Chocolate and Caramel Tart ~ June Daring Bakers' challenge, Life Of Pie :)

Rachael from pizzarossa was our lovely June 2013 Daring Bakers’ host and she had us whipping up delicious pies in our kitchens! Cream pies, fruit pies, chocolate pies, even crack pies! There’s nothing like pie! :)

Rachael gave us four delicious sweet pie recipes to choose from and I really wanted to try all of them… But I could only make this smooth and utterly indulgent French Chocolate and caramel tart before I left for our vacation in beautiful Switzerland…. I used store bought caramel (Dulce de Leche) for the caramel layer and we really enjoyed this chocolate indulgence…. Thank you Rachael for the great challenge :)

Eggless Chocolate Mousse Recipe

I have posted a couple of Chocolate Mousse recipes earlier, an Instant ChocolateMousse with Marshmallows, a White Chocolate Mousse and an Eggless ChocolateMousse from Nita Mehta’s book.... I used to make the eggless chocolate mousse a lot during those times.... the Eggless chocolate Mousse I am posting today is also from Nita Mehta’s, this one is more richer and chocolaty as it has chocolate along with cocoa powder.... It’s very easy to make and you can use either gelatin or China grass (agar agar)..... Do try this rich chocolaty treat next time when you arrange a party for chocolate lovers :)

Uppumanga Curry (Salted Mangoes in Coconut Gravy)

A traditional vegetarian side dish of Kerala made with Uppumanga / salted mangoes in brine..... I made this curry following the same recipe of Chakkakuru Manga curry .... A plate of boiled rice with this curry, a piece of fish fry and some stir fried vegetable is bliss for lunch! 

Pazham Jam Recipe / Banana Jam Recipe

I grew up watching amma making different kinds of jam according to the seasonal fruits available. The varieties she made included mixed fruit, pineapple and Pazham (banana) jam.... and if you ask me which is my favorite, the answer without hesitation will be Pazham Jam :)...I love it to the core... This banana jam we made while I was in Kerala last summer, I know almost a year back :D… When I went for a short visit to my aunt’s place she had lot of Palayan kodan pazhams in her backyard.... I ate a lot of them and then she made a bottle of jam for me as she knows how much I like banana jam :)...

Pazham jam is a Kerala specialty and it is best made out of Palayan Kodan pazham (sorry I don’t know the English translation), a smaller variety of bananas available in Kerala. The jam get’s its deep reddish colour from the quality of the banana used... unlike other regular jam’s pazham jam will be little watery in consistency and if you cook more it will become very hard and sticky.... You can use other types of bananas but the colour and the taste will definitely vary....