Vanilla & Berry Pannacotta

And yeah.. we did it! In the year 2020, the emirate will host one of the most important and biggest events in the world- 'The Dubai Expo 2020'.. We ,UAE residents had been eagerly waiting for this day and the bid result surely brought smile on our face on this special day. National Day celebrations are going on in each nook and corner of the country while this news was like icing on the cake. Congratulations to the UAE & the Expo Bid Committee for their efforts to bring this World Expo to the Middle-East for the first time in all these years.

To celebrate both these occassions, it's again something sweettyy ;) I know 'no' other way to celebrate :D

Pannacotta was chosen for SFC#2; but unfortunately I was too busy to type and edit the pictures while I did make this way before. I'm leaving for India tomorrow evening  & I hadn't relaxed a bit since past 2 weeks. Now, packing,cleaning, cooking and freezing (for hubby) are all over and feeling quite relaxed. So I thought of posting this pending recipe and I'm not sure whether I would be able to do blogging from India or not.

Pannacotta is a delicious Italian dessert made by simmering milk,cream and sugar together with gelatin and cooling them later to set. It is usually flavored with vanilla , but could be served with berries or other fruits or jellies. Here I 've used raspberry jelly while you can use strawberry or any other fruit jellies. It's completely upto you. But take care that the jelly part should not be too much.. a thin layer is enough.


Ingredients:

Courtesy: modified from Epicurious

2 tsps powdered unflavored gelatin
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup plain non-fat yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 tbsp Lemon juice/Warm water
Any flavored Jelly packet -1

Method: 

Sprinkle the powdered gelatin over the warm water and let sit for ten minutes until 
softened. 

Combine the milk and cream in a saucepan and heat until warm. 

When the gelatin is softened, stir it into the milk with the sugar and stir over low heat until 
dissolved. 

Remove from heat and stir in the lemon peel, yogurt, and vanilla extract until 
smooth.

 Pour into serving glasses (only half of 3/4 way) and refrigerate. If you want slanting layers, use muffin pans to postion your glasses. Pour carefully using funnels or cut bottles to avoid messy glasses. Allow them to set in refrigerator.

When the panna cotta has firmed (depending on size of glass, but be sure not to take it out too early) pour a layer of jelly over each pannacotta layer. Repeat this until all of them are used up. You can keep the pannacotta and jelly mixture on kitchen counter as much as needed. It won't set at room temperature.

Death By Chocolate Cake-It's my 200th post & 3rd Anniwersary!!!

It was 3 years ago this day, that my cute li'l blog entered this world of bloggers, where everything was new for me. I shared my Pound Cake Tiramisu picture during first of Ramadan on my fb wall; when one of my  friends suggested me Friends Cookies page where everyone shared their tried and tested recipes with pictures. And then, the story began. It was like crazy cooking, clicking and rushing to upload in fb. My family got fed up with waiting till I click :) That's when I got acquainted with cooking blogs and fb pages. I was so fascinated with those blogs that I decided to start one. I was doing my MBA then and so waited till my exams got over. The very next day, I started one. My sisters suggested to name it in my Mom's petname so that all three of us could manage this blog. But they showed least interest once I started other than sending a few pictures and recipe links. I had to act as the captain of the ship since then. :)

 My hubby bought me a point and shoot camera soon and I was all the more happy with that. Started clicking decent pictures and stepped into the first step of learning process . 2 months then and was so happy to be accepted by many with their comments, feedbacks, criticisms etc. That's when I was pregnant with my 3rd child and then, blogging got hectic. Clicking, editing,typing, posting .. all these turned to be a tedious one, but somehow managed to post continously . With a baby around, clicking pictures turned to be more difficuilt. I threw both my cameras to support my baby when I saw she was falling onto the currybowl while I was busy clicking; that too in a week!! huff ..!! that was another turning point in my blogging path. I had to manage without cameras and laptop for 5-6 months. Used mobile camera and ipad instead. Got my Macbook after that ; but am still without camera. I wih to get one soon.

3 years passed by and today when I complete 200 posts , I feel on top of the world as I could manage posting atleast twice a month after going through many ups and downs in my personal life. Neither could I spend much time making friends online nor could I concentrate on my FB PAGE , but still all of you supported me and all thanks to that. I did never thought that I would be known in my mom's name (Kachuss) and now this happend. I wanted to move a step ahead from next year onwards to commercialise my hobby from next year onwards,Insha Allah!! Please do support me like this always.

 

 Now, this is a delicious rich chocolatty cake made with mayonnaise instead of butter, but you would never know this secret ingredient unless disclosed by someone. I didn't tell anyone that I had added mayonnaise until one last slice was left. I did say at last just to gulp that last slice which I know I would get if I they get to know about the mayonnaise secret ;) The cake recipe was adapted from here whereas frosting recipe from here.

Ingredients:

Makes an 9inch triple layer cake; serves 12 to 16

 (Recipe from Sky High Irresistible Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne)

2 ¼ cups all purpose flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 ¼ tsp baking soda

1 ¼ tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

½ tsp ground cinnamon

2 ½ ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 cup milk

1 ¼ cups hot, strongly brewed coffee

2 eggs

1 cup mayonnaise (not low fat or fat free)

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

2 ¼ cups sugar

 Chocolate Ganache (recipe below)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C. Butter the bottoms and sides of three 9 inch round cake pans. Line the base of each pan with parchment.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

Put the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. Bring the milk to a simmer. Pour the hot coffee and milk over the chocolate. Let stand for a minute, then whisk until smooth. Let the mocha liquid cool slightly.

In a mixer bowl, beat together the eggs, mayonnaise and vanilla until well blended. Gradually beat in the sugar. Add the dry ingredients and mocha liquid alternately in 2 or 3 additions, beating until smooth and well blended. Divide the batter among the 3 prepared pans.

Bake for 25 to 28 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the centre comes out almost clean. Let the cakes cool in their pans for 10-15 minutes before un-molding onto a wire rack and carefully peeling off the paper. Leave to cool completely.

 For Ganache:

Fresh Cream 300ml

Vanilla 2 tsp

Unsalted butter 2 tsp

Plain Chocholate 300 gm

For the chocolate ganache, heat the cream, vanilla extract, butter and chocolate in a heavy-based pan. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk the mixture until smooth and thickened.

To Assemble

Place one layer, flat side up, on a cake stand or serving plate. Cover the top evenly with 1/3rd of the ganache, leaving a ¼ inch margin around the edge. Repeat with the second layer and the seond portion of the ganache. Set the third layer on top and pour the remaining ganache over the filled cake. Spread all over the sides and top. Don’t worry if some of the cake shows through. This first frosting is to seal in the crumbs, and is known as a crumb coat. Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes.

After this time cover the cake with the rest of the icing, smoothing it down the sides. It should be the consistency of mayonnaise. Use a palette knife or the back of a spoon to swirl the frosting around the cake.

Healthy Pancakes

• Happy Childrens Day!! 

• A healthy pancake with all healthy ingredients such as oats, wholemeal flour etc. to all those wonderful moms who keep worrying about their kids' health and to all those kids who love eating delicious junks .
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• Ingredients:
• Courtesy:Eating Well
• 
  
• Buttermilk 2 1/2 cups**
• Oats 3/4 cups
• All purpose flour/Maida 1 cup
• Whole purpose flour/Atta 3/4 cup
• Light brown sugar 1/4 cup ,packed
• Baking powder 2 tsp
• Baking soda 1tsp
• Ground Cinnamon 1tsp
• Salt 1/2tsp
• Egg 1 ,large
• Eggwhites 2, large
• Oil 2 tsp

** For Buttermilk, add 2 1/2 tbsp of vinegar to 2 1/2 cups milk and allow it to remain at room temperature for a minimum of 15 minutes, without stirring/mixing it.

• Method:

1. Combine buttermilk and rolled oats in a small bowl; let rest for 20 to 30 minutes to soften oats. Stir all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour,  brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk egg, egg whites and 1 teaspoon oil in a separate bowl. Add the oat mixture and the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined.
2. Lightly brush a large nonstick skillet with a little of the remaining 1 teaspoon oil and heat over medium. Using 1/4 cup batter for each pancake, pour batter onto the skillet and cook until the underside is browned and the bubbles on top remain open, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn the pancakes over and cook until the underside is browned, about 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a platter and keep warm in a 200°F oven. Repeat with remaining batter, brushing skillet with a little of the remaining oil as needed. Serve hot, topping with maple syrup if desired.

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