Chocolate chip cookies

I have been wanting to make chocolate chip cookies for a really long time, but couldn't get my hands in chocolate chips. So when I found myself in the vicinity of the store that does stock them, I grabbed a packet, and within 30 minutes of getting home has whipped up this batch for us!

200 gms maida

100 gms butter

100 gms granulated sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup chocolate chips 

Method:

Sieve the flour and baking powder till well incorporated

Add sugar and mix well

Rub in the butter till properly mixed 

Add milk gradually 1 tbsp at a time to bring it together into a firm dough

Add the chocolate chips and mix well. 

Roll into 16 balls, flatten slightly and place on a greased baking sheet. 

Bake in pre heated oven at 180 degrees for 10 minutes

Nutella - cashewnuts

Nutella is one of my addictions, but after reading about the quality of ingredients going into it, I've stopped getting it. Why not just restrict consumption, one might ask. But I know myself well- if it comes into the house it will be consumed immediately, so better go cold turkey with it. 

But the taste buds remember what it was like to indulge in pure bliss, so I've started experimenting with making it at home. With cashew-nuts, it is not exactly low calorie, but at least I control the ingredients that go into it and I know it is not toxic. 

100 gms cashew nuts

6 tsp cooking oil (neutral tasting- safflower works)

A pinch of salt

3 tbsp cocoa powder

2-3 tbsp granulated sugar (or grind regular sugar)

Method:

Roast the cashew nuts till the raw smell goes. Allow it to cool

Blend the cashew nuts for 2 minutes.

Add the oil and blend for another 2 minutes. 

Add cocoa powder, salt and sugar and blend for a minute more. 

You should get a creamy consistency. Cool and store. 

Transfer to a glass bottle and put it in the fridge. It will keep for about a month if it lasts that long. 

Chocolate Sago Pudding

Continuing on the Sago Saga started last year, here is a delightfully rich chocolate pudding, which almost makes you forget about chocolate bars.

1 litre milk 

100 gms sago/sabudana
1/3 cup sugar, or to taste
3 tbsp cocoa powder

Method:
Soak the sago in water. The water should cover the sago and there should be a bit extra. Keep the soaked sago overnight, in the fridge. In the morning, drain the sago from the water and keep aside. You need about 1/2 cu sago for this.
Reserve 1/2 cup milk. Bring the rest of the milk to boil, reduce the flame, and heat with constant stirring till the volume reduces to half. Add sugar, and stir till it dissolves.
Add the drained sago to the milk, and keep stirring for 3-4 minutes until the sago pearls lose their opaque white color and become colorless. Remove from fire.
Add the cocoa powder, and mix well. Chill in the fridge for 3 hours. 

Mix in the reserved milk before serving.

Chocolate cake in a jiffy

A friend had brought a super moist cake to office the other day, and I had more than my fair share of it. Since I am always in the quest for eggless recipes, I asked for the recipe and was stunned when she gave it.

This then is my secret recipe for an eggless cake in a jiffy. Now to teach the kids to make it themselves. 

1 packet Oreo biscuits

1 cup milk

1/2 tsp baking powder

Method:

Grind the Oreo biscuits inutile till well powdered. 

Add milk and baking powder, and mix well. 

Pour into cupcake liners and bake at 180 degrees for 12 minutes.

Eggless chocolate cookies

I baked a batch of chocolate cookies today because I was in a mood to do so. Initially, I intended to roll them in sesame seeds, but changed my mind when I couldn't find they. The batch came out really well- crispy on the outside, soft inside.

200 (1 cup) gms maida
100 gms (1 cup) butter
100 gms (1 cup) granulated sugar
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp milk

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
Mix the butter and sugar well, till it appears homogeneous.
Sieve the baking powder, flour and cocoa powder together, and add to the butter-sugar mixture. Mix well so there are no lumps. If the dough does not come together, add upto 2 tbsp milk.
Grease baking tray with oil.
Divide the dough into 16 equal parts. Roll each into a ball, and press lightly.
Arrange on the baking tray and bake for 15 minutes*.
Cool well before storing in an airtight container.

* check every minute after 12 minutes, because the temperatures may vary.

Chocolate spread, without sugar

I didn't think too much before deciding to give up sugar for awhile, but gradually, the doubts started emerging. Prime among which was- how on earth can I manage without Nutella? I turned to Google, and got dozens of hits. Most of the recipes I couldn't even think of since they required ingredients I only encounter in vegan recipe blogs. Almost all required hazlenuts, which are not available in India. But going through all of them, certain common features emerged, and I threw them all into the mixer, and came up with this.
It is definitely not Nutella, but it is pretty good, and will at least keep the cravings at bay.

Though I didn't realize it then, while writing down the recipe, I found that it is a five ingredient wonder!

1 cup almonds *
10 dates
3 tbsp cocoa
3 tbsp coconut oil#
A pinch of salt

Method:
Dry roast the almonds for a few minutes, and while it is still hot, put it in the mixer, and blend for 3-4 minutes (blend for a minute, check, then blend again- do it till you get a creamy consistency).
Deseed the dates and add them to the almonds. Add the cocoa powder and salt, and pulse for 1 minute
Add the coconut oil, and pulse for another 2 minutes, or till the spread is creamy.
Spread it on toast, and enter a sugarfree heaven.

* hazlenuts are recommended, but you work with what you have
# there are many other oils that are recommended, but we don't get any of them in India. Coconut oil adds a new dimension to the spread, but one that goes well with it.

Celebrations....

After three weeks of virtually living in the office. Two weekends, where we got to meet him for less than a couple of hours. The day after my older one commented that he'd not even seen his father since Wednesday. After all that, the deal the hubby was working on, finally came through. And it was time for celebrations.

An eggless chocolate-orange cake, with Nutella icing, and a bunting festooned between two ice cream sticks. Happy times!

Depression Cake

After the success of my skinny lemon cakes, I've been looking for other eggless cake recipes that do not require butter either. The Depression Cake (so named because it was invented during the Depression when ingredients were in short supply) seemed to fit the bill, and I lost no time in trying it out.
Unfortunately, the cake seemed to have taken its name too seriously, and every single cupcake sported a depression in the middle. I filled it up with chocolate sauce to make it presentable, but one would still like to know whether to attempt the recipe again or not.

What I did do wrong was to go by my nose and turn off the over when 7 minutes of baking time were left (toothpick test was successful). A few minutes later, I realised I might have made a mistake and popped it back in for 7 minutes, but by then the damage was probably done. That might be the reason for the crater.

1 1/2 cups flour (all-purpose)
3 tbsp cocoa
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp  salt

1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup water

Method:
Preheat oven to 175 degrees.
Mix first 5 dry ingredients.
Make 3 depressions in dry ingredients - two small, one larger. Pour vinegar in one depression, vanilla in the other and the vegetable oil in third larger depression.  Pour water over all.  Mix well until smooth.
Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners, put the batter in them (this amount made 12 cupcakes), and bake for 25 minutes

Orange infused chocolate cake

I had measured most of the stuff for a regular chocolate cake, when the Younger One asked me if I could make an orange-chocolate cake instead. Had he asked a little earlier, I had a recipe that I could have used, but since most of the preparatory work had been done, I just winged it.
The combination of orange and chocolate is lovely, and next time I bake, I am making the "real" ones.

100 gms maida
1 tsp baking powder
100 gms sugar
2 eggs
100 gms butter
2 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
juice of 1 orange
4 tsp icing sugar

Line a cake tin with butter paper, and keep aside.
Sift together the maida, baking powder and cocoa three or four times till well aerated and keep aside.
Whisk 2 eggs till frothy and keep aside.
In a mixing bowl, mix the butter and sugar taking care that you always stir the spoon in the same direction. Do it till the two are well mixed and creamy.
Add a bit of the flour and some beaten egg to the mixture, and mix till creamy. Keep doing it till all the flour and eggs are mixed. Mix the batter a bit more- the more you mix, the fluffier your cake will be.
Pour the batter in the tin, taking care to push the batter towards the ourside (to prevent doming and cracking)
Preheat the over to 200 degrees. Bake for 25 minutes, or till a knitting needle pushed into the batter comes out clean.
Meanwhile, mix the orange juice and icing sugar together in a bowl. Carefully pour the orange juice mixture over the warm cakes and set aside to cool completely.
I was a little skeptical about the combination, but it was quite amazing.

Added a small bit of orange peel in the tea while brewing it, which helped me savour the cake even more.

Chocolate pancakes with Strawberry and Banana Sauce

My younger one is in love with pancakes, so the moment I saw the picture on IFF, I knew I would be making Bhavana Bhakhri's Chocolate pancakes with Strawberry and Banana Sauce  sooner rather than later. Made them today, and the kid lapped them up faster than my pan could supply.

Maida.....1 cup (sieved)
Baking Powder.....1tsp
Drinking chocolate powder - 2 tbsp (the original recipe called for chocolate, but I replaced it)
Eggs.....2
Milk....1cup
Butter.....2-3 tbsp
Strawberry preserve- 4 tbsp
Banana ....1 mashed

Method

Sieve the maida, baking powder and chocolate powder a few times till well incorporated
Whisk the eggs with milk till froathy
Add the dry ingredients to the eggs, and mix well, till well blended.
In a pan add 1 tbsp of butter and add mashed banana and saute for few minutes. Add the strawberry preserve and cook till you get the desired consistency.
Heat a nonstick tawa, add 1 tbsp of butter. Pour a ladle full of batter and spread it around the pan. Cook on medium heat till the underside is done and then flip and cook from other side till done.
Take it out on a plate and pour the sauce over it and enjoy the delicious pancake.

Chocolate cookies with a hint of chilli

Back in the days when I hated to enter the kitchen, there were about half a dozen recipes I always turned to. Written in my Mother's hand, they were stapled together to form a booklet, ambitiously titled "Miss Mommy's Cookbook".
I found that bunch of stapled papers a couple of days back, and wanted to make the chocolate cookies for old times sake. After mixing the ingredients, I chanced upon a packet of Dominos chilli flakes and threw it in for the heck of it.
Lovin' it!!!!

60 gms maida
30 gms castor sugar (I went with half and half)
30 gms cocoa powder
60 gms butter
1 tsp chilli flakes (optional)

Sift the dry ingredients, rub in the butter, mix well and knead to a dough.
Make 12 equal sized balls, flatten them slightly, place on a greased baking tray and bake at 135 C for 15 to 20 mins.

Chocolate Banana Smoothie

Smoothies in any form or kind are my favourite post-workout snack. This is one I reserve for long runs, because I have been told that chocolate is one of the best drinks you can have post run. Sometimes I wonder if I don't run as much as I do, only so I can indulge!!!!

Blend 1 cup milk, 1 banana and 1 tbsp cocoa powder till smooth. Yummy.

Spiced Chocolate

When I saw this recipe in the newspaper, I nearly gagged. Chocolate and chilli flakes- how could they. But when something sounds as counter intuitive as that combination does, it pays to check it out. Made it first on Monday, and have made it once a day, every day after that. I better start looking for a slightly lower calorie version- this cannot be good for me in this quantity!

Place 1 cinnamon stick and the leaves of one sprig mint in a mug of milk, and bring it to boil. Remove from heat, and let it stand for 5 to 10 mins. Strain out the cinnamon and mint, return to the fire, and add 50 gms of chocolate (I used CDM) broken into small pieces. Stir on a low flame till the chocolate melts completely (recipe called for making it really frothy, but it is better otherwise). Serve garnished with one tsp chilli flakes.

Strawberry with chocolate ganache

I love strawberries. I love chocolates. Add them together, and I absolutely love strawberries dipped in chocolate ganache.

1 bar chocolate broken into pieces
3 tbsp cream
Strawberries


Heat the cream, pour it over the chocolate pieces and stir till the chocolate dissolves. You can use any chocolate you like- I used CDM, because it was available.
Wash the strawberries, dry them with a tissue, dip the tip in the chocolate ganache and refrigerate so it sets.

Zebra cake

My Mum's one of those people, who once she gets a recipe right will write it down in her black diary, and never again deviate from it. This is her classic "never go wrong" recipe for sponge cake, in a new format.

Sift together -
100 gms maida
1 tsp baking powder
three or four times till well aerated and keep aside.

Whisk 2 eggs and keep aside.

In a mixing bowl, mix-
100 gms butter (she used Amul and so do I)
100 gms sugar
few drops vanilla essence
taking care that you always stir the spoon in the same direction. Do it till the two are well mixed and creamy.

Add a bit of the flour and some beaten egg to the mixture, and mix till creamy. Keep doing it till all the flour and eggs are mixed. Mix the batter a bit more- the more you mix, the fluffier your cake will be.

At this point, I deviate. Keep aside half the cake mix. To the other half, add 2 tbsp cocoa powder and 1 tbsp instant coffee (about 1/4 tsp coffee mix in 1 tbsp hot water), and stir till well mixed.

Grease or line a baking dish. Put one blob of vanilla batter at the center. Put a larger blob of the chocolate batter over it, taking care to ensure that the top and sides are covered. Alternately put blobs of vanilla and chocolate batter in layers.

Bake in recommended settings of microwave oven (or as you would a regular cake in an OTG). You will know the cake is done when you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean.

Remove from oven, cool, and turn it over. I poured Hershey's chocolate sauce on it, because I didn't have home made sauce. but home made chocolate sauce or frosting is recommended.

Chocolate fudge, the way my mother makes it

Some of my earliest food memories include the gooey chocolate fudge that my mother used to make. Deep brown, with slivers of creamy cashewnuts adding texture. They would be prefect diamonds, and each was guaranteed to transport your into food heaven.
When I started cooking, one of the first recipes I asked my mother for was fudge. She told me it was one of the easiest things to make, but she counted without me. I have made it about half a dozen times, and most of them have been disasters of various kinds. Sometimes, I don't let the sugar syrup cook enough, sometimes I let it cook too much. The kids are picky about what they eat, so it has essentially meant me putting on additional calories.
BUT, I love it so much (and it tastes so amazing when it actually turns out the way it should), that I soldier on.

1 full cup milk powder
1 level cup sugar
4 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp butter
1/3 cup water

Stir water and sugar on low heat till it achieves one string consistency.
While stirring, mix together milk powder and cocoa till well mixed (I normally sieve them together a couple of times).
Once one-string consistency is achieved, turn off heat, and add the dry mixture with constant stirring. Add butter, mix well and pour it onto a greased tray to cool.
I tried cutting it while it was still warm- big mistake- cut after it has cooled down.

Eggless cake (with curds)

When I was talking to a baker friend about the banana cake I made, her first comment was, "time you shifted to other substitutes for eggs. You are going to get fed up of the taste of bananas soon enough." I wasn't sure if I was ready to take on the challenge of putting curds in a cake, but since I was assured that it would work, I did, and it didn't taste half bad.
But I will keep on the lookout for a "perfect" eggless cake recipe- this is definitely not that one.

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup curds (set, but not sour)
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup cooking oil
4 tbsp cocoa powder

Stir together, curds, sugar and oil till well blended. Keep aside for a few minutes (till small bubbles start to rise)
Sieve maida, baking powder and cocoa powder till well mixed
Spoon in the dry mixture, stirring constantly
Pour into a greased bowl, and microwave as per recommended settings (5 minutes on high worked fine)
Check by pushing in a toothpick- if it comes out clean, it is done

[The batter was much looser than that made using eggs, so it will not work if you want to put in nuts or fruits. And it will definitely not work if you want to bake in layers.
Passed the taste test- perfect for when you want to whip something in a hurry]

Eggless marble cake

In my quest for the prefect Eggless Cake recipe, there is yet another, not quite successful attempt. Someday, I will get that perfect recipe.

1/4 cup maida
2 tbsp coco powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 cup cooking oil
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vinegar
1/2 cup water
a pinch of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Mix the maida and baking powder and sieve them to ensure even mixing.Keep aside.
Mix water,sugar,salt and make sure the sugar gets dissolved and then add vineger, oil and vanilla essence and mix well.
Add the sifted flour and mix well.
Keep aside half the mixture, and mix the cocoa powder with the rest.
On a greased baking pan, put blobs of vanilla batter, and intersperse with blobs of chocolate batter. Place vanilla batter over chocolate, and chocolate over vanilla. Draw patterns with a knife (I made more chocolate batter, so it didn't come out looking too good).
Bake in microwave for 4 minutes.

Brownie in a mug

When I first got on Pintrest, one of the pins I stumbled across was for a two minute brownie in a mug. They are perfect for those monsoon evenings when you want to curl up with a good murder mystery, and crave something warm, sweet and comforting to go with it.

1/4 cup sugar (I took less)
1/4 cup wholewheat flour/ atta (recipe calls for flour/ maida, but I substituted an equal quantity of the healthier atta)
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon oil

Mix dry ingredients in a microwavable cup. Stir in water and oil, and mix till consistent. Whisk a few times so air bubbles get beaten into the mix.
(Clear the inside walls of the mug, if you want a prettier picture than mine). Cover with coaster/ cling foil with hole pierced in, place in microwave. Cook for 1 minute 40 seconds.