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...

Andhra Prawns ~ A Family that Eats Together, Stays Together

Visiting Hyderabad is incomplete without catching up with Surbhi, my friend from college.... She's made to taste my experiments and doesn't escape despite being in a different town ;) Her son, Darsh is just adorable..... He loves the Fan, Lights and rattly sound made by his dad.....
She was raving about these Andhra Prawns that a friend of their's who was over made in their kitchen[Her kitchen saw, her husband Nitin n me experiment with Butter Garlic Prawns last time at midnight :) ]..... and I just had to know how to make them...... So here goes the translated recipe after some frantic phonecalls n quickly scribbled recipe, with my addition of extra Garlic[you might wanna go easy on it].....

Andhra Prawns
Ingredients:
Prawns - 1/2 kg [Deveined, cleaned, washed in turmeric water]
Oil - 4 tbsp
Curry Leaves - 2 handfuls
Green Chillies - 2, sliced
Onions - 1/2 kg, chopped finely
Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
Chopped Garlic - 5 Tbsp [finely chopped]
Ginger Paste - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Lemon Juice - 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves - handfull

For the Prawn Masala Powder:
Black pepper - 1 tblsp
Cinnamon - 1 inch piece
Cloves - 5
Cardamom seeds - 4 [seeds of 4 Cardamoms]
Fenugreek - 1 tblsp

Method:
1. Marinate the prawns in salt, turmeric pwd, lemon juice and chilli pwd for half an hour. I used gloves during marination as the turmeric leaves my nails stained for long time n even lemon doesn't take the smell of prawns away.
2. Dry-roast the spices from the ‘Masala Powder’ on a tawa and make a coarsely crushed mix of the all the ingredients mentioned in ‘Masala Powder’ section.
3. Make a paste of the onions and add the Ginger n Garlic paste along with the ‘Masala Powder’.

4. Heat the oil in a pan, temper with curry leaves and green chillies until they begin to shrink.
5. Add the onions and saute till they turn transparent.
6. Add the prawns, reduce the heat and saute for about 5 minutes.
7. Cover and cook on low heat for 3 minutes.


The Prawns were delicious, succulent n juicy..... The flavours of Curry Leaves n Garlic lent itself beautifully with the delicate prawns :) Nani's kitchen so full of lovely stuff collected over the years, this lovely cross-stitch napkin was made by her many many years ago.....

Despite all the teasing n fun.... there was just 1 pc of the prawn left cause we were stuffed upto the brim...

Mom's childhood friend[Nani's friend's son] came over and got us some yummy dessert made with gur...... yes gur rasgullas, spongy and light.....

A Family that Eats Together, Stays Together

and yes, Nivritti you were missed.... Only until next time when we all have chutti together :)

Happy Anniversary to my Sweetest Grandparents with Sweet Banoffee Pie

Wishing my grandparents a very very Happy Anniversary..... [It's virtual, but am sure they feel it's sweetness] in the midst of all this Tiramisu madness... I needed a break and just had to do something fruit...... So Sweet Sweet Banoffee for the sweetest Grandparents in the whole wide world....... who by the way email me their party/event/baby bird pictures.... are on facebook... want to choose their cellphone n are just so with-it..... :)

My grandparents have already celebrated their 50th anniversary a few years ago..... People these days don't last 5 years... n here they've got over 50 wonderful years under their belt.....
Those are some of my wonderfullllleeeeeest moments with them in the last year.... Nani's Warm New Kitchen... Warm Hugs with Nana.... Chinking glasses on surprise visits to Hyderabad.... The social activity they have is 100 times more than mine... :) n endless shopping n lunch n dinner at friend's places...

Banoffee Pie
Ingredients
2 Ripe Bananas
1 Tin Sweetened Condensed Milk
250 ml Double Cream[Whipped]
Coffee Powder or Chocolate Chips for decoration.

For the Base:
1/2 packet Glucose Biscuits [abt 100gms]
60 gm Butter [softened, not melted]
20gm Grain Sugar

Method:
For the base:
1. Crush the glucose biscuits finely [not to powder], mix in the granular sugar.
2. Bind them together with the softened butter till the mixture is course. [i use the back of a spoon, you could use ure hands if you like]
3. Place this on the base of the dish in which you want to make the pie and serve.
4. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

For the Toffee:
1. Put the condensed milk in a heavy bottom pan and gently bring to the boil stirring continuously so mixture does not burn.
2. Boil till it is a light caramel [3].
3. Don't over do it as it will make the toffee too hard.

Assembly:
1. Slice the bananas over the biscuit base.
2. Pour cooled toffee over sliced bananas.
You may want to do a double layer aswell for the love of the banoffee.. :-)
3. Beat the cream until stiff and cover the toffee
4. chill
5. Just before serving sprinkle Coffee powder or chocolate chips for decoration.

So this surprise post for them, with pictures of Nani's surprise birthday party earlier in the year....

Wishing you both a healthy n love filled looooooonnnnngggggggggggg life......

All of Diyas, Mithai, Parties, Friends n Family at Diwali

Diwali is always special...... We meet up with friends relative and most of all.... do loads of fun stuff with Daksayani.... :)

We made this really colourful rangoli outside the house......

Soon we were joined by the neighbour's kids, Simran and Armaan...... We did both the traditional hard work way and the easy short cut way of using stencils....

Then in the evening we went for puja to Mall rd.... it was such a sublime atmosphere.....

My totally fav person in the WWW....... whole wide world......

That's Poser INC at Mall rd.... Sadhika, Neha Didi, Nikhil, Veena didi, Ciona, Mini Didi and Mala Chachi.

The kids had a total blast Ciona and Gunjan.....

The parshad for Diwali was made by my soul partner for desserts, Vibha, we even dream the same stufffffffff..... Cooking for over 300+ people..... It was just so so so so yummy that I still can't stop droolllllling over the yummy pasta......

There was fusilli pasta[loaded with Olived n Mushrooms..... my absolute favs.....],The sauce was smooth, tangy and had just the right amt of spice..... Chocolate Eclair from Modern Bazzar and chips....... her spice mix was the show stealer.... yeah I did sneak some for later.... .

The Hyderabad Diwali was brighter this time with chetan arround in India after so long..... Grandparents had lovely time with Nivritti and Chetan.

Partied with the office gang aswell...... The party's theme was 'Tauba Tera Jalwa'.... and what 'J-A-L-W-A' there was.... so much that it's censored on my blog..... what happens at the party, stays at the party..... ;)

The rangoli's made by both teams in office were fantastic..... so much hard work... all made worthwhile by the twinkled eyes which were full of wonder looking at these......

That's Rozy[part of the 99acres sales team] getting the 'We Value You' award at work.... Then there's Amit n Bhaskar [My Product team], n Gunjan our energetic party animal n Amrita[Amit's wife]

We got back Diya shaped mithai as parshad from babaji in Mall rd...... They looked so pretty and were totally d-e-l-i-s-h.... Am not a great fan of mithai but these..... They were out of the world......

Diwali, The festival of lights.......

Happy Birthday Nani

Whatever be the language...... Happy Birthday...... Wishing you all the warmth, happiness and cheer..... :-)

Greetings from across the globe:
Spanish : Feliz cumpleaños
Danish: Tillykke med fødselsdagen
French: Joyeux anniversaire
German: Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag
Italian: Buon compleanno
Portuguese: Feliz aniversário

Here's what I made for you......

Two-Tone Banana Choco Milkshake

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Pineapple Chunks, frozen and partially defrosted
• 1 cup milk divided
• 2-3 tsp cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp sugar (optional)

Method:

• In a food processor, blend the pineapple with 1/4 cup milk (The pineapple should not be frozen solid). Add sugar, to taste, if desired, depending on the tartiness of the pineapple.
• Pour into a measuring cup, one with a pouring spout, and set aside.
• Blend chocolate icecream with remaining milk and cocoa powder.
• Pour chocolate mixture and plain mixture simultaneously into a large glass.
• Drop in a straw and Enjoy!!!