Chocolate chip Mini-Muffins

I had recently bought a mini muffin pan and therefore, was itching for ways to use it. The opportunity finally presented itself in the form of hop-in from friends....and on their popular demand, I baked my usual "Perfect cupcakes", in a mini-cuppy form....

 

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Meringue Cookies

I had always been fascinated by cookies......ever since my "Noddy" days! Then Enid Blyton further augmented that infatuation, to the point where I used to push my mother daily to make the stuff I read about. After so much pestering, one day her patience finally wore off, and she threatened to stop buying me books. Books are my life and blood. Give me any book.....on any topic....and it is enough to keep me occupied and H.A.P.P.Y!! It is aptly said "Once a reader, is always a reader".....So I was forced to concentrate on the content and not on menu.
Dusting my shelves for the Diwali cleaning, I found my stack of all the Enid Blytons, carefully wrapped away behind the present day crushes of Paul Coelho, Danielle Steel etc. Gleefully I unwrapped them with the thought of just peeking in. However for me, no "peeking in" is complete until I've read the whole book....don't blame me....that's the charm of old books. And the Diwali cleaning....ahh! yes you guessed it right! It went for a toss. One look at those childhood memories and out came my baking pans and the staples.

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HOW TO: whip low fat cream to stiff peaks

I love frostings.....
And I love whipped cream frostings the most...
They are easy to whip up and taste divine. Though they are too delicate to stand up on their own for long at room temperature, I still love them....so what!! every good thing has a shelf life, right?!
Now what do you do, when all you have in the name of cream is a 25% light cream? Experts will cite its low fat content and dismiss it as non-whippable.....
No, don't throw that carton away....it can be whipped for frosting, believe me!!
Here's a pictorial:

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HOW TO: make Mascarpone cheese at home!!

Sometimes I wonder what would have happened had "Google" or "Pinterest" not been there? Yieeeps.....scary no?!! We wouldn't have had any new dishes (a.k.a. Pins) to drool upon....and would still be struggling with certain basics in cooking/ baking.....like this one: "Mascarpone cheese"...

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Peanut Butter Naan-khatai.....Eggless Peanut Butter Cookies

Hello friends! After an exceptionally long break from blogging, I'm back, with a treat for you all:
PEANUT BUTTER NAAN-KHATAI
Oh yes! you heard read me right dear....

P.E.A.N.U.T B.U.T.T.E.R N.A.A.N.K.H.A.T.A.I

Sounds different?! Yes!! And, believe me...it tastes so rustic and smooth, it's hard keeping your hands off!!

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MY VERY FIRST AWARD!!

Yay..!!! I've got my very first award....

The Awesome Blog Content award:

This award has been passed on to me by my close blogger friend Harini, a very sweet person whom I met after I started blogging....She blogs beautiful recipes on Cook Click n Devour and is very talented and helpful.....a real gem of a person!Do check out her tips section, it's really helpful!

Now, this award comes with a few rules:
a) Add the ABC Logo to your new blog post: Done!

b) Write one word/ phrase about yourself that begins with A,B,C etc.: Ummm, I'd say it is "Persistent"...

c) Nominate some blogs; leave a comment on those blogs to let them know: I nominate my blogger buddies:-

*Shanthi @ Iyengar Cuisine

*Vijayalakshmi @ Virunthu Unna Vaanga

*Saranya Balaji @ saraniskitchen

*Nilu A @ kitchenserenity

*Sharanya @ Sara's Tasty Buds

*Preeti @ jopreetskitchen


Happy Blogging to all of you dear friends!!
Tkcr,

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CHALLENGE #3: CHOCOLATE PINWHEEL AND ZEBRA COOKIES

For us "Home Bakers", the challenge for June'13 was suggested by Vijayalakshmi of Virunthu Unna Vanga (which means "Inviting for a feast"). After trying our hands on Pizza and cake, it was time for some Cookies! Viji gave us four different types of cookies to choose from, and being the chocolate lover that I am, I picked up Chocolate pinwheel cookies. I tweaked the dough a bit and turned them into Zebra Cookies, as well.....

Pinwheel cookies!

Zebra cookies!

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LIGHT AND MOIST DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE

This Sunday, I was taking stock of my posts uptil now.....and suddenly it hit me, that I don't have any post on "chocolate cake"!! Now, THAT, is an utterly shameful moment for a chocoholic like me! You know, I am that kind of a person whom you can wake up at 2:00 a.m. (not 12:00, as I usually sleep at 12...;)....lols), serve me chocolate, and I'll forgive you for the sin you've committed in waking me up!  
Anyways.....after this moment of realization, I was devastated and depressed. Now, there is no better a cure for depression, than "chocolate"!.....even if the depression springs from chocolate itself! And so I went about my task of preparing a chocolate treat for me and my blog baby.....

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Eggless Jam Swirled Muffins (Baking Eggless July Challenge)

To kick-up my baking skills a notch, I have recently joined Gayathri's "Baking Eggless" group, wherein we have to convert an "egg-bake" into its "eggless" avatar. At the beginning of each month, we are given a baking recipe (containing eggs) to try, by Gayathri; and after conducting our trials & errors, we have to post our final successful bake, at the end of the month. Here the focus is on conversion (to eggless), rather than on creativity; albeit minor variations to suit your tastes are allowed. Sounds fun and interesting, right?! Well, this is what drew me to joining her group. You too can become a part of this fun and frolic....hop over here! 
For June, challenge was suggested by Priya....Jam swirled muffins. The original recipe is from Patricia's Technicolor Kitchen, who adapted Dorie Greenspan's Lemon poppy-seed muffins.
So here is the result of 'my' baby steps in recipe-engineering...

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Classic Tea Cake

Before marriage, I used to ogle at all the recipe cards and pics my mom kept in her Recipes folder, hoping to replicate them someday in my own kitchen. Last week she was visiting me. I asked her to bring it along, so I could try some of those mouth-watering treats!
This is one such recipe that she used to whip up in a jiffy, and I had my eye on it since long! I don't remember (and neither does my mom!), the exact source of this recipe.....but, whatever! I thank God and my mom for it! It is such a forgiving and no-fail recipe, that I kicked myself for not having included it in my folder long ago. I tweaked the method a bit (just to experiment) and the results confirmed my theory, that if you want a tender, moist and light cake, with less butter, use either the reverse creaming method, or the egg-separation method. But since I'm not yet an expert in whipping my egg-whites to stiff peaks, I prefer the easier and less time-taking method of "reverse-creaming".  

I think the crumbs tell their story themselves....no need for me to brag!!

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