Raspberry & Vanilla Macarons Cake

Eid Mubarak!! I know this can't be an Eid dish; but I'm too busy to type another post as this was pending in the drafts since last June. So here's a collection of Eid recipes from past posts:

Main Meal

Kannur Biriyani (Mutton)

Fish Biriyani

BBQ Chicken Biriyani

Nauratan Vegetable Biriyani

Majboos

Alisa/Arees

Desserts

Trifle Pudding

Floating Island

Crunchy Delight

Pineapple and Dry fruits pudding

Madakku Pathal /Sweet Parathas

 Somethings are worth the effort and this really was. A simple cake it was; but what made me happy was that  I could manage to find out the taste of my family after years of baking. Yes, they need everything light and less sweet- no cream and no chocolaty.. Whereas , I'm a dark chocolate person, loves cream in anything including my coffee and yeah less sugar is the only thing when i can say them 'hey i'm there with u'...

 Here I took quarter cup lesser sugar than the original recipe for them, filled the bottom layer with jam, top layer with meringue frosting and then coated with the same and glazed with chocolate. I was about to make three colored and four layered cake; orange cake was also baked the previous day along with the raspberry ones; the smell that burst out of orange zest and juice was so captivating that we couldn't wait more. When Razin asked, who is also an orangeholic,whether he could taste a bit.. i said yes- took the whole large cake, cut into pieces and gulpp.. thats it.

 I'm using chocolate glaze for the first time and didn't know that its gonna set as soon as we pour it on top. So that part turned out to be a little messy. But Wallah! the cake was delicious and finger licking good. 
 The home-made macarons on top added to it.  I haven't posted the recipe of macarons yet; but Insha Allah will do it soon! Those plain shells of  macarons were filled in with raspberry jam ; the flavor of raspberry is deliciously infused into the shells.

I've followed the same recipe, devided the batter into two, then mixed one half of the batter with 1 tbsp of fresh raspberry puree and red colour. The other half was mixed with 1 tbsp of Orange juice,a tsp of orange zest and orange color. (I added orange color accidentally to raspberry cake and red color to orange cake which spoiled the entire look :(

Ingredients

courtesy: Martha Stewart

• 
  
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pans
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3 large egg yolks
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 
  

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 170 C degrees. Butter and flour two 8-by-2-inch cake pans, tapping out excess flour. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. With mixer on low, beat in eggs and yolks, one at a time. Beat in vanilla. Alternately beat in flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined.
3. Divide batter between pans; smooth tops. Bake until cakes pull away from sides of pans, 32 to 35 minutes. Let cool in pans 10 minutes. Run a knife around edges of pans and invert cakes onto a wire rack. Let cool completely.
4. Place one cake, bottom side up, on a cake stand. Tuck strips of parchment paper underneath. Using an offset-spatula or table knife, spread top with Whipped Frosting. Top with remaining cake; frost top, then sides.

• 
  
• Whipped Frosting
• 
  
• 3 large egg whites
• 3/4 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method:

In a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of simmering water, combine egg whites, sugar, salt, and water. Cook over medium, stirring constantly, until sugar has dissolved (or mixture registers 150 degrees on an instant-read thermometer), 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat on medium-high until glossy, stiff peaks form (do not overbeat), about 3 minutes; reduce speed to low, add vanilla extract, and beat just until combined. Use immediately.

Cook's Note

Reserve the egg whites left over from the cake for the frosting. If you don't have buttermilk, substitute plain yogurt or sour cream (not fat-free).

Nauratan Vegetable Biriyani- Healthier option (veg)

Happy Navratri to all those who celebrate !!

There's no need to be in diet to make healthy choices.The food we choose for our daily meals could be entirely transformed into healthier ones 'just like that'. Its not necessary that we skip any meal or starve for keeping our body fit. We don't have to eat sweeet things to feel happy and full. Some small adjustments and tricks can lead us a healthier life.Now here is a healthy variation of biriyani- the otherwise rich delicacy.

Biriyani is such an unavoidable meal in any Indian home. We can't resist us from serving or having this atleast once a month or rather a week. I could hardly imagine any fridays without ghee rice or biriyanis. Now this recipe is healthier in the sense that only Olive oil is used  ; 9 types of veggies involved and hence the name; and no garam masalas added.

Ingredients

Basmati Rice ½ kg (I used Jeerakasala(small grain rice) rice here)
Oil ½ cup

Onion 2 sliced
Spinach 250 gm finely chopped
Potatoes 3 cut into cubes
Peas 1 cup
Carrots 2 cut in cubes
Eggplant 1 cut in cubes
Beans 12 cut in 1 inch pieces
Dill ½ bunch chopped
Tomato 4 chopped
Fenugreek leaves 4 bunches small


Ginger garlic paste 2 tsp heaped
Chili powder 3 tsp
Salt 1 ½ tsp
Turmeric ½ tsp
Cumin 1tsp heaped
Coriander powder 2 tsp heaped
Kewra 1 tsp
Yellow color pinch
Milk ½ cup

Method


1. Boil rice along with 2 tbsp of salt till done. Drain and keep aside.

For Masala:

1. Heat oil and fry sliced onions till they turn light golden.No need to turn this into crispy brown.
2. Add in chopped fenugreek leaves, with ginger garlic paste, chili powder, salt, turmeric, cumin, coriander, and chopped tomatoes
3. Fry well adding little water .Add chopped spinach with  chopped vegetables, cover and cook till all vegetables turn tender.

Dum:
1. Mix in kewra water,milk and yellow color and keep aside.

2. Give a layer of rice followed by a layer of vegetable mixture, then sprinkle milk and kewra mixture, top with 2 tbsp ghee. Layer the remaining rice on top.

3. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes or till the steam comes out. The delicious nauratan biryani is ready to serve.

Floating Island

Floating Island is a classic French dessert with floating meringue clouds. These poached meringues are floated on a soft vanilla custard. It tastes divine and so is its texture. When we Malabaris have their own version of almost all classic desserts; this dessert closely resembles with Pinnanathappam -the white steamed cake served along with muttamala. It is the custard and the caramel on top that distinguishes this dish from the latter and I must say, the response in our family was superb! Hanan couldn't ressist herself from making this as soon as she saw her favourite Shireen Aapa showing this on tv. Now this is her contribution to the blog after a very long time.

Ingredients:

Milk 1 cup

Cream 1/2 cup

Vanilla essence 1 tsp

Eggs 3, separated

Salt a pinch

Castor Sugar 70gm

For caramel syrup:

Sugar 150gms

Water 100ml

Method:

Meringue Floats:

1. Heat the milk and vanilla essence in a dish for 3 minutes and keep aside.
2. Whisk egg whites and salt until stiff.

3.Then gradually whisk in half the sugar.

4. Drop four or five spoonfuls of the meringue mixture (egg white mixture) into the milk and heat for a minute.
5. Now take the white puffs and drain on paper towel, repeat until all egg white mixture has been used.

Custard: (you can either make custard using instant custard mix )

1.  Now strain the milk.
2. Beat egg yolks with remaining sugar until thick and pale in color.
3.  Then add strained milk and cream till combine then cook for a while until thick custard is been formed. Allow it to chill.

Caramel syrup:

 Combine sugar and water, cook till the sugar dissolves completely and caramel is been formed.

To Serve:

Now pour the prepared custard in the dish, the prepared egg white floating islands on the top and drizzle caramel on the top.
 Sprinkle the nuts on top and serve.