Rasmalai

Hello Sweeties!!! Yesterday I made herbed paneer, but the joy of being able to make paneer at home is addictive. So today I again made some chenna/paneer, but made it even better by making rasmalai. Rasmalai is melt n the mouth paneer balls dipped in a sweet cream/milk pudding.

You will need;

to make Paneer for Rasgullah 

1 ltrs Full Fat/Whole Milk

3 tbspn White Distilled vinegar

Cloth to strain and tie the milk

Boil 1 ltr milk. When it comes to a slow boil, reduce heat and start adding the vinegar tbspn by tbspn. I needed 3 tbsps to get the milk to tear and the whey to separate.When the whey and the milk solids separate, drain the solids in a cotton cloth and save the whey. 

This whey can be used for other recipes. I will post few as and how I use it.  Wash the milk solids to remove the sourness from the vinegar, squeeze the cloth with the milk solids and remove as much water out as possible. Tie it around the cotton cloth and keep weight over it to form a cheese ball. Once set for 2-3 hrs the paneer is ready to be used.

Making Rasgullah

You will need;

Paneer from 1 ltr Milk-As Above

5 cups water

1 cup sugar

1 tspn kewra Water-Optional

Take the paneer and crumble it and knead it. The paneer should be kneaded till there are no wrinkles in it and it is so soft that the balls are markfree. I kneaded the paneer for 3-5 mins. I got around 9 medium  balls.

In a wide mouth pan take 5 cups water and add 1 cup sugar to make syrup. When the syrup comes to a rapid boil, start adding the rolled paneer balls over the boil, take care that the pan is big enough and they have enough room to swim and not break. The balls will grow bigger a sand how they cook. Cover and let cook on low heat for 8-10 minutes. The ras gullahs are ready. Add in a tspn of kewra water to the syrup for essence.

Making Rabdi

3/4 ltr Whole Milk

1 cup Sugar

2tbspn rice flour

1 tspn Cardamom powder

Nuts Powdered, or Everest Milk masala.-Optional

In a pan take 1/2 ltr milk and boil it on slow heat. In anr bowl take the 1/4 ltr milk, add in the rice flour and the sugar and stir well, till the rice flour and the milk mixture are lumpfree. Add this to the 1/2 ltr milk and mix well. 

Stir continuously, burnt milk is a disaster to clean and make the rabdi smell bad. The rice flour is  a cheat to make the rabdi, but in this fast paced life, little cheat is doable. The Milk will thicken in about 10-12 mins. Switch off the flame and stir for another 5 mins. 

The Rabdi is ready. I flavored it with kewra water to tie the Rasgullah and the rabdi together.

Assembling

In a serving dish, take rasgullah; squeeze out as much sugar syrup out as possible, Pour the rabdi till the rasgullah are well coated. Chill for 2-3 hrs. The colder they get better they taste. Or Alternatively add in the rasgullahs to the rabdi and chill the entire bowl.

Peach Cobbler-Whole wheat Crumble

Hello Sweeties!!!!! I bring to you today a quick dessert. Peach Cobbler is so simple to make and it goes so fast, that I keep wondering why have I not made it yet!!!

The kids also love it, with ice cream or without it, the warm crispy cobbler with hints of sugar and freshness of the peaches will surely make your loved ones coming for more.

You will need;
1 14 oz can of peaches- washed and drained from the canned liquid
1 tbspn sugar 

For the crumble
1 cup wheat flour
3 tbspn melted butter
1 tspn baking powder
1 egg beaten with some milk
1 tbspn sugar for the sweetness- Optional but recommended

In a buttered baking dish, arrange the peach slices, sprinkle sugar and keep aside. In a bowl, take the flour, add sugar and the baking powder, stir well and keep aside. In a cup beat the egg and milk till it is well mixed. 

Mix the egg mixture and the dry flour mixture, and stir well to form a lumpy mixture. The mixture should be little gooey. Drop lumps of the flour  dough on the sliced peaches till all the peaches are well coated. Pour the melted butter over the dough.

In a 400 degree F preheated oven, bake the cobbler for 25-30 mins till the crumble is cooked. Enjoy the cobbler warm as is or with ice cream. Either ways its too good.

Eggless Mawa Cake

 Hello Sweeties!!!  I had made mawa/Dry Milk Khoya a few days back, Since then I am hooked on to making Indian sweets and Mithais at home.

I make date cake often using Aayis Recipes Recipe. This time I tried using my homemade mawa and it worked great. Thanks Shilpa for this great recipe. I have added many different fruits and ingredients and made this eggless cake. I keep the liquid and dry ratios constant and change the wet ingredients and it has worked every single time. So Thanks again.

You will need;

1 Cup Mawa/Khoya mixed in  3/4 cup  almond milk

1 Cup Sugar

1/2  Cup Oil

1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour

1 Tspn Cardamom Powder

1 tspn ENO-(Fruit Salt)

 

In a bowl , mix the khoya mixed in almond milk, sugar, cardamom powder and oil, and whisk well till sugar melts.Then add the flour  one big spoon at a time.. keep whisking it till all the flour and the wet mix gets incorporated, and lastly ENO...

In a well greased pan, pour the mix and bake in a pre-heated oven @ 350.. for about 35-40 mins or till the knife comes out clean.

Date Choc Almond Fudge/Modak

Hello Sweeties!! Ganpati bappa has come and gone and I am still not able to get back to my routine. Although I dont bring the bappa home, I do make different kinds of prasad for my kids. 

This year was no different, I tried making this date chocolate modak. I am member of many food groups and I keep admiring the talent people have. Recently, I came across a badam barfi recipe from my friend Shilpa Bhide. She is my main source for this recipe, which I tweaked to suit my kids liking.

You will need;

1 Cup Almond Paste
*Soak 1Cup almond sin water overnight, peel and gring in a blender with some water/milk
1/3 cup Ghee
3/4 cup sugar
8-10 dates paste
1tbspn dark choc powder

Heat a pan on medium heat, melt ghee and add the almond paste dates and sugar and let it cook, stir continuously till it forms a ball. Take off the gas and cool and lastly add dark chocolate powder and knead into a soft dough. Shape modak in moulds. and enjoy.

Paan Ice-Cream!!! Absolute delight for pan and ice-cream lovers!!!!!

 Hello Sweeties!!! summer is here and its really heating up things. Life is busy now with small get-together's Impromptu Park picnics and Ice-cream cravings. After a huge success with mango ice cream, I tried  a paan ice-cream. We love Paan. Paan is a betel leaf preparation widely popular in India and usually chewed after a heavy meal or everyday.

Although its digestive, people get addicted to it adding tobacco and other things, but we like it safe, which is called Meetha Pan. It has no tobacco and betel nut. Meetha/Sweet paan is for kids so has no betel nuts/but has  loads of gulkand/rose petal jam and candy and sweetened coconut and some tutty-fruities.

You will need;

1.5 Cups heavy Whipping Cream

5 teaspoons Conf Sugar

1 tsp corn starch

2 ready made Paans cut into small pieces-- See Notes
5 Pan Bites-Candy in Indian Store--Optional
 

 ** The green paan/leaf in the below picture is store brought, usually you will find Paan makers in most Indian restaurants or vicinities. The right side shows a candy now seen in desi grocery stores called Pan bites

Take the cream, add corn starch and sugar and whip in the stand mixer till soft peaks form. The base is ready. Add the cut paan pieces and pan bite candy and run the whipping blade for another 2 minutes and mix well.
 

Remove the mixture in a frozen ice cream maker bowl. Cover the bowls with some cling film/plastic wrap and set in the freezer for 2-3 hours. 

The soft serve is ready after a couple of hours in freezer. If you want harder ice-cream, freeze overnight or minimum of 6-8 hours. 

Egg-less Mango Ice cream

Dear Sweeties!!! June is celebration time. Mangoes are found to be in season, so desserts and sweets with mangoes are  a staple around this time. Mango cream and mango cake is a favorite with Mr. Ash and kids. I overestimated the riping time and brought a overload of mangoes that happened to ripen at the same time. We love mangoes, but it were one too many for us to finish, so I put my ice cream maker bowls to good use and made some low sugar goodness.

You will need;

2 Cups heavy Whipping Cream

3/4th Cup Conf Sugar

1tsp corn starch

2 Mangoes cut into small pieces

 

Take the cream, add corn starch and sugar and whip in the stand mixer till soft peaks form. The base is ready. Add the mango pieces and run the whipping blade for another 2 minutes and mix well.

Remove the mixture in a frozen ice cream maker bowl. Cover the bowls with some cling film/plastic wrap and set in the freezer for 2-3 hours. 

The soft serve is ready after a couple of hours in freezer. If you want harder ice-cream, freeze overnight or minimum of 6-8 hours. Welcome the goodness of ice-cream with no eggs and no preservatives.

Atte ka halwa

Hello Sweeties!!! Today I bring to you kankecha sheera or atte ka halwa. I never liked it as a kid whenever I ate it, maybe the texture or the whole healthy eating bug had not caught me then. If I ever ate any halwa it had to be only sooji and nothing else.

That changed after coming here and see many people relish this healthy snack.

You will need;

1  cup of wheat flour,

1 cup sugar

3 cups water 

5 tbspns Ghee-Clarified butter

1 tsp Elaichi or Cardamom Powder

1 tbspn Cashew nuts powdered -Optional

1tbspn Raisins Optional

In a pan/wok, heat the ghee over medium or low flame and then add the wheat flour, roast the mixture stirring continuously, till the flour changes colour and the nutty aroma fills the house. 

 

Simultaneously boil the sugar+water mixture and once boiled, add the mixture  to the roasted flour and continue stirring...the atta/flour mixture will be slightly wet, cover for 5 minutes, taking care that the halwa is not getting burnt, if needed reduce the heat  to low, cover and cook for 5-7 minutes. 

 

Then add the saffron, elaichi and the raisins( I did not add anything). Serve hot.

Pineapple Malpua with Instant Rabri

Hello Sweeties!!! Indian sweets like malpua and rabri are known to take forever to make. It is not everyone's cups of tea  and only expert chefs take pride in making such desserts. 

I am no expert and no chef at that, but my search for good food and never scared to try attitude makes me attempt such desserts. I am a part of so many food groups, a silent reader at most, that they help me when I crave for such foods.

I don't remember where I had seen the instant rabri recipe, but it is a hit with my kids who dislike the malai or cream or milk solids in their mouth. I have some issue with the texture too, so this is good for people like me.

Traditionally malpua is made from flour, fried in clarified butter soaked in sugar syrup, this process not only is time consuming but also not figure friendly. I tweaked the malpuas to make them suit to my needs and weight. I made pineapple pancakes instead and they tasted similar. Diet food is at times compromised; but again if you name it different there is no comparison with the original. 

Different name different avatar and everyone is happy. Innovation is another name for disguise in Ashland.

To make the Pineapple Malpua's;
You will need;
6 discs of ripe pineapple
1/2 cup glutten free baking flour
2 tbspn sooji
1 tbspn sugar
3 cloves powdered
2 Elaichi/green cardamom powdered
Milk to make batter.
Ghee or clarified butter for shallow frying.

In a bowl, take the flour, sugar, clove and cardamom powder, mix well, add milk to make the batter. Dip the pineapple discs and shallow fry using ghee in a cast iron pan. Once cooked cool and keep aside.

To make the Rabri;
You will need; 
1 cup Ricotta cheese
1/2 cup condensed milk
3/4th cup milk
2 tbspn Milk masala
** Cashews/walnuts/pistas,saffron, green cardamom and nutmeg powder

In a bowl, mix the condensed milk, ricotta cheese and regular milk and stir till it is well incorporated. Add the milk masala and stir well. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

To assemble;
In a single serving dish, take 2 tbspn chilled rabri, place the pineapple pancake/malpua on it and pour some more rabri over it. Serve immediately.

My kids liked the hot malpua and chilled rabri combination. This was so easy and done in less than 20 mins of actual preparation time. I am in love with such pleasing desserts.

Ras Malai- Sweet Paneer/Cheese Balls in Thick Milk Pudding

Hello Sweeties!!!! Its raining desserts in Ashland. After  a series of cakes, I am back today with a very popular sweet on most Indian cuisines.  Ras Malai is true to its name, Sweet milk nectar and spongy cheese balls is a match made in heaven.

You will need;
Pre made or store brought Rasgullahs
Rasgullah Recipe

Making Rabdi 2 Cans Evaporated Milk
1 cup Sugar
1 tspn Cardamom powder
Nuts Powdered, or Everest Milk masala.-Optional
In a pan empty the contents of the canned milk and boil it on slow heat. Add sugar and stir continuously, burnt milk is a disaster to clean and make the rabdi smell bad. The Milk will thicken in about 10-12 mins. Add the Cardamom Powder and nuts if using and stir again. I kept the nuts out this time.

Switch off the flame and stir for another 5 mins. The Rabdi is ready. I flavored it with kewra water to tie the Rasgullah and the rabdi together.
Assembling
In a serving dish, take the rasgullah. Squeeze out as much sugar syrup out as possible, , and add the rabdi till they float. Chill for 2-3 hrs. 

The colder they get better they taste. Serve chilled to enjoy full taste.

Gulkand/Rose Petal jam Homemade IceCream

Dear Sweeties!!! June is celebration time. I have a June Birthday and a June Anniversary which falls a day apart. So desserts and sweets are  a staple around this time.

Munchkin declared its way too weird for the birthday girl to bake her own cake, so Mr. Ash got it from a local bakery which was ohh sooo good!!!

I had gifted myself an ice-cream maker last birthday which failed me a couple of time. As a result I shoved it to the back of the cabinet to be forgotten.

But it was giving me glances/hints certifying I am good if only you know how to use it!!! My cousin moved closer around that time and has been making killer ice-cream at home ever since. I always wondered what is it that her ice-cream makes so good ice -cream and mine is a waste.

She showed me the tricks and the key was to freeze the bowls that came along with the machine for a good day or so, she keeps them permanently in the freezer. 

I tried and it sort of worked for me; I mean when I added the liquids it instantly froze in the bowls creating a thin line of cream and then the ice cream. The thin line of cream never got mixed in the ice cream.

Second try, I had some leftover icing from some cake, but no flavorings to be added and no fruit also that would taste fine. I had eaten a Gulkand/rose petal jam ice cream before, OMG!!!! what exotic flavors and what exotic taste. So It had to be a Gulkand Ice cream for our special day!!

Hamilton Beach Ice cream maker is what I used. Only prob is it makes halfpint, so its good for family of four, but for entertaining, I might have to do it a couple of times ahead and store in another box. 

You will need;

1 Cup heavy Whipping Cream

1/3 rd Cup Conf Sugar

2 tbspn Gulkand/Rose Petal jam- store brought.

 

Take a bigger bowl and keep some ice cubes in that.. Over the cubes place anr bowl. Take one cup cream and add sugar and  mix. Beat with electric mixer for about 5-7 mins on medium till soft peaks are on the blade. The icing is ready. Add the gulkand and mix well.

Pour this in the ice cream maker and churn for 10-12 mins. The frozen soft serve is ready. If you want harder ice-cream, cover the bowls with some cling film/plastic wrap and set in the freezer for 2-3 hours. Welcome the goodness and all vegetarian ice-cream at home.

Eggless Whole Wheat Mango Cake- Fathers Day Special

Hello Dearies!!!! Fathers day is just as special as Mothers day. They are probably the best mothers  and they do just as much as moms do for kids. They are truly the unsung heroes who should be receiving as much appreciation as Moms do.

Our daddy likes Mango a lot and anything with mango is his favorite for the day.  This cake is very simple and easy. I make date cake often using Aayis Recipes Recipe. This time I tried using mango pulp and it worked great.

You will need;

1 Cup Mango pulp mixed in  1/2 cup milk

1 Cup Sugar

1/2  Cup Oil

1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour 
1 Tspn Cardamom Powder

1 tspn ENO-(Fruit Salt)

In a bowl , mix the mango pulp, milk, sugar, cardamom powder and oil, and whisk well till sugar melts.Then add the flour  one big spoon at a time.. keep whisking it till all the flour and the wet mix gets incorporated, and lastly ENO...

In a well greased pan, pour the mix and bake in a pre-heated oven @ 350.. for about 35-40 mins or till the knife comes out clean.

My latest addiction to Pintrest resulted in yet another cake with word Dad baked right in the cake. I had some Date cake and with cookie cutters I  cut the words Dad and arranged them on a mini loaf pan, over this I poured the mango cake batter and baked it like a regular cake. 

Hope you love the treats and ideas and keep showering your love and affection on me.

Bengali Rasgullah

Dear Sweeties!!! Hope you are all in a celebration mood. June brings tons of parties in Ashland. For Fathers day, I wanted  a light sweet and a cake off course. I made a wholewheat eggless mango cake, which was superb. The kids enjoyed the cake and it was gone in no time.

Like a true desi guy, Mr. Ash likes sweets specially bengali mithai which uses paneer/chenna/cottage cheese extensively, the sweet cheese balls are dipped or soaked in sugar syrup and chilled to perfection. They literally can make you fall in love with sweets again.

I always though that making them at home would be tough and time consuming, but in reality it is super easy and  done in steps so at no time one step takes more than 10-12 mins.


You will need; to make Paneer for Rasgullah
3 cups Whole Milk
1 tbspn White Distilled vinegar
Cloth to strain and tie the milk
Boil the milk. When it comes to a slow boil, reduce heat and start adding the vinegar tspn by tspn. I needed 1 tbsps to get the milk to tear and the whey to separate.

When the whey and the milk solids separate, drain the solids in a cotton cloth and save the whey. This whey can be used for other recipes. Wash the milk solids to remove the sourness from the vinegar, squeeze the cloth with the milk solids and remove as much water out as possible. 

Tie it around the cotton cloth and keep weight over it to form a cheese ball. Once set for about an hr the paneer is ready to be used.
Making Rasgullah
Take the paneer and crumble it and knead it. The paneer should be kneaded till there are no wrinkles in it and it is so soft that the balls are markfree. I kneaded the paneer for 10 mins. I got around 10-12 small balls.
You will need;
Paneer from -As Above
3 cups water
1 cup sugar
1 tspn kewra Water
 
In a pressure pan take 3 cups water and add 1 cup sugar to make syrup. When the syrup comes to a small boil, start adding the rolled paneer balls over the boil, take care that the pan is big enough and they have enough room to swim and not break. The balls will grow bigger as and how they cook. 

Cover and let cook on low heat for 1 whistle. The rasgullahs are ready. Add in a tspn of kewra water to the syrup for essence.

Serve chilled.

Almondbutter Coconut cookies.

Hello Sweeties!!!! After the grand success and thumbs up form the husband and kids for the Cashewbutter cookies, I tried my hand at these Almond butter Coconut cookies.

You will need; Makes 18-20 cookies.  
1/2 cup oil
2 tbspn butter
1.5 cups Flour ** I mixed wheat flour and all purpose equally. 
1/8th tsp Baking powder
1 tbspn Vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup Brown Sugar-  1/2 Cup Sweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup Almond Butter
I soaked 1/2 cup almonds in the 1/2 cup oil and then ground that into a coarse paste
2 tbspn Milk
** as needed for a creamy dough
 
Preheat the oven at 350F. Line the cookie tray with some parchment paper.
  In a bowl cream the butter, egg and sugar and then add in the almond butter, shredded coconut and vanilla extract, slowly add the flour+ baking powder till everything gets mixed and the flour does not lump. Use milk if you feel the dough is too dry. I needed about 2 tbspns milk.
 
Drop the cookies and press with a fork. Bake at 350 F till they turn slight brown...for abt 9-10 mins.
 
Enjoyy with a cuppa coffee or as snack on the way driving on some road trip, making small memories!!!

Two Tone Rosette Cake

  Hello Sweeties!!! Today is a bright two tone icing cake. The process is so easy and yet looks like you took so much effort to create.

 Cake recipe-- Try my perfectly Chocolate cake
Whipped Cream Choc Frosting

All you need to do is prepare two icing bags with two colors and fit them into one bag with the 1M Wilton Rosette nozzle and bingo, pipe your rosettes like you do every time.

I used my trusted whipped cream custard icing and Choc frosting recipes and made this cake as an Easter gift for my dear friend.

Cashewbutter Cookies

Hello Sweeties!!! Spring break and kids at home means constant I am hungry and I am bored song. Cooking with kids is a fun activity and these cookies  are made just for that.

I baked these after my cousin who likes to experiment made thse. These are super addictive and so not good if you are watching the weight, but for kids they are excellent source of energy. I am planning on making these with Peanut butter for my kids play dates. Lucky for me, no one we know are having any issues with nuts. Safely we can say we are "Nuts for nuts".

Source

You will need;
Makes 18-20 --2 inch cookies.
8 tbspn/1 stick butter at room temperature
 1.5 cups Flour
** I mixed wheat flour and all purpose equally.
1/8th tsp Baking powder
1 tbspn Vanilla extract
1 egg  
1 cup Sugar- 
**Mix white and brown or use brown entirely.
1/2 cup cashew butter  
** I used store brought

Preheat the oven at 350F. Line the cookie tray with some parchment paper.

In a bowl cream the butter, egg and sugar and then add in the cashewbutter, vanilla extract, slowly add the flour + baking powder till everything gets mixed and the flour does not lump.

Drop the cookies and press with a fork. Bake at 350 F till they turn slight brown...for abt 9-10 mins.

Enjoyy with a cuppa coffee or as snack on the way driving on some road trip, making small memories!!!

Hershey Choc Cake tweake d as Nutella Banana Cake--Eggless and Ohh so Goodddd

Hello Dearies!!!! Today, I bring to you a very simple cake from Hershey's. I tried their Purfect Choclate cake before, so this recipe is not one that I am scared of trying now, although for the first time this cake at one point scared the wits out of me with Too much liquid and too less flour, but the end result was very much pleasing. 

So this time around, when I had to make an eggfree version and had over ripe bananas that were calling out to me, I decided to tweak the basic recipe and make this eggless version.

You will need;

2 cups sugar

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 very ripe bananas

1 cup milk mixed with 2 tbspn Nutella

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

Heat Oven to 350 Degrees F. Grease (2)9Inch pans.

In the bowl of the stand mixer, add the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda. baking powder, salt, mashed bananas and milk. Beat for 2 mins on medium and stir in the  boiling water. Batter will be THIN. Pour the batter in the greased pans.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

This cake is very moist and very very addictive, so use caution when you make this. This cake has made it to an all time favorite list in Ashland.

Choclate Whipped Cream frosting

Hello Sweeties!!!! Today is a good day. I bring to you something sweet, something chocolate and something Purrfectt together.

 I recently made this cake for my sweet cousin and he absolutely loved the cake. So on popular demand the whipped chocolate icing has to be posted on this space.

Cake recipe-- Try my perfectly Chocolate cake

Chocolate whipped Cream icing;
You will need;
The icing is whipped cream pudding icing.
** Whipped Cream icing can be made by using simply Heavy Whipping Cream and Conf Sugar,, The Rec is as

Follows..

  1 Cup heavy Whipping Cream

  1/2 Cup Conf Sugar

3 Tbspn Hershey Unsweetened cocoa powder

 **1 packet Instant pudding mix-- Optional

 

Take a bigger bowl and keep some ice cubes in that.. Over the cubes place anr bowl. Take one cup cream and add sugar, cocoa powder and Pudding mix( if needed )... and beat with electric mixer on medium till soft peaks are on the blade. The icing is ready. 

 

The cake recipe makes 2-9inch cakes. The Frosting recipe is for 1 small oval cake shown in the pic. Double the recipe if you have 9inch or bigger cakes.