Have finally figured out Akshita's sort of Apple Crumble

Remember my post on Apple Crumble and Apple Pie, for Neha Didi where I learnt the recipes from my Bua[My Dad's sister]..... Akshita is her daughter, my sister, just loves the Apple Crumble....

Now that've learnt how to make the crumble... had to get it right for Akshita.... just the way she likes it.... not too tart and fairly sweet.....
She's married n settled in the US where she has to do everything herself including cooking [which she treats only as a chore n isn't very fond of]. Like most of the other's she too loves to come home with an agenda for FOOD..... So my conribution to that list is her fav Apple Crumble.... That's us just before she left back for the US....
Have a good life sis...

Cappuccino Tiramisu Cheesecake ~Happy Birthday, Baking Queen ~ Deeba

It was Deeba's Birthday on 14th Nov. She's been my inspiration to the world of baking n cooking.... She's just superb at what she does.... and most of all, she's passionate about it. I've been making something or the other for birthday's of close family and friends..... This one called for some very special thought....
Deeba is 'Eggo-phobic', likes Pink, loves Coffee..... So what can we do with this.....
Cappuccino Tiramisu Cheesecake [No bake, so no egg :-) ]
Would have loved to give her a surprise on her birthday this time... but didn't have her hubby's number or email id with me..... So had to call her n check her day's schedule.. :-) Landed up at her place with Pink Lillies and Cappuccino Tiramisu Cheesecake... that's 'No Eggs', 'Pink' and 'Coffee'..... :-)


Every visit to Deeba's is like being 'Alice in Wonderland' for me. This time she had 'Sponge fingers filled with lavender mascarpone' sprinkled with beautiful purple sugar...... The cake she did for her birthday was 'Lavender Mascarpone Cake'.

Last time she graciously invited me over for lunch at her place Lunch at Deeba's, had made a Zebra cake for them Zebra Cake for the Rajpals, We iced cupcakes together Cups of Magic ~ Vanilla Cupcakes @ Deeba's. It was such a nice day. Her kids are so wonderful :-)

Cappuccino Tiramisu Cheesecake
Ingredients:
For the base:
1/2 packet glucose biscuits [abt 100gms]
60 gms butter [softened, not melted]
20gms grain sugar

For cheesecake:
250 ml cream[whipped]
150gms hung curd
50gms mascarpone cream cheese
Coffee Solution [100gms Coffee Dissolved in 1/2 cup hot water, cooled to room temperature ]
Bailey's [2 capfull]
40 gms gelatin [in winter 1 reduce it by 2-3 pinches as it sets just fine]

Mocha Icing
Butter - 30 gms
Dark chocolate - 100gms / broken into pieces
Instant coffee - 2 tbsp


Method:
For the base:
Crush the glucose biscuits finely [not to powder]
Bind them together with the softened butter till the mixture is course. [I use the back of a spoon, you could use your fingers if you like]
Place this on the base of the dish in which you want to make the cheesecake and serve. [I used a pie dish with a loose bottom so that the cheesecake comes out of the pan, with edges]
Refrigerate for about 30 minutes, till it sets.


For Cheesecake:
Whip the cream to soft peaks.
Mix in the hung curd and mascarpone to a silky consistency.
Add the Coffee Solution and mix well, don't beat too much, only till Smooth.
Melt the gelatin in cold water first and then heat on a double boiler.
After it's completely dissolved, pour into the above mixture and mix well.
Take out the refrigerated base, pour the above mixture into the bowl over the base.
Refrigerate for about an hour.
Best served after 24 Hours, it alows the flavors to marry well.

For Icing:
Put the butter & dark chocolate into a pan heat over low heat till all the chocolate has melted, stirring constantly.
Add coffee, stir well, & leave to cool. [Add a teaspoon of rum if you like it darker n richer]
Fill in an icing bag and pipe away... :-)

I loved the Tiramisu Cheesecake.... People who like coffee flavors...... This is a must try.... Soft, Smooth and mmmmmmmmm Coffee.....
May God Bless your and your home with great health and lots of joy :-)
Happy Birthday!!!!!!

She says... Show me some Love ~ I say, Banana Chocochips Cheesecake for you

She says... Show me some Love ~ I say, Banana Chocochips Cheesecake for you....

Sniggggyyyyy... my mad cap, filmy, smiley friend....
Miss Sea Blue, please notice, the pictures are done in BLUE....................

Ingredients
For the base:
1/2 packet glucose biscuits [abt 100gms]
60 gm butter [softened, not melted]
20gm grain sugar

For cheesecake:
250 ml cream[whipped]
150gm hung curd
100gm Banana pulp
40 gms gelatin [in winter 1 reduce it by 2-3 pinches as it sets just fine]

Method:
For the base:
Crush the glucose biscuits finely [not to powder]
Sprinkle grain sugar.
Bind them together with the softened butter till the mixture is course. [i use the back of a spoon, you could use ure hand if you like].
Pace this on the base of the dish in which you want to make the cheesecake and serve.
Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
Sprinkle choco chips.

For Cheesecake:
Whip the cream to soft peaks.
Mix in the hung curd to a silky consistency.
Add the fruit pulp and mix well, don't beat too much.
Melt the gelatin in cold water first and then heat on a double boiler.
After it's completely dissolved, pour into the above mixture and mix well.
Take out the Refrigerated base, pour the above mixture into the bowl over the base.
Refrigerate for about an hour.[more in summers till it sets]
Garnish with fresh fruit or chocochips.


Welcome Back!!!!!!

Are You Eating In The Matrix?

This is a very interesting read.....Are You Eating In The Matrix? on summertomato.com

The question "do you know the difference between real food and food that was designed to fool you into believing it is real?" had me ticking....

Some excerpts from that post....

We have coexisted with McDonald’s for so long it seem preposterous to speculate it doesn’t meet the definition of food.

But let’s take a closer look:

Food -noun:

1.	Any nourishing substance that is eaten, drunk, or otherwise taken into the body to sustain life, provide energy, promote growth, etc.

2.	More or less solid nourishment, as distinguished from liquids.

3.	A particular kind of solid nourishment: a breakfast food; dog food.

4.	Whatever supplies nourishment to organisms: plant food.

5.	Anything serving for consumption or use: food for thought.

With the exception of the last point, which is clearly philosophical, all these definitions include the word nourishment.

Nourish –verb (used with object)

1.	To sustain with food or nutriment; supply with what is necessary for life, health, and growth.

2.	To cherish, foster, keep alive, etc.: He had long nourished the dream of living abroad.

3.	To strengthen, build up, or promote: to nourish discontent among the workers; to nourish the arts in one’s community.

If it doesn’t provide nourishment, it is not food.

Unplugging from the industrial food Matrix does not need to happen all at once, but you can extract yourself from it eventually. The first step is starting to see it clearly.

“I’m trying to free your mind, Neo, but I can only show you the door. You’re the one that has to walk through it.”

Are you eating in the Matrix?

The philosophy of summertomato.com is very interesting and really relevant for all of us today.

Special Triple Chocolate Fudge Brownies ~ For Special Kids

Special brownies for special cousins, Shiv n Veda. They are my mamu's children. Since they stay in the US, I get to see very little of them.

Shiv is allergic to nuts n loves chocolate.... so what does nachi didi do? Simple... bring out her pots n pans, bake away to make 'Triple Chocolate Fudge Brownies' n top them with Chocolate Chips instead of the signature walnuts. Twisted the recipe a bit to reduce the flour content as gluten doesn't go down too well with Shiv either....

The kids really had yummylicious time at lunch with pasta[2nd helpings told me the kids liked it :-) ] for lunch and brownies for dessert....

Children have their special way of expressing appreciation. I was so touched when shiv made this lovely painting for me.... Totally adorable.... have kept in a special place in my room. My first Thank you note... :-)

The mummies also enjoyed the yummy lunch put together by Archana mami along with the pasta I did. The elder generation of ladies[Vimla aunty n kanchan aunty, who hardly look their ages :-) ] also appreciated the yummies.

I have been making walnut brownies for a while but always found cutting them a pain casue the embedded walnuts cause the sides to crumble.... Amazon.com and Suhela Mami to the rescue... She had got me this awesome slice brownie set. Unfortunately due to some size isues, it wouldn't fit in my oven. Would need some handy work by my mom at folding the handles.... So the Triple Fudge Chocolate Chip Brownies were done in my trustworthy tray.... :-)

By the time mom figured out the handled for the tray to fit in my oven, the kids and mami were back to the US..... the good part is that Vineet mamu was visiting..... was so excited when I used the Sliced Tray, the brownies came out so well.... nice n clean sides.... Yayyyyyyy..... :-)
Called mamu and we met in the evening. He wanted to have his brownies with coffee.

Got a Thumbs up from him :-)

The tray was so easy to use.... but washing up the separator is a bit of a task.... but anything for clear sided brownies.

Thank you so much mami for getting me this pleasure. Shiv n Veda.... You're special.... :-)

Marathon Fun

This Year's Airtel Delhi Marathon was lots of fun... much like last time.... Last year, I ran[rather walked, cause i had a very very bad throat n could hardly speak a word without couging n spluttering ;-)] with Dipali and Amit....

This year I had gone with Amit... this time Amit Ghosh, a friend at work. Reached the holding area at 8:30am. Got set...

We were walking arround n just couldn't help taking a shot of this gentleman....I think he imagined himself in the lawns of India gate rather than the holding area of the marathon... Ha..Ha..Ha...

There was an event where people came in costumes....

At the starting line, there were lots of celebs... Shahrukh Khan [seemed like the main attraction... oh god.. the jostling which happened to catch a glimpse of him], Sheila Dixit, Suresh kalmadi, Rahul Bose, Simmi Greywal [in her signature white clothes n red nail polish... LOL...], Vijendar Singh, Cathy Freeman.

Running was fun... :-)

The number of people taking pictures other than the designated marathon-photos.com guys was crazy.... way more than last year.....
People were quite enthusiastic about dressing up and DOWN for the run..... LOL... ;-)

People were having a ball of a time...

Met up with friends... Priyanka Sachar, Bhawna and Vibhore. Lots of them were running 21 Kms, could get to meet them....

After running for a while.... walked the rest of the way.....
It was so much fun.... hope to run the 21 next year...

Cappuccino Buttermilk Muffins ~ Coffee Mania

Anything coffee attracts me like a magnet..... :-) There is no parallel to the goodness of a warm Cappuccino Buttermilk Muffin loaded with Dark Chocolate Chips....

This is the first time I made cupcakes.... where else would I have gotten the recipe other than Deeba.... her first try and the luscious 2nd try..... I just had to..... I wanted to drop whatever I was doing and just run to the kitchen... alas was not at home....

Took my first try for babaji.... They turned out yummy.... gobbled up quickly.....

The next lot was devoured at the Luthra's.....

The entire house was filled with the aroma of these muffins baking.... Could hardly wait for them to come out of the oven n cool...

Another lot for friends..... That's Shuchi and her parents with their Diwali gift.....

Vibha and Tarini loved the warmed muffins....

Cappuccino Buttermilk Muffins

adapted from Nic @ Cherrapeno and Deeba @ PAB

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsps baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup vanilla sugar

1/2 cup melted butter, cooled

1 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsps instant coffee

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Method:

Preheated oven at 180C.

Mix coffee into melted butter. Whisk well.

Whisk eggs lightly into the buttermilk with the vanilla extract.

In a big bowl mix well the following - both flours, vanilla sugar, baking powder & salt.

Now pour in the buttermilk mixture & the butter mixture, and mix in gently by hand till moist. DO NOT over mix or muffins won't be nice & soft. Fold in chocolate chips lightly & do not over mix.

Fill up the prepared muffin tins 2/3 full, sprinkle a few coffee beans if you like. Put in to bake for 20-22 minutes till done.

Cool on rack.

There is really nothing better than gifting homemade goodies to loved ones on a festival... really spreads the cheer.....
A variation could be chopped walnuts on the top and chocochips inside.....

The ultimate in comfort food.... I'm already hungry n droolly writing about these muffins...

Lleaving to grab a muffin off the cooling shelf...

Banoffee For The Sweet as Toffee Julie

Pushpanjali is such a sweet n unassuming person, she's a delight to be around. I got to know her as she's Vivek's wife. Vivek is one of my first mentors at Infoedge[my office].
We've had many fun times together....

We've done many a camping trips together. We went to Bir n Billing in Himachal Pradesh at a Ht of 8500 ft for parasailing.

Tungnath....
A 3.5 Km trek at an incline of some 45 degrees… with even rarer air than Deveria Tal….. Water… Chocolate…. The feeling that my lungs will burst for the want of oxygen…. [This can be counted as one of the craziest moves of my life….. which in hindsight was quite an achievement….]
I really admire the grit and determination of Julie….. She’s such a fighter….. Hats off to her…..


Would like to express my absolute and complete gratitude to my mom for putting in my windsheeter and woolen gloves(Puneet Makkar survived due to them... ) We sat huddled in the leeward side of the curve cursing Mr Mad Hatter ….(Puneet Chawla)

Chronicles of Tunganath.....
About Tunganath
Trip To Tunganath - Day 1 [Getting There]
Trip To Tunganath - Day 2 [Trek to Deveria Tal]
Trip To Tunganath - Day 2 [Trek to Tunganath]
Trip To Tunganath - Day 3 [Return Journey]

Why Julie is so fit ? cause she loves running.....
Vivek loves taking pictures and Julie loves being clicked..... what a perfect combination... :-)
It's difficult to get vivek in front of the camera.... yet Puneet and a few others manage to the the trick...
She loves dogs... Check out the pics... need I say more.... :-)
Princess is her lifeline... They even took princess boating.....
Like I have Daksayani in my life... She has Yashna... her sister[Pinakini's daughter]... She's adorable...
Vivek, Julie and I have a blast playing pictionary...
Julie is such a bundle of energy n enthusiasm..... n also loves facebook.... :-)

We share the love of banoffee pie and big chill... very few people i know like banana in desserts n even fewer who will KILL for banoffee pie.... So the natural choice for making dessert on her B'day was banofee Pie.... :-)
Am so happy they all liked it.... n she has no clue that our conversation in going out on the blog... Lol... naughty me.....
Banoffee Pie
Yields 5 servings in a small bowl

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 SugarMethod:
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.




May God bless you with lots of cheer, peace n happiness.... always...