Cadburylicious Sandesh

I was very happy to be invited by The FBAI for the launch of the super fabulous new spread in town called the Cadbury Diary Milk Spready and the Chocolate Cook book with 70 chocolate recipes written by none other than the famous chocolatier Zeba Kohli at Courtyard Marriott. It was a great pleasure to meet Saloni the founder of FBAI. I was also happy to meet many more people from the industry. The evening was well spend.

We had the opportunity to taste the delicious Chocolate cake made with Cadbury Dairy Milk Spready.
 Anil Viswanathan the Director of Marketing introduced us to the Cadbury Dairy Milk Spready and launched the Chocolate cook book along with Zeba Kohli. The session was made interactive with a cooking competition using the chocolate spready.

I got a bottle of the Cadbury Dairy Milk Spready as my daughter loves chocolate spreads. I was sure that she would love this one too. She did the honours of opening the bottle and tasting it and she loved it. Since I had to make some sweet dish for Saraswati puja, I thought why not use the chocolate spready for a change and create a fusion. We Bengalis love Sandesh. The Sandesh I made is called jolbhora where Date Jaggery is added, so I gave a twist to the traditional recipe and added the spready.

Cadburylicious Sandesh
Ingredients
* 250 grams mashed Cheena / Cottage Cheese
* 2 tbsp Sugar
* Cadbury Dairy Milk Spready
* 6 Raisins

Method
Take a non stick pan, add the mashed cheena and sugar, on a low flame continuously stir the cheena for 2 to 3 minutes. Add a tbsp of Cadbury Dairy Milk Spready. Continue to stir until the cheena has become smooth and began to form a dough. Switch of the flame. Take the cheena dough on a plate. Now we have to make the Sandesh fast as the dough tends to dry up fast. Take the jhol bhora Sandesh mould or a modak mould will also do. Apply ghee on the mould. Take a portion of the dough and press it into the mould, with the help of your finger, create a cavity. Pour a blob of the chocolate spready into the mould. Take a little more dough and cover the cavity. Now gently remove the Sandesh from the mould. Repeat the same process until the cheena dough is used up. Keep the Sandesh on a plate and place raisins on all the sandesh pieces. Tadaa, it’s ready to be indulge.

#Cadburylicious  #CadburyDairyMilkSpready

Chocolate Chips Banoffee Smoothie with Chia...

If you are lazy and want to avoid solid food... you can enjoy this drink. It fills up your stomach while you enjoy the chilled smoothie. Love this drink and I am sure you will love it too... 

Ingredients 

1 1/2 cup Milk 

1 Banana chopped 

1 tbsp Chia soaked in water

1 tsp Coffee powder 

1 tsp Honey 

1 tbsp Chocolate chips 

1/2 tsp Chocolate chips and Chocolate syrup for garnishing 

1 Cake toast cut into thin strip for garnishing 

Method 

Take a blender. Add milk, banana, chia seeds, coffee powder, honey, 1 tbsp chocolate chips and few pieces of ice in the blender. Blend all the ingredients. Take a glass. Add the a tbsp of chocolate syrup. Pour in the smoothie in the glass and garnish with 1/2 tsp chocolate chips and cake toast. 

Eggless Black Forest Cake

Eggless Black Forest Cake...

It  is made with Chocolate Sponge cake, Strawberry jam, Whipped cream, Chocolate shavings and Cherries. It is soft and moist. Have it chilled. 

For Moist Chocolate  Sponge Cake (Eggless)

Ingredients

115 grams Self Raising Flour

2 tbsp Coco powder

200 grams Condensed Milk

60 grams Butter Melted 

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Soda bi carb

100 ml Club Soda 

Method

Melt the butter and keep it aside. Add the flour, coco powder, soda bi carb and baking powder and mix it. Take the condensed milk, add the flour little at a time and beat it. Add the butter and beat it in one direction. Add the club soda little at a time and mix it till the batter is thick and is of dropping consistency and the batter has a glossy look. Take a square tin. Grease the tin. Pour the batter in the tin. The batter should fill 1/2 the tin. Bake in a pre heated oven for 30 minutes at 160 degrees Celsius. To check the cake insert a tooth pick. If the comes out smooth then the cake is done. Cool the cake completely on a cooling rack.  

For the Black Forest Cake

Ingredients

Chocolate sponge cake

2 cups of chilled Whipping Cream

1/4 cup Icing sugar

1 tsp Vanilla essence

4 tbsp Strawberry Jam

4 tbsp Water

1 cup Chocolate shavings

10 glazed Cherries

Method

Cut the cake in to half. Take 1 tbsp of Strawberry jam and 4 tbsp water and mix it. Take a steel mixing bowl. Add the whipping cream. Beat it till it forms a soft peak. Add vanilla essence and icing sugar. Beat it well till it forms a proper peak. Take one slice of the cake. Sprinkle half of the strawberry jam water mix on the cake. Spread the whipped cream and then spread the jam. Take the other slice of the cake. Sprinkle the remaining strawberry jam water on the cake. Place the cake slice on the strawberry jam. Now with the rest of the whipped cream cover the cake. Refrigerate the cake for 10 minutes. Put the second layer of whipped cream on the cake. Decorate the cake with the chocolate shavings. Decorate the outer rim of the cake with the whipped cream with the help of a nozzle. Add the glazed cherries. Chill the cake before serving.

Eggless Nutty Brownie Banana Cake Loaf...

This is a soft cake with a chewy brownie base..... 

For the Brownie 

Ingredients 

140 grams  Dark Chocolate broken into pieces

55 grams Butter

50 grams Brown Sugar

40 grams All Purpose Flour 

2 pinches of Soda bicarbonate 

1 pinch of Baking powder 

50 grams Curd

2 tbsp Broken pieces of Walnuts

Method 

Prepare the loaf tin with greasing and laying the parchment paper and again greasing it with oil. 

Melt the chocolate and butter on low heat. Remove and leave to cool slightly. Stir in brown sugar until mix it well. Add in curd, mix well. Fold in flour, soda bicarbonate and baking powder, mix until well combined. Add the walnuts and fold the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake it in preheated oven for 20 minutes at 180 degrees celcius. Meanwhile when the   brownie is baking, prepare the batter for the banana cake.

For the Banana Cake

Ingredients 

120 grams All Purpose Flour 

100 grams Butter

100 grams SugarFree or Sugar 

4 grams Baking powder

4 grams Soda Bicarbonate

2 Ripe Banana Mashed

1 tsp Banana essence 

2 drops of Yellow Food Colour (optional) 

50 ml Milk

Method 

Beat the butter with sugarfree until creamy. Add the mashed banana, essence, food colour and Milk.  Add the flour, baking powder and soda bicarbonate. Beat it well. By now the brownie must have bake. Remove the brownie and pour the cake batter on the brownie, bake in the oven at 160 degree celcius for 35 to 40 minutes or until baked. Insert a tooth pick in the middle to check if done. Cool it completely before cutting...

Nutty Chocolatey Mawa Donut Gujjiya.......

Nutty Chocolatey Mawa Donut Gujjiya.......

Holi hai Bhai Holi hai....

Khelo Rango ke Sath.... 

Gujjiya kha ke mast raho....

Aahi hai Subhakamnaye Hmara Apke Sangh..... 

Gujjiyas are classic dish made with all purpose flour dough and Mava filling, deep fried and dipped in Sugar syrup... 

This is a Gujjiya with a twist... 

For the Donut dough

Ingredients 

2 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour + 1/4 cup extra for handling the dough and rolling the dough 

3 tbsp Melted Butter 

2 tbsp Powder Sugar 

Salt to taste 

1 1/4 tsp Dry Yeast 

1/4 cup Lukewarm Water 

1 tbsp Sugar for the Yeast 

1/4 cup or more Lukewarm Milk for kneading a soft dough

Method 

Add yeast, sugar and  lukewarm water in a cup and keep it aside till it rises. Take flour in a mixing bowl,  add salt and powder sugar. Mix it.  Mix in yeast and milk little at a time as per the milk is required for kneading a soft dough. Add a tbsp of butter and keep kneading the dough for 5 to 10 minutes. Add the remaining butter on the dough and  keep it aside cover till the dough rises. 

P. S. If the dough gets sticky sprinkle some flour and knead it. 

Knead the dough well. Stretch the dough and fold on a flat platform.

For the Nutty Chocolate Mawa filling 

Ingredients 

3/4 cup of Mawa

1/2 cup of Chocolate Chips 

Handful of Almond and Pistachio flakes or chopped

Method 

Take a pan, add the mawa and cook it till the mawa starts to form a dough, take it off the flame. Add the Almond and Pistacho flakes and mix it. Add the Chocolate chips, mix it well and keep it aside.

For the Donut Gujjyas 

Ingredients 

Dough

Filling 

Oil for frying the Gujjyas

Method 

Take the dough and knead it again. Divide the dough in to two portions. Take one portion and roll the dough, cut circles out of the sheet with a round cutter. Add the filling and fold one side to the other side. Press it and fold the edges. Keep it for 20 minutes. Heat the oil. Fry the Gujjyas till brown. Take it out. Cool it. Sprinkle it with coloured sugar powder... 

For Garnishing 

Use coloured sugar powder..... 

P. S. Take 2 tbsp of Sugar in a grinding jar and add few drop of colour. Mix it with the spoon.  Grind the sugar. The colour will get mixed with the sugar. If darker shade is required then add more drops of colour and grind again. This coloured powder sugar canbe used to decorate cakes and other desserts...

Whole Wheat Sweet Chocolatey, Minty and Spicy Soda Bread.....

Whole Wheat Sweet Chocolatey, Minty and Spicy Soda Bread.....

Soda bread is a variety of quick bread traditionally made in which sodium bicarbonate is used as a leavening agent instead of the yeast. The ingredients of traditional soda bread are flour,soda, salt, and buttermilk. The buttermilk in the dough contains lactic acid, which reacts with the soda to form tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide. Other ingredients can be added such as butter, egg, raisins, or nuts.

   In Europe, soda breads began to appear in the mid-19th century when bicarbonate of soda first became available for use as a raising agent. Breads, griddle cakes and scones with soda bicarbonate and cream of tartar or tartaric acid became popular in Austria, Polish cuisine, Britain and Ireland. Traditional soda bread, eaten in Serbian cuisine, also uses soda bicarbonate. 

Whole wheat soda bread  is known as wheaten bread in parts of Ireland and Polish flat soda bread is known as Proziaki.

Net Resouce.... 

I wanted to cook up something quick for my hungry caterpillar who was going to come back from the school picnic... The door bell would ring any moment.. While I was thinking, the recipe of soda bread ran in my mind. It had to be of her liking... So gave a twist to it and here is my version of soda bread... 

Ingredients

2 cups Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 cup Milk powder

1/4 cup of Chocolate Chips

Few Mint leaves broken

8 Sweet Pepper Chillies whole or 1 fresh Red Chilli sliced

1 tsp Baking powder

2 Pinches of Salt

1/2 cup Caster Sugar

2 tbsp Melted Butter

3/4 cup Butter Milk

1/4 cup Club Soda

P. S. You can use 1 tsp soda bicarbonate instead club soda and increase the butter milk quantity by 1/4 cup. 

Method

Take a mixing bowl, add whole wheat flour, milk powder and caster sugar. Mix it. Add salt and baking powder. Mix it. Make a well in between. Add butter milk, mix it. Add club soda. Mix it. Add the chocolate chips, chillies and mint. Mix it. The dough will be a bit sticky. Brush an iron pan or any baking tray with butter. Add the bread dough, spread it. Bake it for 40 minutes or till done at 180 degrees celcius in a preheated oven. Cool a bit and the remove the bread from the pan. Cool it completely before cutting it.

Choco Idli Steam Cake

Choco Idli Steam Cake

It is a healthy snacks for children. Since the exam fever is on...  This kind of snacks are boosters for children to study. My daughter from past few day wanted this... so made this for her. Very easy to make and delicious too.

Ingredients

1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 cup Fine Semolina

4 tbsp Coco powder

2 tbsp Chocolate Chips

1/2 tsp Baking powder

1/2 tsp Soda bicarbonate

1/4 tsp Salt

1/4 cup Condensed Milk

¼ cup Curd

1/2 cup Milk

1 tsp Vanilla extract

1/4 cup  Oil

Some sprinkles

Method

Mix semolina, whole wheat flour , coco powder, salt, baking powder, and soda bicarbonate together. Mix curd and milk together. Take a mixing bowl. Add oil and condensed milk. Beat it. Add vanilla essence and beat it once again.  Add half dry ingredients and half wet ingredients into the mixing bowl. Beat it. Add the remaining ingredients dry and wet ingredients and beat it well. Add the chocolate chipes and fold it. The batter should be thick dropping consistency. Take a idli steamer. Add water in the steamer and let the water boil. Meanwhile  grease the idli mould. Add the batter in the mould. Sprinkle some colour sugar sprinklers. Add the moulds in the steamer and let it cook for 20 minutes or till done.  Once cool take it out from the mould. And remove the Choco Idli Steam Cake from the moulds.

For garnishing drizzle some fresh cream. 

Thandai Chocolate

Thandai Chocolate
Ingredients
250 grams of White chocolate compound
Some candy colours of your choice

Ingredients for Thandai powder
10 Almonds
10 Pistachios
2 tbsp  Melon Seeds
8 Rose Petals
1/4 tsp Poppy Seeds
2 Green Cardamom
4 Peppercorns
1/2 tsp Fennel Seeds
1/2 tsp Rose Essences
Few strands of Saffron

Method
Grind all the ingredients together and keep aside. Take white chocolate and melt it. Temperature of the White chocolate should be 100 – 110° F (37 – 43° C). Be very careful as the high milk and sugar content in white chocolate will cause it to burn easily.
Add the powder to the melted chocolate . Mix it. Add colours to the mould and fill the moulds with chocolate . Keep it in the fridge till it sets.
The Thandai powder can be used in the milk adding sugar to it to make Thandai drink...

Sweet Medley Shots

Sweet Medley Shots
This is an experimental recipe from my kitchen with leftover chocolate cake crumbs and leftover white chocolate ganache....
Ingredients
1 cup Chocolate cake crumbs
1/2 cup White chocolate Ganache
1/2 cup Coconut Milk
2 tbsp Fresh cream
4 tbsp Condensed Milk
1/2 packet Jello's or any other brand Mango Jelly powder
1/2  tbsp Veg Gelatine
2 tbsp Hot Water
6 shot glasses

Method
Take the shot glasses. Fill 1/4 of the Glasses with cake crumbs. In a vessel combine coconut milk, fresh cream and condensed milk. Take another bowl, add hot water. Sprinkle the gelatine in the water. Stir and dissolve the gelatine. Add 2 tbsp of the gelatine water to the coconut milk. Mix the coconut milk with gelatine on a low flame till it simmers. Stir it continuously till it cools a bit. Pour the coconut milk on the cake crumbs and fill up more 1/4 of the glasses. Refrigerate it till the coconut milk sets. Add more cake crumbs and fill up another 1/4 of the glass. Take the mango jelly powder in a vessel, follow the instructions on the packet and simmer on low flame. Cool it a bit and add the mango jelly and fill up  the glasses. Let it set in the refrigerator. Take white chocolate ganache in a piping bag. Pipe out the chocolate ganache on top of the mango jelly with the help of a big star nozzle. Decorate the top with sprinkles. Serve it chilled.