Vanilla Cupcakes

If you haven't heard of Sweet and Simple Bakes, do check it out. Maria and Rosie have started a baking blog for amateur bakers about a year ago. I've tried to take part in almost all their bakes, and they've all been amazing.

This month's bake was no different. I tried them this afternoon and they were all gone in about 2 hours. My daughter and her friends thought they were awesome and literally couldn't stop eating them!


Vanilla Cupcakes
(recipe from Sweet and Simple Bakes)

Supposed to make 12, but I got about 9

6 oz Self-Raising Flour
6 oz Butter, softened
6 oz Caster Sugar
3 large Eggs
2 tbsp Milk
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

For the Buttercream Icing:
5 oz Butter, softened
11 oz Icing Sugar
1 tbsp Milk
1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract

Preheat the oven to 180 deg C.

Mix together the flour, baking powder and caster sugar. Add the butter, eggs, milk and vanilla. Beat until well combined. Spoon the mixture into paper-case lined muffin pans. Bake for about 20 minutes. Leave to cool for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.


Meanwhile make the buttercream. Beat the butter until soft. Add the icing sugar and combine. Add the vanilla and milk and beat well until light and fluffy. You could add food coloring too if you'd like colorful cupcakes.

Spread the buttercream onto the cupcakes. Decorate as you wish. I used Gems (an Indian equivalent of M&Ms).


Thanks, Maria and Rosie. This is something I've already made 3 times this month, and will definitely make again!

Khara Bread

In Bangalore there's this bakery called VB Bakery that sells loaves and loaves of this bread. While on vacation in Bangalore, this would be a daily tea time snack - a slice of hot, buttered khara (khara means spicy) bread.

I still bring back a loaf every time I visit Bangalore. I tried to recreate it at home, and it was amazing. The same spicy taste with the incredibly soft crumb.


Khara Bread
(Bread with Chillies, Onions and Cilantro)
Makes 2 Loaves

For the Flavoring:
1 cup Onions, chopped fine
2-3 tbsp Green Chillies, chopped fine
1 cup Cilantro leaves, chopped fine

Saute the onions and green chillies (separately) in a teaspoon of oil. Set aside.

For the Bread
(I used a variation of Peter Reinhart's White Bread from the Bread Baker's Apprentice)

4 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 cup Milk (I used 2% milk)
3 tbsp Sugar
2 tsp Instant Dry Yeast
1 large Egg, beaten
3 1/4 tbsp Butter, melted
1 1/2 cups Water (you might need more as you knead, so keep some on hand)

Mix together the flour, salt, milk, sugar and yeast in a bowl. Add in the egg and butter and mix to combine. Pour in a little bit of water at a time until the dough begins to come together. There shouldn't be any obvious dry spots, and all the flour should be combined. If the dough is dry, add a few drops of water. If its too sticky, add a tiny dusting of flour.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and start kneading the bread. Knead for about 8 minutes. The dough will be smooth and soft. Now press the bread out into a slightly rectangular shape. Add the cilantro, onions and chillies in the middle and bring the sides of the dough over the filling to enclose it (I've just found that adding flavoring to dough is easier this way, but you can use any method you want).

Start kneading again for about 2 minutes. As you knead the fillings will get evenly distributed through the dough.

Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with a muslin cloth and leave in a warm area of the house. Allow the dough to double, approximately 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Remove the dough and divide in two. Shape each part into a loaf - I rolled them gently into a log, tucking in the corners slightly. Place them in a greased loaf pans, cover with a muslin cloth and allow to double in size, approximately 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 180 deg C.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown on top. They should also be brown on the sides, when removed from the pan and make a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom.


Remove from pans and allow to cool on a wire rack for an hour (I waited maybe 20 minutes!).

As you can see the crumb was really really soft and lovely.


The small hole in the middle is from an air pocket formed while rising (didn't affect the bread but kinda let some butter drip through when toasted and buttered!).


This is off to Susan @ Wild Yeast for Yeast Spotting.

Oatmeal Chocolate Raisin Cookies

And we get to Sweet and Simple Bakes to start the month on a great note. My favorite cookies in the world are oatmeal raisin and what better way than to add chocolate to it? They were, in short, fantastic! Do try this at home.


Oatmeal Chocolate Raisin Cookies
(recipe from Sweet and Simple Bakes - I changed it a little bit)

1/2 cup Butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup Caster Sugar
1/2 cup Soft Brown Sugar
1 Egg
2 tbsp Water
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 1/4 cups Rolled Oats (the recipe was for 9 oz or 1.12 cups, but I added more to get it to a dough consistency)
1 cup Self-Raising Flour (again, the original recipe called for 1/2 cup or 4 oz, and I had to add more)
1 tsp Salt
1/4 cup Chocolate Chips
1/4 cup Raisins

Preheat the oven to 180 deg C or 350 deg F.

Cream the butter. Add both sugars and beat until fluffy.
Add the egg, water and vanilla and beat well, until creamy. Now add the oats, flour and salt and beat on slow until blended. Fold in the chocolate chips and raisins until thoroughly combined.

At this point, I had a bit of a problem. You have to roll it into walnut-sized balls - but I couldn't roll it at all because it was really really sticky, which is why I added that extra flour and oatmeal that I mentioned above.

Okay, so now roll the dough into walnut sized balls. Keep them slightly apart on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or golden brown and slightly soft in the middle. Remove from oven, allow to cool slightly and place on a wire rack to cool completely.



Thanks again, Rosie and Maria for a winner recipe!


Other cookies on this blog: Double Chocolate Chip, Potato Chip Cookies, Snickerdoodles, Peanut Butter Cookies, Butter Cookies and Savory Cookies. Yeah, looks like there's way way too many cookies on here!!

Fun Food Stuff

I have seen some really cool bread products - for instance, Jude's bread bowls for soup. Recently I went to a friend's house for a BBQ and saw the most interesting bread product ever. Check it out:


Isn't that cool? It's a bread (made in a bread machine) that has been hollowed out. The hollowed out bread has been used to make different sandwiches and then neatly placed back into the original bread. Easy to carry along for a picnic and held at least 30 sandwiches. I thought it was quite cool.

Next up, when we were traveling in Singapore, I came across an Auntie Anne's Pretzels. They are my favorite pretzels - especially the Jalapeno ones. I went right up to the counter excited to have a jalapeno pretzel after a really long time. And I was faced with this menu:


Now, that's what I call adapting to the area. Seaweed Pretzels? Really? How about Green Tea?! And, no, they didn't have Jalapeno.

Back in India, we came across a vendor selling freshly squeezed sugarcane juice.


These vendors have been around for a long, long time. But this was the first time I was actually looking at it closely. And can you believe the entire thing - including the wheels are made of wood?


Every single part of that machine! Quite amazing. And so, here is my entry for Click: Wood, because it is so unique to India, and a great show of craftsmanship.

Kadamba Sadam

After many days of making cookies and brownies, I couldn't bear to "cream butter, add sugar". I needed something savory to work with. And what better blog to turn to than Suganya at Tasty Palettes. Her recipes are amazing and her photographs are beautiful. And hers is the chosen blog this month at Tried And Tasted, started by Zlamushka and hosted this month by Curry Leaf at Experiments, Emotions, Experiences with Food.

This is a recipe that we enjoyed growing up but I haven't had it in a long time and had no idea how to make it. I was excited when I found it at Suganya's blog and decided to make it for lunch. As she says, its truly comfort in a bowl.

Kadamba is an assortment or string of similar things and sadam means rice. So this is basically a vegetable curry (made with as assortment of mixed vegetables in a spiced tamarind curry, mixed with rice). When we made this at home, I remember the curry cooked with the rice so that they were all mushed together, but I couldn't wait to try Suganya's version.


Kadamba Sadam
(recipe from Tasty Palettes)

4 cups Mixed Vegetables (I used carrots, peas, shallots and beans)
3 tbsp Tamarind Paste
1 Tomato, chopped
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
1/4 cup Coconut Milk (I left this out)
1/2 cup Toor Dal, cooked till soft and and mushy
1 pinch Asafetida
2 tbsp Cilantro leaves, chopped
Salt, to taste

Spice Mixture:
2 tbsp Chana Dal
1 tbsp Coriander Seeds
1 tsp Urad Dal
6 dried Red Chillies
1 tsp Fenugreek Seeds
1/4 cup Grated Coconut
1 tbsp Oil

Roast the spice mixture ingredients in the oil. Cool the mixture and grind with the coconut to make a smooth paste.

Tempering:
1 tbsp Oil
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
3-4 Curry Leaves

The directions, exactly from Tasty Palettes:

Dissolve tamarind paste in 1 cup of water. In a deep vessel, boil tamarind water along with salt, turmeric powder, tomato and mixed vegetables for about 15 minutes. The vegetable should be fully cooked and the tamarind shouldn’t smell raw anymore.

Add the cooked dal and spice paste and allow sambar to boil for 5 minutes. Stir occasionally. Finally add the coconut milk, if using and switch off the flame. Mix well and let the coconut milk to heat through. Stir in asafoetida and cilantro.

In a small skillet, heat oil/ghee and splutter mustard seeds. Remove from flame and add curry leaves. Add this seasoning to the sambar. Serve this sambar with rice and additional ghee, if preferred.

Mix generous ladles of sambar into rice (called saadam in Tamil), mix well and serve warm ‘Kadamba Saadam’ with crunchy cucumber slices, vegetable chips or appalam. The rice should not be dry, but porridge like consistency.

If you want to include onions, slice ‘em thin and sauté with mustard seeds while seasoning and add to the sambar. Omit asafoetida though, as it doesn’t go well with onions or garlic.


This was true comfort food for me and my family. We loved it. Thanks Suganya!

Bakewell Cake

So this month's Sweet and Simple Bakes' recipe was a Cherry Bakewell Cake. Maria and Rosie really do their homework and give us the most tried and tested easy bake recipes. And every single time, the recipe is a winner.

This time, though, it just didn't work for me and I have no idea why! Maybe one of you could tell me where I went wrong. I'm still posting it here because everyone loved the flavor of the cake - it just didn't look all that hot. See the S+SB website to see how this cake is supposed to look!

And another thing - I'm not a huge cherry person, actually I dislike cherries. So I went with the raspberry option that Rosie had given us. So I'm just going to call it a Bakewell Cake!


Bakewell Cake
(recipe from Sweet and Simple Bakes)

For the Cake:
8 oz Butter, well softened, + extra for greasing
8 oz Caster Sugar
4 oz ground Almonds
4 oz self-raising Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp almond extract or essence
4 large eggs
Pinch of salt

For The Filling & Top:
12 oz Cherry Jam/ Conserve (I used Raspberry Jam)
6 oz Icing Sugar
5-6 tsp Water or Lemon Juice (I used Lemon Juice)
1 tbsp flaked Almonds, lightly toasted

Mix all the ingredients for the cake together. Pour it into two 8 inch round sandwich tins.

Bake at 180 deg C for 30 minutes. It's done when a skewer comes out clean. Spread the jam on top of one of the cakes and sandwich them together.

Stir together the lemon juice and icing sugar until thick and creamy and pour over the cake. Top with the toasted almonds.


So everyone loved the cake, but I'll tell you what went wrong for me. The height of the cake was half what it was supposed to be. But the quantity of batter was so little that I realized that the two cakes would be really small.

And the icing just didn't become white and translucent - it kinda just blended into the cake. You could taste the icing but couldn't see it.


Thanks, Rosie and Maria!

Double Beans

Double Beans are a form of lima beans, broad beans or butter beans. They are usually white and slightly pink and need to be soaked before cooking. They almost triple in size after soaking. Just see the beautiful color of these beans - and they're absolutely delicious.


I've searched and really have no idea if these beans are called Double Beans in English too. And I'm not sure if you even get them outside India - I haven't seen them anywhere else. Maybe an Indian grocery store in some towns carry this variety of beans. If you do find them, pick them up!

This is my favorite recipe for double beans.

Double Beans Kootu (Kootu is a form of spiced gravy - usually eaten with rice).

1/2 cup split Pigeon Peas (Toor Dal), cooked and mashed (save the water)
1 cup Double Beans, soaked for a couple of hours and cooked in water until tender
1 Tomato, chopped
1 Onion, chopped
2 Green Chillies, slit lengthwise
2 tsp Chilli Powder
4 tsp Coriander Powder
1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder

Tempering:
1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds
1/4 tsp Urad Dal
1/4 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 pinch Fenugreek Seeds
1 pinch Asoefetida
3-4 Curry Leaves

For Garnish:
4-5 Cilantro Leaves, chopped

Heat about 1/2 a tablespoon of oil in a pan. Add the ingredients for tempering. When the mustard seeds begin to splutter, add the onion, green chillies and tomato. Stir fry on a medium heat until the onions are translucent.

Add the beans and all the powders and continue to stir fry, combining everything together, about 5-6 minutes. Add the water from the cooked pigeon peas and salt to taste. Continue to cook on medium heat, and let it come to a boil. Add the pigeon peas and let it cook together for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir to combine. Serve over rice.


This is off to Susan @ The Well-Seasoned Cook for My Legume Love Affair: Eighth Helping.

Buns

I'm always trying to take part in the Bread Baking Day organized by Zorra. This month it's hosted by Notitie van Lien, one of the most beautiful photographers in the blogosphere. This month the theme is Potato Breads. I've been wanting to make savory stuffed buns for a long time, and I took this opportunity to do just that.


The buns have mashed potato added to the flour. And the buns are also stuffed with a spicy potato filling. I also did some spicy chicken ones for my family. Both were very well received. The nice part is the combinations/ fillings are endless. The bread can be flavored. The fillings can be altered to suit your tastes. And its really simple.


Buns

For the Bread:
4 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 tbsp Yeast
2 tbsp Sugar
1 1/2 cups warm Water
1 tsp Salt
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 large Potato, peeled, chopped, boiled and mashed
2 tbsp Crushed Red Pepper (optional - I just wanted a spicy bread. You could add any herbs/ greens of your choice like fenugreek/ cilantro/ cumin/ fennel/ za'atar).

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl, until it comes together as a ball. Empty the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead the dough for 8-10 minutes until it becomes soft and elastic. Put the dough into an oiled bowl and cover with a muslin cloth. Keep in a warm place and leave aside for an hour or until doubled in size.

Divide the dough into 10 or 12 equal parts (I got 10 but depending on the size of the buns you want, you could get 12). Flatten each ball into a thin circular shape, with your fingers. Put about 2-3 tbsp of the filling in each (recipe follows). Bring the edges around the filling until it is fully covered. Pinch the seams together to seal. Place seal-side down on a baking tray. Repeat for all the balls.


Cover the buns with muslin cloth and leave aside for approximately an hour. Bake at 180 deg C for 25-30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway for even baking. Remove and brush with melted butter when warm (optional - this just gives the buns a softer crust).

For the Peas and Potatoes Filling:
6 small Potatoes, peeled, chopped and boiled
1/2 cup Peas, boiled
2 Onions, chopped
1 Tomato, chopped
1 tsp Chilli Powder
2 tsp Coriander Powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder

Tempering:
1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 small piece Cinnamon
2-3 pieces Cardamom
1/2 tsp Fennel Seeds
2 cloves Garlic, chopped

Heat some oil and add the ingredients for tempering. When the mustard seeds begin to splutter, add the onion, garlic and tomato. Saute until the onions are brown. Add the potato, peas and the powders and salt. Continue to saute until well browned and mixed through. Sprinkle with a few teaspoons of water and cover and cook for 10 minutes.


For the Chicken Filling:
1/4 kg boneless Chicken pieces, shredded
1 Tomato
1 Onion, chopped
2-3 cloves Garlic, chopped
1" piece Ginger
(Grind the garlic and ginger together to a paste. OR use 1 tsp readymade ginger garlic paste)
1 tsp Chilli Powder
2 tsp Coriander Powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder

For the tempering:
1 Bay Leaf
1 small piece Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Fennel Seeds
1-2 pieces Cardamom

Heat some oil and add the ingredients for tempering. Saute for 1-2 minutes. Add the onion, garlic, tomato and continue to saute for 3-4 minutes or until the onion is translucent. Add the shredded chicken. Stir fry for a few minutes. Add the ginger garlic paste and the powders and saute well until the raw smell of the paste disappears. Add 1 cup of water and continue to stir fry until the water has been completely absorbed. Keep aside.


Enjoy the buns! Next time I'm going to try a cheese and broccoli filling. Or maybe even some cottage cheese and veggies. The possibilities are endless.

This is off to Notitie van Lien for Bread Baking Day #17: Potato Breads. And to Susan @ Wild Yeast for YeastSpotting.

Egg Salad

Sometimes, you get referred to new blogs. And sometimes, you come across them by pure chance. But a sure-fire way to find great blogs is to sign up for the Taste & Create event hosted by Nicole over at For The Love Of Food.

I was paired with Kaytie and Drew of Tiny Biscuits. Their food is nothing short of amazing. And the writing is light and interesting. Being vegetarian was not a problem - there was such a variety of great recipes, that it was just a question of choosing the right one. I was intrigued by this recipe because they had eaten it with naan, an Indian flatbread. I've never tried that combination before - egg salad and naan!

The egg salad itself was incredible! They says its slightly better than the one her mom makes - and let me say, its far better than the one I make! I've never had egg salad with olives before and to blend in cheese is sheer genius! Thanks Kaytie and Drew for a keeper of a recipe.


Incredible Egg Salad
(recipe from Tiny Biscuits)

6 eggs

1/2 cup Mayonnaise (I used low-fat)

1 piece of Laughing Cow garlic & herb cheese (I used 2 tbsp of Boursin Garlic & Herb Cheese - we don't get Laughing Cow here in India)

1/2 teaspoon mustard (I used French grainy Mustard)

squeeze of fresh lemon juice

black olives (I added about 3-4 olives cut fine)

green onions, chopped (I added a 2 tsp of finely minced greens)

Boil the eggs. Let it cool, shell the eggs and chop into small pieces.

Blend the cheese, mustard, mayonnaise and lemon juice together. Toss the egg with the cheese dressing. Add in the olives and garnish with the minced spring onion greens.

Try it with the naan - its actually a great combination - who would've thought! Thanks, Kaytie and Drew!

Banana Chocolate Bread

I've been terribly out of touch with my blogs for a few months. What can I say? December is always so busy that sometimes I need a couple months of hibernation just to recover.

In my hibernation, I forgot to add my contribution to the Sweet and Simple Bakes February bake. I did make the bread but didn't blog about it. So here it is. It's one of the simplest and most delicious breads I've ever made. My daughter actually did the mashing, mixing and tasting! Here's the recipe from Maria and Rosie of Sweet and Simple Bakes:


Banana Chocolate Bread

9 oz Self-Raising Flour
Pinch of Salt
1 tsp Baking Powder
5 oz Caster Sugar
3 ½ oz Butter, softened
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Finely grated zest of 1 orange (I left this out - not a big fan of orange zest)
4 small Bananas, peeled
3 oz Chocolate Chips

Preheat the oven to 180 deg C.

Lightly butter and line the loaf tin with parchment paper. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a large bowl. Add the sugar and butter and, using your fingertips, rub it in until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Whisk the eggs, vanilla extract and orange zest in another bowl.


Add the bananas and mash very well with a potato masher. Add the chocolate chips. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the banana mixture. Gently but thoroughly bring all the ingredients together with a wooden spoon, then pour into the prepared loaf tin.

Smooth the top and bake in the oven for 1-1 ¼ hours or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing the cake from the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Everyone should try this at least once in their lives. It's absolutely amazing.

Chocolate Christmas Cake

If you haven't checked out Sweet and Simple Bakes, you really should. Its great for amateur bakers. Started by Rosie and Maria, they challenge us every month to go a little further and bake something you probably haven't baked before. And every single recipe has been tried and tested and comes out perfect.

For November's Sweet and Simple Bakes, Maria asked us to make a chocolate Christmas cake.


Chocolate Christmas Cake
(recipe from Sweet and Simple Bakes)

Preparation time: 20 minutes + cooling
Cooking time: 1¾ -2 hours

Ingredients
150g (5oz) soft butter
150g (5oz) light muscovado sugar or soft brown sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
185g (6½oz) self-raising flour
40g (1½oz) cocoa powder
400g jar of luxury mincemeat (recipe follows)
80g (3oz) each of sultanas and raisins
50g (2oz) blanched almonds, chopped
100g packet of white chocolate chips

For decoration (decorate as you wish!)

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 3/electric 160ºC/fan oven 140ºC. Line a 20cm (8inch) cake tin (see below for instructions).

Lining the cake tin: One of the keys to success when baking a fruit cake is the preparation of the tin before you start mixing the ingredients. Because of the length of cooking time, you need to use two sheets of greaseproof paper or baking parchment inside the tin.

Place all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat together for a minute or two until all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Spoon into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 1¾-2 hours until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. You will probably need to cover the cake with foil towards the end of cooking to prevent the top from browning too much. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Decorate as you wish! (I didn't decorate it)


Vegetarian Mincemeat
(check here for the original recipe. Since a lot of the ingredients required aren't available in India, I made some substitutions).

To make 2 lbs mincemeat

Ingredients

450g (1 lb) mixed dried fruit (I used dates, figs, blueberries, cherries and cranberries)
100g (4oz) melted butter
100g (4oz) cooking apples or apple of choice - peeled and grated (weight when prepared)
100g (4oz) soft brown sugar
50g -100g (2-4 oz) of chopped nuts of choice (I used pecans)
100g (4oz) glace cherries (I used more blueberries and some raspberries)
100g (4oz) chopped candied peel (I used raisins)
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon mixed spice (I made my own spice mix - recipe follows)
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
4 tablespoons brandy

Mixed Spice Mix:

Grind together 1 small cinnamon stick and 1 tablespoon each cloves, mace, ground nutmeg and coriander seeds.

Method

Add all the ingredients into a large bowl and soak overnight covering with a clean cloth. Mix thoroughly through together either with a large spoon or clean hands. Cover over with a clean tea towel and leave to stand for 24 hours giving the mixture a good stir as you pass by. Next day pack the mincemeat into sterilised jars, and top with greaseproof paper jam covers. Seal the jars tightly and store in a cool place.

*Note*: if you choose not to use glace cherries make the weight up with mixed dried fruit instead. If you wish not to add alcohol use apple juice or orange juice instead. We have given a recipe here for mincemeat without suet, but should you wish to use either beef or vegetable suet in this recipe omit the melted butter.

I sneaked a little taste when I was bottling the mincemeat, and it was so good. I knew the cake would be amazing.


Thanks, Maria for another interesting recipe.

Amazing Bread for a Great Cause

Aparna and Priya have tagged me to bake bread for a wonderful cause - to alleviate poverty in Africa. If I can help in any small way, I want to - and what better way than to bake bread, which is something I've come to enjoy. I find it relaxing and stress-relieving and to have the house smell of freshly baked bread at the end is the most wonderful part.

Breadline Africa is a charity based in South Africa works towards ending poverty in Africa by helping communities achieve long-term self-sustainability.

On Blog Action Day, Breadline Africa launched their Worldwide Blogger Bake-Off campaign. The aim is to raise $1 million in funds for a project to convert shipping containers into locations for food production and distribution in Africa.

If you would like to join The Blogger Bake-Off, details can be found at their site. Bloggers who would like to bake for this cause may use the widget on their blogs and tag 5 other bloggers to Bake Bread, Give Dough and Feed Africa.

I tag the following people, who bake exceptionally well, and whom, I hope will take up this tag for a great cause:
Lakshmi, Raaga, Jude, Sunshinemom and Zorra.

I saw this recipe on My Kitchen Cafe. Her blog is amazing and she has tons of tried and tested recipes that always come out perfect. This was one of the easiest and best breads that I've ever made (or eaten, in fact!).


Perfect Bread Rolls
(original recipe from My Kitchen Cafe)

4 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 tbsp Yeast
2 tbsp Sugar
1 1/2 cups warm Water
1 tsp Salt
2 tbsp Olive Oil

Mix together the yeast, sugar and water. Set aside for 10 minutes until the yeast is activated and frothy.

Add the oil, salt and 2 cups of flour to the yeast mixture and combine. Add the flour a little at a time until the dough begins to come together and leaves the edges of the bowl.

Empty the dough out onto a kneading surface and knead for 7-8 minutes until it begins to feel smooth and oh-so-silky. Transfer the dough into a lightly greased bowl and cover with a thin cloth or plastic wrap. Let the dough rise to double its size (about 1 hour - I think it's so short because of the large amount of yeast).

Gently deflate the dough and turn out onto the kneading surface. Divide the dough into 12-14 equal parts and roll each into a ball. Place them on a baking tray a couple of inches apart. Cover with a damp cloth for about 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 200 deg C.


Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. For hard crusted rolls, spray water couple of times for the first 4-5 minutes while baking. For a soft crust, brush the hot rolls with some melted butter as soon as they come out of the oven.


Absolutely Divine!


This is also off to Susan @ Wild Yeast for Yeast Spotting.

(do you see that soft crumb? mmm!)

Check out my fellow marathoners:
DK, Siri, Srivalli, Ranji, PJ, Curry Leaf, Medha, Priya, Bhawna, Raaji, Ruchii, Kamala, Roopa, Divya Kudua, Rekha, Divya, Lakshmi, Raaga, Lakshmi, Sripriya, Viji, Kamalika, Pavani, Karuna and Roochi.

Vegetable Il Gianfornaio

I bought a book recently that had a picture of an Australian bread called Vegetable Il Gianfornaio. It looked beautiful and I flipped through the book frantically trying to find a recipe, but it was just a picture. No recipe in the book! That must be the worst thing a cook book could do - have lovely pictures with no accompanying recipes! What's up with that?

So I diligiously searched the Web and couldn't find a recipe though I did find many references to the bread. So I decided to make up my own recipe. And it was a huge success.

Australian vegetable il gianfornaio is a bread made up of different strands woven together into a round shape. Each strand gets its color from vegetable juice. Not food coloring. Vegetable juice - I mean, how healthy! It looked and sounded wonderful.


Vegetable Il Gianfornaio

Make the basic dough 4 times. That is, start out with 4 different bowls and proceed from there.

Basic Dough

1 cup All-Purpose Flour for each bowl (4 cups Flour)
1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast for each bowl (1 tsp Yeast)
3/4 tsp Salt for each bowl (3 tsp Salt)
1 tbsp Sugar for each bowl (4 tbsp Sugar)
1/2 tbsp Butter for each bowl (2 tbsp Butter)
110 ml Juice for each bowl

Juices:
110 ml each Spinach Juice, Beet Juice and Tomato Juice. Leave one plain.

Add individual juices to each separate bowl. So you'll have one spinach dough, one beet dough, one tomato dough and one plain (white) dough.


Mix the dough until it comes together. Empty the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 8-10 minutes until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. Place in an oiled bowl and cover with cling wrap. Repeat for the other bowls. Set in a warm, draft-free area of the house and allow to rise (approximately 1-1 1/2 hours).

Take the dough out of the bowl and gently roll back and forth to form a thick rope (about 10" long). Repeat for the other dough. Now line all the ropes next to each other and pinch one end so that they come together. Now twist the ropes into a swirl and end up on top (next time I would tuck it into the center, so you don't see the ends).


Place in a well-oiled round baking tray and cover with a tea cloth. Allow to rest for about 45 minutes to an hour. Preheat the oven to 240 deg C.

Place the baking tray into the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes or until the bread is done (test by gently knocking on the bread, you'll get a hollow sound when it's done). Remove from oven and cool for about 1/2 hour.


It's a gorgeous bread and when you cut it open, the insides are sure to get some cool reactions from guests!


It was soft and the vegetable juices definitely added a lightness to the bread. I think breads with spices and herbs are more flavorful, but this looks and tastes delicious too. Next time, I might add some pieces of mashed vegetable as well as the juice to get more flavor.

This is off to Boaz @ Grain Power for Bread Baking Day #14 - Colored Breads.
And to Susan @ Wild Yeast for Yeast Spotting.


To find out what my other marathoners are up to today, check out the links:

DK, Siri, Srivalli, Ranji, PJ, Curry Leaf, Medha, Priya, Bhawna, Raaji, Ruchii, Kamala, Roopa, Divya Kudua, Rekha, Divya, Lakshmi, Raaga, Lakshmi, Sripriya and Viji.

Cupcakes

This month's Sweet and Simple Bakes was a first for me (as they've all been so far!). But this was a basic cupcake recipe and I was so excited to make cupcakes for the first time! And it was perfect for Halloween to give out as treats for the kids.

Cupcakes
(recipe from Rosie @ Sweet & Simple Bakes)

1 1/3 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
6 oz Butter, at room temperature
1 cup Caster Sugar
3 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
3 - 4 tbsp Milk
Icing/frosting of your choice

You will need a 12 hole-muffin tin and 12 cupcake paper cases

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a 12 hole-muffin tin with cupcake paper cases.

Sieve the flour into a bowl and leave aside.

In a large mixing bowl, add the butter and sugar and beat until the mixture becomes light in color and fluffy.

Add one egg at a time beating well between each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and then gently fold in the flour until combined. Stir in the milk until you have a good dropping consistency.

Spoon the mixture equally into the prepared muffin tin and place in the preheated oven. Bake for 20 -25 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to completely cool.


I realized at this point that my decorating skills are sadly lacking. My family was most amused by the cupcakes and didn't think they looked scary in the least!! Oh well. I tried my best, Rosie!!

(they are supposed to be a mummy, a gravestone and a monster!)

For a look at all the other spooktacular cupcakes, check out the round-up.


I'm running in DK's Recipe Marathon for a 2nd time. Wish me luck - one month of a recipe a day! Check out what my other marathoners made today:

DK of Culinary Bazaar,

Siri of Siri's Corner,

Srivalli of Cooking 4 All Seasons,

Ranji of Ranji's Kitchen Corner,

PJ of Seduce Your Tastebuds,

Curry Leaf of Experiments, Emotions, Experiences with Food,

Medha of Cook with Love,

Priya of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes,

Bhawna of Tastes of India,

Raaji of Raaji's Kitchen,

Ruchii,

Kamala of Nandhu's Corner,

Roopa of My Kitchen Treats,

Divya Kudua of Easy Cooking,

Rekha of Plantain Leaf,

Divya of Divyaz Easy Recipes,

Lakshmi of The Yum Blog,

Raaga of The Singing Chef,

Sripriya of Srikar's Kitchen and

Viji of Viji's Veg Corner.