23 Nov 2016

Neapolitan Cake

Today, November 23rd marks my blog's 3rd anniversary! This year my blogging has been very poor and I remembered late last evening that today is the blog anniversary!! So I decided to post this beautiful cake to celebrate my blog 😊

I made this cake for my husband's birthday which was about 9 months ago! I know I've been terribly slack this year but I'm glad I somehow got to write down this recipe. 

I always look to bake something special for my husband's birthday. Although he's not a big fan of cakes and sweets, a birthday is a special occasion which I believe, must be celebrated with a fancy cake!


Neapolitan Cake

For a brief history on the neapolitan cake (which I googled), this cake was originally a frozen dessert - the neapolitan ice cream. It's presumed to have it's origin in Naples, Italy and it initially resembled the Italian flag and had many different flavors. Finally the 3 most favorite flavors - chocolate, vanilla and strawberry became the standard.

I have always wanted to bake a neapolitan cake, simply because it's a pretty looking cake! But then the recipes I looked at always had 3 different recipes for the 3 layers (strawberry, chocolate and vanilla). You can opt for such a recipe too but I prefer this kind of a recipe which uses one batter divided 3 ways. For me, this is much easier.


Neapolitan Cake


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12 Oct 2016

Uppu Elumichai Oorugai | Salt Lemon Pickle

I don't know if you've ever heard of this pickle but this pickle is very famous in our house!! We simply call it uppu oorugai. This is a simple recipe and very easy to make. We add only salt to this pickle, no spice at all. This goes very well with curd rice. This pickle is also great if you have morning sickness. The taste of this pickle relives nausea immediately.


Uppu Oorugai

You can make this pickle with fresh whole lemons pieces but what we do is, we squeeze the juice of the lemon and bottle the juice and keep the remaining skin of the lemon (with just a little juice and flesh) to make this pickle. Works very well! I love this pickle and we always have a bottle of this pickle at home!


Uppu Oorugai


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11 Oct 2016

Capsicum Pulao

We love eating pulao at home and I always choose to make a pulao over biryanis. When we went shopping for veggies, my son was very much interested in these colorful capsicums so I decided to buy them to make this delicious pulao.
This tastes really good and we had it with paneer and baby corn kurma.


Capsicum Pulao


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1 Oct 2016

30 Sept 2016

Nutella Ice Cream

Another tasty and easy ice cream is this nutella ice cream. I made this many months ago for my daughter's school friend. It was farewell time and I wanted to make her a box of ice cream since she loves to eat my ice creams! This is a simple and delicious ice cream. You can add as much or as little nutella as you wish.

I have lots of ice cream recipes here, the base is the same for all the ice creams but I keep changing the add ons/fill ins to make it interesting. You can try your own flavor too. 


Nutella Ice Cream


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29 Sept 2016

Brownie Tart

This brownie tart is an extremely rich fudgy dessert. This is the second time I am baking this tart and both times it was completely irresistible. Both times I baked this for my in laws and they absolutely enjoyed it!
I don't have a tart pan so I used my springform pan and it worked just fine. 


Brownie Tart


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28 Sept 2016

Single Serve Chocolate Chip Muffin

These single serve muffins works best for sudden cravings, especially with my kids. My kids (who are 5 and 3 years old) have not yet taken a liking to cakes, cupcakes or ice creams so somedays they suddenly ask for cupcakes and when I'm done baking a batch, they eat just one or half, frustrating me to no end! These kind of recipes work best for them!
The best part about this recipe is that, you can choose to bake this in the oven or you can make it in the microwave.

If you do want to bake a full batch of tasty chocolate chip muffins, then check out this recipe.


Single serve muffin


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27 Sept 2016

Apple Slice

As soon as I read the story behind this recipe, I wanted to try out this cake and I'm glad I did. This is a cake that we enjoyed thoroughly! The recipe is also so easy to put together with very few ingredients.


Apple Slice

I came across this recipe at Life of Clare. Clare's grandmother sent this recipe to the papers 25 years ago and a reader who has been making this particular cake for 25 years wanted to thank Clare's grandma for this awesome recipe. The recipe was re published 25 years later in The Herald Sun. 


Apple Slice

A recipe that people were raving about and baking more than 100's of times , for over 25 years....!! I simply had to try it out! And I was not disappointed! I loved the simplicity of this cake, so few ingredients and such a delightful cake! Grandma's do have beautiful recipes!!


Apple Slice


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26 Sept 2016

Mushroom Drumstick Curry

We have a drumstick tree in our garden and we get lots and lots of drumsticks from it, that my mum shares it with all our neighbors all the time. One time, one of our neighbors, a grandmother, gave me this recipe of mushrooms and drumsticks. I love mushrooms so I was immediately interested and willing to try it out. This turned out great and my husband and me simply loved it! This grandmother tells me she also makes drumstick with mutton....waiting to try that out some other day!


Mushroom Drumstick Curry


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5 Sept 2016

Kollu Podi | Horse gram Powder

Horse gram or Kollu is a super food which has lots of health benefits. I came to know about the value of kollu when we took our daughter to a doctor for a problem that she had and he told us to include kollu in her diet atleast 2 days a week and hence I started my research on horse gram and came to of all it's health benefits.


Kollu Podi

Kollu is extremly rich in iron, protein and calcium. It also aids in digestion, weight loss, reduces cholesterol, is a diuretic, rich in anti oxidants and so many more benefits.

I have been looking for ways to include this in our weekly diet and make it tasty as well so this is the first recipe I tried. This kollu podi is an adaptation of my idli podi recipe and it came out very well. I also added lots of curry leaves to make it more rich in iron.

This podi can be had with idli/dosa or even rice.


Kollu Podi


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Chocolate Banana Cake

I do a lot of baking with bananas since that is the most common fruit at home and if it's about to go waste, I bake something with it. This is one such bake. Bananas and chocolate goes very well together and if you add some cinnamon and walnut to the mix, it just becomes too delicious!

Chocolate Banana Cake

There are plenty of banana bakes in my blog as this is a favorite at home and it always comes out so well. This recipe is from joy of baking and as usual it's a winner! The cake turned out so moist, dense and fudgy, almost like a brownie!


Chocolate Banana Cake


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Mint Chocolate Ice Cream

I never used to try recipes with mint essence since I never got it where I lived. And then I made this mint chocolate milkshake using mint toffees and I thought of trying this ice cream also with the same and it worked out very well!
I love the flavor of mint and chocolate together so I was looking forward to tasting it. This ice cream, as all other ice creams, tasted absolutely yum!


Chocolate mint Ice Cream


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Chocolate Panna Cotta

This is another recipe that I made for the potluck with my friends. This potluck happened close to a year ago and I'm still not done posting those recipes!! I've really been slacking off!

Anyway, I love panna cotta and I'm always looking for excuses to make these. I've made a lot of panna cotta and this time I wanted to make the classic chocolate panna cotta!


Chocolate Panna Cotta


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3 Sept 2016

1 Aug 2016

Fruit and Nut Milkshake

This milkshake is a great way to include dry fruits and nuts in your diet especially if your kids are the fussy kind. This makes a very filling drink and can be had for breakfast. I make a lot of milkshakes and this is one of the favorites!


Fruit and Nut Milkshake


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28 Jul 2016

Mochai Kottai Kuzhambu | Kuzhambu Recipes

My mom makes a lot of mochakottai kuzhambu and I simply love it! My childhood memories are all filled with me picking up and eating the softly cooked mochai every time I go by the kitchen!
This is the dried variety of mochai and it is called as field beans in English. When ever I want to make kuzhambu and don't have the appropriate veggies for kuzhambu, I always make this mochai kuzhambu. 

MochaiKottai Kuzhambu


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7 Jul 2016

Peanut Butter Ice Cream

This summer I made lots of lots of dishes for my baked section but I'm just not able to find time to write! To everybody to asked about me, thank you so much for your concern and well wishes, hopefully I will be back to active blogging soon!


Peanut Butter Ice Cream

I made this ice cream a couple of months back for my daughter's friend and her family. Whenever I think of what to take with me when visiting someone, they always ask me for ice creams or cakes! Bored of always making chocolate and vanilla ice cream, I tried some peanut butter ice cream and it turned out really yum! I used a whole cup of peanut butter and that made my ice cream thick, you can choose to add a little less than a cup too. But if you want an ice cream that tastes peanut buttery then go for a full cup!


Peanut Butter Ice Cream


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11 Jun 2016

Sweet Ragi Adai

I have been looking to add ragi in our diet and my mum suggested making sweet ragi adai for the kids. Ragi is very healthy and it's good to include it in our diet atleast twice or thrice a week. This adai can be made for breakfast or even for evening snack, I'm sure kids will love it. 
Sweet Ragi Adai


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6 May 2016

Brownie Mousse Shots

It was mela time again at my husband's office and like last year my husband was putting up a food stall and we were brainstorming on what to make this year. I wanted to make something different from last year's egg free marble cupcakes so we settled on some dessert instead of cakes/cupcakes. 


Brownie Mousse Shots

And after much contemplation we decided on these mousse shots and it ended up to be a great decision! These mousse shots were the first to disappear and I was even stopped by his CEO and appreciated for the fantastic taste of these shot! I was very happy to have made my husband proud!!

I made this egg free since my husband wanted only egg free desserts. You can choose brownies with eggs and mousse with eggs too.
There is another brownie + mousse combination in my blog which is totally yum, check out this chocolate mousse brownie recipe.


Brownie Mousse Shots


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27 Apr 2016

Butterscotch Ice Cream Recipe

I've been making a lot of ice creams, mostly to give away to friends and neighbors. This ice cream I made specially for a girl in my neighborhood. She was telling me how much she loves ice creams and butterscotch is her favorite flavor so I decided to make this ice cream for her.
Butterscotch Ice Cream

It's been a few weeks since I made it for her and she still comes by telling me how much she loved this ice cream and how it was far better than any of the ice creams she's ever had! Of course, flattery will get you everywhere so I am planning on making another batch for her!!


Butterscotch Ice Cream


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13 Apr 2016

Tutti Fruiti Ice cream

Tutti Frutti Ice Cream

Here's another ice cream I made for the potluck I attended with some friends. I had taken DDL ice cream and this tutti fruity ice cream along with chocolate panna cotta, chocolate mousse, 3 ingredient brownie and some egg free brownie muffins. All of it were totally delicious and disappeared quickly!


Tutti Frutti Ice Cream

I follow a very simple recipe for all my ice creams, it gives me the most creamiest and tastiest ice cream ever! I had a lot of tutti fruiti left over from baking my christmas cakes this egg free tutti fruiti cake so I added it to this vanilla ice cream base to make this tutti fruiti ice cream!


Tutti Frutti Ice Cream


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12 Apr 2016

Radish Greens Stir Fry | Mullangi Keerai Poriyal

Radish Greens is one of the most healthy greens around. Full of Vitamin C and other vitamins and protein this greens is not only healthy but also very tasty. So whenever you get radish, don't throw away the leaves, make this healthy greens stirfry. It makes a very good side dish for any South Indian rice dish.


Mullangi Keerai Poriyal

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8 Apr 2016

DDL Ice Cream

Sometime back I made some DDL at home and with one can of DDL I made these delicious DDL brownies and with the other can I made this awesome DDL Ice Cream. The addition of DDL makes this ice cream finger licking good!
So many people can vouch for this ice cream! I made this for a potluck with friends and I served this ice cream along with this 3 ingredient nutella brownies and these disappeared in no time! All the kids came flocking around to have another serving of this ice cream!!

My DDL was very thick so I added it to a saucepan to thin it out a bit. If your DDL is of a slightly thin consistency, you can add it directly to the ice cream.


DDL Ice Cream


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1 Apr 2016

Eggless Brownie Muffins

Eggless Brownie Muffins

I made some brownie muffins for a potluck that I was going to but one of my friends is a vegetarian and for her, I made one batch of egg free brownie muffins so she won't be left out. I was looking at many recipes and finally settled on this recipe from tarla dalal. 


Eggless Brownie Muffins

I almost did not post this recipe since these muffins sink a little bit. But then these muffins tasted so good that I thought it would be such a loss if I don't share it with the world! So if you don't mind some slightly sunk in muffins then go for it! These are absolutely fudgy and extremely delicious!


Eggless Brownie Muffins


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29 Feb 2016

Instant Oats Dosa

Oats is a favorite for us at home, if I'm not in the mood to cook then oats it is! We usually have oats porridge or masala oats but now I have started trying many other dishes with oats. So one Saturday morning I decided to make this oats dosa and chutney. 
This is a healthy dosa and this recipe was shared my my friend Meenakshi in our college whatsapp group. That was so long ago and I immediately saved it and then forgot about it. When I stumbled upon it again, I knew I had to make it soon!
If you're a health conscious person then this dosa will work very well for you.


Oats Dosa


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25 Feb 2016

3 Ingredient Nutella Brownie

I recently went for a potluck with friends and desserts was my lot. I was only too thrilled! I ended up taking so many things! I made this 3 ingredient brownie, DDL ice cream, Chocolate brownie muffins, Eggfree chocolate brownie muffins, coffee panna cotta, tutti frutti ice cream and chocolate mousse with ganache! I will be posting the other recipes soon!


Nutella Brownies

I started my preparations 2 days ahead and I was exhausted by the end of the previous evening of the event and only then I remembered I had to bake one more set of brownies. I was too tired to bake anything and as I was searching the net, I came across this recipe and it seemed too easy and looked too delicious! So I called my husband and asked him to get me some nutella and I made these brownies. 


Nutella Brownies

These were so ridiculously delicious, I coudn't believe such a simple recipe gave me such rich fudgy brownies! I served these brownies with DDL ice cream and it was such a great combination! All the kids went absolutely crazy for these! 


Nutella Brownies


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24 Feb 2016

Ragi Milkshake | Healthy Milkshakes

Ragi is an excellent source of calcium, even better than milk! It's wonderful to include Ragi in our diet but except for this ragi sevai, I have not tried anything else with ragi. But that's going to change. I have been exploring many recipes to include ragi and this is one of them.
This Ragi Milkshake makes a healthy and filling drink for the evening or even for breakfast.


Ragi Milkshake


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19 Feb 2016

DDL Brownies | Dulce de Leche Brownies

Remember my DDL post? Well, this is what I made with one tin of DDL and with the other tin I made DDL ice cream. Both were utterly delicious! I really have no words to describe how much I loved these brownies. I made these brownies for my niece and both my nieces and my anni loved it.
I wanted my DDL to be sauce like to spread it on top of the brownie but then my DDL was thick and I just added dollops of it and in the end that turned out to be a great idea! Biting into pockets of DDL was absolutely delicious!


DDL Brownies


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17 Feb 2016

Sundakkai Vathal Recipe | Easy Vathal Recipes

My mum and dad makes a lot of vathal/vadam during the summer months and we enjoy it for many months to come. Earlier my grand mother used to do this and she'll send it to all her children. But she's no more and now my parent's have started making these vathal every year or when ever there is good sunlight.


Sundakkai Vathal

I have already posted cheeni avarakkai vathal and vengaya vadagam recipes. There is plenty more to come!
Sundakkai is called as Turkey Berry in English. We use both the fresh and dried turkey berry extensively in our daily cooking. We use fresh turkey berry to make kuzhambu too. Check out the sundakkai kara kuzhambu recipe.


Sundakkai Vathal


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16 Feb 2016

How to line a Brownie Pan easily

Have you ever had trouble lining a brownie pan and then removing the baked brownies? Brownies tend to get stuck to the pan easily due to the high sugar in the batter and thereby have sticky edges causing them to get stuck. 
Whenever I use a butter paper and there are creases, the brownie batter goes into those creases and gets stuck! Once the brownie is baked, I have to sit and peel the butter paper out of those creases! That is something I don't like doing and this method does not pose any such problems.


How to line a Brownie Tin

I bake a lot of brownies and the intensely fudgy ones are my most favorite so this trick has always worked well for me. Also cleaning these pans are so easy since it hardly ever gets dirty!
Do try it out and let me know if it works for you.

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15 Feb 2016

Cabbage Chutney | No Onion Chutney

My mother in law is an expert when it comes to cooking but then I can never blog any of her recipes since it's all a random addition of ingredients. She is so experienced that she just keeps adding the ingredients randomly and they turn out so well!
One day I saw her making this cabbage chutney and I could not get any proportion out of her but then I tried following her steps and then finally came out with this delicious and easy chutney recipe! 
My husband and me simply loved it! We had it with instant oats dosai and it was a healthy and delicious breakfast!


Cabbage Chutney


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14 Feb 2016

Homemade Cream Cheese Recipe

Necessity is the mother of invention!! Although I live in a large metropolitan city, I live in the suburbs and I have never seen a tub of cream cheese in my neighborhood. So, whenever I needed to use cream cheese in a cheesecake recipe, I have always used cottage cheese (paneer) and it always workes very well for me. So I never went about hunting for cream cheese.

But this time, I wanted to bake some cheesecake brownies and I wasn't sure if paneer will work so I made the effort to make the cream cheese at home and I tell you, it is so easy and simple to use that this is what I'm going to make the next time I need cream cheese!


Homemade CreamCheese

Actually the method to make cream cheese at home needs some culture but this is an alternative and it works well. You can use this cream cheese for your cheesecakes. There are plenty of cream cheese recipes online, I referred many many recipes and this is what worked for me.
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