31 Dec 2015

Honeycomb Frosting | Honeycomb Cake

I want to share a simple frosting technique for a celebration cake that I make often, which will look lovely on the finished cake. This is so easy to do and at the end you have a beautifully frosted cake! I do this quite often when I run out of time to do something elaborate. Plus, it hides all my flaws in frosting, so I love this trick!!


Honeycomb Cake

I first came across this method some years ago at Alexandra's Recipes and I immediately wanted to try this frosting. Now it's become very famous and you can find it all over the internet. 
There are two ways to make this honeycomb frosting and I follow the method given by Alexandra and it's easy and simple. There is another way to do this (which I've mentioned in the notes), I find that to be a little complicated so this is how I do my honeycomb frosting.


Honeycomb Cake


Share this post if you found it useful!

30 Dec 2015

Nellikai Juice | Amla Juice

Do I need to stress the benefits of amla! This fruit is rich in Vitamin C and so good for immunity. It's also good for skin and hair. There are tons of other health benefits that you can look up in the internet but my mum makes this juice mostly for the purpose of immunity.
This is the way we make it at our home and you can make necessary changes to suit your taste.


Amla Juice


Share this post if you found it useful!

Thinai Chocolate | Foxtail Millet Chocolate

When I was wondering what to do with the remaining thinai (foxtail millet) flour, which was left over from making these thinai laddu, I came across this recipe and decided to make these chocolates.


Thinai Chocolate

Sometimes my kids ask for these Peppa Pig chocolates, so this time, I added the thinai flour and made chocolates for them. You do get the taste and feel of the thinai flour in your mouth but since it also has chocolate and nuts, kids don't mind eating them!


Thinai Chocolate


Share this post if you found it useful!

Chocolate Apple Milkshake | Easy Milkshake Recipes

Chocolate makes anything taste wonderful! Well, atleast to me! Instead of making the plain apple cinnamon milkshake, I  added some chocolate flavor to it and it tasted absolutely yum! The apple makes this milkshake healthy and filling. Makes it good for breakfast or an evening drink for your kids.


Chocolate Apple Milkshake


Share this post if you found it useful!

29 Dec 2015

Double Chocolate Strawberry Muffins

If you're regular to my space, you must know my weakness for strawberries. I love this fruit and since the strawberries we get here are almost always too tart, I make some dessert out of it and enjoy.
This time when I had to visit my in laws, this is what I made for my nieces. This is an absolutely delicious muffin and the additional chocolate chips makes it too good! It's such a soft rich chocolate muffin with chunks of strawberries, you'll simply love it!


Chocolate Strawberry Muffins


Share this post if you found it useful!

Pineapple Milkshake | Easy Milkshake Recipes

I love milkshakes, I keep making milkshakes with every fruit available. Pineapple milkshakes taste awesome and I love this milkshake a lot!

There is something to remember when using pineapples in milkshakes or bakes especially when the fruit comes in contact with dairy product. There is an enzyme called bromelain in pineapple which makes the end product taste bitter. There are times when I've made pineapple milkshakes and there was never a bitter taste. And there was one time when my milkshake turned really bitter. Sometimes, it turns bitter after a few hours. So it's advisable to scald the pineapples before using them.


Pineapple Milkshake


Share this post if you found it useful!

Masala Bread Toast | Savoury French Toast

This is a quick and easy breakfast/snack recipe that I make for my husband since he's not fond of the regular french toast. He prefers savoury to sweet so this is the bread toast version for him along with the baked egg toast.
Sometimes I add finely chopped veggies to the mix, change the masalas and make it more tasty and different each time. Adding masalas to the egg mixture always masks the smell of eggs. 


Masala French Toast


Share this post if you found it useful!

28 Dec 2015

Avocado Milkshake | Butter Fruit Milkshake

My husband bought some avocados and the first thing I thought of making was this milkshake! It turned out so creamy and yum that even my super fussy kids had some!
Avocado is also called as butter fruit and it is a very popular fruit loaded with goodness. It contains about 20 different vitamins and minerals and full of fibre. Avocado also reduces bad cholesterol and increases good cholesterol!
One of the most interesting info about avocado is that, it can be used in place of butter in bakes! I'm yet to try it out but it sounds very interesting!


Avocado Milkshake


Share this post if you found it useful!

23 Dec 2015

Chocolate Fruit Cake | Chocolate Christmas Cake Recipe

This year I made a boiled fruit cake for our prayer group and then I had to bake some other cake for my family and neighbours. But unfortunately I did not have any soaked fruits! Instead of sulking about it, I decided to go ahead and bake a cake. So I chopped my fruits and nuts and soaked them for about 18 hours and then I baked this cake. And I soaked with grape juice only!


Chocolate Fruit Cake

This is such a fabulous cake! You don't really get the chocolate flavor but the chocolate definitely enhances the overall flavor of the cake. I'm sure if I had soaked my fruits longer or if I had used alcohol, this cake would have tasted even better!

Watch the video in English



Watch the video in Tamil



The cake is moist, soft and full of fruits and nuts. I did not soak the fruits ahead and I did not bast the cake with alcohol. I didn't even wait for 24 hours to cut this cake (which is what I normally do with fruit cakes), I cut this cut within 20 minutes of taking it out of the oven and still it tasted awesome! Ideally, the fruits for this cake should be soaked days earlier and the cake baked few days ahead of Christmas and then bast the cake with alcohol until you cut the cake. You will love the burst of flavor! 


Chocolate Fruit Cake


Share this post if you found it useful!

21 Dec 2015

Boiled Fruit Cake | Easy Christmas Cake

I never soaked fruits for this year's Christmas cake, mostly because of all the rain and floods in my city, I'm simply not in the mood to celebrate. Or maybe I was just lazy and procrastinated! I think it's a bit of both. Either way, I did not have soaked fruits for my cake.

Boiled Fruit Cake


So I decided to make a simple, easy, lazy Christmas cake. This cake is a really easy, simple, no fuss cake. But still the cake tastes awesome! Boiling the fruits increases the flavor tremendously making this a wonderful bake for Christmas.  

I'm almost thinking of baking this cake every year! It's that tasty and soft and moist! Since it's so simple, I'm seriously tempted to make this my go to Christmas Cake! 


Boiled Fruit Cake


The only time taken is to chop the fruits and waiting for the boiled fruits to cool down! I used what ever fruits I had at hand. Raisins, sultanas, dried apricot, dried figs, dates, cherries. I did not add any nuts, if you want to add, then don't boil the nuts. You can add it after the fruits have cooled down.


Boiled Fruit Cake


Share this post if you found it useful!

17 Dec 2015

Homemade Yam Chips | Senai Kizhangu Chips

I remember when I was a kid, my mum used to make lots of chips at home. She used to make a lot of potato chips, vazhakkai chips and these yam chips. My brother and me, simply loved it and finished it off in no time. Last week, we made these chips again for my kids and I ended up eating a lot more than the little ones!


Yam Chips

Yam or senai kizhangu is mostly avoided since it induces itching while cutting the veggie. But if you apply some oil or wear gloves, you can avoid this issue. Also whenever we make yam masala, or any other yam recipe, we always cook the yam separately in some water and then discard the water. (You can check the yam masala recipe for details on this). 

But when we make these yam chips, we don't cook ahead and discard the water. If it's cooked well in oil, then it does not create any issues. If you want to play it safe, then you can cook ahead and discard the water and then make these chips.


Yam Chips


Share this post if you found it useful!

16 Dec 2015

Chocolate Cupcakes

I baked these lovely cupcakes for my son's 3rd birthday party along with the main cake - the Garbage Truck Cake, and we loved these cuppies! Any chocolate cupcake is delicious but this one is especially good since it's so light, soft and moist. Since we use oil and not butter, it makes the cupcakes so light and moist. Even if you leave it in the refrigerator and then take it out and eat immediately, it still tastes great! These are like the perfect chocolate cupcakes! These cupcakes uses oil and if you don't bake it correctly, the top can get sticky after sometime. If you want a cupcake that uses butter check out this chocolate cupcake recipe.

If you prefer eggless, then here's the link for egg free chocolate cupcakes


Chocolate Cupcakes


Share this post if you found it useful!

14 Dec 2015

Elephant Yam Masala | Senai Kizhangu Masala

There are so many recipes that can be made with senai kizhangu but many people don't make this because of it's itchy nature. But this is one of the most tasty dishes and we love it. You need to cook this first in some water and drain the water and cook the kizhangu alone. 
My mum makes a tasty masala with this senai kizhangu and we love it!

Yam Masala


Share this post if you found it useful!

9 Dec 2015

Pineapple Kesari | Kesari Recipes

I am not a huge kesari fan, I mean, I can eat some if I'm offered but I'm not desperately in love with kesari! But my mum loves this Indian Sweet. So I make different varieties of kesari just for her. And with this pressure cooker method, it's so easy and simple to make this kesari that I don't mind making kesari often!


Pineapple Kesari

I got this method of making kesari from Mrs. Chithra Vishwanathan. For the original recipe please click here
After trying this kesari, I now make all my kesari's following this same method, although I have changed the recipe and proportions to suit my mum's preference. There is another easier way to make kesari and that is called OPOS kesari, pioneered by Mr. Rama Krishnan, for that recipe, click here. This is an easy, simple, no fuss, no lumps, no stirring for long, no wastage of gas, fuss free kesari! 


Pineapple Kesari


Share this post if you found it useful!

8 Dec 2015

Instant Microwave Banana Nutella Mug Cake

What's not to love in a mug cake! It's easy, quick and delicious! One fine day, I was looking around my house for a bar of chocolate and unfortunately I could not find any. So instead of sulking, I decided to make myself some mug cake and this is what I ended up making. I had some left over nutella and this mug cake was finished in no time! 


Instant Microwave Banana Nutella Mug Cake

I love the combination of banana and chocolate. I have made many cakes and muffins with banana and chocolate and loved it! This mug cake was no different, it almost tasted like a brownie. Didn't matter to me, if this was a brownie or a cake, it tasted just too good!


Instant Microwave Banana Nutella Mug Cake


Share this post if you found it useful!

Lamb Rib Soup | Aatu Margandam Soup

Lamb ribs soup also called as margandam soup in Tamil is one of the tasty and healthy soups of olden days. Now a days, many people don't take this soup since it's high in fat content. In fact, people are completely avoiding lamb!

Margandam Soup

But this is one of the very good, healthy soup for kids. My kids don't eat any non veg, I'm still trying to get them to try some non veg dishes. In the meantime, this is one of the soups I make for them. Of course, they don't like drinking the soup so I add it to their rice (just like rasam) and feed it to them.
You can start this for kids above the age of 18 months. But you will have to adjust the level of spice for kids. The proportions given are mildly spicy.

Margandam Soup


Share this post if you found it useful!

7 Dec 2015

Baked Egg Toast

My city has been hit by heavy rains the past month leading to floods and massive destruction. Schools have been closed for nearly a month. There's been so much of loss and so many of my friend's houses have been submerged in water. It's really heart wrenching to see so many people who have lost everything that they had. Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers to all those affected in this rain.

Coming to today's recipe, this is a different way to serve eggs to your family. Baked egg toast is as delicious as any other forms of eggs that we have for breakfast. This is a healthy wholesome food that kids will love!
This recipe can be adjusted to your liking. I like my eggs to be fully cooked while my husband likes half cooked, runny eggs so if you're like me, then bake these for a little longer otherwise go by the timings mentioned.


Baked Egg Toast


Share this post if you found it useful!

1 Dec 2015

Coffee Cake

By nature I am not a coffee person, I never drink coffee and I have never liked coffee! The best part is no one in my family likes coffee, so I'm never forced to make coffee at home!! I buy coffee powder only to add in my chocolate cakes and brownies!!
But I've used coffee to make coffee ice cream and now this coffee cake and both times were super delicious! I baked this cake for my brother's birthday since my brother and his family loves coffee and they loved the flavor of this cake.
This is one of the softest cakes I have had! Soft and moist and so full of coffee flavor! My nephew even commented that the cake was like a pillow! So soft! I made some minor adjustments from the original recipe since it did not come perfectly the first time I baked it. This time, it was just perfect!!

Coffee Cake


Share this post if you found it useful!

30 Nov 2015

Instant Khoya | Instant Mawa Recipe

I just love khoya based sweets, they taste a whole lot better than their counter parts! But to make the khoya, the traditional way, takes hours! It literally takes about two hours! I don't have the time or patience to cook the milk for two hours now! So the other two options are to buy the khoya from store or to make it at home using this instant method.


Instant Khoya

I have tried making the khoya with microwave but every recipe out there gives a time limit which makes the khoya rubbery. I did not like khoya made with microwave. I tried three different proportions and timings from three different websites and I ended up getting rubbery khoya. 
So as I was searching the net, I came across this recipe which did not use the microwave and the resultant khoya was much better compared to the microwaved ones. Mind you, this instant khoya is no where near the delicious khoya made the traditional way by simmering milk for hours on the stove but I will make do with this for now due to the other limitations!


Instant Khoya


Share this post if you found it useful!

26 Nov 2015

No Bake 3 Ingredient Chocolate Oats Bars

Ever since I made these delicious Chocolate Fudge, I have been thinking of doing something similar using oats and finally this is what I came up with. This recipe is similar to the fudge except that this sets well and can be left out at room temperature whereas the fudge needs to be refrigerated. My husband and me loved these squares and even my kids who are so fussy, loved it!


Chocolate Oats Bars


Share this post if you found it useful!

Rose Milk Popsicles | Easy Popsicle Recipes

Growing up, summers were never complete without rose milk posicles! We loved it so much! Once in college, this habit slowly vanished. Now that I have kids, I wanted to introduce these popsicles to them so tried them out. I like making these, plain rose milk popsicles and rose milk creamsicles.
I love any rose milk based recipes. It tastes awesome! Although I don't make it often, once in a while I make something with rose milk essence and enjoy! Especially during summers!


Rose Milk Popsicles


Share this post if you found it useful!

Chocolate Fudge

I've made this fudge twice before and loved it, so I have been waiting for a chance to make this again ever since. The first time I made this for my nieces along with this Marie Biscuit Chocolate Balls and both were loved by them! 


Chocolate Fudge

This fudge is not the authentic fudge but this tastes just the same and is much easy to make with very few ingredients. You can add pistachios and call it pistachio chocolate fudge or add cashews and call it cashew chocolate fudge. I added a mix of cashews, almonds and pistachios. Every body loved this and I might be making them again very soon!


Chocolate Fudge


Share this post if you found it useful!

25 Nov 2015

Strawberry Banana Smoothie | Smoothie Recipes

I make smoothie's quite often and both my husband and me enjoy smoothies. I like both milkshakes and smoothies but my husband does not drink milk and he prefers only smoothies, juices and lassi. Either way, I make lots of beverages at home so you will lots of recipes here!
This is the season of strawberries and how can I let it go by without making something with it! This year I have only made a Strawberry Chocolate chip Loaf and this smoothie. I loved this smoothie, it was so filling and it tasted good too! I did not add any sugar to it and still this drink tasted very good.


Strawberry Banana Smoothie


Share this post if you found it useful!

24 Nov 2015

Crab Soup | Crab Recipes

Crab is my go to dish when ever someone catches a cold at home. I always make any one of my crab dishes, chicken biryani and chicken soup and then all traces of cold just disappears! My husband is not a fan of crabs, mostly he is just lazy to crack the crab and eat it, but when ever he comes down with a cold, then he has no choice but to have it! 
Me of course, love crab! I cook and eat crab often! On a cold, rainy, winter day, this soup is absolutely soothing for me!
Many people make a crab soup and call it crab rasam. But here in our house, we have a different recipe for crab rasam and a different recipe for crab soup. Both taste absolutely delicious! This is my anni's recipe and we love it!


Crab Soup


Share this post if you found it useful!

23 Nov 2015

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Loaf

This month has been so dull, I have posted only 3 recipes and I think this is the lowest count since I started blogging. Well, that's what happens when someone falls sick in the family. I have hardly cooked well this month, leave only bake anything. Things are better now and I'm grateful for that.


Strawberry Chocolate Chip Loaf

With so much going on, I completely forgot that today, November 23rd is my blog's second anniversary! If things had been different at the home front, maybe I would have run an event to celebrate! Anyway, I'm really happy to have completed 2 years of blogging. I'm thankful to Jesus, for helping me all through! And I'm thankful to all my readers, who have stopped by to leave a comment, and those who visited my blog, tried recipes and left comments to encourage me. 

To watch this video in Tamil


To watch this video in English



I posted a doll cake to celebrate my 1st blog anniversary, this time I don't have a fancy celebration cake to post, since I was caught off guard. But still, this cake is no less! The flavors of this cake were spot on! Strawberries are my most favorite fruit, next only to mangoes! This is such a soft and moist cake and I simply loved the burst of strawberries and chocolate chips! 


Strawberry Chocolate Chip Loaf

I think strawberries and chocolates are a match made in heaven. This is my 3rd attempt at this combination. I have made an Egg free Strawberry Mousse Cake with a chocolate base and I have also made Edible Chocolate Cups filled with strawberry mousse! Both are utterly delicious! And now this cake with strawberries and chocolate chips is my latest favorite!

Check out the other 17 Strawberry Recipes posted in my site.


Strawberry Chocolate Chip Loaf


Share this post if you found it useful!

18 Nov 2015

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake - No Bake and Eggless

Ever since I saw this recipe in smitten kitchen, I have been desperate to make my own version of chocolate peanut butter cheesecake. I was so desperate that I even started dreaming about it! But I don't make cheesecakes for my family because I will end up eating the whole thing myself! So I waited patiently for an opportunity to make this cake! Then finally I made this to take it to my cousin's house!


Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake

I always make the non bake type of cheesecake and use cottage cheese instead of cream cheese and we simply love it! 
This cheesecake was no different. I loved every bite of it! Soft, silky, smooth, rich and delicious! I made this cake some time back and now looking at these pictures, makes me crave for just one more slice!


Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake


Share this post if you found it useful!

10 Nov 2015

Butter Cake | Easy Butter Cake Recipe with Buttermilk

It's so relaxing for me to bake a simple vanilla cake for tea time. And my family loves this cake, they love the simplicity of this cake the most. My family's most favorite cakes are this vanilla cake, my walnut cake and my carrot cake. If I give them a choice, then they keep choosing these three cakes over and over again!
This cake is so delicious, soft and moist. The buttermilk makes it extra soft and moist. If you're looking for a simple yet delicious cake then this is the one for you!

Vanilla Butter Cake


Share this post if you found it useful!

2 Nov 2015

Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate

Do you remember my Salted Caramel Milkshake? If that was not enough, here's another caramel drink I made for myself! I'm not a big salted caramel fan but still I'm simply loving the combination of chocolate and caramel. I loved the Salted caramel ganache and the caramel milkshake. This hot chocolate was simply exotic! It's an utter indulgence and I completely enjoyed sipping this hot chocolate one cold rainy evening!


Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate


Share this post if you found it useful!

30 Oct 2015

KitKat Cupcakes

Ever since I saw these cupcakes in Subashini's Fondbites, I have been tempted to bake these cuppies. These cupcakes look so tempting and it's so delicious! And of course, the salted caramel ganache that I used to frost these cupcakes with, made it even more delightful! 
I was waiting for an opportunity to bake these and finally made it to take it to a friend's house. We loved it, they loved it and you will love it too!


KitKat Cupcakes


Share this post if you found it useful!

28 Oct 2015

Salted Caramel Ganache

I love to frost my cakes with ganache and I frost most of my cakes with chocolate ganache or whipped cream. These are my favourite frostings. I like adding different flavors to the ganache, which makes the ganache taste even better! I have posted an easy to make nutella ganache which also tastes absolutely yum!
Salted Caramel can be added to anything you bake or on ice creams and desserts and it tastes so good. Adding it to ganache just took it to a totally different level! I'm not a great fan of salted caramel but even I loved this ganache!


Salted Caramel Ganache


Share this post if you found it useful!

27 Oct 2015

Brown Rice Bisisbelabath | Easy Brown Rice Recipes

As I had mentioned in my Brown Rice Pongal post, I found it quite difficult to cook brown rice. It took a few attempts to judge the rice to water ratio. Until I figured that out, I decided to make some easy recipes that are quite forgiving with the water added. So I made plenty of brown rice pongal, brown rice curd rice and this bisbelabath.
This is such a healthy dish and with all the vegetables added, it makes for a filling dish too. My husband and me enjoyed having this bisibelabath. I love bisibelabath and I have started making it with millets too. Check out this varagu arisi bisibelabath.

Brown Rice Bisibelabath


Share this post if you found it useful!

26 Oct 2015

Beetroot Poriyal | Beetroot Stir Fry

Beetroot is such a healthy vegetable and we love it at home! Even if you don't like this veggie, you have to find a way to include it in your diet since it's such a wonderful vegetable with so many health benefits! I make a lot of beetroot for my kids too and since I'm giving it to my kids who are 4 and 2 years old, I grate the vegetable so that it's easy for them to eat. You can chop the beetroot into small pieces and make this poriyal. I also make beetroot pulao for my daughter's lunch box. This poriyal goes very well as a side dish to rice. 

Beetroot Poriyal


Share this post if you found it useful!

25 Oct 2015

Salted Caramel Milkshake | Easy Milkshake Recipes

I had a little bit of salted caramel left over after making salted caramel dark chocolate ganache and salted caramel chocolate mousse and I was wondering if I should lick it off with a spoon or do something else with it. Then I decided to make some salted caramel milkshake and salted caramel hot chocolateThis milkshake is absolutely delicious, a complete indulgence! If you love caramel then this is a recipe that you must try.


Salted Caramel Milkshake


Share this post if you found it useful!

Eggless Carrot Cake

Carrot is one of my most favorite vegetable. Even when I was young, carrot was a vegetable that I ate without cribbing. I think I must have eaten only drumsticks, potatoes and carrots as a child! I love adding carrots to my bakes, I have already posted lots of recipes using carrots and the carrot cake that I have posted already is one of my most favorite cakes, only next to chocolate cakes

This time I wanted to try out an egg free version of carrot cake and I must say, you can never go wrong with carrots. The flavor is pretty deep and intense especially with the cinnamon and nutmeg. I love to bake my carrot cake a day in advance and let it rest for 24 hours and then all the flavors seep in and infuse making it delightfully delicious!


Eggless Carrot Cake


Share this post if you found it useful!

Gulab Jamun using Ready Mix

Making Gulab Jamun from scratch is very easy and simple but there are times when you need to make something fast and instant and these ready mix packets always comes to the rescue. I normally make everything from scratch but somebody had given us a packet of gulab jamum mix and so I made this one evening for my family.
As always gulab jamum is a favourite sweet dish loved by everybody and this was no different! It's so soft and juicy and totally delicious!


Gulab Jamun


Share this post if you found it useful!

24 Oct 2015

Carrot Halwa | Gajar Halwa

Carrot halwa is a classic Indian sweet dish made with carrots, milk and sugar. This is by far one of the most delicious and favourite Indian sweet dish ever. For me personally, I love carrot and beet root halwa. It's also a favourite among kids and carrots being a wonderful vegetable, this is a wonderful way to include vegetables in their diet. 


The traditional method of cooking carrot halwa, involves cooking the grated carrots in milk for a really long time. In this recipe, I have used a combination of milk and condensed milk. I love my halwa with condensed milk more than sugar. This turned out perfectly and we enjoyed having it!


Carrot Halwa


Share this post if you found it useful!