DIY : Homemade Granola Bars

Happy 2014!! While I’ve made just about zero resolutions because they never seem to last beyond a week, I do have very high hopes for this year! I’ve just joined the #100HappyDays bandwagon, hopefully I see this through. If you want to cheer me on, I’m doing it on Instagram, come say hi! A few encouraging should go a long way in pushing me to do it for THREE and a HALF months, probably the longest commitment I’ve ever made! If you’re doing it too, tell me & we’ll cheer each other on.

                             

Anyway, the first thing that’d make me happy is losing the 10 kilos I’ve gained in the past year and half that just don’t seem to go away. Began gymming last month, and had been living on granola bars for the hi-energy post workout snack. But the problem was, I’m way too picky and only ended up eating one flavour, over and over, out of the measly 3-4 that are available in this country.

Baking healthy food has always intimidated me, especially in Bombay, because of the weird ingredients you find in the recipes, like flax seed, brown rice syrup etc. So even if I DID want to try, the ingredients stopped me [flax seed is actually available very very easily in Bombay, it’s just called something else]. But since I was sick of eating the oats & chocolate flavour, I spent half of a Sunday browsing recipes and doing some research to find a manageable recipe. And I know everyone says this, but you’d be surprised at how easy it was, it took literally 10 minutes of prep, and that includes looking for the ingredients in all the cupboards of the kitchen.

I’ve made this recipe thrice in 2 weeks, and have learnt that a higher molasses:honey ratio is needed to make the bars sticky enough to not crumble. The ones pictured here are 1:1, but a 3:1 ratio I made before this was perfectly compact, stayed together, and was crunchy to perfection. A 2:1 ratio will also work and is the third combination I tried, which were my favourite. You get the flavour of the honey and the stickiness of the molasses for perfect gym/work/school snacks.

                            

Homemade Granola Bars

Adapted from The Kitchn, a LOT of Google, trials & some error

1 3/4 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup crispy rice cereal, puffed millet, high-fiber cereal mix, crushed pretzel sticks, or any other crispy grain or cereal
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I love walnuts, peanuts & almonds)
3/4 cup dried fruits (I love dates, figs & raisins)
1/2 cup syrup (I love 2:1 molasses:honey ratio)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 - 1 tsp spices, like cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice (optional)
3 tsp peanut butter or 1 tbsp cocoa powder (optional for firmer bars)

Instructions

1.  Preheat your oven to 350 F [180 C]. Grease and line a baking pan with parchment, leaving some overhang on the sides so it's easy to pick up.
2. Toast the nuts, oats and rice cereal on low until they become almost crispy, about 10 minutes. Optional is soaking the dried fruits in hot water for 10 minutes to make them softer, I chopped them small & don't feel the need. If you do choose to do this, make sure you dry them with a paper towel before using.
3. In a small bowl, warm your syrups of choice for about 15 seconds till it becomes looser in consistency. Add the vanilla, salt and other spices, if using, and mix well.
4. In a large bowl, pour out the nuts, oats, rice cereal and dried fruits. Pour the warmed syrup mixture, and the peanut butter / cocoa powder, if using. Mix well.
5. Pour out this mixture onto the prepared sheet. Pack extremely tightly or else you will end up with crumbly bars. The greased bottom of a measuring cup works well for this. Pack them up to your desired height, it doesn't need to match the size of your pan, as you can see in the picture below, the mixture holds shape pretty well.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes for chewy bars, add another 5 minutes for crunchy bars (I love them just around the 25 minute mark)
7. Let them cool completely, this is very important. Once completely cooled, cut into bars of desired size & store in an airtight container. Pack 2-3 of these into your boxes everyday and see your weight drop.

Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bars

These bars...

They're just pure sin!

And I polished off more than half a pan myself late one night *embarrassed smile*


So I'm never making them again... especially given that I've just realised I've gained 10 kilos over the last year & need to lose it by the end of January!



But you totally should... Just make sure you have lots of people around that you can gift them to, they're not all that fattening if you eat 1-2 bars like any normal human being would, but unfortunately these are the sort that make you want to curl up in your favorite pyjamas, play your favorite movie and munch on till you forget you were ever trying to diet! They've got oats, so they're sorta healthy too!





Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bars
Adapted from Recipe Girl
Makes one 9x13 pan, or 24 bars


For the Gooey Chocolate filling:

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
One 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 tsp vanilla extract

For the cookies:
1 cup [2 sticks / 226 g] unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup [100 g] granulated white sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups [240 g] all-purpose flour
1 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt - omit if using salted butter
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F [180 C]. Grease and line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper or strong foil, leaving enough overhang to lift the bars out of the pan.
2. For the gooey chocolate filling: In a small saucepan over extreme low heat, melt together the chocolate chips & condensed milk, stirring constantly, until the chocolate has melted. Take the pan off the heat, stir in the vanilla and set aside to cool.
3. For the cookie: In the bowl of your mixer, beat the butter and sugars together until light and creamy. Beat in the egg, egg yolk & vanilla.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt (if using). Add this to the butter mixture, beating just until incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips.
5. Divide the dough into two halves. Use one half and press down lightly in the bottom of the pan until it's more or less an even layer. Now pour the cooled chocolate mixture on top, spreading to create an even layer.
6. Add dollops of the remaining dough on top of the chocolate layer, it's ok if it doesn't cover it completely, I chose to have quite a bit of the chocolate layer peeking through.
7. Bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Cool completely, then cut into bars (refrigerating these bars for half an hour just before cutting will give you neater bars, allow to come back to room temperature before serving)

Chocolate Marble Bundt Cake

4 months since the last post on this... 4 (or a little less) months since life has taken a full turn, and everything I knew to be normal changed.

No.. there's no death, there's no life-threatening illnesses that happened. Just a lot of drama, a lot of confusion, and a lot of re-thinking of life. Which is why I've been away from the blog so much.. I've just lost all motivation. I didn't even know Google Reader had shut down!

I logged on last week because I finally managed some time.. and saw that I couldn't read any of my blogs anymore. I've begun using Feedly for now, what are you guys using?

Anyway... on to the cake. Over a year ago, I'd excitedly ordered this bundt pan, and got a friend to lug it over for me, since finding one in India at that time was next to impossible. And then I used it once, it's been sitting on my table ever since.. I kept it there as a reminder to use it. After seeing it everyday and not using it, finally a day after my birthday, I picked it up and went in to the kitchen. Figured baking would be my birthday gift to myself.

And I realised.. I'd forgotten how much I absolutely love baking. What a stress buster it is. How calming the measuring and scooping out of ingredients could be.. how therapeutic watching the mixer turn regular ingredients into gorgeous batter could be, and how enjoyable the sense of letting go and relying on the oven was. The anticipation of watching the oven work its magic and turn regular batter into a thing of joy was the perfect birthday gift.

As was this cake. It's the perfect coffee cake, it's light yet rich, and not sickeningly sweet. I forgot to marble the cake, and instead just ended up layering it, but it was just an aesthical flaw. I found the recipe over at Food Librarian, whose I Like Big Bundts activity is the first thing that shows when you look for bundts. When I clicked over and saw that the recipe is from my favorite book, Baked , I was sold!

Make this cake now. It's a crowd pleaser! Also, please do tell me how you guys are managing without Reader, is Feedly really the best option?





Marble Bundt Cake
Adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

Chocolate Swirl
6 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 tsp unsweetened dark cocoa powder

Sour Cream Cake
1 cup [2 sticks/226 g] unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/4 cups [450 g] sugar
4 large eggs
16 ounces sour cream - I used homemade sour cream, so the weight will vary
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups [420 g] all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt - omit if using salted butter

Instructions -

1. Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Grease and flour a 10 cup bundt pan (Mine's a 12 cup).
2.  Chocolate Swirl - In a medium saucepan, melt together the chocolate and cocoa on extremely low heat, stirring constantly. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
3. Sour Cream Cake - In the bowl of your mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Scrape down, then add the eggs one at a time, beating between each addition. Now stir in the sour cream and vanilla, and mix till incorporated
4. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt (if using). Add this into the butter mixture in three additions, mixing just till incorporated between each addition, do not overmix.
5. Scoop 1/3 of the ready batter (approximate is fine) into the chocolate mixture, and stir until evenly mixed.
6. Pour half of the remaining batter into the bundt pan, and level with a spatula. Scoop the chocolate batter on top of this in dollops, it's ok if some of the white batter peeks through. Using a knife, swirl through the batter. Now pour the remaining batter on top, and swirl with a knife again.
7. Bake for about 1 hour, or until a knife inserted comes out clean. You might need to tent the top with a foil if you feel it's getting too brown.
8. Cool to room temperature and remove from pan. Serves 6-8.

Strawberry Lemon Curd

Excuse the horrible picture, it's taken from my phone. Will try and update post later.

I feel like a broken record, each time I begin writing a post for this blog, the same words come to me 'sorry for being away for so long'! I don't know what it is or what to do, but somehow I just can't seem to find time to even bake, let alone blog. Must. Repair. Now. Hopefully you'll see a change soon.

Even when I do decide to make something, it doesn't go too well. It was time for this month's Secret Recipe Club post, and my assigned blog was A Teaspoon of Spice. This blog actually challenged me, since it's run by two dieticians! And everything I put on this blog is usually an indulgence, a dessert for when a person's down in the dumps, or just generally having a craving.



It's strawberry season here in India, and I was looking for something to make with them. I've been meaning to bake these cupcakes, or a strawberry pie since forever, but as you can guess, never got around to doing it. I found the perfect recipe, that I knew would work for the new lack of time Avanika. It was shamefully easy, but I think the kitchen was annoyed at being ignored, I had quite a mishap with the blender, I ended up covered in burning hot strawberry sauce. Buttttt... You guys ought to be proud, instead of giving up, I sat down to chop all 3 cups of strawberries again and re-made the sauce. I'm hoping this means the laziness has finally gone away.

This sauce isn't as thick as a lemon curd, but is the perfect breakfast accompaniment, along with some toast, or drizzled over some sponge cake and cream. The lemon balances out the sweetness of the strawberries, and there's just a hint of puckeriness. But probably the sense that is tingled the most on eating a spoonful of this is the smell. It is just divine, it makes you want to jump into a pool of the curd and never come out!

Strawberry Lemon Curd
Adapted from Teaspoon of Spice
Yield : About 2.5 cups

3 cups [250 g] fresh chopped strawberries
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp [110 g] sugar - adjust depending on sweetness of strawberries
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 egg yolks
1/8 tsp salt
1 tbsp butter

Instructions - 

1. In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the chopped strawberries, sugar and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer for about 7-8 minutes.
2. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes [Important, in case you have a similar mishap]. Blend until smooth.
3. Pour back into saucepan. In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and the egg yolks. Pour into the strawberry mixture, and cook on medium-low for about 1 minute, till it thickens and a finger swiped across the spoon leaves a clear path.
4. Add the salt and butter. Allow to cool in the refrigerator for at least an hour.  Enjoy :)

Chocolate Espresso Biscotti

Finally. I stepped back into the kitchen after almost 2 whole months. I'd been on this serious dieting = working out bender, to lose the extra pounds, and an added motivation was my sister's wedding, which just about finished. I've taken a week or so off from the gym+diet, so ofcourse the first thing I wanted to do was eat something chocolatey.

When you're craving something bad, deciding what to make is quite a task. Luckily, it was a made a little easier because I had to bake something for this month's Secret Recipe Club. I had Veronica's blog, My Catholic Kitchen as this month's assignment. Going through this blog was super fun, and one of the few where I had tons and tons of options. Since I was craving a fix bad, I picked the one whose ingredients were already at home. Biscotti has also been something I've always meant to try making, but never really gotten around to.



It was surprisingly easy to make too. About 10 minutes of prep and they were in the oven. Biscotti translates to 'twice baked', and the waiting period between the two baking bursts were the hardest part. I actually contemplated leaving one of the logs as is, and eating it like a giant cookie. But I was good, and I baked both the way they're supposed to be baked. These are so crunchy and light, they're the perfect start to my mornings. And, they're not even that unhealthy :)

  

 Chocolate Espresso Biscotti
Adapted from My Catholic Kitchen

1/3 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp espresso coffee
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Instructions -

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment.
2. In the bowl of your mixer, beat the softened butter until creamy. Add the sugar, and beat until light and fluffy. Now add the eggs, one at a time, beating between each addition. Also mix in the espresso.
3. Sift together the cocoa powder, baking powder and flour. Add to the previous mixture, it will be very thick. Mix in the chocolate chips.
4. Divide the dough into two parts, and shape them into flat logs, about 2-3 inches thick. Bake for 30 minutes, until the top feels done.
5. Remove from oven and cool for an hour on a wire rack. Now slice the logs diagonally, about an inch thick. Line the bars up on the cookie sheet. Bake for another 10 minutes, or until the biscotti are crisp.
6. Munch on with a cup of steaming coffee :)

Baked Apples

 
Oh god. I can't even begin, can't believe my last post was two whole months ago! Thank you for all your concerned mails, they're the push I needed to come back and post. Nothing really happened for me to stop posting, but a lot has happened. I began working on the very day of my last post, and I'd been getting used to not having all the free time in the world. I was also getting over a bad breakup, so I went from having way too much time, to having absolutely none.

I've also been working hard to lose the almost 10 kgs I gained in the past year, with all the staying away from home and long traveling. So baking has been a complete can't do. But craving did strike the other day, one I couldn't ignore. Spent hours online looking up cheesecakes and chocolate cakes and pies and whatnot. Realised that none of those could be made without completely ruining the diet. Looked up some healthy stuff. Long story short, these baked apples were on the table within the hour
.


And they were quite amazing, surprisingly. I love apples baked into anything, but didn't expect to like a plain apple with some stuffing so much. This has saved me from jumping off a cliff in desperation because of the diet. It's made life quite bearable, each time craving hits, I just pop a few apples into the oven, it really is quite simple. The apples get perfectly soft, just a hair's breadth away from mushy, and the nuts provide a much needed textural complement. If you aren't on a diet, you could eat this hot, with some cold, melting ice cream scooped on top. HEAVEN♥

 



Baked Apples
Recipe from Simply Recipes


4 large good baking apples
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon - If you love cinnamon as much as I do, up this to 2 or 2.5 tsp
1/4 cup chopped pecans - I had walnuts on hand, used those, no biggie
1/4 cup currants or chopped raisins
1 tbsp butter
3/4 cup boiling water

 Instructions -

1. Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C). Wash the apples well. Remove the cores, leaving about 1/2 inch on the bottoms. If you don't have an apple corer, a paring knife will do just fine. Make sure to have about an inch wide hole, so that there's enough space for the stuffing. Use a spoon to clear it out. Place the apples in a 8x8 baking pan
2. In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, pecans/walnuts and currants/raisins. Divide this mixture evenly between all the apples. Top each apples with a dot of butter (1/4 tbsp each).
3. Pour the boiling water into the pan, around the apples. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until soft and tender, making sure to stop before it gets mushy. The skin slightly releasing from the rest of the apple is a good sign of when it's done. Test with a knife, the knife should meet no resistance. Remove from oven and baste several times with the pan juices.
4. Serve, along with some ice cream if you can afford to indulge :)

DIY : Homemade Whatchamacallit Bars

(Update Dec 2012: Picture of a new batch)
 (Sorry about the crappy picture, clicked these in the night and finished them, I'll make some more soon and update the post)

Who else loves these bars? They were quite the nostalgic trip for me, I remember eating them as a child, before we moved to India, and absolutely loving them. They still aren't available in India, but I had ordered a box of them while I was in the UK, so up until a few months ago I was happily enjoying them, being reminded of their awesomeness.

Ofcourse, coming here I missed them a lot, but never considered looking up a recipe for a homemade knock-off, even though I have made or seen quite a few other candy bars. Until I got this month's Secret Recipe Club assignment that is. Chris's blog, Mele Cotte, has been on my reader for ages, and all the desserts she posts has made it one of my top blogs. I was super pumped to get her blog this month. I went to her recipe index, totally prepared to spend a day or two trying to decide what to make, as I usually do. And while a lot of recipes stood out to me, as soon as I saw these bars, I was sure. I couldn't believe my eyes, and cursed myself quite a bit when I realised I could have been making these bars for ages.

They are super easy to make, especially if you have butterscotch chips. I didn't, and made my own butterscotch sauce, which took all of 5 minutes and has already become a staple in my house. I want to play with that recipe just a bit more, and I'll post it after I'm done. The most difficult part is waiting for the chocolate to set, and the anticipation of knowing how close they reach to the real deal, which is a LOT. I am in love with these, they are so good, and I know the pan's going to be over in no time. Luckily, its an easy recipe to be addicted to!


(Update Dec 2012 : Picture of a new batch) Look at that luscious peanut buttery caramel oozing out. There goes the diet.

Homemade Whatchamacallit / Peanut Butter Rice Krispy Caramel Bars
Recipe from Mele Cotte

1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup white corn syrup (I used honey)
1 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup butterscotch chips
6 cups Puffed Rice Cereal (like Rice Krispies) (for Indians, kurmura is about the same thing, though Iused Rice Krispies)
2 cups good-quality bittersweet chocolate

Instructions -

1. Grease and line a sheet pan. Set aside. Place the Rice Krispies in a large bowl, that allows space for mixing.
2. In a medium saucepan, mix together the sugar, corn syrup / honey, and peanut butter. Melt, remove from heat and add the butterscotch chips/sauce. Stir until melted completely
3. Pour this mixture over the Rice Krispies, and stir/toss to coat evenly. Transfer into the prepared pan, and try to form a nice even layer. Refrigerate to set.
4. Once the Rice Krispies are set (about 10 minutes), cut them into large bars.  Re-line the same pan, or use another large pan lined with foil.
5. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler / microwave. Using a fork, dip each bar into the chocolate, ensuring it is coated on all sides, and lay onto the prepared foil lined pan. Allow the chocolate to set ; enjoy.

Lemon Custard Cakes

[Update - Somehow an older draft got published, added the missing bits again. Sorry]


Somehow, even though I love the puckeriness of lemons, I don't really bake with them as much. This was a recipe that my Mom actually found. Yes, she still bakes on occasion, and this was while I was away so she couldn't get me to make it instead. Ever since then, she's been raving about it, also wanted me to try the recipe when there, but I never got around to it. After countless requests for it since I'm back, I finally got around to making it, and it was quite quick to make, so I don't even get why I was procrastinating. I think I don't do well with requests / orders, since baking is something I inherently do for myself.

Anyway, I made these, and there's some weird science magic that happens with them. You make a normal souffle sort of batter, but once it's baked, it separates into a lemon custard-y layer on the bottom, and a cakey, light souffle ish thing on the top. It's quite fascinating actually.



I made some in these little pans I got from Urban Dazzle, which is quite the awesome shopping site for kitchen stuff and home stuff, I've got my eye on quite a few things. I'm so happy that online shopping has finally arrived in India, and I can now buy my bakeware easily.

Since Mom was insisting on it so much, I doubled the recipe, and ended up baking some in mugs. The mugs had a tiny almost cake layer too, they provided quite a journey of texture, while the shallow pans provided a good crispy crust / custard ratio. I actually can't decide which I liked more, and I know I'm going to make them in both the next time I make these.

And there will be a next time, I'm sure. The lemon is perfectly pucker-y but not overly so, and the textures are just, FUN. You really should try this one.



Lemon Custard Cakes

Adapted from Martha Stewart
Yield - 6 ramekins


3 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup [100 g] granulated sugar
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 to 3 tsp grated lemon zest,
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Instructions- 

1. Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Place 6 ramekins in a large baking / roasting pan, there isn't any need to grease them since you'll be serving them in the same ramekins. Place a kettle of water to boil.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and the sugar until light and fluffy. Whisk in the flour. Also whisk in the milk, lemon zest and juice.
3. In another bowl with clean beaters, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, along with the salt. Fold the whites into the yolk mixture, the resulting batter will be quite thin.
4. Pour into the waiting ramekins, about 3/4 full. Pour the boiling water into the larger pan, so that the ramekins are halfway submerged into the water. Bake for about 25 minutes, until the tops are nicely brown. Serve.

Sunday Night Cake

Soo.. Anyone know how to get rid of small moths in the house? Since my room was virtually untouched for 6 months, it had a few moths when I got back, that didn't seem to be going away. I put out some naphthalene balls, and now, I'm super sick, with the parents slightly sick. I think I just had an almost-suicide attempt :P

Anyway.. With the sickness, I've been cooped up at home since a few days. I was of course, craving some dessert, and with Secret recipe club's reveal coming soon, I started to browse through my assignment for the month. I got super lucky this month, because Jamie is a part of Club Baked, which essentially is TWD, except with the Baked series of books, that I absolutely LOVE!. And with their new book Baked Elements recently out, they've taken over my mind even more than usual.

I knew immediately I'd make one from their books, and focused in on the Sunday Night Cake because of ingredient availability at home. It's got a weird name, but apparently it's to indicate that you can whip this up in an instant, for family, on a lazy Sunday. And that is exactly what the cake is. Hearty, comforting, and just perfect. The cake is robust, and has an interesting taste with the cinnamon, very right for fall. And the frosting / pudding is super rich and intense, and gives the perfect balance. As I've said countless times, I'm not a fan of the powdered sugar American buttercream, but this puddingy frosting is perfect. I actually have some leftover and hopefully I should be up to trying it with something else too.

Sunday Night Cake

Recipe from Baked Elementsvia Cookin' with Moxie

1 3/4 cups cake flour - I used the substitute of AP flour + cornflour/cornstarch
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon (I used almost a whole teaspoon, I love cinnamon a little too much)
1 1/4 stick [5 oz /  140 g] unsalted butter - I used salted just fine, omit the salt of course
3/4 cup [150 g] granulated sugar
1/2 cup [110 g] packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sour cream - I used hung/greek yoghurt

Instructions -

1.  Preheat oven to 350 F [180 C]. Grease and line a 9 inch square pan. I couldn't find mine, so I used to 6 inch round pans instead.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of your mixer, cream together the butter and the sugars till light and fluffy. Add the eggs one a time, beating between each addition.
4. Alternately add the flour mixture and the sour cream / yoghurt in a dry, wet, dry, wet, dry pattern. Don't over mix.
5. Pour into prepared pans and bake for 35-40 minutes, until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for at least half hour before frosting and serving.

Chocolate Caramel Shortbread... Homemade Twix

 

These bars! I've been waiting so so long to be able to post. For once, I made my Secret Recipe Club assignment almost as soon as I got it. Turns out, this isn't always the best idea, since I had to wait almost a month, and these bars were so good, it was like slow torture. They rank high up, in my top 10 recipes for sure. They had the perfect slightly crunchy crispy shortbread base, exactly like a Twix base, but more substantial, with more win in it. The caramel is a modified dulce de leche, just with extra butter and extra goodness. It was the perfect goeey, stringy soft caramel that I love. And ofcourse, the chocolate layer. I used good quality dark chocolate, and that just took the bars to a whole other level.

This recipe is one of the easiest I've made, but also is one of the best. I can't stop raving, I made the mistake of making only half a recipe, since I didn't have a big enough pan. I'm just waiting to go buy a nice big pan now so I can make a full recipe. Don't make the same mistake I did.



I got Sara's blog, which has probably given me the most options to pick from ever. Since I now cook, there were a few cooking recipes that I bookmarked too, but since I want to keep the blog only about baking, I picked this. Sara chose to decorate it with some colored white chocolate, and while I considered that, for me, nothing looks better than a nice smear of dark chocolate.


I always leave nice overhang so that removing and cutting becomes easy. I sometimes lay two strips of foil out in a cross pattern if the foil won't cover the pan entirely.


The shortbread, nice and golden brown-y, will make your house smell amazing!


One of the best things in this world!


Your finger should leave a dent like shown in this picture. This is post cooling, so it aim for a little runnier.

Chocolate Caramel Shortbreads / Homemade Twix

Recipe adapted from Cook with Sara

Shortbread Crust -
1 cup [2 sticks / 226 g] butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups [240 g] flour
3/4 tsp. salt

Caramel Filling -
7 Tbsp. [100 g] butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 cans (14 oz each) sweetened condensed milk
Pinch of salt

10 oz. dark [or semi-sweet] chocolate, chopped
3 tbsp [ 42 g] butter

Instructions - 

1. Preheat oven to 350 F [180 C]. Grease and line a 9x13 pan with parchment, leaving some overhang on the sides.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Now add in the vanilla, the flour and the salt. Mix until just combined.
3. Pour into prepared pan, and pat the crumbs down lightly, to make sure they stick. Bake for around 15 minutes, until golden brown around the edges. Remove to cool completely.
4. For the caramel filling - In a large saucepan, combine together the butter, brown sugar, sweetened condensed milk and salt. Bring to a boil, constantly stirring. Reduce heat to medium low, stirring constantly and simmer until it turns a deep caramel color, about 15 - 18 minutes. Pour onto cooled crust, and refrigerate for an hour. It might seem runny at first, but the refrigeration makes it firm up a bit. Post refrigeration, your finger should make and leave a dent, as shown.
5. Once the caramel layer is ready, melt the chocolate and butter together. Pour onto the caramel layer, just making lines with the spatula if you want, and refrigerate for another hour.
6. Cut into bars, [I prefer using a pastry scraper], and serve.

Chocolate Fondant / Chocolate Lava Cake / Molten Chocolate Cake

Doesn't that look amazing? This is the elusive {or fussy} cake that goes by too many names. What do you call it? I prefer Molten Chocolate Cake. Anyway, I got Heidi's blog as my assignment this month, which had so so many recipes, that the choice became qutie difficult. Now that I've began cooking, a lot of her savory recipes seemed interesting too, but in an effort to keep this blog all about the good stuff, I decided to stick with a dessert recipe. Since her blog is translated to English, I chose one of the easier recipes, I didn't want to lost in translation. And this satisfies a craving too.

Managing the Facebook page for the Secret Recipe Club has made me quite active about it, so there's no chance anymore of me missing a post, which, with the new stricter rules, is a good thing. Go on and like the page, and while you're at it, like the page for this blog too :)

Molten Chocolate Cake

Recipe from Tasty Kitchen via Heidi's World

100 g dark chocolate {I used 64%}
1 stick [113 g / 8 oz] unsalted butter
2 tsp [30 g] cocoa powder
2/3 cup icing sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
6 tbsp flour

Instructions -

1. Preheat oven to 425 F [220 C]. Grease and line ramekins with castor sugar, optional, but it helps.
2. In a double boiler, melt together the chocolate, butter and cocoa. Remove from heat, and sift in the icing sugar.
3. Now add the eggs and the yolks, mixing well between additions. Sift in the flour, until just mixed, being careful not to overbeat.
4. Pour into prepared ramekins and bake 13-15 minutes, till sides are set but the centre is still jiggly. You might want to have one test run first, since the timing is crucial for this sort of cake.
5. Serve with ice cream, whipped cream, or a dusting of icing sugar.

Almond Cake with Dried Fruit

Here's another recipe that I'd made while back home. Figure I should post it now, or else it'll go to the never ending folder of recipes that I didn't post on time, and then it became too old to post. {Do any of you also do that, or is it just me? For some reason, I can't bring myself to post things I made too long ago} Anyway, I made this because we had some dried fruits at home that my Mom wanted me to use up, and she loves her simple, unadorned cakes anyway. It was actually she that found and picked the recipe for me. Slavery at its best :P

Anyway, since you probably know by now, I don't like simple plain desserts too much. I went about making this pretty unenthusiastically, even though the recipe is by someone I admire a lot, Jacques Pepin {who is also the Dean at my dream school. I figured it would be one of those cakes that my Mom and others would eat, and I would just taste. How wrong was I? I should have trusted one of my idols more. The cake was absolutely amazing. Proved to me that not all cakes need to be over the top indulgent to be sinful. The almond flavor in it made it super rich, yet light and simple. And the dried fruits gave a wonderful contrasting flavor + texture. I had dried strawberries, figs, cherries and pineapples on it, but I'm sure you could make do with much fewer kinds. We took it to my grandparents' house because they love getting such handmade gifts, and even they gobbled it down :) {they have the appetite of a bird, between the two of them!} I also think they'd look much prettier in individual servings, made in a muffin pan instead, so maybe some of you could try that and show me :)

Almond Cake with Dried Fruit

Recipe from Jacques Pepin via the Wayward Oven

115g almond paste - I processed 115g of almonds in the food processor, which is about 1 cup
¾ cup sugar
1 stick [113g / 8 oz] unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 medium eggs
¼ cup milk
Dash of salt
1 cup cake flour
½ teaspoon baking powder

For the syrup
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons whiskey, rum or cognac [optional]
2 tablespoons sugar

For the Garnish
1½ cups diced dried fruit (currants, peaches, apricots, pineapple)
¼ cup good apricot jam, diluted with 2 tablespoons water
8-10 mint leaves
1 cup Greek yoghurt for serving (optional)


Instructions - 

1. Preheat oven to 180 C. Grease and line a 8 cm round pan.
2. Put the almond paste, sugar, butter and vanilla in a food processor and process for about 10 seconds. Add the eggs, milk, and salt and process for 5 seconds. Add the flour and the baking powder and process for another 5 to 10 seconds, or until smooth.
3. Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes, until a wooden skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool on a rack to room temp.
4. Combine the ingredients for the syrup in a small bowl. Using a spoon or pastry brush, moisten the cake with the syrup. Scatter the dried fruit on top of the cake. Brush on the diluted apricot jam and garnish with the mint leaves. Serve with the Greek yoghurt.

White Chocolate Oreo Brownies

I've had a momentous achievement in the time between this post and the last. Wait for it...... I've finally learnt how to flip an omelette! Though I've tried a lot, the omelette ends up scrambled most of the time. Not this time though, it flipped beautifully and I had a gorgeous omelette like the ones they serve at cafes. I'm quite proud, even though I get how stupid this sounds, considering my utter lack of cooking skills, it's enough to have made my day. I've learnt how to make pasta and a few other basic things, and while it's turning out to be quite fun to cook, I think I'll learn properly once I'm back home, from Mom.

Anyway, back onto the brownies. SRC took a break last month, to do some re-arranging and a revamp of the rules. I am now officially handling it's Facebook page, which is a super fun thing to do. The group is turning out to be a lot of fun, I actually ended up missing it, and made my recipe almost as soon as we were given our secret assignments, more than a month ago.

This month, I received Eliot's Eats as my blog, which was super interesting because it's written by this couple, that keep their identity anonymous. The name comes from T.S Eliot. I haven't seen anonymous food bloggers around too much, so I was totally kicked by this, and the privelege of being anonymous is something I wish I had too, at times. There's just so much I could have been able to say. Their blog has a lot of stuff on travel and adventure, but I zoomed in onto the food stuff, and after quite some deliberation, picked these White Chocolate Oreo Brownies, that she too made for a SRC post. I'd never baked with white chocolate before, other than the occasional ganache, so I was quite pumped. And I bought a ton of oreos once, which I wanted to use up rather than just pig out on them.

These were so so good. They browned a little too much, but that's because I haven't gotten used to this new oven yet. They tasted amazing, not overly sweet as I had worried, and the Oreo's added amazing flavor. A great recipe to keep, especially when you need something quick and easy.

White Chocolate Oreo Brownies

Recipe from Hugs & Cookies xoxo via Eliot's Eats

1 stick [113 g / 8 oz] butter
1 cup [170 g / 6 oz] white chocolate chips
1/2 cup + 1/8 cup [ 150 g] sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tbsp vanilla
1 cup [120 g]  flour
1/4  t. fine sea salt
15 oreos, cut into quarters

Instructions -

1. Preheat oven to 325 F [160 C]. Grease and line a 9x9 pan, leaving some overhang of the foil to make it easier to pull out later
2. In a small pan under low heat, melt the chocolate and butter, stirring constantly. Be careful, white chocolate burns easily, so use a double boiler if you're comfortable with that. Remove from heat.
3.  Stir in the sugar. Now add the eggs and vanilla, mixing well. Fold in the flour and salt, stirring until just combined. Toss in the chopped oreos.
4. Pour into prepared pan, and bake for 30 minutes, until a wooden skewer inserted comes out clean. Enjoy :)

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Doesn't that cake look pretttty? It's ofcourse mainly because the cake was Oh. So. Good., but also because, I'm the proud new owner of a Canon EOS Rebel T2i! Finally :) Even though I haven't learnt any of the settings yet, I've got so many nice pictures of myself + friends. Can anyone recommend a good book / links to understand it all better, for a total beginner? It'd be super helpful, any would actally lead to me making some use of the camera beyond automatic settings! I super suck at food photography, and while I doubt that's going to change soon, I'd still like to learn more about the camera in general.



So back to the cake. I baked it on my visit home. The visit was amazing and so so much fun, but I was so busy meeting people and getting stuff done, that I hardly managed time to bake, and only did because people were requesting it so much, and ofcourse, my own cravings ;)


I'd had my eye on this cake ever since it won Most Popular on the Secret Recipe Club's December reveal, and was looking for a chance to make it, but couldn't because of exams. After baking it, I realised why it was most popular, the cake was heavenly. It was super fudgey and dense, but not annoyingly so wherein you need to grab a glass of water. The chocolate taste really shone through, which is why it's important to use a good chocolate [I used Callebaut Dark]. This cake has got the vote of a lot of people, so you need to try this one soon. Paired with some ice cream, it was sheer indulgence.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Recipe from David Rosengarten's Taste via My Beautiful Disasters


7 oz extra bittersweet chocolate
1 3/4 stick [200 g] unsalted butter
5 large eggs, separated
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup [180 g] granulated sugar
pinch of salt - omit if using salted butter
2 tbsp [15 g] unsweetened cocoa powder



Instructions -

1. Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Grease a 10 inch springform. I halved the recipe and used a 6 inch pan.
2. In a double boiler, melt together the butter and chocolate. Set aside to cool slightly. Now slowly whisk in the egg yolks and the vanilla. Stir to combine, and add in the sugar, salt and cocoa powder, stirring until incorporated.
3. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks. Whisk in 1/3 of the whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten. Now gently fold in the remaining 2/3. 
4. Pour into prepared springform pan, and tap lightly on the counter to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 25-28 minutes, until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
5. Place on cooling rack, removing the sides immediately. Allow to cool, and serve alongside some ice cream

Outrageous Chocolate Cookies

The other day, I had some friends request some brownies, and after having made countless repetitions of countless versions, I decided it was time to try something new. I've also slowly been struggling to get through my million bookmarks {I'm sure you relate}, and I noticed these cookies posted by Katrina. They looked so sinful, I was sure they'd do.

I made them almost immediately, and they were super easy to make. I was happily chomping on them an hour later. They came out rather thin for me, I think that's because I added a little extra butter. But I loved them that way, the edges were nice and crunchy, with the inside soft and brownie-ish, exactly how I like them.. These cookies are meant to be soft, so you must not bake them to a crisp.



Outrageous Chocolate Cookies
Adapted from Martha Stewart via Baking and Boys

8 oz [226 g] semi sweet chocolate, roughly chopped
4 tbsp [57 g / 1/2 stick] unsalted butter
2/3 cup [80 g] flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
12 oz [340 g] semi sweet chocolate chunks


Instructions -

1. Preheat oven to 350 F [180 C]. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Melt the chocolate and butter over low heat, or whatever method you prefer. Keep aside to cool to room temperature.
3. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt
4. In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, brown sugar and vanilla until fluffy. Add the room temp chocolate mixture, mix to incorporate. Now add the flour mixture, and mix until just incorporated. Add in the chocolate chunks, and fold.
5. Drop heaped teaspoonfuls of the batter on cookie sheets, and bake for 12-15 mins, as mentioned above, you want them to be soft. Serve with a scoop of ice cream on the side.
6. Store in airtight containers so that they don't get too soft.