Strawberry Cake with White Chocolate Icing

Strawberry cake with white chocolate frosting!!! Yummy and a sweet adrenaline rush I should say :) 

This was one cake that I loved as soon as I made it and did a happy feet dance :) Though not so perfect with the frosting, it still made me feel proud of this acquired skill of mine ;) A heart full of roses..Who wouldn't like it! 

The cake is simple, eggless and delicious!! 

Ingredients:

For cake:

All purpose flour (maida) - 250 gms

Cooking soda - 1/2 tsp

Baking powder - 1 tsp
Butter - 100 gms

Milk maid - 200 ml

Water - 50 ml

Milk - 100 ml

Strawberry Emulsion - 1/2 tsp

For frosting:

White chocolate - 100 gms

Butter - 140 gms

Icing sugar - 75 gms

Method:

Sieve maida, cooking soda and baking powder together. 

Take a mixing bowl and beat butter and milk maid until smooth. Add the strawberry emulsion and beat until well mixed. Fold in the maida, baking powder mixture alternating with milk and water until well incorporated. 

Pour the batter in the greased and floured mould and smoothen the top with spatula. 

Preheat oven to 180°C and bake the cake for 30-40 mins. 

Check if cooked by inserting a tooth pic in the center. The cake done if the toothpick comes out clean.

Icing:

Chop white chocolate into small chunks. Melt it over double boiler and keep it aside until it becomes warm but does not solidify again.

Meanwhile beat butter and sugar until stiff. 

Beat in the white chocolate into the butter sugar mixture.

Take a disposable icing bag and put in the star shaped nozzle. Fill it with icing and pipe small circles from inside out to make pretty rosettes. 

Enjoy the cake :)

Tips:

If you dont have emulsion for flavoring, simply use 1/2 tsp of strawberry essence and 1/4 tsp of pink food color to get the same results. 

White chocolate frosting is quite sweet so try to keep the sugar levels in the cake subtle. 

Written by: Nithya
Send in your queries by clicking here. 

Sago Murukku / Javvarisi Murukku

Generally I require fried food like murukku or chips only when I eat sambar or rasam rice. In fact it has so much become a habit to eat rice with these fried stuff, that now I am not able to eat either of them plain :P 

There are few exceptions to the above habit and one of it is this murukku. This tangy murukku that mom made for diwali has really become a hit. Its so nice to have at tea time and while it is chill outside. It has the subtle spice along with the tang of curd and lemon and definitely a hint of sago taste which makes it really unique. 

I am sure it sounds pretty new to a lot of you here just like how it was for me and I thoroughly enjoyed eating them. Come on, lets do 'same pinch' once you try it out :)

Ingredients:

Sago / Javarrisi / Sabudana - 1 cup

Curd - 1 1/2 cups

Rice flour - 3 cups (aprox)

Green chillies - 10

Lemon juice - 2 limes (optional)

Asafoetida - a pinch

Salt - for taste

Oil - 1/3 cup

Method:

Soak sago in curd over night. 

Grind it into a smooth paste along with green chillies, salt and asafoetida. If its too dry, add 1/2 cup of curd and grind it into a smooth paste. Don't add water while grinding. 

Now take the ground paste into a large mixing plate and add rice flour to it, little by little and mix well. Keep adding rice flour and kneed it until it is firm enough to squeeze while it is put in the murukku maker.  This quantity would approximately take in 3 cups of rice flour. 

Heat 1/3 cup of oil and add it to the dough along with lemon juice and kneed again. 

Now put the dough into the murukku maker and squeeze in hot oil. Keep the flame in lower medium and fry until it is crisp and golden evenly. 

Remove from oil and pat it dry on a news paper. 

Store in air tight containers and enjoy the murukku for a week :)

Written by: Nithya
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Diwali Celebration - Almond Pudding

May millions of lamps illuminate your life
with endless joy, prosperity, health & wealth forever!!

Wish you all a very happy Diwali :)

My Diwali is being beautiful, delicious, happy and memorable :) I hope all of you are enjoying this joyous occasion at its best with your dear ones. Enjoy the day with fire crackers, sweets and loads of wishes :)

My house is loaded with sweets and savories this year and here is one for you all, may be the best of this year :) The rich creamy and sinfully delicious almond pudding :) 

Ingredients:

Almonds - 200 gms

Milk - 1/2 ltr

Whipped cream - 1 cup (200 ml)

Gelatine - 20 gms

Powdered Sugar - 200 gms

Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Method:

Blanch almonds in warm water for an hour. Peel the skin and keep it aside. 

Grind the almonds into a smooth paste by adding few spoons of milk. 

Take the gelatine in a cup and add few spoons of water to it. Microwave it for a min for it to completely dissolve. 

Boil the milk and add sugar to it. Mix until well dissolved. Now completely simmer the stove and add the ground almond paste and mix well. Remove from flame. 

Allow it to come to room temperature. Add the gelatine mixture, vanilla esssence and mix well and let it cool completely. 

Finally fold in the whipped cream to it. 

Pour them into moulds or serving glasses and allow it to set in the fridge for 2 hours atlease. 

Serve cold topped with some crushed praline.

Written by: Nithya
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Puran Poli / Paruppu Poli - Stepwise pictures

Puran poli or paruppu poli or boli as you call it is one of the best traditional recipes we can treasure forever. It can never get boring or out dated. 

Diwali is round the corner and why not make a traditional sweet for it. Checkout the simple stepwise hints below and get set going :)

This is my Mom's version. She patted the usual poli with delicious condiments like desiccated coconut, poppy seeds etc which actually added great effect to the texture, look and taste of the poli :) 

Ingredients:

Maida - 1 1/2 cups

Wheat flour - 1 1/2 cups

Oil - 1/2 cup

Channa dhall - 1 cup

Jaggery - 1 cup

Dried coconut scrappings - 1 cup

Poppy seeds - 1/2 cup

Cashew nuts - 1/4 cup

Sara Paruppu 

Dried cucumber seeds 

Method:

Step 1: Soak channa dhall in water for atleast two hours. Grate the jaggery finely. Cook the dhall. Grind the dhall into a smooth paste without adding much water. Add the grated jeggery and grind further until it is pretty thick. Roll them into large balls as shown in image 1. 

Step 2: Take maida, wheat flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Add water little by little and kneed into a firm dough like chapathi dough. Add the oil and kneed again and allow this mix to get soaked in the oil for atleast 2 hours. 

Now pinch a lemon sized dough and spread it over your left palm with your fingers. 

 

Step 3: Keep the sweet dhall filling in the center on top of the maida dough. 

Step 4: Close it nicely from all the directions until it is well covered with the outer coating. 

Step 5: Roll all the dough into balls as said above and keep it ready. 

Step 6: Take a large plate and mix in the scrapped dry coconut, finely chopped cashews, poppy seeds, sara paruppu and dried cucumber seeds. Now roll each ball on the above mixture to coat it nicely on all sides.

Step 7: Keep the rolled ball on a well greased plastic sheet and spread it evenly into a moderately thick disk using your fingers. See to that the dhall filling doest come out. 

Step 8: Pan roast the poli on both sides by adding some oil until it turns light brown in color. 

Step 9: Apply some ghee on top and serve it hot.

Written by: Nithya
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Cottage Cheese Fingers

Delicious finger food during a rainy day is completely unbeatable right?! Chennai just completed its quota of heavy rains, cyclone, bad roads and power cuts. Inspite of all the inconveniences that a rain causes, I still love the wet smell of soil, chill breeze and a hot coffee with some finger food to go with it :) It makes the day something special :)

If the rainy day turns out to be a holiday for kids and better half then its double bonanza. Such days could turn out to be super fun with some board games.

The happy fact about cottage cheese is that its high in protein, low in carbohydrates and has enough calcium content to make your bones strong :) beyond all this it is simply yummy. Snacking on healthy food during your fun time also contributes to a healthy lifestyle.

These cottage cheese fingers can be shallow fried or deep fried or even baked. I have tried two versions of crispy coatings, crushed cornflakes as well as oats and we loved both :)

Recipe adapted from - Priya's versatile recipes


Ingredients:

Cottage Cheese (Paneer) - 1 block 

Curd - 1 cup

Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp

Garam Masala powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - for taste

Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp

Kasoori Methi leaves (Dried fenugreek leaves) - 1/2 tsp

Lemon juice - 1 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

Maida (all purpose flour) - 1/2 cup

Corn flour - 2 tblsp

Salt - for taste

Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp

Oil - to fry

Corn flakes - 1/2 cup

Oats - 1/2 cup

Method:

Chop the cottage cheese into long fingers. 

Take curd in a wide bowl and add chilly powder, cumin powder, garam masala powder, kasoori methi, ginger garlic paste and salt to it. Beat well until well mixed. Now drop in the cottage cheese fingers into it and allow it to marinate for 1/2 an hour to 1 hour. 

Meanwhile take maida, corn flour, salt and chilly powder in a mixing bowl and add just enough water to make a moderately thick paste. 

Now dip the marinated cottage cheese fingers in the above made maida paste such that it is well coated. Immediately roll it in some crushed corn flakes or oats and deep fry it in hot oil until golden brown on all sides. 

Crispy crunchy cottage cheese fingers are ready to snack on :)

Tips:

Marinate the cottage cheese for at least 1/2 hour for best results. 

Serve it hot or store in airtight container until serving time.

Out of 6 votes at home corn flakes coating scored 4 and oats scored 2 :) So now you can make your choice!! :)

Written by: Nithya
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