Belated Valentine cookies

Hello friends,It has been long time I did not post anything. I was struck down again by network problems and few other personal works . These cookies I made for the valentines day. I have been little bit successful when trying out new dishes. But I always have a tough time when making sugar cookies and choco chip cookies.Whenever I make these two cookies I end up with mini pancake or uthappam..But this recipe comes out pretty good even in the first attempt. Ingredients Sugar - 1 cup Butter - 10 tblsp Egg - 1 Vanilla essence - 1 tsp Baking powder - 1/2 tsp salt - 1/2 tsp All purpose flour - 2 cups

• Whisk flour , salt and baking powder together.
• Beat sugar and butter in a big bowl for 3 min.
• Stir in vanilla.
• Fold the dry ingredients in 3 batches.
• Divide the dough into two balls and roll into 6 " inch discs.
• Cover and refrigerate for 2 hrs.
• Arrange the cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Pre heat the oven to 350 F.
• Roll one disc at a time into 1/8 '' circle .
• Cut into desired shapes.
• Sprinkle colored sugar.Bake for 9-11 min.
• Cool down in a wire rack.

I'm back with a Party Cake

My belated Pongal wishes to my dear readers and

friends..With the old computer still infected I got

a new one which was delivered few days back only..

But the frigid weather gave the kids a long weekend

and made me busy.And finally today I could sit

back with a party cake which I made for the New year

Party at our home..

I made this cake from Dorie Greenspans Baking - a great

book for baking. The pics are not that appealing , It was

taken in a hurry..But the taste was heavenly..

Ingredients

For the cake

All purpose flour - 1 1/3 cup

Unssweetened cocoa powder - 1/2 cup

Baking soda - 3/4 tsp

Baking powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Unsalted butter - 10 tblsp

Brown sugar - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Eggs - 3

Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

Bitter sweet chocolate - 2 ounces ( melted and cooled)

Butter milk or whole milk - 1/2 cup

Boiling water - 1/2 cup

Mini chocolate chips - 2/3 cup ( I omit this )

For Frosting

Egg whites - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 1 cup

Cream of tartar - 3/4 tsp

Water - 1 cup

Vanilla extract - 1 tblsp

Method

• Preheat the oven to 350 F.Butter and dust two 8 " round pans.
• Sift together flour , cocoa , baking soda , baking powder and salt.
• Beat butter and sugar in a medium speed for 3 min or until soft and creamy.
• Add eggs one by one beating for 1 min after each addition.
• Beat in vanilla . Add the melted chocolate.
• Add the dry ingredients alternately with the butter milk.
• On low speed mix in the boiling water and stir in the choco chips if you use.
• Divide the batter evenly in two pans .Bake for 25 - 30 min.
• Cool the pan in the wire racks .When the cake reaches the room temperature slice each layer horizontally in haf .
• Set 3 layers aside and crumble the fourth layer.

For frosting

• Put the sugar , cream of tartar and water in a small sauce pan . Bring the mixture to boil over medium heat , cover the pan and boil for 3 min. The syrup should reach 242 F or soft ball consistency.
• While the syrup is cooking start beating the egg whites.When it reaches the shiny peaks slowly pour the hot syrup over the egg mixture.
• Add vanilla extract and keep beating until it reaches room temperature .
• The result will be smooth , shiny frosting.

To Assemble the cake

• Put a bottom layer cut side up . Cover the layer generously with frosting.
• Top with second layer , cut side up and frost it . Finish with the third layer cut side down and frost the sides and top of the cake.
• Cover the entire cake with chocolate cake crumbs, gently pressing the cake into the filling with fingers.
• Refrigerate the cake for about 1 hour before serving.

It sounds like a lengthy process but when you have

all things around it is not all difficult . I prefer this cake because

we need not worry about uneven , smooth and neeat frosting. All my flaws

are covered entirely by the crumbs.

Butter Cookies

Suddenly the weather has changed and it has been

so cold in the Midwest . Kids preferred to stay inside

and I make them by helping me in making this delicious

butter cookies..They love to add more details to the

cookies..Here is the basic butter cookies which can be

tweaked to any type..orange , lemon , chocolate.....

Ingredients

All purpose flour - 2 cups

Butter - 1 1/2 sticks

Sugar - 1 cup

Egg - 1

Vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp

Baking powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Method

• Whisk together flour , baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
• Beat butter and sugar for 6 min.
• Beat in egg and vanilla.
• Then add flour mixture and mix until just combned.
• Form dough into a 6 inch disc and cover it in a plastic wrap.
• Chill the dough in the refrigerator until 4 hrs or until firm.
• Preheat oven to 375 F .Roil out the disc into 9 inch round with 1/4 " thick.
• Cut into desired shaped using cookie cutters.
• Transfer the cookies to the baking sheets and bake for 12- 15 min.
• Cool down in the wire rack.Frost the cookies once it cooled down completely.

Decorating Icing

Powdered Sugar - 1 lb

water - 1/3 cup

Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Beat everything together . Add more water or lemon juice if it is hard to decorate the cookies

I am sending this to Happy Cooks Home made Christmas Gifts.

Vegan Brownies

This recipe is from one of my friend..I have

changed little bit to fit for AWED American.

Ingredients

Sugar - 2/3 cup

Dark Cocoa - 1/2 cup

All purpose flour - 2/3 cup

Walnuts chopped - 1 cup

Baking Powder - 1 tsp

Salt - a pinch

Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Apple sauce - 1/2 cup

Vegetable oil - 1/2 cup

Method

• Preheat the oven to 350 .
• Sift flour , cocoa , baking powder and salt.
• Mix apple sauce and oil . Add sugar and beat well.
• Stir in the vanilla . Now add the flour mix .
• Mix gently without forming any lumps.
• Finally add the chopped walnuts . Pour into the greased baking pan.
• Bake for 20 min or till the tooth pick comes out clean.
• Dust with confectioner's sugar or drizzle with melted cocoa.

And this is off to DK's AWED American.

Check out my fellow Recipe Marathoners.

1) DK 2) Siri 3) Srivalli 4) Ranji 5)PJ 6)Curry Leaf 7)Medha 8)Priya 9)Bhawna 10)Raaji 11)Ruchii 12)Anu 13)Roopa 14)Divya Kudua 15)Rekha 16)Divya M 17)Lakshmi 18)Raaga 19)Lakshmi Venkatesh 20)Sripriya 21)Viji 22)Pavani 23)Karuna 24)Roochi 25)Kamalika

Sugar Cookies

After so many hesitations I finally decided to run

in the marathon race started by Dhivya . I too planned

for a specific theme for every week . So the first week

is going to be Snacks . The sugar cookies I prepared

for the Halloween . My daughter who is at halloween

holidays did the frosting in the cookies.

Ingredients

Powdered sugar - 1 1/2 cups

Butter - 1 cup

Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Egg - 1

Flour - 3 cups

Baking soda - 1 tsp

Cream of tartar - 1 tsp

Method

• Beat powdered sugar and butter in a large bowl .
• Stir in vanilla and egg and beat for 1 min.
• Stir in flour , baking soda and cream of tartar .
• Cover and refrigerate for 2 hrs or until firm.
• Heat oven to 375 F.
• Roll half of dough at a time 1/8 inch thick.
• Cut into desired shapes . I used Halloween cookie cutters.
• Bake for 7 - 8 min.

Frosting for sugar cookies

Combine 2 cups of powdered sugar , 1/2 tsp vanilla and 2 tblsp milk and stir together until smooth and spreadable.

Check out my other marathon runners

1) DK 2) Siri 3) Srivalli 4) Ranji 5)PJ 6)Curry Leaf 7)Medha 8)Priya 9)Bhawna 10)Raaji 11)Ruchii 12)Anu 13)Roopa 14)Divya Kudua 15)Rekha 16)Divya M 17)Lakshmi

Cream Wafers

I made this biscuits from Betty crocker's cookie book.

Turns out so delicious and it is very easy to make too.

Ingredients

All - Purpose flour - 2 cups

Butter - 1 cup

Whipping cream - 1/3 cup

sugar

Method

• Mix flour , butter and whipping cream with spoon.
• Cover and refrigerate for about 1 hr or until firm.
• Heat oven to 375 F.
• Roll one third of dough at a time 1/8 inch thick on lightly floured surface.
• Keep remaining dough refrigerate until ready to roll.
• Cut into 1 1/2 inch rounds.
• Generously cover large piece of waxed paper with sugar.
• Transfer rounds to waxed paper .
• Turn each round to coat both sides.
• Place on ungreased cookie sheet .Prick each round with fork.
• Bake 7- 9 min.
• Remove from cookie sheet .
• Cool completely.

For creamy filling

Powdered sugar - 3/4 cup

Butter - 1/4 cup

Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Food color

• Mix all ingredients until smooth.
• Spread about 1/2 tsp filling between cooled cookies.

I am sending this to Hima's Sunday snacks event.

Celebrating Amma's 60 th B' Day

All mothers are special in their own way... As my blog name

says Amma is a true inspiration to me . She teaches us to be

humble , respectful , polite , honest and more importantly

patience.. With all these qualities she stands high today.

Today Amma is celebrating her 60 th B' Day.. She is more

popular around her circles for her tasteful cooking and beautiful

craft works . All the new born babies are adorned by amma's

beautiful knitted shawls and sweaters.. She is more happy

to teach embroidery , knitting and all the handworks whoever

approached her . She is never reluctant to share her works

and ideas.. Through all these years she has been teaching

handworks without getting money ..

I would like share few of Amma's works here.

Amma's Knitting

Amma's Kasooti Embroidery

Kasooti in a saree

Tatting Work

Kutch Work

Embroidery at my daughter's Pattu Pavadai

I owe amma for everything I am doing now .

Without her I couldnot be in this place now..Happy

B'day Amma.. I miss you so much here.

Vanilla cup cakes and a surprise meeting with a blogger

I made this cup cakes for a party at my

friend's place . I adopted this from

Joy of Baking.

And before going to the

recipe I like to share my sweet surprise

meeting with a blogger Sukanya Ramkumar

of Hot and sweet bowls . It was a get together

at one of my friend's place who I know in my daughter's

school.I was introduced to Sukanya and few other

friends . Since I already know Sukanya is also from

my city and our area I was in dilemma whether she would

be our blogger friend . And later on with the conversation

I asked her husband's name...the minute she spells out

I was more happy and the fun started from there.It was

a pleasant surprise to meet her without planning out.

And now to the recipe...

Ingredients

Unsalted Butter - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 2/3 cup

Eggs - 3

All purpose flour - 1 1/2 cups

Baking powder - 1 1/2 tsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Milk - 1/4 cup

Method

• Preheat the oven to 350 F
• Line the muffin pans with paper liners.
• Beat butter an sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add egg one at a time . Beat well.
• Stir in vanilla.
• In a separate bowl whisk together flour , salt and baking powder.
• Add flour mixture and milk alternatively .
• Fill half the muffin cups and bake it for 18 - 20 min or tooth pick comes out clean.

For Butter cream Icing

Ingredients

Confectioner's sugar - 2 cups

Butter - 1/2 cup

Vanilla essense - 1 tsp

Milk - 2 tblsp

Desired color

Method

• Beat the butter till it is soft and creamy.
• Add vanilla and mix well.
• Slowly beat the sugar till it forms soft and peak.
• Add milk if frosting is too thick.

Cool down the cakes completely. Using the desired tip

frost the cakes.

Banana Walnut Bread

I prepared this flavorful bread from Food Network. I substitute 1 cup whole wheat flour for All - purpose flour for more healthier version. Ingredients All - purpose Flour - 1 1/4 cups Eggs - 2 Sugar - 1 cup Very ripe bananas - 3 ( pureed ) Unsalted Butter - 1/2 cup Baking soda - 1 tsp Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp Salt - 1/4 tsp Toasted Walnuts - 1/2 cup Method

• Sift flour , baking powder and salt in a bowl.
• Preheat the oven to 375 .
• Grease the 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
• Cream butter and sugar with electric beater until light and fluffy.
• Add eggs one at a time and beat well.
• Add vanilla essence .
• Now add the bananas and mix well.
• With the wooden spatula fold in the dry ingredients to this .
• Fold in the nuts and pour into the greased pan.
• Bake for 55 min or until the tooth pick comes out clean.
• Cool in the wire rack for 30 min.

Serve with tea.

Zebra Cake

Inspired by lot of bloggers I too tried my hand

in making Zebra cake . It is a real fun for Nandhu

to pour the two color batters alternatively . I adopted

this recipe from Deepa from Passionateaboutbaking.

Ingredients

Eggs - 4

Oil - 1 cup

Sugar - 1 cup

Milk - 1 cup

All purpose flour - 2 cups

Baking powder - 2 tsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Vanilla extract - 2 tsp

Dark Coco powder - 5 tblsp

Method

• Sieve flour , baking powder and salt together.
• In a bowl mix sugar and eggs until light and creamy.
• Add milk and oil and beat well .
• Add vanilla extract to the mixture.
• Now slowly add flour and mix well .
• Divide the batter into equal two portions.
• Add coco powder into one portion and mix well.
• Preheat the oven to 350 F
• Grease the pan.
• In a big ladle ( that will hold 3 tblsp ) pour the plain batter in the center of the pan.
• Then pour a ladle of coco batter in the middle of the plain batter.
• Don't tilt or mix the baking pan.
• Pour the batter alternately until finish them.
• Bake in the oven for 40 min.

Kids love these stripes in the cake .

Eggless Sponge Cake

Two weeks back One of my friend had asked me

to make an egg less sponge cake for her daughter's

second birthday . I have never tried egg less version

and so searched a lot and finally arrived at

Vahrehvah site . The cake comes out so soft and delicious.

Ingredients

Maida - 2 1 /2 cups

Cocoa powder - 1/2 cup

Butter - 1 1/2 cups

Condensed milk - 200 ml

Powdered sugar - 1 1/2 cups

Coke - 1 1/2 can

Baking powder - 1 tblsp

Method

• Preheat the oven to 400 F .
• Grease two cookie sheets.
• Beat condensed milk and powdered sugar for couple of min or till it mix well.
• Melt the butter and add to the milk - sugar mixture when it is warm.
• Whisk together maida , cocoa powder and baking powder.
• Slowly add this to the liquid mixture.
• Now add the coke and mix well.
• Pour the batter equally into the sheets.
• Tap the sheets to spread evenly.
• Bake it of 15 min and switch off the oven .
• Let the sheets be in the oven for another 15 min.
• After 15 min remove from the oven .
• Cool down completing before frosting.

Pizza

My kids love to have pizzas made at home.Since the

home made ones have the toppings of their choice

they like to make at home.This is the recipe I used

to follow from William Sonoma's Baking book .

Ingredients ( for the Pizza crust )

Yeast - 5 tsp

Warm water - 2 1/4 cups

Sugar - 2 tsp

All purpose flour - 5 cups + extra as needed

Salt - 1 tblsp

Olive oil - 1 tblsp

For the Sauce

Tomato chopped - 2 cups

Tomato Puree - 2 cups

Vegetable of your choice - 1 1/2 cups

Fresh or dried Basil ,oregano - 1 tsp each

salt - 1 tsp

Garlic chopped - 1 tsp

Olive oil - 1 tblsp

Mozzarella cheese - 1 cup

Method ( for Sauce )

• Heat oil in a kadai.Add chopped garlic.
• Then add chopped tomato and tomato puree.
• Saute well and add veggies and salt.
• Now add the herbs.
• Cook it in the medium flame till get the desired consistency.

For Pizza

• Dissolve yeast in the warm water for about 5 min.
• Add sugar , oil , flour and salt.Stir well.
• Knead the dough until soft and smooth for 8 - 10 min.
• Cover the dough and let it rise until it doubles 1 - 1 1/2 hrs.
• Cover the bowl and refrigerate over night.
• Preheat the oven to 500 F for atleast 30 min.
• Cut in half with a sharp knife.Cover the dough and let rest for 10 min.
• Roll it out into a round 12 - 14 inch.
• Spread the sauce and cheese over it.
• Brush oil over the edges of the pizza.Bake the pizza until the crust is crisp and brown ,10 - 15 min.

Notes

As mentioned in the book this recipe

makes 2 pizzas.We like the thin crust pizzas.So I cut

the dough to 4 parts.

After seeing Lakshmi's tips I am doing pizzas without kneading

the dough.This makes pizza more soft and crust.

Nankhatai

Amma makes the best Nankhatais . As usual

she makes loads of cookies and give to all our

relatives.With a small oven it would take

hours of time but she never lost patience till the last batch.

Ingredients

Maida - 2 cups

Powdered sugar - 1 cup

Ghee / Dalda melted - 3/4 cup

Baking soda - 1/2 tsp

Method

• Sieve maida and baking powder .
• In a bowl mix maida and sugar.
• Add ghee little by little to form a stiff dough.
• Keep it aside for 2 - 3 hrs.
• Pre heat the oven to 300 C
• Make a small rounds of dough and flatten it.
• Line the baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Arrange the nankhatais and bake it for 30 - 40 min.
• Cool it in the wire rack.

Serve with tea.

Note:

Don't use butter.Butter makes the cookies hard.

Carrot - Walnut Cake

While I was looking over for tea time snack

for my kids I went through this cake by

Ashaji.It is very simple , easy to make

and with all usual ingredients at our pantry.

Ingredients

All purpose flour - 2 cups

Chopped walnuts - 1/2cup

Raisins - 1/4 cup

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Brown sugar - 1/2 cup

Baking powder - 3 tsp

Cinnamon - 1 tsp

salt - 1 tsp

Finely shredded carrots - 2 cups

Milk - 1/2 cup

Vegetable oil - 1/3 cup

Egg - 1

Method

• Preheat the oven to 350 C
• Mix flour , nuts , sugars and baking powder , salt and cinnamon.
• Now add all the other ingredients just until moist.
• Pour in the greased loaf pan.
• Bake for 50 -60 min.
• Cool in the wire rack.

I did not do any glazing over the cake.The cake is so moist

and rich.

Swiss Jelly Rolls

Swiss roll cake is a type of sponge cake baked in a

shallow rectangular baking tray and then filled ,

rolled up and cut into circular pieces.

I got the recipe for the Swiss roll cake from

About.com.See the video on how to

roll the cake .

Ingredients

Eggs - 3

sugar - 1 cup

Water - 1/3 cup

Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

All purpose flour - 3/4 cup

Baking powder - 1 tsp

salt - 1/4 tsp

confectioner's sugar - as needed to roll the cake

Raspberry jelly - 2/3 cup ( I use grape jelly )

Method

• Preheat the oven at 350 c.
• Beat the eggs until light and fluffy for 3 -4 min.
• Add sugar and beat for 2 min.
• Now add water and vanilla essence and beat for 1 min.
• Fold in the dry ingredients .
• Place aluminium foil in the jelly roll pan
• Pour the batter into the jelly roll pan and spread evenly.
• Bake for 12 - 15 min.
• Spread a kitchen towel on the counter top.
• Sprinkle confectioner's sugar.
• Now turn the cake upside down.Remove the foil carefully.
• Roll the cake tightly with the long side facing you.
• Cover the cake and refrigerate for 30 min.
• Meanwhile whisk the jelly for 2 min or until the spreading consistency.
• Remove from the fridge and unroll the cake.
• Spread the jelly evenly on the cake.
• Roll it again tightly.
• Cut the cakes into circles.

Eggless Zucchini Bread - Cinna Roll Ears - Your Recipe Rocks

Since Madhuram posted this recipe i made this 4 or 5 times ,

every time with a few variation.First time I did not change anything

from the original recipe.But my son does not like the banana flavor.

So the next time I substituted eggs for bananas and carrots for

Zucchini.The bread is so moist and delicious.Madhuram Your Recipe Rocks !!!

CinnaRoll Ears

I wanted to make Cinna Rolls ever since Ashaji posted this.

Last week I tried the rolls.Though I pressed the middle with wooden

spoon I did not get the shape. The outer look of the rolls is no where near

Ashaji , but it tasted good . My daughter likes all new food unlike my son. So whenever

I make something I eagerly wait for my son's response.So when he asked for

more rolls I am very happy .And Your Recipe Rocks Ashaji.

Veg Puff with Home made Puff Pastry

Amma is popular for her mutton puffs around

our family and neighbours.I have never seen

her making for small amounts.Every time she makes

around 50 to 60 and distributes to all.She follows the recipe

from her old cooking book.It uses Dalda for spreading.

I replaced with butter here.

For Puff Pastry

Ingredients

All purpose flour - 2 cups

Cold water - 3/4 - 1 cup

Salt to taste

butter - 2 tsp

Butter for spreading - 1 stick

Method

Add salt , butter to flour .Mix water slowly and knead well to form

a soft dough.Wrap it with plastic sheet and keep it in the fridge for 30 min.

Bring stick of butter to room temperature.

Make a paste of butter by mixing it well with spoon and keep it in the refrigerator again for 10 min.

Divide butter to 3 parts.

Roll out the dough to a rectangle with short side facing you.

Apply 1 part of butter evenly to 2/3 of dough ( lower 2 parts )

leaving 3/4 " in the corners.

Now fold the top third of dough down.

Then fold the bottom third up like a envelope.

This is the 1 st turn.

Rotate the dough a quarter clockwise so that the fold is on your right.

Cover the dough and refrigerate for 30 min.

Repeat the process 2 more times every time the fold should be on your right.

For Filling

Ingredients

Potato - 2

Chopped carrot , beans,peas - 1 cup

turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Garam masala - 1/2 tsp

Chilli powder - 1 tsp

Onion - 1

Salt - to taste

oil 1 tsp

Lemon juice - 1 tsp

Method

• Pressure cook potato for 10 min and mash it well.
• Steam cook the other vegetables.
• In a kadai add 1 tsp of oil.Saute the onion well.
• Now add veg and potato.
• Add turmeric , garam masala , chilli powder and salt.
• Bring it to a dry mixture.
• In the end add lemon juice.

Making Puffs

Roll out the dough into a rectangle.Cut the dough into squares or

rectangles.Keep 1 tblsp of veg mix inside each of the square.

Join the ends with water.Brush the top of the puff with egg.

Bake the puffs in the preheated oven at 400 C for 30 - 40 min.

This is my entry to Mansi's Monthly Mingle Appetizers &

Hors'doeuvres.