Citrus Cake and Taste of Oranges

As mentioned in my earlier post here, the change of seasons brings the freshest of fruits and vegetables. Right now with winter on our heels, the market is flooded with delicious kamala oranges. I think nature also knows what is good for us and when. Oranges with their high Vitamin C content helps protect us against colds and any other passing infections. And sure enough, right on cue, oranges come right when we need them to.

Oranges are one fruit that the children really enjoy. Even if they are a little tart now and then, they still down them at a furious pace. Oranges are supposed to have a high satiety factor even compared to bananas.

Oranges are such a versatile fruit. Can be used in so many different ways. Cakes, desserts, juices, cooking, just by itself... the list goes on.

The other day a friend asked for a cake for a bake sale. I had been wanting to make this cake for a long long time. This then became the perfect one to make for the sale.





It is an easy recipe which can be made by anyone, even rank beginners.


Ingredients:

2 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon lemon essence
1/2 cup orange juice


For glace frosting:

2 cups icing sugar/ confectioners sugar
1/3 cup orange juice
juice of 1 lime


Method:

Sift together all the dry ingredients ( flour, baking powder, salt).

Cream the softened butter and sugar till light. Add lemon essence and eggs one at a time. Mix well.

Add milk and the dry ingredients and continue to beat till well mixed.

Bake in a greased and lined 9 X 13 inch pan at 175 deg C for about 25 minutes

When the cake is still hot, take out from the pan and poke holes in it. Pour orange juice over it till it gets soaked.

Frost the cake.


Frosting method:

Sift the icing sugar. Heat the orange juice and mix with the icing sugar and lemon juice. Pour over the cake and leave to set.

Decorate with sprinkles.

Traditional Shortbread and Sharing Recipes

How many of you have found people out there who simply hate sharing recipes? I have found many many such folk. I have had strange experiences in this. When you taste something that a good cook has made and ask them for the recipe, they prevaricate. For instance, once I had the most amazing fried rice at a friend's place. So I asked her how she made it. She said ( these are her words and I quote) " Oh, so easy, just take cooked rice, add some salt and whatever vegetables you have on hand and toss it all together" She simply refused to elaborate beyond that. Obviously I got the message and did not probe further.

Then another friend who is a fabulous baker said she did not like to share her recipes because we work hard at it, try out many different variations before we strike gold ( the analogy is like kissing a number of frogs before finding the prince). She said that we do all the hard work and people simply enjoy the fruit of our labour. So she is particular about sharing recipes only with friends who share their recipes with her.

Now as a blogger, that goes completely against the grain. Don't you agree? Here we are, happy to share (for absolutely no fee) all our hard work over the years. Not just our hard work but even that of our mothers and mothers in law and grandmothers also. It is simply for the joy of giving and sharing. Each of us brings to the table, foods and recipes that we have tried and tested and perfected. Much blood and sweat and tears has gone into it. I cannot imagine not sharing a recipe.

Anyway, now for Shortbread...

Shortbread is traditionally a Scottish cookie which is now synonymous with Christmas. It has a deliciously crumbly buttery texture which simply melts in the mouth.

Shortbread is a type of biscuit/cookie which is traditionally made from one part sugar, two parts butter, and three parts all purpose flour although other ingredients like ground rice or cornflour are sometimes added to alter the texture. Shortbread is so named because of its crumbly texture(from an old meaning of the word short). The cause of this texture is its high fat content, provided by the butter. The related word shortening refers to any fat that may be added to produce a short (crumbly) texture. The term "short" is used in reference to the fact that the fat molecules inhibit the formation of long gluten strands, making it "short". (source - Wikipedia)

This is an easy recipe that I learnt when in college.

Ingredients:

100 grams Butter

1 cup All purpose flour

1/2 cup Rice flour

3/4 cup icing sugar/ confectioners sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

Method:

Sift all the dry ingredients together.

Cut in the butter into the flour mixture and mix well till a stiff dough forms.

press out into a 9 inch circle.

Score into wedges and bake at 170 deg C for about 20 minutes until golden brown.

Tutti Frutti Cookies and not posting enough

Now what does one say about not posting for such a long time? For sure, it is not that I have become lazy or lost interest in my blog. I am sure being busy on all fronts in life should qualify as enough reason for not blogging. But the blog is not too far from my thoughts. It eats at me every morning when I realise one more day has passed without anything new on here.

This is now a far cry from my earlier post on being addicted. So now I have decided that If I can't do it then I can't do it. No pressure, right? Hopefully I should be able to accelerate the cooking, photo taking and the posting to keep the momentum going.

Let me quickly get to the point now.

Doesn't the name Tutti Frutti Cookies make you feel a kid again? Some things are always associated with childhood and I think the word tutti frutti features right on top of that list. I loved tutti frutti ice cream as a kid. How many of you remember that silly ball ice cream? I think Kwality made that. It was only ordinary vanilla ( not that vanilla can ever be ordinary) But we would simply die to eat that. And then carefully wash it out and use the plastic to play for a bit. I cannot still understand my fascination for that but well... thats how childhood is, I guess.

Anyway, here is the quick and easy recipe.

Ingredients:

180 grams Butter

1 1/2 cups Brown Sugar

3 cups All purpose flour

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Egg

1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence

200 grams tutti frutti (candied peel)

Method:

Soften the butter and add the brown sugar. Mix well till light and creamy.

Add the egg and vanilla essence and mix well again.

Sift the dry ingredients. Add to the butter sugar mixture.

Add the tutti frutti. Roll into logs of 2 inch diameter.

Put it into the refrigerator for about 4 hours.

Cut into thin slices and bake at 170 deg C for about 8 minutes or till done.

Cool and enjoy.

Dal Palak

I used to hate spinach as a child and those days Popeye wasn't such a popular character. So I received absolutely zilch inspiration on that front. I simply hated the sight of spinach in any form. I don't think I even tried it once. I guess just the look of it (so green and bursting with goodness and health) that was so unappealing. It used to make an appearance in many avatars and find its way on to the dining table ever so often but no, I would not touch it.

One day when my mom was out of town, I came back from college and I was simply starving. You know the of feeling rats gnawing in the tummy and all that. I went into the kitchen looking for something yummy to eat. To my horror, all I saw in the fridge was rice and palak dal. OMG!!! That was the scariest thing to happen to me ever. But by now I was starving. I had no choice in the matter. Took the rice, added some dal very gingerly, put in lots and lots of ghee and heated the whole thing up in hopes that it will morph into something that I loved. But no, the gods were not on my side. It still remained the same vile looking palak dal and rice..

Put the whole thing into a bowl and sat at the table with a book for company (mom wasn't there, remember?). Put one spoon of it into my mouth. I cannot even start to describe the shock I got.

It was heavenly. Tasted so good. Till today I cannot say if I loved the taste because I was hungry or because it just tasted yummy. But ever since then, it has remained one of my favorite dals. And has triggered my tastebuds into loving all the different varieties of greens.

So now I dont ever refuse anything until I taste it once and the same rule applies to the kids too. One taste and if you still don't like it, then its ok, you don't have to eat it. But one taste is mandatory.

So here goes my mom's version of the Palak Dal

Ingredients

1 Bunch Palak ( maybe about 100 gms)

6 cloves of garlic peeled (if the smaller garlic is used, feel free to put in more)

1 teaspoon jeera

1 teaspoon oil

1 cup toor dal washed and boiled till done

1/2 teaspoon chilli powder

salt to taste

Method

Wash and chop the spinach finely.

Heat oil in the kadai and when medium hot, add the jeera and fry till it sizzles.

Add garlic at this point.

When the garlic is browned nicely, pour the dal into the kadai. Add salt and chilli powder.

When it starts to boil add the finely chopped spinach leaves. Heat through for about 5 minutes till the leaves start to wilt.

Switch off the heat.

Serve hot with rice or chapatis.

Note: The garlic adds a lot of taste to the dal. So feel free to use a little more than the quantity I have mentioned.

Badam Halwa and Happy Deepavali

Deepavali – The festival of lights… The festivities are all set to begin.
It is a magical time when everyone is in high spirits - full of joy and happiness. The atmosphere is absolutely thrilling and excitement is at an all time high whether young or old.

With Deepavali round the corner, one can sense the excitement slowly building up. Children wait eagerly for the roadside firecracker shops to set up shop. Families make the dreaded but absolutely necessary trip to chaotic T Nagar in the hunt for the perfect Deepavali dress, sari, outfit…. Everyone starts planning for the special day. Gifts to be given are decided on. Gifts are also received with a great deal of joy.

In a nutshell, Deepavali can be said to be a festival celebrating shopping, eating, fireworks, eating, gift giving, eating, lighting diyas, eating, getting fat. Agree with me?

Menus for the lunch are decided and of course how can one forget the sweets (the downfall of all dieters and weight watchers)?? I think nowadays, sweets are the most important part of Deepavali. Everyone is on the look out for that scrumptious sweet recipe that they can try out.

But hold it right there. There are conditions: 1) It has to be easy to make and quick and 2) it has to be different from what the others will make.

So I tried out a Badam Halwa recipe in preparation for Deepavali. Now when it comes around, I will have the perfect sweet to make.

This was one of the simplest things to make. Not too many ingredients and no complicated steps in the preparation process.

Now for the Almond Halwa...

Ingredients

1 ½ cup almonds
1 ½ cups sugar
4 tablespoons milk
4 tablespoons ghee
A few strands saffron dissolved in a teaspoon of hot milk
½ teaspoon cardamom powder
½ cup water

Method:

Heat 2 cups of water. Put the almonds in. Boil for a minute. Take it off the heat. Peel the almonds.
Grind in the mixie along with the milk till it is a smooth paste.
Heat the sugar with the water till it starts boiling. Add the almond paste and keep stirring well to avoid any lumps and making sure that it does not stick to the bottom of the vessel. Add the saffron milk mixture now. Add ghee a little at a time.
Stir till it becomes thick. (Note: It gets a lot thicker on cooling.)
Add cardamom powder and take off the heat.
Serve cool.

BTW: There is this description of eating Badam Halwa which says it all.