Rasmalai

Hope everyone had a great start for the month April and are looking forward for another beautiful month. Here this part of world is still cold and windy though I see a small change in the ice that covered the lake...hmmm ya its slightly melting giving way to the hidden water to reflect the sky...To boost up the mood with climate made some sweet treat and ya sweet does wonders..:)

Rasgullas-10  nos(I made at home)
Sugar syrup of rasgullas-3/4 cup
Milk-2 1/2 cup
Milk maid/condensed milk-2 tbsp(optional)
Saffron- a pinch mixed with warm milk.
cardamom seeds-1/4 tsp(crushed)
Pista-2 tbsp
Nuts for garnish(I used pistas)

Method of Preparation:
1. Squeeze the liquid out of rasgulla and flatten it a bit while squeezing. Set aside.
2. Boil milk with condensed milk(if using) and cook it till it turns thick and to half. Then add sugar syrup and cook for some more time say about 15 minutes.
3. Add the nuts, saffron,cardamom and cook for few more minutes.
4. Add the flattened rasgullas to it and cook for 5 more minutes on low so that it absorbs the milk mixture.
5. Turn off the heat and chill the mixture and serve with additional nuts.

Notes:
1. You can increase the amount of condensed milk and reduce the sugar syrup. This helps the milk to thicken fast and reduces the cooking time.

Cocoa Brownies with Walnut and Brown Butter

  When Abraham Chacko approached me to write a guest post for his space I was very happy to do it and accepted it without second thought said yes. He had given me enough time and wanted it only by the end of march. As many of you know me..I am the last minute person..No matter how much time I get..ok sometimes I do start early but then there will be something that holds me till the last minute..I guess that is how I am programmed by God..Now I don't want to rewrite it..;)..So here too I started with one recipe and finally ended here after editing the pics and knowing that they were horrible...Guess these are tolerable..:)
     As the many other friends I have got in fb, he is one among them. Quite an interesting guy with loads of talent. He has a great collection of recipes and a very cute family with two adorable daughters and an all in all great wife Susan..:). Chacko's Kitchen is the place where you find their effort..If you have never been there do visit it..
    Here is the small treat that I have prepared for them...This is a perfect fudgy brownie with a crunch of nuts perfect to have with milk. Here instead of butter, brown butter is used and it does taste great. Mixing and making them is quite easy though do not over bake them. Do visit here for the recipe..:)

Strawberry Cake

Finally it is the end of feb and here comes my valentines day cake...:) A cake that I had almost lost hope of been seen here..Now there is no point in saying about my love story as Valentines day is long passed..so we will stick to cake and the day it is baked...
I have been saying that feb was a terrible month for me..now why is never told...so here it is...
   The month begins with a busy schedule for hubby..which in turn means..early to office and late to home...That is its just me and son through out the day and sometimes night which kept me busy than my husband...:)Those days went on for a week and then hubby gets a dental surgery and a liquid diet for 5 days....Now i should say sick men are worst than small kids..;) To put it in single work I was totally messed up..with a son overactive, a hubby drowsy with medicines and awake with pain..cooking and rest of my routine..
Then comes the carpet changing day of the whole house...Luckily divided to 2 days..Now u got to imagine... Me and son in a room with all stuffs...Terrible!!!!
Now this very special Valentines day was in between this... I had no plans to do anything crazy..but then empty mind is devils workshop..:) Suddenly on 13th around 11 I feel that I need to bake..Started off with this cake as I already had a tub of fresh strawberries. Then start the frosting in between all this rush.. Halving the cake gets messed up as the cake slides and it gets cut slant.The layers get messed up...:) Then when i did the strawberry frosting I felt that it was less and decide to frost the layers with whipped cream...That was another disaster. As I used too much whipped cream the cake started to slip..Now there was a plus point ..the cake was not too sweet.. Then frosting I had a different plan..Anyways that dint work as I thought and then I went with this rose and chocolate bark idea.. Now if I would say this cake can also be mentioned as a disaster cake...:)
Texture and taste wise the cake and frosting is excellent...Its only my mistakes that made the cake a disaster..But then its  for my husband and kid who don't see how it is...For them it is only the taste that matters...And I got a thumbs up for that...That makes a happy me...:)

Fresh strawberries-1 cup
Sugar-1 to 2 tsp
Milk-1/4 cup
Egg-6 large whites
Vanilla-1 tbsp
Cake flour-2 nd 1/4 cup
Sugar-1nd 3/4 cup
Baking Powder-4 tsp
Salt-1 tsp
Unsalted Butter-12 tbsp
Pink food coloring- few drops

Method of preparation:
1. Wash fresh berries and chop them. Add sugar and set aside for about and hour or two until juicy. Place the berries in a food processor and puree it. You can use frozen berries too.
2. Use 3/4 th cup for cake and remaining for the frosting/as filling.
3.Preheat the oven to 350F and grease and dust two 8 or 9 inch pans.
4. In a small bowl combine puree, milk,egg, vanilla and mix with fork till well blended.
5. Mix flour,sugar, baking powder and salt to combine using a mixer.Add butter and continue beating Mix until combined and resembling moist crumbs.
6. Add liquids and beat at high for  about a minute or until evenly combined. Add food coloring and then beat to combine. Scrape the sides.
7. Divide batter into two prepared pans and smooth top.
8. Bake for 25 to 30 mins or until tooth pick comes out clean.Let cake rest in pan for 10 minutes and then on wire racks.Let cakes cool completely before frosting.

Strawberry frosting:

Butter-1 cup
Icing Sugar-6 cups
Vanilla-2 tsp
Strawberry puree- 1/3 cup

1. Mix butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl on low speed until light and fluffy.
2. Blend in strawberry puree and vanilla.
3. Add milk one tablespoon at a time, if desired consistency is not achieved. Keep covered.

Chocolate barks:
Bittersweet Chocolate pieces-4 squares
Parchment paper

1. Melt the chocolate and spread it on a strip of parchment paper. Let it set.You can keep it in freezer for 4 to 5 minutes. cut to pieces.

Whipped cream-as needed.

Assembling the cake:
1. Let the cakes cool. Then cut it to halves.
2. Spread the whipping cream/strawberry frosting.
3. Place the other half and then cover it with the strawberry frosting.
4. Using an open star tip pipe the roses on top.
5. Ten press the chocolate bark on the sides and keep in the refrigerator to set.

 Notes:
1. I used half the recipe for frosting and cake.
2. Baked a 6" X 2"cake. There was a bit more than 3/4th of pan for first time, so kept the remaining in fridge for the time the first batch was baking. Cooled the pan and then baked the remianing.
3. I have used whipped cream for the inner layer.

Linking  this to Recipes with fruit @ Zesty South Indian Kitchen & Valentines Day event @ Priya's Versatile Recipes.

Ada/ila ada

When  Sreevalli of Ammaji Recipes asked me for a guest post some time back,  I was totally hooked up with multiple jobs.. but before i could tell a list of tasks in front of me she told that I can chose a later date, for which I accepted..I totally left it there and was moving around when around the corner I remembered about the guest post. Now cooking was fine but clicking it was very difficult..Finally when I saw a little sunshine I went with this simple but a traditional recipe of Kerala.

   
 Ada is a sweet delicacy from Kerala.These are steamed  rice pockets filled with sweet coconut filling.  It is know as ela ada because of the way it is made. Usually plantain leafs are used to cook them, but due to the unavailability of them here I have experimented with parchment paper and its a success. They are enjoyed as snack/sweet during evenings with tea as well as can act as breakfast if you have a sweet tooth in the morning.

 Hop over to her space to see how this simple delicacy is prepared....