Princess Barbie Rainbow Cake

Occasion: My Darling Nephew Turned 3. 

What else could be a better gift to a three year old than what she asked for. The priceless look she gave and the way she said "athai super" when showed the cake, what more could I ask for? Though the Barbie was leaning, she was extremely happy. 

I had decided to give her a little surprise too. Yes she asked for a Barbie but I decided to make a rainbow inside the barbie. Though I couldn't finish it like how I wanted I was very happy with the outcome. This is not the first time I am working with fondant but this is the first time the fondant refused to work well with me :(. Had a tough time, but it was yet another learning curve. Learnt how to make the fondant soft and roll-able after it went dry. 

Once I figured out how to make the fondant soft, the rolling became easy. After that, all the patch up happened and the cake was saved. And this time because of the colours in the rainbow kids loved the cake and cleaned up the plate :). So overall the cake was a success. 

                                        

Now for the cake 

- Cream 500 gms of butter and 500 gms of caster sugar 

- Add 1 eggs gradually

- Add 500 gms of self-raising flour alternating with milk

- Add vanilla essence or any essence of your choice - I used Rose essence

- Now separate them into five equal parts and add the colours of your choice

- Pour them in 8cm baking tray and bake them in moderate oven - 170 - 180 degree - for 25 mins

- Once the cake is done let them cool and level them from top and bottom. 

- In case you want to place a barbie either make a hole in the middle of the cake and place the barbie or cut the cake in half and a circle in center and  stack the cake.

- I used a mild layer of whipping cream and stacked them. But you can use either Buttercream or Mascarpone cream cheese frosting .

-Once its stacked, design it however you want and cover it with cream of your choice and then cover it with fondant. 

Now for the fondant

This recipe calls for 8 cups of icing sugar

-Combine 1 package (.25 ounce) of unflavoured gelatin with 1/4 cup of cold water and let it stand until thick. 

- Place it on double boiler and heat until dissolved.

- Add 1/2 cup of glucose and 1 tsp of glycerin and mix well.

- Add 2 tsp of shortening and just before it gets melted remove it from heat.

- Add vanilla and stir it. 

- Let it cool till lukewarm

- Place 4 cups of icing sugar in a large bowl, make a well in the center and using a wooden spoon, stir in the lukewarm gelatin mixture.

- Mix in sugar and add more a little at a time, until stickiness disappear. Take 2 drops of glycerin in palms to avoid too much stickiness.

- Knead in the remaining sugar until the fondant is smooth, pliable and does not stick to your hands. 

- If its too soft, add more sugar. If its too stiff, add a pinch of butter and knead the fondant. 

- You can use it immediately or store it in fridge.

Tips:

- Since I ran out of glucose I used corn syrup.

- I used liquid food colour instead gel. So I added the colour when I took the gelatin mixture out of heat. I separated the mixture into 2 equal parts since I have decided to use only 2 colours. 

- Kneading takes at least half hour so be prepared with all your energy.

- Try and let me know :)

Green Apple Crumble Cake

Occasion: I bought Green Apples.

What's so special about green apple? The colour of green apples gives a nice freshness to your mind. I bought these green apples to bake Green apple pie. But then I remembered the crumble I baked long back, obviously it didn't turn out good. So decided to give it one more try. 

My fascination for crumble made me search a lot. Finally found one and decided to go with that because the photo of the crumble in that site was awesome. Don't know when I will take such good photos. And yes just for the photo in the site I decided to go ahead with the recipe, after all if it doesn't turn out good I  have my husband and kids to finish it off. Thanks to them no cake ever goes waste in my house :).

It's recipe time:

Before going for the recipe the site specially recommended marinating the apple first.

-This recipe calls for 3 large apple. Wash,,peel, core and slice the apples.

-Add a tablespoon of sugar, 1/2 tsp of cinnamon powder and 1 tsp of vinegar and keep it aside.  

                           

Next for the sponge

-Preheat the oven at 170 degrees.

-Cream 1/4 cup of granulated sugar and 1/4 cup of butter.

- Add one large egg and 3/4 tsp of vanilla essence.

-Add 3/4 cup of all purpose flour,1 tsp of baking powder, 1/8 tsp of sodium bicarbonate and a pinch of salt or you can add all purpose flour.

-Add 3/4 tsp of cinnamon powder.

- Beat well and if needed add milk to get the batter consistency.

Grease pan and pour the cake mix without any air bubbles. Arrange the apple on top of the cake mix.

Now for the crumble 

-Add the following in a bowl and mix it.

-1/3 cup of light brown sugar

-1/3 cup of granulated sugar

-1 tsp of grounded cinnamon

-1/2 tsp of salt

-1 and 1/2 cup of all purpose flour, and 

-1/2 cup of butter (melted and cooled) and fluff it with fork to get a nice crumble.

Now add the crumble on top of the cake and bake it at 170 degrees for 30-35 mins or until the crumble turns luscious golden brown. 

Olive Bread

Occasion : Just wanted to enjoy the taste of Cyprus

Yes this time I baked something for myself. If you had been to Cyprus and if you didn't taste the warm olive bread you get there, then I would say that's the biggest mistake you have ever made. I will always be thankful to Harish Mayavel who went through all the trouble of getting me Olive bread almost everyday when I was pregnant. The freshness and the scent of olive and basil in the olive bread is something I can never forget.

After yeeaarrs of cribbing and missing the olive bread I decided to search for recipe and bake my very own olive bread. But when I started searching for recipe with photo I realized nothing looked like the one which I used to get in Cyprus. Finally found a recipe book which had a similar olive bread and made my deary buy it for me :). Of course does he have any other option???

What do I after getting book? I slept over it for a month fearing that I will screw it up. Finally on a weekday night at 8 I decided to bake it without realizing that its gonna take at least 4 to 5 hrs to get it done :(. So what do I do? I made my better-half stay awake with me till I finished it :).When I took these 2 beautiful pieces of olive bread out of oven it was 1 AM, but it was worth the wait and effort.

Before getting on to the recipe one small tip for those who are gonna try this. If you are planning to bake this start it in morning.
1.  It will give you ample amount of time.
2.The dough will rise better when sunlight is there. I had warmed up my oven and kept the dough inside to rise.

Now lets see how to bake it.

- Combine 4 tsp of Dry Yeast, 1 tsp of Sugar, 1 1/4 cup of Warm Milk in a large bowl and whisk until yeast is dissolved.
- Whisk in 2 cups of Plain Sifted Flour, cover, stand in warm place about 30 minutes or wait till the mixture is doubled in size.
- Stir in 1/3 cup of Olive oil , sifted 3 1/2 cup of Plain Flour and 1 tsp Salt.
-Turn the dough onto the floured surface and knead for about 10 mins or until the dough is smooth and elastic.
-Place the dough in a large bowl, cover, stand in a warm place for about an hour or until the dough is doubled in size.
- Once the dough is doubled turn it into floured surface and knead in 1 1/4 cups of copped Black Olives, 2 to 3 tsp of chopped Basil and 2 tsp of chopped oregano (since I didn't have fresh oregano I used the dried one).
- You can either split the dough into 2 portions or you can roll the whole dough to 30 cm x 35 cm oval shape and fold dough almost in half and transfer to large greased oven tray.
- Cover dough, stand in warm place about 45 mins or until the dough has increased in size by half.
- Sift about another 2 tablespoon of flour over the dough and its ready to bake.
- Bake it in moderate oven (180 degree) for about 45 minutes.

                                      

Take it out and let it rest till its warm. And then slice it and eat it with nice big dollop of butter.

Pepper Chicken Dry

                                       

Occasion: Cousin's Birthday

Why chicken?? Because he loovves chicken, not that he doesn't like cakes. He loves eating anything and everything. People who have seen him will agree with me :). Its always a pleasure to cook for someone who loves to eat and also to get appreciated.

Being a vegetarian its always been a challenge for me to cook non-veg. It took me N number of times to get it right.  Lot of cookery shows and lots and lots of bloggers helped me get it perfectly done. Thanks to all of them.

Cooking chicken is not that difficult if you understand the size of the cuts. For the following recipe I have used 1 kg of boneless chicken cut into 2 inch cubes. In case if you are like me who don't like to touch the chicken please ask the shopkeeper to cut and clean it for you or go ahead and train your husband to do it :).

THE SPICE MIX:

The following spice mix recipe is something I derived from Masterchef Australia. I have modified it according to my husband's taste buds. You can make any changes to it and if it turns out better than this please do let me know. Vegetarians can use this spice mix to cook cauliflower or mushroom.

- Dry roast the following ingredients for 8 to 10 mins in low flame or until you get the aroma.

- Cumin/Jeera/Siragam - 2 tbsp

- Black Pepper Whole - 3 tbsp

- Dry Chilli red - 4 to 5

- Corriander Seeds/ Dhaniya/ Kothamali - 3 to 4 tbsp

- Fennel Seeds/ Saunf/ Sombhu - 2 tbsp

- Cinnamon Stick/ Dalchini/ Pattai - 1 inch

- Cardamom/Elachi/ Elakkai - 4 to5 with pods

Once its roasted grind it coarsely. I used a mortar and pestle to grind and it looks like the below picture. 

The spice mix amount is for 1 kg of boneless chicken.

Now for the chicken

- Wash the chicken, drain all water, mix it with Turmeric and keep it aside
- Heat 3 to 4 tbsp of oil in the pan, add Mustard and Curry leaves
- Add the Spice Mix and cook it for around 10 seconds
- Add chopped Ginger and Garlic. Since I ran out of Garlic I used Ginger-Garlic paste which I added after onions.
- Add chopped of 2 large Onions and cook until its transparent
- Add chopped 3 large Tomatoes and cook it for a minute
- Add salt according to your taste
- Add the Chicken and cook it for around 4 to 5 mins
- Now add a cup of water, close it with a lid and cook it for 10 mins stirring occasionally
- Open the lid and cook it till the water evaporates and you have a nice thick gravy.

Enjoy it with warm rice or chapati.

Cinnamon Tea Cake - To My Darling, Best Friend & Cousin

Occasion: What do you do when your sister-in-law asks for snacks in the evening?

Yes this is what I prefer to do - Bake a cake which she will love and ask me for the recipe whether she is gonna make it or not. Either ways I am ready to bake it for her anytime she asks for it.

Why Cinnamon?:  We both can't think of any flavours which could go well with tea/coffee. We have had days where we sat down with a nice warm mug full of cinnamon flavoured green tea and chat for hours about "Nothing". Can't think of days where I missed to sprinkle cinnamon powder in my coffee from Starbucks. What other reason one needs to bake this cake especially with an extremely simple recipe from favourite cookbook.

This is one of the most simple yet beautifully flavoured cake.  The recipe below is for those who loves to sit and chat over a huge cup of tea :)

-Cream 60 gm of butter with 1 tsp of vanilla essence.
-Gradually add 1/2 cup of castor sugar and 1 egg. Beat until light and fluffy.
-Stir in 1 cup of self-rising flour alternating with 1/2 cup of milk.
-Bake it at 180 degree for 25 mins.

Now the following ingredients is what makes the cake special

-Once the cake is baked take it out and brush it with 15 gm of butter.
-Powder 1 tsp of caster sugar and 1 stick of cinnamon and sprinkle it over the cake.

Now its ready to be server warm with a hot cup of tea and a good old friend.

Banana Walnut Cake

 Occasion: Children's Day

Banana walnut cake was one of the first cakes I tried when we moved back to India. Though I don't believe that Children's need a day to celebrate, for them its all play and no work, yet another reason to me. What made the occasion special? I had my friends coming home with their kids. What more reason do I need. I baked this for the kids and special brownies for the grown up kids. End of the day not sure whether kids enjoyed their cake but we thoroughly enjoyed our brownies :).

Like I always say this is yet another easy cake to bake. Minimal effort maximum taste and satisfactions. What else one could ask for. But this time I just didn't stop with baking the cake, had put some effort it making it look pretty.

Here goes the procedure

-Cream 1/3 cup of butter and 3/4 cup of sugar with 1 tsp of vanilla essence
-Beat 1 egg separately and add it to the butter and sugar mixture (if you are feeling lazy just beat in the egg :) )
-Sieve 1 1/2 cups of Maida and 1 tsp baking powder together
-Add the flour to the mixture
-Mash 3 or 4 ripe bananas separately in a bowl and mix it to the cake mixture ( Don't Panic or Don't throw the mixture if you see any lumps)
-Chop 1 cup of walnut and add to the mixture.
-Now bake it in moderate high (190 degree) for about 20- 27 minute.

To Decorate:

-1 Packet of wafers
-Sugar syrup (to stick wafers to the cake)
-Seasonal Fruits

Rich Chocolate Cake - For My Little Darling Who Loves Chocolate :)

                                                                                    

Occasion: Daughter asked for a cake.

When your daughter asks for a cake how can you say no? No you can't, especially when you know that she will go and tell everyone that her mom is the best baker in the whole world and can bake anything she likes :). For her I am the queen of baking. Once when her aunt baked a cake she tasted it and told her "This cake is nice but not like my Moms cake". When I start baking she comes and stands in the kitchen with me just to watch and she loves to help me in anything I want.

So for my little admirer I decided to spend sometime to bake a cake.

But why this cake? Because this little admirer of mine loves eating chocolate and anything that has to do with chocolates. And one more main reason is my time constraint. I started to bake the cake at 8 so I wanted to stick with an easy cake which also will make her Happy.

This cake is pretty much similar to one pot cooking. Take everything in one bowl, mix and bake and its done. Since I have tried this cake quiet a lot of time I chose to stick to this easiest cake. I generally love doing things in mini sizes for my kids simply because the wastage is less.

So for those who want to try this cake,

- Take 185 gm butter, 1 3/4 cup of castor sugar, 3 eggs, 2 cups self raising flour, 2/3 cup of cocoa powder, 1 cup water in a bowl.
- Mix everything in low speed until its combined and beat in medium speed for 3 mins or until it turns smooth.
-Now what more can make a chocolate cake more chocolaty than choco-chip and chocolate essence. Add these according to your wish. I also added cinnamon syrup as I love the combination of these 2 flavors.
- Bake it in moderate oven (160 degree) for 1.5 hours.
- For mini muffins like above bake it only for 15 mins.

When its done your cake should look like this or better :)