Walnuts | Aapplemint

Carrot n Coconut Cupcakes

Dec 132011

December for most of us is always the craziest part of the year. With Christmas around the corner, New Years Eve, the Big Indian wedding season, insane number of parties and events to go to and not to mention the lovely weather, which makes you want to eat much more than just the usual. There’s no way you can stick to eating healthy and maintain your Diet plans. Specially if you’re the kind, who leans a little more towards the sweeter side. Cupcakes are always the easiest to go for, as you don’t have to polish off the whole thing yourself. Keep a couple to satisfy that craving and pass on the rest ! I chose to make these cupcakes over the whole cake, smaller potions are always better and prettier too. And its always good to share the love and sweetness. And thats just what I did with these. They make the perfect thing to carry to a Christmas party too.

Preheat oven at 180C

Line the cupcake molds with the baking parchment squares. Set aside.

Self Raising Flour - 300 gms

Cinnamon Powder - 3 teaspoons

Bicarbonate of Soda – 2 teaspoons

Sift all these together and keep in a bowl.

Eggs – 4 large

Oil – 300 ml

Powder or superfine Raw Cane Sugar - 350 grams

Mix all these together in a bowl and beat with electric beater. Beat for 3- 4 minutes till light and fluffy. Mix the flour slowly in the egg and again beat with electric beater for 2-3 minutes.

Carrots ( Grated )- 400 grams

Fresh Coconut ( Grated) – 100 grams

Walnuts ( Chopped) – 100 grams

Orange Zest – 1 orange

Put all these in the cake batter and mix well. Pour in tin and bake for 15 -20 mins or till done.

When baked, remove from oven and make holes on backside of cake. ( optional)

Juice of orange – 1

Powder Sugar – 100 grams

Mix together and pour over cake and leave in tin till all is absorbed. Remove after few hours and dust with icing sugar.

Cream Cheese – 200 gms

Sugar powder enough to sweeten – 3 tbsps

Frost cupcakes with it.

A Very Rich Italian Chocolate Cake

All, Baking 34 Responses »

Jan 232009

Its got what every chocoholic dreams of … the perfect crackling exterior, the soft squidgy intensely chocolaty interior with just the right amount of nuts and hint of alcohol … take a bite of this cake and you can feel it melt away on your tongue, satisfying you to the very core … there is never such a thing as too much chocolate … I think this must be the food of God !

I’ve been away for long, and i couldn’t think of a better way to get back to my baking/blogging than this absolutely rich, flour-less and butter-less chocolate cake. I have a lot of catching up to do, but until then i leave you with this cake, see if you can resist it

Plain flour to dust
A wee bit of butter to grease the baking tin
125 gms hazelnuts
100 gms walnuts
225 gms blanched and peeled almonds
225 gms good quality dark chocolate (70%)
50 ml Amaretto
50 ml Tia Maria
2 Tablespoons black coffee
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp milk
220 gms caster sugar
5 large eggs – separated

Preheat oven to 180 C. Grease and dust with flour a 24″ cake tin, and line the bottom with greaseproof paper. Place the hazelnuts and walnuts on a baking tray and lightly toast them. Let them cool. While the nuts are baking pulse the almonds and chocolate in a food processor until the consistence of breadcrumbs. Transfer to a large bow and stir in the Tia Maria, Amaretto, milk, coffee, cinnamon, and half the sugar. Add the egg yolks one at a time mixing well. Now take the walnuts and hazelnuts and blitz them coarsely in the food processor and add it to the cake mixture and mix well. in another clean bowl, whicsk te egg whites till stiff and then add the rest of the sugar and beat till shiny. Now very slowly fold in the whites spoon by spoon, without knocking out too much air. Pour into baking tin and bake in middle shelf for 1 hr or skewer comes out clean. Serve with a dollop of mascarpone or rich vanilla ice cream or just some good ole coffee/dessert wine !

A Christmas Cake n Seasons Greetings to All

All, Baking 52 Responses »

Dec 252008

This Christmas, the spirits in Mumbai have been particularly low. Due to the terrorist attacks exactly a month ago on Mumbai the celebrations have been subdued and are low key. Such is the nature of this festive season in Mumbai which have been fueled by global recession and the recent carnage by terrorists, that we have lost ourselves in revenge, forgiveness, fear, politics, ministers, war, death and hatred instead of finding ourselves in the solace of Love, peace, carols, decorations, joy, friends, festivities and celebrations. As a show of solidarity during these testing times we have kept our Christmas a relatively simple affair, with just a simple traditional Christmas fruit cake, and even foregoing the turkey.

Christmas cakes are made in many different ways, but generally they are variations on the classic fruitcake. They can be light, dark, moist, dry, heavy, spongy, leavened, or unleavened. Sticky mounds of chopped raisins, candied peel, almonds, nuts, and cherries have to be doused with brandy, rum and other assorted spirits and mixed thoroughly. Baking a Christmas cake, a few days before Christmas is fine, but ‘feeding’ it with alcohol, will ensure the cake is full of rich flavours and aromas. You can serve it as a pudding after a meal with custard or brandy butter; or as a Christmas cake with a layer of traditional marzipan icing on top made from ground almonds. I woke up quite late to make my Christmas cake, as i figured i will need atleast something festive this Christmas. So i got only a weeks time to drouse my pile of dry fruits n nuts and baked my cake just at the nick of time. Chose to omit the marzipan, and just went for a simple dusting of icing sugar and served it with some chilled custard.

150 gms sultanas
150 gms raisins
150 gms currants
75 gms glace cherries
50 gms candied oranges or mixed peel
50 gms chopped almonds
50 gms chopped walnuts
4 shot glasses of VSOP Champagne Cognac

Mix everything together, and store it in an airtight container for as long as you can. I kept ir for 7 days.

225 gms self raising flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4th tsp grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon pd.
1/2 tsp mixed spice
225 gms unsalted butter
225 gms demerera sugar
4 large eggs
some more VSOP Champagne cognac – depends on how boozy you want to make your cake

Start with lining your baking tins with silicon paper and pre heating the oven to 140 C. I used two 6″ cake tins to get 2 small cakes, you could just go for one big one instead. In a bowl sift together the dry ingradients. In another bowl cream the sugar and butter till light and creamy. Add the eggs one by one and while beating them in be carefull not to curdle the mixture. Now with your hand , gently fold in the dry mix spoon by sppon, untils its all incorporated. Now fold in the spirit soaked fruits n nuts and give it one good stir. Divide equally between the tins and cut a silicon paper round to cover the top of the cake to prevent it from burning in the slow baking process. Put them in the lowest shelf of the oven and let it bake for an hour n a half. Once the time is up, get them out and let them cool in the tins for 30 mins, but if you are impatient like me, 15 will do Now turn the cake cake upside down in a big box with a cover, and prick hole with a skewer on it. Drizzle some of the cognac on the cakes and cover tightly so as the cake does not dry out and it soaks all the booze. Keep doing this ‘ feeding’ at regular intervals , until you are satisfied that the cake has had enough. When ready to eat, dust with icing sugar and serve with some traditonal English custard .

Wish you all Happy Holidays ! Cheers !

XOXO

Melting Moments … Literally !

All, Dessert 66 Responses »

Apr 262008

I’d definitely give this a 0/10 for presentation. I cannot tell you how ashamed i am to even share this you. God knows i tried to make a pretty one. Unfortunately for me Ghana is going though a crazy heat wave, and the weather is so harsh its almost impossible to work with desserts that need to be chilled or set. Still a bit busy with work and travelling, and with very little time on my hands.I’m sharing this with you just as it is, without really putting in that extra effort. I made this a week ago, but been on the road ever since. Now stuck in a terrible traffic jam, i find the time to write out this post. When I had started a week ago, a few ideas were running through my mind … something like this …

So i settled for a very decadent looking Napoleon. Rich and crispy layers of puff pastry sandwiched with layers of Mocha and Dark Chocolate Mousse. Started the day before with preparing the puff pastry layers and the the mousse. I let the mousse set in a shallow and wide dish overnight, and the next day i filled them in piping bags with a large nozzle and piped them in between the baked puff pastry sheets. Returned them again to the fridge to set… but the damn weather ! It just didn’t let the dessert set. And even after keeping overnight when it looked all set, on removing from the fridge it would start melting loosing shape, making a sloppy mess. So i had to get back to the work sheet and re think my options. Not left with much to work with, i decided to make a good old trifle. The chocolate cake i used here came from my freezer, kept for emergencies like this one. A cake in the freezer can really save the day. The only thing i could do with the mousse was layer it up in a glass, in the only hope that it would hold shape. And so another day went in the process of setting the trifle. But the minute i got it out of the fridge, the unforgivingly hot weather just kept melting the mousse down. So i just gave up. Not so great in presentation, but absolutely fantastic to taste. Cant go wrong with dark chocolate and coffee. For those of you, who are blessed with cooler weather, pls do try this out. I shared this treat with my office staff and they couldn’t stop raving about it. To accompany the mousse i also made some lovely walnut brittle. A great crunchy texture in contrast with the smooth n rich mousse.

Walnut Brittle

1 cup granulated sugar
pinch of salt
3/4 th cup chopped toasted walnuts

melt the sugar in a heavy based pan, on medium heat. Do not stir until it starts changing colour and when it reached an amber red caramel, stir in the chopped nuts and pour out on some foil spread out on a baking sheet. be quick and spread it as thinly as you can. Leave it to cool completely and break once hard.

Dark Chocolate Mousse

one portion of this dark chocolate mousse recipe.

Mocha Mousse

1 tbsp instant coffee
1 tbsp boiling water
3 tbsps caster sugar
2 egg whites whipped up stiff
200 ml double cream – whipped
1 tsp gelatin dissolved in 1 tbsp water

Dissolve the coffee and sugar in the water and let it cool. Mix it in the whipped cream along with the gelatin. Gently fold in the egg whites and pour in a wide dish and cover with cling film to set it overnight.

Chocolate Cake

use just about any chocolate cake you have lying around in the house.

Don’t Talk … Just Eat !

All, Baking, Non-Vegetarian 56 Responses »

Feb 212008

Oven Baked Chicken With Potatoes & Garlic

1 chicken jointed and cut into 8 pieces
100 gms melted butter
fresh thyme
sage
10 whole cloves of garlic
2 potatoes sliced
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil

This time, fortunately for you guys i have nothing to say, no boring stories and no gibberish … just Food !!! This is what i had for lunch, a very aromatic and tasty meal. Start with marinating the chicken in melted butter, thyme,sage, salt, pepper. Keep for a couple of hrs. When ready to bake , slice the potatoes, dizzle some olive oil and season to taste. Throw in the whole cloves of garlic and bake for abt 10 mins. Now add the chicken and toss everything and further bake for 20-25 mins turning once after 15 mins. Serve warm with some freshly baked bread. The garlic and potatoes absorb all that rich chicken n herb flavour. Also the lovely juices from the chicken and all that melted butter makes a lovely sauce for dipping the bread.

Chocolate Banana Cake With Walnut Streusel

* recipe to follow soon, i tried 2 recipes before i got this one right. This one was another experiment with my own proportions and it turned out really moist and rich and nice. I didn’t really take not of the measurements but i’ll be making this one soon and will put up the recipe then.

Going Nuts !

All, Baking 49 Responses »

Oct 242007

This has been one hell of a week. First the Sunday Fiasco … ( i must take take this chance to thank you all once again for your comforting and kind words … u cant imagine how nice it made me feel ), then continued by Cops all over the house, through out the week. I caught my house maid stealing, a 18 yr old girl who joined me only 2 months back, stole from me over that time 2 mobile phones, about 700 US$ , my exp undergarments ( can u imagine !!!!), my hubbys T-shirts, my Jewelery … and i don’t even started on the regular pinching of things from my kitchen. I had noticed things going missing earlier and had warned both my house girls. Hoping they would not repeat it i did not call the cops. And in spite of that the little one stole again. This time she took 100 $ , but i knew right away as things in my wallet were re arranged and that to badly. Definitely cant be me , so right away i called her n asked her if it was her . She denied it. So we had to call the cops. I’m going to spare your all the details but i had cops in and out of my house for the rest of the week. They did recover a few of the things but the money was all spent. My jewellery was broken down to pieces and destroyed so she could sell it , the mobile phones were kept by the cops for their services to us and my clothes … don’t even want to know anything about them. So basically i lost everything. But since she was a young girl we dropped all charges against her as i did not want her to go to jail. Just warned her and hope that she learnt a lesson from it and will not do it again. Such is life !!!
However there was one great piece of news that more than made up for everything. Yesterday my hubby finally said the magic works I’ve been waiting to hear for so long … “honey we’re going back home – confirm our tickets” !!! YaY !!! Finally after 5 months of Africa i get back to my beloved Hong Kong. Instantly my mind was running in a million different directions. Have to do so many things before we leave. My store room and freezer are loaded with food stuff and I will have to with immediate effect stop buying anything more and start using up all my stocks. Hehe so i think over the next couple of posts i’ll just be sharing recipes that use up ingredients lying around. In a way thats a good thing … challenges you to make the best of what you have. And trust me i do have a lot of stuff. My friends and neighbours are going to like this as i’ll be sending everyone a lot of things to eat now

To start with i made flapjacks as i had all the things needed. I got a little fancy and used some dried apricots and toasted dessicated coconut. Never used them before in these, but i must tell u they taste fantastic. I made one batch chewy and the other crispy. Perfect for your tea n coffee breaks. They turned out so good that I’m gonna have to pass this recipe on to my grandchildren

Ingredients

500 gms box of Quaker instant oats
260 gms unsalted butter
175 gms organic honey
200 gms golden superfine sugar
150 gms toasted dessicated coconut
75 gms walnuts – chopped
20 dried apricots – cubed
handful seasme seeds
3 tbsp apricot honey + 1 tbsp water

Preheat your oven to 180 C . Grease 2 shallow baking trays and keep ready. Mix all the dry ingredients together – oats + coconut + walnuts + apricots . In a bowl mix together the sugar, honey and butter and microwave it 30 seconds at a time & stirring it, for 2 mins or till everything has melted and combined. Now pour this over the dry mixture and mix it really well. Use your hands, i love using my hands – connects you to your food, and go on and taste it. At this point if u need more honey or anything else you can add it , as if you don’t like it now, chances are you wont like it later. But I’m sure u will love it. The mixture is sticky and moist – thats how u want it to be. Equally share them between both the trays and pat them down with the back of a metal serving spoon. Now on one tray sprinkle the seasme seeds and pat it again to make sure they stick in there and don’t fall off later. U are ready to bake them. Allow it to bake for 30 mins till the side are golden and a little soft in the center. Remove the plain flapjacks if you want them to be a bit chewy. Keep the seasme ones for a bit longer as those taste better crisp. They will harden as they cool down so don’t over bake them. Now melt the jam and water together and brush it on the flapjacks and with a pointed serrated knife lightly cut the squares and fingers. This will make it easier to remove them later. Once cooled down transfer to a air tight container.