Chocolate chip scones

After trying my hands on the delicious, airy and scrumptious British scones, my kids had always been after making them. I have already made them numerous times, I felt it was time to experiment with something new. One of the main reason behind trying out the Chocolate chip scones was Mr. Parveez. When I made the plain scones, he mentioned that he loved the chocolate chip scones at a Book store cafe which he visited on some weekends before we got married and he loved them.

Therefore, I felt my second trials have to Chocolate chip scones. these scones are pretty rich, chocolaty , slightly sweet and just melt in the mouth. They are pretty easy, simple and fast to make, crunchy exterior and soft interior make them extremely satisfying. I make scones in a traditional scone way where I patted the dough around an inch thick and then cut them with the help of a biscuit cutter. But you can also roll the dough into a circle, around 8 inches and cut them in triangle shape, like a pizza. You can cut them into as many as you like, as long as the width is around an inch.

The butter you use should be cold because if it melts too soon, your dough wouldn’t be crumbly. If the dough gets super soft for any reason, because the butter you used was on room temperature or melted, then place the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour, till the dough is good enough for you to handle. The heavy cream used in the recipe is an approximate measure. It honestly depends on the flour that you are using. If the dough doesn’t come together easily and if you feel its still dry, add a little more cream, little at a time. Similarly, if the dough is too sticky and gets hard to handle, you can always add a little more flour, one tablespoon at a time. Avoid overworking the dough, because scones do not need too much mixing. Less mixing makes softer scones. The dough should be soft, not sticky.

Scones are best when you serve them fresh out of the oven. If you have extra, its always better to freeze the dough and bale it when you are ready to eat. You can freeze them up to 2 months in an airtight container. When you want to use it, just thaw the dough and use it.

Plum Cake

Plum cakes are just so special. Christmas all around the world is always so festive and beautiful. I love the old city charms, snow and the gorgeous decorations everywhere. Though, things were pretty festive while I was growing up but in a little different way. I went to catholic convent school and Christmas was always celebrated in an awesome way. The teachers, nuns and students would always put up a grand show on the last day before the Christmas break. One of the teachers would dress up as Santa Claus and distribute gifts to everyone.

What also made me look forward to Christmas in India was Plum cake. For some reason, Plum cake was always made only during the Christmas season. A local and very popular bakery in my hometown made delicious Plum cake and my father made sure he gets ample supply for the family because we all loved it and it was only available for a short period of time. Not just that, I would always look forward to visiting my Christian friends on Christmas and would love their awesome cake preparations on Christmas. Being a Muslim, we couldn’t eat Plum cake everywhere, since most people soak their dry fruits in Rum for a month or more and we could never try those. Thank God! the bakery was owned by a Muslim family.

I could never figure out what exactly they soak their dry fruits in and how exactly they make it so delicious, yet not adding any alcohol and making it exactly the same way as its traditionally made was simply amazing. But, of course, no baker would ever share the recipe, Right? and so, we would just enjoy the yummy Plum cake while the season lasted. After getting married, I discovered that Bangalore’s Iyengar bakeries have a non stop flow of Plum cakes all year round and since, we were travelling to India only during summer. Not just that, we also searched almost all bakeries in Indian areas in New Jersey only to find out that Plum cakes are not in demand so they don’t make it.

Most recipes you search will always ask you to soak the dry fruits in Rum or some other kind of alcoholic beverage and there is no alternative to it. Finally, I got this recipe from a friend’s aunt who happens to bake a traditional Plum cake for the family every Christmas and does not use alcohol. Initially I wasn’t so sure how the cake would turn out, because a few things in the recipe are not hard but slightly tricky but, once you get the hang of it, its a walk in the park. Just make sure you red and follow all the directions mentioned. I promise the cake will make you relive those beautiful childhood memories.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies, the name makes my mouth water. My undying love for chocolate chip cookies never goes away and there is no time when I don’t crave them. Warm cookies straight out of the oven and a hot cup of coffee is enough to rejuvenate anyone from their super tired day. Have you ever noticed all the cookies in the cookie aisle at your favorite supermarket. Its a huge variety. Sometimes, when you think of trying something new, a picture on a pack or the beautiful explanation of the scrumptious cookies or a popular brand name or company introducing something new, by modifying a little something in their older version is enough to lure you into trying something. I never paid attention to the details of the ingredients until my older one started developing a taste for them. That’s when I realized that I was feeding my son things that I not only did not know, but found them had to pronounce. Ingredients that sounded better in a chemistry lab than on food. This is when I decided that I should try and bake my own cookies, I mean how hard can it be…LOLzzz. But, let me tell you, its tough. Baking, not so much, but baking in the right temperature, making sure the heat is just right, is difficult. Plus, the proportion of ingredients has to be proper. A little more butter than required won’t make the cookies softer, but break them apart. A little more sugar won’t make them sweeter, but too sweet for your taste buds. Therefore, the first rule, measure everything. This recipe is plain chocolate chip cookies, craved by all, loved by all and eaten by all.  The website has a recipe for Chocolate chip cinnamon cookies too, but please do try these ones as well. Once you try these you will never buy your cookies from the store or any bakery ever, that’s a promise. Each bite is chunky and heavenly. Enjoy!!!

Basbousa Cake

This is a sweet dish made from Semolina, a dish from Egypt. Honestly, its made all around middle east and known by different names. In Egypt, its Basbousa and in Palestine, its known as Harissa or Hareeseh. In Egypt, its called Al-Basbousa. The dish even goes by the name of Nammoura. They all are the same with probably a little variation of picking the kind of essence they use while cooking. This is basically a traditional Middle Eastern sweet cake that is made using Semolina which is blended in with margarine/butter and further with yogurt. In the end the semolina batter is sweetened with orange flower water or rose water simple syrup. It was originally made by Ottomans in the middle east.

Now the funny thing is that in USA, we usually find this sweet in stores that sell a variety of Middle eastern grocery and sweets, but for some it comes under the section where we buy the Greek food. I remember from the time I came to USA that Mr. Parveez loved buying this cake and we always believed it was Greek. Until, a few days back I discovered that the actual name of this sweet dish is Basbousa and its middle eastern.

I have made cakes with all-purpose flour all the time, so this time I decided to try something new. While looking for something new, I came across Basbousa. The dish has Semolina as the main ingredient and unlike the traditional ways of making cake, this takes in its sweetness from sugar syrup after its baked. The addition of sugar syrup with Rose essence induces softness and sweetness to the cake. This recipe also includes almonds which add a little nutty crunch to the cake besides making it look nice. I was excited with the idea of making a cake with semolina, or sooji as it is known in India, as it sounded healthy and different. I have to say this was one of my favorite and satisfying baking escapades.

The concept of using sugar syrup is just like its used in Kanafeh, another middle eastern sweet or Baklava, so I was aware of how to go about it, except I wasn’t too certain if the cake will be able to soak it in or be watery. Well, not only the sugar syrup was soaked in, the addition of rose essence in the syrup gives out a beautiful aroma and definitely enhances the flavor of the cake. The result, a perfectly moist cake with a distinct taste, flavor and texture.

Basbousa or Harissa or Nammoura or Semolina Cake as I’d call it, is a perfect traditional dessert and we really enjoyed its light and spongy texture. I’ll surely be making this again. Enjoy!!!

Chocolate Walnut Cake

Christmas always bring so much happiness. I just love this part of the year, which spreads wonderful positive feelings around, everyone is so busy shopping for their loved ones or people like me love their favorite brands going on sale. its just a great festive time.

I still like believing in Santa and as a season tradition, my kids always get a picture with him every year. The decorations around, the special cakes in Bake shop, the special food being served in restaurants that’s mentioned as holiday special make the season even more fancier.

My Christian friends in India always made something called “Plum Cake” and that was also a Christmas special in Bakeries in India. I usually make that at home, since it isn’t an American Holiday special, but considering an american special, and something that my kids like, I baked a Chocolate walnut cake for the holidays.

I have put some generous amount of chocolate sauce on it, since cakes with nuts are better when decently moist and since this cake has no icing. A little sprinkle of confectioner’s sugar give it a more holiday special look, which is completely optional and a little border of red and green m&m’s add to the season color.

Its always an instant hit, loved by people of all ages and just so delicious that honestly, you don’t need a reason to bake it, you just do.

Plain Shrikhand

When I was in school, I had a friend from the southern part of India. Her father was in a transferable job and he happened to be in Jodhpur for a few years. We were good friends and we used to have playdates. The family had a maid, who was an old woman and she traveled with them wherever they went. She was from their hometown and she was a super amazing cook. The people in the family, including my friend, lovingly called her “Amma”. My first experience of trying Shrikhand was at my friend’s house and I remember not liking the first look. Then I was told that its yogurt with sugar and I was convinced since I loved my Dahi-chini.

First, bite into that yummy dish and I loved it so much. I was ten years old then and I still came home and told my mom everything I gathered, but unfortunately, the information wasn’t enough for her to recreate that sweet magic.

And, then came in a company selling their flavored shrikhand in the market, and of course, we were the first few buyers in our closest store in the neighborhood. A store-bought product is something that was made weeks or even months ago, contains preservatives, has been refrigerated, thawed, and refrigerated, may taste great, but you know your portion has to be very controlled and you can’t eat it as carefree as it would be with something homemade. The difference between the first Shrikhand I tried at my friend’s house and the store-bought one was the texture of the Yogurt. While the Shrikhand at my friend’s house was a little runny, the store-bought one was thick and creamy.

I, then started experimenting and tried making my own Shrikhand at home, following all the advice of hanging the yogurt for at least 30 minutes, using castor sugar, and grinding cardamoms to a perfect powder. But, nothing would match the taste. There was something that was lacking and I just couldn’t figure that out. With time, my zest to perfect my Shrikhand took a back seat too.

A few years later, after I am settled as a homemaker, I try my hands on it again. This time my experiment had two new ingredients, Vanilla essence, and Rosewater. Now for those of you who love making Shrikhand at home, the rule is to always hang your Yogurt in a muslin cloth so it takes away all the excess water. If you do not have a lot of time in hand, since hanging the yogurt requires anywhere between 45-60 minutes, you can also use Greek Yogurt. Greek Yogurt is thick and 15 minutes in muslin cloth is enough to drain out the excess moisture. Now, you might already be adding rose water, but the addition of Vanilla essence just makes it a whole lot better. Vanilla essence not only enhances the sweetness but also the flavor adds a lot of freshness to this sweet dish.

So, don’t wait to try this awesomely delicious and super easy, no-cook, no-bake sweet dish and impress everyone around you.

New York Style Crumb Cake

We are big fans of cakes, along with a million other things. Basically, we are foodies and love everything that’s edible for us and delicious. New York style crumb cake tops the list. The bad part is that now that we moved from being 10 minutes away from NYC to being an hour away from NYC. That makes us kind of deprived of eating our favorite cake as much as we would like to.

Therefore, the lady, that is me decided to give it a try. It came out fabulous and very close to what we like. Easy and not too time consuming either. The best part that I like about crumb cake is that it requires no icing, so you save all that extra time and tastes great.

It’s best for evening snack & tea parties . It also tastes fabulous on those special Sunday breakfasts or holiday breakfasts, when you feel like cooking the one dish and serve it with hot milk and coffee. I find this cake a better alternative to creme cupcakes and Donuts, at least for mornings, that need to be sweet and less guilty, if not guilt free.

Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies, the name makes my mouth water. My undying love for chocolate chip cookies never goes away and there is no time when I don’t crave them. Warm cookies straight out of the oven and a hot cup of coffee is enough to rejuvenate anyone from their super tired day.

Have you ever noticed all the cookies in the cookie aisle at your favorite supermarket. Its a huge variety. Sometimes, when you think of trying something new, a picture on a pack or the beautiful explanation of the scrumptious cookies or a popular brand name or company introducing something new, by modifying a little something in their older version is enough to lure you into trying something. I never paid attention to the details of the ingredients until my older one started developing a taste for them. That’s when I realized that I was feeding my son things that I not only did not know, but found them had to pronounce. Ingredients that sounded better in a chemistry lab than on food.

This is when I decided that I should try and bake my own cookies, I mean how hard can it be…LOLzzz. But, let me tell you, its tough. Baking, not so much, but baking in the right temperature, making sure the heat is just right, is difficult. Plus, the proportion of ingredients has to be proper. A little more butter than required won’t make the cookies softer, but break them apart. A little more sugar won’t make them sweeter, but too sweet for your taste buds. Therefore, the first rule, measure everything.

This recipe is chocolate chip cookies with a hint of cinnamon, which taste a little spiced up and slightly different from your regular cookies. The website has a recipe for regular cookies too, but please do try these ones as well. The slight taste of cinnamon balances the flavor of sweetness and chocolate chips, enhancing the taste, making them taste a little more rich.

Carrot Walnut Cake

There was a popular supermarket near our apartment. Mr. Parveez and I would buy our regular grocery from that supermarket. During the winter season, a baker in their bakery made carrot cake, with walnuts/ without walnuts, sometimes with raisins. Every winter, also known as “holiday season” in USA, we would look forward to the carrot cake. We even served it to our guests, took it for friends.

And one day the baker left the store. We only found during winter when the carrot cake was being sold but something changed. On trying to figure out, we questioned the Manager and found that the baker was from another country and has left for good. Even the manager agreed that the though he left the cake recipe, it just didn’t come out the same. Eventually, the store stopped keeping carrot cake.

But, we looked everywhere with our taste buds craving the same flavor. 10 years of search and over 100 stores and supermarkets, different towns, different bakeries but it was just not the same. One day I came across a recipe for Thanksgiving carrot pudding and reading that I felt, it wouldn’t be that tough trying it out. I also realized with times that there was some spice that was missing in the normal carrot cake. That spice was nutmeg. Isn’t it funny, that a pinch of a spice can change the complete taste.

I first tried the basic cake without frosting and once I perfected the basic cake, I tried the frosting and both together make a super excellent Carrot Walnut Cake. Its exactly like the cake we liked, probably a little better. This will bring you loads of praises on your parties and get together.

Mango Cream

Like most Marwaris, I also grew up eating Fruit cream as a fast and go to dessert. As much as its an easy and impressive dessert to impress your guests and loved ones, its not everyone who can make it the authentic way. Now, every time I use the word authentic for “Fruit cream”, people usually give me a very confused look. But what they fail to understand is its not just mixing in fruits, sugar and cream.

A fruit cream is best when the cream is whipped with sugar making those stiff peaks and making it fluffy at the same time. Your fruits should always be fresh and the additional sugar should be based on the fruits you are using and how sweet they are. Small little things and make big changes to your dish.

But here, we aren’t making fruit cream, I am making Mango cream and that too with a little twist. My first time trying to make Mango cream was whipping the cream and mixing in a few mango pieces. I wouldn’t say it wasn’t nice but it was definitely not satisfying as a chef.  Instead of making the whole serving with just mango flavor, I divided into half vanilla and half Mango.

The recipe below might remind you of Mango Panacotta, though similar but its very different. Panacotta requires a little more effort and cooking time where as this is you to go recipe and can easily be made in a rush with almost no prep time.