Saturday Snapshots Series #1

A new camera , a new journey is all set to begin. Although I got my camera two months back, Ramadan , Eid and vacations made me so busy that I couldn't learn anything till now. I take my camera and adjust Shutterspeed, Apperture etc. here and there with no actual idea about what they actually are. :) Now all thanks to Siri and Shweta who started this wonderful weekly event because of which I'm sure I'll try to click and learn with expert advise and suggestions.  Saturdays will be awaited from now on. The first theme is 'Anything Yellow' in which we are free to choose any vegetable or fruit of our choice. As I had joined the group a day ago and this was the only yellow I got inside my fridge, I thought of clicking Lemons . Let's see what experts have to say.. :)

Linking this to Saturday Snapshots-food photography series hosted at Merry Tummy and Siris Food.

"Dish it Out- Wholegrain Dishes".. Event Announcement!

Belated Eid wishes  to one & all! Holiday hangover is not yet over and  I forgot completely about the event until I saw Vardhinis message today, which was sent 3 days ago. I'm sorry Vardhini about that. But believe me, I was so excited and was waiting eagerly to host the event before 2 weeks and then, in the midst of Eid preparations and 9 days holiday; it got all messed up and now I'm here with the event announcement.

'Dish it Out' is a monthly event which is originally hosted by Vardhini of Cooks Joy and co-hosted by different bloggers, based on a theme. The theme is again a healthier one 'Wholegrain Dishes'.. All you have to do is prepare any vegetarian dish using wholegrain (eggs allowed in baking) and link in to this event using the linky tool given below.

Wikipedia defines whole grain as a cereal grain that contains the germ, endosperm, and bran, in contrast to refined grains, which retain only the endosperm. Common whole grains include:

• Wheat (e.g. farro and Kamut)
• Oat
• Barley (hulled and dehulled but not pearl)
• Maize
• Brown rice
• Rye
• Millet
• Quinoa
• Amaranth
• Triticale
• Teff
• Buckwheat

Common wholegrain products include:

• Whole wheat flour
• Whole wheat bread
• Whole wheat pasta
• Rolled oats or oat groats
• Triticale flour
• Popcorn
• Teff flour

Rules for the Event:

1. Recipe should be based on the theme. You can use wholegrain as it is or its products . Few examples are mentioned above. Rotis,parathas,dosas,.... choice is endless.

2. Only vegetarian or vegan recipes please. Eggs are allowed in baking.

3. Usage of the logo is appreciated. (Use any one)

4. Recipes must be linked to theevent announcement page and this page. If sending an old entry, it needs to be re-published with the links.

             Or copy paste this sentence below:

"Linking this to Dish it out event hosted by Hasna of Kachuss Delights ; originally hosted by Vardhini of Cooks Joy"

5. You can send in any number of entries.
6.Non -bloggers can e-mail their entries to hasjab@gmail.com

What are you waiting for? Hurry up and link in your entries soon! 

DORA Cake- Vanilla Cake with White chocolate & Blackberry Filling

And here it is! A cake ordered by my niece . She was so excited and wanted a Dora cake for her 3rd birthday. A toothpick, a scissor and some papers were all what I had as fondant tools. I had made cutouts of leaves-big and small and then kept on rolled fondants to cut out different sized leaves. Figurines were made a week before.  It was difficuilt without any tools. Dora's hair on the left broke when I tried to fix it up on the cake. I would have handled more carefully.

It's a soft , buttery, vanilla cake sandwiched with the goodness of white chocolate ganache and blackberry jam ,crumb coated with dark chocolate ganache and fondant covering. I was planning to fill and frost the cake with just white chocolate ganache, but once I made the ganache, it was too sweet for my family and so to reduce the sweet effect, added a little bit sour jam and dark chocolate to the cake.

The cake was refrigerated while clicking this picture and thus, the texture looks hard.. but it was soft at room temperature

INGREDIENTS

(I doubled this measure for a 4 layer cake)

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.

Design Inspired from Party City

 White chocolate ganache
Courtesy: Taste of home

Ingredients:

White chocolate  400gms
Heavy cream       1/2 cup


Method:

Take a small bowl and keep chocolate in it.
Bring cream to boil in another saucepan. When you see bubbles at the edges, take it off the fire and pour over the chocolate. Mix this thoroughly and allow to cool for about half-an-hour. Beat for about 2-3 minutes until ganache is double in volume.

Dark chocolate 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.

Assembling the cake:

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 ganache. Top with another piece of cake; Spread jam. Now again cake, then ganache, and a final layer of cake. Crumbcoat with dark chocolate ganache.

Fried Chicken Puffs- Guest Post for "Yummy Food"

When I saw Lubna's invitation for a guest post, I didn't have to think twice to say yes. By now, her Ramadan event "Joy from fasting to feasting" has earned its own place in the bloggers world with fame and publicity. I remember this event was a 'link-in event' before and if I'm not wrong, she started inviting for guestposts since last year.  I love her space; her pictures and the way she presents her recipes. I had tried a few of her recipes like peanut chutney, kashmiri dum aloo and strawberry smoothie with muesli on top.. My family loved those dishes and these have been added to our menu since then. All thanks to you ,Lubna.

Home-made Chicken puffs is one such deep-fried snack prepared in our family, which is different from the baked ones you see in bakeries. It has flaky layers , but not as much as baked puffs. But it is still good in its own way and is easy too. The spicy chicken filling is my favourite ; but you can make it with filling of your  choice. Let's hop over to 'Yummy Food' for the recipe and step-by-step pictures..

  

Mango & Berry Rippler- A Guest post for With A Spin

This time, it's for a wonderful photographer cum blogger. Lail S Hossain writes her blog- With A Spin so beautifully with delicious recipes and wonderful pictures that I keep staring at all those  pictures posted in her blog. I love her enthusiasm in styling and clicking foods; pictures are amazing. So, when I received a mail from her for a guest post, I willingly said 'yes'. 

No sugar is added to this smoothie. But still, this smoothie is delicious and delectable for breakfast, evening snack or even as a dessert. The goodness of mango and strawberry is not disturbed as no artifical flavor is added and no two fruits are blended together; but swirled. It makes a delicious alternative to the similarly named, but slightly less healthy, strawberry/raspberry ripple ice cream. I got this recipe from a book titled '75 smoothies' . Cick here to hop over to Lail's space for the recipe.

And do not forget to link in your entries to 'Ahlan Ramadan Event with a Giveaway' with delicious Ramadan recipes.