White Chocolate & Nuts Blondies

Ingredients:

White chocolate - 175 gms (finely chopped)

Unsalted butter - 115 gms (softened)

Powdered sugar - 100 gms

Eggs - 2 (lightly beaten)

Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Baking powder - 1/2 tsp

Maida - 130 gms

Cashew Nuts - 50 gms (roughly chopped)

Almonds - 50 gms (roughly chopped)

Directions:

1. In a bowl, take chopped white chocolate. Temper the chocolate either using double boiler method or using microwave. For tempering using microwave, use microwave for 30 seconds and mix well using silicone spatula. Later, use microwave for 10 each and mix well until chocolates becomes runny and shiny
2. Add softened butter, mix well until butter melts
3. Add powdered sugar and mix well
4. Add lightly beaten eggs and blend it well using hand mixer
5. Add baking powder as well as maida. Fold it in the chocolate-butter-sugar mixture
6. Add chopped nuts and mix well
7. Pre-heat oven at 180 degrees centigrade
8. Grease 8" x 8 " tin and pour the mixture
9. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees for around 30 minutes or until tootpick inserted at center comes out clean
10. Once baked, allow it to cool completely and cut into 1" x 1" squares
11. Serve it with vanilla cream or dust with icing sugar

Waffles

This Sunday we planned to have brunch at home rather than conventional lunch and finalised on loaded Waffles, Chicken Schnitzel and bacon. I had once read waffle recipe by Gary Mehigan (one of the hosts from Masterchef Australia) and decided to adapt the same. The result is what you see in the picture....

Waffles

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon castor sugar
• 250 gm plain flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast (I used Blue Bird brand)
• 250 ml (1 cup) milk
• 250 ml (1 cup) fresh cream (I used Amul fresh cream)
• 4 egg yolks
• 150 gm melted butter (salted or unsalted..If using salted, no need to add salt mentioned above)
• 4 egg whites

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup luke warm milk. Let it stand until creamy / frothy (about 10 minutes) Make sure that milk is not too warm else it will kill the yeast

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, 1/4 cup of the luke warm milk and the melted butter. 

3. Stir in the yeast mixture, sugar, salt and vanilla. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cups milk as well as 1 cup cream alternately with the flour, ending with the flour. 

4. Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks

5.Fold the egg whites into the batter. 

6.Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Let it rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour

7.Preheat the waffle iron and grease with oil 

8.Pour 1/2 cup batter in the center of the iron. Spread it evenly and close the lid  

9.Bake until waffle is golden brown. Serve with honey, maple syrup and fresh fruit slices

Batter and cut fruits ready

Fresh waffles from the iron

Waffles loaded with hone & fresh fruits

Divine Waffles

Assorted Donuts / Doughnuts

Recently I have been hearing about many outlets selling donuts in Bangalore and people going "mad over donuts" :-).....So, I decided to try making these donuts which turned out to be relatively simple. There is no baking but deep frying involved in this recipe (of course we can make baked donuts as well but I deep fried them). Donut can be termed something in between bread and cake....Bread because yeast is added and cake because butter is added. We can enjoy donuts anytime of the day, be it breakfast, snack or even meal by itself! 

Ingredients:

For Donuts - 

Plain flour (maida) : 3-1/4 cup + for dusting
Powdered Sugar : 1/4 cup + for dusting
Active Dry Yeast : 2 tsp
Milk : 3/4 cup
Eggs : 2
Softened unsalted butter : 110 gms
Vanilla Essence : 1 tsp
Oil for deep frying

For Glaze - 

Granulated sugar : 1/4 cup
Milk : 6 tb sp
Dark chocolate : 50 gms (tempered)
Rainbow sprinkles

Method:

1. In a bowl, sprinkle active dry yeast over luke warm milk. Add 1 tsp sugar to help activate the yeast. Keep it aside for 10-15 minutes until yeast foams well
2. In another big bowl, sieve the flour so that it gets aerated well. Add to it 1/4 cup of sugar and mix well
3. Beat two eggs lightly with the help of fork and add it to the flour. Add vanilla essence and mix it well with spatula
4. Add well foamed milk and yeast mixture and also softened butter. Mix well and bring all the ingredients together
5. Knead the dough for 5 minutes until it is forms a soft ball and no longer sticks to the bowl
6. Keep in a warm place for 1 to 1.5 hours or until the dough doubles up in volume
7. Punch the dough to take out the air from dough and allow to rise the dough again for 30 minutes
8. Once again punch the dough and then keep it in freeze for 30 minutes so that the dough becomes pliable for rolling
9. Lightly dust the floor with some flour and then roll the dough using rolling pin in 1/2 inch thick round. (For small / mini donuts, keep the thickness to 1/4 inch)
10. Using donut cutter, cut out the donuts and arrange it in tray / plate. Keep covered using plain cloth at a warm place for 30-45 minutes until these donuts rise again
11. Deep dry donuts in oil on medium until these turn golden brown and place these in a plate
12. Dust the powdered sugar on the hot donuts
13. For chocolate donuts, dip the cooled donut in tempered chocolate and take it out. Take rainbow sprinkles in a plate. Dip the wet chocolate side of donut in the sprinkles so that it gets coated well. Arrange it in plate
14. For sugar glaze, mix granulated sugar and milk in pan and boil until sugar dissolves and mixture thickens a bit. Allow it cool. Dip the donuts from one side in the glaze and arrange it on the plate
15. Serve the donuts either warm or even cold

Fluffy Pancakes

Now a days, our Sunday also starts very early since my younger son has his classes in the morning. Today I decided to make simple but healthy breakfast of Fluffy Pancakes served with honey and maple syrup. Pancakes can also be served by garnishing it with fresh fruits, fruit crush or jelly etc...

Ingredients

Flour / Maida - 1 1/2 cup (approx. 185 gms)

Milk - 1 1/4 milk (approx. 300 ml)

Egg - 1 no.

Baking powder - 4 tsp

Salt - 1 tsp

Sugar - 1 tbsp

Butter - 3 tbsp (melted) (approx. 42 gms)

Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp

Makes around 10-12 medium sized pancakes 

Method

1. In a large bowl, mix together flour/maida, baking powder, salt and sugar
2. Add to it melted butter, egg and milk
3. Mix together with hand blender until it is smooth
4. Add vanilla essence and mix well
5. Keep aside for 15 minutes
6. Take a non-stick pan. Grease it with little butter / oil and heat it on low to medium heat
7. With the help of ladle, pour approximately 3-4 tbsp of batter on the hot pan and spread evenly to form around 5 inch diameter circle
8. Cover the pan with lid and allow to cook for 3 minutes so that bottom is golden brown
9. Turn the pancake over and cook covered for another 3 minutes so that other side also becomes golden brown
10. Take out from the pan and serve with honey, maple syrup, cut fresh fruits or jelly

Vegetable Spring Rolls

Ingredients

For The Coverings 

1/2 cup maida
1/2 cup cornflour
3/4 cup milk
2 tsp melted butter
a pinch salt

For The Stuffing

1 tbsp oil
1/2 cup chopped spring onions whites
1 1/2 cups mixed vegetables (french beans , carrots , cabbage) , cut into thin strips
3/4 cup bean sprouts
1/2 cup boiled and roughly chopped noodles
1/2 cup chopped spring onion greens
2 tsp soy sauce
salt to taste

Other Ingredients

3 tbsp plain flour (maida) dissolved in 1/4 cup water
oil for deep-frying

For Serving

Szechuan sauce

Method 

For the covering

1. Combine the plain flour, cornflour, milk, salt and ½ cup of water in a bowl and mix well till no lumps no remain.
2. Grease a non-stick pan with butter, pour 2 tbsp of the batter into the pan and tilt it around quickly to make a 100 mm. (4”) diameter thin circle.
3. When the sides begin to peel off, turn the pancake and cook on the other side for 30 seconds.
4. Repeat with the remaining batter to make 11 more pancakes.

For the stuffing

1. Heat the oil in a wok /kadhai on a high flame till it smokes.
2. Add the spring onion whites, mixed vegetables, bean sprouts and msg and sauté on a high flame for 3 to 4 minutes.
3. Add the noodles, spring onion greens, soya sauce and salt and sauté on a high flame for another 2 minutes.
4. Divide the stuffing into 12 equal portions and keep aside.

How to Assemble

1. Place a panacke on a flat, dry surface and place a portion of the stuffing on one of its edge
2. Apply a little flour paste along the edges of the pancake.
3. Fold the top edge over the mixture to seal it firmly.
4. Fold the left and the right side of the pancake in order to get a rectangle.
5. Roll the pancake downwards tightly sealing the ends securely with the flour paste.
6. Repeat with the remaining ingredients to make 11 more rolls.
7. Heat the oil in a wok / kadhai and deep-fry in batches till they turn light brown in colour.
8. Cut each roll into 2 equal portions and serve hot with schezuan sauce.