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.
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.
My love for Baklava began in 2003. I was working for a
University in Amman, Jordan. Trying out different foods and adapting myself to new
culture and people is when I first time tried Baklava. Now, Baklava tastes very
different in all middle east countries. I might sound bias but there is nothing
like the Jordanian baklava. Its crunchy, nutty, crispy with just perfectly
sweet. Its hard to decide how much sugar will be perfect for your baklava but
constant practice made me come up with the perfect measure.
Like most of my other recipes, this recipe too is not that
tough. Just be precise with your measurements and oven heat and time. Make sure
the nuts you use are fresh and enjoy the flavor of a wonderful Baklava. It can
be made a day before for your guests and is a great dish for potluck parties
too. The shelf life is a week and can be extended to two weeks if you
refrigerate it. Though it should be thawed before serving.
This Chocolate chip pie was made on demand by my little one. In fact, he made sure he makes it with me. I call him my Little chef and those who know me personally, know, how much he enjoys cooking.
One day he was in the mood to cook for a play date. His friend was coming over and he wanted to cook something nice to show off in front of his friend. I thought he might like to make Chocolate chip cookies, but instead he demanded that he wants to make a pie and that too with chocolate chips. Hence, this recipe was invented.
This recipe is simple and tastes very close to chocolate chip pies from popular restaurants. Since I made it with my little one, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that making this dish is a child’s play.
This Halwa was an idea that I had after I made badaam ka halwa, which is pretty popular in India. I felt that Almonds or badaam have been given a lot of importance when it comes to nuts, where as , walnuts are very healthy, but not liked a lot due to their taste. Its easy to see moms feeding their kids badaam ka halwa, when kids refuse eating plain almonds with milk. Indian mothers and their never ending love that always displays in the food and the amount of food that we serve our kids. Its amusing how one bowl of badaam halwa takes place of 7-8 almonds/badaam…LOLzzz.
So, the mother in me wanted to feed walnuts to my boys and thats when the idea hit me. Initially, I planned on working with walnuts only, but then realizing that they might not taste as good by themselves as I would like them to.
Finally, I decided of experimenting walnuts by adding a little cashew to it for that creamy texture and nut sweetness. It did the trick. This is one of best Halwa that I have cooked. The recipe is sure to impress everyone.
