Chocolate Cherry Tart ~ A visit to Chocolate Heaven

Meeting cousins who are holidaying is a delight..... It gives me the opportunity to pamper them with all sorts off goodies. Both my cousin's are studying abroad so when they are back it's party time. My sister has just graduated and this was a celebration of sorts too for a special n extremely hardworking sister.

When asked what they want...... Pat came the reply... something chocolatey without nuts.....

With Stone fruit ~ Cherries in the market, how could I not add their divine flavour to the intensely Chocolate Tart I decided to make. This divine, decadent Chocolate Cherry Tart from my friend Radhika has to be tasted to be believed. It has loads of adaptations as it's a very versatile recipe where the flaours can be varied as per your tastes... n our tastes include loads of Chocolate, Coffee and Bailey's....

Chocolate n Cherry Tart

Short Crust Pastry Base

[Adapted from Gauri’s Apple Pie Recipe]

Ingredients:

Flour- 200 gms

Butter cut in small cubes and chilled-100 gms

Powdered Sugar – 2 tablespoon

Baking Soda- small pinch

Cold Water-4 to 5 tablespoon to help bind the dough

Flan Dish- 9” to 10” diameter (preferablely loose bottom)

Method:

1. Cut cold butter into small similar sized cubes and refrigerate again.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and the powdered sugar.

3. Now blend the flour mixture with butter at low intermittent speed in a blender, till the mixture turns crumbly. Remove from the blender into a large plate and combine it with your hands to form a dough. DO NOT KNEAD the dough.

4. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 15-20 minutes. You can even leave it over night.

Note: if you leave it in fridge overnight or for 4-5 hours, take it out and let it rest at room temperature for 10-15 minutes as the dough would have hardened due to the butter in it.

5. Roll out the dough into a round disk of 1/8th of an inch in thickness. Make sure it covers the base and the sides of the flan dish.

6. Grease the loose bottom flan dish or cover it with butter paper. Spread the pastry in it. Press it down on the sides so that the dough takes the pattern of the mould. Prick lightly with a fork. Keep in the freezer for 10 minutes.

7. Bake at 200 degree in a preheated oven for 20 minutes light golden.

8. Remove pie from the oven and let it cool.

Tart Filling:

Filing consisted of simple Chocolate Ganache and Cherries.

Ingredients:

Cherries Chopped in Halved- 50 grams

Cherries for decoration

Chocolate Chips or any good quality sweet dark chocolate- 300 grams or approx 11 ounces

Heavy Cream [I use Amul cream]- 350 ml

Bailey's - 50 ml

Cornstarch - 1 tablespoon

Method:

1. Dissolve the corn starch in 50 ml of cream, keep aside.

2. Gently heat rest of the cream, remove from heat and stir in the chocolate chips, leave them to melt.

3. Add bailey's to the corn starch mixture, stir it well.

4. Add the bailey's and cream mixture to the ganache. Stir the mixture till smooth and let it slightly cool.

5. Place the chopped cherries in the tart shell and pour in the ganache mixture. Spread it evenly till it covers it almost to the top.

6. Refrigerate it overnight or for 4-5 hours till the chocolate sets.

7. decorate with cherries and serve chilled

Mami had a spread for lunch... She followed it up by her famous cheesecake....Took us down memory lane... She's the one who introduced me the to concept of a cheesecake for the first time when we were kids.... Hadn't heard of something so fancy way back then.... Thanks for the initiation mami..... n yes all of us kids use to freak out n rush thru dinner only to get to the dessert course really soon for the cheesecake...

I also knew that these guys are fans of Irish Bailey's because of the Tiramisu I had done for them earlier. The tart proved to be be quite a success....

We forgot who all was watching their weight...

We forgot who was suppose to be having sugarfree...

We forgot that there are some who don't have alcohol......

All we could remember was the crisp tart shell and super chocolatey and melt-in-the-mouth goodness of the filling....

That's the bunch of us..... Mamu, Mami, Cousins, Mom and Vimla Aunty.

Verdict:

It’s a chocoholic delight... like Shut-your-eyes-in-Bliss... on every mouthful.....

We went to chocolate heaven n were forced to comeback after the tart got over..... I was made to promise that I'll make it again.....

Chilli n Cherry in Chocolate Marquise on Lemon Meringue ~ Celebrating Sisters for Daring Baker Challenge

The Daring Baker's challenge is a group which I so love... It has a new technique, new plating and fabulous flavours every month... It always starts with cold feet, then psyching myself into collecting ingredients n thinking of flavours.... Then an entire weekend is spent in making the parts, putting it together, plating and finally the pictures..... In all of this there is support from the group from those who are done with it or have common questions.... and not to forget... driving mom up the wall while I work in the kitchen :)

This month's challenge was ideal as it's my sister's birthday and she's not big on sugary desserts yet enjoys her Cherries and Chocolate so my flavours were Chilli n Cherry in Chocolate Marquise with Lemon Meringue and Tequila Caramel Sauce. I must say, this Marquise is just fabulous... creamy and melt-in-your-mouth decadence.... The deep flavours of the Tequila Caramel Sauce went very well with the tang and zing of Chilli n Cherry in Chocolate Marquise.

Blog-checking lines: The May 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Emma ofCookCraftGrow and Jenny of Purple House Dirt. They chose to challenge everyone to make a Chocolate Marquise. The inspiration for this recipe comes from a dessert they prepared at a restaurant in Seattle.

My other sister Amrita, just got back from her holiday in Tahiti and got back Vanilla beans and Vanilla essence for me..... I just had to use it in my Daring Baker Challenge.

The Meringue recipe called for a Blowtorch and I didn't have one..... I called up a cousin of mine who deals in hardware equipment and he very sweetly had one sent over..... Armed with my new recipe... new ingredients... new tools... I forged ahead, only to be cowed down by the heat...... Delhi is just soooooo hot that anything in the desserts section would melt really quick.....

Chocolate Marquise

Servings: 6 2"x2" (5cmx5cm) cubes

Ingredients

3 large egg yolks at room temperature

1 large egg

2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons (40 ml) (40 grams/ 1½ oz) sugar

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon (2/3 fluid oz/ 20 ml.) water

Chocolate Base, barely warm (recipe follows)

½ cup (4 fluid oz./ 120 ml.) heavy cream

½ cup Dutch process cocoa powder (for rolling) (Note: We used extra brut, like Hershey's Special Dark. Make sure it's a Dutch processed cocoa, not a natural cocoa powder.)

Torched meringue (recipe follows)

Spiced almonds (recipe follows)

Cacao nibs (optional)

Directions:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the egg yolks and whole eggs. Whip on high speed until very thick and pale, about 10 - 15 minutes.

When the eggs are getting close to finishing, make a sugar syrup by combining the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Bring the syrup to a boil and then cook to softball stage (235F/115C). If you have a cake tester with a metal loop for a handle, the right stage for the syrup is reached when you can blow a bubble through the loop (as seen in the following pictures).

Blowing a sugar bubble Sugar bubble

With the mixer running on low speed, drizzle the sugar syrup into the fluffy eggs, trying to hit that magic spot between the mixing bowl and the whisk.

When all of the syrup has been added (do it fairly quickly), turn the mixer back on high and whip until the bowl is cool to the touch. This will take at least 10 minutes.

In a separate mixing bowl, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Set aside.

When the egg mixture has cooled, add the chocolate base to the egg mixture and whisk to combine. Try to get it as consistent as possible without losing all of the air you've whipped into the eggs. We used the stand mixer for this, and it took about 1 minute.

Fold 1/3 of the reserved whipped cream into the chocolate mixture to loosen it, and then fold in the remaining whipped cream.

Pour into the prepared pans and cover with plastic wrap (directly touching the mixture so it doesn't allow in any air).

Freeze until very firm, at least 2 - 4 hours (preferably 6 – 8 hours).

When you're ready to plate, remove the marquise from the freezer at least 15 minutes before serving. While it's still hard, remove it from the pan by pulling on the parchment 'handles' or by flipping it over onto another piece of parchment.

Cut it into cubes and roll the cubes in cocoa powder. These will start to melt almost immediately, so don't do this step until all of your other plating components (meringue, caramel, spiced nuts, cocoa nibs) are ready. The cubes need to sit in the fridge to slowly thaw so plating components can be done during that time. They don’t need to be ready before the cubes are rolled in the cocoa powder.

Plate with the torched meringue and drizzled caramel sauce, and toss spiced almonds and cocoa nibs around for garnish. You want to handle the cubes as little as possible because they get messy quickly and are difficult to move. However, you want to wait to serve them until they've softened completely. The soft pillows of chocolate are what make this dessert so unusual and when combined with the other elements, you'll get creamy and crunchy textures with cool, spicy, salty, bitter, and sweet sensations on your palate.

Chocolate Base

Servings: n/a - this is an ingredient for the chocolate marquise, not meant to be used separately

Ingredients

3 oz (85 grams/ 6 tablespoons) bittersweet chocolate (about 70% cocoa)

1/3 cup + 2 teaspoons (90 ml/3 fluid oz.) heavy cream

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/16 teaspoon cayenne

1 tablespoon (15 ml/ 1/2 fluid oz.) tequila

1 tablespoon (15 ml/ 1/2 fluid oz.) light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon/(less than 1/4 ounce) cocoa powder (we used extra brut, like Hershey's Special Dark, but any Dutch-processed cocoa would be fine. Do not substitute natural cocoa powder.)

dash freshly ground black pepper

1/4 oz unsalted butter (1/2 tablespoon/8 grams), softened

Directions:

1. Place the chocolate in a small mixing bowl.

2. In a double-boiler, warm the cream until it is hot to the touch (but is not boiling). Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate.

3. Allow it to sit for a minute or two before stirring. Stir until the chocolate is melted completely and is smooth throughout.

4. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.

5. Set aside until cooled to room temperature. Do not refrigerate, as the base needs to be soft when added to the marquise mixture. If you make it the day before, you may need to warm it slightly. Whisk it until it is smooth again before using it in the marquise recipe.

Torched Meringue

Servings: Makes about 1 cup of meringue.

Ingredients

3 large egg whites

1/2 cup less 1 tablespoon (105 ml) (3½ oz or 100 gms) sugar

Splash of apple cider vinegar

1/8 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Combine the egg whites, sugar and vinegar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using your (clean, washed) hand, reach in the bowl and stir the three together, making sure the sugar is moistened evenly by the egg whites and they make a homogeneous liquid.

Over a saucepan of simmering water, warm the egg white mixture. Use one hand to stir the mixture continuously, feeling for grains of sugar in the egg whites. As the liquid heats up, the sugar will slowly dissolve and the egg whites will thicken. This step is complete when you don't feel any more sugar crystals in the liquid and it is uniformly warm, nearly hot.

Remove the mixing bowl from the saucepan and return it to the stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Whisk until you reach soft peaks. In the last 10 seconds of mixing, add the vanilla to the meringue and mix thoroughly.

When you're ready to plate the dessert, spoon the meringue onto a plate (or use a piping bag) and use a blowtorch to broil.

Tequila Caramel

Servings: Makes about 1/4 cup of caramel

Ingredients

1/4 cup (60 ml/2 fluid oz) (2 oz/55 gm) sugar

2 tablespoons (1 fluid oz./ 30 ml.) water

1/4 cup (2 fluid oz./ 60 ml.) heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 tablespoon tequila

Directions:

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the sugar and water on medium-high heat. Boil until the water completely evaporates and the sugar caramelizes to a dark mahogany color.

Working quickly, add the cream to the darkened caramel. It will bubble and pop vigorously, so add only as much cream as you can without overflowing the pot. Stir fast!

Return the pot to the stove on low heat and whisk gently to break up any hardened sugar. Add any remaining cream and continue stirring. Gradually, the hard sugar will dissolve and the caramel sauce will continue to darken. When the caramel has darkened to the point you want it, remove it from the heat. Add the salt and tequila and stir to combine. Set aside until ready to serve.

Happy Birthday Nivritti!!!!!

Comforting Banana Chocolate Cake for Amit Beer Ghosh

At the onset.....
Admit it....
I'm taller than you n that too by a good margin..... ;)

Now that, that's out of the way... let's get on with this post.....
Amit's been a member of the 99acres.com product team for long enough to be On-My-List and so much more. It's always a a bitter sweet moment when a colleague moves to another company. A friend is happy that a friend is moving closer to their goals.... what lingers is memories....

He's a great human being, with a great sense of humor and willing to extend support in the team and outside. Have really enjoyed working with him. His creative n writing skills are amazing amongst so many other skills :)

This is the collage we made to give him for his farewell.... It's got some very precious moments we've shared like Birthday's , Outings, Photo shooting trips, Rock Star trips, many days when tiffins n sweaters were left in office, Diwali/Independence day/ Christmas parties. He's even won a prize for my 'Aaj Mein Khush Hun' contest, was one of my first serious clients on Valentine's day. One was the memorable parties was at his place.... can't forget the hilarious fun we had playing pictionary and yummiliscious spread of bengali food laid out by aunty.

As you would have seen by now that music is an essential part of his being.... so his cake had to have some musical element to it......

and now for BADLA......... ;) How could we let him scott free..... The ceremonial decoration of the nose did happen as I could bear to see my hard work smeared on his face... ;)
When I asked Amit what flavours he wanted... pat came the reply Chocolate.... and as an after though he added 'and any other experiments you would like to do'.... lol..... It's evident that he loves Chocolate and I know that Rum is a soft spot considering Beer can't be put in a Banana Chocolate cake unless i get hold of a Guinness bottle..... So I made her a Banana Chocolate Cake which has a layering of rum soaked raisins n chocolate...

Amit Writes.....

I've known Nachi for about 3 years now (we share the same workspace in office), and for as far back as I can remember, she has always been treating us to royal desserts. Her reputation as a baker has increased manifolds in this period, to the point that new joinees get to hear of her more as the girl-who-bakes-fingerlickin-stuff than as a laptop-ing, document-writing, MIS-crunching product manager.

Her knack to theme-up her products and not-to-repeat has made her the favvvvorite of many in office. Monday mornings are not so blue-sy over at Infoedge, cause more often than not she will walk in with a scrumptious spread that she would have worked hard at over the weekend. As a result, absenteeism in our team on mondays has seen a huge decline in recent times. The office cafeteria has also seen unprecedented sales dips on those days, to the extent that it has now stopped stocking pastries, cakes, muffins etc etc - they just ain't selling no more!

I am not a connoisseur by any stretch of imagination. I am not particularly aware of the various dessert-y options out there. Heck I even find it hard to pronounce the names that I see on display at a baker's. But I do know my chocolate, and she has a particular penchant for products of that kind. So my good luck, that on that fateful day of placements at B-school, of the 3 career options I had, I chose this one. Birthdays or beer-days, office-festivities or post-office parties, no celebration is complete without Nachi surprising us to a lovely new treat. It's quite a sight actually, when she's about to unveil her latest creation - A quick look around the table would show people drooling all over, armed with their spoons and forks ready to dig in :)
For the two birthdays I have celebrated in this office - I have been treated to a Chocolate Blackout cake and a Lemon Lava cake - And boy, both of them were sinfully delicious! Birthdays at Infoedge, are usually team outings to trendy restaraunts, ending with a traditional cake cutting / smearing ceremony. I've had mine at 'It's greek to me' and 'Lotus Pond'. The Lemon lava cake, this last birthday, was a little out of the ordinary for me as I'm usually one with very strong chocolate preferences, but I enjoyed this one so much that for the next 2 days I was having the leftovers for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
Nachi, it's been great knowing you, working with you, hanging out with you .. and of course greedily devouring your cakes :D ... Keep the goodies flowing in....

All The Best... :)
Ps: Will treasure the pencil....

Cherry Chocolate Cake for my Dessert Soul Partner, Vibha

Celebrating a special birthday, my soul partner for desserts, Vibha. People dirty talk porn... we dirty talk D-e-s-s-e-r-t-s.... ;)

Her brief for this cake was Low Sugar, Chocolate, CHERRY for a party of 25 people. What I love about her is that she'll share her inputs and let me work with them and in most[that's me being modest... actually all] cases we hit a H-i-g-h N-o-t-e :)

Celebrations at her place always mean super-yummy-food, drastic drinks and fabulously fun filled times..... She had made a delicious Thai spread and her hubby fixed us our drinks[Oh yes, he ensured we were happy n high] Since I'm not driving these days due to my hurt foot, i could really pull out the plugs and have a blast :)

Cherry Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

Eggs - 4

Sugar - 1 cup

Oil - 1/2 cup

Flour - 1 1/2 cups

Vanilla Essence - 1/2 Teaspoon

Baking powder - 1/2 Teaspoon

Dark cocoa powder - 2 Tablespoon

Coffee Powder - 1 Tablespoon

Cinnamon - 1 Teaspoon freshly ground [2 teaspoons if used a packaged variety]

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.

2. Sift the dry ingredients and just mix together with a spoon to get an even mix.

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar beat until creamy and light in colour.

4. Add vanilla extract and oil to the mixture.Mix to incorporate without loosing the fluff from the mixture.

5. Add the Flour, Baking powder, cocoa powder, coffee and cinnamon and incorporate with a light circular movement without losing the fluff. The color of the cocoa batter should be quite dark.

6. Pour in greased and floured the sides of the cake tin.

7. Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes till the tester comes out clean

Assembly:

1. Slice the cake in half.

2. Brush both insides generously with brandy.

3. Spread the cherry preserve evenly.

4. Place the soaked cherries evenly arround the cake so that every slice would get some fruits in it.

5. Place the half back on the cake and refrigerate before decorating with ganache for atleast an hour.

Decoration with Chocolate Ganache:

1. While the cake is baking, put 200ml cream with the dark chocolate on simmer & continue to stir till the chocolate has melted. Take off from heat & allow to cool completely,[NEVER the freezer]. Give it a few stirs, this will thicken as it cools.

2. Spread the ganache over the top and sides of the cooled cake evenly. Refrigerate.

3. Use the white chocolate shavings to neaten the edges of the cake.

Tip: To moisten the cake you could pour come of the warm icing so that cake absorbs it and is moist without having resting time in the refrigerator.

We shared her Birthday with Ajita didi's mom..... The cake was Hogged :)))))))) She loved it...

That's Vibha's longtime friend from college , Hubby and kids
Verdict:

Vibha: Thank you my dear! The cake was simply the perfect one for me. really relished it! You made too much of an effort.

Your smile make it all the effort worthwhile, Dessert Soul Partner :)))))

Mango Cheesecake and Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes for Mother's Day

Your arms were always open when I needed a hug. Your heart understood when I needed a friend. Your gentle eyes were stern when I needed a lesson. Your strength and love has guided me and gave me wings to fly. ~Anon

Mother's day needed to be something very special..... What can be better than a special dessert made with her favourite fruit Mango n beautiful glasses.... I visited a special shop Tatsat, A Socially Conscious Store . It has all merchandise made by NGO's and a whole range of recycled products, bought mom a wallet, made of a Nestle milk tetra pack.

How can Mother's day celebrations be complete without all the mommies Nani, Mom, Perveez aunty, Mala Chachi and Geeta Chachi.

My yummy nani :)

Making Mango Cheese cake didn't complete the picture..... Daksayani came over to make Chocolate Cherry cupcakes for her mom....

She made this really sweet card and was prancing all around the kitchen and wanted to do everything herself and kept saying... I'm a big girl now... I can do it myself... This is for My Mummy... I will make it... :) How sweet is that.... :)))

While we were taking pictures... The excitement brimming and little imp dancing all aver and something just had to happen... The card was knocked over and headed straight for the chocolate icing ;)

Daksayani with her mommy n me... :)

Cherry Chocolate Cupcakes
Adapted from Nani-Nami

Ingredients
6 large Egg Whites
250 g caster sugar
160 g plain/all-purpose Flour
1 heaped Tbsp Cornflour
1 tsp Baking powder
100 g melted Butter (just under a stick), slightly cooled
2 tbsp Cocoa
2 tbsp Coffee powder
12-15 Cherries Chopped (optionally, soaked in brandy)
2 tbsp Cherry preserve

Method:
1. Whisk the egg whites with 2 Tbsp of sugar until thick and pale and very foamy.
2. Mix the rest of the sugar with Flour, Coffee, Cocoa, Cornflour and Baking powder, then sift into the egg mixture and fold in gently.
3. Finally fold in cool melted butter and Cherry preserve.
4. Pour the batter into cupcakes, sprinkle chopped Cherries and bake in a pre-heated 180 C oven for 30-40 minutes. Test for doneness with a wooden toothpick.
5. Cool slightly before turning out of the cake tin.
Mango Cheesecake
variation from my earlier Mango Cherry Cheesecake

Ingredients:
250 ml Cream[whipped]
50gm Hung Curd
100gm Mascarpone creamcheese
100gm Fruit Pulp [I used mango, you can use orange, strawberries or any other fruit you fancy, taste the pulp for tartness and adjust taste with powdered sugar]
40 gms Gelatin [in winter 1 reduce it by 2-3 pinches as it sets just fine]
Few Chocolate chips for sprinkling at the base
Few drops of Mango essence
Few mint leaves for garnishing

Method:
1. Whip the Cream to soft peaks.
2. Mix in the hung Curd, Mascarpone and whip to a silky consistency and add a few drops of Mango essence.
3. Bloom half the Gelatin in cold water first and then heat on a double boiler.
4. After it's completely dissolved, pour into the above mixture and mix well, whisking continuously.
5. Sprinkle Chocolate chips at the glass's base and pour the above mixture into the glass evenly.
6. Refrigerate for about an hour.[more in summers till it sets]
7. Bloom rest of the gelatin in cold water first and then heat on a double boiler.
8. Add the gelatin to fruit pulp and mix well.
9. Make a layer of this fruit pulp over the set cheesecake layer in the glasses working quickly else the gelatin begins setting.
10. Garnish with Fresh Fruit / Chocochips/ Mint leaves.


We've had some really crazy times with mom... festivals together, see the crazy side in us, partying and having loads of fun together.... Missed having Chetan and Nivritti around... Would have been even more fun...

Making this Mango cheesecake was such a delight for mom... She loved it and even the card and gift :)

Happy Mother's Day to all you lovely mom's...

Edible Containers n Maple Mousse make me Curiouser and Curiouser! 1 year of being a Daring Baker

The April 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Evelyne of the blog Cheap Ethnic Eatz. Evelyne chose to challenge everyone to make a maple mousse in an edible container. Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 27th to May 27th at http://thedaringkitchen.com

It's been a year that I've been a part of this fabulous group of bakers... Curiouser is what I get on the 1st of every month when the challenge is unveiled by the Host/Hostess and Curiouser! on the 27th when everyone revealed their creations on their blogs.
I was introduced to this group by Deeba whose creations every month had me in awe... and encouraged by the really quick n accurate responses of Audax....

I knew my 1 year Daring Baker Anniversary would have lots of celebrations and had to have an element of magic, wonder and fun just like my 1 year as a daring baker....
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll is one of my fav books as a kid... It's got everything magic, funny characters, different locales, wit, humour, crazy conversations... My favourite character from this book is the Cheshire Cat, the Caterpillar on a mushroom, the queen of hearts saying "Off with their head", the gardeners painting white roses, the pack of cards as soldiers and the MAD Tea Party. When I read this month's Daring Baker Challenge of creating Edible Containers filled with Maple Mousse.... I was inspired to have a Mad Tea Party.....

Alice becomes a guest at a "mad" tea party along with the March Hare, the Hatter, and a sleeping Dormouse who remains asleep for most of the chapter. The other characters give Alice many riddles and stories, including the famous 'Why is a raven like a writing desk?'. The Hatter reveals that they have tea all day because time has punished him by eternally standing still at 6 pm (tea time). Alice becomes insulted and tired of being bombarded with riddles and she leaves claiming that it was the stupidest tea party that she had ever been to.

There was a table set out under a tree in front of the house, and the March Hare and the Hatter were having tea at it: a Dormouse was sitting between them, fast asleep, and the other two were using it as a cushion, resting their elbows on it, and the talking over its head. `Very uncomfortable for the Dormouse,' thought Alice; `only, as it's asleep, I suppose it doesn't mind.'

The table was a large one, but the three were all crowded together at one corner of it: `No room! No room!' they cried out when they saw Alice coming. `There's PLENTY of room!' said Alice indignantly, and she sat down in a large arm-chair at one end of the table.

`Have some wine,' the March Hare said in an encouraging tone.

Alice looked all round the table, but there was nothing on it but tea. `I don't see any wine,' she remarked.

`There isn't any,' said the March Hare.

`You might just as well say,' added the Dormouse, who seemed to be talking in his sleep, `that "I breathe when I sleep" is the same thing as "I sleep when I breathe"!'

A bright idea came into Alice's head. `Is that the reason so many tea-things are put out here?' she asked.

`Yes, that's it,' said the Hatter with a sigh: `it's always tea-time, and we've no time to wash the things between whiles.'

This piece of rudeness was more than Alice could bear: she got up in great disgust, and walked off; the Dormouse fell asleep instantly, and neither of the others took the least notice of her going, though she looked back once or twice, half hoping that they would call after her: the last time she saw them, they were trying to put the Dormouse into the teapot.

`At any rate I'll never go THERE again!' said Alice as she picked her way through the wood. `It's the stupidest tea-party I ever was at in all my life!'
Just as she said this, she noticed that one of the trees had a door leading right into it. `That's very curious!' she thought. `But everything's curious today. I think I may as well go in at once.' And in she went.

The challenges put forth by this dynamic group have been a daunting task yet by the time I'm done... I've learnt a new technique, tried working with a new ingredient, the kitchen looks hit by a tornado, new props explored for pictures, made new friends and had loads of happy people arround me after eating the creations done for the Daring Baker Challenge. Most of my friends now look forward to the monthly challenge to get a bite of the yummy creations....

Some of mt Daring baker creations are Citrus Panna Cotta with Fruit Compote for Daring Baker Challenge ~ My Fruit Basket, Pasta Frolla Crostatas, Doughnuts for Halloween, Decorated Sugar Cookies - Kids All The Way, Brown Butter Pound Cake n Vanilla Icecream Petit Fours, Swiss Swirl Icecream Cake, Chocolate Pavlovas n Mango Mascarpone Mousse, Croquembouche and my very first one was Steamed Chocolate Pudding & Steamed Apple n Caramel Pudding. Each of these has been like the Queen saying to me "imagine six impossible things before breakfast".....

That's Leena aunty(my aunt's friend) who I had met as kid and had a blast at her farm in Hyderabad but became really thick during my cousin's wedding. She's an extremely warm person with a zillion watt smile which can handle even the most tense situations with ease. We were quite a giggly riot together despite being universally inverse when it comes to settling up stuff.... I'd be all over the place and she's happily be settling things up... Yupp... She's a Super Settler... just like my mom... :) Isn't she really pretty... Shared this Daring Baker challenge with her....

Meringues

Ingredients:

3 large egg whites at room temperature

¾ cup (165 g./5.5 oz) sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F/150 degrees C.

2. Put the egg whites in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer beat for a few minutes until the whites become stiff. Now add the sugar, a little at a time, whisking until the mixture is stiff and glossy. You should be able to turn the bowl upside down and the mixture won’t fall out.

3. Place baking parchment on to a clean baking sheet. Using a spoon or a piping bag, dollop the meringue into circles that fit inside the rim of your edible cups. (See mine, I used metallic cookie cutters for shape, if you can pipe well, you can do this free form)

4. Put the tray in the oven, then immediately turn the oven down to 250 degrees F/130 degrees C. and bake for 45 minutes.

5. Turn off the oven and allow the meringues to cool in the oven for a few hours.

6. Place meringues as decoration on your maple mousse which has already be spooned into your edible container.

Edible Containers

Spring Container

Collect the blossoms which you would like to use in your cup. You could use any of these edible flowers like Artichoke (flower bud), Chamomile (for tea), Chives (flowers or buds), Chrysanthemum (flower),Citrus blossoms (lemon, orange, lime, grapefruit), CloverDaisies (Bellis perennis quills),Dandelions(Taraxacum officinale leaves, roots, flowers, petals, buds),Daylilies (Hemerocallis buds, flowers, petals),Elderflower (blossoms for drink), HibiscusHoneysuckleJasmine (for tea), Lilac (salads), Moringa oleifera Nasturtium (blossoms and seeds), Osmanthus fragrans (flower), Pansies (Viola x Wittrockiana flowers, petals), Pot Marigolds (Calendula officinalis petals with white heel removed), Roses(Rosa petals with white heel removed, rose hips), Sesbania grandiflora (flower), Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus buds, petals, seeds), Violet ('leaf and flowers in salads, candied flowers for pastry decoration'),Zucchini blossoms (blossoms).

Stir in bloomed gelatin into water and add the blossoms and set in a bowl with a smaller container making a hollow in the bowl.

Jelly Container

Dissolve jelly/jello as per instructions on the box. (Since it's very warm in Delhi, I added a table spoon full of gelatin to the mix) add the fruits to jewel the jelly and let it set in the refrigerator with a smaller container creating a hollow in the cup for the mousse.

Chocolate Cups

Melt some chocolate in a double boiler till it's smooth. Leave it to cool a bit. Wrap a small bowl in cling film. Dip the cup straight side up to coat the outside of the bowl with melted chocolate. Shake of the excess gently. Invert the cups on a tray lined with butter paper/foil. Put the tray in a cool place till this chocolate layer sets. Give the cups a 2nd coat of chocolate and invert on the tray. Should store well upto 7 days if refrigerated.

Maple Mousse

Ingredients (I used 1/2 this quantity)

1 cup (240 ml/ 8 fluid oz.) pure maple syrup (not maple-flavoured syrup)

4 large egg yolks

1 package (7g/1 tbsp.) unflavoured gelatine

1 1/2 cups (360 ml. g/12 fluid oz) whipping cream (35% fat content)

Directions

1. Bring maple syrup to a boil then remove from heat.

2. In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks and pour a little bit of the maple syrup in while whisking (this is to temper your egg yolks so they don’t curdle).

3. Add warmed egg yolks to hot maple syrup until well mixed.

4. Measure 1/4 cup of whipping cream in a bowl and sprinkle it with the gelatine. Let it rest for 5 minutes. Place the bowl in a microwave for 45 seconds (microwave for 10 seconds at a time and check it in between) or place the bowl in a pan of barely simmering water, stir to ensure the gelatine has completely dissolved.

5. Whisk the gelatine/whipping cream mixture into the maple syrup mixture and set aside.

6. Whisk occasionally for approximately an hour or until the mixture has the consistency of an unbeaten raw egg white.

7. Whip the remaining cream. Stir 1/4 of the whipped cream into the maple syrup mixture. Fold in the remaining cream and refrigerate for at least an hour.

8. Remove from the fridge and divide equally among your edible containers.

Assembly:

Unmould the edible containers... Chocolate, Jeweled Jelly and Springfield... Pipe the Mousse into them... Mine kept melting due to the heat in Delhi.... Sprinkle with confetti... pair with the meringues...

Party Time at 6pm

A few tips

Key elements which can be used for relating to the book's narrative... Rabbit hole, Golden key, Tiny door, Garden, Bottle marked DRINK ME, Cake marked EAT ME, Little cakes, Mushroom, Mad Hatter's Watch, Door in tree, Rose tree, Croquet ground and equipment, Letter and Pack of cards amongst many other things

You can go dressed up as any of the diverse characters like Alice, White Rabbit, Caterpillar, Duchess, Cheshire Cat, March Hare, Mad Hatter, Queen of Hearts, Mock Turtle, Gryphon, Dormouse, Three Gardeners, King of Hearts and Knave of Hearts would have you looking just out of the storybook....

Tea pot shaped invitations and put a tag saying 'Read Me'

Add mis-matched chairs around the table so the kids sit at different heights.

Make a sign that says "This Way, That Way and The Other Way" with large arrows pointing in different directions. Make the arrows swirly

Stuff a big doll into a smaller dollhouse.

Check out some more stuff at funkidspartyideas.com and party-ideas-galore.com