Fish Crumb Fry

Fish Crumb Fry Recipe Source~ Vanitha Pachakam

Ingredients:
King Fish (Motha) or Seer Fish (Neimeen) slices-250gm

Salt- to taste
Maida/All purpose flour-2 tsp
Vinegar-2 tsp
Pepper powder-1/2 tsp or according to taste
Egg-1
Bread crumbs-1/2 cup
Oil-1/2 cup

Method:

• Clean fish, slice and drain on a kitchen towel.
• Mix maida, vinegar, pepper powder and salt and apply to fish and leave for 1 hour.
• Slightly beat the egg and dip each fish pieces in egg and coat in bread crumbs.
• Deep fry in oil until golden brown and serve hot with tartar sauce or tomato ketchup.

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Mixed Fruit Buckle

Buckle is a baked deep- dish fruit dessert, which combines fresh seasonal fruit and a rich cake batter. Buckle usually has berries in it but I tried this recipe with the fruits I had like nectarines, apricots and mangoes. It was really tasty and we loved it. Please try this and I hope you all enjoy it. You can easily substitute the fruits with blueberries, blackberries or cherries.

Mixed Fruit Buckle

Ingredients:
Nectarines-250gms, peeled and thickly sliced
Apricots-250 gms, pitted and thickly sliced
Mangoes-250 gms, peeled and thickly sliced
Fresh Lemon juice-1 tbsp
Lemon zest, grated -1/4 tsp
Sugar-5 tbsp
Butter- 1 tbsp, cut up
Whipped Cream Biscuit Topping (recipe follows)

Method:

• Preheat oven to 400F(200C).In a large bowl, combine nectarines, apricots, mangoes, lemon juice and lemon zest. Gently stir in sugar. Turn filling into a pie dish and dot with butter.
• Prepare Whipped Cream Biscuit Topping and spoon on top of filling. Bake 30-35 minutes, or until topping is golden and fruit is bubbly. Serve warm in shallow bowls.

Whipped cream Biscuit Topping

Ingredients:
Self-rising flour- ¾ cup
Sugar-2 tbsp
Heavy cream-¾ cup

Method:

• In a medium bowl, combine self-rising flour and sugar. In a large bowl, beat cream with an electric mixer to stiff peaks.
• Gently fold whipped cream into flour mixture with a rubber spatula just until blended and soft dough forms. Drop by generous tablespoonfuls onto fruit filling.

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Banana Cake with Penuche Frosting~My 100th Post!!

This delicious Banana cake is really easy to make cake, and you can frost this cake right in the pan with a creamy brown sugar frosting!




Before going to the recipe, this happens to be my 100th post. It has taken almost two and a half years to reach this milestone. I know it’s been very slow going, but I am really happy I have finally reached my 100th post. I am thankful to all my readers and well wishers who continuously encouraged me to blog regularly and a big thanks to my class mate and best friend Bharathy who inspired me to start blogging. Thank you so much because without the support from all you guys I would have never reached this milestone.


Banana Cake with Penuche Frosting
Recipe source: Better Homes & Gardens “Cooking for Today Cakes” book

Ingredients:
2 ½ cups All purpose flour
1 ½ cups granulated Sugar
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3)
2/3 cup butter milk or sour milk*
½ cup shortening
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
Penuche Frosting (recipe follows)
Chopped Nuts (optional)

Method:

• Grease a 13x9x2 –inch baking pan. Set aside.


• In a large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add bananas, buttermilk or sour milk, shortening and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed till combined. Add eggs, beat 2 minutes on medium speed. Pour in to prepared pan.


• Bake in a 350F (180C) oven about 35 minutes or till a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.


• Frost with Penuche Frosting. Immediately sprinkle with chopped nuts if desired.


• Makes 12 to 16 servings.

Penuche Frosting:
Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter or margarine
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 tbsp milk
2 ½ cups powdered sugar

Method:

• In a medium sauce pan melt 1/3 cup butter or margarine over medium heat.


• Stir in 2/3 cup packed brown sugar.


• Cook and stir till bubbly.


• Remove from heat. Add 3 tbsp milk, beating vigorously till smooth.


• By hand, beat in enough sifted powdered sugar (about 2 ½ cups) to make frosting of spreading consistency.


• Frost cake immediately.

*Note: For sour milk, place 2 tsp lemon juice or vinegar in a measuring cup. Add enough whole milk to make 2/3 cup.

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Tiramisu Cake ~ First Sweet Punch Challenge!

The first Sweet Punch challenge was hosted by Ria and she selected Dorie Greenspan’s Tiramisu Cake. I recently made my first Tiramisu with homemade Mascarpone cheese, but Tiramisu Cake was something I had never tried before. I really enjoyed making this cake as much as my DH and son enjoyed eating it.



Verdict:

• I felt the quantities given for soaking the syrup was not enough. Even after I had used up the entire syrup, the cake was still a little dry. We prefer the Tiramisu cake to be a little more moist…so next time I will definitely make more syrup to soak the cake.
• I used chocolate chips instead of finely chopped chocolates…but I didn’t enjoy the chocolate bites in-between my cake and filling. So next time I will go for chopped/grated chocolate.
• I also added 1 1/2 tsp of Orange Sugar to the cake batter and I really liked that orange flavour in my cake.

Tiramisu Cake
Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

For the cake layers:
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp Orange Sugar (optional)

For the espresso extract:
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
2 tablespoons boiling water

For the espresso syrup:
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon amaretto, Kahlua, or brandy

For the filling and frosting:
1 8-ounce container mascarpone (store-bought or homemade)
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon amaretto, Kahlua, or brandy
1 cup cold heavy cream
2 1/2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped, or about 1/2 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips
Chocolate-covered espresso beans, for decoration (optional)
Cocoa powder, for dusting

Getting ready:

• Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Butter two 9×2 inch round cake pans, dust the insides with flour, tap out the excess, and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.
  
  To make the cake:
• Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
• Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy.
• Add the sugar and beat for another 3 minutes.
• Add the eggs one by one, and then the yolk, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla; don’t be concerned if the mixture looks curdled.
• Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk, adding the dry ingredients in 3 additions and the milk in 2 (begin and end with the dry ingredients); scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed and mix only until the ingredients disappear into the batter.
• Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
• Bake for 28 to 30 minutes, rotating the pans at the midway point.
• When fully baked, the cakes will be golden and springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the centers will come out clean.
• Transfer the cakes to a rack and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unmold them, and peel off the paper liners.
• Invert and cool to room temperature right-side up.

To make the extract:

• Stir the espresso powder and boiling water together in a small cup until blended. Set aside.

To make the syrup:

• Stir the water and sugar together in a small saucepan and bring just to a boil. Pour the syrup into a small heatproof bowl and stir in 1 tablespoon of the espresso extract and the liqueur or brandy; set aside.

To make the filling and frosting:

• Put the mascarpone, sugar, vanilla, and liqueur in a large bowl and whisk just until blended and smooth.
• Working with the stand mixer with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, whip the heavy cream until it holds firm peaks. Switch to a rubber spatula and stir about one quarter of the whipped cream into the mascarpone.
• Fold in the rest of the whipped cream with a light touch.

To assemble the cake:

• If the tops of the cake layers have crowned, use a long serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion to even them.
• Place one layer right-side up on a cardboard round or a cake plate protected with strips of wax or parchment paper. \Using a pastry brush or a small spoon, soak the layer with about one third of the espresso syrup.
• Smooth some of the mascarpone cream over the layer – use about 1 1/4 cups – and gently press the chopped chocolate into the filling.
• Put the second cake layer on the counter and soak the top of it with half the remaining espresso syrup, then turn the layer over and position it, soaked side down, over the filling.
• Soak the top of the cake with the remaining syrup.

• For the frosting, whisk 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of the remaining espresso extract into the remaining mascarpone filling. Taste the frosting as you go to decide how much extract you want to add. If the frosting looks as if it might be a little too soft to spread over the cake, press a piece of plastic wrap against its surface and refrigerate it for 15 minutes or so. Refrigerate the cake too.
• With a long metal icing spatula, smooth the frosting around the sides of the cake and over the top. If you want to decorate the cake with chocolate-covered espresso beans, press them into the filling, making concentric circles of beans or just putting some beans in the center of the cake.

• Refrigerate the cake for at least 3 hours (or for up to 1 day) before serving – the elements need time to meld.
• Just before serving, dust the top of the cake with cocoa.

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Ginger Wine Recipe

Making good wine is a skill. Fine wine is an art.
~ Robert Mondavi, "Harvests Of Joy," Autobiography

Recently I have received several requests for Ginger Wine recipe. So today I am sharing the recipe that my mom used. It’s very easy to make and the best thing is you don’t need to wait days for the wine to age before drinking as it will be ready in two days time. But of course the longer the wine ages the better it tastes! I like wine to have its natural color for each wine and so I never add caramelized sugar. If you want your ginger wine to be red in color just add caramelized sugar syrup. I hope you enjoy the unique sweet and slightly spicy flavor:)....

Ginger Wine

Ingredients:

Ginger-250gm.
Sugar -1 1/4kg
Dried Red chillies -10nos.
Citric Acid-2tsp.
Caramelized Sugar Syrup (optional)
Water -3 1/2bottle (measure in a 750ml bottle)

Method:

• Boil water, sugar, grated ginger and chopped chilies together. Reduce the flame and simmer for about 20 minutes. Turn off the gas and keep aside for one day.
• On the next day drain the syrup in to a big glass bottle and add citric acid.
• Add cooled caramelized sugar syrup if desired at this stage.
• Keep aside for one day and drain the wine without shaking the bottle and pour in to small bottles.
• For Caramelizing the sugar heat 3 tablespoons of sugar until it becomes dark brown on medium flame. Add 1/2-cup hot water to the browned sugar and boil. Turn off the gas and mix with the wine when it becomes cool.

Note:

• All the utensils & bottle should be clean & dry. If there is water the wine will become sour.
• Don't fill the bottle to the brink. Always leave 1/4 bottle empty.

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