Velvety Pound Cake

Ingredients
Butter - 230 gms
Self Raising Flour  - 3 cups
Caster Sugar - 2 and a half cups
Eggs - 6
Whipping Cream - 1 cup
Vanilla extract  - 1 Tablespoon
Orange extract - 1 teaspoon
Almond extract - 1 teaspoon
Cream Cheese - 1 Tablespoon  (optional )

Method
1. Prepare a bundt tin by applying butter and flour.
2. Sift the flour. Cake flour can be used instead of s r flour.
3. Cream butter and sugar.
4. Add eggs one by one. After adding each egg beat for atleast 1 minute.
5. Add flour and cream alternatively and mix gently.
6. Add cream cheese and extracts.
7. Pour the mixture to prepared bundt tin.
8. Place it in middle rack of cool oven.
9. Set the temperature to 190 c.
10. Bake for 45 minutes or till the cake is  done.
11. Cool for 30 minutes.
12. Enjoy the velvet cake.

Condensed Milk Kesari

Prepared this simple sweet yesterday to celebrate my birthday.

Ingredients

Rava - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Cashews
Ghee - 3 Tablespoon
Condensed Milk - 3 Tablespoon
Water - 2 and half cup
Cardamom - 1
Food colour - a drop

Method

1.Heat a tablespoon of ghee in a pan and fry cashews and cardamom.
2.Take them off and in the same pan, fry rava nicely.
3.In the mean time, boil water and keep it ready. Crush the cardamom.
4.Add boiling water and food colour to rava and let it cook for 5 minutes.
5.Once it is cooked, add sugar and mix without any lumps.
6.Add condensed milk and add more if you prefer sweet.
7.Add ghee in intervals and finish it off with cardamom and fried cashews.

Vanilla Buttercream

Ingredients

Salted butter  - 200gms
Heavy Cream - 2 Tablespoon
Icing Sugar - 3 - 4 cups
Vanilla Essence - 1 teaspoon

Method

1. Bring the butter to room temperature.  Never use microwave to defrost. Should be able to  make finger impression with slight touch in butter.

2. Beat the butter with paddle attachment for 3 - 4 mins.

3. Add 1/2 cup of icing sugar and beat in high speed for 30 seconds. Same way add till 2 cups of icing sugar , half a cup at a time.

4. Add cream and vanilla essence and beat till fluffy.

5. If icing is thin, add more icing sugar. If thick add more cream.

Madelines

Ingredients

2 Large eggs
50gms sugar
50gms Plain flour
50gms Almond Powder
60gms butter
A pinch of salt


Method
1. Melt the butter.
2. Beat the eggs with a pinch of salt.
3. Add sugar and continue whisking.
4. Mix flour and almond powder together and mix it with egg mixture.
5.Add the melted butter.
6.Cover and keep it in refrigerator for atleast 2 hours.
7.Butter the madeline pan and keep it in refrigerator.
8.preheat the oven to 190c.
9.Fill the madeline pan with mixture and bake for 7-9mins.
10.Cool it in wire rack.
11.Enjoy with a cup of coffee.

Rich Fruit Cake

It's Xmas again and as we are going on vacation to India, I didn't prepare anything special for xmas except this cake. This time I went for Rum soaked fruit cake. Yesterday I baked the cake and I am waiting to taste it... Fingers crossed...

I made 2 big cakes , one square
 and another round one both 9 inches pan to feed my big family back home..

Ingredients
--------------
For the Fruits
------------------
Luxury Dry Fruit Mixture - 500gms
Cashew Nuts - 200 gms
Candied Orange peel - 100gms
Rum - 300ml

I made this 3 weeks advance. Cut the fruits and chop the cashew nuts and put them in a clean dry glass bowl with 250ml of Rum. Close with lid and keep mixing them every 2- 3 days.

Caramel Syrup
-------------------
Sugar - 1 1/2 cups
Water - 1 Tablespoon
Hot Water - 3/4 cup

Heat sugar in a heavy pan with a tablespoon of water. Keep stirring till it becomes dark brown. Remove from stove and add hot water carefully. Cool it.

Cake
--------
Self Raising Flour - 3 3/4 cup
Sugar   - 2 Cups
Molasses - 1Cup
Egg - 7 Large
Almond Powder - 1 Cup
Butter - 350gms
Baking Soda - 2 Tsp
Baking Powder - 1 Tsp
Salt - a pinch
Orange Marmalade - 4 Table Spoons
Spice Powder - 2 Tsp
Jeera Powder -1/4 Tsp
Vanilla Essence - 2 tsp
Whole Cashews - To decorate

Method
----------
1.Preheat the oven to 180 C. Separate egg yolks. Line the cake pans with double or triple layered baking paper.
2.Drain Fruits in a colander. collect the drained juice in a bowl.
3.Sieve flour with baking powder and soda. Then mix it with spice powders, salt and almond powder.
4.Cream butter and sugar together. Then add molasses and mix it.
5.Add egg yolks one by one and beat it nicely.
6.Mix 3 Tablespoon of flour mixture with fruit mixture.
7.Add the remaining flour to the butter, egg mixture in 4 times and mix with wooden spoon.
8.Add essense , orange marmalade and caramel syrup.
9.Now mix the dry fruits gently into cake mixture.
10.Beat the egg whites with a tablespoon of sugar and beat till soft peaks formed.
11.Mix them into cake mixture.
12.Pour the cake mixture into cake pans evenly.
13.Decorate with cashew nuts.
14.Bake in oven for 1 hour or till done. Mine took 1 hour 15 mins. So, after 1 hour I loosely covered the top with 2 layers of baking paper to prevent the burning in top.
15.When the knife comes out clean, Take it off from oven and sprinkle with 2 teaspoon of Rum.
16.Keep it rest for 30 mins.
17.Turn it upside down on a wire rack and let it cool for 1 hour.
18.Mix the remaining rum with drained fruit juice and brush it all over the cake.
19.Wrap it tightly with a cling wrap.
20.Wait patiently for a week to enjoy your cake..
21.I have no more rum left. But if we have anything left, we can brush the cake with rum every 3 days..

Roasted Chicken

Prepared this chicken yesterday for dinner. It was so perfect, crispy and juicy. Surely a keeper.

Ingredients
--------------
Medium Chicken -1
Lemon     - 1
Kashmiri chilly Powder - 3 Teaspoons
Jeera Powder - 1 Teaspoon
Salt
Oil - 1 + 1 Tablespoon
Butter - 1 Tablespoon

Potatoes - 250gms
Carrots - 2
Chilly Powder - 1/2 Teaspoon
Jeera Powder - 1/4 Teaspoon
Coriander Powder - 1/4 Teaspoon (Optional)
Oil - 1 Teaspoon
Salt

Method
---------
1.Clean the Chicken , Remove the skin and wash it with vinegar, turmeric powder and salt.
2.Wipe it gently with a tissue paper.
3.Make slits.
4.Mix lemon juice, chilly powder, Jeera powder, salt and  oil in a bowl.
5.Apply them evenly in chicken. Place the lemon skin inside the cavity and tie the legs.
6.Cover it with a cling film and keep in refrigerator for atleast 12 hours. I kept mine for a whole day.
7.Preheat the oven to 250 C.
8.Place the chicken on a wire rack placed in a roaster tin.
9.Apply some melted  butter all over the chicken.
10.Cover it loosely with a aluminium foil.
12.Place it middle rack of the oven.
13.Reduce the temperature to 200 C and cook for 40 mins.
14.Cut the potatoes and carrots lengthwise and mix it with masala powders and oil.
15.After 40 mins, take the chicken out from the oven. remove the aluminium foil and brush with
    juice from the tray.
16.Turn the chicken.
17.Place the marinated vegetables in the roasting tin below the wire rack.
18.cook the chicken uncovered for 20 mins in 180 C.
19.Take it out , turn it again , brush with juice from the tray and cook again for 15mins in 180C.
20.Increase the temperature to 200 and cook for 5 mins. Switch off the oven.
21. I put some frozen peas and corn to the roasting tin at this stage and keep it oven for 10 mins.
22.Take it out from oven and brush with little melted butter and leftover juices.
23.Rest it for 10mins .
24.We enjoyed this with some boiled sweet corn.
25.Yummy.........

White Cake

It was Josie's birthday yesterday and this time I made a simple white cake with buttercream icing. And for brkfst I made simple pan cakes and rasgullas. For rasgullas, I didn't follow any particular recipe. It was good but just wanted to make a note about syrup. I used 1 and half cup sugar with 2 cups of water and it was right at the end. But I think we can reduce sugar to one and quarter cup. Let me see next time.

So to the cake now........

Ingredients
--------------
Self Raising Flour - 2 1/4 cup
Sugar                     - 11/2 cup (bit sweeter. can be reduced to 11/4 cup)
Egg whites             - 6
Butter                     - 170gm
Vanilla Extract      - 2 Teaspoon
Milk                       - 1cup
Salt                         - a pinch
Butter cream icing

Method
----------
1.Preheat the oven to 180 C. Sieve SR Flour, baking powder and salt together.
2. Mix Egg whites , vanilla extract and milk with a beater in slow speed for 1 min..
3. Cream butter with a electric beater.
4. Add sugar and beat till mixed.
5. Add flour mixture and all but a cup of milk mixture. beat for 2 mins.
6. Add the remaining milk and beat for 2 mins.
7. Pour into two 8 " inch pans and bake for 20-23 mins.

Once cooled decorate with butter cream icing and top it with jellies.

Notes
--------
Since I used the yellow butter, cake was little bit yellow rather than white. So, have to choose  white butter next time.
For the same reason of yellow butter, the blue icing turned into green.