Roma's Space

This is again one of my kitchen experiments. Long ago my aunt told me that adding fresh orange juice to cake batter can create freshness in its taste. I also had lots of black raisins in my fridge. I remember buying these raisins as a humble substitute for blueberries. I love blueberry muffins but couldnt find any berries.

Finally, I thought of marrying the two ideas. Why not have an orange flavored cake which has black raisins in it? Here is the concoction. I must say its worth a shot. The end result was a shiny muffin in which the freshness of orange juice was interrupted by dark, sweet black raisins.

Off this goes to the original recipe event hosted by Lore. Merry Christmas!

Ingredients :

• Orange juice 1/2 tea cup
• Orange peel
• 6-7 black raisins
• 1/2 tin condensed milk
• 100 grams maida / white flour
• 50 grams butter
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• A pinch of salt

Procedure :

1. Extract fresh orange juice.
2. Remove the white fiber from the reverse of the peel. Now finely chop the orange rind.
3. Deseed black raisins and chop them.
4. Mix condensed milk with melted butter.
5. Add 1/2 cup of orange juice , beat until thoroughly blended.
6. Sift together maida, baking powder, salt and soda. Blend in maida using the cut and fold method.
7. Dust the orange rind and raisins in maida. Now gently mix them into the batter.
8. Grease & dust muffin molds. Bake in a preheated oven at 175 Deg C for 25 mins.

Cake for little BIL's Birthday

It was my younger Brother-in-law’s birthday a few weeks ago and I decided to bake a cake for the occasion. He loves cakes but unlike me he is not very fond of chocolate cakes. So I started thinking of an eggless cake that is simple, non-choco and yet tasty. I started going through my mom’s cookery notes when I stumbled upon this cake which was made from condensed milk. I had a can that had been chilling in my fridge for over a month, so I decided this was the best time to use it. Moreover, I had never really tried an eggless cake in a long time so I got cracking.

I am glad my BIL liked it very much. . Actually, although I bake cakes all the time its still a bit nerve racking when you bake for an occassion. You want to get it right. When I was turning the cake out of the mold for a second it got stuck and I was like ‘God! Its for a party, let it not break !’ Thankfully it came out clean and I was happy. Next comes the part when you want to taste it. Obviously, I couldnt taste it till it was cut. So I waited impatiently for the cake cutting. As soon as the cake was cut I jumped to have a piece. I was almost holding my breath and was hoping it wont end up as another one of those grand kitchen experiments. I felt like a kid waiting for her result. Thankfully the cake was delicious and I think I am going to make it more often.

Ingredients :

• 1/2 tin condensed milk
• 100 gms maida
• 50 gms butter
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• A pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

Procedure :

1. Mix condensed milk with melted butter.
2. Add 1/2 cup of water and vanilla essence, beat until thoroughly blended.
3. Sift together maida, baking powder, salt and soda. Blend in maida using cut and fold method. Let the batter reach dropping consistency.
4. Grease baking tin and pour the mixture in. Bake in a preheated oven at 175 Deg C for 35 – 40 mins.

As you can see I am totally going bonkers over chocolate and I cant stop baking. These Bikkies are really sinful and very heavy. If you eat a piece you’ll feel like you have been consumed by chocolate. Anyway, it started off with my hubby going away to office on a Saturday afternoon. Baby and I were wondering what to do since neither of us was feeling sleepy. As usual the solution was to bake a cake. I always ask her before starting “Mummy Cikki bana le?” where ‘Cikki’ is what stands for cake in her language. I usually get a yes for an answer. Then she takes her position on the kitchen platform and I get whisking!

By the time the Brownie Biscuit batter was ready baby became increasingly restless. She wanted to eat the dough straight out of the can. I kept trying to explain to her that this needs to go into the oven but she insisted. Then I tried to satisfy her chocolate craving with some toffees that were lying around in the kitchen. Again she went “Cikkkiiiiii” and then I knew I had to act fast. I Quickly threw the batter on the tray and just shoved it into the oven. Took her to bed and she slept peacefully. When I took the Cikki out of the oven I didnt like the shape. Naturally, given the pressure under which I put it in I had no time to do it properly. So I decided to use a cookie cutter to make the brownie bikkies look attractive.

Please note that this recipe of brownie biscuit gives a texture thats between the traditional brownie and the usual cookies. It uses more flour and less egg compared to Brownies. You can modify it as per the texture you want. If you like it more chewy take 2 eggs and lesser flour. Enjoy homemade brownie biscuits with hot chocolate sauce. If you want the sauce quick just heat chocolate syrup with butter.

Ingredients :

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• Few drops of vanilla essence
• pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon soda

Procedure :

1. Beat butter and both sugars till mixture becomes creamy.
2. Sift flour, cocoa powder, salt and soda together.
3. Add an egg into the butter mix and beat the mix.
4. Slowly add the flour mix to the batter and mix well.
5. Mix in a few drops of vanilla essence to the batter.
6. Grease and dust a tray. Pour cake mix into the tray and bake in a preheated oven at 200 Deg C for 10 – 15 mins (take care not to  burn!). Leave enough space between the biscuits while placing them on the oven sheet as they double up once they are done.

Now gift wrap it for your little one and take a picture of her expression when you tell her you made it!

This is my entry to Happy Cook’s Homemade Christmas Gifts Event. I love the idea of making Gifts at home. I’m sure the round-up will contain an array of creative ideas.

I was inspired to make the Pizza base at home by so many fellow food bloggers. Finally Sangeeth Raghunathan’s video made me get out there and do it.

I have always wondered why the pizzas we usually make at home look and taste different from the ones available at popular Pizza joints. The answer was clear to me after some research.

Firstly, I used to make Pizza with the ready-made pizza base leading to the base becoming hard and sort of tasteless. The texture of the pizza just wasnt right since the base was already baked and only the toppings needed to be cooked.

Also, using any other cheese besides Mozarella doesnt give the same taste and texture. So these are the two points to watch out for.

This is my entry to the Kitchen Gadget Event hosted by Simple Indian Food. My favorite gadget is the good old Oven.

Ingredients :

For the Base

• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 2 cups maida
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons of Olive Oil

Procedure :

1. Mix yeast and sugar in 3/4 glass of warm water. Stir till it dissolves.
2. Mix maida with salt
3. Add yeast mixture to the maida. Stir in a teaspoon of olive oil (optional) and make dough.
4. Coat dough with olive oil and keep in bowl. Cover with damp cloth and leave in warm place for one hour.
5. I punched it down again to remove the yeast smell and left it for another hour. Punching it a second time releases the excess cardon-di-oxide that was created when the yeast was rising. Releasing it prevents the bread from getting a yeasty flavor.
6. I then refrigerated it and used it the next day.

For the Pizza

Ingredients :

• 1.5 tablespoons of Pizza sauce
• Topping of your choice (mushrooms, black olives, capsicum, onion, corn, big green chillies)
• 3/4 cup of grated Mozzarella cheese

Procedure :

1. Spread the base with the help of your fingers on a tawa (if using a baking tray please grease it before use!)
2. Pressure the dough with your fingers to form a  base with a thick/thin crust, depending on how you like your pizza.
3. Apply Pizza sauce over the base.
4. Place toppings of your choice over it.
5. Sprinkle grated Pizza cheese over the Pizza.
6. Cover tawa and cook for 10 mins on sim flame.

If baking then place in a pre heated oven at 232 deg C, for 15 mins

Its just eggless and butterless guys, not tasteless!

This is a soft yet heavy cake which also happens to be quite healthy. I made it mildly sweet so  my baby could enjoy it to her hearts content. You can always make it sweeter if you like. This cake is particularly nutritious thanks to wheat flour, curds and the goodness of milk cream.

Malai or heavy milk cream is always available in every Indian home. Its like a sheet thats picked up from the surface of milk and can be stored in the freezer for long durations. Its usually later processed to make ghee or butter. However, the quantity of malai you get depends on the fat content of the milk. The milk I used when I was abroad never ever gave me cream I guess then you need to buy the cream separately (please be careful to not buy the fresh cream instead!).

Eggless and butterless cakes are quite common these days but have you heard of a cake thats flourless? Yes, there happens to be a flourless cake called Sacher Torte which is a Viennese delight. It was created by accident and today is one of the most hit chocolate pastries world wide. I have a recipe of this in my book which I am yet to try out. For now, its the eggless, butterless cake.

Ingredients :

• 1 cup wheat flour
• 1 cup rawa (fine variety)
• 1 cup curd
• 1 cup malai (heavy milk cream)
• 1 cup ground sugar (add more as per your taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking powder
• 2 cups of milk
• Few walnuts and almonds

Procedure :

1. Blend all ingredients (except nuts) in a mixie jar.
2. Dust finely chopped walnuts and almonds. Mix into batter.
3. Grease and dust a cake mold. Pour batter into the mold.
4. Bake at 180 Deg C for 45 mins.

Please NOTE :

Since the ingredients used are very dense its essential to prick the center of the cake to check if its done. If the toothpick comes out clean then its ready else put it back into the oven for 10 mins.