Bye-bye America.....

Hi All, Let me tell you all that I am moving back to India after a 2 year stint in US.... it was really a nice experience trying a lot of new things and visiting a lot of new places as well... but, I am looking forward to going back too.... will keep posting new recipes even though the frequency may vary... happy blogging....!!

Taro (Chembu) Fry

Ingredients:

• Taro 4 to 5 
  
• Chilly pdr 1 Tsp
  
• Lime juice 1/2 Tsp
  
• Garlic paste 1/4 Tsp
  
• Ginger paste 1/4 Tsp
  
• Garam masala 1/2 Tsp
  
• Turmeric pdr 1/4 Tsp
  
• Pepper pdr 1/2 Tsp
  
• Water
  
• Salt
  
• Oil
  

Clean and cut the taro into round thin slices. Combine together all the ingredients (chilly pdr to salt) into a thick paste. Marinate the sliced taro with the above paste and keep it aside for 1/2 hr. Fry it in oil.

Wilton Cake Decorating Course

Course 1: Discover Cake Decorating

Wilton cake decorating course 1 covers the basic techniques of cake decoration which includes preparation of butter cream icing, basic cake borders, butter cream rose, figure piping, different leaves and vines.

Butter Cream Icing

The following amounts of ingredients is considered as a full recipe.

• Confectioner's sugar 1 lb (approximately 4 cups)
  
• Solid white vegetable shortening 1 cup
  
• Meringue Pdr 1 Tbsp
  
• Vanilla essence 1 Tsp
  
• Milk or Water 2 Tbsp
  
• Salt (a pinch)

Meringue powder is a mixture of dried, powdered egg white, cornstarch and gums. It is used to stabilize butter cream icing.

Vegetable Shortening is a flavourless semi-solid fat made from hydrogenated vegetable oil, used in food preparation, especially in baked goods.

Directions:

Cream shortening, essence and water. Add dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until all ingredients have been thoroughly mixed together. Blend an additional minute or until creamy. There are three types of icing consistencies depending on the need:

• Stiff consistency is used for decorations such as flower with upright petals like roses and sweet peas.
  
• Medium consistency creates stems, figure piping, borders and flowers with petals that lie flat. Add 1 Tsp water to each cup of stiff consistency icing. (One additional Tbsp of water when using the full recipe). Mix until well blended.
  
• Thin consistency is for writing, making stems, leaves, vines and icing a cake. Add 2 Tsp of water for each cup of stiff consistency icing (2 Tbsp of additional liquid for the full recipe). Mix until well blended.

Course 2: Flowers and Borders

Wilton second course offers more shell borders, basket weaving and different flowers using butter cream and royal icing.

Royal Icing:

Meringue pdr 3 Tbsp

Confectioner's sugar 1 lb(4 cups)

Luke warm water 5 to 6 Tbsp

Place sugar and meringue powder in a bowl. Mix at low speed. Add water and mix it for 7 to 10 min at low ; medium speed until icing loses its sheen. To prevent drying, cover the bowl with a damp cloth while working with icing. this royal icing can be store in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks.

Course 4: Fondant and Gum Paste

This course covers advanced techniques in decorating cakes with fondant and various types of gum paste flowers and borders.

The snap from this post is my final entry to the Let's Celebrate event.

Chocolate Cake - Happy Valentines Day 2009...!!

Ingredients

• Egg 1
  
• Flour 1 cup
  
• Sugar 1 cup
  
• Salt 1/8 Tsp
  
• Vanilla 1 Tsp
  
• Butter 1/4 cup
  
• Cocoa pdr 1/4 cup
  
• Butter milk 1/4 cup
  
• Baking soda 3/4 Tsp
  
• Boiling coffee 1/2 cup

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a cake pan. Mix together flour, salt and baking soda. Keep it aside. Beat together butter, sugar and cocoa pdr well. Add egg, vanila, buttermilk and boiling coffee to the above prepared mixture and beat well. Then slowly add the flour mixture into this and combine well. Transfer the batter into the greased pan and bake it for 30 to 35 min. Decorate the cake using Butter Cream Icing.

Recipe Courtesy:Sankeerthanam 

This is my entry to the

Hearts For St.Valentine's Day Contest.

Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

• Flour 2 cups
  
• Cinnamon powder 1 tbsp
  
• Active dry yeast 1 pkt
  
• Melted butter 3 tbsp
  
• Brown sugar 1 cup
  
• Sugar 3 tbsp
  
• Milk ½ cup
  
• Salt a pinch
  
• Milk 2 tbsp
  
• Butter 2 oz
  
• Egg 1

Mix the flour, yeast, butter, sugar, salt, milk and egg in a vessel and kneed it well till it becomes soft. Cover it with a damp cloth and let it rise and get doubled. In a bowl, for the filling, mix brown sugar, butter and cinnamon powder with a spoon until it combines. Preheat oven to 185 degree Celsius. When the dough gets doubled in size, punch out the air. Sprinkle the workspace with flour and place the dough on it. Now roll out the dough in ½ centimeter thickness. Spread the filling on the dough. Carefully roll the dough into a log and cut into slices of about 3 cm thickness. Place them in a tray leaving enough space for the rolls to rise. Allow them to rise for 15 to 20 minutes. Coat each roll with the egg wash. Put the tray into the oven and let them bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven. Cinnamon rolls are ready to be served.

Courtesy: Food Network

Photo Courtesy: Sudeepa

Meen Peera

Ingredients:

• Fish 1/2 kg (small fish like Smelt)
  
• Shallots 5 to 6
  
• Garlic 4 to 5 pods
  
• Ginger 1 big piece
  
• Green chilly 5 to 6
  
• Coconut 1/2 grated
  
• Turmeric pdr 1/2 tsp
  
• Kudampuli 3 to 4 pieces 
• Curry leaves
  
• Water
  
• Salt

Clean and cut the fish into small pieces. Add crushed ginger, garlic, shallots, kudampuli, chilly, coconut, curry leaves, salt, turmeric pdr and little water into fish and mix well. Cover it and cook it in medium flame.