Eggless Baking : What's for Breakfast ? Milk & Cookies....

Note to myself : I should write a blog post today.

With kids at home b'coz of snow day here in north east, I didn't expected myself to write this post. But after a relaxing day of not cooking much & simply watching kids play in the snow, now when kids are tucked into their beds I'm here. First thing first "Happy 2014 to everyone out there".

As a first post of new year I'm gonna share something sweet today. It's not any traditional Indian sweet but I'm talking about cookies. To be exact healthy cookies. YES, they are so healthy that I don't mind calling them Breakfast cookies, you see all that stuff peeking from the cookies that's good for u stuff. They have all the goodness of oats, almonds, flaxseeds, whole wheat and as most of my baking in this blog these are eggless too. Before we move to the recipe, please read the Notes.

Notes :
1) To reduce the quantity of butter I'm using homemade applesauce, one can use equal quantity of mashed banana also or if U like simply use butter only instead of fruit sauce.

2) If you are grinding your own flaxseeds, go slow I prefer pulse mode. Over grinding can get all the oils out from flaxseeds, to avoid that u can also add 1 tsp. of sugar(from the recipe) to the seeds while grinding them.

3) If U decide to use plain white sugar instead of Agave, which is liquid sugar in that case reduce the amount of flour by 1 Tbsp.

4) These are drop cookies but they won't spread like regular oatmeal & choc. chip cookies. So, for that reason after dropping the dough onto the cookie sheet I use my fingers or back of fork to gently press them down a little bit. It'll be sticky but make sure u keep cleaning the back of fork.

5) Following recipe gave me around 30-32 cookies of 2" diameter. Which I think is perfect size when u have my kind of habbit.....to test every single batch/tray coming out of the oven. which means by the time I'm done baking cookies I have already eaten 3-4 cookies not to mention what happen while they are cooling :)

6) This one is more of a tip. You can reuse the parchment sheets.

What I used :

1. 1/2 cup Quick cooking Oats
2. 1/4 cup White Whole Wheat flour(atta can be used here)
3. 1/4 cup Almond meal/powder
4. 1/4 cup Flaxmeal/ Powdered flax seeds *(see notes)
5. 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. Unbleached all purpose flour
6. 1/4 tsp. Cinnamon
7. 1/4 tsp. Salt
8. 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
9. 4 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter
10. 2 Tbsp. Unsweetened Apple Sauce (can use butter instead)
11. 6 Tbsp. Dark Brown Sugar
12. 2 Tbsp. Agave Nectar (can be replaced by regular white sugar u might have to reduce flour by 1Tbsp. in that case)
13. 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
14. 1 Tbsp. Flax meal + 3 Tbsp. Warm Water mixed together (acts as egg substitute for 1 egg, also called flaxegg).
15. 1/2 cup Mini Choco. chips

What I did :

1)Turn the oven to 350 degree. Mix all the dry ingredients from no. 1 to 8. Mix them nicely using a whisk, keep it aside.
 

2) Beat : Butter + Applesauce + Dark Brown Sugar + Agave Nectar using a handheld or stand mixer for 3-4 minutes on med. speed, till it start looking smooth & fluffy.
 

3) Add flaxegg (flax meal mixed with water) and vanilla to the butter mix. Mix evenly.
 

4) Turn the mixer to slow, and slowly add dry mix to the wet mixture till all the flour is mixed evenly. DO NOT OVER MIX.
 

5) Gently fold the Choc. Chips into the batter. Reserve couple of Tbsp. of Choco. chips if U like to have them on top of your cookies(clearly visible).

 

6) Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using a spoon drop around walnut size dough balls on

to the parchment lined cookies sheet keeping them around 2" apart.

7) Using a fork press these dough balls(*see Notes) to give them little flat look(see the above picture) & top them with 3-4 chocolate chips.

8) Bake them for around 13-15 minutes. I'll suggest checking them at 12 min. and after that keep an eye. Mine took little extra time they were done in 16 minutes.

 

9) Let them sit on cookie sheet for 2-3 minutes & then transfer to cooling rack.

10) Once completely cool, store them in airtight container.

Now, these are the cookies you don't mind giving to your kids when they ask for more. My Lil'one enjoyed these so much that first day she didn't let anyone else eat these...she kept saying "they are all mine, if anyone eats them they will be finished". These cookies also got approval of one good friend & her family too. She could not believe me when I told her about how less butter I have used.

Now pour yourself some milk & enjoy milk & cookies as morning breakfast or late night snack.

Update on Jan/29/2014 : These cookies can be stored at room temp. in airtight container for upto 3 weeks, though I doubt they'll have any chance of staying that long, given that u know where to reach to grab one. Also, would like to add that these got approval from India also. I send some to my parents & in-laws & they loved it. So, I guess I can add that...these cookies are travel safe too :) .

Heart Healthy, Valentine's Day Pancake : with Whole Grains, Almond & Eggless too

You read it right Valentine's Day Pancake. Valentine's Day is all about your loved ones. And on a food blog what can be better than heart healthy food to show your loved ones that U not only love them but care for their heart too. Back in DEC. 2009 I posted egg less pancake in this blog & that is fourth most popular post on this blog. That time I use to use store bought Pancake Mix & fortify it with some healthy stuff  from my kitchen, but that was the last box of store bought pancake mix I bought. No, my kids didn't stopped eating pancakes it's just that I started making my own mix. I started with all purpose flour based & now from almost last one year we are having totally whole grain pancakes with few other good stuff thrown in and these are egg less too. And no more non-stick pans too.

What I used :
For Pancakes :

• 1/3 cup whole wheat flour(I use regular atta, staple in Indian kitchen)
• 1/3 cup oatmeal/oat flour (grind regular oats using coffee grinder)
• 1/3 cup almond meal/flour (use coffee/spice grinder to turn almonds into flour)
• pinch of cinnamon powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 cup / 6 oz. buttermilk *(see notes)
• 1/4 cup / 2 oz. water

optional *(see notes):

• 1 TBSP. ground flax seeds
• 1 TBSP. wheat germ

Toppings & Syrup :

• 7-8 strawberries
• 1/2 TBSP. of regular sugar
• 1 TBSP. of slivered almonds
• maple syrup or honey

Notes :

1. I do not always use buttermilk, most of the time I use home made curd/dahi/yogurt as that is always available in my fridge. I thin it out with some water to get the consistency of buttermilk.
2. If using flax meal & wheat germ, I always add them to the ready batter at the last moment only as I notice if I add them before the batter resting period, it makes the batter little starchy/gooey. I tried to use it as egg substitute here in this recipe but outcome wasn't welcomed by my kids.
3. To make these pancakes egg less I use combination of buttermilk & baking soda. Though I'm using flax meal also which is a good egg substitute but I'm not using it as egg replacer instead just to add some more nutrients.

what I did :

1. Wash, hull, dry & slice the strawberries. Put them in a bowl & sprinkle 1/2 tbsp. of sugar on them,U can use more if berries are more on tart side or if U like more sweet. Gently toss them. Keep aside. This simple step of macerating strawberries really bring out the flavours and add a special touch to otherwise routine breakfast of pancakes. U can also use other flavours like orange juice or balsamic vinegar to macerate the strawberries.
2. In a big bowl, mix cinnamon powder & all the three flours we r using for pancake. I like to use whisk here. Add liquids(buttermilk & water) to the flour mixture & whisk them together. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes.
3. When ready to cook heat a cast iron skillet on no more then medium heat.
4. Add baking soda & if using optional items( wheat germ & flax meal) add them. Gently mix adjust the consistency of the batter. In case if u r using flax meal & wheat germ chances are U will need little extra liquid.
5. Put few drops of oil on the skillet & pour a ladle full of batter, using the backside of ladle gently swirl it around in round shape.
6. Cook on med. heat. When turns little brown on the bottom side flip the side & let it cook on the other side around 40-50 sec. on each side. Do not press on the pancake with spatula while they r cooking on the other side.
7. To serve put some strawberries with their juice on top of the pancake, top it with maple syrup or honey and finally sprinkle some slivered almonds.

Please, do not spoil all your efforts for making it so healthy by using store bought pancake syrups, they are full of high fructose corn syrup. If U like the syrup make your own. Mix together 1 part honey with 2 part water & boil it, turn the heat to slow & let it reduce little bit. Serve it when it's cool. If planning to serve with Syrup make sure U make it before hand so that when U are ready to dig into your warm pancakes, syrup is also ready for U.

Note : these are not very fluffy kind but still very good and melt in the mouth kind pancakes and no need to mention totally Heart Healthy. As per my experience if I'm planning to make regular fluffy kind pancakes I usually replace half of whole wheat flour & oat meal with all purpose flour & also add a tiny pinch of baking soda in addition to the regular amount I'm using.

These pancakes are not only perfect for breakfast but occassionaly my kids love to have them for dinner too, with a cup of warm milk. To surprise your kids this valentine's day U  can also pack them for lunch, just use medium size heart shape cookie cutter to cut a big pancake into bite size hearts. Pack some honey in a small container & some macerated strawberries in another. Don't forget to pack a fork to eat them with.

And a special note to tell them how much U love them, not only today but always & O'course don't forget to mention the magic words for the day "Happy Valentine's Day".Hope U all have nice one.

Eggless Baking : Chocolate Applesauce Muffin for breakfast on a very Crucial Day

Importance of today's Cricket Match(march/30/2011) : it's a crucial match, SEMI-FINAL for WORLD CUP & played between two Cricket Crazy Nations India and Pakistan, lots of emotions and politics goes in this. Lots of pressure on both the team all important leaders including Prime Ministers of both countries are watching it.

Last Match Day(March/24/2011) : scene from my house explained here in my previous post.

Today (March/25/2011) : my day started at little before 6 A.M.....he's again missing from the bed, I can hear some voices coming from the other part of the house, but this time I'm lazily staying in the bed for a while & finally decided to come out & here goes our conversation....

me : what's the score

he : 77 for ?? balls(he did told me exact balls but i don't remember it now when I'm typing it after 45 minutes), run rate is very good 7.??(again I forgot)

me : kaun khel raha hai???(which team is playing)....do u want chai(tea)???

he : India, aab chup ho ja yaar bara sahi match chal raha hai.....(Please be quite now honey, it's very good match going on, (remember in the last post he called me honey...well in hindi the way we talk, yaar would come in the category of honey only)

after sometime....

me : in Delhi roads must be quite right now...my brother told me in many neighbourhoods large T.V screens have been installed & it's kind of a holiday.

he(no talking) : picked up the phone, called his Dad.....sharing some cricket talk

me(no talking) : started working on my post.....I tried to open multiple pages &

he : kya yaar(honey) what r u doing it's slowing down my match here(we r watching it on Internet)....can't U work on one page only.....

after some time he went to do his brush & OMG!! Pakistan took 3rd Indian wicket(Kohli)....run rate is also 5.57 & another sad news Yuvraj got out on his first ball :-((.....I ran towards him almost screaming, came back quickly........now comes Dhoni & that reminds me of a movie I saw last month "HATRICK" it's a bollywood movie(it's interesting movie to see, if you haven't seen) showing how cricket plays an important role in different peoples life and commentator is also talking if it's gonna be a HATRICK ball....means 3 players out in 3 continuous balls...but thank god...NO it's not....

he was out of the room when 2 above players got out.....

he : kya yaar I just went out aur do wickets chale gaye(I was out for a minute & 2 players out what??)

me : U sit here & U r not moving out of this area.....Oh Yes! we Indians do have lot of superstitions when it comes to CRICKET.

After few minutes he went to the kitchen to make tea for himself.....& I hear Pakistani team cheering....No..No...NO, not because my husband is making tea for himself....but because....

me: OMG!!!! sachin gaya

he : are nahi yaar(no), catch miss ho gayi....sachin is saved 3rd time....

me : U come back, right now....sit on this chair, don't go anywhere(remember superstitions).....I'll make tea, U want it with ginger...

SCORE : 185/4 (time : 7:37 A.M EST U.S.A)

Just in case if U guys are thinking that don't they have anything else to do...so for the records, I'm usually not this crazy or in fact not crazy at all for sports but it's India Vs Pakistan....U can't miss this.....this time hubby dear is lucky as he had some odd hour(midnight) official stuff going on with his companies international offices and again some meetings lined up in the morning so he's working from home & it was all set on Monday only so no guessing work for me.....I told Kiddo to buy lunch from school, for snack she's taking home made applesauce.

For breakfast I made some Eggless, Low fat, whole wheat applesauce cupcakes/muffins yesterday only, and yes  chocolate flavour.....they are good at their own, use of applesauce & vinegar make them soft from inside but I suggest having them with some tea/coffee or milk as they are low in fat and also half of the flour is whole wheat, which makes them little dry. It's a healthy & tasty treat, perfect for breakfast.

What I used :

Dry Ingredients :

• 3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup atta(wholewheat flour)
• 4 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. cinnamon powder
• pinch of salt

Wet Ingredients :

• 2 tablespoon unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce(recipe here but now I pressure cook, one whistle on low)
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup regular sugar
• 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoon of milk

 Other Ingredients

• 1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar(regular kind can be used)
• 1 tsp. vanilla

quick Info : India done with their turn.....target set for other team :261 runs, fingers crossed as this is not a very high target for the opposite team......time for break....hubby dear is lucky today as India's turn got over just 5 minutes before his meeting start....

What I did for muffins :

1. Sift together all the dry ingredients.
2. In another bowl mix all the wet ingredients
3. Add dry ingredients to wet in 3-4 parts, mixing thoroughly making sure no lumps are there, I prefer to use whisk her(manual to electronic mixer).
4. Add vinegar & vanilla.Mix.
5. Fill in the prepared pans. Bake at 350 degree.
6. This batter should yield U 12 regular size muffins, but I could not decide which pan to bake them in as I wanted mini muffins but batter was more then I needed for them, so here's what I baked from this batter:  12 mini muffins, baked for 14 minutes . 6 regular size muffins, baked for 17 minutes. 1 small 4 inch round cake, baked for 24 minutes.
7. Once they were cool I brushed them with melted butter & decked up with come sprinkles.

Note : If U are new to baking I really suggest sticking with one kind of pan at a time in the oven as different pans mean different timings & that mean opening the oven again & again, which is not a good thing, but luckily all the muffins/cake came out good.

Eggless Baking : Chocolate Banana Bread & Mini Bundt Cakes

Again some bananas waiting for their turn to be used up and thinking, if nobody is eating may be we'll get a good shake with milk......but wait it's snowing outside chances are very less to mingle with the milk......slowly turned black from outside, perfect for baking, may be now somebody will see us.......and finally lady of the house decided their faith.....Chocolate banana bread & mini bundt cakes with blueberries.

Base recipe used here is of my other banana bread but this one was baked to mainly clear few things from the cooler-box and pantry. And it's very forgiving kind of recipe one can easily substitute with what they have in hand or how healthy they want to make it, butter can be totally left out from this recipe as banana works well as fat substitute. Addition of chocolate make it more acceptable by kids even when it has lots of good stuff in it. Please do check the notes at the end, as list of ingredients might make u think it's a very long recipe, which is not, only the list of ingredients is lengthy otherwise it's just mix & bake kind of recipe.

What U need :
Dry ingredients :

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour(I used whole wheat pastry flour, atta works fine)
• 1/2 cup oat flour(grind regular/old fashioned oats in coffee grinder)
• 1 cup all purpose flour + 1/2 tablespoon (used maida from Indian store)
• 3 tablespoon flaxmeal (dry roast flaxseeds when cool grind then using coffee grinder)
• 1 cup almond meal (grind almonds fine or coarse, as per your taste)
• 4 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1&1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Wet Ingredients :

• 2 tablespoon butter at room temp.
• 3 medium over ripe bananas
• 2 tablespoon ricotta cheese
• 5-6 tablespoon sweet condensed milk
• 1 cup buttermilk(or homemade dahi/yogurt can be used, dilute it with little water in case if it's thick)
• 1/2 cup water(might need little less or more depending upon what proportion of diff. flours u r using)

Other Ingredients(totally optional) :

• handful of blueberries(needed to finish these too)
• handful of mini chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoon of sweet coconut flakes(rest of the packet is waiting to be turned into coconut cake....ahhh!!)

What U do :

1. In a large bowl using a whisk, mix all the dry ingredients making sure that there are no lumps. Keep it aside.
2. Make sure all the wet ingredients are at room temperature. In another bowl using a whisk mix butter, banana, ricotta and condensed milk till they are smooth. Slowly add buttermilk & 1/2 cup of water & again whisk them.
3. Add dry ingredients to the wet mixture little at a time & keep mixing them till all the dry ingredients are mixed together with wet. It's kind of a thick batter but not too tight. So if needed use little extra water.
4. Roll blueberries in 1/2 tablespoon flour. Fold berries & choco. chips to the batter. I added coconut flakes to only one loaf. So after filling the bundt pan & one loaf pan I folded coconut flakes to the batter.
5. Pour it into greased pans & bake it in the 350 degree F oven, for timing check below and for filling bundt pan check notes.

Baking Pans and Time :
I made two small loaves & 12 mini bundt cakes out of this batter. Mini bundt cakes or if U plan for cupcakes usually take around 16-18 minutes. For mini loaves, it took 30 minutes.

Notes :

1. I have used 3 different flours basic idea was to have around 2 cups of flour, recipe works well with only whole wheat flour also. So U can change the quantity of diff. flours, as long they measure 2 cups in total should work fine.
2. In wet ingredients also I'm using quite a few things as I had to finish those & bread came out very good with addition of all those. U can check other version of banana bread here which is not using condensed milk & ricotta cheese and play with the recipe as per your taste.
3. If using mini bundt pan filling the batter into small cavities can be little tricky & messy at the same time. So, here's the easy solution just fill a large Ziploc with the batter, cut 1 cm. from one corner & squeeze the batter out into cavities(fill only around 3/4) or if U happen to have large pastry bag use that. And don't throw the bag wash it, let it dry & use it next time when U again bake mini bundt cakes.  

This chocolate banana bread & mini bundt cakes are off to Champa for her weekly bake-off.

Eggless Sugar Cookies for a Sweet New Year Start

Happy New Year everyone! Hope everybody had a sweet and cheerful start to the year 2011. Today I'm posting my our first bake of the year 2011. It was a joint project between me & DD and it seems with her touch cookies came out nice & perfect and almost one third were gone before the end of the day.

I don't bake cookies very often so other day when we decided to bake sugar cookies I could not find my recipe(I still have many recipes on piece of papers). So I googled for Egg less Sugar Cookies & I found Aparna's(My Diverse Kitchen) recipe who has further adapted from Slashfood and before I looked at the recipe, the picture of her cookies convinced me that I have to make these. She has decorated them so beautifully, that cookies look like a piece of art. I'm sure many of you must have seen those already at her blog but for those who haven't here's the link. I haven't decorated mine, didn't had that much of time, but they taste good as is and good thing is she substituted 2/3 rd of the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour in this recipe. Another best part is dough doesn't need to rest in the fridge for this recipe so it's Mix, Roll, Cut & Bake. Took us around 20 minutes in total(including baking time) we used half of the recipe & baked around 22 cookies pretty generous size. Out of 22 cookies 12 were baked in the cookie pan with x'mas shapes and these were little more thick than regular rolled ones.

Though I have not changed the recipe other than using whole wheat pastry flour instead of regular whole wheat flour but I'm still going to write down the recipe as I said I halved the recipe and to avoid doing calculations again next time I think it's better to write down.

What U need :

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 7 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
• 2 & 1/2 tablespoon milk(see notes)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour(I used whole wheat pastry flour)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

What U do :

1. Sift together all the dry ingredients : flours, baking powder & salt. Keep it aside.
2. Cream butter & sugar till smooth. Add milk & vanilla combine everything together. You can use mixer for this step. I use to do this with regular whisk but this time I used stand mixer.
3. Add dry ingredients to the wet in batches & mix with hands till everything comes together as a dough. If it's crumbly & not coming together add a tsp. of milk & knead it for few seconds only(see Notes).Make 2 balls out of it.
4. Roll the dough ball into 1/4 inch thick sheet, cut out the shapes U want. Place the cookies on ungreased cookie sheet. Pick rest of the dough which is left after cut outs again make a ball of it & roll it, cut out the cookies, continue till U have no more dough left.
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes in pre heated oven at 350 degree F.Mine were done in 11 minutes, next time may be I'll take cookie pan out of the oven 1 or 2 minutes early as the bottom side got little dark(no change in the taste--it was good) I guess because pan was dark color. But the cookies in the cookie sheet came out good in 11 minutes.
6. Let the pan/sheet get little cool, invert the cookies on to the rack. Once completely cool store in the air tight container preferably in the lock if U r planning to decorate them later, as the chances are you won't find them when you need them, they are that good.....if U don't believe me check out at Aparna's blog she also baked it again for decorating. We still have some left as DD choose to take them in her lunch box as dessert, school is opening back tomorrow and I'm very much sure that's gonna be part of her "Share your story/experience from the holidays" discussion.

Notes :

Liquid for this recipe, that is milk, is suggested 1 & 1/2 to 2 & 1/2 tablespoon, I used 2 & 1/2 tablespoon and dough came out together perfectly. Every time quantity of milk used can vary, so it's better to start with minimum liquid suggested & add little bit at a time as needed.

These cookies are off to Champa for her weekly bake-off & also to Suma who's hosting a giveaway of  "The Cake Bible" by Rose Levy Beranbaum for her first blog anniversary celebration. 

And fear is all gone........ Eggless Pumpkin Pie

Finally I made The egg less Pumpkin Pie this Thanksgiving(after 4 years of will try next time) and the fear of eggless custard based pie is over and I’ve got the confidence that custard based pies can  be made eggless too. Also sharing a secret.....I was always doubtful until now that how pumpkin can taste good in dessert. So, was it good..... Of course it tasted good that's the reason I'm writing this post (though the picture didn't came out very good). Little help from the Internet and decided on using corn starch(corn flour) as egg substitute. Only problem the pie crimp(edges of the crust) came out little extra dark but the pie custard as well as crust tasted very good and did bring million dollar smile on my 8 yr. old face. Custard filling tasted very smooth & creamy and no taste of corn starch(that was my biggest fear it gonna taste chalky), crust was really flaky though I had reduced the butter as compared to original recipe. Now about the crimp, after thanksgiving was over I was looking at my local grocery shop ad page and I saw that they sell pie crust shield which covers the edges so that they don't over brown....oh !! so it looks like a common problem.

I used the recipe from Libby's can of pumpkin puree as a base and tweaked it a bit as I wanted eggless pie and also there were few things in the fridge which needed to be taken care of ASAP. So here's my version for 9 inch pie....

What U need :
For Crust :I used the Pate Brisee(short crust pastry) recipe from Joy of Baking but changed the amount of fat used in it.

• 1 & 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tablespoon granulated white sugar
• 4 tablespoon unsalted butter, chilled & cut into samll cubes
• 2 tablespoon vegetable shortening ( I used it cold cut into 5-6 pieces)
• 1/8 to 1/4 cup ice cold water

For Custard :

• 1 can(15 oz.) pumpkin puree(next time I'm sure I'm gonna make fresh puree)
• roughly 2/3 of a can condensed milk (it must have been 8-9 oz. as full can was of 14 0z.)
• 1 small can(5 oz.) evaporated milk
• 2 tablespoon ricotta cheese
• 4 tablespoon corn flour(corn starch)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ginger powder(i used sund from my spice rack)
• 1 tsp. cinnamon powder
• 1/4 tsp. all spice powder(can be easily substituted with clove powder)

Note : 1. I'm not using any sugar as I'm using sweet condensed milk.

2. If only evaporated milk is used U need to add sugar.
3. If only condensed milk is used I guess quantity of corn starch can be reduced by a tablespoon or so.

What U do:
For Crust :

1. Using a food processor mix flour salt and sugar for few seconds.
2. Add butter and shortening, process it using pulse setting for around 15 seconds. Mixture will look like coarse meal.
3. Add water to this mixture while the processor is running. U might not have to use all the water, start with small quantity & add only a tablespoon at a time till the dough comes together, it will be still crumbly kind & not smooth but that is the perfect dough for pie. This process should not take more than 30-40 seconds.
4. Take out the dough mixture on the work surface & gather it into round ball & flatten it a bit into disk and cover it tightly with plastic wrap & let it chill in the fridge for around an hour. I kept it overnight. Important : while working with pie dough try to handle it as less as possible because body heat from hands can melt the butter which can lead to hard crust instead of flaky crust.

For Custard :

1. Mix corn flour with evaporated milk, making sure there are no lumps. Keep it aside.
2. Mix Pumpkin puree & ricotta cheese. Use food processor if cheese is not mixing smoothly. I did not used any, there were few white specs of  chesse bits in pie but taste wise it was smooth and final output was creamy.
3. Mix corn flour mixture from step 1 with pumpkin puree mixture from step 2, mix in all the spices using a whisk and the custard is ready to be poured into the pie shell. At this point if U want it can be refrigerated also.

For Assembling & Baking Pie :

1. Once U are ready to assemble the pie, take chilled dough out & sprinkle some flour on the work surface.
2. Roll the dough into 13 inch circle( please check the original recipe for details about rolling the pie dough) and transfer it to pie pan.
3. Make some pattern on the edges or trim them....your choice. I did made some leaves with x'tra dough & attached them using little water but as I mentioned over browning of edges` was the only problem with my pie so I actually trimmed the edges before serving.
4. Cover it with plastic wrap & chill it for around half an hour. And while U put the pie crust in the fridge to chill take out the custard from the fridge if U prepared it ahead of time,using whisk mix it thoroughly to make sure that ingredients are not settled down.
5. When ready to bake preheat oven to 425 degree take the pie crust out & pour the custard into it.
6. Bake for 15 minutes in 425 degree oven & then turn down the temperature to 350 degree bake for another 40-45 minutes.
7. To check the doneness, knife inserted about 1 inch from the side of the pan should come out clean, center will still look wet, but in my case I baked it for total of 60 minutes(15 at 425 degree + 45 at 350 degree) and centre was also set properly. I'm not sure how it works for pie with eggs or for that matter eggless also as this was my first trial of any custard based pie. cool it on wire rack. Serve it as is or with some freshly whipped cream.

Useful Tip : I prepared the custard & pie dough a night before thanksgiving, assemble and baked the pie next day, saved me time on busy thanksgiving day. To store the custard keep it in the airtight container inside the fridge. For storing the dough, wrap the dough in plastic wrap & refrigerate it.

Sending this creamy custard & flaky crust pie to Champa's weekly bake-off and also to Suma of Cakes and More who's hosting a giveaway of  "The Cake Bible" by Rose Levy Beranbaum for her first blog anniversary celebration, Happy Blog Anniversary Suma. And if U like to bake I'm sure these are the blogs worth visiting.

Eggless Black Forest Cake BUT no cherries

November is the month for party & celebration in my house. Other than regular festivals we have 4 birthdays and 2 wedding anniversaries to celebrate and out of these 6 celebrations 5 fall within the period of 10 days . This year I decided not to bake any cakes for anniversaries but for birthday's no excuse. So today I'm sharing this birthday cake I baked for my little one, she is two now, independent enough to do everything by herself(at least that's what she thinks). She had lots of fun whole day singing her b'day song...."Happy birday toote cakeah" and do I need to say the girl enjoyed the cake as much as she enjoyed singing her b'day song.

Recipe is simple, you basically need two or more layers of chocolate sponge cake, fresh heavy whip cream, some maraschino cherries and some good quality chocolate bar.  And once you assemble all this tasty stuff into layers the end result will be Black Forest Cake. My cake won't count as true Black Forest as cherries are missing from mine, mainly because b'day girl love MnM's and also I opted not to use any cherry liquor(kirsch) which is traditionally used  to soak the cake but rest of the elements are there. Mainly it's the whip cream which my kids love to eat cakes with so I decided to go for this. I baked the batter divided into 2 equal parts in 6 inches round pan, it sounds small but with our family of four I found this is the perfect size of cake plus it's going to be double layer so everybody gets enough.....plus I've a personal reason also, if I bake big cake then I get to bake less often....so small cakes mean more baking. Now for the recipe :

What U need :

For Cake :

• 1 cup all purpose flour/maida
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup sugar(not using much sugar here as we r using sugar syrup & sweet whip cream)
• 1 cup buttermilk OR 3/4 cup of home made dahi + 1/4 cup of water
• 4 tablespoon butter at room temperature
• 1 tsp. vanilla essence

For Syrup :

• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tablespoon regular white sugar(adjust as per your taste, how sweet u like)

For Filling and Assembly :

• 1&1/2 cups fresh heavy whip cream(I only had 2 layers of cake in case if u r using more layers, will need more cream)
• 2-3 tablespoons on confectioner sugar(depending upon once taste.....more or less sugar)
• handful of M'n'M's (for filling if U can find small M'n'M's that works great, I was out of them so I used regular size only)
• semisweet chocolate bar

What U do :
For Cake :

1. Mix all the dry ingredients & sift  them to make sure no lumps are there.
2. Cream butter & sugar. Add buttermilk or dahi. Mix it.
3. Slowly add dry ingredients & mix everything together.
4. Divide the batter into two 7 inches greased pans & bake them in pre heated oven at 350 degree F till the tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
5. Let the cakes cool completely.

For Syrup :

1. In the mean time while cake is cooling mix the water & sugar & make a syrup. Keep it in the fridge.

For Filling and Assembly :

1. Whip up the cream with confectioner sugar to stiff consistency.(* see Baker's Notes) Keep it cold by placing it in the fridge when not working with it.
2. Keep one cake onto cake board/serving plate, using a pastry brush drizzle/rub some syrup into it.
3. Spread some whipped cream, around 1/2 inch thick layer & sprinkle some M'n'M's(see Notes if using cherries) onto it.
4. Now put second cake upside down on it (* see Baker's Note at the bottom).
5. Drizzle some syrup onto it.
6. Using a offset spatula spread some icing on all the sides, if U have a turntable make sure to use it here because it really makes it easy. If icing on sides is not very smooth don't worry as in any case chocolate shavings will cover the sides.
7. After icing on the sides ice the top of the cake, smooth it out.
8. On parchment paper grate/shave the chocolate bar, I like to use my vegetable peeler, just make sure it's washed & dry(no vegetable odors)(*see Notes)
9. Now come the most tedious or U can call it fun part  decorating the sides with the chocolate shavings. I did it the way I've always done it. Before starting with icing I always cut 4-5 strips of wax/parchment paper around 4-5 inch wide put them around & under the cake in a way so that half of the strip(width wise) is under the cake, so in case if icing etc. fell on the cake platter it's much easy to clean. Now either use your hands directly or put some choc. shavings on a piece of parchment paper & try to put it on to the edges.....icing will work as glue and will hold the shavings but there will be lot of chocolate shavings falling down & will get sticky & melty too so when it's done, to clean up U just pull the strips at the end and as a bonus U get to lick all that chocolate which falls on these strips...BUT now this is tedious way that's what I think & till now I never thought about googling it also as I normally decorate a cake once in a while(and my kids in routine are happy with some lots of whip cream & sprinkles on top). But now as I was writing this post thought about checking on web about same issue.....except the first result of my search nothing else(at least on the first page) delivered what I was looking for but that one result does answer this problem(click here if interested) and next time I'm gonna try that and yes it will change the sequence of steps in the filling & assembly part as according to that forum this should be the first step.
10. Decorate the top of the cake as U wish with M'nM's or cherries or cover it totally with chocolate shavings.

Click of Baby Black Forest (it's hardly 4-5 inches in diameter) I made last year when hubby dear said no to Black Forest cake for his b'day (made after his b'day to satisfy my craving) & instead he wanted this one. 

 Notes :

1. If using cherries drain & de-seed them. 
2. For filling crush some cherries and spread them inside the layer along with the whip cream, making sure do not spread them to the edges, keep at least 1 inch margin from the edge of the cake, otherwise when U put the second layer on top of it filling will come out.
3. Try to handle grated chocolate gently as it will melt quickly with your body heat.

Baker's Note :

1. Whenever U want to decorate a cake make sure to use downside up(or call it upside down) because that's the smooth side.
2. When whipping the cream make sure the bowl, whisk & cream everything is chilled otherwise it might not give U the right results.

Off goes this cake to Champa for her weekly bake-off.

Keema Patties/ Puff Pastry with Minced Meat filling

As I promised in my last post, here's one very easy recipe using keema(minced meat)....Keema Patties as we use to call it in India or I should say Savoury Puff Pastries with minced meat filling. It can be served as snack or as we like to have it as holiday brunch item also. Usually I cook keema a day before for this & then it's his responsibility to get these patties/puff pastries into final shape & to the table. You can use any left over keema or make fresh batch, only thing important here is, it should be totally dry & at room temperature. In case of any water in the cooked keema cook it on the high flame without any cover & keep stirring it till all the water evaporates & keema is pretty dry. Let it cool completely before using in the recipe. Following recipe will yield 4 patties.

What U need :

• 3/4 cup cooked keema(recipe here) for filling
• 1 ready-to-bake puff pastry sheet(each pack has two) thawed acc. to package direction

Note : Fish out the bay leaves & whole red chillies from the filling.

What U do :

• Open up the pastry sheet. Cut the puff pastry sheet into 4 equal squares.
• Divide keema filling into 4 equal parts. Put each portion of filling into the centre of each square.
• Wet one of your finger and run it over the inside edge of pastry sheet square.
• Fold it into triangles & press gently onto the sides to seal the edges. Repeat with all the squares.
• Put it on a lightly greased baking sheet. Using a fork pierce the triangles at 3-4 places. Bake as per the package directions or at 400 degree F till the patties turn lightly golden brown.
• Serve with your choice of sauce/ ketchup/ chutney and please be careful, meat inside will be really hot & did I told U they are addictive and I really mean it.

Back to blogging and a Flower Cake to share

First of all thanks to new followers & my readers who asked for my well being thru emails and sorry also as I could not respond to those mails or for that matter any mails during past 6-7 weeks. There I was back in mid of September, working on one of my post which I never get to complete and sudden plan for trip to India, my mind started working on another post just to tell the Blog world about my break & I never get to write that too. Now in the middle of night, making good use of jet lag, while I'm writing this post I'm thinking what happened to all that time where did it go, some of that is captured in camera as life long memories, some of it is in suitcases(in terms of shopping I did there) which are still lying every where in my living room but most of it is in our mind and hearts.....the time spent with family, watching kids playing and fighting with their cousins, urge to eat every single food which we like over there (still missed on so many), watching my little one that how she picked up new words and now her favourite word is "nahi" instead of "no" which is basically hindi for no only.....instead of "give me" now it's "lele" (hindi for take it)......list goes on & on.

Now, coming to the cake part this is the cake I baked for my DD's 8th birthday party this year back in April but never get to post it. So, I thought why not share it now. It was a basic egg less chocolate cake with butter cream frosting. This was my first public debut cake I would say, not that I have not baked cakes for friends & family before but in terms of real cake(decorated one) as my daughter say, this was the first one. I have always loved to bake cakes & my family and friends always enjoy it also but back in march when I told my DD how about I bake cake for your b'day party this year, reply was "Ohhhh.....no...no...no!!!". But once cake started to take shape she was on the cloud nine and me too..... it was a relief when the cake was totally done.

Here's another look....ready to go to party place....

tried my hands on making figures(using some help from the net) with fondant to give it a  little 3-D look, worked wonderfully

some leftovers after serving around 25 guests and getting few best compliments of my life

finally my helping hands

If anyone wants any details on the cake let me know I'll be happy to answer. That's it for now, will be back soon.

Healthy Banana Bread loaded with all the good stuff....not only Whole Wheat but Eggless too

It's been little busy over here, summer vacation is over. Trying to set some routine after 2 & 1/2 months of  break. Mind is working hard again to find interesting options for school lunch & after school snack, on top of that this year in 3rd grade they have to take snack too. So here's this simple recipe which I feel is a very good option for any time of the day snack, we have been eating this as morning breakfast with a glass of milk or coffee. It's quite filling & healthy too. It's Banana Bread but not regular kind, I'm using not only whole wheat flour but oats also in this. I had no plans of making this bread but thanks to my little one she has found one new hobby, whenever she can grab a banana she likes to peel it, until now she usually would eat it too, but now-a-days she only peels them & she's done. Now what do I do with 3 peeled bananas in a day. So I twisted my regular banana bread recipe added few more things to it and here goes the recipe(please do check the variations at the end of the recipe, got whole wheat version too) :

What U need :
dry ingredients :

• 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp. all purpose flour (I used maida)
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour(I used atta-flour used for making Indian style flat bread)
• 1/2 cup quick cooking oats
• 1 /1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. dry ginger powder(optional)

wet ingredients :

• 3 med. size ripe bananas
• 3 Tbsp. veg. oil
• juice of 1 orange
• 4 Tbsp. honey
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar

good stuff :

• 2 Tbsp. dry roasted flax seeds
• 1/2 cup roasted, chopped almonds
• 10 dates chopped

What U do :

1. Take all the good stuff(nuts & dry fruit etc.) & sprinkle 1 Tbsp. of flour on them & mix them with the hand so they get good coating of flour. It  helps preventing them from sinking to the bottom of the pan.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients using a fork making sure no lumps are formed.
3. In a big bowl mash bananas using the back side of fork & add rest of the wet ingredients from the list.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet ones. Gently mix them.
5. Add mixture of good stuff to the batter, fold it in.
6. Bake it in the greased loaf pan for 35-40 min.(till the tooth pick comes clean) at 350 degree F.

Note :

This bread was little crumbly but very flavorful, it reminded me of fruit cake & was quite soft even for next couple of days. I did made this for 3-4 times in this month but every time with little variations. Actually this recipe is very forgiving one can easily adjust the ingredients according to the availability or taste. All the variations had almost same amount of oats.

Variations :
First was with half all purpose flour & half whole wheat flour.

 Second was with totally whole wheat flour, came out really good without any compromise on taste.

Third was again totally whole wheat flour but I added 2 Tbsp. of Ragi(finger millet) flour & 1 Tbsp. of flax seed(alsi) meal(powder) also. Instead of almond & dates I only used around 1/2 cup of black raisins & I didn't had any oranges so I added 1-8 0z. carton of apple juice, reduced oil to 2 Tbsp. only(works fine) also reduced the sugar a little bit. Bananas used were also one & a half only. I baked them in mini bundt pan so baking time was reduced to 16 min. only at 350 degree F(recipe yielded 12 mini bundt cakes-I had filled each cavity to 3/4 level). I highly recommend this recipe if you are trying to bake with whole wheat flour as it was light & not at all heavy texture. And these were not at all crumbly. Here's the click...

And this wonderful healthy bread/mini bundt cakes  goes to Champa for her weekly bake-off.

Mango Ice-cream & Coffee Ice cream

Now a days we are enjoying pure home made ice cream treats as lunch, specially when outside temperature is in 90's. Kids don't want to eat lunch specially when they are slepping till 10 in the morning & by the time they finish their breakfast or I should call it brunch it's almost noon. So, as soon as one batch is made, plan for next batch is already in discussion.....so Mom do U think we can make choc. flavour next time. I'm only the incharge of making sure that we have enough supplies on hand as the credit for this delicious ice cream goes to my 8 yr. old & her Dad. Now for the recipe :

What U need :

• 3/4 cup whole milk, chilled
• 3/4 cup regular sugar
• 2 cups heavy cream, chilled
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract(optional)
• pulp from 2 medium size mangoes, chilled

What U do :

• Using a blender puree the mango pulp, use pulse if u like little pieces in it, keep aside.
• Using a hand mixer or a whisk combine the milk & granulated sugar, until it dissolved.
• Stir in heavy cream & vanilla to taste.
• If using ice cream maker follow the instructions of the ice cream maker. Towards the last 10 minutes of churning add chilled mango pulp & once done(usually whole process takes about 35 min.) transfer it to air-tight containers & let it freeze for at least 2 hours or so.
• If U don't have ice cream maker blend everything together including mango pulp & let it set in the freezer in air tight container & every couple of hours take it out whip the ice cream(to break the ice crystals), freeze it again. Repeat the process for at least 3 more times.

Here's a pic of Coffee Ice cream with home made brownie bits as topping(Coffee + Chocolate nothing can beat the combination). For coffee version omit mango pulp & blend 3 tablespoon of instant coffee powder  with the mixture & during the last 5 minutes of churning process add 3 tablespoon of chopped semi sweet chocolate + 3 tablespoon of roasted chopped almonds.

Note : It's been 5 years since I'm using my Cuisinart ice cream maker but have never tried manual method but it's a common process & in my case comes from an experienced person who in his childhood has done lot of arm wrestling for this yummy cold treats, yes you guys guessed it right it's DH.....in fact he has some first hand experience of making "mutki wali kulfi" too.....but for that I'm gonna need matka first so till then I'm happy with my electronic ice-cream maker.

Basic White Bread with the touch of Whole Wheat Flour

I don't need the bread, but it's nice to do something creative

- John Goodman

I have a very good excuse for making another bread in a row, Champa of Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen is hosting a CSN giveaway for which she has a condition that bake/cook anything from her blog , so what can be a better reason for trying new recipes & also I really like her baking recipes, specially breads. Make sure you check out her blog for more wonderful recipes. My first trial from her collection of bread recipes was Challah Bread which came out really good & now is the turn of Basic White Bread, again with good results. I've mainly followed the original recipe but have made little changes in term of ingredients. So please check the original recipe for full details as I'm only going to write down the changes I've made.

• Original recipe uses 3-3 & 1/4 cup Bread flour or All purpose flour(APF), I substituted 1 cup of APF with whole wheat pastry flour & rest I used was APF.
• I used only 1 tablespoon of sugar & not 2.
• Salt  1 & 1/2 tsp.
• I also covered my bread after first 10 minutes of baking as I've noticed in my previous bakes like Challah & Biscotti that my oven brown the breads & cookies little too early so to prevent that covering it loosely with the foil is way to go.
• I used stand mixer to knead the dough at speed 2 for around 7-8 minutes.

Here's another look at the dough/bread at various stages.

Shaping a Loaf : Just in case if some one is new to bread making I thought these 3 steps about how to shape a loaf, will be helpful(source : KitchenAid stand mixer recipe book)  :

1. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a rectangle, approximately 9x14 inches.
2. Starting at a short end, roll the dough tightly. Pinch to seal the seam.
3. Pinch the ends & turn them under. Place the dough, seam side down, in a loaf pan. Follow the directions in the recipe for rising & baking.

Also sending this bread to Champa's  weekly bake-off.

Blueberry Muffins with Orange streusel and Eggless too

Summer means berries, berries & more berries. This Sunday when he got few packs of fresh blueberries, he told me to make blueberry muffins. I have made these quite a few times & we all love these over the regular kind of blueberry muffins. First time when I ate these on one of our road trip I absolutely loved these....moist & nice crumb with lots of blueberry flavor & nice crunch on the top, to me it's perfect. I will prefer these over any other kind of muffins. I have used Orange zest for topping one can easily change it to lemon zest if they like, also if you wish store bought jam(chunkier kind) can be used but I really recommend sparing 10 minutes & making a small batch of jam. Recipe below is for 12 regular size muffins.

What U need :
for muffins
2 cups + 1 Tblsp. unbleached all purpose flour
2 & 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 & 1/4 cup light brown sugar
4 Tblsp.(1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
4 Tblsp. veg. oil
1 cup buttermilk(I use 3/4 cup plain dahi/yogurt + 1/4 cup water)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup blueberries rolled in 1 Tblsp. of flour

for jam
1 cup blueberries
3-4 Tblsp. regular sugar

for streusel topping
2 Tblsp. regular sugar
zest of 1 orange

What U do :
1. Make jam

• Cook blueberries with sugar on med. heat for about 7-10 minutes till u get the jam like consistency. Mash the berries with the back side of the spoon. Use more or less sugar as per your taste & tartness of berries. Let it cool.

2. To make streusel topping mix sugar & zest, keep aside.

3. Make muffins

• Heat oven to 425 degree F. Prepare muffin tin with non-stick spray or line muffin tin with paper liners.
• In a large bowl whisk flour+baking powder+salt.
• In another bowl mix sugar with oil & melted butter. Add buttermilk & vanilla, whisk everything together.
• Now add wet mix to dry mix & gently mix everything, using a hand whisk. Batter will be thick & might have some lumps, BUT DO NOT OVER MIX.
• Using a spatula fold in the berries coated with flour.
• Spoon the batter into muffin tins. Now using a small spoon add some jam to the center of the tin & with the back side of the spoon swirl the batter in the muffin.
• 
  
  Lastly sprinkle the streusel topping on the top of muffins & bake them for around 15-18 minutes(mine were done in 15 minutes).

Enjoy these muffins when they are still hot or keep them in the fridge for next morning breakfast or late night snack, warm them in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds or enjoy it cold if you like it that way.

Orange Biscotti almost Eggless

Biscotti - twice baked Italian cookies, to get that extra crunch so that biscotti become hard enough to be dipped into coffee, milk or sweet wine & not crumble. But they should never be so hard to crack a tooth. It was on my "to do list" from a long time or I should say it was on His list for me to do. Past sunday for Father's day brunch I decided to surprise him with home made biscotti along with fresh home made pizza(DD's request).

Now before moving to the recipe I would like to mention that source of this recipe is the book called "the Cake mix Doctor" which I got from Champa of VersatileKitchen back in the month of may. Around that time only I also bought a cake mix box for the first time in my life, thinking that I'll try a cake with that, but whenever I bake I'm so use to of all purpose flour/maida that cake mix box kept waiting in the pantry for it's turn. Finally night before father's day I sat with this book to find out some recipe for the cake but when I saw recipe for Lemon Pecan Biscotti, I decided that's it. I had Orange supreme cake mix so I used that & I was out of almonds otherwise I would have used that so  instead I used mini choc. chips. Also I decided to go eggless with this recipe so used  two frozen bananas which were left after making eggless choc. banana cake, but while making the dough I felt it was too tight so I ended up using one egg yolk(as I had no more ripe bananas & was not sure about using milk). Finally here goes the recipe :

What U need :

• parchment paper for the pan
• 1 package(18.25 oz.) orange cake mix(I used Duncan Hines)
• 8 tablespoons(1 stick) butter, melted
• 2 large ripe bananas(might need half extra banana if bananas are med. size)
• 1 egg yolk(my bananas were toward the smaller size that's why I added egg)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts(I used mini choc. chips)

What U do :

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven, preheat to 350 degree F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper & set aside.
2. Place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl & blend on low speed for 3-4 minutes. Dough should come together into a ball. Transfer it to the prepared baking sheet. With lightly floured hands, shape the dough into a rectangle about 14 inches long by 4 inches wide by 1/2 inch thick. Mound the dough so it is slightly higher in the center.
3. Bake the biscotti rectangle for around 30-35 minutes, do the toothpick test(like u do it for cakes). Remove the baking sheet from the oven & let the biscotti cool for 10 minutes. Leave the oven on.
4. Using a sharp serrated knife slice the rectangle on the diagonal into 1 inch-thick slices. You should get 14 slices. Carefully turn these slices onto their sides, on the same baking sheet. Return the baking sheet to the oven.
5. Bake for another 10 minutes. Turn the oven off, and let the biscotti remain in the oven until they are crisp, 30 to 40 min. more. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, transfer the biscotti to a rack, and allow them to cool completely,.
6. Enjoy it with your fav. drink milk, tea or coffee & store leftover biscotti in an air tight container at room temp. for up to several weeks.

receipe source : the Cake mix Doctor by Anne Byrn

Notes : though I had baked them for the minimum specified time, still mine were little overdone, but still tasted good. I did checked them little before the mentioned time but they were not done at that time so I guess for next time I'll reduce the temp. from 350 degree to may be 340 degree. so that they don't get too brown from outside so quickly.

I'm happy that I tried these, not only because everybody loved it but also because it tasted quite similar to our very own Indian cake rusk, a very popular tea snack in Delhi. We love those &  I usually get those from Indian grocery store, please don't get confused with plain rusk here, as plain rusk are not sweet & they are kind of a hard toast but cake rusk are buttery & very much similar to biscotti. Now I feel no need to buy those as this was really a easy procedure & I'm surely gonna make it on a regular basis but with different flavors.

Biscotti is off to Champa  for her weekly Bake-off & also to  Suma of Veggie Platter, who's hosting this month's Baking from the book  event started by Champa.