Tag: Christmas


Dec
2013

Good Morning with Strawberry Swirl Sweet Rolls

categories: Baking, Breakfast, Desserts

Strawberry Swirl Sweet Rolls1

 

Heya!

Hope you all had an amazing Christmas & got to spend time with family, friends and your loved ones! I had a fantastic day which started with a breakfast of these delicious Blueberry Pancakes. I used this recipe with the addition of frozen blueberries in the batter. Nibbled on some cheese, chocolate and Fruit Cake which had time to age for more than 3 weeks. Took a walk with hubby. And spent the rest of the day watching Miracle on 34th street & It’s a wonderful life, cozying up in a blanket. It was indeed a wonderful day!

Today I have got you a perfect holiday entertaining recipe. Ring the morning of 2014 with these juicy, sticky and sweet strawberry rolls. They are tender and puffy, utterly soft and buttery. Totally melt-in-your-mouth-experience! Plenty festive too!

 

Strawberry Swirl Sweet Rolls3

 

This happened to be a big win for me before the end of 2013. I finally concurred my fear of handling yeast and got these rolls right at first attempt! Woohooo!! They are that easy people! Just read the recipe carefully before starting the prep and follow all the steps, you are halfway there! The wait time of 4 hours is a bit tedious but if you do not have that kind of time at a stretch then you can do all the work at night. After the 1st rise in a warm place, let the rolls rise overnight at room temperature to bake in the morning. That way you don’t have to wait till noon to eat them! Convenient, isn’t it?! 😉

 

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Double this recipe if you’re serving a larger crowd. You can freeze the extra rolls sans the glaze and reheat them in micro when sweet roll cravings hit. Also, I do not have pictures with the glaze but it is absolutely necessary to top these with glaze. Okay, it is up to you to decide (Nope, glaze is MUST!). Not that I am pushy but the glaze makes them sweeter and better!

Happy Holidays!!!
Enjoy!!

Strawberry Swirl Sweet Rolls

Recipe & preparation minimally adapted from Food & Wine

Servings: Makes 9 rolls | Prep time: 30 minutes | Bake time: 25 minutes | Total time: 4 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients:

DOUGH

  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/3 cup white granulated sugar
  • 3/4 Tbsp instant dry yeast
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 and 1/4 cups + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting/rolling

FILLING

  • 3/4 cup frozen strawberries, sliced thick (NOT thawed)
  • 1 tsp grated lemon zest
  • 3 Tbsp white granulated sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cornstarch

GLAZE

  • 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 and 1/2 Tbsp cream/milk

Directions:

  1. MAKE THE DOUGH: In a small saucepan, warm the milk over low heat until warm (No need of using thermometer but about 95ºF). Pour the warm milk into the bowl of a stand electric mixer fitted with the dough hook and manually stir in the sugar and yeast. Let stand until the yeast is foamy, about 5 minutes. Add the softened butter, egg, zest and salt. Scrape down the sides and manually stir as needed. Gradually add flour and beat at medium speed until a soft dough forms. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until the dough is soft and supple, about 10 minutes longer. *If you do not have a stand-mixer with a hook attachment, knead the dough by hand in this step.Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it with your hands for about 2 minutes. *You may add little more flour if the dough is still too sticky to handle at this point. Form the dough into a ball and transfer it to a lightly greased bowl. Cover the dough and let sit in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.

    Line the bottom of a 8×8 inch baking dish with parchment paper,leaving room on the sides. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and, using a rolling pin, roll into a 10×14 inch rectangle. I used a ruler for accuracy. Make sure the dough is smooth and evenly thick, even at the corners.

  2. MAKE THE FILLING: In a medium bowl, toss the frozen strawberries slices with the lemon zest, sugar and cornstarch. Spread the cold sugared strawberries evenly over the dough. Tightly roll up the dough to form a 14-inch-long log. Cut into 9 even rolls (about 1.5 inches in width each). Arrange them in the prepared baking pan, cut sides up. Cover the rolls and let them rise in a warm place until they are puffy, about 2 hours. The berries will release their juice at the bottom of the pan – this is OK.
  3. Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF degrees. Cover the rolls with aluminum foil and bake for about 20 minutes covered and 5 minutes uncovered, until they are golden and the berries are bubbling. Transfer the pan to a rack to cool for about 15 minutes.
  4. MAKE THE GLAZE: In a small bowl, whisk the confectioners’ sugar and cream/milk until smooth. Add more sugar or cream, depending how thick you want the glaze. Pour glaze over the rolls and serve warm.

*Make Ahead: During the second rise, cover the sliced rolls and let sit overnight at room temperature before baking. Baked rolls sans glaze can be frozen up to 2 months and warmed up to enjoy at a later date. Glaze right before serving.

Strawberry Swirl Sweet Rolls4

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Dec
2013

Honey-Cinnamon Whole-Wheat & Flax-seed Pancakes with Maple-Strawberry Compote

categories: Breakfast, Desserts, Pancakes

Honey-Cinnamon Whole-Wheat & Flax-seed Pancakes2

 

Last 10 days were spent visiting family and hibernating during pleasant, cozy North-Indian winter. It was so relaxing. Generous hot mugs of ginger tea and coffee were gulped while the endless conversation flowed. Bowls of warm red carrot halwa, Gulab Jamuns, Sarson ka saag & Makke ki Roti (corn flat-bread) were devoured. Insane amount of homemade white butter was consumed with everything! Happiness!! Such wonderful days! I stayed away from the blog for the duration and I am back just in time 🙂

I know this is very last minute and most of you have already planned the menus for tomorrow (In that case, make these the next day!). Last minute planners, I am here at your rescue! Try this super-quick, super-simple yet ultra-delicious breakfast option for a total fuss-free Christmas morning. Oh, they are healthy of course! The pancakes are unbelievably soft and fluffy, that too without addition of any oil/butter. They require very few ingredients which I’m sure you will already have at your disposal! This way you can kick-start your morning on a right note 🙂
Wishing all of you MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
Merry, happy & lotsa love!! ♥ ♥ ♥

 

Honey-Cinnamon Whole-Wheat & Flax-seed Pancakes1

 

Honey-Cinnamon Whole-Wheat & Flax-seed Pancakes3

 

Honey-Cinnamon Whole-Wheat & Flax-seed Pancakes with Maple-Strawberry Compote

Yields: 12 pancakes | Prep time: 5 minutes | Cook time: 20-25 minutes | Total: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

Pancakes

  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 4 Tbsp ground flax seed
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 4 Tbsp honey

Maple-Strawberry Compote

  • 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
  • 7-8 oz. fresh strawberries, cut into thick slices
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

  1. Sift together flour, flax seed, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, vanilla extract and honey.
  3. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients & stir to combine.
  4. Heat a medium non-stick skillet to medium heat. Spoon a ladleful of batter into the center of the skillet and form a nice round pancake. Let cook till the bubbles start forming on the top surface and the bottom will be golden brown. Flip and cook for an additional minute or so until browned and cooked through. Handle them carefully while flipping as they are quite soft and delicate. Transfer each pancake to a plate until all batter is used up.
  5. Compote: In a small saucepan, heat the maple syrup and strawberries on a low heat. Let the mixture cook and come to a boil, stirring in between, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla extract. Top the pancakes with the compote.

* You may serve these pancakes coated with peanut butter or with fresh fruit preserve.
* If you don’t have buttermilk, feel free to use plain or vanilla yogurt instead.
*The pancake recipe is an oldie from my Archives and was posted on my Facebook page (on 10/04/’13) just before I started blogging here.

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Dec
2013

Christmas Fruit Cake

categories: Baking, Cake, Cakes, Fall

Christmas Fruit Cake1

 

This was going to be my first year baking Christmas cake. I was super-excited! Really! I prepared the fruit-soak almost 3 weeks in advance which is major for me as I have never been much of a planner! And of course for the recipe as the liqueur gets a chance to marry the fruit 😉

I started hunting for recipes months ago. And I got to know that Christmas cakes have got such bad reputation! They are quite infamous for being boring, dry, overly sweet and like a hard brick that I was fairly skeptical at even attempting to make it at home. It deterred my enthusiasm quite a bit. Hence it was a pretty daunting task zeroing on THE recipe. But finally chanced upon the one which spoke to me and boy, hold your breath people, I have found THE recipe for your Christmas cake this year!

 

Christmas Fruit Cake4
Assorted fruits & nuts mixed in before pouring the liquere

 

 

Christmas Fruit Cake2

 

The recipe is fairly simple. As I told you before, the fruit-mix needs to be soaked in advance. Then a night before making the cake, just simmer few ingredients. This step guarantees moister and softer cake as the fruit-mix get a chance to soften up a bit. Dump all the other ingredients into this mixture. And that’s it! You know I have a thing for simple and quick recipes and this was just that! Pop the cakes to be baked in the oven and forget about them for an hour. Do whatever you do in the meanwhile like get lost on Pinterest (so addicting!) or doing your nails (perfect utilization of time!) and they’ll be ready! I did a taste from my mini loaf and the cake was supremely moist! Success!!

 

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Be sure to wrap the cakes (tightly) soon (when they are still quite warm.. almost hot) after removing from moulds and showering them with liqueur, to avoid anymore direct contact with the atmosphere. This will ensure that the moisture gets locked. If you want more liqueur then feed the cakes every 6-7 days with more liqueur (till ready to eat) and wrap them back. They taste best after several days/weeks of aging so be patient! 🙂

Happy Baking!!
xx

Christmas Fruit Cake

Recipe barely adapted from Rasa Malaysia

Fruit-Mix: To be prepared 2-3 weeks in advance or at least 48 hrs before

  • 7 cups chopped mixed fruits (I used assortment of raisins, sultanas, black currents, dried cranberries, dried apricots, dried pineapple, dried figs, glaced cherries, tutti frutti, orange and lemon peel)
  • 1 cup of roasted nuts (walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, pecans or pistachio – I used walnuts and almonds)
  • 1-1.5 cups of brandy or rum

Pour the chosen liqueur over dried fruits and roasted nuts and store this mix in a glass airtight container in a cool,dry place.

Preparing Cake:

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 Tbsp milk powder (I skipped it & I don’t think it made a difference)
  • 2 Tbsp fresh orange zest
  • 1 Tbsp fresh lemon zest
  • 1 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 heaping tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ginger powder
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 4 large eggs, slightly beaten

Directions:

  1. Combine prepared fruit-mix (fruits+nuts+liqueur), butter, sugar, honey, orange juice and baking soda in a large saucepan. Stir over low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Bring the mixture to boil and simmer for about 5 minutes over low heat. Stir consistently. Remove the saucepan and leave to cool. Do this step a night before or few hours before making the the cake as it takes sometime for the mixture to completely cool.
  2. Preheat the oven to 150ºC/300ºF. Grease 8×4 inch loaf pan and 6-count (3×2 inch) brownie pan with butter. Set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, milk powder, zests and ground spices.
  4. Gently stir in eggs to the cooled fruit mixture. Fold in the dry ingredients. Divide the mixture in to 2 parts and pour one half in loaf pan and the other half in brownie pan. Bake for about 60 minutes or until top slight cracks and is cooked.
  5. Remove the cake from the mould after letting cool for 5-10 minutes and generously brush the tops with brandy/rum. If you’re bold enough, make several holes in the cake by inserting skewer through n through at several places and pour the liqueur generously. Tightly cover with multiple layers of aluminium foil and finally with plastic wrap. Store in an airtight container. The cake tastes best eaten after a few days of aging. If you’re making weeks ahead like I did, brush the cake with brandy/rum every 6-7 days.

*Serve with a dusting of powdered sugar and decorated with glaced cherries and slivered almonds.

♥ Another great recipe I chanced upon is here. Do check it out!

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Dec
2013

Maple Snickerdoodles #fbcookieswap

categories: Baking, Cookies, Fall

Maple Snickerdoodles1

Third & final recipe of the cookie swap! These were the other two recipes if you wish to check out. My third match was Himanshu of The White Ramekins. He has such an amazing blog. Scrumptious recipes accompanies beautiful photography. His blog is a delight to see and read.

The recipe of these snickerdoodles is unbelievably simple, made with simple ingredients which I always have handy. I am sure you will too. I love everything cinnamon and these cookies fit the bill perfectly for all the cinnamon lovers! Perfect for the holiday season!

Maple Snickerdoodles2

These snickerdoodles are soft, thick and pillowy with a subtle hint of maple syrup. I like my cookies soft so I baked them for just about 10 minutes but if you don’t then extend the baking time to 13 minutes.

To be honest, they are too good to be shared. Really, they turned out so awesome that I was tempted to eat the whole batch myself and not ship them at all! Best cookies ever!! You have to have to have to make these! Believe me & add it to your holiday baking list. ☺️

Happy Christmas baking all of you!

Enjoy!

{UPDATE} 10/09/2017 : I am updating the recipe to provide whole wheat flour and eggfree option. I baked these snickerdoodles recently with these 2 substitutes for my nephew and he was a happy camper!

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Recipe inspired from Recipe Girl

Print Recipe
 Maple Snickerdoodles
These maple snickerdoodles are soft, thick and pillowy with a subtle hint of maple syrup and high on cinnamon.
Course Cookies
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 11 minutes
Passive Time 30-60 minutes
Servings
cookies
Ingredients
Topping
Course Cookies
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 11 minutes
Passive Time 30-60 minutes
Servings
cookies
Ingredients
Topping
Instructions
  1. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Set aside.
  2. In a bowl of your electric mixer, beat the butter until soft. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy on a medium speed for about 1-2 minute. Beat in maple syrup and egg/flaxseed-egg.
  3. Gradually add dry ingredients to the bowl and beat at slow speed until no flour pockets remain. Let the dough chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Do not skip this step as the dough is unmanageable at the room temperature.
  4. Preheat the oven at 180ºC / 350ºF. Line the cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  5. In a small flat dish, sieve together the topping ingredients. Take about 1 Tbsp of dough and form it into a ball between your palms. Roll the ball in the topping mixture making sure they get coated thick and even.
  6. Arrange the dough balls on cookie sheet 2-inch apart from each other and bake for 10-11 minutes. Do not overbake if you want soft cookies. The sides should be golden and center may seem soft but it will set once cooled. Bake for 2-3 minutes more if you prefer crispy cookies to soft. Let the cookies cool on a cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring it to a cooling rack. Once cooled completely, transfer it to an airtight container. Cookies keep fresh for about 7 days at room temperature.
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Nov
2013

Figs & Orange Honey Mini Loaf-Cakes ~ Of course, Healthy!

categories: Baking, Breads and Loafs, Breakfast, Cakes, Cupcakes & Muffins, Desserts, Fall

Figs & Orange Honey Mini Loaf-Cakes1

 

I am totally in a holiday season mode.

Brace yourselves for the news I am about to break to you guys.. I brought out the planner in me(!!!) and prepared the fruit soak for my very first Christmas fruit cake 2 days back! I am definitely on top of the game. If you follow me on Instagram you already know. I can’t seem to contain my excitement. I’m counting down the days to bake and to be able to eat the final product.

I am going to let this fruit mix soak for about 3 weeks before baking into a delicious cake. This way cake will get a chance to age for about 3+ weeks before it’s Christmas! My kitchen air turned heavenly with all those fruits and citrus peels. No scented candles required.. Happy days I tell ya! 🙂

Another thing is I am baking a WHOLE lot more. I know I am not posting enough on the blog but I am baking A LOT! The weather is cold and rainy and all I want to eat at any time of the day is a piece of warm, cinnamony baked goodies. So with this awesome weather and so much baked goodies around me, all I am doing is relaxing, eating and lurking around other blogs! Can you blame me?! I mean so much holiday baking is happening everywhere!

 

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On one fine morning, I made these gorgeous mini cakes and trust me when I tell you, they are the most moist, soft and fragrant cakes ever! One-bowl deliciousness ready in 30 minutes!

Oh, did I mention these are healthy too?!! Oh ya! This recipe is a keeper for those days when you’re eating around lots of unhealthy food on the name of celebration.

Make this quick recipe as a special breakfast treat on festival mornings or while entertaining guests and you’re sure to impress everyone!

Happy Baking! xo

 

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Baking tray before going in the oven

 

Figs & Orange Honey Mini Loaf-Cakes

Yields: 6 mini loaf-cakes or 12 cupcakes | Prep time: 15 minutes | Bake time: 20 minutes approx

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tsp orange zest
  • 2 large eggs
  • 4 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup yogurt
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup orange juice
  • 8-9 fresh figs, washed, stemmed

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF. Grease a 6 count mini-loaf silicone mold with baking spray. Set aside. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine sugar and orange zest, mixing with spoon to release oils from the zest. Add one egg at a time and beat until creamy, about 3-4 minutes. Add oil, honey, yogurt, vanilla, orange juice and stir to combine.
  3. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Do not over-mix.
  4. Cut 3 figs into quarters and cut the remaining figs into 4 slices. Fill the molds equally about 2/3rd full and submerge 2 fig quarters in each mold. Arrange 2-3 slices on top of the batter. Bake for about 16 to 18 minutes or until the cake is just firm. Do not over-bake. Allow to cool on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes. Remove from the mold and serve.

*Tastes best when served warm with the topping of Mascarpone or whipped cream, with tea/coffee.

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