Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate Lace Crêpes

I love crêpes, especially savory ones. I used to frequent the Crêpe Cafe in Bahrain. My favourite was their Florentine Crêpe, with a filling of spinach, feta, mushrooms, bechamel sauce and cheese. It was so so yummy. I miss not being able to dig in to something that good. Anyways, you know how infrequent my sweet posts are, so I decided to try n' make a sweet crêpe instead of a savory one. And NO surprise surprise, it turned out really well. ;)




I have tasted a lot of chocolates, both here n' while travelling abroad. But my sense of loyalty towards Cadbury's Dairy Milk has remained unwavered. :)....Infact a while ago, I even asked my friends on FB to tell me how to eat Cadbury's Silk the way they show it in the ads. :)...comments poured in with their gooey Silk experiences. If you haven't eaten Cadbury's Silk Chocolate the way they show in the ads, then you must do so asap! (to make it gooey, just pop the chocolate bar in the microwave for 5-10sec n' then have it) Really worth it...;)




I came across a chocolate lace crêpe recipe on Joumana's blog, Taste of Beirut a while ago. Fell in love, bookmarked it n' promptly kept it for later.:) A special thank you to Joumana for sharing such a lovely recipe...Rj recently gave me some Cadbury's Dairy Milk, I wanted to try something with it than eat it just as it is. I have often heard how one cannot use Dairy Milk for baking (no matter how much you love its taste) and that one needs to use cooking chocolate. But since this recipe involved no baking, I decided to use Dairy Milk. :) It tastes great. Other than this I have followed her recipe. So here you go....








Ingredients:

1. Dairy Milk Chocolate: 50gms (use any chocolate you like)
2. Eggs: 2nos (large)
3. All-purpose flour: 175 gms or 1 and 1/2 cup
4. Salt: as per taste
5. Powdered Sugar: 125 gms or 1/2 cup
6. Melted Butter: 3 tbsps or 45 gms
7. Milk: 250 ml or 2 cups
8. Vanilla Essence: 1 tsp
9. Cocoa Powder: 1/2 tbsp

Method:

Step 1: Beat the eggs in a bowl.

Step 2: Mix the flour, cocoa, salt and powdered sugar in another bowl. Transfer to the eggs and mix the two with a spoon.

Step 3: Melt the chocolate with the butter in the microwave and add to the batter

Step 4: Add the milk and vanilla gradually, stirring constantly until the batter is smooth and has no lumps. Set aside for thirty minutes.

Step 5: Heat the skillet and brush it with a little butter or oil so that it has a film of grease on the surface, no more. Pour the batter in the bottle or a decorating bag with a very small tip and pour the batter onto the skillet making circles, loops and other designs.

Step 6: When the crêpe appears cooked (two or three minutes should suffice on medium-high heat), slide it into a platter or on a piece of wax paper, to cool a bit.








Serve with some powdered sugar. I think this is a great dessert to be served with some ice cream or fresh fruits. The only thing is, I thought it tastes best when served hot n' slightly crispy. So serve it as you make it....(if that is possible). Happy Cooking!!!

Kottayam Banana Ghee Roast...;) vs. French Caramalised Bananas

This was my appa's (father's) favourite evening snack. I remember amma making this n' keeping his share aside as soon as she makes it coz otherwise I would have finished it in no time. So I guess I liked this as much as appa did. I miss my father terribly, so many decisions would've have been taken out of my hands, making life so much simpler. He loved taking over. :) He was intelligent, complex, shrewd n' vulnerable if that is possible. Irrespective of having been a terrible teenager n a rebel, every single day I hope he knew/knows how much I loved him.




Coming back to this recipe, Rj doesn't enjoy this at all n' I'm secretly pleased with that, coz I still love it just as much n' don't mind not sharing it with anyone. I'm not sure this can be called Banana Ghee Roast, coz you just doing a quick shallow fry than roast, but the name sounded so suggestive I couldn't resist using it. :) I must say I haven't made evening snacks since ages, that custom is just not followed in my home. I guess mainly coz when I was working, we both came back home only after 7.30-8.00pm almost everyday. So anyway, I saw the French Chef, Manu Fiedel, making Caramalised Banana Fry on TV n' just couldn't resist making the Kerala/Kottayam version of it. I will mention his version in a little more detail below. :) So here you go.

Ingredients:
1. Banana- 1no (preferably overripe ones)
2. Ghee- 1-2tsp (or more depending on how much juice you want in the end)

3. Sugar- for sprinkling

Method:

Step 1: Cut the whole banana into 2 or 3 depending on how long you want the slices to be. Slice each piece vertically (as seen in the snaps).

Step 2: Heat ghee in a frying pan, arrange the slices of banana without overcrowding it and shallow fry them.

Step 3: Arrange them in a plate n' sprinkle it with some sugar. And its ready. Serve it with some ice cream if you like to create a Dessert version of the snack.

The last time I went home, Amma made these for me using home grown bananas n' I swear the bananas were so sweet, I didn't have to add any sugar. Now for Chef Manu Fiedel's Version.

He used Butter instead of Ghee, used a lot more than my version. He added brown sugar into the hot butter first and then added the bananas whole instead of slicing it. To make the whole thing look a lot more exciting, he even flambé-d them in the pan ;) and served it hot with some vanilla ice cream. I must say it looked divine. But my craving for the home version, made me try that instead. Happy Cooking!!

I would like to thank Asha from A Tasty Challenge for the award she passed on to me.
Her blog not only has some really yummy recipes, but she had actually taken on a challenge to finish 262 recipes in 365days n' completed the same this May. I'm in awe, kudos to you Asha.

Royal Bread & Butter Pudding- Princess Di's Favorite Pudding

Princess Diana had a fondness for the Bread and Butter Pudding that was made by her personal Chef Darren McGrady. He shares this recipe in his cookbook "Eating Royally". If someone were to ask me to think of the most good looking woman ever, I will say 'Princess Diana' without a blink of an eye. I found everything about her charismatic, there was something just so genuine about her.




So anyways, coming back to this recipe, I had never ever made a bread pudding. (I wonder if I'm the only one out here who has never made one...)We have shifted to Oat meals for breakfast instead of bread...so when ever I buy bread now, I end up with left over. I decided to try this recipe just for luck n it clicked. Whats more...I have followed Princess Diana's favourite pudding recipe....;) What with all the hoo ha of the Royal Wedding that got over this weekend, I decided to do a blog post with a Royal Recipe! :) So here you go.




Ingredients:

1. White Bread: 12 slices (crusts removed)
2. Unsalted butter :1 1/2 sticks (melted) *
3. Egg Yolks : 9nos
4. Vanilla Essence: 2 tsp
5. Sugar: 3/4 cup
6. Milk: 1/2 cup
7. Heavy cream: 2 cups
8. Sugar: 2 tbsp (granulated-to dust on top of pudding)
9. Caster Sugar: 2 tbsp
***********************
10.Sliced almonds, lightly toasted : 3 ounces
11.Raisins: 3 ounces
12.Amaretto: 1/4 cup (liqueur)

* I used only 4 slices of bread and reduced my portion accordingly. But the recipe here is directly as it was published. For me 100gms of melted butter was sufficient. In India we don't get sticks of butter, so wasn't really sure how much was required. Also, I didn't add almonds, raisins n' Amaretto coz Rj doesn't enjoy biting into them in his desserts n' cakes. But I believe they would definitely enhance the taste.

Method:

Step 1: If you are using Raisins, soak the raisins in the Amaretto, and leave covered with plastic wrap at room temperature 6 to 8 hours or overnight. If you don't want to add liqueur in your recipe soaking them in Water should be fine.

Step 2: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut 4 slices of the bread into 1/2-inch dice, and spread the diced bread on the bottom of a casserole dish. Sprinkle the raisins on top of the bread cubes, and pour any remaining liquid over the bread.

Step 3: Cut the remaining 8 slices of bread in half diagonally, and then cut each half slice in half diagonally to create 4 even triangles per slice. Dip the triangles into the butter, and arrange on the top of the raisins, overlapping the triangles slightly. Pour any remaining butter over the top of the bread.

Step 4: Whisk the yolks, vanilla essence, and sugar in a large bowl until combined.

Step 5: Bring the milk and cream to a boil in a heavy saucepan over high heat, and pour the hot mix onto the egg yolks, whisking constantly.

Step 6: Pour the warm egg mixture over the bread, making sure all of the bread is coated, and set aside the coated bread for 20 minutes to allow the egg mixture to soak into the bread.

Step 7: Place the casserole dish in a roasting tray filled with hot water halfway up the sides of the casserole dish, and bake in the oven for 30 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown on top with the filling just set.

Step 8: Remove the dish from the oven and roasting tray, and sprinkle with the extra sugar. Sprinkle with the toasted sliced almonds, and dust with powdered sugar. Cool slightly, and serve warm with a jug of cream and some fresh berries.

Bad snaps are owing to the baking done in the night. :(...but the dish is rich n' nice. The chef says the final texture is a cross between a bread pudding and a crème brûlée. Happy Cooking!

Gajar Ka Halwa

I didn’t have anything to do on the last Saturday afternoon (a Sunday afternoon equivalent in the Middle East) and decided to make something sweet. This dish is so easy to make, plus I had some Khoya left over from making Phirni and wanted to finish it. I still have some more left over and will have to hunt down recipes to use them. If you have some recipes using khoya, please do let me know, i would love to try them. :)

I came across the recipe to make Loki (Gourd) halwa as part of a shahi cooking show. Forget making RJ eat it even I don’t like Loki, so I decided I’ll just be a plain jane n’ try Gajar Ka Halwa. I used the recipe from my Nita Mehta's cookbook. Honestly, this one caught me by surprise. I didn’t think it would taste this nice, maybe it was coz of how fresh the carrots were. Anyways, do try it…

Ingredients:

1. Carrot: ½ kg (shredded)
2. Milk: 1 cup
3. Sugar: ¼ cup (I used brown sugar instead n’ hence had used ½ cup)
4. Ghee: 2tbsp
5. Almonds: 5-6 (shredded)
6. Raisins: 10 (I didn’t add them)
7. Cardamom: 3-4 (powdered)
8. Khoya: 100gms (grated)

Method:

Step 1: Boil one cup milk in a clean kadai/wok.

Step 2: Add grated carrots and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, till milk dries.

Step 3: Add the almonds and raisins. Stir for a minute or so.

Step 4: Add sugar. Cook till the mixture turns dry again. (I didn’t dry it completely as I thought it might be nice to leave it a little wet n’ gooey)

Step 5: Add ghee and stir it for another 10minutes on low flame.

Step 6: Add the grated khoya and mix well.

This can be served hot or cold.

I'm sending this for the event Left Over Delicacies hosted by Daisy Blue of Spicy Lounge as i have used the left over khoya from making Phirni...:)

Chocolate Truffles with Orange Essence

Actually, i'm being kinda cheeky here, this shouldn't be a separate blog, but i wanted to post the snap separately n' hence decided to make this a new post instead of adding it with my Chocolate Ganache recipe.

With an exotic name like "Chocolate Truffle" one would expect the recipe to be complicated, i know i did. But it's so easy n' simple. Simply put, chocolate truffles are made with a Chocolate Ganache center coated in chocolate or cocoa powder. Now that i'm putting up the recipe here, i'm thinking i should've tried some variations of this...maybe the next time i make it...i'll just do that. Like i had mentioned before, they say your truffles will be as good as the chocolate you are using. So get the best you can buy.

Ingredients:

1. Heavy Cream: 1/2 cup
2. Dark Chocolate: 1/2 cup (chopped)
3. Salt: a small pinch
4. Orange Essence : 2 drops
5. Soft Butter : 1tsp (unsalted)
6. Cocoa Powder: 3 tbsp
7. Chopped Nuts: 3tsp (i added crushed almonds)

Method:

Step 1: Put your chopped chocolate into a bowl.

Step 2: Add cream into a pan and heat it over medium fire and as soon as it comes to a simmer quickly pour it over your chopped chocolate. (Do not boil it, or it will spoil the cream) Make sure all of your chocolate is covered with the cream and just let it sit there for a minute.

Step 3: Add the soft butter and whisk it with the chocolate and cream together.Keep stirring, till you get a thick n' glossy chocolate sauce.

Step 4: Add a pinch of salt, orange essence and the chopped nuts. Give it a little stir. (minus the nuts your chocolate ganache is ready )

Step 5: Serve it into a dish and pop this into the fridge for 2hours to set.

Step 6: Take this out of the fridge (depending on the room temperature) keep it outside at least for 15-20mins before you are ready to make the truffles.

Step 7: In a pan (with slightly raised corners), add the cocoa powder. Scoop out the chocolate mixture using an ice cream scooper to get those perfect ball shapes or alternatively just use a spoon n' mould it into a round shape as best as you can. Keep them in the pan with the cocoa powder and lightly shake the pan from side to side allowing the balls to roll all over n' get a nice coat of cocoa powder n' it's ready.

You can even add a dash of Brandy (along with the orange essence) to get an extra kick. Roll the chocolate balls in a crushed biscuit mixture, or crushed mixture of nuts to get a different look instead of just cocoa...serve it immediately.

Phirni

I have never been a big fan of Phirni...but RJ just loves it. On the first night in Bhopal during this vacation, we had gone to Jahan Numa Palace in the night to have some treats from their cafe....this is one place i have to go every time we go to Bhopal. We ordered for Phirni as our dessert n' it was the best i have ever had. You know how it is served in matkas (earthen jugs/pots), it's just so Indian...n' when i came across this recipe last week i just had to give it a try. But i didn't have any matkas with me n' had to use my ramekins instead. The ingredients are a little more complex than i normally use, but i preferred this recipe to the condensed milk recipes available online.

Ingredients

1. Milk: 500ml
2. Rice: 1/2 cup
3. Khoya: 1/2cup
4. Sugar: 1 1/2cup
5. Milk: 1 ltr
6. Almond: 1/2cup (crushed)
7. Cardamom Powder: 1/2tsp
8. Kewra: few drops

Method

Step 1: Soak rice in 500ml milk

Step 2: Boil milk adding sugar.

Step 3: Grind the soaked rice and milk (rough grind not in a paste form)

Step 4: Once the milk is boiled, ground rice n' milk mixture to this n' let it cook for a while.

Step 5: Before it thickens too much, add khoya and cardamom powder into this and let it cook for a while. (thicken it)

Step 6: Add chopped almonds and kewra essence.

Step 7: Serve it directly into matkas or into individual serving bowls & refrigerate before serving.

Getting the correct consistency is important. I think i should have thickened it a little more than what you can see here. But the taste was rewarding, so i was happy.

This is my first photo that has gotten accepted on a food porn website..FoodGawker, look here . I'm thrilled to say the least. Thank you FG...;D

Finally...this image is accepted at TasteSpotting too....Oh Bliss!!!

Chocolate Ganache

The simplicity of this as always was the what caught my eye.....Ganache is chocolate with heavy cream, and it has a very creamy texture. When you pour ganache over a cake, it just flows like the river on top of a gorgeous cake.

Ingredient:

1. Heavy Cream: 1/2 cup
2. Cooking Chocolate: 1/2 cup (chopped)
3. Salt: a small pinch
4. Vanilla : 2 drops

Method:

Step 1: Put your chopped chocolate into a bowl.

Step 2: Add cream into a pan and heat it over medium fire and as soon as it comes to a simmer quickly pour it over your chopped chocolate. Make sure all of your chocolate is covered with the cream and just let it sit there for a minute.

Step 3: Whisk the chocolate and cream together.Keep stirring, till you get a thick n' glossy chocolate sauce. They say the ganache is only as good as the chocolate you'll be using. So choose your chocolate well..:)

Step 4: Add the salt and the flavouring to the chocolate mixture at this stage. You can also use different flavouring like orange, mint etc instead of vanilla...i used vanilla coz that was all i had.

Step 5: Let is cool and thicken a little n' it's ready for you to glaze over your cakes n' cup cakes.

If you have extra, simply store it, refrigerate and warm it in the microwave to use it again.

Strawberry & Honey Quickie

Really i couldn't resist the name i gave this ;)....i'm not sure how this will sound and i'm not making this blog a gap to peek into my life...but really... i came across this recipe when i was looking for aphrodisiac foods ;)...

childishly simple n' easy to make....but then again i guess if you are making this with a particular purpose in mind...the simpler the better....eh?...so here we go...

Ingredients

1.Strawberries : 300gms

2. Orange: 1no

3. Honey: 2 tsps

4. Black Peppercorn: a pinch (crushed)

Method

Step 1: Wash the strawberries and gently pat them dry with a paper kitchen towel.

Step 2: Slice the strawberries very thin lengthwise and arrange them flat on a plate in a circular direction, do not overlap them. The resulting pattern would resemble a flower.

Step 3: Cut the orange in half, discard the seeds and squeeze the juice over the sliced strawberries.

Step 4: Drizzle the honey and crush the peppercorns in a pepper mill and very lightly sprinkle this over the sliced berries.

Refrigerate and serve chilled. I had sprinkle a little caster sugar too as the strawberries were a little sour...

Coconut Pudding with Mangoes and Lychees

I made this pudding a while back, one of the main reasons for even searching for something like this was i had some ripe mangoes and fresh lychees with me. I also realised that i have some coconut milk left over from the chicken stew i made recently..and knowing Robin doesn't like coconut flavour so much i still had to try this one...;)

Ingredients

Coconut Milk: 400ml

Milk: 410ml

Caster Sugar: 5 tbsp

Hot Water: 2 tbsp

Gelatine: 3 tsp

Lime: 1 no.

Orange: 1 no.

Ripe Mangoes: 2 nos

Lychees: 10 nos

Apricots: 5-6 nos- sliced (optional)

Caster Sugar: 2 tsp

Method

Step 1: Heat Coconut Milk , Milk and Sugar (5 tbsp) in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occassionaly for 5mins, until the sugar dissolves.

Step 2: Add the hot water to the Gelatine, stirring continuously until it dissolves.

Step 3: Add the above to a Coconut Milk mixture and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into a container. Cover and place it in the fridge for 6hrs to set.

Step 4: You need to do the following steps roughly 10-15mins before serving. Use a zester to remove the rind from the lime (thin strips). Juice the Lime and Orange into a medium bowl.

Step 5: Add sliced mangoes, apricots, lychees, lime rind and sugar (2 tsp) to the citrus juice and combine. Set it aside for 5mins for the flavours to develop.

Step 6: Scoop the coconut pudding into bowls and serve immediately with the fruits.

Semiya Payasam/ Vermicelli Kheer

I have always favoured this payasam over the others. My husband who was dead set against it until i started making them at home now literally licks his bowl clean. ;)

SEMIYA PAYASAM

Ingredients
Vermicelli- 1 Cup
Milk- 2 cups (first portion)
Water- 1 cup
Sugar- 1/2 a cup
Milk- 1 cup (warm- 2nd portion)
Cardamom- 4-5nos (crushed)
Ghee- 2 tsp
Cashew Nuts- 10-15nos (cut into small pieces)
Raisins- 10nos

Method
Step 1: Add ghee into a hot pan. Lightly fry the cashew nuts and the raisins. Set them aside.

Step 2: Fry the vermicelli until light golden brown in the ghee left.

Step 3: Add the 1st portion of milk and water to this and stir occasionally and let it boil for 10-15 mins until it thickens well. (the vermicelli needs to be cooked just right for the dish to turn out right). In the mean time add the sugar.

Step 4: Add the warm milk (2nd portion) and the powdered cardamom. Leave it to boil a while. Thicken it to the desired consistency. Keeping in mind that this will thicken further once it cools down. Keep it aside to cool.

Step 5: Add cashew and raisins just before serving instead of adding them during or immediately after step 4. This will retain their crispness. (my husband doesn’t like cashews or raisins in his so this step helps me get some in mine and none in his.) Best when served cold.