A Specially Brewed Cake

Living with him or not, I have been baking him birthday cakes for the past few years. This time I was too busy to bake one. Felt so guilty about it. Thus baked a cake the next day. It is a favourite flavour of mine; coffee. Just love the aroma of coffee. I incorporated some chopped almond to give the cake a bite and additional flavour.

Coffee Almond Cake

What do we need:

1 cup plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup soft brown sugar
2 eggs

1 tbsp instant coffee granules
1 tbsp hot water

2 tbsp chopped almonds

How do we do it:

Dissolve the instant coffee granules with the hot water. Leave to cool.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat well. Stir in the cooled coffee. Fold in the sifted flour mixture.

Pour the mixture into a greased and flour or paper lined pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 175° C for about 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove cake from oven and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

Fill and/or frost the cake with your favourite frosting. Decorate as per desired.



HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DEAREST BROTHER

Think Spice...Think Cumin

Guess what the second most popular spice is after black pepper. The answer is, CUMIN, the ancient spice that dates back to the Old Testament.

Cumin is a small dried fruit of an annual plant in the parsley family. Yes, it is a fruit and not a seed as how we have been calling it; cumin seeds. It is also often confused with caraway seeds that are milder to the taste, darker in colour, and smaller in size. Cumin is yellowish-brown in colour, uniformly elliptical and deeply furrowed. It is crescent-shaped, tapering at each extremity and at times, with tiny stalks attached.

Cumin

Cumin is an aromatic spice with a distinctive, pungent, powerful, sharp and a slightly bitter flavour. The flavour is accentuated by toasting. It has a strong, warm and a spicy-sweet aroma. This is due to its 2.5 to 4% essential oil content. By storing it in an airtight container and placing in a cool, dry area, away from light, the flavour and aroma can be retained for up to six months.

Cumin can be used whole or ground into powder. Though native to the Mediterranean, it is a must in Indian, Mexican, Asian, Northern African, Middle Eastern and Latin American cooking. Cumin is also a key component in chilli powder, curry powder and garam masala. It is even burned with woods to smoke cheeses and meats. Cumin should be used with restraint as it can exclude all the other flavours in a dish.

With its digestive properties, cumin is the best appetizer of all the condiments. It is valuable in dyspepsia diarrhoea and hoarseness, and may relieve flatulence and colic. Being a high source of iron, it increases lactation and reduce nausea in pregnancy. As a natural way, cumin is also believed to increase breast size. The Romans and the Greeks used it medicinally and cosmetically to induce a pallid complexion.

As my entry to the Think Spice Event, I am introducing cumin to the classic and easy Italian pesto sauce.

Cumin Spinach Pesto Pasta

What do we need:

1 cup pasta

1 bunch spinach
1/3 cup toasted almonds
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp cumin

salt
pepper

How do we do it:

Wash the spinach leaves thoroughly and drain the water. Set aside.

Boil a pot full of water with a generous amount of salt. Cook the pasta in the boiling water to al dente or until the time specified on the pasta package. When cooked, drain and set aside.

Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil and fry the cumin seeds for 10 seconds until aromatic. Add the spinach and sauté just until tender. Transfer the cooked spinach into a food processor. Add onion, garlic, toasted almonds and grated cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Pulse a few times. Slowly pour the remaining olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor. Blend until thick paste forms.

Pour the pesto onto the pasta, toss and serve hot.

Weekend Baking Session # 25

Weekend Baking Session this week celebrates its 25th round with an Improved Indian Dessert.

Carrot Halva Tartlets

What do we need:

Almond Pastry
3/4 cup plain flour
1/4 cup ground almond
1/4 cup cold butter
1/4 tsp salt
ice water, as needed

Carrot Halva
2 cups carrots, grated finely
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp ghee
4 cardamoms, powdered
a pinch of saffron strands

slivered almonds for garnishing

How do we do it:

Combine flour, salt and ground almond. Grate cold butter into the mixture. Rub lightly with fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Gradually, add the ice cold water 1 tablespoon at a time just until the dough binds together. Make sure not to over work the dough. Wrap with cling film and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Heat ghee and fry the grated carrots slightly. Pour milk and sprinkle the saffron strands. Let it boil. Cook the carrot to soft paste stage. Now, add the sugar and continue cooking while stirring. Remove from heat when the halwa looks gooey.

Divide the pastry dough into 8 portions. Press each portion evenly into greased tart mould. Trim edges to remove excess pastry. Prick base of each tart with a fork. Cover and chill again for about 15 minutes. Then, blind bake the pasty cases in a preheated oven at 200º C for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and place the tartlets on a wire rack to cool.

To assemble, fill the tartlets with cool carrot halva. Top with slivered almonds.

PuSiVa'S CuLiNarY StUdiO is 1 Month Old!!

It has been a month since I started blogging. This morning when I logged on, I was overjoyed to find that the visitors counter has already hit more than 2000. To me it is a great achievement. At this moment, I would like to thank all those out there, throughout the globe, who has visited my blog. I realise that I now have a few regular visitors who come in on daily basis, without fail. I highly appreciate all your comments and encouragements. To celebrate it, I present Carrot Halwa as a visual treat to all of u.

Carrot Halwa

What do we need:




2 cups carrots, grated finely
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp ghee
4 cardamoms, powdered
a pinch of saffron strands
slivered almonds, garnishing

How do we do it:

Heat ghee and fry the grated carrots slightly. Pour milk and sprinkle the saffron strands. Let it boil. Cook the carrot to soft paste stage. Now, add the sugar and continue cooking while stirring. Remove from heat when the halwa looks gooey.


Serve hot or cold garnished with slivered almonds.

Nibbles For My Toddler # 1

My daughter, Mahisha, loves biscuits as her snack. I do not prefer buying commercially baked biscuits for her. So, I always bake my own little biscuits for her. I feel satisfied when I see her enjoy biting them. The last batch of biscuits has finished and she wanted more. I make sure I do not repeat the same kind of biscuits. Was wondering of what other variety to bake. Checked out my pantry and found that I have 2 packets of apricots. This time, I wanted to bake something quite similar to rock buns but a softer version. After spinning my brain for a while, came up with a new recipe. The simplest possible as I did had much time to sit on it for a few hours.

Apricot Cookies



What do we need:

1 cup plain flour
1 cup chopped apricots
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup ground almond
3 tbsp apricot preserve
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla essence/flavouring
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

How do we do it:

First of all, soak the apricot in warm water for a while to soften it. U can also use those soft type of apricots as well. Pat dry them with kitchen towel and chop them finely.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Make a hole in the middle, add the rest of the ingredients except for the chopped apricots. With a mixer, beat for 1 minute. If u do not have a mixer, use a hand whisk and beat for 5 minutes. Now, fold in the chopped apricots.

Drop the dough by teaspoonful on a baking sheet. I did it with just half a teaspoon to make little ones. Bake in a preheated oven at 180° C for 10 - 12 minutes. This recipe yields 85 tiny little pieces.



I prefer using brown sugar to normal white sugar as the former is less sweet than the latter. I have also minimised the sugar usage as the apricot preserve and the apricots are sweet enough. Added the apricot preserve for extra apricot taste. The purpose of using the almond meal is to give the buns a fuller shape.

Mahisha likes the cookies. Well, not just her, hubby and I too love them. Looks like I will have to bake more of them again.

Twisted Toast

Though I wake up early during weekends, I have always been cooking lunch quite late as I had to spend most of my time with my little daughter. So, breakfast is a must for during weekends. Was exploring my pantry and found a loaf of sandwich bread. When I saw it, the very 1st thing that struck me was TOAST. I love toast. French toast especially.

Iniatially, I was just preparing the ingredients for a normal french toast. When I touched the bottle of vanilla essence, my eyes went to the bottle next to it. Almond essence. Then, my brain started spinning and came up with a new idea. Why not I make almond toast for a change? Here I go................

Almond Toast



What do we need:

10 slices of bread
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 drop almond essence
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup ground almond (almond meal)

How do we do it:

Mix together the eggs, milk, brown sugar and the essences. Beat lightly until the sugar disssolve.

On a medium heat, lightly butter a frying pan. Dip a slice a bread into the egg mixture until the bread is fully covered with the mixture. Transfer the bread slice onto the pan.

Place a teaspoonful of the almonds onto the bread and spread it to cover one side of the whole slice. Flip it over after a minute or two and remove after a minute.




Almond toast is best served with a drizzle of honey. Almonds could be substituted to hazelnuts. Just omit the almond essence. Serve hazelnut toast with a drizzle of chocolate sauce.