ONE POT FUDGY CHOCOLATE BROWNIES :)

Brownies are something which everyone loves and i simply adore fudgy chocolate brownies. But any brownie takes some effort to make. Now being a lazy person I try to look for shortcuts without hampering the taste and quality, so last Sunday I decided to make these one pot chocolate brownies.

INGREDIENTS:

• 250 grams Cooking Dark Chocolate
• 50 grams Unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup Sugar or as per requirment
• 3 Eggs
• 1 1/2 Tbsp Baking Powder
• 1 Tsp Baking Soda
• 1 Cup Flour
• 2 Tsp Vanilla Essence

PROCEDURE:

• Chop the chocolate into smaller pieces.
• In a pot (I used a saucepan) melt the butter over a low flame and then put the chocolate pieces in. Stir well so that the chocolate does not have any lumps.

• Now add the sugar. Since i used dark chocolate I used 1/2 cup of sugar however if you use semi-sweet chocolate then use less amount of sugar.
• Now take the mix off the flame, if you feel the mix is too thick you can use some milk to adjust the consistency. 
• Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda together and add to the mixture. 
• When the mixture cools down a bit add 3 beaten eggs.
• Pour the mixture into a lined baking pan and bake for 35-40 mins or till done at 189 degrees. 

I hope you try out these yummy brownies which take little effort to make but are simply awesome to taste :)

LEMON CAKE

I am simply addicted to baking. Last Christmas I finally bought a new oven. The oven which we had earlier was rarely used since my grandmom used to make puddings and cakes using pressure cooker. I tried baking with pressure cookers, convection microwave ovens, although pressure cookers worked fine with simple cake recipes microwaves gave me a lot of trouble specially with adjustment of temperatures. But ever since I bought my oven I have baked a lot of different cakes, pies, tarts and even breads with a lot of ease and the end result has been perfect each time :) :)

I study all night long and usually start feeling hungry in the wee hours of the morning. So I decided to make a cake which I can easily store (and eat without any fuss). This recipe is inspired from the Orange Cake I made during winters but since good oranges are not available now so i decided to substitute them with lemons and changed the recipe a little bit :)

INGREDIENTS :

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• Pinch of nutmeg powder
• 3 tbsp butter
• Pinch of salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/4th cup sugar 
• 1/4th cup + 1 tbsp sour cream
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 2 tsp lemon zest

PROCEDURE:

• Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg twice and keep aside.
• Cream together the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. I did not have unsalted butter at home to I used the normal Amul Butter which is a salted one, so I did not add any excess salt.

• Now add the eggs one by one in the butter and sugar mixture and incorporate well.

• Then add the lemon zest, the sour cream and the vanilla essence and mix well. (If you have vanilla extract you can use it)

• Now mix the flour mixture and the lemon juice alternately.

• Pour the mixture into a lined cake tin (use any shape you like). I do not line my tins I simple grease them with butter or oil and then dust them with flour.

• Preheat the oven for 10 mins and bake for 30 - 40 mins or till done.

• You can decorate it as you wish. I used some lemon wedges to decorate it.
• You can also glaze the cake :)

I will certainly post icing recipes soon.  Well, my cake turned out to be super moist and simple perfect :) Hope yours does too :)

Hope you like this recipe and try this out :)

VERMICELLI KHEER (SEMIYA PAYEESH)

A simple yet traditional sweet dish. This is an easy to make Indian dessert which requires a few steps and produces a lip-smacking result. :) :)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2  Tsp ghee (clarified butter)
• 250 grams vermicelli
• 500 ml milk (you can use double toned milk )
• 200 grams sugar 
• 2-3 cardamom pods
• Raisins
• Chopped cashew nuts 

PROCEDURE:

• Put the clarified butter (ghee) in a pan and add the vermicelli once the ghee is slightly hot. Fry the vermicelli on a low flame till it turns golden brown.

The Fried Vermicelli

• In a separate pan bring the milk to a boil and add the sugar and add the cardamom pods. Then on a low flame slowly boil the milk till it reduces to half its volume. (You can use artificial sweeteners if you want to substitute the sugar)
• Let the cool down to room temperature. Then add the fried vermicelli and cook on a low flame for 6-7 minutes. Add the raisins and cashew nuts but keep aside a few for garnish.
• Do not dry the milk out completely because as the dish cools down it will soak up the milk.

 

Add caption

• Serve in a bowl (I tried to serve it in a different way - in a glass).
• Garnish with raisins and cashews :)

Vermicelli Kheer

The Final Product :) :)

MALVA PUDDING

MALVA PUDDING

Malva Pudding is a dessert of South African origin. It is a sweet pudding usually served hot. It is traditionally made with Apricot jam and has  a spongy caramelized texture. I wanted to try this pudding out for a long time and hence my quest for Apricot jam began. Some years ago such products were not available in Kolkata but now these are available quite easily. I got mine from Spencers. Here’s the recipe hope you like it  :)

INGREDIENTS:

For Pudding

• 2 Tbsp butter (room temperature)
• 3/4 Cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 Tbsp Apricot Jam
• 1 cup flour
• 1 Tsp baking powder
• 1 Tsp baking soda
• A pinch of salt (avoid this if you are using salted butted)
• 1/2 Cup milk
• ! Tsp Vinegar

For Sauce

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup full cream milk or cream
• ½ cup boiling water
• 2 1/2 Tbsp butter at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

 

PROCEDURE:

PUDDING

• Cream butter and sugar together, the butter should preferably be at room temperature. (i used a hand mixer) Now beat in the egg until light and fluffy, be careful do not over beat.

• 

  The Creamed Mixture

• Then mix the apricot jam. Do make sure that the jam is of a good quality.

• Dissolve the baking soda in the milk and keep aside.
• Now sift the flour together with baking powder, salt. Skip the baking powder if you are using self rising flour and skip the salt if you are using normal salted butter.
• Now alternately add the flour mix and the milk to the creamed mixture.
• Lastly add the vinegar to the mix.
• I used a Borosil ovenproof deep dish to bake the pudding.

The mixture in the ovenproof deep dish

• Preheat the oven. Bake the pudding at  160ºC for 40-45 mins or till done.

SAUCE:

• Bring the butter, sugar and water to the boil and simmer, stirring all the time for a few minutes.
• Now remove from the heat and then add the cream and the vanilla. If you are using milk then add the milk in the above mixture and cook for a few minutes till the sauce is a bit thick.
• Then poke holes in the pudding and pour the hot sauce all over it.
• Serve hot :)

MALVA PUDDING

The pudding was delicious. My family members were amazed and couldnot stop eating :) :)
(Hence the above pic since i didnot have any part left to take proper photos).

Do try this one, It involves a bit of an effort but  is absolutely divine and I promise to take better pics of the end product next time I make it :)


Adiós :)