Vanilla Latte Cupcakes

Owning a KitchenAid is a dream of all home bakers and I always wanted one for quite some time.... Unlike in the US it is not an easily obtainable appliance here and now that it’savailable hubby gifted me one last week. It was a dream come true for me to own a black KitchenAid!!!  Of course I first wanted to try a cake with a frosting on it and I chose this cupcake from my favorite blogger Annie’s Eats.... The coffee flavor cake is very soft and the frosting is coffee flavored Swiss Meringue Butter cream.  Both cake and frosting came out perfectly and we all enjoyed the cupcakes!  

Kottayam Churuttu Recipe / Thin Flour Pastry Sheets Filled with Sweetened Rice Filling

Churuttu, is a famous Syrian Christian Palaharam / snack from Kottayam region of Kerala. These cones of syrupy avalose podi enclosed in wafer thin Mandaka / pastry are a favorite of everyone in Kottayam. Mammi cheduthi’s churuttu is one of the palaharam / snack I grew up with and I absolutely love it. Back home we used to go to Kurishu Palli, which is very close to Mammi cheduthi’s house every Friday evening and on our way back we usually stopped at her place to buy a packet of Churuttu. Even now I buy Churuttu only from her place during my vacation; I have tried Churuttu from other places too.... but none of them came even close to Mammi’s churuttu :).... I always wanted to make churuttu at home as the filling is same as Avalose Unda but I wondered how to make mandaka at home..... Got one recipe from Lathika George’s book “TheSuriani Kitchen” and her version of Mandaka is made out of unroasted rice flour mixed with boiling water. Then I did a Google search and found one out here and also a video clipping from a Malayalam channel showcasing Mammi cheduthi’s recipe..... so I made the mandaka combining all and it came out quite good.....  And for filling I used my Avalose Unda recipe,,,,,

Dulce de Leche Cupcakes

I had intended to post this on 15^th June to celebrate my brother’s birthday and also Father’s day.... But couldn't as I was busy with a three day long weekend that put paid to my plans to celebrate my brothers birthday virtually like I did earlier..... But it’s better late than never right?  These cupcakes are for you my dear bro my best friend, supporter, helper...... Thank you for being such a wonderful and caring brother in the world! May God Bless you with all the happiness in life that you truly deserve......  I promise I will make this cake when we meet next!

I tried Dulce de Leche(DDL) of which I have become an ardent fan.... The more recipes I try with DDL the more I like it.....earlier it was Banoffee Pie, Banoffee Slices and Dulce de Leche Brownies  and now these cupcakes..... This is one of the best tasting cupcakes and frosting I have made recently! The Cupcake itself is very soft and tasty.....and it was my first attempt of making Swiss Meringue Butter cream frosting; I absolutely love this smooth, creamy and delicious frosting..... Far better than regular butter cream frosting!!! Addition of DDL in the frosting was heavenly..... Do try this with either homemade DDL or store bought.... I used store bought DDL and you will soon find out what I did with the rest of the DDL...... so stay tuned for another delicious dessert with DDL :) :)  

Mango and Avocado Salad

Blue Lagoon Cocktail

We love drinks with blue Curacao and most of the time when we dine out I end up ordering a blue Curacao drink..... So recently when I found Curacao syrup I grabbed a bottle and made this simple cocktail..... all the measurements are eyeballed so adjust according to your personal taste.... I used white rum for the cocktail version and I think vodka might be a better option for cocktails.....  I also tried this with soda and sprite and both are nice.... For a mocktail version just omit alcohol.... Now the temperature has touched almost 50°C it was really refreshing on a lazy weekend evening..... And of course as I have more than half the bottle of syrup left you may soon find a lot of similar cocktails / mocktails with different combinations out here and also if you have any nice cocktail recipes please do share with me :)......

Baked Mini Donut Muffins

For quite some time I have been planning to make these beauties after seeing it on several blogs around the net. These cuties are really yummy and very easy to make and resemble cinnamon sugar doughnut holes. The best part is these are baked and not deep fried.... Addition of nutmeg in the muffins was really great and it nicely complimented the cinnamon sugar coating..... really loved it and couldn’t stop munching them one after another ;).... These are very addictive and I must warn you that you will end up eating a lot!  Instead of mini muffin tins I baked these in my seashell pan and I got around 30 mini muffins..... 

Homemade Guava Wine Recipe / Perakka Wine Recipe

I got this recipe from my aunt a few years back. She gave me a bottle of this wine and the recipe when she visited me while I was holidaying in my home town. The moment I tasted the wine I was in love with it and it is now one of our favorites. Guava / perakka is not easily available here and when I found some a couple of months back I immediately made this wine. This wine is very sweet which mellows with ageing. I think the addition of kalkandam / rock sugar gives it a very nice taste and whoever has tasted this wine so far has given it 5 stars :) :)…. Thanks to Sally aunty for giving me this recipe.

Murgh Ke Sooley / Koyla Chicken Curry / Smoked Chicken Curry Recipe

There are some recipes from my early days of blogging that definitely need a revisit.... This is one such Chicken curry recipe.... This Smoked chicken is one of my best and easiest chicken preparations; I make it very often and it compliments very well with Indian flat breads or pulav’s. It’s also a hit at dinner parties.... But may be due to the pathetic photos I posted earlier, I felt it didn’t get the attention it deserved, so recently when I made it again I took step by step pictures.... when ghee is poured on the hot charcoal, the resultant smoke gives the chicken a nice flavor.... This is a healthy chicken preparation and you can also marinate and smoke the chicken ahead of time and bake it in the oven just before serving.....