Miscellaneous | Aapplemint

Thomas & Friends Cake

All, Featured, Miscellaneous 7 Responses »

Sep 102012

3 I think is a wonderful age. The little ones are not so little anymore, growing into little individuals & getting smarter and cuter by the minute. Its that stage when they (boys specially) have found their diction and cannot stop amusing you with their stories, their questions and answers … They are undoubtedly naughtier, but they are also more independent, fully toilet trained, they eat better and are even responsible. They are very affectionate and not shy or ashamed of saying ” Mamma I love you ” and you can kiss them and squeeze them and they won’t fuss. I know this pleasure is short lived, and before you know, they’ll be all grown up and will go, ” Yuk ! Mom don’t embarrass me, or Mom please don’t kiss me in front of everyone !” Haha don’t we all wish they’d remain this age for a long time, so we could cherish them for the longest time possible !?! At 3 they still ask for your hand when walking and still think that an afternoon doing groceries or buying doors is the best plan ever. They’re easily satisfied opening and closing all the doors of the store or running up n down the escalators. One bag of chips in their hands and they’re content. I can’t imagine when the time will come where I’ll be bargaining with the little one, hey how about the iPad 6 instead of the iPhone S 2018 or whatever the latest thing would be then. These are beautiful days, and I’m soaking in every moment of it. Enjoying being a mother.

My son turned 3 this weekend, and he wanted a Thomas Train party. Its his new obsession and he’s been going crazy about all things Thomas. He insisted ofcourse on a Thomas Cake, and I believe the heart of a party lies in a good cake. The cake has got to be the star attraction. I’m so crazy about birthday cake, that I’m probably one of the few adults at a kiddie party waiting for the cake to be cut so I can get my slice. And if the cake does not live up to my expectation, I’m not giving the party a all 10. A birthday cake for me is a traditional buttercream frosted cake. I’m crazy about buttercream. Its sweet as hell, but I love it. Cake here in India, is usually sweeter than the cakes I have in Hong Kong and Japan. In fact much sweeter, and the culprit is a thick over sweet ganache and sugar syrup and sometimes, a bad cake itself. So its very difficult so find someone who does the perfect cake. I could’ve baked myself, but truth be told, I’ve never done a 5 kg cake and I don’t know head nor tail of sugar craft and decorating. And without that a birthday cake is no fun. There is however one lady who is marvellous at it. In fact so good, you’d probably think the cake was flown down from one of those fancy stores in the US. She has a cute little store tucked in the by lanes of Bandra -Pali Hill, which goes by the name of Butterfly Cupcake. If you’d had the good fortune to sample one of her cupcakes, you’d know what I’m talking about. Shaana Gwynne, the woman responsible for making my son the best cake anyone possibly could. It looked so good and tasted even better. The detailing done with the sugar craft, the cake design, the finish and the taste were all top notch. So this post is a big shout out to Shaana, saying Thank You for the lovely cake, you made Rian’s day and mine too. Its a day after the party and I cant stop stuffing my face with it. I’m at fridge door every 30 mins carving out a slice, ‘cuz I just cant get enough of it.

Coconut Caramel Candy

All, Featured, Miscellaneous 7 Responses »

Aug 182012

Having had my share of baking lately, I wanted to try something I hadn’t made before. It still had to be sweet and not too tough. Recently my cousin had sent me this lovely bottle of cooking coconut oil which I wanted to use, and today I got my chance. I always thought coconut oil was good for hair but little did I know its other benefits. Coconut Oil is ideal for Cooking. Studies show that it is better for you than many of the other options on the market. Plus, it can help you with the good cholesterol that your body needs. We tend to always think of cholesterol as something bad but that doesn’t have to be the case.Many people like to cook with olive oil, but it is expensive. It is no secret that the economy is tough so people have to make cut backs where they can. Every dollar at the grocery store should be carefully calculated. The use of coconut oil for cooking can help you to get value in terms of your health and for taste. At the same time, it can help you to cut back what you are spending on items when you go shopping at the grocery store.There are several brands out there that you can select from, and that will influence the quality of what you get. It is a good idea to carefully evaluate the options on the market so that you can get something that works very well. Don’t be fooled by clever marketing ploys or the packaging. Read reviews online to find out what you should consider buying and what you should stay away from when it comes to coconut oil for cooking. One of the best coconut oils you can buy on the market is from Coconut-Oil-UK.Com. Some of the products offered are organic, and that can be something you are interested in to promote even better health benefits. Make sure you always read the labels carefully. There is both refined and unrefined options too, and there isn’t any evidence to suggest one may be better than the next. If your family enjoys sweets but you don’t want them to have all the bad that comes from them, change the recipe with coconut oil. You can use it to replace butter and Crisco to make pies, crusts, cookies, and more. If you want to encourage your family to eat more veggies, sauté them in a skillet on the stove with coconut oil. The taste is very pleasing and one that may even get your picky eaters to ask for seconds! The food you cook will taste different and it will smell different when you cook it with coconut oil. Most people find the smell and taste it creates to be very appealing. They seem to enjoy their food more and they feel great knowing that they have taking a small but significant step in eating healthier overall.

A little search on coconut oil and I found me a nice recipe that reminded me of my days in Ghana. These beautiful Amber coloured chewy candies are a household treat and unimaginably delicious. the flavour of the coconut is so mild and the caramel just perfect.

And on this sweet note and the Holy Occasion of Eid-ul-Adha may the blessings of Allah lighten up your way & lead you to happiness, success and peace A very Happy Eid Mubarak to all of you.

Ingredients

adapted from Saveur

2 tbsp. coconut oil, melted, plus more for cutting caramels
1-16 oz. can coconut milk
¾ cup corn syrup
1 tsp. coarse sea salt
1¾ cup sugar
¾ cup water

Instructions

Line the bottom and sides of an 8″x8″ square baking dish with parchment and brush with coconut oil; set aside. Combine the coconut milk, corn syrup and sea salt in a 4-quart saucepan. Heat over medium low, stirring constantly for 2½-3 minutes until mixture is just warm and any coconut milk clumps are dissolved.Remove from heat and set aside. In an 8-quart saucepan, combine the sugar and the water and stir until sugar is wet. Place over medium high heat and let cook, without stirring, till the sugar turns a light amber colour. I made these by judgement as I did not have a candy thermometer. This should roughly take 10 minutes. Immediately remove from heat and pour melted sugar into the coconut milk mixture, a little at a time. Be careful, as the mixture will bubble and splash. Return saucepan to medium low heat, stirring continuously until all the caramel is dissolved. Raise the heat to medium high. If the mixture begins to boil over, reduce heat and continue to cook, stir continuously, and cook until caramel becomes quite thick. This could take a good 15 minutes. But just make sure the caramel is really thick. Immediately remove from heat and pour into the prepared pan. Let cool completely and cut into 1″ squares. Mine were a bit sticky so I put them in the fridge to set a little.Make it easier to cut them.Brush your knife with melted coconut oil between cutting to avoid sticking. Wrap individually in wax paper squares. Store at room temperature.

Chocolate Banana Muffins & Getting Famous

All, Baking, Featured, Miscellaneous 3 Responses »

May 112012

I know this comes late but I still have to thank my wonderful readers, family and friends for the marvellous support and kind wishes that you sent me on the 29th of April. I knew my article was coming up, but never did I fathom the love and fame that was to follow. I felt like a superstar who broke all box office records .

The week before the article, I received a call from Ismat from Times Life, saying she’d love to interview me along with a couple of very talented food bloggers. I was already jumping with excitement, cuz being featured in Times Life is big !

The day arrived and we planned to meet at Maria’s house. Walked into her lovely terrace house and met Anuja, our photographer for the day from Times Life. Just as we got started on discussing what Ismat had planned for us, in walked Kalyan. The very sweet gentleman who is the author of this fantastic blog called Finely Chopped. Truth be told I had never read either of the blogs earlier and I cannot thank Ismat enough for bringing us together. Maria is one of the sweetest people I’ve met. Bubbly, chirpy, full of life and great wisdom. A super talented mom and gypsy at heart. She writes a blog called Eat,Love,Dance,Pray,Laugh n Hug.

We had all prepared something from home and brought it along for the shoot. Since we just needed stills for the paper it only made sense to do that. Kalyan had prepared a delightful Pesto Pomfret and Tandoori chicken. I fell in love with it, cuz I’ve only had/made pomfret Indian or Cantonese style. The pesto was perfect and the fish tasted wonderful even at room temperature. The tandoori chicken was laced with sumac, which I think was brilliant. Maria had grilled some chicken with whole garlic pods (which are my absolute favorite) and some vegetables. I’m glad she did those, cuz all of us had made meat. And the show stopper for the evening was the most amazing, creamy n soft Red Velvet Cake. One bite of that and I was in cake heaven. I brought along my favorite Bang Bang Chicken and some Chocolate, Banana, Piatachios n Coconut Muffins.

We sat around for a while, plates all set up for the shoot, chatting away and posing, and soon as we were done which was about 6-6:30ish in the evening we starting picking on the food. It was too early for dinner but food so delicious and irresistible and company lovely, before we knew it we laughing and sharing tips, talking about everything from food to kids and Bollywood. We had such a blast. It was wonderful evening and am so glad I got to meet such talented fellow bloggers.

Chocolate Banana Muffins with Pistachios and Coconut

125g unsalted butter, melted
165g caster sugar
3 ripe bananas, roughly chopped
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
250 g self-raising flour, sifted
50 gms ground pistachios
45g desiccated coconut
100g dark chocolate chips
Icing sugar, to dust

Preheat oven to 200°C . I used silicon muffin cases, but the 6 0r 12 muffin mold is fine too. Process butter, caster sugar, banana, eggs and vanilla in a food processor until well combined. Place flour, pistachios,coconut and chocolate in a large bowl, then fold in banana mixture. Working in batches, place dessertspoons of mixture into the molds . Bake for 15 minutes or until risen and golden. Cool slightly in pan, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve dusted with icing sugar.

Teen Patti, Gelato and a Prize To Be Won

All, Dessert, Miscellaneous 28 Responses »

Jan 282010

” WITH MONEY COMES THE STRUGGLE FOR POWER AND A TWIST IN RELATIONSHIPS “

What do you get when you see the worlds greatest actors come together in a film ?

A BLOCKBUSTER !

Set in India and England, and staring two of the greatest living legends of our times – czar of the Indian film industry Amitabh Bacchan, and Academy Award winner Sir Ben Kingsley – Teen Patti is an emotionally riveting and razor sharp thriller about greed, deception, and giant feats of imagination.

Why are we talking films instead of food this post … Cuz besides the fact it is one of the most fascinating new films to emerge from Asia – and nothing short of a mainstream Hollywood flick, my best friend in this whole wide would is makin it I am a movie buff, as most of us are, and I wouldn’t just be talking about a film unless it was really worth its salt. This one here has already got the entire nation talking and waiting in anticipation for the release … which by the way is not far away – 26th February 2010.

The plot of this film revolves around two great mathematicians, Venkat (Amitabh Bacchan) and Perci (Ben Kingsley), who met at a high rolling casino in London. Venkat tells Perci about n equation that could not change the dialogue on mathematics forever, but one that has already left an indelible impression of guilt – for many painful reasons – on Venkat’s life. As it turns out, the reclusive genius Venkat has cracked a theory that could redefine the principles of probability and randomness. However, as with all the exceptional knowledge, his equation has its upside – as well as its dark underbelly. Aware that he is on the precipice of an extraordinary discovery, one that could find applications across various sciences, Venkat is encouraged to test his theory in the real world by professor Shantanu, an ambitious colleague of Venkat. Although Venkat has no interest in the money that could come from practicing his equation to crack Teen Patti (game card- better known as Flush) he eventually succumbs to Shantanu’s charismatic persuasion. Soon, with the help of a few students, each complicated and a singular fate of their own, they explore the addas ( underground gambling dens) of wild Mumbai. But what starts out as an experiment between a charismatic young professor and an older eccentric older one soon descends into a game neither of them can control. When their lives sink into maddening chaos, the greed and desperation that had fueled them on can no longer save them. Perci understands that Venkat’s theory in essence, questions the idea of what is random – and what is fated. All in all this movie is a must watch and will be coming soon to theaters near you, hoping to reach ever part of the world.

Now one of the characters in this film loves gelato while role paying as Indraneel Il Bello (in Itallian Indraneel the beautiful). He owns gelaterias and talks of it with extreme passion and seduces the woman he lusts with gelato. He says,” Its gelato not ice cream” and I couldn’t agree more ! Gelato is not ice cream ! Gelato as compared to Ice creams has less fat, more air, is churned at a lower speed and for a longer time, making it lighter, creamier, softer which also makes it melt real fast !

And the game – that’s easy. Just guess which character from the all the pictures above is the one who loves Gelato. Tell me the picture number or alternately, in the movie poster no 2, tell me which character you think it is starting from right. The winner will get a beautiful gift from the makers of Teen Patti.

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups whole milk
3/4 cup heavy cream 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1 egg yolk

Put 1 1?4 cups of the milk, cream, and vanilla bean into a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan and heat over medium heat until bubbles appear around the edge of the saucepan and mixture is about to boil. Meanwhile, put remaining 1 cup milk, sugar, and cornstarch into a small bowl and stir until well combined. Remove saucepan from heat and stir in cornstarch mixture. Return saucepan to heat and cook, stirring frequently, until sugar dissolves and mixture thickens slightly, 8–10 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat. Put egg yolk into a medium bowl and whisk until slightly thickened. Pour 1 cup of the hot milk mixture into the yolk, whisking constantly, then gradually add mixture back into the hot milk mixture in the saucepan, stirring with a wooden spoon. Set aside to let cool, stirring often, then cover with plastic and refrigerate overnight. Remove and discard vanilla bean. As for the churning, it depends on how hot or cold the temperature of your city is. Its 35C here, and so i churned it for the first time for 25 mins and returned it to the freezer for 30 mins and then churned it again for another 15, bringing it to the perfect consistency. I’d reckon for cooler places 20 mins or so should be ok. So don’t forget to send in your answers, I’ll be playing Teen Patti games and there will be loads of prizes to be won in every post till the movie releases and look out for Teen Patti facebook games and applications as well or join in the Teen Patti – Movie group to stay updated with the latest news. Ciao … XOXO

Mango Chutney

All, Miscellaneous 42 Responses »

Jul 132008

Its different from the usual desserts i make, but its still a sweet post On my recent trip to Mumbai i had the opportunity to taste and get the recipe of this 150 yrs old traditional mango chutney. Made by my hubby’s grand mum, this recipe has been with the family for ages. Its usually made in India in the beginning of summer, when the mangoes are raw and abundant. I have however tried this in Africa at the end of the season, and yet achieved amazing results. So let it not stop you either. Go for whatever raw mangoes you can get your hands on. As long as they are green outside, and very firm to touch, white or pale yellow , it should work. So without further adieu the recipe …..

IngredientsStart with boiling the water and sugar in a big saucepan. As the sugar melts, add the milk and let it boil for 15 mins. This is done to remove all the impurities and dirt from the sugar. All the scum and filth will rise to the top. Skim it off with a strainer, and continue to skim if the dirt arises. Now add the mango cubes and boil for about 30- 40 mins, stirring occasionally on medium to fast fire till the mangoes are almost soft and the sugar syrup has thickened in consistency. I choose to keep it a bit runny and not to thick as it would be too sweet for me. But you can always make it thick as per your liking. Now add all the other spices and further boil for 10 mins . Add salt to taste and the vinegar too. At this time you may need to taste it a few more times till you have balanced the sweetness with the salt n vinegar. The vinegar is just to cut through all the sugar. Cool to room temperature and save it in an airtight bottle. Do not refrigerate, as it will totally mess up the texture and taste!
And you know what goes best with it … some hot curry n a pot of rice

* 1 kg cubed mango pieces, skin removed
* 1 kg granulated sugar
* 2 litres water
* 1/4th cup milk
* 4-5 bayleaves
* 2-3 cinnamon sticks
* 4-5 pods cardamon
* 1 tablespoon whole black pepper
* 1 tablespoon Cumin seeds
* 1 tablespoon black onion seeds( Kalaunji)
* 2-3 cloves of garlic sliced
* 4 whole red chillis ( the spicy variety)
* 1 tablespoon chilli flakes
* 1 and 1/2 tablespoon vinegar
* salt to taste

* Good News *

All, Miscellaneous 32 Responses »

Nov 012007

Any of you who are going to be in Bombay tomorrow, do buy a copy of DNA, the city’s second-most selling newspaper!! Yours truly is being featured there in a section covering specialty blogs written by Bombayites! I am very kicked about this . Check out the screenshot of the page below. If you want to see what pearls of wisdom I have shared with the unsuspecting newsreaders, do check out http://www.dnaindia.com/ My pic is on the bottom right hand corner in the SPEAK UP column. And of course the main page will change in a days time so if you miss it go to the direct link here.

Chocolate Almond n Toffee Squares

All, Miscellaneous 28 Responses »

Oct 122007

I’ve been wanting to make these for a long time and share them with you. And at what better time did i end up getting them ready than today – 12th Oct – Eid … Just checked i am in time to wish my viewers Eid Mubarak ! Being the last day of Ramadan and an ending to a month of fasting must be quite joyous. With the festive seasons comming in, the end of the year is something i always look forward to. Soon we’ll be having Diwali ( Indian New Year ) and following that Christmas !! And these Chocolate Almond n Toffee squares fit every occasion. These beautiful squares taste heavenly and are a bit on the sweeter side …. almost like Almond Rocca.

I must tell u that u need to be very patient with these, as when i was making them, i kind of ran out of patience and then had a panic attack when they didn’t look the way i wanted them to …. but later they looked just fine …. phew thank God. Also if you are living in a country as hot as mine i wouldn’t recommend u trying it unless u are using an air conditioned room. Handling chocolate can be quite tricky and a pain in the ass. Obviously i have learnt the hard way and at the cost of a lot of time and ingredients and disasters in the kitchen … and I’m still learning. The recipe below is just from my measurements but u can always change them to suite your requirements.

Ingredients

150 gms good quality dark choc 70% – 80% the darker the better
1/2 cup of finely chopped almonds
200 gms light brown sugar
225 gms butter
a pinch of salt
2-3 tbsps of water
grease proof paper

Start with lining a tray or a absolutely flat surface like a wooden chopping board with greaseproof paper and set aside. Also make sure you have that much space in the freezer to keep it in later. Having done that, in a double boiler melt the chocolate till smooth. Spread this on the paper with a broad metal scrapper, evenly at about 2mm thickness. And sprinkle the almonds all over the chocolate. Now transfer the board in the freezer to chill n set.
For the toffee u’ll need a sauce pan. Make sure the sides are high and don’t make the mistake like me of taking a shallow frying fan or you’ll have a over flow of melted sugar. Mix the sugar, water, butter and salt all together, and heat it gently. The water will ensure even melting of the sugar. Technically you would require a candy thermometer to ensure perfect results, but i don’t have one and was just crossing my fingers all the way :p . It will take a few minutes till the sugar bubbles and the water evaporates. It will start changing colour to a lovely brown, thats when u need to turn off the heat and set it aside. Now get the chocolate out of the freezer and cut it exactly in half and peel off the paper. Place one half of the chocolate on another clean piece of greaseproof paper the almond side down and quickly pour the toffee over it evenly. The chocolate will melt a bit as the toffee will be warm thats why u need to be quick. Place the other half of the chocolate on top sandwiching the toffee between the chocolate layers and quickly transfer it to the freezer again. Thats 90% of the job done. For the cutting bit i tried using a cookie cutter but was not very successful so i just cut them in squares and wrapped them up. I hope you do try this recipe and if u do u have to pls let me know how it turned out. The taste is absolutely fantastic and makes gr8 presents to give out.

Also i’d like to take a minute and remind you all that the voting for The Best Food Blog 2007 … bloggers choice awards is nearing its end. Remaining with just 7 days left for voting. After which it will stop and the results will be put up on 10th nov.I know i was nominated only a month back which didn’t give me much time to collect all your votes … but still i think i did well. Can’t thank you enough for all your love and support. If any of you have missed voting and do still love my blog pls do go to this link and vote for me. Remember the vote is casted only when the no. of the vote changes from (for eg.) 150 to 151 and it says voted below. I tell you this as I’ve had many friends who have tried to vote and said that they have but couldn’t successfully caste it , which ended up being my loss … . I ‘m trying my best but with other bloggers who are far better than me and in the competition way before me are on the top. If not this year then hopefully next year. Thanks all of you once again

Dry Fruit Roll

All, Miscellaneous 24 Responses »

Oct 012007

With the Ramadan going on there is abundance of beautiful dry fruits available around here these days. I think I’ve mentioned earlier that in Ghana we have a good population of the Lebanese community, and thankfully they have 2 supermarkets here in Accra/Tema without which i don’t think i would’ve survived this country. So being the holy month of Ramadan, they have filled up the supermarkets with exotic Lebanese sweets, tasty traditional treats and wonderful imports of dried figs and dates. When i saw these of course like any food junkie had to buy some right away. And after eating more than half of them just the way they came, and bursting into a face full of zits (oh yes…this stuff is pretty heaty !) i thought now what else can i do with these ? Before i could give it 2 mins of thought, once again it was my hubby to come up with something. He said i used to make these date ” mithai ” (sweet) with all the dry fruits in it … why dont we make that. Its pretty easy, requires nuthing really … just a little bit of effort. I was game, so on a Sunday afternoon with nothing better to do we started making these beautiful discs of goodness. Of course with both of us tucking our hands into the jars and mixing everything up , the measurements flew out of the window. So I’m really sorry i wouldn’t be able to give u some. But then again in u don’t really need them anyways. Just follow your heart.
water to prevent your hands from getting sticky.Ok now i think i covered everything :p . Take the wooden board and place a big piece of cling film on it. Start by spreading out the date paste onto it in a rectangular shape. Make sure its even and we’re going to have to roll it up later. If your hands get sticky dip them in water , and continue. Once we’ve achieved that place the mixed almonds, walnuts, pinenuts in the center and sprinkle the saffron over it. Carefully bring up the sides of the cling film and form a roll/log, enclosing all the nuts in the center. Smooth out the surface and put it in the fridge for about 1/2 an hour just to firm it up a bit. Then get it out of the cling film , sprinkle all the pistachios on a wooden board surface and roll the log in it , covering every bit of it in the beautiful green pistachios. Put in back into the cling film and into the fridge for another 1/2 hr , so that it is firm again. When youStart with a few dried dates- remove the seed and a few dried figs. Roll up your sleeves and on a wooden chopping board start squishing them with your fingers. Yes its a messy affair but its absolutely worth it. Keep going on and on till they have both amalgamated into one fine paste. Keep aside . Now comes the chopping bit. Take 2 handfuls of pistachios and chop them finely as we need these for the finishing touch. Set aside. And now take some almonds, walnuts, and pinenuts, roughly chop them up , this we will use as the center filling. So now with everything ready … oops i forgot, we need some Saffron strands as well , some cling film and also a bowl of are ready bring it out and cut them into even slices. Thats it ! All natural, all healthy and stays in the fridge almost forever , thats if you’ve devoured them by night fall :p .