There’s always something exotic or should I say romantic about chocolate cookies. They bring with them smiles and happiness no matter how small they are. The first bite is bliss, the second, heaven and by the third, you’re dancing with angels.
If weather reports are to be believed the next three days are going to hotter than ever before.You’re not going to want to step out of the house, eat anything that’s full of spice and temper’s are going to be flying high. Need a quick cool down recipe…here’s one.
“Baked donuts!” Exclaimed my husband! Yes, why not..If everything can be made diet friendly why not donuts! Everyone’s making them these days and I’m going to try make them not just sugar-free but also with barley and oats flour!
There are few things in life that can be deterred to a later date. Baking is one of them. Just last night I watched two sisters, create an amazing flourless sugarless warm chocolate pudding with figs…yeah, it was a gooey mess, and i mean that in a very, very good way. The recipe by Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley on Hemsley & Hemsley had to be replicated in my own style.
Holi does call for delicacies and desserts! Given my penchant for no-sugar added cooking and doing something out of the box, I gave the traditional gujiya a twist! Gujiyas are nothing but sweet dumplings made of maida and filled with a delightful khoya and dry fruits mixture that are popularly made in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh during the festive season. Sadly, they are deep-fried in ghee and dipped in a sugary syrup! Not something I would cook in my kitchen and yet one has to keep up with tradition! I trapped my dry fruits mix in phyllo pastry and baked it! The sweetness came from the dry fruits and the crispy crackle of the pastry, just added to the delight!
This recipe has been inspired by Ridhi, a colleague, who brought to work a no-bake Oreo Cheesecake. It was so simple to make that we decided to adapt the recipe for a cooking column I do for RobinAge, a weekly children’s newspaper. After all which kid doesn’t like Oreo or chocolate?
But me, being me, I decided to add a twist to it! Another colleague Melissa had brought along a bag of marshmallows! (It helps to work with an almost all-woman team, who love food) The pink and orange marshmallows found their way into this 10-minute gooey chocolatey dessert! Enjoy!
Last Saturday saw me pulling out food for 30 people, over two different meals! One was a birthday dinner for a friend’s 45 birthday, that’s where this cake was baked, and the other was just a meal for friends. And believe you me this 1 and a half kg cake wasn’t enough to feed 15 not-so-hungry mouths!
It was a dear friend’s 45 birthday and somehow i always end up baking the cake and bringing along at least 3-4 main course dishes and an equal number of starters 🙂 This time was no different, not that I am complaining…I think cooking for people you care about only shows your love for them!
Just the word brownie, somehow has the knack of turning a horrible, horrible day into one that you can sail through. even if it involves, measuring, baking and just basking in the aromas that lilt through the kitchen. This Thursday was no different. Home alone, i was bored out of my wits, gym routine done, cooking done, grocery shopping done, I had more than half the day on my hand, completely free! The oven yet again became my best go-to-friend! 🙂 Doesn’t it always…
I was completely out of ideas. I knew I wanted to bake a soft, springy, light cake, but had no idea what!…it was just one of those days when you have a party at home and want to bake to destress..I finally let my colleagues at work decide the dessert. Within no time they were all of Pinterest pulling out the most amazing cakes. This one by Julia won my heart…it had two of my favourite ingredients blueberry and peaches. Sadly I didn’t get any fresh peaches and had to use fresh apricots instead…
The most difficult thing about being on a diet is staying away from breads, cakes, cookies and everything else that comes out of an oven! But dieticians also give you cheat dates…and I made the most of it with this Chocolate Sandesh that has more proteins than fats!
I actually made a sugar-free low-fat milk version for the husband, but a full-fat and sugared version for the girls at my workplace! This dish is turned around in less than 30 minutes, that is if you’re making cottage cheese too, otherwise it takes less than 10 minutes!