whipped Cream:

1. In a big bowl, pour heavy cream and sugar and beat till it forms soft peaks. You will know when the cream turns fluffy soft and when you pull out the whisk the cream should point up.

2. From the reminder of mango pulp and 1 tbsp of it and fold* it into the whipped cream. Repeat the process till you incorporate 3 to 4 tbsp of mango pulp. and the whipped cream is ready.

Serving suggestions:

You can serve this cake with some chocolate syrup drizzled all over. Or with some mango slices or some chopped nuts drizzled on top or all of it.

Tips:

1. To whip the cream, use a ice cube bed i,e. In a large plate which can hold up to 10 ice cubes, put the ice cubes and place the cream bowl on top and whip for faster results, Never put whipped cream on warm or hot cake. It will melt. The cake has to be 100% cool to work with whipped cream.

2. You can use mango Ice cream instead of mango whipped cream and make an ice cream cake. Decorate it the way you want. It will make a great birthday or any special occasions cake. Not only mango ice cream, you can layer any ice cream between these cake layers. Make more layers for more fancy cake. This is a basic cake recipe and can be used to make a wide range of cakes. Shall post all the recipes when I make them.

* Refer Glossary

Cannoli Cake

Cannoli is a sweet cheese filling usually filled in a deep fried tubes. Cannoli can be of different kinds and flavours. I baked a orange flavoured cake and layered this filling and frosted the cake with some whipped cream for my husbands birthday... He loved it. There are many ways to make this cake, my husband loves the citrus taste, so i used a lot of orange in the cake. So here goes the recipe, bake and enjoy.

Prep time: 45 mins

Bake time: 40 mins

Decoration time: 40 mins

Servings: 12 to 16

Ingredients:

1. Eggs - 4
2. Sugar - 3/4 Cup
3. All-purpose flour - 1 cup
4. Butter or margarine - 1/2 cup /(1 stick) melted and cooled

6. Orange juice - 2 tsp

7. Orange zest* - 2 tsp

8. Baking Powder - 2 tsp

9. Salt - 1 pinch

10. Orange\vanilla\Almond essence - 2 tsp

11. Orange chopped into little bits - 3 tsp (optional)
12.  Ricotta Filling - given below

13. Whipped Cream Frosting - given below


Read here on how to chop orange from.

Ricotta Filling:

1. Ricotta Cheese (Skim milk)- 2 cups (15 oz.)
2. Sugar - 3 Tbsp.
3. Vanilla essence - 1-1/2 tsp.
4. Heavy cream - 1 cup, whipped
5. Semi sweet mini chocolate chips - 1 cup

Whipped Cream Frosting:

1. Heavy cream - 2 cups
2. Powdered sugar - 2 Tbsp.
3. Vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp.

Method:

To bake the cake:

1. Take flour, baking soda and salt, sieve them twice and keep aside. 

2. Break the eggs into a big container in which you can prepare the cake batter, beat them till they get very frothy. 

3. Add little sugar and beat till it's well incorporated, do it till all the sugar is mixed well. Now Add the essence and zest*, beat well. Add the butter in small portions and beat well till all of it gets well incorporated.

4. Now add the flour mixture in 4 batches. Every time you add, make sure you mix it well in the liquid mixture. Grease* and dust* a 8 inch round baking pan and pour the cake batter into it. Do not rub the mixture down in the pan to spread it evenly. Instead, hold the pan with both hands and pat it down on a flat surface so that the mixture spreads evenly. Preheat* the oven to 350F/ 180C, place the pan on the middle rack of the oven and let it bake for 40 minutes. You will know it is done when you insert a tooth pick or a thin stick into the middle of the cake and it comes out dry and clean.

5. Let the cake cool completely before you do any thing else with it.

To make Ricotta Filling: Beat Ricotta cheese, sugar and vanilla on medium speed in bowl with electric mixer 3 minutes. Fold in whipped cream and chocolate chips.

To make Whipped Cream Frosting: Beat cream on high speed in bowl with electric mixer until soft peaks form. Beat in sugar and vanilla.

To layer and frost: Cut cake in half horizontally using sharp serrated knife. Cut each layer in half again horizontally. Place 1 layer on serving platter; spread with one-third Ricotta filling. Repeat procedure, ending with cake layer. No sooner than 6 hours before serving, frost sides and top of cake with all but 1 cup frosting. Decorate with remaining frosting, chopped chocolate and fruit. Refrigerate until serving time. 

Tips:

1. You may add a few orange fruit bits to the cake. To do that, chop the orange into small bits, take a tsp of flour and lightly mix these bits into it. This will ensure all the bits are evenly spread in the mixture, or all of them will deposit in the bottom of the cake.
2. Do not use egg substitute for this cake, makes the cake slightly hard and it also has a funny chemical taste.

* Please refer glossary

Banana Oatmeal Cookies

 

What do you do when you have lot of bananas and people who wont eat them? You bake them into cookies. This recipe is fast and easy... I saw it on a web site and turned it into my own recipe by making a few changes. A good idea to make it a fun time with kids, they can help making these cookies and they will enjoy it too.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 25 minutes

Pieces: about 12 to 15

Ingredients:

1. Instant oats - 2 cups (do not worry about plain or flavoured, if any flavour goes with banana, just use it. I used plain and maple brown sugar).

2. Bananas - 2 ripe

3. Sugar - 1/3 cup if you like it more sweeter, use a tsp or 2 more.

4. Any light oil - 1/3 cup

5. Nutmeg Powder - 1 tsp

6. Cocoa Powder - 1/2 cup

7. Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

8. Chopped dates or walnut - 1/3 cup (optional)

Method:

1. Heat oven on 375F/190C for 10 minutes. 

2. While the oven is heating, mix well all the ingredients together.

3. take a nonstick baking sheet, take a spoonful of the cookie dough, put it on the baking sheet and slightly press it down.

4. After adding sufficient amount of dough on sheet, put it in the oven and let it bake for 20 to 25 minutes or till well done.

5. Take 'em out of the oven, let 'em cool and enjoy.