Red Velvet Cake Pops :)...

Bakerella introduced Cake Pops in the blog sphere and I was waiting for an occasion to try it. My little one always wants to cut a cake not only for his b’day but also for his mom and dad’s …So on my birthday I tried these cake pops instead of my usual birthday cake with butter icing which is my son’s favorite (my husband and I are really fed up of eating the same ;)...… I thought I could impress my little one with these cake pops…. He loved the pops but still prefers a theme cake on birthdays so he can blow out the candles and cut the cake ;)….. These moist red velvet cake covered with chocolate is really delicious and we all loved it…. It will be a big hit at kid parties… even adults will enjoy eating them ;)…..you can even use store bought cake, if you are not in a mood to make the cake and crumble it ;) …... Bakerella used candy melts and lollipop sticks which I couldn’t find ….instead I used baking chocolate and bamboo skewers… I cut each skewer into 3 and used it….. Also Bakerella used a styrofoam block to dry the cake pops… I used my colander :).... here is how I made these Cake Pops…






Red Velvet Cake Pops

Ingredients:
Half portion of Red Velvet Cake
5-6 tbsp Homemade Mascarpone cheese
150-200 gm Dark or Semi sweet chocolates
1tbsp Rum (optional)
Sprinkles (optional)



Method:

• After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into a large bowl.
• Mix thoroughly with mascarpone cheese and rum…. (I used a food processer for crumbling and mixing…. You can use the back of a large spoon or use your finger tips to mix together).
• Roll mixture into small balls (I got 35 cake balls) and place on a tray lined with wax paper.
• Chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or you can even freeze it to 15-20 mints to speed up the process.
• Melt chocolate in a bowl over boiling water or in the microwave as per directions on package.( I used baby bottle warmer to melt chocolate ~ grate the chocolate and put in to a clean dry glass and keep the glass in the bottle warmer ..…I found it is easier to dip the cake pops into a glass of melted chocolates :)...
• Dip the tip of your skewer or lollipop stick into the melted chocolate and insert in the cake balls. (Insert a little less than halfway.)
• Place them in the freezer for a little while to firm up.
• Once firm, carefully insert the cake ball into the melted chocolate by holding the stick and rotating until covered. Once covered remove and softly tap and rotate until the excess chocolate falls off. Don’t tap too hard or the cake ball will fall off, too.
• Immediately sprinkle the pops with the sprinkles before the chocolate has a chance to set.
• Once the sprinkles are on, put the lollipop stick on the colander or into the styrofoam block to dry.
• Repeat until all the cake pops are complete.
• Enjoy your Cake Pops!
  

Note:

1. We like it without sprinkles…but kids will love the look with the sprinkles on top.
2. You can even paint the Cake pops like Bakerella did with edible ink pen.
3. Be very careful while melting the chocolates…. It will curdle even with a drop of water. Made that mistake twice and wasted two sets of chocolate:(

Sending these Cake Pops to:

The Chocolate Fest over at Cook Curry Nook.

Champa's Bake-off event.

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Qubani Ka Meetha / Sweetened Apricot

Qubani ka Meetha is a very popular dessert in Hyderabadi cuisine. It is a common feature at Hyderabadi weddings. My hubby loves this dessert and I often make this simple and delicious delicacy at home. Try this; I am sure you will love it.

Qubani Ka Meetha / Sweetened Apricot

Ingredients:

Qubani (Dried Apricots)-250gm

Sugar-150gm or to taste

Warm water

Blanched almonds (Badam) to garnish (optional only if using pitted Apricots)

Whipped cream/ Vanilla Ice Cream / Custard for serving

Method:

• Wash and soak apricots in hot water for 20 minutes.
• Deseed the apricots and crack open the kernels using a nut cracker and soak the nuts in a cup of water to loosen their skin. (If using pitted apricots, completely omit this process and proceed to next step).
• Pressure cook the apricot with the soaking liquid to make them soft and tender.
• Once the apricots are cool blend to a smooth puree and strain.
• Add sugar to the pureed apricots and cook stirring continuously till you get a thick paste (jam consistency).
• Garnish with the peeled apricot nuts or blanched almonds.
• Served chilled with whipped cream or custard or with a dollop of vanilla ice cream.
• Enjoy!

Wishing you all and your family a Very Happy Diwali & Prosperous New Year!!! May this year brings you lots and lots of happiness in life and fulfill all your dreams! :)

On another note I am so happy to see 100+ likes for Swapna's Cuisine FB page in less than a month!!!! Thanks to all who had supported the little space of mine!!! :)

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Pumpkin Coffee Mousse

I have never used Pumpkin other than in Erisseri and Avial {yes I do add some pumpkin pieces in my avail…it’s really tasty:) }….. So when I got some leftover pumpkin after making Avial I wanted to try this Mousse which I had bookmarked from Archana’s blog long ago….. Loved the wonderful blend of flavors in this mousse… I wasn’t able to pipe the mousse so perfectly like her ;) …nevertheless enjoyed every spoonful….



Pumpkin Coffee Mousse
(Adapted from Spicyana)

Ingredients:
Pumpkin puree –1/2 cup (followed DK’s method to make Pumpkin Puree)
Sugar – 1/2 cup + ¼ cup
Heavy whipping cream – 1 1/2cups
Instant coffee granules – 11/2 tsp
Nutmeg powder + Cinnamon powder – ¼ tsp



Method:

• Mix pumpkin puree with sugar.
• Cook in medium heat with constant stirring till sugar is completely dissolved.
• Add coffee granules, spice powders and mix well.
• Cool thoroughly.
• Meanwhile beat whipping cream with ¼ cup sugar till peaks hold shape.
• Gently fold in the whipped cream to the pumpkin mixture.
• Spoon (or pipe) the mousses into serving cups and chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

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Pink Strawberry Dip ~ for PINKTOBER

"Every person has 1000 wishes, a cancer patient only one: to get better"

October or PINKTOBER, is the National breast Cancer Awareness Month. The NBCAM organization is a partnership of national public service organizations, professional medical associations, and government agencies working together to promote breast cancer awareness, share information on the disease, and provide greater access to screening services..... I lost my mother; the most precious women in my life due to breast cancer. She was only 44….A loss that is still difficult to accept even after 13 long years…. A sudden loss that still has the same bitter pain, a loss that completely changed my life…. This post is dedicated to those who lost the battle with cancer, to those who bravely fought and won and to those who are still fighting…. Our prayers go out to all those families that are affected by this dreaded decease…

Pink Strawberry Dip

Ingredients:
(Adapted from Nita Mehta’s Mocktails & Snacks)

Yogurt - 1 cup
Strawberries - ½ cup, chopped
Mint leaves - 2 tbsp, finely chopped
Honey- 1 tsp
Mustard paste-1 tsp
Chaat masala-1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Lemon juice- 1 tsp


Method:

• Tie the yogurt in a muslin cloth and hang it to drain for 1 hour.
• Blend strawberries for a few seconds to make a strawberry puree.
• Beat the yogurt till smooth. Mix strawberry puree and all the other ingredients to the beaten yogurt. Keep in the refrigerator till serving.
• Served with peeled carrots and cucumber cut into sticks, celery sticks, capsicum and blanched broccoli or cauliflower florets with long stalks.
• Arrange the vegetables in a plate with the dip in the centre.
• A little milk may be added to the dip if it appears too thick.
• Sprinkle chaat masala, lemon juice and toasted sesame seeds on the vegetables.
• Enjoy!

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Oriental Noodle Salad

Colorful and crunchy, this salad is ideal for a party crowd. To make a main-dish salad, add cooked shrimp or chicken. You can easily substitute vegetables like snow peas, red pepper, canned bamboo shoots, canned chestnuts, canned baby corns etc. if you wish.

Oriental Noodle Salad
Ingredients:

Salad:
100 gm - Noodles or thin pasta
1 medium – size carrot, pared and cut into matchsticks
1 small head lettuce, trimmed, washed, dried and torn into bite size pieces
1 small Capsicum, cored, seeded and thinly sliced
½ cup sliced Celery
1 small Onion sliced
¼ cup Corn kennels

Dressing:
Soy sauce- 2 tbsp
Rice wine vinegar- 2 tbsp
Oriental Sesame oil- 11/2 tsp
Cilantro or Parsley, chopped - 1 tbsp
Ginger, finely chopped - 1 ½ tsp
Pepper powder- ¼ tsp
Chicken broth – ¼ cup
Mayonnaise- ¼ cup
Peanuts, chopped – 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Prepare Salad:
   Cook Noodles/Pasta according to package directions. Drain; rinse with cold water; drain well. Combine noodles/pasta, carrots, lettuce, capsicum, celery, onion and corn in large bowl.
2. Prepare Dressing:
   Stir together soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, cilantro and ginger in small bowl. Add dressing to pasta; toss well to combine. Refrigerate, covered, until serving. Whisk together chicken broth and mayonnaise in small bowl until smooth. Refrigerate, covered until serving.
3. To Serve:
   Toss salad with mayonnaise mixture. Garnish with peanuts.

Make-Ahead Tip: The salad and mayonnaise mixture can be prepared separately up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated, covered. Toss with the mayonnaise mixture just before serving.

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Finnish Pie

Finnish Pie
(6 servings)

Ingredients:
Minced meat-500gm
Minced onion-1 cup
Eggs-2
Dry bread crumbs-4 tsp
All purpose flour-4 tsp
Butter-4 tsp
Cooked potato-500gm
Minced ginger-1tsp
Milk- 1 ½ cups
Pepper powder-3/4 tsp or to taste
Nutmeg powder-1/4 tsp
Salt- to taste

Method:

• Sauté the onion and ginger in butter first, and then the meat.
• Add ¼ cup water and enough salt and cook the meat with a lid on.
• When it is dry add the spices and the flour, stir well and then remove from fire.
• Grease an oven proof dish and arrange the cooked slices of potato in the bottom and sides.
• Put meat inside and cover with more potato slices.
• Whisk the egg, add milk and salt and pour it evenly over the pie.
• Sprinkle the crumbs on top, put knobs of butter here and there and bake in a 350F (180C) pre heated oven till the top is golden brown.
• Serve with Bread or Dinner Rolls.

Recipe Adapted from: Mrs. B.F. Varughese’s Recipes for All Seasons.

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White Bread

There is nothing quite like the smell and taste of home-baked bread, eaten while still warm.

White Bread
(Adapted from180 Every Day Cakes and Bakes)

Makes two 23x13 cm /9x5 in loaves

Ingredients:
50 ml/2 fl oz/ ¼ cup lukewarm water
15 ml/1 tbsp active dry yeast
30ml/ 2 tbsp caster (superfine) sugar
475ml/16 fl oz/ 2 cups lukewarm milk
2.5g/ 1 oz/ 2 tbsp butter or margarine, at room temperature
10ml/ 2 tsp salt
About 900g/2 lb/8 cups strong white flour

Method:

• Combine the water, yeast, and 15ml/ 1tbsp of the sugar in a measuring cup and leave for 15 minutes or until frothy.
• Pour the milk into a large bowl. Add the remaining sugar, the butter or margarine, and salt.
• Stir in the yeast mixture, then stir in the flour, 150g/5 oz/ 1 ¼ cups at a time, until a stiff dough is obtained.
• Transfer the dough to a floured surface. Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, then place it in a large greased bowl, cover with a clear film (plastic Wrap), and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 2-3 hours.
• Grease two 23x13 cm /9x5 in loaf pans. Knock back the dough and divide in half.
• Form into loaf shapes and place in the tins, seam down. Cover and leave to rise again until almost doubled in volume, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 190C/375C.
• Bake the loaves until firm and brown, about 45-50 minutes. Turn out and tap the base of a loaf; if it sounds hollow the loaf is done. If necessary return to the oven and bake for a few minutes longer. (Turn the loaf upside down in the tin if the top is done but the base is not.) Turn out and cool on a wire rack.

I made some of these different flavoured heart shaped cuties too :)...... took a small amount of dough and pressed these into my heart shaped pan and sprinkled little bit of different dry hearbs (like Rosemary, Thyme, Oregano, Basil ) and some dry red chilly flakes and chopped garlic on top of each...they were delicious....

Notes:

1. I halved the recipe and made only one loaf. That was more than enough for 3 of us to survive 2 meals :)
2. I used half of All purpose flour and half od wheat flour instead of Strong white bread flour.
3. I served the bread along with Finnish Pie and Spicy Orange Chicken Salad...It goes very well with Fish pie, Meat loaf, Fish Molee etc
4. Toast these bread slices slightly and serve warm with butter and Jam...
5. I am sending this recipe for the 5th World Bread Day, hosted by Zorra.
6. And this bread is YeastSpotted!

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Mixed Fruit Jam

All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother ~ Abraham Lincoln

Like I said in my previous post, to celebrate my mom’s birthday I chose to share a couple of recipes that she was an expert in. Today would have been her 58th birthday and we terribly miss her absence. I always wanted to be like her in all aspects of life-whether in behavior, looks or in cooking skills…. I really don’t know how successful I have been in following her footsteps… Today on her birthday I am sharing her Jam recipe with you…..We never used store bought Jams at home…. Mom always used to make Pineapple Jam, Pazham /Banana jam (my favorite) and Mixed Fruit Jam depending on the season and availability of fruits…. Recently I also made Mixed Fruit Jam …so here is the recipe for Mixed fruit Jam…




Mixed Fruit Jam

Ingredients:

Mixed Fruits-2kg (You can use a mix of any well ripe fruits that are available, like Apple, Banana, Ripe Papaya, seedless black grapes, Pineapple, peach, strawberry etc)
Sugar-2kg
1” long Cinnamon sticks-6
Whole cloves-24 nos
Citric Acid-1 tsp



Method:

• Clean and chop fruits. Put them in a heavy bottom pan along with just enough water to cover the fruit pieces. Boil till the fruits are tender.
• Turn off the heat and cool the fruits completely and puree this in a blender and strain. (If you like to have some fruit bites in your jam you can completely omit this process and continue cooking by crushing the fruits with the back of a spoon).
• Add sugar, cloves, cinnamon and citric acid to the fruit pulp and boil the mixture.
• Remove any scum that may appear on the surface.
• Stir constantly with a wooden spatula till it thickens.
• Turn off the gas, cool slightly and pour into sterilized glass bottles placed on a wooden planks to avoid the breakage of bottles.

Note:
How to find out if the Jam is ready:

• A drop of jam put into a glass of cold water will gel.
• If you lift the spatula and allow the jam to pour, it should flow together.
• Pour a few drops on to a plate; if it spreads easily, then the jam is not ready; if it stays firm without moving,the jam is ready.

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Mixed Fruit Wine!

In water one sees one's own face;
But in wine one beholds the heart of another. ~ French proverb

My mom was a great cook; she used to make a variety of wines, jams, pickles and squashes…… I learned the basics of wine making from her and I have since experimented with different types …..Since this is my mom’s birthday week, I thought of posting a few recipes that I learned from her…… It’s still difficult to accept that she is no more in this world….. I miss sharing my ups and downs and my never ending talks with her, but unfortunately God had different plans…... I hope she is watching us from heaven… Today I am sharing one of my most successful wine recipes…. And with Christmas only two and half months away and for those who wanted to have homemade wine it’s high time you started making it at home



Mixed Fruit Wine
Ingredients:
Mixed Fruits- 1kg (I used a mix of apples, oranges, peaches, grapes & strawberries)
Sugar-750 gm
Water-4 liter
Yeast-1/4 tsp

Method:

• Wash and clean the fruits and finely chop them and put them in clean big wine bottle.
• Boil water and sugar and pour this boiled water into the chopped fruits.
• When it becomes cool add yeast and tie the bottle with a clean cloth or close with the lid a little loose.
• Stir this mixture every day for some time.
• After 20 days strain the mixture to a clean bottle and keep this again for 2 weeks untouched.
• Slowly strain the upper part of the wine to small bottles and enjoy!

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