Xmas Gifts....

Christmas time is the time for giving, sharing and gifting....Sometimes in the mad rush of commercialization and life getting in our way.. we forget the simple joys of giving home made and hand made gifts....The store brought cookies are loaded with fat, sugar and don't know what stuff goes in those while making them as good as they taste.....but ever read the label.. there are so many things.. whose names are so difficult to even read....that it has started to take away simple joy of giving someone a gift that will be remembered and cherished....so am getting back to the basics in a slow and steady way....not that I don't hit the stores...for gifts.. but when I can and have time, I do like to add these cookie bags to the gifts too.....I am in the process of making the gifts....First to be done are these Cookie bags....next am packing few Banana Nut Cake rusks.. M are you listening.....I did Finally RUSK it......and it does taste superb.. thanks a ton for gifting that post!!!!

For the cookies.. run after;

http://indulge-ashscorner.blogspot.com/2010/12/xmas-cookies.html

and for the Rusk..Grab this;

http://acookatheart.blogspot.com/2010/12/so-i-decided-to-rusk-it.html

The pictures of more gift bags will follow when I am finished wrapping them....

Till then Happy Holidays and Goodwill and Peace from my heart!!!!

Love Ash.

Xmas Cookies

Christmas time is for Secret Santa's.. Baking and Much more.....when we were kids we never had any of this at home.. but being form a Church school.. Christmas was celebrated in my school every year.. with class parties followed by a week long vacation.....When I came to US, I was always amazed at the Christmas spirit... shopping in COLD... for days and weeks ahead....going home and baking the treats....then gift wrapping and the parties........it was surely a lot of work for one and all....we never had it at our home.. till.. we had KIDS..... then when my elder one turned 3-4...my Hubby became his secret Santa..and now we also follow this tradition.. of exchanging gifts, baking cookies for Santa and keeping sugar for his Tired Reindeer's.... and The TREE!!!!!!! how can we forget that...Although I am against cutting trees; so we GO GREEN by using the same tree every year.. till the time I can.. at least.....

Coming back to my version of Xmas Cookies

2 cups-All Purpose flour
1.5 sticks Butter chilled
1 cup Sugar
Juice of one Lime and Zest from that lime..
Milk As required
Coloured Sugar for Decoration


Preheat the oven to 350°F. Take flour in a bowl. Add chilled butter cut into small pieces and mix with fingertips till the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.  add the zest of the lime and the juice..Add powdered sugar and mix. Add milk if needed and knead lightly taking care not to overwork the dough. Chill the dough in plastic wrap for about 30 mins....Sprinkle some flour on the worktop and roll out the dough to one-fourth inch thickness. With Heart shaped cookie cutters cut out Cookies. top them with coloured sugar and bake for 10-12 minutes...Cool and enjoyy...

Happy Holidays.. HO Ho Ho!!!!
Love Ash.

Elmo Cake---

MY Son turned " 3" this Month.. so as all kids he wanted a Special cake for home bday.. school bday..so I made this cake for his School friends.. they were a bunch of delighted toddlers.. they literally pounced on me when I entered the class with ELMO...By Far the most popular Character in this age group.....I just cannot forget the feeling I get, when 20 pairs of eyes shine with amusement and smiles that go form ear to ear....They all now want me to bake this Cake for their bdays... as well!!!!!!

Hope you bake this for your little ones!!!!

I baked my fav Choc Date Cake without nuts-- as I feel it is by far the healthiest cake I have ever baked before....

http://indulge-ashscorner.blogspot.com/2010/09/date-with-choc-walnut-cake.html

and frosted this cake with regular whipped cream frosting.....

Till I bake again,

Love Ash.

This is on my mind....

I am participating in Rhonda Jeans of Down-to-earth blog fame" This is on my mind Friday Feature".. I made this cake last Sat for my sons 3rd bday.. but it was so cute.. that I have been asked to make It again this weekend....so this is what is on my mind now......
http://indulge-ashscorner.blogspot.com/2010/12/carousel-cake.html

Thanks for visiting and  do leave  a comment.....

Love
Ash.

Carousel cake

My Younger Son Turned '3" on Saturday!! Yippeee.. the age where he becomes Independent and I get some time on my hands.....or so I Wish!!!!!!!!!

For his B'Day, he wanted  a Carousel Cake like the real thing in the MALL...with some convincing, I bargained him into replacing the horses for  the Cars and Air Planes......well I did try baking the horses and the whales...but the cookie dough was runny and it did enlarge the horses into giant size....so it went into my kids tummies and not on the cake....

I simplified my job with the rolled fondant and cut into the shape of cars and planes.. and placed them on the cake....and did the two tier cake with the lower tier as the base and the upper tier decorated as the circus tent with a clown face.. the cake was a sure hit with my kids...who hugged me and made my day!!!!!!

Till I Bake Again,

Love Ash,.

Dry Fruit Baked Karanji

I have been following Sanjeev Kapoor the master chef of India.. and his recs are very trusting. Hardly ever they Flop and see the GB...so I trust his word and do try his rec.s with some alteration to suit what I have on hand. Similarly I came across Date and Anjeer(Figs) Baked karanji, so I tried my hand at these, next try with be with some Gulkand.

You will need;

for outer layer 

1 cup--Refined flour (maida)

2 tbspn-- Semolina (rawa/suji)

2 tbspn-- Ghee-Smoking hot

1/4th cup--Milk 

Either the above or store bought Pastry sheets..(I used the pastry sheets)

Stuffing
3/4 cup--Dates, chopped , seedless ,
3/4 cupf--Dried figs, chopped ,
15 - 20--Cashewnuts, crushed ,
15 - 20--Pistachios,
1 tspn-- crushed Green cardamom powder
1 tspn--Dry coconut Half cup, roasted ,
2 tblspn--Milk
Sugar as per need

--Take refined flour in a bowl. Add semolina, ghee and milk and knead into a semi soft dough. Divide into equal portions and shape them into pedas. Keep them covered with a damp cloth. Preheat oven to 350°F. To make the stuffing take dates and figs in a bowl. Add crushed cashewnuts, pistachios, green cardamom powder, roasted coconut and mix. Mash lightly with fingers and add a little milk. Roll out a dough peda. Place it in the karanji mould. Put a small portion of the prepared filling in the hollow. Apply a little water on edges, close the mould and press firmly. Remove the excess dough and use again. Similarly make the remaining karanjis. These can be made without the mould too. Place the karanjis on a greased baking tray and bake at 350°C for twenty to twenty five minutes. Cool, store in an airtight container.

 Please note that I had copied this rec from Sanjeev Kapoor' Website and this is his rec.. I am sharing it as I liked it as it is really easy and FAST .. and it can be done with no sugar if you like.

I am sending this rec to Anu's healthy Kitchen Diwali event.

Love Ash.

Diwali 2010

A very warm and happy diwali to all my friends who have been very kind with their words and take time out of their busy lives to read and most importantly to comment on my posts. I am sharing with you all some of the things I did this Diwali. The mehndi took me to  a very different phase of my life when I was  a little girl and having someone draw lovely henna on my tiny palms was the dream come true!!!!!

 Hoping all your dreams and wises come true in this festive season. Happy holidays!!!!!

Love Ash.

Bhagar Amti

Bhagar And Danyachi amti( peanut powder Soup) is a traditional yet very delicious and fast meal which was had as a Fast food...Fast=upas or Fasting fast....and not Fast Food=Junk Food....well most of our fasting foods are Junk. so my home calls it feasting foods...all empty cals and no nutrition as such...But this can be done in less than 30 mins. We did not Have RR( Rachael Ray's) in our kitchen back when we were little, yet many meals in our everyday cooking sum up top less than 30 mins meals.....this is one such meal....

Bhagar is a special Rice.. called as Vrat ke chawal/ or SAMO

1 cup Samo rice Washed and drained

1 tsp Cumin seeds

1 Green chili--Medium hot

Salt and sugar to taste

Oil-arnd 1tbspn

and water 2 cups boiling hot

Heat Oil in a wok, when hot add the chili and the cumin, once that splutters, add the drained rice and roast well, then add the boiling water and salt and sugar. Cover and let cook on slow heat for 10-15 mins or till rice gets fluffy.. Your Bhagar is done. Remove from stove and keep covered.

Peanut Soup or Danyachi Amti;

1 cup roasted Peanut powder or 2 tbspns peanut butter

1 tbspn Tamarind juice

1 stone jaggery to adjust the tartness of tamarind

1 tspn cumin seeds

1tspn red chili powder

Salt and Sugar to taste

Water to make the soup.

1tbspn Oil

In a pan take the water and mix the peanut butter or the powder, add the tamarind juice, jaggery, sugar salt and red chili powder. Let the soup boil over medium heat and mix well. In a smaller pan heat the oil, add the cumin seeds and once it splutters, add this to the soup pan...

once everything boils well and the mix looks cooked...its ready. Garnish with cilantro and Njoii with Bhagar.

You can even Njoii this with Sabudana Khichadi with some aloo chivda!!!!!! Bingo You have made yourself Farali Misal

Sabudana Khichadi is at

http://indulge-ashscorner.blogspot.com/2009/08/sabudanyachi-khichadi.html

Happy Fasting or Feasting!!!!!

Love Ash.

Apple Pie

The Fall Weather is one of the best seasons, we experience here in US.... not too hot and not too cold is just right....The leavers start turning colour and believe it or not, even the critic within us, says that Fall is the time to fall in love again.. with food, colour, nature.....orange yellow and reds are the colours to fall back on....will share some pics of the fall here in NJ..it has never been so colour full..ever....



Fall season also brings seasonal activities like Apple picking, festivals, Halloween and the mood for holidays sets in....We went applepicking and picked a little too many apples....So the only way to finish these off was to bake a pie...I followed the usual Rec on the back of the Ready made pie crusts..which I had got for something else.. but then used it for the pie.

The filing was;

 5-6 Apples....Jonathan or Red delicious Apples

half cup brown sugar, half cup regular sugar,

2tbspns Lime Juice,

2Tspns Cinnamon powder

2tbspns All purpose flour.

Mix the above in a pan and keep aside for about 30 mins.. in a pie dish.. Keep one sheet of the pie crust.. and let it stick to the dish..then mix the apple mixture and pour it on the crust.. cover with The second layer of the pie crust. Snip the upper layer to make small outlet for steam to pass while baking. Preheat oven @ 450 degrees and then reduce to 350degrees and bake for about 25-30 mins.
Njoii the pie with Whipped Cream or with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream!!!!! Either ways it Tastes Heavenly!

Till I bake again!!!!
Love Ash.

Making Roses from Buttercream Icing

I Learnt following this video;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRv5sQnr43k&feature=related

Hope you enjoii making these roses.

Love Ash.

My First Ever Cake Classes

YES!!!!!!! I was finally able to start my very own cake decorating classes. More of teaching it was a learning experience for me. But I am happy to tell you that I was able to cover all of what I set out to show them form torting levelling the cakes to decoarting and taking home  a creative piece of art!!!!

Things I covered in this class;


Preparing the cake.. torting, leveling and filing
icing the cake
decorating
Star tip use making shells, rosettes, and rope border
Leaf tip-- making leaves
Writing tip- Making lace, Vines and wirting
Rose tip and Flower Nail--
Showed them how to make roses and how to place them on the cake.

 The Picture is clear proof of what awesome Girls I had to share my journey with!!!! They had never ever worked with Icing or even close to any cake decorating and this was their effort. Please comment on their work... It's comments like these that keep us encouraging to do what we set out to and keep doing it!

Love Ash!!!

Must follow in evryday life!!!!!

The only people you need in your life are the one's that need you in theirs.

Don't make someone a priority if they only make you an option !

Shevai Kheer

This is a Big Week as Diwali is rite around the corner, so gearing up for Diwali.. preparations are on the way for the big festival at my home... My Hubby put up the lights and the lantern yesterday.. and I started with the usual Snacks.. no celebration is complete without food.. Diwali is festival of lights.. and some special snacks.. like Shev, Chakli, ladoo, Mithai, Chivda and the list is endless.....

I will start the special week by something sweet....Shevai Kheer or Sevai Kheer.You will need

One cup Shevai. Roasted in ghee

2 cups Milk-2%

2 cups Evaporated Milk

2 Tbspn Condensed Milk

3/4th cup Sugar

Cashews Roasted in ghee-1 Tbspn-Optional

Saffron Strands and One tspns Elaichi Powder

Roast the shevai and nuts in Ghee till light brown...and keep aside...Take the milk and evaporated milk in a pot and boil it with sugar and condensed milk.. when it come to  a small boil add the nuts and the roasted shevai to it and let cook for abt 10 mins ion medium heat. keep stirring as it will not stick to the bottom of the pan..when it all looks cooked and reduced. turn off the heat, Add the saffron and the elaichi powder.... Enjoii with hot pooris or phulkas... or enjoii Chilled on its own.....either ways.. it takes you in  a happy place.......

Wishing everyone a Happy Diwali and  a Very Prosperous New Year!!!

Love Ash.

PS. : These Lights are also home made from the Magic Model Clay!!!!!!!!!

Purse Cake

Recently, we got a new  DSLR Camera, so wanted to try the camera and my niece's b'day was also coming up....so what better excuse to bake a cake. I made  a Whole Wheat Choc Date cake, The rec., can be found for that here;

http://indulge-ashscorner.blogspot.com/2010/09/date-with-choc-walnut-cake.html

But instead of keeping it plain, I iced it in whipped cream and did the simple decoration with candy and fruit roll up.

Icing;

The link to the whipped cream icing is;

http://indulge-ashscorner.blogspot.com/2009/06/whipped-cream-icing-cake.html

My 8 yr old niece loved this cute purse as much as she liked the gift. And that is all worth the efforts.

Till I bake again,
Love Ash.

Ukdiche Modak - Sweet coconut and jaggery Dumplings



Ukdiche Modak is a treat which is loved even by Ganpati bappa...this is a Traditional dish made from rice flour- Ganpati celebrations at my home are elaborate.. My Mom does not have the bappa at my home but my aunt has it at her home...where we all get together for the big day..we get up as early as we can....few of us rush to the market to get fresh flowers and modak pedha's to distribute as prasad....then come the decorations for the Aras...mandir for the bappa...Moms get busy with the elaborate lunch and Naivedya.. and best of All," Star of the day"--

Traditionally we offer either 11  or 21 modaks to Ganpati Bappa..

I try to live upto my memories and wish that My kids also have such memories associated with festivals and special occasions...After all home is where your heart is.. and in your heart lies so many memories that you can create a home even in a dessert....

Coming back to the rec.,;

Ukad-- Wash (Ambe Mohar) rice..dry and then grind into powder and sieve the powder...the Ukad flour is ready.. (Lazy people like me use rice flour )

In a pot boil 3 cups water.. when it comes to  a rapid boil, reduce the heat to low-medium,  add salt, One tsp ghee and 3 cups of Ukad flour..Stir well to remove any lumps.. and cover with a lid. remove from heat and let sit for 15-20 mins....once cooled..knead the Ukad into a soft dough using warm water and oil as needed.

Filing;

2 cups Grated cocnut, (Use frozen)

1 .5 cups Jaggery-Mashed

1Tsp Elaichi

1 Tbspn Nuts and raising-Optional.

 

 take 2 cups Fresh/Frozen coconut and one and half cupcup Jaggery, sugar.. and cook over medium heat till the coconut gets cooked and the jaggery gets mixed well.add elaichi powder and nuts and raisins.. and let cool

Get the steaming vessel ready. I use the regular Idli cooker with a Chinese steaming plate...or you can use any vegetable steamer....

Make small balls out of the cooked Ukad... grease your palms with oil and water and roll a small flat round of abt 2-3inches.. hold this flat round ball nestled in your palm.. add the filing.. and close the ball into  a dome shaped dumpling pinching the ends together..use oil as needed....the modak is ready for steaming...

Steam for abt 10-12 min and serve hot with good amount of Ghee....

For all my Marathi Speaking readers, here is the video to make ukdiche modak

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXInYGZUfHI

Ganpati Bappa Morya.. Pudchya varshi Lavkar Yaa!!!!!

 Sending this to Sensible Vegetarians Cook Eat Delicious Event

Love Ash.

Love Ash.

Date with Choc Walnut Cake-- Eggless

The name says it all...eversince I tried the date cake from Shilpa's blog.. I am Hooked.. and so is everyone at home.. They want the same cake in a different version...So I Crooked the rec a bit here and bit there and added what I felt like on eating that day, and the outcome was this cake... My elder son runs away form the word Health food as he thinks Healthy food is minus all good stuff....so he begs me to let him have JUNK Food like all other COOL Moms do....so this is MY WAY of letting him have his portion of JUNK food in my own healthy way.. with the mercury dropping and the winter setting in, my home will be seeing this cake  a whole lot of times than ever before..as Dates, Walnuts and Fat go well with winter comfort foods....the rec is as;

You will need

18 dates soaked in 3/4th cup Warm milk

Sugar- 1 Cup

Oil- 1/3rd Cup

Vanilla-1tsp

Cinnamon Spice-1 Tsp

Walnuts- 1Tbspn

Whole Wheat Flour-3/4th Cup and 1/4th Cup Maida.. or you can use 1 Cup Maida + 2tbspn unsweetened Cocoa powder.. mix well and keep aside

Bkg Soda-1Tsp..(I used ENO-Fruit Salt)

__ Make  a paste of sugar and the soaked Dates in a grinder....to this paste add the oil, vanilla, Cinnamon powder and mix well... then add the flour  one big spoon at a time.. keep whisking ti;; all the flour and the wet mix gets incorporated....then add nuts and lastly ENO...

In a well greased pan, pour the mix and bake in a pre-heated oven @ 375.. for about 35-40 mins or till the knife comes out clean...

This cake tastes yumm if you can wait for a day or so after baking....have it  a day after.. and I guarantee that you will  get aaddicted to this cake..

Till I bake again;

Love Ash.

Collection-- HOW to Videos- Basics of Cake decorating

As Promised I am back with my collection of " How To decorate a cake from the first step" video's.. These You Tube uploads helped me in my initial days of Cake decorating.. they are very helpful if you follow them without any cuts....once you have mastered the basics...you can develop your own style and way of decorating...



How To prepare the bag?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YjqDBi-n8g&feature=player_embedded

How to choose the right icing?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbsSrRGLNis&feature=related

How to tort, fill and ice the cake?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNix3qZ3qnk&feature=related

How to ice the cake?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G47XxjZfnLc&feature=related


Hopefully, I am able to encourage you all to take up a hobby and a form of art which is rewarding in more ways than one.

With loads of Love,
Ash.

Orange Lemon Cake

MY search for eggless cake is on....till I find a 100% fool proof rec....This Rec was good and bad in many ways.. the rec was fairly simple.. it passed the effort test, taste test but the look test was not at all satisfactory.. the cake sank after i removed it from the oven and was dry and not moist as you would expect a cake to be...anyways. will post this rec here.. but am still searching for  a100% foolproof eggless cake rec which has no CONDENSED MILK or SODA and which can NEVER EVER go wrong...

You will need--

For the cake

1 can of Evaporated milk

3/4th cup sugar

1 stick butter

2 and 1/4th cup All purpose flour

1tspn ENO Fruit Salt

1 cup Lemonade

1Tbspn Orange zest

 For the filling;

2 tbspn Pineapple Jam

 Juice from 1 Orange

Icing

The link to the whipped cream icing is;

http://indulge-ashscorner.blogspot.com/2009/06/whipped-cream-icing-cake.html

Cream butter and sugar and add milk and beat for 3 min on medium.. Sieve the flour with eno and fold into the milk mixture.. Add the lemonade and orange zest and bake in a greased pan at 350 degrees for 40  mins.

once cooled assemble the cake.. I baked 2 small oval cakes.. i placed one cake on the dish. then poured half of the Orange juice over it.. then covered the top of the cake with the pineapple jam.. Covered this with the other cake.. and frosted the entire cake with whipped cream icing....for the decoration I used buttercream icing as I had to travel with the cake for my Friend's Birthday....She was very Happy with my efforts and the lemon and orange did give this cake a unique taste....but the hit pair for this cake would be chocolate syrup or ganache too...my next attempt at this would be with ganache for another friends Birthday soonnnnnnn

Till I bake again;
Love Ash.

Nankhatayi

Nankhatayi means 6 ingredient fix.. I had read some time back that Nankhatyi was  a Persian Delicacy and not an Indian origin...when Perisans settled in Surat, Gujarat of India, they made these biscuits local and a part of Indian food ever since.

Indian homes seldom have ovens at home.. I still remember there was this bakery called Persian Bakery where my mom lives.. it is still there and has catered the same items to it's loyal customer over more than 40 yrs now....they would bake the cookies and cakes at nominal charges.. I was always in awe of other moms ( and even a little jealous of their kids) who would make and prep the cookies at home and carry it to this bakery and get home boxes of goodies..those were such times.. now everything has changed,, globalization and modern means have reached even remote places and Indian food has gone changes and even adopted grilling and baking as means for cooking food...

Coming back to my version of Nankhatyi...i.e 6 item fix biscuits is

Shortening-1/2 cup

Sugar- 2/3rd cup

Whole Wheat Flour- 2/3rd cup

Elaichi or Cardamom Powder--1 Tspn

Milk-2 Tbspn

Sooji-1/2 cup

Eno or Baking powder- 1 Tspn

Nuts/ Saffron strands--Optional

Preheat oven to 375 Degrees.. then cream shortening and sugar till it is light and fluffy.. add milk and cream with Hand again..( I like the effect the shortening leaves after I wash my hands).....Add ENO or bkg powder to the flour and sooji mix.. then add the flour to the creamed mix.. add elaichi and knead into soft dough... You can add saffron strands or nuts or both and roll about 18-20 small balls...of about one tsbspn dough each.. Line the baking tray with parchment paper and bake for 12-14 mins till they turn slightly brown.

cool and store in a airtight container and enjoy anytime...

Till I bake again,

Love Ash.

Pasta Soup

Lately, I have become a big fan of one pot meals. NO extra time spend in cooking and cleaning... this dish fits my bill as you build it up as you chop.. and you can use all the leftover veggies you have on hand...once it goes in the pot evrything tastes divine...My son goes for the summer camp in his daycare center and they have a cooking class where kids are introduced to cooking and feeding themselves..like making  a simple PB & J sandwich or making omelet.. this is a keepsake rec... he got from the camp and he loves it..and I love it 2.. as he eats something  which has squash and pumpkin....hushhhhhhhh!!!!!! no one tell him plzzzzzzzz...

I took a big pot and heated some Olive oil.. to this added one clove garlic, one onion finely chopped, one celery stick finely chopped and one diced carrot .. saute it for 2 mins till onions changes colour.. then add one cup squash, one cup pumpkin, one cup broccolili, one can black beans, one can of tomato puree, 2 cups veggie stock, 2 cups water, one bay leaf, one teaspoon grill seasoning and one tspn dry basil...and one cup of whole grain pasta.. I had rottini and penne on hand so used both.. add salt and pepper and boil for some time.. then simmer on low till all veggies/pasta get cooked.

Am waiting for some snowy and rainy days again to make this pastasoup.. IF you have slow cooker, try this.. will surely be  a pleasure to return home to....Ultimate comfort food calling!!!!!

Love Ash.

Very true indeed!!!

The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice
and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master

calls a butterfly.

Vangyache kaap/Eggplant Crips..

Eggplant crispies or Vangyache kaap is a comfort food for ppl like me...My mom was typical Mumbai working woman and had very little time to cook a full course meal evryday. yet she cooked fresh food twice every day.. She did not have the comfort of driving her own car to work.. she travelled by the trains and used all modes of public transport but never ever complainedd of the stress and fatigue, just remembering her in those days brings me.. She rolled out hot phulkas for us each night even at 9 pm...boy do I admire her for that..
In days of not so favourite vegetable on dinner table and grumpy faces and whining kids, she made these kaap... They along with varan(dal) and bhat(rice) are a feast on its own...Simple yet tasty...they give you the joy of eating junk hiding in good old veggie....Eggplant is very friendly as it adopts the taste of what you give it to...U take Japanese Eggplants which are slim and long...cut them into discs and coat with salt,sugar, red chili powder, cumin and coriander powder and keep aside....Heat oil in a fry pan...on a dish take some rice flour and rava(Sooji) mixture.. mix the eggplant crisps with all the coatings .. it will give out water and get wet....then coat the crisps with the flour and sooji mix and shallow fry it.. enjoy it hot on a rainy/snowy day....

Love Ash.

Home Made Whole Wheat Bread

I have been following Rhonda Of Down to Earth blog.. She is an amazing person, although I don't know her, I got attracted to her Simple life and easy living.. in her blog she describes her life working on the farm, doing voluntary work and house work with equal passion...I cannot do as much as hers, but to get started with Simple living, I did try baking a bread at home...I have never ever baked  a bread at home.. so the idea did not go well with my hubby, who thought if you can get a loaf in the supermarketet, whats the point in putting in so much efforts...But ever sincee I read her Bread rec, I had to had try it. and believe it or not the whole exercise took me less than 10 mins hard work....I do not have bread maker at home so I use Gods Little helpers....My Hands to knead the dough...Folowed her rec to the "T" and Bingo.. I got it.. My family just hogged on the bread and Warm bread out of the oven with dollop's of Butter.. I was in heaven!!!!!!!!!!!

The Rec is at;

http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/2009/02/baking-bread.html

Only changes I did were, I did not have Gluten so skipped that and also did not have Milk Powder so skipped that too....Basically I used only three Things, 2.5 cups Whole wheat Flour, 0.5 cup All purpose flour and 2Tbspn Yeast activated in warm water with sugar and salt...

So do give it a try.. I used Cumin seeds on the top of the loaf just to try it.. next time will use oats or sesame seeds depending on how I shape the bread....So long till I bake again!!!!!

Love Ash.

Part 3 Tiered Cake

Part 3 of the Wilton cake classes brought us to working with Fondant. The Fondant is basically sugar and water cooked till it forms a dough which can be used to cover the cake or make lovely roses.

More About Fondant;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fondant

I basically don't like the taste of the Fondant, but it is amazing if you want to add craft on the cakes.. like make baby bottles for a baby shower cake or any such things...My instructor said that there are only two ways about Fondant covered cakes... either it looks good or tastes good.. nothing much than that.. so coming back to the coursework... Part 3 advanced our skills in working with Royal icicng and making more flowers.. Lilies are all that I could really master in them .. so as you can see my Cake looks like  a flower shop gone wild....I had to take 2 cakes either frosted with Butter cream icing or covered with Fondant.. I had already promised my kids that they could take this cake for Teachers appreciation week in school, I stuck to what his teachers liked.. So Buttercream was way to go........I had Fondant roses made in the class, so used those as well.. My instructor was a strict teacher when it came to learning.. but she allowed us all the freedom to work on our cakes...so here was my  cake for Part 3 of the Wilton classes.. am so sad that I could not take the Fondant and Gum Paste class.. but nevertheless there will be a time and date when I can make it to that class as well.,....so long farewell...am I to say Goodbye... U bet.. I will never say Good bye.........

Run behind your dreams and try to fulfill your passions for life is so short... best wishes and love to u all!!!!!!

Date Cake

This is very nice and keepsake rec for a very simple cake. I was searching for some eggless cake rec. when Google search took me to this rec on aayi's Blog...I did try this with the Baking Powder version, but guess it did not work for me.. so I substituted it with ENO-Fruit Salt.. which can be found in any Indian Grocery store...It's basic use to relive from Gas Trouble but ppl like me use it for Baking too...I used to use ENO for Dhokhla, (will update the rec in the coming months)...but that gave me an idea.. so now its  a sure hit...I did not wnat to use a lott of frosting and kill the taste of this cake.. The dates give it a nice velvet taste which is not very strong to stand on its own...so I used the simple fork and spoon and dusting powdered sugar technique...The cake is  asure hit in evry home and sweet memories for you and your family...

The rec is at;

http://www.aayisrecipes.com/2008/02/21/spreading-cake-fever/

With dates of Love

Ash.

Spongebob Cake

I am on bakethon.. like a marathon..........July is Bday month.. so this is yet anr cake I baked for my dear friend's Son who turned 6 yrs... He is SB buff...he absolutely loves SB and he liked my efforts...He is slightly adventourous, little naughty and little funny.. when he was a samll boy he used to roll his eyeballs like Thomas engine.. OMG!!!!!! He was so good.. you had to see it to believe me........Lots of love and best wishes to you on your special day, he is surely going to grow up into a handsome boy!!!!!!

Love Ash.

Elmo Cupcakes

My friends Son Turned 3 this July. As all kids his age he is fascinated with Elmo and SS gang.. but Elmo is his hot hot fav...his underpant has Elmo, his Tshirt has Elmo and enything evrything Elmo is a huge hit with him.........so i decided to bake him these supercute Elmo cupcakes. BUt wnated to try a different version of the cake as Most of us are Vegeterians, so my search to an tried and tested rec. came to an halt at Aayi's rec blogspot.. am in awe of the blogger...so this is her rec.. only change I made was used Eno--Fruit Salt instead of the baking pwdr and the results were awesome... for the cake rec.;

http://www.aayisrecipes.com/2008/10/03/pineapple-cakeeggless/

am planning on making cookie monsters also along with these Elmo's for my sons 3 rd bday in school....wht say... please pour in your suiggestions and do try these out.. they are super cool for any party any age kids........

Superhero Bday cake

This is a Cake which I baked for a Friends Daughters superhero party. My friend gave me the picture and I had to copy the same cake. Initialy I thought it to be a piece of cake, but my inepxerience and  take into acocunt the heat and humidity on a hot July day, the cake looked a bit messy, but I was super delighted with the superhero cake...it had my Boys envying the cake more than any thing I baked so far....I baked 2 cakes of 10 inch and 6 inch each, and hand carved the 6inch cake to look like a Superman logo. The logo and the batman logos are all done free hand in gel icing. The board I covered with red icing and did the web in colored sugar to resemble  a knitted web.. overall the cake took a lot of time and efforts and I was deeply satisfied with the job.

Love Ash.

Basket Weave technique

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE4hBly_F7w&feature=related

 Basket weave technique wa sused on the finale cake for Course 2 of the wilton cake decorating class....

Enjoyy
Ash.

Part 2-Wilton cake decorating experience

Part 2 of the wilton course is very exciting; based on what you learn in part 1, this session takes you ahead. In part 1 you get enough practices of handling buttercream icing, course2 takes a step ahead. Royal icing as the name says is a ROYAL PAIN.. but the effects are breath taking....basically the rec is same like buttercream but WITHOUT SHORTENING OR FAT.. any tiny weeny drop of fat will call for the disaster...My teacher made us buy the whole set of icing tips, containers and even asked us to buy brand new vessels to prepare the icing, as any moisture in the air could call for the GB( Garbage Bowl) treatment for the icing.

 Royal Pain icing like my teacher calls it rec is at;

http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Royal-Icing

 For the overall look of the Course 2 the video is uploaded by someone at Youtube;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAZiaQeWLqg&feature=related

Hope you all enjoy my cake tutorials as much as I enjoyed sharing them with you. Once again, MY video shooting is as bad as a Roller coaster ride, so please forgive me for using someone else's video...but again Sharing is learning....

Love

Ash.

Youtube Online video about Icing Borders

Since long my friends have been aksing me about uploading the video's for a crash course on cake decorating. Since, I am no good with the video camera and my hands shake like a fish without water, I am takling help from the mecca of online video sharing.. Youtube...

Hope this helps you get a fair idea about icing borders...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfbJI7QdJ0o&NR=1

Love Ash.

Vegetable Cutlet

THis is a very simple veggie cutlet. the cutlets can be eaten on it's own with a nice cup of tea or coffee, with either sweet tamarind chutney or green chutney. When we were growing up, it was a fixed item on any birthday or a party menu, and these cutlets being so versatile found it's shape in bite size pieces hooked on toothpicks or in a pattie form for any sandwich or a burger.

You will need;

3 Boiled Potatoes, Peeled and mashed and kept aside

1 Cup mixture of boiled peas, boiled corn, boiled beetroot, cauliflower and  capsicum, all chopped into really small pieces

1 tbspn Ginger and Garlic paste

1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp chat masala

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp corriander powder

Salt to taste,

1tsp Lemon juice or if you like add 1 tsp Amchur or dry mango powder 

2 tbspn fine Sooji or bread crumbs to coat the cutlets before frying

Oil for Shallow frying in a pan

Take the mashed potatoes in a wide bowl, add 1 Cup mixture of boiled peas, boiled corn, boiled beetroot, cauliflower and capsicum, all chopped into really small pieces, mix well. To this mix add the  ginger garlic paste, cumin powder some corroiander powder, chat masala, red chilli powder, salt and lemon juice (or dry amchur powder if you like) and made small cutlets or tikki's.. and coated each with fine sooji  or bread crumbs and shallow fry in oil.

Njoii on a rainy/snowy day  with some green chutney. Don't forget to invite a few of your close friends.

Love Ash.

PS. I am sending these cutlets to A Girls Diary event; Whats on your kebab platter?

Love Ash

** The round up for the event is announced.

Part 1

As promised I am back with my Wilton Cake class tips and recommendations as well as my experience.
This was my frist time that I worked with the Buttercream icing. It is very friendly and easy to work with, but did not score high on the taste mark for us.. it is way too sweet for my taste buds. BUT for first time decorators it is very forgiving and easy to handle and results are mind blowing. My instructor wa spretty strict and did not like us making any changes to her script...so any creativity test had to be putt off til Part 2 finale cake....The first cake she taught was a simple rainbow cake. with the use of the waves and star nozzle.

The second cake we made had us making the roses. For the roses you need Stif consistency icing. The roses dont hold well if the icing goofs up....to make the icing stiff you nee dto add more confetcioners sugar and to make it loose add couple of TEASPOONS of water. you willl need to try the recipe once to get the hold of things.

The basic Buttercream icing rec is as follows.

http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Buttercream-Icing