Lemon Lime Mousse

Hi all my bloggoworld friends! I know I have been MIA for far too long but.....what can I say...I just didn't feel like writing! I hope you all understand what m trying to say here. It doesn't mean I stopped baking, oh no siree, I baked, and believe me, a lot. It's just that I stopped writing about it. Every time I thought of uploading a post, I couldn't summon energy or shall I say couldn't force myself to sit down and right. But I think m over it now...that means m back to blogging :). I missed you all and really looking forward to reconnect with you guys.

Let me start with this wonderfully light and tangy mousse which I had made for one of my friend's wedding anniversary. The mousse is tangy, just a touch sweet, and it is so light, it melts on your tongue. The fresh strawberries lend a perfect balance of flavor and texture to the dessert. I put the mousse in transparent jars because the lemon-yellow mousse and lipstick-red strawberries are so pretty together I wanted to be able so see them.

Lemon-Lime Mousse:
6 large eggs
225 grams (1 cup) caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup juice and all the zest from the lemons and/or limes
180 ml (3/4 cup)  heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For topping:
120 ml (1/2 cup) heavy whipping cream ( I used Rich's cream which is non-dairy and already sweetened)
250 grams fresh strawberries, thinly sliced
2-3 oranges, thinly sliced

Method:
In a non-reactive saucepan whisk together 3 eggs, 3 yolks (reserve the 3 egg whites), 3/4 cup sugar, salt, juice, and zest. Cook over medium heat while stirring constantly, until it thickens, about 10 minutes.The lemon curd is done when it is as thick as pudding and coats the back of a spoon or spatula.Press through a fine mesh strainer. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the lemon curd is cool. Can be made a day or two ahead.
Whip the egg whites and remaining sugar until they reach stiff peaks. Add 1/3 of the whites to the chilled lemon curd and mix to lighted the texture of the curd. Gently fold the remaining whites in.
Whip the heavy cream (180 ml) with the vanilla extract, until stiff peaks.
Fold the whipped cream gently into the lemon mousse. Fold just until the cream is smoothly incorporated.
Place the mousse into a piping bag and fill the jars evenly. Whip the heavy cream (120 ml) and pipe a rosette of whipped cream on top of the mousse.
Decorate with strawberries and oranges.
Chill before serving.
Enjoy!

Strawberry Cheesecake Tart

Has it ever happened to you that you look at a photo in some food magazine or recipe book and...you fall in love with it? it just consumes you...you feel like you have to make this recipe right away or else....or else you will lose your sleep and your general ability to function and the only thing you have on your mind is...scavenging, i.e., looking into your pantry or through the length (and breadth) of your local mall in search of the required ingredients so that you would be able to (finally) make that dish.......or maybe instead of "falling in love" , I should say its like that bad itch that HAS to be scratched!

Well the same thing happened when I was browsing through the BBC GoodFood Magazine's December issue. The moment I saw it, I knew I HAVE to make it! This is the original tart from the magazine

                            
And this is the one that I made.

It's a no fuss and easy-to-put-together dessert and it tastes awesomely fresh and divine. Of course, using a good quality cheese and nice and fresh berries makes tons of difference. I used homemade Mascarpone cheese, the recipe is here.

Strawberry Mascarpone Cheesecake Tart
Adapted from The GoodFood Magazine India, December 2012 issue

Ingredients
375g block sweet shortcrust pastry
250g tub mascarpone
150g yogurt
150ml whipped cream
3 tbsp icing sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
750g small strawberries , cored and halved

Method:
Heat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Roll out the pastry to the thickness of 1/4th inch (mine was thick as I had extra pastry, didn't want to throw away extra :D) and use to line a loose-bottomed 20cm sponge/tart/pie tin. Leave the excess pastry over hanging to avoid shrinkage. Fill with baking paper and baking beans and bake for 15 minutes. Take out the paper and beans and keep baking for another 15 minutes until the pastry is cooked through and golden. trim the excess pastry then leave in the tin to cool completely.
Beat the mascarpone until smooth then add the yoghurt, cream, 1 tbsp icing sugar and vanilla and beat together until really thick. Spoon into the cool pastry case and level. Cover with strawberries and put in the fridge to chill for 2 hours.
Put the remaining strawberries in a food processor with the rest of the icing sugar. Whizz to a purée and sieve to remove seeds. Serve the tart with the strawberry purée spooned over just before serving.

Enjoy!

Coffee Caviar and Nutella Cheesecake for Blogoversary!,

Yay it's my blog's 1st birthday! Wow...it's been one year since I started this little project of mine and boy I really enjoyed each and every moment of it. Baking, for me, is really relaxing and therapeutic. And even though I have not been an active blogger for past month or so, That doesn't mean I wasn't baking!!

I made these Angry Bird's cupcakes for Ira's 2nd birthday (thank you Zoe for a superb "how to" post)

I made these "Bread Potlis"on a cold (very rare for Mumbai) evening...perfect with a hot cuppa

Also made these cute cupcakes

Plus I have also started conducting baking workshops....

During the year, I have discovered that I feel challenged by trying to make food from scratch, like learning to make bread, making my own pastry dough, learning to make macarons when everybody is so afraid to try the recipe.
My Pistachio Macarons

For the bloggoversary, I wanted to do something special, something unique and to share something delicious with you guys. And what better than a dessert caviar to do just that. This recipe from Sprinkle Bakes has been bookmarked for ages but couldn't actually got around to make it. But then m glad that I did not coz this is the perfect time for making and sharing this recipe.

Made this caviar and cake for a beautiful couple's 2nd wedding anniversary and, glad to report that, they really loved it!

Coffee Caviar
Ingredients:
2-3 cups vegetable oil

2 - 1/4 oz. packages powdered gelatin (or 4 teaspoons)

3 tablespoons cold water

3 fluid oz. hot liquid (1/4 cup plus 3 tbsp) i.e. hot coffee, or other liquid heated on the stove-top or in microwave

Ice

1/4 cup salt for water bath

Method:

Place oil in a 9x13-inch metal pan (or similar size) and store in refrigerator overnight. The oil must be very cold for the gelatin to set properly. In a medium bowl mix the gelatin and water until thoroughly combined and no lumps of gelatin remain. Let stand while you prepare the hot liquid.

Warm 3 oz. liquid on the stove-top or in a microwave until very hot but not boiling. Pour liquid over set gelatin mixture and stir until gelatin is melted. This may take a few minutes and you can break up the gelatin with a spoon for quicker dissolve.


When gelatin is completely melted transfer liquid to a squeeze bottle. You can also leave the mixture in the bowl and use a medicine dropper or syringe to draw the liquid for dropping. Let the mixture stand for a few minutes, if it's too hot the gelatin will not set properly and the "caviar" will be misshapen. It should be just barely warm - almost room temperature. While you wait for your mixture to cool, prepare the oil for the ice bath. Transfer chilled oil to a 1 quart (1 litre) container (preferably metal because it will aid cooling, but glass will work too).  Prepare the ice bath. Make sure the bowl you are using for the ice bath is larger than the container holding the oil.  Fill bowl with ice and then add water until the bowl is two-thirds filled. Add 1/4 cup salt and stir until mixed. Rest the container of oil inside the water bath. Begin dropping gelatin mixture into the cold oil, 1-3 drips at a time.


The amount of drips will vary according to the viscosity of the oil and type of dropper you use. You'll know the correct amount when the mixture forms a ball that rests on the surface for a moment then sinks to the bottom. When half the mixture has been used, wait for 3-5 minutes then scoop the caviar into a mesh sieve to drain. Place caviar in an air-tight container or a canning jar with a screw-tight lid. Resume dropping the gelatin mixture into the cold oil until all of the mixture is used. When finished, place caviar in a canning jar or in an air-tight container with a little of the oil poured over top. This may sound weird or gross, but it keeps the caviar moist for up to a week.

Nutella Cheesecake
Adapted from Zoe Bakes

Ingredients:

Chocolate Crust:
30 chocolate wafer cookies (1 1/4 cups ground in food processor) – or 15 oreos
4 tablespoons butter, melted
Cheesecake:
400 grams nutella

2 1/2 pounds (1 kg) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup (225 grams)sugar
1 cup (240 ml) heavy cream
5 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Chocolate Ganache:
1 pound (450 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 cups (500 ml) heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Method:
To make the crust: Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. In a food processor break up the cookies until they are a powder, then add the butter and process until the cookies are wet.  Pat the crumbs into the bottom of a Round Cake Pan, 9 Inch x 3 Inch, lined with a parchment circle. Bake the crust for about 10 minutes.

Lower oven temperature to 160 degrees Celsius.

To mix the cheesecake:  
In a medium size bowl, put in the softened nutella and add the cream cheese and mix on a low speed until it is well blended with the nutella. Scrape the bowl often. Add the sugar, cream and then the eggs, mixing well after each. Add the vanilla.
Fill the prepared cake pan with the cheesecake mixture.

Bake in a waterbath for about 1 hour or until the cheesecake has set on top. It should no longer appear liquidy when the pan is gently shaken. Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool in the water-bath. This brings the temp down slower and prevents deep cracks.

Refrigerate the cheesecake for several hours or overnight. Unmold the cheesecake by heating it over a flame on the stove for a few seconds, run a thin blade around the pan and then invert it onto a flat surface covered with plastic wrap. Invert the cheesecake onto a cardboard round that fits the bottom exactly. If the cardboard is too big it will show when you pour the ganache over the cake.

To make the ganache:
In a medium sized pot heat the cream until just steaming, but not boiling. Turn off the heat and add the chocolate and butter. shake the pot to make sure all the chocolate is submerged in the hot cream and allow to sit for about 3 minutes. Gently stir the ganache until it is completely smooth. Do not whip any air into it or the surface of your cake will not be smooth.
Place the cake on a cooling rack, set above a cookie sheet which is covered in parchment. This will catch any extra ganache.

Allow the ganache to thicken for about 10 to 15 minutes. If the ganache is too thin it will just pour off the cake without coating well. It should be just above room temperature.

 Start in the center and pour the ganache over the cake, then move to the outer edge and make sure the entire cake is covered.

Very gently shimmy the cooling rack so that the top surface of the cake smooths out. let the cake sit until the ganache is set up. This can take about 30+ minutes.

Enjoy!!

Garam Masala Fruit Cake For The Holidays

It feels so good to be back after such a loooooooong (enforced) break! I really missed the "buzz" and fun of bloggoworld but most of all I really really missed the daily interactions with all my friends. My last post was at the beginning of November and after that.......my laptop crashed :( The poor thing was really abused over the years and pouring a jug full of water on it by my two year old was the last straw which really did it in....I guess she was not happy with me spending so much time on my laptop! Then what with Diwali, holidays and a wedding in the family, the whole month just breezed past. So with the advent of December I decided to look for options and........ ended up buying an iPad instead of a laptop! Again a week or so went by just to figure out how to use this thing for my blogging. Finally I think I have got a hang of it....although my two year old seems to be more adept at using it..oh well I think the new generation gets a crash course in latest technologies before being sent to earth, that's the only rational reason I can think of after seeing their technosavyness!


Coming back to this cake, it was made for my baking course and the recipe was also provided by the institute. The garam masala adds deep winter flavours to your cake that mingles beautifully with your fruits. It's a standard recipe for making a 1kg, 8 inch fruit cake. The dry fruits were evenly chopped and soaked in alcohol a month or so in advance and the cake was baked and again soaked in brandy and rum for a day or two before we started "decorating" it with all the Christmassy themed things.

Here's all the things ready and waiting to go on top of the cake.


Here are some of my faves made by my baking buddies.

All the figures, charms and leaves are done in fondant and...ahem..I was inspired, read "copied heavily", from Pinterest for the final look of my cake.

Garam Masala Fruit Cake
Ingredients:
120g all purpose flour
120g brown sugar
120g butter, room temperature
3 eggs
200g mixed dry fruits, chopped evenly and soaked in alcohol for 15 days or so
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/8teaspoon orange essence
1/8teaspoon almond essence
1/8teaspoon nutmeg/cinnamon powder
1/8teaspoon garam masala powder
1 tablespoon caramel(I used store bought)
40ml milk

Method:
Preheat the oven to 150 degree Celsius. Grease and Line the base of an 8 inch round cake tin and set aside.
Sieve the all purpose flour with the baking powder and baking soda and the spices and add the dry fruits to this mix.
Cream the butter until light and fluffy, gradually add the brown sugar and keep on mixing till the mixture is light in texture. Add in the eggs, one at a time and keep beating after each addition.
Add the vanilla, orange and almond essence and beat well. Fold in the flour mix and add the milk to adjust the consistency of the batter. Add in the caramel and pour the batter into the prepared cake tin. Bake at 150 degree Celsius for 1 hour. When done, let the cake cool in the tin and allow to stand and mature in a cool dark place for a day or two. The longer it stands, the better the flavours.

Banana, Walnut and Coconut Coffee Cake

This moist and tender cake with rich taste of banana is accented by the lively tang of sour cream.

I made this cake for our The Home Bakers' (THB) group. THB is a bloghop organised by the wonderful Joyce of The Kitchen Flavours. For this event we are baking all the recipes from one book, Coffee Cakes by Lou Seibert Pappas, until all the recipes has been baked. Our 11th bake for The Home Bakers' Club , The Banana,Macademia nut and Coconut Coffee Cake, was chosen by Kit of I-Lost in Austen. Kit has a beautiful blog with lovely pictures of her beloved flowers and delightful recipes. As per the rules of The Home Bakers' Club, only the host of the chosen bake can post the recipe on her/his blog. Please hop on to Kit's blog here for the full recipe.

                       Can you see the white yummy coconut flakes poking out from the cake?? yum yum 

I chose to bake this cake with walnuts instead of Macademia because.......well that's what I had in my pantry :), and Macademia are very expensive and hard to get hold of in India. This coffee cake is actually a quick bread wherein we mix the dry and wet ingredients separately and then finally fold in the two together. Only difference being, this one is baked in a round cake tin instead of a loaf pan or muffin tin.

The cake is very moist and flavourful with all the bananas, rum, cinnamon and walnuts. The coconuts added an extra texture and depth to the cake, taking what would be a simple banana-bread, to a whole new level.

Please visit The Home Bakers' Club's site to see the awesome bakes by my other baking buddies and don't forget to get your recipe from Kit's blog.
                 
                                                   

"Shubh Deepawali"...say it with these yummy chocolaty cupcakes!!

With only few days left for diwali, my house-hold is buzzing with a flurry of activities. There's sweets to be made, cleaning to be done, "diwali-parties" to be organized and synced with friends and family , getting the 300 or so "diyas" down from the attic, and an equal amount of mini-candles to be placed in them, for that ethereal glow around the house on the night of diwali.....phew..see there's lots and lots that needed to be done before diwali, but lets take a break and enjoy a sinful moment with these delightful chocolaty babycakes.........

Last week, one of my "baking buddies" from my baking course asked me and some of my class-mates,  if we'd be interested in attending a fondant workshop?  I m so glad that we decided to go, we had a lovely afternoon and learned heaps from this awesomely creative and ever-so-helpful lady Natasha (guys please check out her Facebook page Eye Candy Cakes and Cupcakes, you'd be bowled over by her creations).

                                                   We did these cute Christmas cupcakes

Natasha is the proud owner of a budding bakery business, Eye Candy Cakes and Cupcakes, and she also conducts workshops for the baking enthusiasts. If interested, you can get all the information needed from her Facebook page.
After coming back home, I was so charged up that immediately went out and bought the "fondant buckets" to get started on my own project. And since diwali is just around the corner, I decided to experiment with these diwali-diyas. I know its a bit rustic and needs more finesse, but hey m working on it! In fact my Mother-in-Law also helped me out while making these. Watch out this space for more diwali-cupcakes :D.

Chocolate Cupcakes

Adapted from Natasha's recipe
Ingredients:
3/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup caster sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup beaten curd (I used homemade curd)

Method:
Preheat oven to 160 degree Celsius and line 12 cupcake tins. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, sift together cocoa, flour and baking powder, set aside.
In your mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then beat in the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with curd.
Por the batter into the prepared cupcake tin, filling each tin 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in centres comes out clean, around 20-25 minutes.
Cool in pan for 5 minutes, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Mille-feuille or Napolean....Yup! I m a Daring Baker!!

Our October 2012 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Suz of Serenely Full. Suz challenged us to not only tackle buttery and flaky puff pastry, but then take it step further and create a sinfully delicious Mille Feuille dessert with it!

Mille Feuille...Meel Foy...Meel Fwey?? I was so distressed! I thought, Oh my God! I can't even pronounce it, how the @#$% I'll make it!!

But then one Sunday afternoon, googling around the net, this happened and I was so taken by this girl's enthusiasm that I decided to tackle this Puffed-up issue right away. Oh and BTW it's pronounced millFUHya!

Traditionally, a mille-feuille (it's french for "thousand leaves" or layers) is made up of three layers of puff pastry (pâte feuilletée), alternating with two layers of pastry cream (crème pâtissière), but sometimes whipped cream, or jam are substituted. The top pastry layer is dusted with confectioner's sugar, and sometimes cocoa, or pulverized seeds (e.g. roasted almonds). Alternatively the top is glazed with icing or fondant in alternating white (icing) and brown (chocolate) stripes, and combed.


I opted for rough puff pastry instead of the classic puff pastry, as it saves incredible amount of time and well, it also rises well (almost 75% as much as the classic). Also, I chose the whipped cream as filling as against the more classic pastry cream..just because I wanted a lighter version of this sinful dessert.

Mille-Feuille

Rough Puff Pastry
Adapted from Pastry, Savoury and Sweet by Michel Roux

Ingredients:
250 grams all purpose flour
250 grams chilled butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
125 ml (approximately) ice cold water

Method:
Put the flour in a mound on the work surface and make a well. Put in the butter and salt and work them together with the fingertips of one hand, gradually drawing the flour into the centre with the other hand.

When the cubes of the butter have become small pieces and the dough is grainy, gradually add the iced water and mix until it is all incorporated, but don't overwork the dough.

Okay, I got a little extra help from my almost-2-year-old super cute sous chef !

Roll it into a ball, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Flour the work surface and roll out the pastry into a 20x10 rectangle. Fold it into three and give it a quarter turn.

My apologies for the clumsy edges... as you can see I m really not good at it

Roll the block of pastry into 20x10 cm rectangle as before, and fold it into three again. These are the first two turns. Wrap the block in the cling film and refrigerate it for 30 minutes.

Give the chilled pastry another two turns, rolling and turning and folding as before. This makes a total of 4 turns, and the pastry is now ready. Wrap it in cling film and refrigerate for atleast 30 minutes before using.

Line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper. Dust the work surface with lots of icing sugar and roll out the pastry to a rectangle just larger than 27 x 30cm/10½ x 12in, trimming the edges straight. It should be super thin, as thin as you can get it, without stretching the pastry.

Cut out 18 rectangles about 9cm/3½in long and 5cm/2in wide and place them on the prepared baking tray. Sprinkle with lots of icing sugar and put in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Remove the pastry from the fridge and bake in the oven for five minutes, then remove from the oven and sprinkle the pastry with more icing sugar. Return to the oven and bake for a further five minutes, or until the pastry turns golden-brown. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Whipped Cream
Ingredients:
165 ml whipping cream or double cream
25 grams icing sugar
2-3 drops of vanilla extract

Method:
Put the cream, icing sugar and vanilla in a large bowl and whip until medium-stiff peaks form when the whisk is removed from the bowl. Scoop the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm/½in straight nozzle.

Assembling the Mille-Feuille:

Place one of the pastry thins on a serving plate. Pipe blobs of cream over the pastry and put another pastry thin on top and repeat with one more layer. Sprinkle the top layer with more icing sugar and repeat until all the pastry and cream is used up.

Thank you Suz for a wonderful challenge and thank you  Lisa of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice for hosting this fab kitchen!! Do stop by here to see the awesome pastries made by the other Daring Bakers.