Blueberry Jam - Just 3 ingredients!

Ingredients:
600 grams - Fresh Blueberries
400 grams - Sugar
1 tablespoon - Lemon juice

Method:

• Wash the blueberries well.
• Add the blueberries, sugar and lemon juice into a heavy bottom pan.
• Place the pan over a gentle heat to slowly dissolve the sugar crystals, stirring with a wooden spoon from time to time.
• As the sugar starts to melt and the fruit warms up, mash the blueberries in the pan.
• Once the sugar has completely dissolved turn up the heat and bring the pan to boil and time for 15 minutes, stirring all the while (to prevent the sugar burning on the base).
• Take the pan off the heat and test a few drops of the jam on a frozen saucer and place in the fridge for a minute. If when you push your finger through it the jam forms a crinkle and is gel like then it’s ready. Otherwise boil for another couple of minutes and repeat process until ready.
• Store the jam in a glass jar.

Recipe inspired by fabfood4all.

Rose Gulkand Modagam

Happy Vinayaka Chaturthi! - May Lord Ganesha bestow you power, destroy your sorrow and enhance happiness in your life.

This year I made the ever so trending turmeric pillayar. Below is my version of the eco-friendly pillayar. As for the modagams, I used to love this gulkand milkshake that we used to have back in India. I was missing it so much during these covid times, so I incorporated the gulkand flavour to our modagams this year. Scroll down for the recipe.

Yields: 25 small modagams

Ingredients:

1 cup – Fresh Grated Coconut
½ cup – Rose Gulkand
1 cup - Rice Flour
Few drops of Rose Syrup (depends on the brand of syrup used)
1 teaspoon – Rose water
Poppy Seeds – 2 teaspoons (Optional, I used White sesame seeds instead)
1 teaspoon - Salt
1 cup or more – Water
1 tsp + 2 tsp - Ghee

Method:

1. Heat 2 teaspoons of ghee in a pan. Add the sesame seeds and roast it briefly.
2. Add the fresh grated coconut to the pan and fry for a few minutes on medium flame. Now add the gulkand, mix and sauté for 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat. Gulkand stuffing is ready.
3. For the outer layer: In a pan, heat about 1 cup water along with 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon ghee.
4. As the water begins to boil add the rice flour and keep stirring. Make sure there are no big lumps.
5. Switch off the flame and cover the pan and let it rest for 5 minutes.
6. Now transfer the rice flour to a bowl and add the rose water and rose syrup.
7. While the mixture is hot, crumble and knead well to form a soft dough. Sprinkle some water if the dough is too hard.
8. Divide the dough into small portions and make the outer layer, add in the stuffing and crimp the edges together to form the modagam shape. If using a modagam mould: Grease your mould with ghee. Close the mould and place a dough ball inside, press down the sides of the mould to make space in the center. Fill in the coconut stuffing and with a small portion of the dough, cover the base of the modagam. Gently unmould the modagam and repeat with the rest of the dough.
9. Steam the prepared modagams for 10 minutes. Rose gulkand modagam is ready.

 

Recipe adapted from sakhisolutions.com.

Ragi ladoo

Ingredients:

1 cup -  Ragi flour

1/2 cup - Sugar (I used unrefined cane sugar)

1/4 cup - Ghee

1 and 1/2 tbsp - Cashews

1/4 tsp - Cardamom powder

Yeilds: About 10 ladoos

Directions:

• In a pan, heat half of the ghee (1/8 cup) and roast the cashews till golden brown. Remove and set aside.
• Add ragi flour to the same pan and roast it until it gives out a nice aroma. It will become sandy in texture.
• Roast in low flame for 5-7 mins, keep stirring so as not to burn the flour. 
• After the roasted flour has cooled down, add in the sugar, cashews, cardamon powder and the remaining 1/8 cup of ghee.
• Mix well so that it is evenly mixed, and then shape the mixture into ladoos. 
• Store in a dry container. Keeps well for more than a week.

 Notes:

Let the mixture cool down before adding in the sugar. If you add sugar to hot mixture it might turn gooey. You can add any sweetener of your choice, white sugar, jaggery or cane sugar. 

Recipe adapted from: sharmispassions.com 

Eggless Mango Semolina Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup - Mango Puree 
1 cup - Semolina (Suji) 
1/2 cup - Sugar 
1/4 cup - Oil (I used coconut oil) 
1 tbsp - Curd  
1 tsp - Baking Powder 
1/2 tsp - Baking Soda  
1 tbsp - Milk
Slivered almonds and pistachios (for garnishing - optional) 

Directions:

• In a bowl, add in all the ingredients except baking powder and soda. Mix well and let the batter rest for 20 min.
• Add the baking powder and soda to the resting batter and mix well. If the batter is too thick, then add 1 tbsp milk.
• Transfer the prepared batter to baking dish, lined with parchment paper.
• Sprinkle sliced almonds nuts on top.
• Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for 30-35 mins.
• Once ready check with tooth prick stick. If it comes out clean, then cake is ready to serve. 

Recipe adapted from healthykadai.com.

Beetroot and Coconut Burfi

I have been putting off making my deepavali snacks for such a long time. After some motivation from some work colleagues, I started to search for some easy recipes to make. I saw this recipe from the blog Yummy Tummy and feel in love with it. The deep and rich colors of beetroots were so enticing that I couldn’t wait to start making these bite sized gems.

The burfi was quick and easy to make, and my colleagues enjoyed it!

Beetroot and Coconut Burfi

Yeilds: 36 bite size pieces

Ingredients:
Beetroot- 2 cup grated
Coconut - 2 cup grated
Sugar - 2 ¾  cup (reduce according to taste preference)
Ghee - 1/2 cup
Cashews - 4 tablespoons
Cardamom essence – few drops

Method:

• Grease a square tray or a flat plate, and set aside.
• Heat ghee in a pan, add in nuts and fry till golden.
• Add the beetroot and coconut to the pan. Stir fry for 5 mins till raw smell leaves from the beets.
• Now add the sugar and keep mixing, the sugar will melt and the mixture will get thick. Keep stirring.
• Once the mixture starts to leave the sides of the pan, add in cardamom essence and mix well.
• Spoon the mixture in a greased tray and spread evenly.
• Let it cool down and set. Then cut it into squares.

Using a grater to grate the beetroots.

Frying the grated beetroot and grated coconut in ghee.

Adding in the sugar.

The mixture becomes watery after adding the sugar, keep stirring.

Keep stirring until the mixture becomes thick and ghee oozes out.

Spread the mixture evenly in a greased tray. And let it cool down.

Cut into bite sized pieces.

Wholewheat Blueberry Scones

Blueberries are one of my favourite fruits to bake with. Adding these juicy blueberries put these homemade scones over the top! They’re super moist and tender in every bite. They also make a great breakfast option.

Recipe adapted from https://daisyandthefox.wordpress.com

Flatten the dough into a circle.

Cut into 8 wedges.

Brush the top with cream and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

Wholewheat Blueberry Scones

Yeilds: 8 wedges of scones

Ingredients:

Wholewheat flour – 2 cups (I used Ashirwad Atta)

Sugar – ¾ cup (I used raw sugar. You can use normal white sugar and reduce to ½ cup if using white sugar)

Baking Powder – 1 tablespoon

Grated lemon zest – 1 tablespoon

Salt – ½ teaspoon

Butter – ½ cup (cold and cut into cubes)

Egg – 1

Heavy cream (cold) – ½ cup (I used Paul’s thickened cream)

Fresh blueberries – 1 cup

A few table spoons of additional heavy cream to brush the tops

Raw sugar -1/4 cup for sprinkling on top

Cinnamon powder ½ teaspoon for sprinkling on top

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 200C.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, lemon zest and the butter. Mix in the stand mixer until fine crumbs form.
• Add the egg and heavy cream to the bowl, and mix until a thick dough forms.
• Remove the bowl from the mixer, and gently fold in the blueberries into the dough.
• Transfer the dough to a floured surface and press into a flat circle with about 1 inch in thickness.
• Cut the dough into 8 wedges and brush the top with some heavy cream.
• Combine the raw sugar and cinnamon powder and sprinkle on top.
• Place the wedges on a baking tray lined with baking paper, and bake for 18 – 20 minutes, until golden brown.
• Store in an air-tight container after the scones have completely cooled down.

Note:

•  When storing, wrap each scone individually with butter paper/baking paper and store in an air-tight container. Otherwise they stick to each other and crumble.
• Keep refrigerated. Warm in the microwave for a few seconds before consuming. Keeps well for 4-5 days.

Pumpkin Cake

So finally I decided to venture into pumpkin recipes. I baked this cake early on a Monday morning, for a pumpkin loving friend. I added loads of chocolate chips on top to make it extra special. I had taken the cake to my friend’s place for lunch. After our lunch, before I had reached home, my friends have started to ping me with messages, asking for the pumpkin cake recipe. So this recipe was a definite hit.

Pumpkin Cake:

Yeilds: One 9x9 square cake

Recipe adapted from Yammies Noshery.com

Ingerdients:

1 ½ cups -  pumpkin puree (I used canned pumpkin puree)

2 eggs + 1 egg white

3/4 cup - vegetable oil

1 ½  teaspoon vanilla

1 ¼  cups - sugar

1 ½ cups – plain flour

1/2  teaspoon – salt

1 teaspoon -  baking soda

3/4 teaspoon - baking powder

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ cup – chocolate chips

¼ cup – chopped walnuts

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 180ºC.
• Line the bottom of a 9"x9" square pan, and grease the sides.
• In a bowl, add sugar and oil, mix well. Combine the pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Mix well.
• Combine the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and spices. Add to the wet ingredients and mix just until combined.
• Pour into the greased pan, sprinkle the chocolate chips and chopped walnuts on top.
• Bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool before removing from pan.

Nutella Mousse

Yields – 8 small dessert cups

Cream whipped to a stiff peak.

Folding in the Nutella with the whipped cream.

Ingredients:

Nutella – ¾ cup

Heavy whipping cream – 1 Cup

Method:

• Take the whipping cream in a chilled bowl of a stand mixer. Whip until stiff peaks are formed. Do not over beat.
• Heat the Nutella in the microwave for 30 seconds. Keep stirring in 15 sec intervals.
• Gently fold in the melted Nutella with the whipped cream.
• Spoon the mousse into dessert cups. (I used a pipping bag to pipe the Nutella into tall dessert cups)
• Cover and chill in the refrigerator for an hour.
• Serve cold, topped with almond flakes, chocolate chips or chocolate sprinkles.

 Note:

• I used non-dairy whipping cream, and it did not need any extra sugar.
• The quantity of Nutella can be increased as per taste.
• The mousse can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Brownies - Eggless

I made this recipe for one of our Deepavali get together. I had to make dessert for almost 60 people, and these brownies seemed like a good idea. I made fondant toppers and stamped them with alphabet stamps.

These brownies where a crowd pleaser! The best part of it was the colorful fondant toppers. This recipe has been adapted from Food for 7 Stages of Life.

Milk + Vinegar resting for 10 minutes

Beating together - Oil, Mil + vinegar mixture, vanilla, coffee 

Chocolate chips tossed with
coco powder or plain flour

Batter in the pan, ready to go into the oven

Baked brownie,  out of the oven and cut into 25 squares.

Brownies – Eggless

Yields: One 8x8 square pan, 25 small pieces.

Ingredients:

For the brownies:

Plain Flour – 1 cup

Cocoa Powder – 6 tablespoons (I used Valrhona Cocoa Powder)

Icing Sugar – 1 Cup

Baking Soda – 1 teaspoon

Salt – a pinch

Oil – 1/3 Cup (I used sunflower oil)

Milk – 1 1/2Cup

Vinegar – 1 teaspoon

Instant coffee powder – ½ teaspoon

Vanilla essence – ½ teaspoon

Chocolate Chips – ½ cup

Walnuts – ¼ cup, chopped and roasted (Optional)

For the fondant toppers:

Chocolate Icing – …. (I used Betty Crocker’s icing)

Readymade Fondant – 1 pack, white color

Food coloring- in different shades

Method:

To make the brownies:

• Line a 8x8 square baking pan with baking sheet. Pre-heat oven to 180C.
• Mix the vinegar with room-temperature milk and set aside for 10 minutes.
• Sift together the flour, icing sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt.
• In a bowl, beat together the oil and vinegar + milk mixture. To this add the vanilla essence and instant coffee powder and mix well.
• Now add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3 additions, gently fold in the mixture. Do not over beat.
• In a separate bowl toss the chocochips and walnuts with some cocoa powder, this is to prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the tray while baking.
• Fold the chocochips and walnuts into the batter.
• Now pour the batter into the baking pan, and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the brownie comes out with crumbs.
• Remove from pan and let it cool. Cut into small squares.

 To make the icing and fondant toppers: (Optional)

• Chill the chocolate icing for about 20 minutes. Then fill a piping bag with the icing and frost the brownies.
• Take a small ball of the white fondant, and knead in the required food colouring.
• Use icing sugar for dusting and then roll out the fondant to desired thickness.
• Use cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes.
• Place the fondant shapes onto the frosted brownies.

 Notes:

• You can add chocolate chips, caramel chips, chocolate chunks, other nuts to change up the flavor of the brownies.
• You can replace the chocolate icing with chocolate ganache. Click here for the chocolate ganache recipe.
• The fondant toppers can be made a day in advance, store in a cool dry place.
• Do not refrigerate the fondant. 

The cut out fondant toppers, layed out on baking paper to dry overnight.