Nutty Doodh Peda / Nutty milk fudge

If you google microwave doodh peda, you will get  many hits. Most of them use milk powder, butter, condensed milk. When I made it for the first time some time back, I had added shredded coconut to it for a change and I liked it very much. Recently, I ate a burfi in someone's place. People ask me to guess what it is and when I said milk peda, the host said I am wrong and it is badam burfi. I couldn't believe it so asked her the recipe. What she told was the recipe of microwave doodh peda but with almonds added. I added cashews for a change. My whole family loved it. This is an easy recipe, so you can make it in a jiffy. But beware, this is addictive. Since it is one of those sweets which is not sickeningly sweet, it is hard to stop eating it.

Ingredients: 
Condensed milk - 1 can (You could use low fat or fat free)
Non fat dry milk powder - 2 cups
1 cup of nuts toasted, powdered - I used cashews here. Use nuts of your choice
Butter - 1 stick or 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Saffron - few strands (optional)

Method:
Take a deep microwavable bowl. Melt butter in it. Take the toasted, cooled nuts in a blender jar.
Add dry milk powder to it and pulse. It need not be a fine powder. Coarse powder adds a texture to the end product. Go ahead and powder it fine if that is how you like it. Add the condensed milk to the melted butter and dump all the dry mix to it. Mix well and microwave for 5 minutes at 1 minute intervals. (My microwave is not a very powerful one, stop microwaving when you see color change in the mixture. It took 5 minutes in mine, but might be more or less in yours.) Stir between each interval. Add powdered cardamom, saffron if using and mix well. Let it cool for 10 minutes.

To shape:
Either you can grease your hands with some ghee and shape into pedas. I used the easier method of pouring into a 8" square pan lined with wax paper. Smooth and let it set for about 30 minutes before cutting. It actually becomes easier to cut if you put it in the refrigerator for some time. Either make them into squares or use cookie cutters to get pretty shapes. Keep it refrigerated.

Enjoy.

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Pumpkin Chocolate Bars

My favorite time of the year has started. Autumn is my favorite time of the year. Even when the falling leaves leave the trees bare and the ground gets covered with dry leaves, it has its own beauty. Don't you think? And what other way to celebrate the start of the season by baking these pumpkin bars? For a foodie, it is perfect. These are soft cookie kind of bars but are a bit cakey. The original recipe was for the cookies with butter and different method of mixing and baking. I simplified the recipe and made them into a pan cookie recipe. However it was made, it turned out delicious.

One Year Back - Vegan Navaratna Kurma
Two Years Back - Sweet Couscous and Apple Salad
Three Years Back - Sweet Milk Rolls/BunsAdapted widely from the book 'the complete baking cookbook' by George Geary
Ingredients: 
All purpose flour - 2 1/2 cups
Sugar - 1 1/2 cups
Baking Soda - 1 tsp
Baking Powder - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Egg - 1 large
Oil - 1/2 cup
Pumpkin puree - 1 cup (store bought or home made)
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Semi sweet chocolate chips or chunks - 1 cup
Optional - 1 cup nuts like walnuts or pecans (I didn't add any)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray a 13 X 9 pan with vegetable oil spray. Set aside. In a bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder. In another bowl, whisk together oil, egg, sugar, pumpkin puree. Stir in vanilla. Slowly add the dry ingredients to wet and mix gently. Mix till there are no streaks of dry flour left. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts (if using). Dump the contents to the pan and smooth with a spatula. Bake for 28 - 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on the wire rack in the pan. Slice when completely cool.
This post is written for weekend cooking post that I write with Srivalli  and  Vaishali.    
Enjoy.

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Vegan Date Walnut Loaf

Mildly sweet with chock-full of dates and walnuts is what describes this loaf cake. It is a perfect balance between cake and bread.  

One Year Back -  Peanut butter cookies
Two Years Back - Avocado Brioche, Roasted Banana Ice cream
Three Years Back - Deep fried cracker ( Nippattu )
Adapted from 500 Cakes by Susannah Blake
Ingredients: 
All purpose flour - 2 cups
Baking Powder - 3 tsp (1 TBSP)
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1/2 cup (Or use 1/4 cup applesauce and 1/4 cup oil)
Boiling Water - 3/4 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup (Or light brown sugar)
Vanilla - 1 tsp (Or use any spice powder 1 tsp like cinnamon, cardamom etc)
Pitted dates - 1 cup chopped (about 20 - 24 whole pitted dates)
Walnuts - 1/2 cup chopped
Flax meal - 1 TBSP mixed with 3 TBSP of warm water (or use 1 large egg for a non vegan version)

Method:
Take chopped dates in a bowl. Pour boiling water over it (Measure the water after it has boiled).  Let it sit till the mixture cools down to room temperature, about 30 - 40 minutes. Spray a 8 X 4 loaf pan with vegetable oil spray. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 F (325 in case of non stick or dark pan). In a bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and spice powder if using. Set aside. In another bowl, whisk together sugar, oil and the flax mixture. Stir in vanilla. Add the date and water mixture and flour mixture alternating whisking slowly till no dry flour streaks are left. Stir in walnuts. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50 - 60 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn it on to wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea.

Notes:
I used a 9 X 5 pan which is a little bit too big for this amount of batter. That is the reason for short loaf.

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Badam Halwa / Almond Pudding

Sometime back, one of my friends had a birthday party at her place. She had made her husband drive an hour to get few dishes from a known restaurant. I told her it is not worth driving so much until she uncovered the Badam Halwa from that restaurant. I tasted one spoon and declared it was worth it to drive that distance for that halwa. But, what I didn't like was the quarter inch ghee floating on the top. Here is a version that doesn't have too much ghee but tastes delicious. If you are one of those lucky skinny ones who can eat like a horse and not gain weight, add 1/4 - 1/3 cup more ghee.

One Year Back - Peanut Butter Cookies
Two Years Back - Avocado Brioche, Roasted Banana Ice cream
Three Years Back - Deep fried cracker ( Nippattu )Ingredients:
Almonds (whole) - 2 1/2 cups (You could already blanched almonds)
Milk - 3/4 - 1 cup
Sugar - 2 cups (You can use 2 1/2 cups but I don't like overly sweet dessert)
Ghee - 1/2 cup (You could use up to 3/4 cup)
Saffron - few strands
Food coloring - few drops (optional. Use yellow or orange)
Cardamom - 10 powdered

Method:
Blanch the almonds: (If using blanched almonds, skip this step)
Take all the almonds in a saucepan. Cover with enough water so that water is an inch above the almonds. Place it on the heat and let the water come to a boil. Let it boil for 3 minutes or so. Turn off the heat and drain all the hot water and add cold water to the same pan. Let it sit for 5 - 10 minutes. You will see the skin wrinkle up and it will be very easy to peel just by pressing the almond between the fingers. Drain the almonds in a colander.

Making the Halwa:
Take the blanched almonds in a blender and add little by little milk to make a coarse paste. Try to get the coarse cornmeal or Rawa kind of a texture. Set aside.
In a nonstick pan, heat 2 TBSP of ghee. To this, add the ground paste and keep on stirring to prevent sticking and burning. Add sugar, saffron and mix well. It will splatter every where so keep the heat medium and keep on stirring continuously. After about 10 minutes, you can add the rest of the ghee and continue stirring. When the halwa is done, it will be the consistency of the thick pudding and the mixture will ooze out ghee. It also will stop sticking to the pan. Add Cardamom powder and few drops of food coloring if desired and mix well and turn off. Transfer the contents to a different dish to cool. Serve at room temperature. You could mold them into different shapes if you have the cute molds. Or spread between two sheets of wax paper and cut them into desired shape. They won't be hard as burfi. They are more like soft peda consistency.

Notes:
I did initial cooking in the microwave. Take 2 TBSP of ghee, ground paste and sugar and mix well in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high heat for 20 minutes in the interval of 5 minutes. Then transfer the contents to the non stick pan and proceed with the stove top method.

Enjoy.

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Vegan Banana Walnut Cake ( Low Fat, Low Sugar)

What makes a cake moist? Most of the times it is sugar and fat that makes and keeps a cake moist. If the challenge is to make a cake that is low in both fat and sugar, it indeed becomes a challenge. I attempted making this kind of cake so that I can share this with someone who happens to be diabetic. If you are looking for a rich, very sweet cake, this recipe is not for you. I do have tons of other cake recipes and you can try them. But, if you want to eat something lightly sweet as a snack but don't want to feel guilty, then this might interest you.

One Year Back - Lentil Pulav / Masoor Pulav
Two Years Back - Oatmeal Bread
Three Years Back - Zucchini Bread
Adapted from Weight Watcher's
Ingredients: 
Whole Wheat Flour - 1 cup
All purpose flour - 1 1/4 cups
Corn Starch - 1/4 cup
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Baking Soda - 2 tsp
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Oil - 1/3 cup
Vanilla - 2 tsp
Walnuts - 1/2 - 3/4 cup chopped coarsely
Mashed banana - 1 1/2 cups ( about 4 large bananas )

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray a 10 cup bundt pan with vegetable oil spray. Or use two 8 X 4 loaf pans or 4 mini loaf pans. In a bowl, whisk together both flours, salt, corn starch and baking soda. Set aside. In another bowl, beat together banana, oil, sugar. Stir in the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix gently. Stir in the walnuts and fold without over mixing the batter. This batter is very thick. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 28 - 30 minutes in case of mini loaf pans or 40 - 45 minutes in case of a 10 cup bundt pan. Check if the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn on to the rack to cool completely.

Notes:
This is not a dessert cake. It is more like a snack cake that goes perfectly with a cup of coffee, tea or milk.

Enjoy.

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Plum Cake

My kids are funny when it comes to eating any baked good with fruit in it. Particularly the ones where the fruit are in chunks rather than as a puree. I had seen a plum cake using almond meal in a magazine. That picture looked so good that I was tempted to bake a cake with plums. Since I had liked the recipe of Strawberry Cake that I had baked two years back, I used the same recipe with minimal changes and used plums instead of strawberries. I loved the cake and kids ate around the fruit and loved the cake part of it.

One Year Back - Zucchini Chocolate Bread
Two Years Back - Vegan Carrot bread
Three Years Back - Chocolate Zucchini Cake
Adapted from here.
Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 1 1/2 cups
Baking powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Sugar - 1 cup
Turbinado sugar to top - 4 TBSP (I was out of raw sugar so used regular granulated sugar)
Oil - 1/3 cup
Milk - 1/2 cup
Egg - 1 large
Vanilla - 1 tsp
Plums - 6 or 7 pitted and halved

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C). 325 in case of a glass or non stick pan. Butter a 10" pie pan. You could use a 9" spring form pan instead.  In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt. Set aside. Whisk oil, sugar and egg till well mixed. Stir in vanilla. Add flour mixture alternating with milk starting and ending with flour while continuing to beat slowly. When there is no dry flour streaks left and the mixture is uniform, pour into the prepared pan and smooth with a spatula to cover the entire pan. Place the plums cut side down all over the cake in a pattern. I could have used more plums than what I did but I was afraid of the batter overflowing if I used too many. Bake for 40 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 325 F (160 C). Bake for 10 more minutes or till a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. . Cool on the rack in the pan completely. Slice when cool.

Enjoy.

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Creamy Frozen berry bars

I guess I have been making too many Popsicles. Do you blame me when it is so hot out there and it is just the beginning of July. Don't really know how hot it will get later this month and the rest of this summer. Coming to this recipe, my kids didn't like it that much because of the skin and its grainy texture. If your kids are picky like that, make sure you strain the berry puree before mixing with the milk and the condensed milk to get a smooth popsicle. Myself and my neighbor's kids did enjoy them though.

One Year Back - Easy cupcake decorating ideas, Almond poppy seed veggie rice
Two Years Back - Honey Cardamom Ice cream
Three Years Back - Spicy Dill Biscuits
Ingredients: 
Blueberries - 1 cup
Strawberries - hulled and chopped 2 cups
Milk - 1/2 cup
Condensed milk - 1 can (fat free would do)

Method:
Take all the berries in a blender or a food processor jar and puree it. Add milk after it is pureed and mix. Slowly add the condensed milk and pulse until everything is mixed properly. Freeze in the popsicle mold or small cups.

Notes:
You could use any berry of your choice. If not using strawberries, increase the berries to a total of 4 cups. Strawberries have much more pulp than other berries, so they work fine with less.

Enjoy.

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Orange Sherbet Bars / Creamy Orange popsicles

When I see people in the grocery store with the list of ingredients used for a recipe, I get surprised. At the same time, I envy them since they are so organized and buy exactly whatever is needed. I not only buy things that I need, but also things I 'might need' and then end up using it because it is going bad. Same happened the other day. I had few condensed milk cans that I had bought thinking I would need them for something. They will be expiring in a month or so and the result of that is this popsicle. I prefer this over ice cream since it is quick and easy to make and serving is a breeze. This one is not too sweet and not very strong in flavor. It was liked by all at home.

One Year Back - Vegan Mango Coconut Cake
Two Years Back - Chocolate Strawberry Muffins
Three Years Back - Zucchini Kootu

Ingredients: (Makes about 15 - 16 popsicles if filled in 3 Oz cups little more than 3/4th full)
Condensed milk - 1 can (fat free would do)
Orange Juice - 1 1/2 cups (I used juice from the carton, but freshly squeezed would be better)
Half and Half - 1 1/2 cups (Whole milk or heavy cream would work too)

Method:
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Whisk well until the condensed milk blends in with the rest of the liquid. To make it easy, you could use a blender and mix. Pour into popsicle molds or in my case, 3 Oz dixie cups. Freeze until solid and serve.
This post is written for weekend cooking post that I write with Srivalli  and  Vaishali, 

Notes:
I used orange juice from the carton since my kids would refuse it if they found pulp in the fresh juice. If you love orange flavor, you could add about 2 TBSP of orange zest to it. Or use some orange extract to intensify the flavor. I was kind of trying to hide the strong flavor so didn't add any.

Enjoy.

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Vanilla and Chocolate Instant Pudding Mix

When I go grocery shopping with my kid, one of the things she asks me to buy her are the pudding. My older one likes vanilla pudding and the younger one likes chocolate. Luckily, the pudding cups come in combination of these two flavors so, if I buy a pack of these, both are happy. I always wanted to make pudding at home since the store bought ones are pretty high in sugar. I have made them before but this one was the quickest way by making the mix. With this mix, you can make pudding in about 10 minutes. They are less sweeter than the store bought ones, so increase the sugar to your taste.

Adapted from various sources.
One Year Back - Strawberry Coconut Milk Shake
Two Years Back - Easiest Vanilla Cake, Cream Cheese Brioche
Three Years Back - Sweet Ricotta Loaf, Eggless Banana Chocolate Chip Bread


Vanilla Pudding Mix:
Ingredients:
Sugar - 1 cup
Corn Starch - 3/4 cup
Non fat dry milk powder - 3/4 cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Vanilla Bean - 2 whole (Or use vanilla extract about a tsp every time you make the pudding using half cup of dry mix)

Method:
Slit open the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds and disperse them in the sugar. Cut the vanilla bean in 2" and add it to the jar. Add the rest of the ingredients to the same jar. Make sure everything is mixed well. .  You will have to remove the vanilla bean (skin part) that you have cut and added while making the pudding. You can skip this if you are going to use vanilla extract while making the pudding.

To make the pudding:
For every 1/2 cup of mix, use 2 cups of milk. In a heavy bottomed saucepan, mix cold milk with the measured mix. Whisk to combine and keep it on the heat. Keep stirring continuously and bring it to a boil on moderately high heat. When it starts boiling, reduce the heat to simmer. Keep whisking till you see that the mixture is thickening and can coat the back of a spoon. Turn off the heat and serve after cooling for at least 15 minutes. Refrigerate the left overs and use.


Chocolate Pudding Mix:
Ingredients:
Sugar - 1 1/4 cups
Corn Starch - 1 cup
Non fat dry milk powder - 1 cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Cocoa - 3/4 cup

Method:
In a jar, combine all the ingredients together. Make sure they are mixed well.

To make the pudding:
For every 1/2 cup of mix, use 2 cups of milk. In a heavy bottomed saucepan, mix cold milk with the measured mix. Whisk to combine and keep it on the heat. Keep stirring continuously and bring it to a boil on moderately high heat. When it starts boiling, reduce the heat to simmer. Keep whisking till you see that the mixture is thickening and can coat the back of a spoon. Turn off the heat and serve after cooling for at least 15 minutes. Refrigerate the left overs and use.

Special Note:
Lot of countries do not have commercially available instant pudding mix. Many cake recipes that use box mixes ask for the pudding mix. I want to experiment those recipes using this mix. But if any of you try it before I do, please let me know.

Enjoy.

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Hayagreeva / Lentil and poppy seeds dessert

This weekend, I had company. On the top of it, it was Tamil New Year on Sunday. Since I had to cook a few different dishes for a few more people than usual, I choose this as the quick and easy dessert. This is actually a dessert that is famous in Madhwa community in Karnataka. Very similar to Akki Kadalebele Payasa but with few additions, few deletions.

One Year Back - Gulab Jamun - easier version, Science of Baking - Cookies
Two Years Back - Honey Cardamom Snack Cake
Three Years Back - Baklava, Eggless Pumpkin Brioche
Ingredients: 
Bengal gram dal/dehusked split chickpea lentil - 1 1/2 cups
Jaggery - 1 1/2 - 2 cups (depending on how sweet the jaggery is and your taste preference)
Clarified butter / Ghee - 1/4 - 1/3 cup
Cashews - 1/4 cup (you can use more)
Raisins - 1/4 cup (you can use more if you prefer)
Poppy seeds - 3 TBSP
Cardamom - 8 crushed into powder
Dry coconut grated/ Kobbari / Copra - 3/4 cup (you could use up to 1 cup)

Method:
Wash and rinse the bengal gram dal. Add 4 1/2 cups of water to it and pressure cook till soft and mushy. When the pressure cooker is getting cooled, heat jaggery with little water to make a syrup. Let it boil and start frothing. Add the cooked dal/lentil to the jaggery syrup and stir well. If there is a lot of water along with the cooked lentil, it will take some time for it to thicken. Add grated dry coconut to it once it has thickened a little. When the mixture is at the consistency of your liking, heat ghee/clarified butter in a different saucepan. Toast cashews and raisins in it. After raisins are plumped up, add poppy seeds to ghee. Mix well and let the poppy seeds pop. It will pop in few seconds. Turn off the heat of the sauce pan and add the contents to the lentil jaggery mixture and stir well. Add cardamom powder and after few minutes, turn off the heat. Consistency of this dessert should be more like a soup when hot. You should be able to ladle it very easily. It thickens a little after it cools down.

Check out what my two friends are cooking as weekend special - Srivalli , Vaishal.
Enjoy.

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10 minute Mango Cake using box mix

What do you do when you have exactly 3 hours to clean your house, cook lunch, gets kid ready and then make some snacks for the friends who are coming over? I know, open few chips packets, crackers, and drinks, make coffee/ tea for the guests. But then I won't be me, right?
I decided on making a spicy bread for adults, and a cake of flavor that Indians love - mango. So, there went the baking spree of mine. I made cake mix blondies for kids, made this cake while the dough for spicy bread was getting ready in the bread machine and I could clean and cook at the same time. This cake takes just ten minutes to make batter and slide the pan into the oven. Very moist, and you won't taste the box mix in it. See Notes for changing this recipe to use fresh or frozen mangoes. It will increase the time if you decide to go that route though. This is based on the famous cake mix extender recipe floating around the internet.

One Year Back - White Bean Dip/Spread with Indian spices
Two Years Back - Granola Bars
Three Years Back - Avocado Focaccia, Vegan Rice crispy Treats
Ingredients:
Cake mix box (Yellow or white) - 1 (Any brand will do. I usually use pillsbury or betty crocker)
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Eggs - 3 large ( You can just use  egg whites from 4 large eggs instead)
Sugar - 1/2 cup (see Notes)
Baking Soda - 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Mango pulp - 1 cup (Sweetened mango pulp - See Notes)
Water - 1 cup
Oil - 1/4 cup
Cardamom powder - powder of 6 pods or use vanilla if you prefer that 2 tsp extract 

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 9 X 13 cake pan. Or use two 9" round pans. In a bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cake mix, salt and baking soda. Add cardamom powder is using and whisk. Dump oil, eggs in the center and start beating using a hand mixer at low setting. Add the mixture of water and mango pulp and continue to beat till everything is mixed well. Do not over mix. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 40 - 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. This time is for
9 X 13 pan. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then turn it on to the rack to cool completely.  I didn't even take it out of the pan. I let it cool completely in the pan and cut into squares in the pan when cooled.

Notes:
If using fresh or frozen mangoes to make a puree, use 1 cup of puree and increase the sugar from 1/2 cup to 1 cup. The rest remains same. You might have to bake for few minutes longer since fresh pulp will have more water content than the canned pulp.

Enjoy.

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Coconut Poppy Seed Coffee Cake

This is the last post of mine for this year and this bake-a-thon 2012. With too many baked goods in the house due to this bake-a-thon, it was a challenge not to make too many so that there is always something on the counter. I wish everyone a very HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013 and may all be safe, healthy and kind. Enjoy this virtual treat of Coconut Poppy Seed coffee cake and bid 2012 a good bye.

One Year Back -  Savory Apple Onion Galette with yeast
Two years back - Cake Decorating Basics - Part 10
Three Years Back - Rave Unde (Rava Laddoo)


Adapted barely from Perfect light desserts by Nick Malgieri and David Joachim  (makes one 9" round cake)
Ingredients: 
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Poppy seeds - 1/4 cup
Sweetened flaked coconut - 3/4 cup
Baking Powder - 1 tsp
Eggs - 3 large
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Oil - 1/2 cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Yogurt - 1 cup
Vanilla - 1 tsp (It was not in the original recipe)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 9" round cake pan. Set aside. In a bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, poppy seeds and flaked coconut. Set aside. In another bowl, beat eggs, sugar and oil together till well incorporated. Add the dry ingredients alternating with yogurt starting and ending with flour mixture. Add vanilla and beat one more time. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on the wire rack for 10 minutes and then turn it on to the wire rack to cool completely. This is not a very sweet cake and goes very well with some milk or coffee.

Notes:
I made 1/3rd of the recipe and baked in 4" ramekins to get two small cakes as seen in the picture.

Check out what my friends are baking -  Preethi, Veena, Priya, Srivalli,  Sumana and Jayasri. Thank you ladies for sharing my obsession for baking and baking with me the whole month.
Enjoy.

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Cheesecake Blondies

I have been baking for more than a decade now. I have made more than my share of blondies and brownies. This is the best of the lot. If I tell you that this tastes like out of this world, I am not exaggerating. Try it yourself if you don't believe me.

One Year Back -  Coconut bars, Tutti Fruity Muffins
Two Years Back - Cake Decorating Basics Part - 9
Three Years Back - Cake Decorating Basics Part - 3
Adapted from - Simply Recipes
Ingredients: 
Cream Cheese - 8 Oz block (I used 1/3 fat) - softened
Oil - 1/3 cup (Or use melted butter 1/2 cup)
Sugar - 1 cup
Egg - 1 large (Ener-G egg replacer works fine)
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Baking Soda - 1/8 tsp
Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Vanilla - 1 tsp
Optional (I used):
Macadamia nuts - chopped and measured 1/2 cup (Could use walnuts or omit)
White chocolate chips - 1/2 cup (You could use semi sweet or milk chocolate chips)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 8" square pan or line with parchment paper. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, beat sugar, oil and cream cheese till creamy. Add egg, vanilla and beat till everything is mixed well. Add the dry ingredients in one go and continue to beat. When the beater starts resisting, switch to spatula and add the chocolate chips and macadamia nuts and fold. Pour into the prepared pan. This is very sticky and thick dough. Smooth the top with spatula. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until the top looks pale golden with brown spots here and there. It will also start to pull from the sides of the pan. Check with the toothpick and if very few crumbs come attached to it when you insert it in the center, they are done. Do not over bake them. Cool in the pan on the wire rack and slice when completely cool.

Notes:
After slicing and seeing how thick they are, I can say you can use 9 " square pan to get a little thinner blondies.  In that case, bake few minutes less.
Check out what my friends are baking -  Preethi, Veena, Priya, Srivalli,  Sumana and Jayasri.
 

Enjoy.

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Apple Cake

I came across a link where a blogger has explained about freezer meals. She spends 4 hours a month preparing most of the meals that go in the freezer and that makes it a breeze for her to put dinner together every night. Just throw the contents of the bag in a crockpot or the oven and she is done. I was explaining this to one of my neighbors and even when she is not fond of cooking every day, she said it doesn't taste good and she has tried that. I don't really know about that but I told her cooking is my necessity not mainly for feeding the family but for maintaining my sanity. She just smiled but I am sure she probably wonders who could say that.

This cake is adapted from don't know where. I had scribbled some ingredients on a piece of paper and I just added apples and spices. It tastes so good that my husband who is tired of eating all these cakes I bake ate it happily for 3 days in a row. That is something if you know what I mean.

One Year Back - Caramel Corn
Two Years Back - Gingerbread Biscotti
Three Years Back - Chocolate Chip Cookies, Coconut Macaroons, Ginger Spice Cookies
Makes one bundt cake or two 9 X 5 loaf cakes. I made mine into 4 mini loaves.
Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 3 cups
Cinnamon - 2 tsp
Nutmeg - 1/4 tsp
Baking Soda - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Canola Oil - 3/4 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Brown Sugar - 1/2 cup packed
Eggs - 2 Large (Or two flax eggs for vegan version)
Sour cream or yogurt - 1 cup
Peeled, diced apples - 3 - 4 cups (I used 2 very large granny smith apples but you can use any baking variety)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 F (325 F in case of dark non-stick pans). Grease and flour the baking pans well. This cake has a tendency to stick. So, be liberal in this step. In a bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt. Set aside. In another bowl, beat with an electric mixer both sugars, oil, egg till nicely combined. Add sour cream or yogurt and continue to beat. When everything is mixed well and the oil is not floating on the top, add dry ingredients. Incorporate at low speed. Stir in apples. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake the bundt cake for 65 - 70 minutes. 9 X 5 loaves for 50 - 60 minutes and mini loaves for 40 - 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Because of moisture in the apples, it takes a little longer than the non-fruit cakes.
Cool in the pan on the rack for 10 minutes and then turn it on to the wire rack to cool completely. This tasted good when warm but the best when it sat for a day. So, plan to make it a day ahead and serve the next day with a cup of tea.

Notes:
Can add about 1 cup chopped walnuts. I did not since it was part of the tray I baked for school and school is nut free.

Check out what my friends are baking for this bake-a-thon :  Preethi, Priya, Srivalli,  Sumana and Jayasri.   

Enjoy.

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Giant Chocolate Chip cookie

If you ask me what is my least favorite goodie to bake, I would tell you pie. That is because nobody likes pies at home. Next one is cookies not because people don't like them (in fact they love cookies), but because of scooping the dough into small portions and baking in batches. That is one of the reasons why I prefer to bake bar cookies more than regular drop cookies or rolled cookies. You can bake about four pans of cookies at one shot which can feed a lot of people. When I saw this recipe of  giant chocolate chip cookie which is baked as one big cookie and then cut into wedges, I couldn't resist the urge of baking it. So, here it is. They make huge portions, so next time, I would pat them into a 8" square pan and make 16 cookies out of this. Also, do not over bake them. They get dry since there is not too much fat in them.

One Year Back - Cardamom Biscotti, Italian Supermarket Bread
Two Years Back - Greek Rice
Three Years Back -  Yam and Apple Kofta Curry
Adapted from - here.
Ingredients:
Oil - 1/3 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Egg - 1 large
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
All purpose flour - 1/2 cup
Whole Wheat flour - 3/4 cup
Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Mini Chocolate Chips - 1/2 cup

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a bowl, whisk together both flours, salt and baking soda. In another bowl, mix egg, oil and sugar with a strong wooden spoon. Add vanilla extract and mix. Now add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir to combine. It will be a bit crumbly dough. Stir in chocolate chips. With your hands, Scoop out the dough and place it on the parchment paper. Flatten it to a make a  9"  - 10" circle. Even though the dough looked crumbly while mixing, it will come together and stay together. Place in the oven and bake for 22 - 26 minutes or until pale golden on the top. Remove from the oven and let cool on the cooling rack for 3 - 4 minutes. Then cut them into wedges but don't separate them. Let it cool more before serving. If you forget to cut them when they are warm, it will get crumbly when cut.
Check out what my friends are baking -  Preethi, Veena, Priya, Srivalli and  Sumana.

Notes:
You could bake it by patting into a pan of 8" square to get small sized more number of cookies.

Enjoy.

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Vegan Butternut Squash Sweet drink / Payasa

It is Diwali or Deepavali this week for those who celebrate it. For those who do not know much about this festival, it is a festival of lights which is celebrated in different ways in different parts of India. But three things are common however this festival is celebrated. Oil lit lamps, new clothes and sweets. Most of the sweets are made so that they can be packed nicely and given to each other. Since we don't do those things here (try driving for an hour to go to one friend's place to give a box of sweets), I decided to make a not so rich sweet drink or what we call 'payasa'  in kannada language just for the house. It is very similar to carrot kheer that most of the people make.
Wishing all of you a happy diwali, I share this dessert drink virtually with all of you and of course its recipe.

One Year Back - Pumpkin Cranberry Bread
Two Years Back - Party Cooking Tips
Ingredients:
Butternut squash - 1 medium peeled, cleaned and chopped into chunks
Water - 4 cups
Coconut milk - 1 cup (Use plain milk for non vegan version  or use almond milk)
Cashews - 1/2 cup (Or almonds)
Sugar - 1 - 1 1/2 cups
Cardamom - 8 - 10 pods crushed into powder

Method:
In a pan, take all the butternut squash pieces. Pour two cups of water, cashews or almonds and cover with a lid and let it cook till soft. Turn off the heat. When cool enough to handle, take the contents in a blender and blend to get smooth puree. Don't add any water. Pour the puree back into the pan. Add 2 more cups of water and stir well. Turn on the heat. Add coconut milk or almond milk. Stir and bring it to a slow boil on a low flame. Add sugar (start with 1 cup and increase if needed) and let it simmer for few minutes stirring occasionally. Add cardamom powder and stir and turn off the heat. This can be served warm/hot in colder weather and cold in hot weather.

Notes:
Depending on how big the butternut squash is, you might have to adjust the water to get the desired consistency. It also depends on whether you like thick drink or thin one.

Enjoy.

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Orange Creamsicles

Ice cream was something special when I was a kid. We didn't have refrigerator or freezer and the only time we would get to eat ice cream was when we went out to ice cream shops. And the other time was when the ice cream cart would come in front of the house. I still remember one flavor vividly. It used to be a creamy popsicle which would melt in the mouth just like ice cream. And it was flavored with orange and looked bright orange in color. I do not know how they make it, but I tried to mimic it with two ingredients and I should say it was awesome.

One Year Back - Salsa Vinaigrette
Two Years Back - Zucchini Chutney
Ingredients: 
Cool Whip - 16 Oz tub ( I used low fat, you could use fat free instead)
Frozen Orange juice concentrate - 1 can thawed in the refrigerator (12 Oz)

Method:
Thaw the cool whip in the refrigerator. Whisk in the orange juice concentrate to it gently. Pour into popsicle molds or 3 Oz cups and freeze till firm. It doesn't get very firm and is more like ice cream. It takes longer to set than a typical popsicle.

Notes:
You could use plain orange juice instead and use heavy cream (2 cups) whipped instead. In that case, you will have to add sugar to taste. Frozen orange juice concentrate is very sweet, so didn't have to add any. It was perfect.

Enjoy.

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Vegan Mango Coconut Cake

I was reading a magazine in which there was an interview of a chef. Pastry chef to be precise. His opening statement was 'Who wants to turn on the oven in July?' followed by a semifreddo recipe. In my mind, I was answering that question - "Me". Heat or no heat, the urge to turn on the oven is pretty strong for me. Don't ask me why. I could have lot of stress or problems. If I bake something even in the middle of all the chaos, I feel clear headed, relieved. Isn't it weird how a simple thing can be so effective? Anyway, I made this cake in such a condition. Very good cake that is not very heavy on fat and sugar. This recipe will give you about 20 - 24 cupcakes or 1 10" bundt cake or two loaves like I did.

One Year Back - Chocolate Strawberry Muffins
Two Years Back - Zucchini Kootu
Adapted from my own recipe - here.
Ingredients: 
All purpose flour - 3 cups
Sugar - 1 cup
Baking Soda - 1 tsp
Baking Powder - 2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Sweetened Condensed mango pulp - 2 cups
Coconut milk - 2/3 cup (not the sweetened one)
Canola oil - 2/3 cup
Coconut extract - 1 tsp (optional or you could use cardamom powder - 3/4 tsp)

For the glaze and topping:
Powdered sugar - 1 cup
Sweetened mango pulp - 1 TBSP
Coconut milk - 1 TBSP
Water or non dairy milk - 1 - 2 TBSP to get the pouring consistency
Sliced almonds - 3 - 4 TBSP (optional)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 F (In my case 325 F since I was using dark pans). Grease and flour a bundt pan or 2 loaf pans like I did. I have used loaf pans of size 8 X 4. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt. Set aside. In another bowl, whisk together sweetened mango pulp, sugar till is mixed thoroughly. To this, add coconut milk and oil and whisk till you no longer see all the oil floating on the top. Stir in the coconut extract if using. Add the dry ingredients whisking gently. Towards the end, switch to a spatula and gently fold the batter. Divide the batter between two loaf pans or pour it into one bundt pan. Bake for 45 - 50 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If baking in bundt pan, check after 50 minutes. It will take somewhere between 55 and 60 minutes for a bundt pan. Cool on the rack in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool completely on the wire rack.

To make the glaze:
Combine all the ingredients except the sliced almonds. Whisk to get a smooth glaze. Pour on to the cooled cake and sprinkle sliced almonds. You could toast the almonds if you wish. I used them raw.

Enjoy.

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Eggless Vanilla Bundt Cake

Do you know what kids look for in a birthday party? There are couple of things, but the most important part is 'Cake'. I know of such a young girl who loves cake but was found to be allergic to eggs. Since then, she hasn't had cake at any birthday party. She is my daughter's best friend and I wanted to make some cake for her that she can eat. She loves vanilla cake and that was the reason to make this cake. I have adapted this cake recipe from the 'Vegan Coconut Cake' and used evaporated milk and yogurt combination instead of the thick and rich coconut milk.

One Year Back - Baby Shower Cake

Two Years Back - Quinoa Chickpeas Pulav

Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 3 cups
Sugar - 2 cups
Oil - 3/4 cup
Yogurt - 3/4 cup (You could use sour cream instead)
Evaporated milk - 12 Oz can (Or whole milk equal to 1 1/2 cups)
Baking Soda - 1 tsp
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Vanilla - 2 tsp

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 F (325 F in my case since I was using a dark non stick pan). Grease  a 10 - 12 cup bundt pan with shortening. Dust it with flour and tap out the excess. Set aside. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt. I would suggest to sift the mixture once to make sure there are no lumps in the batter. This is a very thin batter and flour can form lumps when the batter is thin.
In another bowl, whisk together sugar, oil and yogurt. Keep whisking till the whole mixture is mixed well without any oil floating on the top. Stir in the vanilla. Start adding dry mixture alternating with the evaporated milk or whole milk starting and ending with flour mixture. Towards the end, switch to a spatula and gently fold the batter. Pour into the prepared pan and tap to remove any air bubbles. Bake in the center rack for 45 - 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If baking at 350 F, check at 40 minutes. Cool in the pan on the rack and after 10 minutes turn on to the wire rack to cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar or glaze.

For the glaze:
Melt 1 TBSP of butter. To it, add 1 cup of confectioner's sugar, 1/2 tsp of vanilla and 2 - 3 TBSP of milk to get the thick glaze consistency. Sprinkle either sprinkles or use mini chocolate chips like I did.

Enjoy.

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Peanut butter White chocolate Chip fudge

There are a lot of things that I could do without buying. One best example is peanut butter. Except my younger one, nobody likes it at home. I buy it for her and when it comes close to the expiry date, I somehow end up using it for baking. This time, I used it to make fudge since the peanut butter taste and smell is not so dominant in this and others at home enjoyed them too. Plus, this was something I made for a friend's daughter who loves peanut butter and on the top of it loves any kind of fudge.

One Year Back - Vegan Chocolate Popsicles, Scrambled Tofu, Kaju Burfi / Cashews fudge
Two Years Back - Dark Chocolate Mousse
Adapted very slightly from here.
Ingredients:
White Chocolate Chips - 12 Oz bag divided use
Condense milk - 1 can of 14 Oz (You could use fat free or low fat)
Peanut butter - 1 cup (I used creamy, but you could use crunchy not natural) Vanilla - 2 tsp

Method:
Line a 8 x 8 pan with aluminum foil and grease the foil. Set aside. In a saucepan, take condensed milk, peanut butter, all but 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips. Set it on low heat and keep stirring till all the chocolate chips melt and the mixture is nice and smooth. Add the reserved 1/2 cup of chocolate chips, vanilla and stir. Turn off the heat and pour into the prepared pan. Smooth the top with a spatula. Let it cool down to room temperature. Place in the refrigerator to set and when chilled, cut into small slices. I made 36 pieces out of this.

Notes:
The original recipe uses about 1/2 cup raw peanuts. I didn't use them since my kids don't like nuts. But to keep some texture, I used 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips to give it a crunch. You can let all the chocolate chips get melted if you don't want the texture. You could use semi sweet chocolate chips instead of white chocolate chips.

Enjoy.

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