Thursday, February 6, 2014

Onion Crackers

These days, I have been looking to try different varieties of salty/savory crackers. Many recipes on savory crackers have lot of cheese, and butter. I found this recipe at Gayathri's Cook Spot that has onion as one of the main ingredients. Initially I was skeptical to add onion however once baked, I realized that the onions give these crackers a slightly sweet yet salty taste. My friends and S who tasted these crackers could not stop at one:)



Adapted from here (Gayathri's Cook Spot)

Ingredients:
Wheat Flour-1cup
Quick Cooking Oats-1/2cup
All Purpose Flour-1/2cup
Olive Oil-1/2cup
Onion-1(finely chopped; used red onion)
Green Chilly-2(finely chopped)
Baking Powder-1tsp
Sugar-2tsp
Salt-1tsp
Black Sesame Seeds-4tsp (I used white sesame seeds- 3tsp)
Water-1/2cup

Pre heat the oven to 350F. Mix all the ingredients and make a soft dough like a round ball. Next roll the dough on a flat surface, and cut in round shapes using round cookie cutter. Place these round crackers on baking try and prick with fork all over. Bake for 15 minutes and then flip to cook on the other side for again 15 minutes. Once you see the golden brown color, it gives the signal that crackers are ready to be taken out from the oven. These crackers once cooled can be stored in air tight container for 3-4 days.





Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Masala Crackers

I have been making sweet cookies for a while, though have not posted any recipe on it yet. Stay tuned it will come shortly. Two years before I made this savory crackers during Christmas time from the blog Tadka Pasta. My friends and family who tasted these crackers that time liked it very much.  For long time I did not make these crackers again. This year I made these crackers already thrice, and everyone who tried it says; it taste yum! Curry leaves and sun dried tomato add the zing factor for these savory cookies. You can increase the spice level per your taste.



Adapted the recipe from here (Tadka Pasta)

Ingredients

4 green chillies
2 Sprigs curry leaves
6 Sun dried tomato halves
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1¼ Teaspoon salt
¼ Teaspoon pepper
¼ Teaspoon red chilli powder
½ Teaspoon baking soda
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, soft
¼ Cup olive oil
4 Tablespoon thick yogurt

Mix all the ingredients, and keep the dough refrigerated for 3-4 hours. This helps to cut crackers evenly, and cause less crumbs while cutting the dough.  Pre heat the oven to 350 F. Place the cut cookies on baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes depending on how crisp you would like these crackers. I baked the crackers for 25 minutes for the crispier taste. Baking for 20 minutes yield soft crackers.

Monday, February 3, 2014

Princess Cake

I made this cake when my 3 year old asked me if I can make a Princess Cake for her birthday. I read through blogs, you tube videos, and finally used the Betty Crocker's recipe on high level for the design of the cake. I made 3 eggless vanilla cake using recipe from Divine Taste. Icing is butter cream icing following Wilton recipe. I do bake cakes regularly however icing on the cake is only for special occasions.

Cake design and template adapted from here (Betty Crocker)
Egg less Vanilla cake recipe adapted from here (Divine Taste) 
Butter cream icing recipe adapted from here (Wilton)


Princess Cake

I was apprehensive how the final cake will turn out.  Planning ahead of time, shopping all the ingredients for baking and decoration, doing all the home work of reading recipe again and again helped me bake and decorate the cake.  I started making the cake 2 days before to make sure I have enough time to redo if make any mistakes. First I made the base cake and set in fridge tightly wrapped in cling wrap. Next I made the butter cream icing and colored it to the desired pink color. Somehow I feel, I need to see the color of icing in white light, or day light to make sure I got the desired color icing.

I usually do all the baking  after putting kids to sleep (when I get the undivided attention), I use the refrigerator white light to make sure I got the right color icing, silly may be:) but it worked for me.
The smile on my daughters face after seeing the cake was more than what words could define. I felt happy and content too seeing her smile and that we did not have to rush to buy the cake from store:)

Design of the cake
I made 4 cakes with below sizes;
One , 1/2-quart ovenproof bowl (8 inches across top)--I used the Pyrex Bowl that is oven safe
Three, 8-inch round cake

Cake Recipe
Pre heat oven to 305 F. Prepare the grease pans. Bake  cake at 305 F for 50-60 minutes. I baked 2 cakes at a time (since I have 2 pans), and one cake separately. Then I baked the dome shape cake in glass bowl separately. All these cakes were baked in 2 days. Make sure not to over beat the ingredients as it could result in hard cake. The texture of the cake was perfect to decorate.

Cake Ingredients
11/2 cup All Purpose Flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda/ sodium bicarbonate
1 tin/400gm sweetened condensed milk
1 stick butter or 1/2 cup butter melted (I generally keep the butter outside to bring to temperature 4-5 hours before starting to bake)
3/4 cup water/milk (I use half milk and half water)
4 Tablespoon Yogurt
2 tsp vanilla extract

Buttercream Icing Recipe (Wilton)
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine softened
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
2 tablespoons milk

For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, and rewhip before using.