Tag: recipe


Jul
2017

Chocolate {Whole} Pear Orange Loaf Cake

categories: Baking, Breads and Loafs, Breakfast, Cake, Desserts, Fall

Happy ‘world chocolate day’ guys! Hope you are celebrating by eating your weight in {dark} chocolate. I also hope you are able to watch chocolatier Willy Wonka in his delicious chocolate kingdom or see Bruce gobble up THE chocolate cake and eating or drinking some chocolate alongside them!

The weather around here has been so pleasant and downright gorgeous past few days. It hasn’t been raining as much as I would like but it’s been cool and breezy. So on one such lovely Sunday evening, I was craving something chocolatey and wanted to bake this delicious Life By Chocolate Cake from the blog archives which is embellished on top with red pear halves and cinnamon but instead decided to bake something new for the blog. I had ripe red pears which were begging to be used so this time I used them pears whole and added orange zest and juice to the mix! It’s a straight forward recipe using simple pantry ingredients except for red pears which are by the way in season right now so go find them before they disappear.

Have a lovely Friday guys!

 

Print Recipe
 Chocolate {Whole} Pear Orange Loaf Cake
Course Cake, Desserts
Cuisine American
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Servings
slices
Ingredients
Course Cake, Desserts
Cuisine American
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Servings
slices
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven at 170°C/350°F. Grease the 8×4-inch loaf pan with oil and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together orange zest and cane sugar. One by one, whisk in oil, egg, yogurt and vanilla until completely incorporated. Peel the pears at this stage.
  4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with orange juice, mixing gently with rubber spatula. Start and end with dry ingredients. Do not overmix. The batter will be thick but if the consistency is too thick to even stir add a splash of orange juice.
  5. Pour the batter in your prepared loaf pan and arrange the four whole pears at the equidistance, pushed in to the batter (as seen in the picture below). Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with few moist crumbs. Do not overbake as it may make the final product dry. Let the cake rest in the loaf pan for about 10 minutes before inverting it on a cooling rack. Let cool a bit before slicing. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream or a spoon of plain greek yogurt. The cake stays fresh for 3-4 days in refrigerator when stored in an airtight container.
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Jul
2017

No Bake Mango Coconut White Chocolate Cheesecake

categories: Cheesecakes, Desserts, No-Bake, Summer

On a lookout for a can’t-believe-you-could-pull-this-off Sunday brunch dessert? I have this stunner of a cheesecake for you guys!

Mango season is sadly at its end and this might be the last weekend you’ll be able to enjoy these ambrosial fruits (three cheers for frozen mangoes!). This cheesecake would make the most perfect Sunday brunch dessert as it truly lets mango shine. So easy to put together, it requires no baking or cooking, hence comes together in about 20 minutes. This cheesecake is also egg-free and does not require gelatin or agar agar for it to set. It doesn’t get easier than this people, truly a fool-proof recipe!

The cheesecake has a ginger biscuit base which pairs so well with mangoes, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. The cheesecake filling is made up of white chocolate, coconut cream, lime and mascarpone cheese. These four ingredients combined with mango are truly a match made in heaven. Simple yet so elegant looking and packs a punch. This one is surely going to be a favourite among your friends and family, trust me!

Don’t have fresh mangoes? Fret not. I have tons of customisation options for you to try. Read the recipe notes below.

Have a fabulous Sunday! ?

Print Recipe
 No Bake Mango Coconut White Chocolate Cheesecake
Course Desserts
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 0
Passive Time 4-8 hours
Servings
slices
Ingredients
For base
For cheesecake
Course Desserts
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 0
Passive Time 4-8 hours
Servings
slices
Ingredients
For base
For cheesecake
Instructions
For base
  1. Blend ginger biscuits and coconut oil in a food processor till fine crumbs form. In a 9-inch loose-bottom tart pan, place the crumb and press towards the sides and down firmly. Press down with flat bottomed glass for a uniform base. Let chill in the freezer till you prepare the filling.
For cheesecake
  1. Without tipping, take out overnight chilled pack/can of coconut milk from the refrigerator. Gently scoop out the thick coconut cream from the top and put it into a large mixing bowl. Store this bowl in the refrigerator till you finish the next step.
  2. Place the reserved liquid from the coconut milk pack/can to a medium-sized, microwave safe glass bowl. Add roughly chopped white chocolate to this bowl and microwave on low-power in the burst of 30-seconds 3-4 times, whisking in between, until the chocolate completely melts. You could also do this step on a double boiler. Whisk in vanilla extract at the end. Let the mix cool on counter and proceed with the following steps in the meantime.
  3. Take out the bowl with coconut cream from the refrigerator. Add mascarpone cheese, zest and juice of a lime, confectioners sugar and salt to it. Whisk on medium-high speed using the beater of the electric mixer until soft peaks form and the mixture is firm for about 2-3 minutes.
  4. Decrease the speed to low and slowly whisk in melted chocolate mix to it, until just combined. Do not overmix.
  5. Take out the tart pan from the freezer, top the ginger base with the cheesecake filling and refrigerate covered with cling film overnight for 4-8 hours.
  6. An hour or so before serving, peel and thinly slice 2 chilled mangoes. Arrange the mango slices in a circular, overlapping fashion (as seen in picture) on top of the cheesecake and return to refrigerator to rest until serving time.
  7. The cheesecake will keep in the refrigerator, stored in an airtight container, for about 3-4 days but tastes best on first day.
Recipe Notes

*You could a create number of variations using this recipe as a guide.
*Ginger biscuits could be replaced with digestive biscuits for a more subtle flavour profile.
*You can easily swap white chocolate with the good quality dark chocolate + some cocoa powder (sans the lime).
*Mango could be replaced with any other seasonal fruit of your choice. Fresh strawberries (or any other berry!), peaches, cherries and kiwi would be especially lovely or combination of fruits to create a beautiful fruit medley!

So many possibilities guys!

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Jun
2017

No Churn Dark Chocolate Cherry Ice cream

categories: Desserts, Ice-creams, Summer

 

Hello beautiful people!

Hope you all had an excellent weekend. I have FINALLY exported all the content from wordpress blog to my own website (yayyy!) and I am ecstatic to be writing this first, fresh blogpost from here. There was a hiatus of 2 months over here due to all the work involved with the website building and understanding all the technical nitty-gritty for a novice like me (using wordpress was definitely a piece of cake!) along with my day job. Please bear with me for days to come (in case you face any technical issues around here) till I work on aesthetics and fine-tune the works. A lot of you had messaged asking for this ice-cream recipe I am sharing today after I posted this picture on my Instagram. So I decided to abandon beautifying the website for now and share the recipe with y’all immediately. So let’s talk about dark dark chocolate, shall we?

This Instagram-fame chocolate ice cream is abso-freaking-lutely delicious. Rich, creamy, decadent, not-over-the-top sweet and most importantly super-simple, no-churn piece of work. Yes sir, no ice cream maker required, just like all the other awesome recipes I have shared with you in the past. No churn does not mean the ice cream is not smooth or forms ice crystals upon freezing but makes utterly good-looking scoops too.

The base of this ice cream is made with the trio of coconut cream, Mascarpone cheese and fresh cream. To this, we add chocolate ganache made with 75% good-quality dark chocolate. Together it forms a fluffy, mousse-like mixture and trust me, you will want to eat it as is, even before it freezes so patience is a key here! Every bite of this over-the-top-chocolatey ice cream is bursting with fresh cherries which are first simmered with dark rum. A-M-A-Z-E-B-A-L-L-S! I urge you to make this ice cream at least once before Summer and cherry season pass you by. Pretty please?

 

Print Recipe
 No Churn Dark Chocolate Cherry Ice cream
Dark, decadent no churn chocolate ice cream bursting with fresh cherries in each bite.
Course Frozen Treats
Cuisine American
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Passive Time 6 hours
Servings
people
Ingredients
Boozy cherries
Chocolate mix
Ice cream base
Course Frozen Treats
Cuisine American
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Passive Time 6 hours
Servings
people
Ingredients
Boozy cherries
Chocolate mix
Ice cream base
Instructions
Boozy cherries
  1. Heat a medium sized fry pan on a medium-high heat and add cherries, rum/water and sugar to the pan. Let simmer for about 20 minutes until syrupy.
  2. Take it off the heat and let it cool for about 10-15 minutes on the counter and then refrigerate until cold, for about 2 hours at least.
Chocolate mix
  1. Put one large mixing bowl and whisk of your electric mixer in the freezer for about 10 minutes.
  2. After 10 minutes, take out the mixing bowl from the freezer. Without tipping, take out overnight chilled pack/can of coconut milk from the refrigerator. Gently scoop out the thick coconut cream from the top and put it into the chilled mixing bowl. Return the bowl to the refrigerator (not freezer this time).
  3. Take the reserved liquid from the coconut milk pack/can to a microwave safe glass bowl. Add milk, chopped chocolate, cocoa powder to this bowl. Microwave on low-power in the burst of 30-seconds 3-4 times, whisking in between, until chocolate completely melts. You could also do this step on double boiler instead. Whisk in vanilla extract at the end. Let the mix cool and in the meantime, proceed to the following steps.
Ice cream base
  1. Take out the bowl with coconut cream from refrigerator and whisk from freezer. Add Mascarpone cheese and heavy cream to the mixing bowl. Whisk with the electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy for about 2 minutes.
  2. Add confectioners sugar and whisk on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, for another 3-5 minutes.
  3. Decrease the speed to low and slowly whisk in chocolate mix to it, until just combined. The ice cream mix will have mousse consistency at this point.
  4. Gently fold in syrupy cherries to the ice cream mix.
  5. Transfer the ice cream to a loaf pan and freeze. Freeze for couple of hours for softer consistency. Freeze overnight for firmer consistency.
  6. Set out for at least 25 minutes prior to scooping and use a scoop warmed under hot water for proper scoop.
  7. Ice cream will keep in the freezer for a week but tastes best when fresh.
Recipe Notes

If you are using water instead of rum to make syrupy cherries, then strain the liquid before folding the cherries to the ice cream base in step-4 (and discard the liquid) as it may form ice crystals after freezing.

 

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Aug
2014

Zesty Peaches & Cream Mini Bundt Cake

categories: Baking, Cakes, Desserts, Summer

Zesty Peaches & Cream Mini Bundt Cake1

Hiya.. I hope you all had a wonderful Independence Day long weekend. Ours was relaxed and lazy and juust perfect. Monday was tough indeed. Today was only bearable because I had this cake in my life. First bite into it and I instantly regretted making a mini version because this was over in seconds!! So to save you from regret I suggest you double the following recipe and make 2 mini bundts! 😉

The combination of orange, peach and cream cheese is blow-your-mind-off-amazing! This mini bundt is supremely moist unlike the dry, crumbly pound cakes we all dread. It turns into a piece of heaven drizzled with the vanilla glaze. Isn’t this mini size so cute! Give this a go before the peach season officially ends.

Enjoy & eat it all up! 🙂

 

Zesty Peaches & Cream Mini Bundt Cake4

 

Zesty Peaches & Cream Mini Bundt Cake

Yields: 1 6-inch bundt | Serves: 6 | Prep time: 15 minutes | Bake time: 30 minutes | Total time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:
For Cake:
  • 1/4 cup peach cubes (about 1 medium /2 small peaches, peeled & pitted)
  • 1/2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
  • Zest of 1 Naval orange
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2 Tbsp cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 2 Tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp orange extract
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour, sifted
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • Pinch of salt

For Glaze:

  • 4 Tbsp powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp milk or cream (add more to adjust the consistency)

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven at 160°C / 325°F. Grease 6-inch mini bundt pan with oil/butter. Set aside.
  2. Put the prepared peach cubes in a bowl. Sprinkle the peach cubes with all purpose flour. Stir lightly, just until peach cubes are coated with the flour.
  3. In a medium mixing bowl, add orange zest and sugar and rub it together with your fingers to release the natural oils from the zest. Add butter and egg to the bowl. Cream together butter, egg, sugar & zest with the whisk or using hand held mixer. Whisk in cream cheese, orange juice, vanilla and orange extract. Slowly and carefully, mix in all purpose flour, baking powder and salt. Do not overmix.
  4. Fold in the prepared peach cubes to the cake batter and pour the batter in the prepared bundt pan. Bake for 26-28 minutes or until the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the bundt pan for 5 minutes before inverting on a cooling rack to cool completely.
  5. For glaze: Combine powdered sugar, vanilla extract and milk, adding a teaspoon of milk at a time until glaze reaches desired consistency.

 

Zesty Peaches & Cream Mini Bundt Cake2

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Aug
2014

Skinny Summer Popsicles

categories: Desserts, Ice-creams, Summer
Skinny Summer Popsicles1
I love popsicles any time of the day. Be it for breakfast, an afternoon snack or dessert. I mean who doesn’t, right?! This one here is so refreshing and healthy without addition of any sugar, be it refined or unrefined. Just some fresh fruit pieces blended along with little bit of fruit juice. It’s a perfect pick-me-up treat using all the gorgeous summer bounty on offer. I bet you can’t stop at just one!
Hope you all are having a great Monday!
xx
Skinny Summer Popsicles
Yields: 4 popsicles | Prep time: 5 minutes | Cook time: 0 | Freeze time: 4-5 hours/overnight
Ingredients:
Puree 1:
  • 6 slices fresh pineapple
  • 1/3 cup pineapple juice (freshly squeezed or packed)
  • Pinch of salt
  • Zest from 1/2 orange
Puree 2:
  • 1/4 cup cherries, pitted
  • 1 medium nectarine, cored
  • 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (from about 1 orange)
  • Pinch of salt

Directions:

  1. Puree 1: In a blender, blend together pineapple slices, pineapple juice and salt. Stir in orange zest to it and divide the puree among 4 popsicle moulds.
  2. Puree 2: Wash and wipe the blender dry. Add all the ingredients mentioned under puree 2 in a blender and process until smooth. Top the popsicle moulds with puree 2, dividing equally.
  3. Insert stick in the centre of each mould, cover and freeze for about 6-7 hours. To demould, run the moulds under warm running water for 30-50 seconds. Enjoy!

*Recipe can be easily doubled or tripled or quadrupled!

 

Skinny Summer Popsicles2

 

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