Wrapping up 2011 and welcoming 2012 in the sweetest way possible…

A few more hours to bid farewell to 2011 and to welcome 2012. Every year on Dec 31st I go through my picasa album and look at all the beautiful pictures, cherish all the moments that I had in that year and will end up making a collage of all the beautiful moments. I did the same today as well, I can only say that I did have an amazing 2011 and no regrets whatsoever. There were ups and downs and I believe that’s what makes life thrilling. One of the best moments of 2011 was when my husband became a pilot and flying with my pilot was the most amazing part.

I had made a New Year’s resolution to photograph my dinner everyday for 365 days straight, I was able to stick to my resolution and have successfully uploaded all the dinner pictures. This year, I was featured on a gazette and two other websites and was chosen as one of the best food bloggers of 2011. I am so happy that what I am doing with all my heart and passion is finally getting recognized. I can’t thank enough all the lovely people who follow my cooking and who support me unconditionally. Without my readers and fans, I wouldn’t have reached so far. I have no words when it comes to conveying my gratitude to everyone out there who are a part of my life’s journey. THANK YOU!

I have always followed one thing in my life: keep it simple and be genuine, then everything will turn out to be beautiful!

I always make something sweet and delicious for New Year’s eve. Last night, I couldn’t resist and made strawberry-almond swiss roll. As I made the cake with gluten free flour, I was little concerned about the texture of the cake. When the cake came out of the oven, I jumped out of joy seeing the soft and fluffy texture of the cake. Made the strawberry filling and whipped-cream frosting from scratch. The swiss roll tasted so delicious, it was unbelievably soft and creamy. This is a very simple recipe and can be made without much effort.

Wishing everyone a Fantastic 2012!!!

Strawberry and Almond Swiss Roll Recipe

Recipe adapted from here

Ingredients

For making cake:

• Large eggs – 4 (separate yolks and whites)
• Granulated sugar- 3/4 cup
• Almond extract or vanilla extract- 1/4 tsp
• All purpose flour or Gluten free flour- 1/2 cup
• Salt- 1/4 tsp
• Confectioners sugar or powdered sugar for dusting- 3 to 4 tbsp

For making Strawberry filling and Whipped-cream frosting:

• Strawberry syrup (thick syrup) or spread- 1/4 cup
• Heavy cream- 2 1/4 cups
• Sugar- 1/4 cup

Preparation:

Making cake:

1. Separate egg yolks and whites from the 4 eggs.
2. In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks along with 1/2 cup granulated sugar until it turns pale yellow ( You could use an electric hand mixer to gently beat it).
3. Add almond or vanilla extract and flour to the yolk mixture, whisk just until combined (don’t over mix the batter).
4. In another large bowl, using an electric hand mixer beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks form.
5. Slowly add remaining 1/4 cup sugar (1 tablespoon at a time) and beat until the egg whites turn stiff.
6. First, whisk in one third of the beaten egg whites into the yolk mixture.
7. Gently fold in the remaining beaten egg white using a rubber spatula, keep aside.
8. Preheat oven to 350 F.
9. Grease a 10-by-15 inch baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
10. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper.
11. Coat the parchment paper with non-stick cooking spray.
12. Spread the prepared cake batter evenly on the parchment paper.
13. Bake for 15 minutes until a fork inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
14. After 15 minutes, remove the baking sheet from the oven.
15. Gently run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen up the cake.
16. Dust the top of the cake with confectioners sugar.
17. Place another parchment paper on the top of the cake and gently invert the cake on it.
18. Peel off the parchment paper that’s now on top of the cake.
19. Starting from a short side of the cake, gently roll cake along with the parchment paper.
20. Place the seam side or the side where the rolling ended down on a baking sheet and let cool for 20 minutes.

Making strawberry filling and Whipped-cream frosting:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk strawberry syrup with 1/4 cup cream, set aside.
2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer beat remaining 2 cups heavy cream with sugar till soft and stiff peaks form.
3. Fold half of the prepared whipped cream into the strawberry filling, this is to spread on the cake.
4. The remaining whipped cream is the whipped-cream frosting to spread over the swiss roll.

How to assemble:

1. After 20 minutes of cooling the rolled cake.
2. Gently unroll the cake.
3. Spread the prepared strawberry filling on the cake, leaving a 1/2-inch border.
4. Starting from a short side of the cake, gently re-roll the cake along with the filling.
5. This time discard the parchment paper.
6. Place the seam side or the side where the rolling ended down on a platter.
7. Spread over and the sides of the roll with whipped-cream frosting.
8. Using a flat spatula, clean the frosting so that it’s spread evenly. Or using a fork gently run over the frosting to make lines.
9. Garnish the top with roasted almonds, colored sugar balls, sprinkles, glitters etc as per your preference.
10. Refrigerate the swiss roll for at least 2 hours or keep it overnight.
11. While serving, using a sharp knife slice into rolls of 1 to 2 inches wide.
12. Enjoy this delicious swiss roll with your dear ones.
13. This roll tastes delicious and sets really well the next day, so it will be good if you refrigerate this overnight.

300th post has to be something sweet, right? I still remember when I first started this website I truly wondered if I would be able to post recipes constantly. I also wondered how I would come up with so many recipes that would be  of interest to my readers. It’s been two years now and I am still wondering. But this time around, I am wondering on what recipe to post next because my recipe list has grown so fast and I am trying to keep up. My picasa album is overflowing with food pictures that I click everyday and my laptop is full of recipes that I have tried – recipes from my mom, family, friends and others. I wish I could blog everyday and share all the recipes with everyone out there, sigh.

Both blogging and cooking have been the two things that I’ve done with utmost interest. After a long day at work, I relax and release my stress by cooking and blogging. Above all, I can’t thank you all enough for following this blog and keeping me motivated. You guys are the sole reason why this blog is still up and running. I know I have said this many times and I will keep saying this as long as this blog is alive. Thank you!

Alright, I am getting emotional now, let me talk about this apple crumble cake. Last weekend, I tried making this and it came out absolutely delicious. I used gluten free flour instead of all purpose flour so that my hubby could enjoy it too and he gobbled up with so much greed. I loved the addition of ground cinnamon and the house smelled divine while the cake was baking in the oven. A perfect dessert you could serve in the evening along with a cup of hot cappuccino.

Apple Crumble Cake

Ingredients:

• Apple, chopped small- 2 no’s
• Butter, unsalted and slightly melted- 1 stick or 1/2 cup or 8 tbsp
• Brown sugar- 1 1/2 cups
• Eggs- 2, large
• Vanilla extract- 1 tsp
• All purpose flour or gluten free flour- 2 cups
• Baking soda- 1 tsp
• Ground cinnamon- 1 tsp
• Salt- 1/2 tsp
• Yogurt- 1 cup

For topping:

• All purpose flour or gluten free flour- 1/4 cup
• Brown sugar- 1/4 cup
• Butter, unsalted and chilled- 1/4 cup or 1/2 stick
• Ground cinnamon- 1/2 tsp

Preparation:

• In a large bowl, sift together all purpose flour, baking soda, salt and ground cinnamon.
• In a bowl combine butter and brown sugar, cream using electric hand mixer.
• Add eggs to it, one at a time and beat it.
• Now, add half of the dry ingredients: all purpose flour, salt, baking soda and ground cinnamon to the mixture.
• Add half of the yogurt and vanilla extract, combine well.
• Add rest of the dry ingredients followed by yogurt, combine well.
• Fold in the chopped apple to the mixture and combine to it.
• Grease a 10 inch baking pan with 1 tbsp butter, pour the batter into it and smooth out the top.

Making topping:

• In a bowl, slowly combine using your hands: all purpose flour, brown sugar and butter till it resembles to a coarse crumble texture.
• Make sure the butter is chilled, if you use melted butter you won’t get the crumble texture.
• Evenly top the batter with the crumble.

• Preheat the oven to 350F.
• Bake the batter placing it on the lower rack for 35- 40 minutes or till the center has cooked well.
• Even after 40 minutes, if the center hasn’t cooked well, place the pan on the upper rack and bake for another 5 more minutes.
• Remove from the oven and let stand in the pan for 10 minutes, by doing this the center of the cake will turn firm.
• Cut into square shapes and serve warm or chilled

When I first heard about upside down cakes, I paused for a second and thought: don’t I flip all the cakes upside down after it comes out of the oven? Yes, we do invert all the cakes after it has baked well and then we might top the cake with frosting or whipping cream to make it look even more prettier. But, when you are making the real upside down cake you will be layering the pan with a few things mostly fruits, nuts etc before you pour the batter into the pan. This way when you turn over the cake, you will already have a decorative topping and you can indulge in it right away.

Yesterday was one of my friend’s birthday and I wanted to surprise her. I couldn’t think of anything better than a cake to surprise her. I had to pretend till noon that I didn’t even know it was her birthday. After lunch, along with the other co-workers, we opened the cake, lighted the candles and called the birthday girl into the room. As soon as she entered we sang the birthday song so loud, she was literally shocked and surprised to see the cake. Her surprise look and excitement made me feel very happy. After the cake cutting, when it was time for tasting the cake, I kept my fingers crossed. When I heard the “Mmmm” coming out of my friends and when I myself did the “Mmmm” after taking a bite of it, I felt so relieved. It was such a delicious cake! Rich in chocolate flavor, very soft and moist inside and not too sweet. Everyone raved about it.

Recipe Courtesy: Gale Gand. I did make a few modifications to the original recipe like I only added 4 tbsp pf butter to coat the pan and baked the cake for 45 minutes.

A few tips for beginner bakers:

• When you crack eggs directly into the mixing bowl, make sure you don’t unknowingly put any small egg shells. It’s good to crack them into a separate bowl and then add to the mixture.
• Don’t pour the cake batter till the very top of the pan, always leave some space for the cake to rise, else the batter will spill over and the top of the cake won’t be even.
• Always preheat the oven to the temperature that’s called for.
• Do not open the oven now and then to see whether the cake has baked, I know it’s hard to wait till 45 minutes or so, by doing so will change the inside temperature of the oven and it might take more time to bake.
• To check if the cake has cooked well, insert a sharp knife or fork into the middle of the cake and if it comes out clean,  you can stop baking it.
• Most importantly, measurements are very important in cake baking, so don’t just eye ball any of the ingredients.

Chocolate Almond Upside-Down cake

Ingredients:

For the Caramel topping:

• Butter, unsalted and melted- 4 tbsp
• Brown sugar- 3/4 cup
• Honey- 1/4 cup
• Almonds thinly sliced, lightly toasted- 1 cup

For making cake:

• All purpose flour- 1 1/4 cups
• Cocoa powder- 1/2 cup
• Baking soda- 1 tsp
• Salt- 1/2 tsp
• Butter, unsalted and softened- 1/2 cup or 1 stick
• Sugar- 1 1/2 cups
• Eggs- 3, large
• Buttermilk- 1 cup
• Vanilla extract- 1 tsp

Preparation:

Prepare the topping on the pan:

• Use a 10 inch round pan, grease the sides of the pan with 1 tbsp butter.
• Pour the melted 4 tbsp butter into the pan and swirl to coat the bottom.
• Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the melted butter, drizzle honey over the brown sugar.
• Top this evenly with toasted almonds. Keep the pan aside.

Making the batter:

• Preheat the oven to 350 F.
• Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together three times to make the cake extra light.
• Place the butter in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment ( I used the flat beater) and beat until smooth and fluffy.
• If you don’t have a stand mixer, use electric hand mixer instead.
• Add sugar and continue mixing.
• Add eggs, one at a time and mixing after each addition, mix till smooth, about 3 minutes.
• With the mixer on low speed, add a third of dry ingredients (flour/cocoa powder/baking soda and salt) and mix to combine.
• Add half of the buttermilk and continue mixing.
• Using a spatula clean the sides of the bowl.
• Add another third of the dry ingredients, mix and add the remaining buttermilk and almond extract, mix.
• Now, add the rest of the dry ingredients, mix until smooth.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan over the almond layer. Make sure the batter doesn’t fill till the top of the pan, leave some room for the cake to rise. (As you can see I poured the batter till the very top of the pan and I kept my fingers crossed praying that the batter doesn’t spill over, it didn’t spill over but it rose and spread to the sides of the pan)
• Bake for 45 minutes, insert a fork or sharp knife into the center of the cake, if it comes out clean, remove the cake form the oven. Else bake for a few more minutes keeping the pan on the upper rack.
• Run a knife around the edge of the pan, immediately invert the cake onto a platter, it will fall nicely onto the platter.
• If there is any almonds sticking onto the pan, remove using a spoon and top on to the cake.
• Allow the cake to cool down. cut into desired shapes and serve.
• Any leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator and can be served the next day.

I wasn’t a bit skeptical about this recipe nor did I shy away from trying this cake. As soon as I saw this recipe on Anja’s Food 4 thought, I screamed with joy as it’s gluten free and it called for only 3 main ingredients. Absolutely the kind of recipe I always want to try.

A bag of ground almonds have been sitting in my pantry for a few weeks as I wasn’t quite sure of what to make with them. Hence, I googled for some recipe ideas and stumbled upon Anja’s website. Without much thinking, I walked straight into my kitchen and started making the cake. It took me less than 5 minutes to make the cake batter and in just 20 minutes a beautiful moist cake came out of the oven. Waiting for the cake to be out of the oven, my hubby came running too. After a few clicks of the cake, we both digged in and finished the cake in less than 15 minutes.

Thanks and hugs to Anja for sharing the recipe and Yes! I am glued to her website these day.

Gluten Free Almond Honey Cake

Ingredients:

• Ground almonds- 1 1/4 cups (buy ground almonds or grind the toasted whole almonds)
• Honey, not too thick one- 1/3 cup
• Salt- 1/4 tsp
• Egg white, at room temperature- of 3 eggs
• Raisins (optional)- 2 tbsp
• Sliced almonds, to top the batter- 1/4 cup

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 350F or 175C.
• If you have ground almonds use 1 1/4 cups of that or grind about 1 cup of toasted whole almonds with or without the skin.
• Using a fork, combine ground almonds with honey till it becomes a thick paste.
• Using an electric hand mixer, beat the egg whites with salt till it forms soft peaks.
• Gently fold the egg whites into the ground almond-honey mixture, combine well without any lumps.
• Add the raisins into the batter.
• Grease or line a square pan with parchment paper.
• Spread the batter evenly into the pan.
• Top the batter with the sliced almonds.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes, till the cake turns golden brown and an inserted fork or toothpick comes out clean.
• Let the cake cool down for 5 minutes.
• Using a sharp knife, cut into desired shapes and serve.
• Don’t even think of saving a few slices for the next day, it’s not gonna happen, I bet you

This day, two years ago  in Chicago, I started this blog with the sole intention of keeping a track of and sharing my recipes with everyone. At that time I honestly never thought that I would come this far with 250 recipes and a fan page on Facebook. I owe big time to those people who constantly inspired me, supported me and encouraged me with all their heart. Most sincerely, my gratitude first and foremost goes to my dear mom and my darling hubby, then to all my readers/fans/well wishers/fellow bloggers/chefs; without you people I wouldn’t have reached this far.

Thanks a bunch to each and every food lover out there for your support.

Kitchen has been one of the places I love to hang out, inhaling the aroma of the spices, mesmerized by the colors and putting together all the flavors, at the end of all the cooking fun a platter with delicious food will be ready to indulge in.

When I first started off, for a few days I was skeptical whether I would be able to post at least one recipe/week. As days passed by, my Picasa album started to flood with food pictures and I had many word documents of the “tried”and “soon to try” recipes. Both cooking and blogging is relaxing to me and I find extreme pleasure while doing these two activities. I hope I’ll stick to this passion throughout my life and continue to share my recipes with everyone.

When I saw the pictures of Butterscotch Pecan cake on my Picasa, I knew that the recipe for this cake is going to be the apt post for the blog’s second anniversary. I had made this cake two months ago to surprise my friend on her birthday. Well, I did surprise her and she felt extremely happy for making her feel special on her big day.

I got this recipe from Martha Stewart’s website. Whenever I want to make a cake, I go to her website, most of the recipes have worked well for me.

For making the cake I followed the recipe without adding the rum, but for the butterscotch sauce I only made half the amount of what is mentioned, it was good enough to spread the top of each cake.  If you are making a three layer cake, you’ll be using all of the frosting. If you are making only 1 or 2 layered cakes, reduce the amount of ingredients accordingly.

I love butterscotch flavor, that’s the main reason why I picked this recipe. Loved the cake, butterscotch sauce and the frosting. While making the frosting and sauce you would feel that it’s going to be too sweet, believe me it wasn’t that sweet as it looks like. In fact the cream cheese in the frosting compensated the sweetness of the brown sugar. Also, do try with brown sugar only then you’ll get the butterscotch flavor. Pecans sprinkled over the cake did give a crunchy and nutty flavor to the cake. You could use any nuts if you prefer.

Butterscotch Pecan Cake:

Made for my friend’s birthday I reduced the candles to 12 to put a smile on her face, lol.

For making 3 cakes:

Ingredients

• Vegetable oil cooking spray, for pans
• All-purpose flour- 3 3/4 cups
• Baking powder- 1 1/4 teaspoons
• Baking soda- 3/4 teaspoon
• Coarse salt- 2 1/2 teaspoons
• Unsalted butter, softened- 10 ounces (2 1/2 sticks)
• Packed dark-brown sugar- 2 1/2 cups
• Eggs, room temperature- 4 large
• Pure vanilla extract- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon
• Buttermilk, room temperature- 1 1/4 cups

For making Butter scotch Sauce

Good thing: You don’t have to worry about finishing an 8×8 inch cake all by yourself, each slice filled with guilt.

Bad thing: You are going to have a mug ready to make this cake almost everyday.

As much as I love baking a huge cake, that much I freak out while I add scoops of butter/cream into it and the thought of all the fat sticking onto the walls of my inner stomach is more than a nightmare. I’ve always wondered how to just make a slice of cake, which would be just good enough to succumb to my sugar cravings. Recently, while searching for such recipes I came across not one but hundreds of recipes and I felt like a fool for not having tried those all these years. Well, consoling myself by saying: “It’s better late than never”. Most of the recipes I’ve read called for egg, but I somehow wanted to skip the egg. Tried without adding the egg and it came out just perfect.

This is definitely a healthy way of eating cake, a slice of cake just for you with right amount of oil and no egg. No need to wait for an hour, in less than 3 minutes you’ll be sitting on your couch enjoying a chocolate cake from a mug. Wish I could make all my favorite dishes in such less time, I guess I am getting too greedy here. Bottom line is whether it’s 2 minutes or many hours, I just love cooking and delicious food is my weakness.

So people, have your mug ready and you have a cake!

Eggless Chocolate cake in a Mug:

Ingredients:

• All purpose flour or gluten free flour- 4 tbsp
• Sugar- 2 tbsp
• Cocoa powder- 1 tbsp
• Baking powder- 1/4 tsp
• Milk, skim or whole- 3 tbsp
• Oil- 3 tbsp
• Sweetened grated coconut or your favorite nuts- 2 tbsp and little more for garnishing

Preparation:

• Have a large mug ready.
• Combine all the ingredients in the mug using a spoon.
• Thoroughly mix it so that the flour is well incorporated.
• Make sure the batter fills only the half of the mug as the cake will rise while cooking.
• Keep the mug with the batter in a microwave.
• Microwave in full power for 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
• Cooking time might vary depending on the microwave, if the center of the cake is not cooked well even after 2 minutes and 30 seconds, microwave for a few more seconds.
• If you want you can top the cake with nuts or sweetened grated coconut.
• Sit back and enjoy immediately.

Tips:

• After cooking the cake for 2 minutes and 30 seconds, you could even top the cake with a marshmallow and cook for a few more minutes for it to melt slightly.

I wonder if there is anyone who can possibly ignore this particular dessert. I can only hear them say ” more please”. It’s that delicious and everyone knows that. I had tried brownies from many pastry shops and restaurants, but was lacking the expertise to make this on my own. You can only wait for a while but not for a lifetime. That happened to me too, I couldn’t wait till I became an expert to make this. Last weekend, I got the feeling that I am good enough to bake this in my kitchen. When your mind tells something like this, no one can stop you.

When the brownies came out pretty good, I felt I shouldn’t have waited this long to make this. Anyway, it’s better late than never. Also, I ended up making a second batch of these as the first batch got over in the blink of an eye. I shared the brownies with my co-workers on Monday which also helped to beat the Monday blues.

As part of my husband’s gluten free diet, I had bought a pack of Clubhouse potato starch. On the back of the pack, there was a recipe for brownies. The recipe sounded so easy and good to me, hence I decided to give it a shot. The brownies came out pretty great in just 25 minutes of baking. You don’t need an electric mixer nor a stand mixer to make the batter, just a whisk will do all the magic.

Chocolate Brownies: Gluten Free

Ingredients:

• Chocolate squares, semi-sweet- 2 (2 oz/6 0g/each)
• Margarine or Butter- 1/3 cup
• Granulated sugar- 3/4 cup
• Vanilla extract- 1 tsp
• Eggs, large- 2
• Potato starch or potato flour- 1/2 cup (or use all purpose flour)
• Baking powder- 1/2 tsp
• Salt- 1/4 tsp
• Almonds, chopped or any other nuts- 1/2 cup
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips- 1/2 cup

Preparation:

• In a saucepan, melt chocolate squares and margarine or butter together over low heat.
• Remove from heat, stir in sugar and keep aside.
• In a bowl, beat eggs using whisk, one at a time.
• Add: potato starch, baking powder, salt and chopped almonds.
• Combine well and let stand for 5 minutes.
• Grease a baking pan with butter and pour the batter into the pan.
• Garnish the batter with semi-sweet chocolate chips.
  
• Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C).
• Bake the batter for 25 minutes.
• After 25 minutes, remove the brownies from the oven and allow it to cool down.
• Gently cut into squares or triangle shapes using a sharp knife.
• The outside of the brownies will be slightly crispy and soft on the inside.
  
• You could also chill it in the refrigerator for sometime.
• Enjoy!!!

I couldn’t think of any gifts but bake a delicious cake to impress my husband. And Yes! he did fall for me hook, line and sinker I’ve been wanting to make a coconut cake for quite sometime now and finally I nailed it. I adopted this recipe from Martha Stewart’s website and tweaked it well to fit my ” not too much butter and sugar criteria”.

The cake came out pretty good, loved the coconut flavor it had and the crunchy roasted coconut flakes sprinkled over the cake. The filling is what made the cake taste delicious. So I highly recommend to make the filling.

If there is anyone out there still looking for a delicious cake to surprise your valentine, then here is it. Don’t think anymore, just step into your kitchen and let the baking fun begin.

Wishing everyone a Happy Valentine’s day!

For my Valentine with love…

Coconut Cake- 2 layered cake with filling

Ingredients

• Sweetened flaked Coconut – 1 1/4 cups ( for garnishing the cake)

For making cake:

• Butter, unsalted and slightly melted- 2 sticks or 1 cup
• Sugar- 1 1/2 cups
• Eggs, large- 3
• All-Purpose flour – 2 1/4 cups
• Baking powder- 3/4 tablespoon
• Heavy cream – 3/4 cup
• Pure Vanilla extract – 2 tsp

For making filling:

• Heavy cream or half and half cream – 1 cup
• Sugar – 3/4 cup
• Butter – 1/4 cup or 1/2 stick
• Corn starch – 2 tbsp
• Vanilla extract – 1 tsp
• Cold water – 1 tbsp ( to dissolve corn starch)
• Sweetened flaked coconut – 1 cup

For making whipped cream:

• Heavy cream – 1 cup
• Powdered sugar – 3 tbsp

Preparation:

Step: 1

• Pre heat the oven to 375 F.
• Spread 1 1/4 cups of sweetened flaked coconut on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Bake the coconut for 5 minutes till it turns light golden in color.
• After the coconut turns golden in color, remove from the oven and keep aside.

Step: 2 Making the cake batter:

• Preheat the oven to 325 F
• Grease a 10-inch round pan with butter and keep aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar at speed 2 until it turns smooth and fluffy for about 4 to 5 minutes.
• If you don’t have stand mixer, use electric hand mixer to cream butter and sugar.
• 
• Add eggs one at a time and beat until creamy, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl using a spatula.
• In a bowl, combine flour and baking powder together.
• In a different bowl, mix together the heavy cream and vanilla extract.
• With the stand mixer on low speed, add flour mixture, alternating with cream mixture, beginning and ending with the flour, beat until just combined.
• If you don’t have stand mixer, use electric hand mixer instead.
• 
• Pour batter into the grease cake pan and bake until a tooth pick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, for about 45 minutes.
• After 45 minutes, if the center of the cake is not well done, place the cake on the upper rack of the oven and bake for a few more minutes.
• Let the cake cool down completely.
• 
• Gently run a knife through the sides of the cake and cover the cake pan with a plate.
• Flip the pan and tap the pan gently, the cake will fall onto the plate smoothly.
• 
• Using a sharp knife, very carefully cut the cake into two halves and keep aside.

Step: 3 Making the filling:

• Combine heavy cream or half-half cream, sugar and butter in a saucepan and heat it stirring the mixture frequently.
• In a bowl, combine corn starch, vanilla extract and cold water together till the corn starch dissolves completely.
• Pour the corn starch mixture into the cream mixture, stirring it frequently.
• Let it come to a boil and simmer it for a few minutes.
• When the mixture starts to thicken, remove from the heat.
• Grind the sweetened flaked coconut slightly in a blender or food processor.
• Add the coconut into the cream filling and combine well.
• 
• After the filling cools down, chill it in the refrigerator for half an hour.
• Before using the filling, place the filling in a stand mixer bowl with the paddle attachment and beat until creamy and smooth for 4 minutes and keep aside.

Step: 4 Making whipped cream:

• Place the heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar in the stand mixer bowl with the wire whip attachment.
• Whip it at high speed ( speed 8), till soft peaks forms.
• 
• Don’t over whip as the cream will curdle.

Step: 5 Assembling the cake:

• Spread the prepared cream filling on top of one of the cake halves.
• 
• Place the other half over it and gently press down.
• Cover the cake with whipped cream and sprinkle the top generously with roasted sweetened flaked coconut.
• 
• To decorate the cake, I used Betty Crocker decorating Icing which came with the design tips as well.
• Refrigerate and chill the decorated cake for about 4 to 5 hours before cutting it.
• This cake will last for 5 days when kept in air tight container in the refrigerator.
• I can guarantee one thing that this cake is going to finish in just a matter of seconds.

Tips:

• For making 4 or 6 layered cake, just double the amount of ingredients.
• Don’t skip the filling and the roasted coconut sprinkled over the cake, both of these made the whole difference.

It’s that time of the year when I turn 21 again

Today is the day of celebration for me, it’s my birthday and this is my 200th blog post. I couldn’t be more happier. Birthdays have always been special to me, filled with greetings, gifts and phone calls from my family, friends and fellow bloggers. Without which I wouldn’t have felt special on this day. Thanks everyone for your love and support…

I baked two cakes for my birthday. Does this sound weird? Well, when my husband made plans to order a cake to celebrate my birthday, I instantly felt that for this birthday I should be baking a cake for myself. If I don’t bake a cake for myself then what’s the point in calling myself as a food blogger.

I wanted to have my hubby to enjoy the cakes too, so I decided to make the cakes Gluten free. Ever since we swallowed the bitter truth that my husband has gluten intolerance, I’ve been researching and shopping for Gluten free products. Initially it was hard for me to make gluten free dishes, but now I’m beginning to get into the groove. This was my first time baking Gluten free cake. The truth is it’s not that hard to make gluten free dishes, you just have to buy gluten free products and yes they are expensive.

I first decided to make just a 4 layered strawberry cake, as I started to style the cake, I was hit with the thought that I should be making two cakes – a 2 layered strawberry cake and a 2 layered pineapple cake. I am a huge fan of strawberries, so definitely strawberry cake is my favorite one. The pineapple cake came out pretty good as well.

Gluten Free Strawberry Cake:

For making the cake:

Ingredients:

• Gluten free all purpose flour or use regular All purpose flour – 3cups
• Unsalted butter, slightly melted – 2 sticks or 1 cup
• Baking soda – 1/4 teaspoon
• Baking powder – 2 1/4 teaspoons
• Salt – 1 teaspoon
• Granulated sugar – 1 3/4 cups
• Large eggs, at room temperature – 4
• Milk, whole or skim – 1 1/3 cups
• Pure vanilla extract – 1 tablespoon

For Filling:

• Strawberries, fresh or frozen cut half – 4 cups
• Sugar – 1/3 cup
• Lemon juice – 1/2 tablespoon

For making whipped cream:

• Heavy Whipping cream, cold – 2 cups
• Confectioners sugar or powdered sugar – 4 tablespoons

Preparation:

• Preheat the oven to 350 F with one rack in the center and the other rack in upper position.
• For 2 layered cake: Grease 9-inch round cake pan and line with parchment paper which is cut round to fit the bottom of the pan.
• Since I made 2 small cakes each with 2 layers, I used two  7 1/8′*1 1/2″ pans. You could also use 9-inch round cake pan.

Making the Cake batter:

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
• Beat the sugar and butter which is melted in a large bowl using a hand mixer till it gets smooth and fluffy.

• Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

• Add the flour, alternating with milk, beat it beginning and ending with the flour.

• Avoid over beating the flour and milk mixture.
• Add the vanilla extract and combine well.

• Divide the batter between the two pans and keep the pan on the middle rack and bake it.

• Bake for 45 minutes first and run a knife into the middle of the cake if it comes out clean and the center of the cake has cooked well, you could remove the cake from the oven.
• If the center of the cake has not baked well, then keep the cake pan on the upper rack and continue to bake for another 15-20 minutes, checking frequently using a knife whether the center of the cake has baked to perfection.
• For me, it took 1 hour to bake.

• Transfer to wire racks and let the cakes cool in pan for about 10 minutes.
• Run a knife around the edges of the cakes, invert onto racks and let cool completely.

Making the filling:

• While the cake is baking you could make the filling.
• Place the halved strawberries along with the sugar and lemon juice into a saucepan.

• Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally for about 20 minutes till it’s slightly mashed.

• Strain the juice from the cooked strawberry filling and keep aside the filling and syrup separately, let cool down.

Making the Whipped cream:

• Using a hand mixer, whip the heavy whipping cream along with sugar until medium peaks form.

• Don’t over whip as the cream would change to butter.

Layering and styling the cake:

• Trim the cake tops and cut the each cake horizontally into two halves.

• Brush one of the cake halves with strawberry syrup.

• Spread the strawberry filling over the syrup.

• Spread 1/3 rd of the whipped cream over the filling.

• Place the other half of the cake over this, bottom side should be up.
• Since I only made a 2 layered cake, after placing the second layer I covered the cake with whipped cream using a flat spatula.

• Spread the whipped cream evenly; garnish the top of the cake and the sides with strawberry; I also made some other decorations too.
• Finally, I sprinkled grated semi sweet chocolate on the cake.

If you are making a 4 layered cake:

• After placing the 2 layers, repeat with two more cake layers and spread with whipped cream over the cake and do the decorations.

Pineapple Cake:

For making Pineapple Cake:

• Cut the second cake horizontally into halves and keep aside.

For making pineapple filling:

• Pineapples, diced, canned or fresh- 1 can
• Sugar- 3 tbsp
• Water or syrup from the can- 4 tbsp

Preparation:

• Drain the syrup from the canned diced pineapple.
• In a saucepan, cook the diced pineapple along with sugar and syrup or water until it gets slightly mashed for about 15 minutes.
• Strain the syrup from the cooked pineapple filling, keep aside the syrup and filling separately.

Layering the pineapple cake:

• Brush one of the cake halves with the pineapple syrup.
• Spread the pineapple filling on the cake.

• Spread the whipped cream over the filling.
• Place the other half of the cake over the whipped cream, bottom side up.

• Cover the cake with whipped cream and spread it evenly using a flat spatula.
• Place round cut pineapples (canned) over the cake, and on the sides of the cake.
• To make it colorful, I decorated the cake with dates as well.

Tips:

• If there is any leftover strawberry filling and syrup it can be used as a spread for breads and rolls.

Oh ya, my man can bake!

April 28th, 2009 was the day when I posted the first recipe on my website. That means today is the first anniversary of my blog. I can’t believe it’s been a year already!

Before starting this blog I had made few cooking videos. One day, for no particular reason, I felt like capturing cooking videos and after all the editing I uploaded  them on youtube. To my surprise, many of my friends and few strangers loved the videos and encouraged me to do more. Shooting the video and editing took a lot of time and after making few videos I kind of felt exhausted. At that time, it was my husband who suggested me to start a blog so that I could keep track of all the recipes I try in my kitchen. Hence, this blog came into being.

When I started this blog I never thought that I would take blogging seriously nor would this blog change my life. As days passed by, I found amazing things happening in my life through this blog. I got hooked to my kitchen and to the food world. Total strangers from different parts of the world read my blog and became my fans. My real friends started to try my recipes and they constantly appreciated my cooking. I became the featured publisher for Foodbuzz. I won a couple of cooking contests. These were the amazing things that happened to me which helped me to move forward without looking back.

I would like to thank each and everyone who inspire me to blog, who support me with their kind and encouraging comments. Without you guys my blog wouldn’t have survived this long.

Last weekend, I had hosted an Indo-Chinese themed party which turned out to be a super hit. Towards the end of the party, the dessert got more raves than my Indo-Chinese dishes. And the dessert was Carrot cake with cashew nuts made by my hubby. I know Carrot cake doesn’t fit into Indo-Chinese category, but my hubby insisted on making this cake all by himself on that day. I had no other choice but allow him to mess up my kitchen. When I had a bite of this cake I was literally shocked and I screamed: My man can Bake, yayy! I am so proud of him and I’ve hired him as my pastry chef

My hubby’s Carrot Cake with Cashew Nuts

For making carrot cake:

Ingredients:

• Grated Carrot- 3 cups
• All-Purpose flour- 2 cups
• Baking soda- 2tsp
• Baking powder- 2tsp
• Salt- 1/2 tsp
• Ground cinnamon- 2 tsp
• White sugar- 2 cups
• Eggs- 4
• Vegetable oil- 1 1/4 cups
• Vanilla extract- 2 tsp
• Cashew nuts, chopped- 1 cup

To make frosting:

• Butter, unsalted- 1/2 cup
• Cream cheese, softened, fat-free- 8 ounces
• Confectioner’s sugar- 3 cups
• Vanilla extract- 1 tsp

Preparation:

• Shred 3 cups of carrot and keep aside.

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×13 inch pan with butter and sprinkle 1 tbsp flour evenly on the pan.

• In a large bowl, using a hand mixer beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and vanilla extract.

• Using a whisk mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and ground cinnamon.

• Stir in shredded carrots.

• Using a whisk fold in cashew nuts and combine everything. Don’t over mix the batter.

• Pour into prepared pan and bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

• Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Making the frosting:

• In a large bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners sugar and vanilla extract.

• Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

• Spread the frosting evenly on the cake.

• Let stand for 10 minutes and serve.

Tips:

• For serving 2-4 people, just half the amount of ingredients and bake the cake.
• Health freaks: You could avoid the frosting.
• For less frosting on the cake: You could half the amount of frosting ingredients.
• You could use any kind of nuts to this cake like pecans, walnuts, almonds etc
• Leftover cake can be refrigerated in an air tight container for few days.
• The cake by itself tastes incredible, no need of frosting.