Tag: Dessert


Sep
2013

M&M Oreo Cookie Bars

categories: Baking, Bars & Blondies, Desserts

M&M Oreo Cookie Bars1

Hello Oreo lovers! Hello M&M lovers! Let’s get united 🙂

These bars are heavenly for texture-lovers! Every bite is filled with crunchy chopped Oreos and M&M’s contrasted with soft, buttery, moist dough. They are dense, thick and biteful. I have used dark brown sugar in the recipe which gives a beautiful caramel-ish flavor mixed with chocolate Oreos.

These bars come together in 1-bowl, just under 5-minutes, and without using mixer! These are ready under half an hour. Perfect to satisfy those sudden sugar-cravings! It is so quick, easy and of course, no dough chilling required.

M&M Oreo Cookie Bars2

Another advantage is, this recipe is very accommodating. You can use anything you like as fillers. So bookmark this one as your base recipe for bars and blondies. Feel free to sub Oreos with any other left-over cookies, peanut butter cups, pretzels, chocolate chips. Do not shy away from experimenting. Instead of M&M’s, arrange the top with lots of mini marshmallows. It will be heavenly! I’m going to do marshmallow version soon! Till then enjoy this 🙂

M&M Oreo Cookie Bars3

M&M Oreo Cookie Bars
Yields: 9 to 12 squares | Prep Time: 5-10 minutes | Cook Time: 20-22 minutes | Total: 30 minutes
Ingredients:

  • 1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup Graham cracker crumbs
  • Pinch of salt
  • 15 Oreo cookies, roughly chopped (I used chocolate Oreos)
  • 1/2 cup M&M’s (Nestlé Smarties, Cadbury Gems or any other chopped candies can be used)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 180ºC/350ºF. Line an 8×8-inch baking pan with aluminium foil, grease with oil or spray with cooking spray. Set aside.
  2. In a large, microwave safe bowl, add butter and place in microwave for 1-minute on high power.
  3. Wait a minute before adding the egg so that it does not scramble. Add the egg, sugar, vanilla and whisk until smooth.
  4. Add the flour, Graham cracker crumbs and salt. Stir until just combined. Do not over-mix.
  5. Stir in the Oreo chunks.
  6. Turn the thick batter out into prepared baking pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula or back of the spoon.
  7. Evenly sprinkle the M&M’s over the top, lightly pressing them down with your finger, a spatula or back of the spoon.
  8. Bake for about 20 to 22 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs. Allow to cool in pan for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving. Bars will keep for up to 1 week at room temperature stored in an airtight container, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
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Sep
2013

Sweet~Lime Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Filling & Vanilla Bean Frosting

categories: Baking, Cake, Cakes, Desserts, Summer
Sweet-Lime Layer Cake with Vanilla Bean Frosting1
I mentioned in my previous posts that I’m surrounded by family from past few weeks. Last Friday, the 13th was husband’s birthday. His folks were in town for the celebration. Yaay! So as you must have already guessed, I was going to bake the birthday cake myself. I asked him what flavour he would like this year and without thinking much he said I want lemon… And I was like, lemon cake?! Really?!!
I was thinking more like my favorite chocolate cake layered in a fancy tier-cake, filled with chocolate ganache and slathered with mocha frosting and he says he wants lemon this year?! Hmm… Even though I was a lil disappointed, I obliged to his wishes! I knoooww *best wife of the year* isn’t it! I had to add my own twist to the cake of course and hence this awesomeness happened. Less tart but tangy, zesty and supremely moist.. win-win for all! Of course, I didn’t tell him that it is sweet-lime until he ate a giant piece at midnight! He was indeed surprised and super-happy which made my whole-day’s effort totally worth it! 😀
Sweet-Lime Layer Cake with Vanilla Bean Frosting2
I had made sort of a similar cake with lemons few months ago for my dear friend’s baby girl. It marked her 1st month on the earth. That cake was egg-less, used buttermilk and everyone loved it! So I just had to tweak my old recipe a bit and came up with this soft, springy and moist cake. Layered with cream cheese filling which is out-of-the-world but the hero here guys is, vanilla bean frosting… It is AWESOME! Trust me 🙂
Sweet-Lime Layer Cake with Vanilla Bean Frosting5
Sweet-Lime Layer Cake with Vanilla Bean Frosting4
I made every single element on this cake on same day. If you do not have such a luxury of time then I suggest you make cakes a day before and refrigerate them individually covered in clingfilm until you’re ready for assembly. Make filling and frosting just before assembling the layers. This will certainly cut down on waiting time as the cakes would be cool and ready for the assembly the next day. So let’s get on with the recipe!
*Please pardon the pictures as the only chance I got was couple minutes before the celebration!
Sweet~Lime Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Filling & Vanilla Bean Frosting
Makes: 1 6-inch 3-layered cake
Ingredients:
For the cake:
  • 2 and 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 Tbsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 14 1-inch cubes of unsalted butter
  • Zest of 3 sweet-limes
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup yogurt
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup sweet-lime juice, freshly squeezed (Around 3 sweet-limes needed)

For the filling:

  • 100 gm/4 oz. cream cheese, cold
  • Zest of 1 sweet-lime
  • 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 3/4 cup icing sugar, sifted
  • 1/2 cup medium-fat cream
For the frosting:
  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 cup icing sugar, sifted
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 Tbsp medium-fat cream, whipped
For the garnish:
  • Yellow and green colored sparkling sugar
  • 1 sweet-lime slices

Directions:

To make Cake:

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350° F. Butter and flour the edges of 3 6-inch round cake pans and shake out the excess. Set aside. Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper.
  • In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
  • Add the butter to the large bowl and prepare electric hand-mixer or electric stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Add the lime zest to the bowl with the butter.  Beat on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, until light and creamy in color.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for another minute.
  • Add the sugar to the butter mixture, ¼ cup at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition.  Add eggs, one at a time until incorporated.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
  • Combine yogurt, sweet-lime juice and vanilla extract in a liquid measuring cup.  With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients alternately with the wet ingredients, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and mixing just until incorporated.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for 15 seconds longer.
  • Divide the batter between the prepared baking pans.  Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20-22 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking. Let cool in the pans about 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack and let cool completely.

To make Cream Cheese Filling:

  • Combine the cream cheese and butter in a bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until smooth and well combined.
  • Mix in icing sugar and beat on low speed until incorporated.
  • Blend in lemon juice and sweet-lime zest. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl and set aside.
  • Wipe out the mixer bowl and fit with the whisk attachment. Add cream to the bowl and whip on high speed until stiff peaks form, being careful not to overbeat. Mix about a third of the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture to lighten. Gently fold in the remaining whipped cream until no streaks remain and the mixture is evenly blended.

To make Vanilla Bean Frosting:

  • Add butter to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute.
  • Add icing sugar to the bowl and mix on medium-low speed just until incorporated.
  • Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean pod into the bowl and add in the salt.  Continue to beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1-2 minutes.
  • Mix in the vanilla extract and whipped cream on low speed just until incorporated. Increase the mixer speed and whip on high speed until light and fluffy, scraping down the bowl as needed, about 4 minutes.
Assembly:
  • Level cake layers if necessary. To assemble the cake, place one of the layers on a serving platter. Top with half of the cream cheese filling and smooth in an even layer.  Place a second cake layer on top of the filling and top with the remaining filling. Place the final cake layer on top.
  • Frost the top and sides of the assembled cake with the vanilla bean frosting.
  • Sprinkle some yellow and green colored sparkling sugar around the 1-inch border of the cake. Garnish the centre with the sweet-lime slices.

Notes: 

  • To make the frosting look whiter, use white unsalted butter and clear vanilla extract.
  • If you wish to decorate the top of the cake with piped frosting instead of fruit, double the frosting recipe. Use a pastry bag with a decorative tip to pipe accents on the cake. You may have some extra frosting which is always a good thing in my book! 😉
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Sep
2013

Frozen Sweet Lime~Pomegranate Cheesecake

categories: Cheesecakes, Fall, Ice-creams, Summer

Frozen Sweet Lime~Pomegranate Cheesecake1

You know how much I love cheesecake… It is my go-to comfort food more often than I would like to admit. Happy days and stressed days equally call out for cheesecake around here! I’m very finicky about my cheesecakes. Till now my most favorite has been a blueberry cheesecake from a particular cafe. It is heavenly and just how I like my cheesecake to be. And I would never dare to make one in my house as long as that cafe exists!
After trying and making so many different varieties of cheesecakes, I decided to whip up this no-bake, gelatin-free, creamy, cheesy, frozen dessert. Let me simplify this for you. This dessert is nothing but a cheesecake ice-cream which is layered over a salty, buttery, chocolaty crust.
My refrigerator was bursting with sweet and juicy pomegranates. It was a flavor I had never tried before in a cheesecake. I thought it would make a delicate and lovely pairing with cream cheese. To make things tangy, I used up zest and juice from a sweet lime. The result was such a gorgeous baby pink color cheesecake! I just fell in love with it 🙂
Frozen Sweet Lime~Pomegranate Cheesecake3
I went sweet and salty route this time. The crust for this cheesecake is made with chocolate Oreos, butter and just a pinch of salt. This salty kick enhances the cheesecake flavor to another level. If you’re not a fan of sweet-n-salt, feel free to skip the salt as it will still taste divine! But I highly recommend salt as it is not too over-powering. So promise me you’ll add it to know what I’m REALLY talking about… You’ll thank me! 😉
Frozen Sweet Lime~Pomegranate Cheesecake2
Frozen Sweet Lime~Pomegranate Cheesecake4
I made a big batch as I was having company but you can easily halve the recipe and make it in 4-inch spring-form pan. The frozen cheesecake tastes best when eaten within 12-15 hours of being made. It becomes harder and icier the more it stays in the freezer. In case of leftovers, let it thaw for 15 minutes before serving.
Frozen Sweet Lime~Pomegranate Cheesecake with Salted Oreo Crust
Makes: 10-12 slices | Prep time: 20 minutes | Cook time: 0 minute | Chilling time: 4-5 hours
Ingredients:
Crust:

  • 15 chocolate Oreos or any chocolate sandwiched biscuits
  • 3 Tbsp melted butter
  • 1/4 tsp salt
Cheesecake Filling:
  • 3 pomegranates
  • Zest and juice from 1 sweet lime
  • 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp icing sugar
  • 2 8 oz. package cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 2 cups medium-fat fresh cream (40% fat), chilled

Direction:

  1. Line 9-inch round spring-form pan with parchment paper. Grind Oreos in a food processor until you have fine crumbs. Add melted butter and salt. Spoon the crust and press down firmly over the base using flat base of a glass. Chill in refrigerator while you make the filling.
  2. Remove morsels from pomegranates, save morsels from half pomegranate and juice rest of the morsels with lime juice. Strain the juice into a bowl, add icing sugar and whisk to dissolve.
  3. In a large bowl, take cream cheese and whisk until smooth. Use electric hand mixer/stand mixer for this. Add juice and sweet lime zest to cream cheese and whip till combined.
  4. In a separate bowl, whip the fresh cream till soft peaks form. Gently fold it with cream cheese mixture to achieve a lump-free consistency.
  5. Remove spring-form pan from the refrigerator and spoon the cheesecake filling over the crust. Let it chill in freezer covered in cling film. After 1 hour, sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and return to chill in freezer for another 3-4 hours. Once set, release from spring-form pan, slice and serve. Run the knife under hot water before slicing.

Note: Can be consumed as a sweet lime~pomegranate cheesecake ice-cream if frozen without the Oreo crust.

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Aug
2013

Pear Studded Life By Chocolate Cake

categories: Baking, Cake, Cakes, Desserts
Pear Studded Life By Chocolate Cake1
I was retrospecting and I had a simple realization… I do not have a single recipe for a chocolate cake on my blog yet! Very shocking for a chocoholic like me! This, this & this simply does not qualify. I’m a strong believer of “A chocolate a day keeps a doctor away!” And this is how this ultimate chocolate cake I’m posting today was born.
The universe conspired and the stars aligned!
It was not as dramatic but you can imagine how delighted I must be after I nailed the recipe.
It is made with simplest of ingredients. You will have everything required in your pantry at any given day or time. Except pears. And you can substitute them depending upon what you have at hand. Substitutes are mentioned at the end of this post.
Pear Studded Life By Chocolate Cake2
As the name suggests this cake is studded with pears. And they are not alone! Cinnamon sprinkled pears! Cinnamon enhances the pears’ sweetness and this combo is truly heavenly. You can smell the magic of Fall in your kitchen! The weather here has been just perfect for this. I used Red Anjou pears as that is what I had at the moment and they went perfectly with this cake. Comice pears would be excellent choice too!
Pear Studded Life By Chocolate Cake4
Pear Studded Life By Chocolate Cake3
I chose to call this cake Life By Chocolate Cake. You gotta eat it to know why but I’ll try telling you in words why?! First of all it is not one of those overly rich, heavy, cocoa powderish death by chocolaty cakes you’re so accustomed to seeing/eating around. Nope… This tastes nothing like those which makes you stop eating half-way because it is just too-over-the-top-chocolaty. THIS is a stark opposite of it. This cake is moist, light yet chocolicious, silky, melt in the mouth, perfect piece of chocolate cake ever produced in my kitchen! No one can eat just one slice of it. Chocolate heaven! And if you get a chance to make this, i can guarantee that this will be the best chocolate cake you’ll ever make! Trust me on this one…
So wait no longer… You NEED this chocolate cake in your life, like RIGHT NOW!!
Pear Studded Life By Chocolate Cake5
Pear Studded Life By Chocolate Cake
Yields: 6-8 slices
Ingredients:

  • 1/3 cup butter
  • 100 gm dark chocolate, roughly chopped
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup + 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/2 + 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 4 Red Anjou/Comice pears, peeled, halved and cored
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • icing sugar, for dusting
  • To grease the tin: 1 Tbsp melted butter and 2 Tbsp caster sugar

Directions:

  1. Cut a circle of baking parchment to fit the base of 9-inch round spring-form tin. Melt 1 Tbsp butter and brush the base and sides of the tin, then line the base with the parchment and brush again with more butter. Dust 2 Tbsp of caster sugar to coat the base and sides, then tip out any excess.
  2. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF. Take roughly chopped chocolate and butter together in a heat-proof bowl and microwave it for about 1 minute or less till the chocolate has melted completely, stirring in between at the interval of 30 seconds. Whisk in vanilla extract and set aside to cool a little.
  3. In another smallish bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt and set aside.
  4. Put the eggs and brown sugar together in a bowl and using electric mixer’s paddle attachment, beat together vigorously for about 3 minutes until you achieve a pale, aerated and thickened cream-like consistency.
  5. Turn the speed down a little and pour in the butter-chocolate mixture, beating continuously. Then slowly tip in the dry ingredients. Scrape down the bowl, gently fold in with a spatula and pour the batter into the prepared tin. Bake for 10-15 minutes.
  6. Meanwhile prepare the pears. Sprinkle the peeled, halved and cored pears with cinnamon and gently arrange on top of the cake in a circular fashion (as shown in photograph). Bake for another 23-25 minutes till the skewer inserted in the center comes out clean or with a very few chocolate crumbs clinging to it. Do not overcook.
  7. Let it cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack, still in its tin, and then ease the sides of the cake with a spatula and spring it out of the tin. Leave to cool completely or eat while it is still warm with dusting of icing sugar and a dollop of ice-cream.

Notes: Feel free to substitute pears for any other fruit of your choice like raspberries, strawberries, oranges or peaches. Tastes amazing even without adding any fruit to it.

Oh ya,

HAPPY RAKHI Everyone!

Enjoy!!! 🙂

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Aug
2013

Independence Day Special ~ Saffron Pistachio Kulfi

categories: Desserts, Ice-creams, Indian Recipes, Summer
Saffron Pistachio Kulfi1
I seem to have desserts ready for almost all the occasions.. I love love love sugary sweets! When the cravings hit me, it is impossible to shut my brain and there is no turning back till those cravings are satisfied. You must think I’m talking like a crazy or an addict! You’re thinking right! Not that I need a therapy or something… Just saying! It’s 1 a.m. here as I type this post, got a coffee craving which I tried to control and instead ended up snacking on a coffee-almond ice-cream! I know… weak! 🙁 But don’t judge! In my defense, this is the only sweet stuff I have had in a whole day!
You all know I have a sweet corner for ice-creams. So much that not so long ago I even had an ice-cream week on the blog! Check this out! Crazy right?! So it would be impossible that I would let the Independence day be gone without posting a total Desi ice-cream dessert in the honor of the occasion.
Saffron Pistachio Kulfi2
Kulfi is so popular throughout the country. Love of it is unbiased. It is a perfect reflection of our country’s unity despite the cultural diversity! Oh well, I have a way of twisting everything as per my own convenience! I mean only I can talk about kulfi and country being mirror-image of each other or whatever! But I hope you all agree with me on this one.. What better way to celebrate 15th August, our 66th independence day than this ice-cream dessert! I bet it’s a family favorite in every household! 🙂
Kulfi is traditionally prepared by evaporating milk on a low heat with almost continuous stirring to keep milk from sticking to the bottom of the vessel, until its volume was reduced by half, thus thickening it. It is almost like eggless custard turned in to ice-cream. I’ve stuck to the traditional recipe and have refrained from using condensed milk as I somehow detest it! Okay, I sort of hate condensed milk! I guess it’s a night for confessions! Relieved! Humph..
Of course no cliched tricolor desserts people! Hence the recipe for kulfi is has been kept as close to natural as possible. No artificial flavorings or colors have been used. You get a subtle yellow from saffron, crunch from pistachio and aroma from cardamom. It is heavenly! Do try it now and thank me later! 😉
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!
Saffron Pistachio Kulfi3
P.S. No saffron was harmed during the shoot of these photos. It was all returned back to the safety of its jar. So you all can relax now! 😀
Saffron Pistachio Kulfi
Yields: 6 servings
Ingredients:

  • 1 and 1/2 cup full-fat milk
  • 1/4 cup full-fat milk, extra
  • 2 Tbsp cornflour
  • 4 pods of cardamom
  • 1/4 tsp strands of saffron
  • 1/3 cup sugar (adjust as per preference)
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped salted pistachios, plus extra for garnishing
  • 1/2 cup fresh cream (40% fat)

Directions:

  1. In a non-stick/ceramic heavy-bottomed saucepan, add 1 and 1/2 cup milk and bring it to boil on a high heat. Now reduce the heat to low and let it simmer, stirring occasionally to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the vessel.
  2. Warm 1/4 cup of milk in microwave for 10-20 seconds. Add cornflour to it and mix till it dissolves completely. Add saffron strands to it. Separate the cardamom seeds from the pod and powder the seeds with mortar-pestle. Add the powder and pods to the milk. Let this mixture sit aside till the milk is getting reduced.
  3. Once milk has evaporated and thickened till its volume has reduced to half (in about 10-15 minutes), add the flavored milk-cornflour mixture (remove the cardamom pods) slowly to the milk stirring continuously. Add sugar and pistachio and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Taste and adjust sugar as per your preference.
  4. Remove the mixture from heat and let it cool and come to room temperature. Whip the fresh cream till soft peaks are formed. Whisk in the whipped cream to the cooled milk mixture. Pour the mixture in the molds. Refrigerate in the freezer. After about 1 hour of freezing, insert kulfi stick in each mold and freeze for another 4-5 hours. De-mold and serve immediately topped with chopped pistachios (optional).

Notes:

*You can make these without adding cornflour too. It will still taste the same but may melt at a faster rate.

*I did not have kulfi molds hence I used paper cups covered with silver foil. To de-mold, simply cut the paper cup from one side and loosen the kulfi.
*In case you’re using plastic/metal kulfi molds, dip each mold in hot water for 2-3 seconds and then de-mold the kulfi easily.
*Kulfis are best consumed within 2 days of being made. They won’t get spoiled in freezer but will become icy and rock-like if kept for longer duration.
Saffron Pistachio Kulfi4
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