Category: BASICS

 

It’s the small things that make a recipe what it is.
Salted caramel, mascarpone, marzipan etc

 

Quickest & Simple Homemade Barbeque Sauce! You Never Need To Buy It Again.

Quickest & Simple Homemade Barbeque Sauce … you never need to buy barbeque sauce again. Here’s a drop dead simple recipe, ready in under 5 minutes, infinitely customisable and pretty darned delicious. All you need is a bottle of tomato ketchup to begin with and the rest you add in as you desire.

You won’t see me sharing savoury recipes often on PAB, but truth be told, my heart belongs to savoury! Make that spices & savoury dishes though I use spices very often in desserts too! Garam masala, a quintessential India spice, mix in cakes and hot chocolate? Yes please!

This homemade barbeque sauce is something I make in a jiffy, often alongside as fries cook in the wok, or with chicken being grilled for sandwich etc. Sometimes I make a bigger batch and keep it for a week. It never lasts longer and is way better than any store bought barbeque sauce. You can make it sweeter, hotter, more pungent depending on your personal preference & it tastes really fresh.

I have always been fascinated by the charm of spices, shooting them, styling them, enjoying the visual appeal. Spices are some of my favourite things to buy after fresh produce, to have in the kitchen. I especially enjoy stocking a variety of red chilies, so there’s always something flavoursome and /or fiery on hand to throw in!

The add ins for the my homemade barbeque sauce are pretty staple and can be easily substituted to taste or with what you might have on hand. It’s a simple play of flavours – sweet, hot, smoky etc. and you can use a variety of chilies if you like. I especially like a touch of smoked chili, gochugaru being a hot favourite, smoked paprika being another.

Talking about the humble chili, can you imagine how much these sheep are enjoying red hot chilies! It was in 2016 on a local trip to Lakshman Sagar in Rajasthan, a boutique hotel on the fringes of the badlands of Rajasthan, that I took the picture at a local red chili processing unit. It was sheer luck to catch sight of the sheep head straight for chilies that had been left out to dry!

India is a fascinating country to travel across and I always always have a camera in hand, you never know what you might stumble across!

The sight when the flock of sheep descended upon the rows and rows of whole dried chillies at a local factory had me gobsmacked. It was honestly a very special moment, a fascinating story, a memory I love to share!

When food meets regional cuisine, it cooks up a charming new story each time not matter which part of the world you go to. India is no different, but it is much more complex. Every city surprises you with so much variety that regional cuisine takes up a new avatar.

That trip to Lakshman Sagar was followed by an absolutely exciting trip to Banaras that filled my head with stories, the camera overflowing with images that would live to tell the tale, the stomach too full and happy …

As if that wasn’t enough, there was one more trip that was surreal, a trip to Karaikudi in the south of India. Karaikudi, the Land of Chettinad in the state of Tamil Nadu is steeped in history and is the most fascinating place ever.

I guess that explains why I’m smitten with spices and the colours of India! Let’s get back to this simple and finger-licking good homemade barbeque sauce …

My favourite add ins are garlic powder & smoked paprika to add depth of flavour. For a sweet kick, try brown sugar, jaggery powder or maple syrup/honey etc. Coconut sugar adds really nice, deep notes too if you have it on hand.

Do tag me on Instagram at Passionate About Baking if you make this, or any other recipe from the blog. I’d love to see it!

Savoury Recipes
Basics
Crackers & Dips
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Homemade Barbeque Sauce

There’s no need to ever buy barbeque sauce again. Here’s a drop dead simple recipe, that is ready in under 5 minutes.
Course Appetiser, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine American
Keyword eggfree, eggless, savoury, simple, stovetop
Prep Time 1 minute
Cook Time 4 minutes
Cool 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 4

Equipment

  • 1 saucepan
  • 1 spatula
  • 1 set measuring spoons
  • 1 Glass jar with lid
  • Stove top

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup tomato ketchup
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1/8 cup water
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp Gochujang chilli/red chilli flakes
  • 1-2 tsp garlic powder

Instructions

  • Add all the ingredients to a small saucepan and simmer for 3-4 minutes until the sugar melts in. Simmer a little longer if you want a thicker sauce. Alternatively, you can add more water to thin it down
  • Take off heat, taste and adjust seasoning. Cool and store in a lidded glass jar in the fridge.

How to make the Perfect Blueberry Compote in under 10 minutes!

Perfect Blueberry Compote … the simplest and quickest way to make the most delicious and quite perfect blueberry compote every time. The recipe needs 5 ingredients, it’s ready in under 10 minutes, it works with fresh or frozen blueberries and it tastes delicious. Oh, did I say it looks beautiful and glossy too?

Few berries can give you so much instant gratification as blueberries! I love how easy they are to work with, how beautiful they look, the pop of colour they add, the rustic beauty they lend to desserts and how rewarding the end result is!

I also love how berries remind you of summer! Find more recipes on my Instagram feed.

Considered a superfood, various studies suggest that blueberries can benefit the body in many ways, including improving heart health, increasing bone strength, and lowering blood pressure. This tiny but ‘mighty’ berry is loaded with nutrients, a berry I use often now that’s it’s easily available at the local bazaar.

The pros are many. Fresh blueberries are quite hardy and keep well refrigerated for 5-7 days at least. They make for a beautiful garnish and taste really nice too both raw and cooked. They’re also easily available all year round now and thankfully aren’t very expensive. If you have a big batch of fresh bluebs on hand, wash them well, rinse and pat dry, then lay them on a tray and freeze them. Once frozen, just pop the lot into a Ziploc and you’ve got a supply of frozen blueberries!

There are a million desserts you can create with fresh and frozen blueberries, and a million ways you can use them in recipes. Salads, smoothies, sauces, over granola, in parfaits, as a compote, in cakes and cheesecakes, in muffins, on pancakes, blueberry frosting, even blueberry ganache … you name it, and you can sneak some bluebs in to make things more delicious!

Do tag me on Instagram at passionateaboutbaking if you make this, or any other recipe from the blog. I’d love to see it!

Desserts with Blueberries
Berry Based Desserts
Summer Desserts
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Perfect Blueberry Compote

How to make the Perfect Blueberry Compote in under 10 minutes! Makes 1 jar
Course Appetiser, Dessert, Drinks, Salad
Cuisine American
Prep Time 3 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 8 minutes

Ingredients

Blueberry compote

  • 160 g blueberry fresh/ frozen
  • 50 g demerara sugar
  • 1 tbsp cornflour
  • 3 tbsp water
  • Juice of 1/2 lime

Instructions

Blueberry compote

  • Stir everything together in a heavy bottom pan EXCEPT lime juice.
  • Simmer until the berries release colour and soften slightly, 3-4 minutes.
  • Remove the berries to a bowl. Continue to simmer the syrup for about 30 seconds until it’s thick and glossy. Keep a close eye because this happens quite quickly.
  • Take off the heat and pour the syrup back over the berries.
  • Add the lime juice, then stir gently and cool.

Quick Simple Delicious Broccoli Walnut Soup

Broccoli Walnut Soup … Hello winter, hello freezing temperatures. This soup is just what you need to warm the soul. It’s simple. quick, delicious and easily made vegan. Also one of my favourite soups for this time of the year.

I love soups that are simple, full of flavour and require very little prep and most of my soup recipes are just that! Anything that needs hours of chopping makes little sense to me. IMHO, nourishment should be easily accessible and fuss free. This large mug of Broccoli Walnut Soup is everything – requires staple pantry ingredients, is quick, is fuss free, is healthy, is easily adaptable, can easily go vegan … literally a hug in a mug for winter!

If you are looking to warm yourself or for a wholesome meal, this Broccoli Walnut Soup might be it. Serve it with a nice chunk of bread, maybe grilled chicken and a winter salad, sweet potato wedges … the choices are many! Oh, perhaps grate some cheddar into the soup after blending it and ooooh, it tastes like heaven!

If you’ve stopped by my blog, you’ll notice my love for walnuts. They’re a fine addition to any meal, a great option to have on hand to nibble on. Walnuts are also a natural thickener when added to soup, they add texture, taste and a great plant based source of omega-3 fats. Just a handful a day is enough to give you a good helping of omega-3 and protein, healthy fat too!

My soups are often topped with toasted olive oil and rosemary walnuts that give it a good bite, great texture and are just so delicious. Keep some on the side to snack on too if you love walnuts like me. Enjoy!

Do tag me on Instagram at passionateaboutbaking if you make this soup or any other recipe from the blog. I’d love to see it! Thank you for stopping by!

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Broccoli Walnut Soup

This large mug of Broccoli Walnut Soup is everything – requires only staple pantry ingredients, is quick, fuss free, healthy, easily adaptable, can easily go vegan … literally a hug in a mug for winter!
Course Appetiser, Side Dish, Soup
Cuisine American, British
Keyword broccoli, simple, soup, vegan, vegetarian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 4 people

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp clarified butter/ghee
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • Red chili flakes
  • 6 cloves garlic chopped
  • 1 small onion chopped
  • 250 g brocolli 1 small head
  • 1 small potato
  • 50 g walnuts
  • 250 ml water
  • 250 ml coconut milk/milk

Instructions

  • Dice the broccoli and potato.
  • Heat the clarified butter/ghee and extra virgin olive oil. Add in the red chili flakes, garlic and onion and sauté for 2-3 minutes until fragrant.
  • Add the broccoli, potato and walnuts. Sauté briefly, then add the water. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Cover and cook over low heat until the potato is fork tender/cooked.
  • Once slightly cooled, blend until smooth and return to the pan. Add coconut milk/milk to get the desired consistency. taste and adjust seasoning.
  • Drizzle over with extra virgin olive oil/smokey chili oil and top with toasted walnuts before serving.
  1. Can I make this vegan?

    Yes, of course. Skip the clarified butter and use 2 tbsp olive oil instead. Also use coconut milk or perhaps any plant milk you like. Add it gradually to get the right consistency.

  2. What if I don’t like broccoli?

    Skip the broccoli and potato, and substitute with 300g button mushrooms instead.

  3. Can I substitute the walnuts?

    You could use almonds or cashews instead.

  4. Can I skip the nuts?

    Yes, of course though walnuts have very good nutrition and health benefits.

  5. What if I don’t have clarified butter/ghee?

    You can use butter instead

  6. What if I want added texture?

    Add finely chop some broccoli florets and add them into the soup after blending it. You can also stir in chopped toasted walnuts to get a nice bite. Top the soup with croutons for a crunch!

Best Eggless Lady Fingers {egg free savioardi}

Best Eggless Lady Fingers or Eggfree Savioardi I’ve ever made, and believe you me, I’ve made several batches. These have turned out consistently good, are addictive to the bite, and are egg free!

Ladyfingers, or in British English sponge fingers also known in the Haredi Jewish community as baby fingers, are low density, dry, egg-based, sweet sponge cake biscuits roughly shaped like a large finger.

Wikipedia

I’ve been piping out batches of lady fingers for a long time, something I do on days when I have some spare time to experiment. It’s certainly not easy to get these fiddly little fingers looking nice and holding shape if you go egg free. They always taste good though, so there’s never been question of wastage!

They end up being dipped into my eggless lime curd, into melted Biscoff spread or then upcycled into trifles or a quick tiramisu.

I first made saviordi or lady finger biscuits way back in 2010 for a Daring Bakers challenge I co-hosted. If you’d like a recipe that uses eggs, this one was very good, a recipe from Cordon Bleu at Home. A few days ago something seemed to work with my eggless batch and I got the best lot I’ve ever made. I made a couple more batches and each has worked well, so here you go!

Most of my lady fingers do the disappearing act pretty soon after I bake them. A bite here, a nibble there, a dip perhaps and these light, airy sponge fingers are gone. I managed to sneak some into this eggless lime curd tiramisu though, a recipe I should share soon. It was divine!

Talking about eggless lime curd, it pairs just beautifully with the lady fingers. The recipe is simple and straightforward. I never did like the normal lime curd; it was always much too eggy for me. This eggless version is sunshine and I love everything about it. Of course I make it often, and the eggless lime curd makes for really delicious desserts!

You can find more EGGLESS recipes here!

Do tag me on Instagram at Passionate About Baking if you make this, or any other recipe from the blog. I’d love to see it!

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Best Eggless lady Fingers {Savioardi}

A few days ago I made the best batch I've ever made. It's certainly not easy to get these fiddly little fingers looking nice and holding shape if you go egg free. These are egg free and turned out FAB!
Course Appetizer, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine Italian
Keyword baking, biscuit, dessert, eggfree, eggless, eggless baking, eggless lady fingers, eggless savioardi, lady fingers
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 20 biscuits

Ingredients

  • 85 g unsalted butter softened
  • 50 g castor sugar
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • Pinch salt
  • 60 g cultured buttermilk
  • 130 g all purpose flour {plain flour}
  • Castor sugar for sifting over

Instructions

  • Draw margins on a sheet of parchment to get even size lady fingers. Turn it over so the lead pencil marking is not in contact with the batter. Place it on a baking sheet.
  • Fit a piping bag with large 1A round piping nozzle. You could just snip off an end to the desired cut if you don’t have a round nozzle.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt until smooth.
  • Whisk in the buttermilk a tablespoon at a time. The mixture might look slightly curdled and that’s ok.
  • Add all the flour together and stir with a spatula to get a smooth pasty dough. We're looking for a firm churro like dough that holds shape when piped out. If the dough is too runny and pipes out of the bag with no pressure required, you might need to add another tbsp of flour. On the other hand if it is too firm and tough to pipe out, please add a tsp of buttermilk at a time to loosen the dough.
  • Transfer the dough to the piping bag and gently pipe out 3″ fingers.
  • Dip your fingertip into water and shape the piped out fingers around the tops and bottoms to get even shapes.
  • Sift over castor sugar and place the baking sheet in the freezer while you preheat the oven.
  • Preheat the oven to 170C for 20 minutes.
  • Bake the fingers for 18-20 minutes until light golden brown and firm to touch.
  • Once done, place the baking sheet on a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
  • Store the fingers in an airtight container.

Two Ingredient Mascarpone from scratch, the joy of small things

Two Ingredient Mascarpone from scratch … why buy expensive tubs of mascarpone when all you need is two staple ingredients and a little planning, oops time! This recipe is truly the joy of small things. It reminds you how so little can yield so much!

As you can see above, I use mascarpone in my desserts very often. Mascarpone is a soft cheese of Italian origin best known as the star ingredient in tiramisu. It’s also great as frosting or filling in cakes, in trifles and parfaits, in cheesecakes, sometimes to make panna cotta. Tiramisu is one of my all time favourite desserts, and in turn, mascarpone is my favourite soft cheese.

Coffee in desserts is my pet flavour so it comes as no surprise that I do a whole lot of tiramisu inspired desserts from time to time. My version of the tiramisu now without the zabaglione to keep it eggfree. It’s not traditional but it’s pretty darned delicious and I thank mascarpone for it!

Its sweet, buttery, rich and smooth feel is sometimes all you need to take a tea cake from simple to special. That good! The Eggless Saffron Pistachio Cake above is one such example. Mascarpone is also great in savoury options as well … think pasta, dips, salad dressings, soups and sauces etc. The good thing is that it keeps well for a week refrigerated, so it’s quite handy to have on hand.

I began making mascarpone at home in 2009, one of the simplest and probably cheapest ways to make this soft cheese. If you check this post here, I explored a slew of soft cheeses here – mascarpone, cottage cheese, quark, ricotta etc. Mozzarella was the only one I found cumbersome and that was the one I abandoned.

I have always used mascarpone a lot. Somewhere along the way, commercial mascarpone became available quite easily here on the sub continent, life got busy, I got lazy and I began buying an odd tub here and there. Was the silliest thing ever and a right royal waste of money. I had time last week to finally make a couple of batches and I can honestly say I really enjoyed the process , or the little there is to making it.

When I compare it to commercially available mascarpone, homemade mascarpone has the good old taste from the old times. You can feel it clean, fresh and no aftertaste, just as mascarpone should be. No stabilizers, additives etc, just like it should be.

Traditionally, mascarpone is made out of heavy cream of at least a 36% fat but I’m using a relatively low 25% fat cream since that’s all we get here easily. It still yields quite a nice firm mascarpone but feel free to use heavy cream if you can lay your hands on it.

The process is as simple and straightforward as can be. The idea is to heat the cream to around 85C. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, then watch for little bubbles to show up around the bottom edge, a slight escape of steam. That is a good indicator that the cream is hot enough to add the lime juice. Adding lime juice to warm cream helps it coagulate and thicken. Stir for a few minutes and take off heat. After that it’s pretty much resting it, then straining it overnight to remove the excess liquid. Plan 24 hours in advance because an overnight rest is key.

You can find more dessert ideas with mascarpone here.

You can find Tiramisu & Tiramisu inspired desserts here.

Do tag me on Instagram at Passionate About Baking if you make this, or any other recipe from the blog. I’d love to see it!

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Two Ingredient Mascarpone From Scratch

Why buy expensive tubs of mascarpone when all you need is 2 ingredients and a little planning, oops time! This recipe is truly the joy of small things. It reminds you how so little can yield so much!
Course Dessert
Cuisine Italian
Keyword cream, dessert, eggless
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
12 hours
Servings 700 g

Equipment

  • 1 saucepan
  • 1 Large pan large enough to fit the main saucepan like a bain marie
  • 1 spatula
  • 1 Cheesecloth
  • 1 Sieve/colander
  • 1 Large bowl to hold the sieve
  • 1 Plate to cover the cheesecloth in the sieve

Ingredients

  • 1 litre cream / 25%-30% fat cream I used Amul Fresh Cream
  • 1 lime, juice of

Instructions

  • Pour the cream into a large vessel and place over water in a pan. It's ok if the base of the vessel touches the base of the pan.
  • Simmer over low to medium heat until the cream warms to about 80C or small bubbles can be seen coming up the sides.
  • Add in the lime juice and stir well. The cream will begin to thicken. Stir well until the cream looks thick, then take it off the heat.
  • Leave the cream to cool for about an hour, then refrigerate for 3 hours.
  • Line a strainer with cheesecloth and place it over a large bowl. Turn the cooled thickened cream into the cheesecloth, bring the ends of the cheesecloth together and tie the mouth. Cover it and refrigerate overnight.
  • Discard the liquid from the bowl or use it in a smoothie etc. The mascarpone is ready for use.

Notes

I usually add 1 tbsp icing sugar and a dash of vanilla extract for every 150-200g of mascarpone. Cream of a higher percentage will yield a firmer mascarpone.

Once you have a nice bowl of mascarpone ready, here are a few ideas for dessert!

Eggless Tiramisu Inspired Cake
Eggless Tiramisu Inspired Cake … Coffee, Kahlua and mascarpone, everything you'd want in dessert if you love coffee. I love how many avatars a simple cake can take, and this one turned out to be the perfect coffee lovers dessert, simple & fuss free!
Check out this recipe
No bake Mango Mascarpone Tart
When life gives you mangoes, you make this tart! A crisp biscuit crumb gives way to a nice bite of slightly tart mango, then the sweetness of mascarpone floods the palette. The jelly really makes this shine!
Check out this recipe
Strawberry Almond Roulade with a Burnt Honey Mascarpone
Life is sweet, made sweeter with honey. Strawberry Almond Roulade with a Burnt Honey Mascarpone to make things even sweeter! This roulade also turned out great, the burnt honey mascarpone adding special flavour. If you don't have time to make the burnt honey, you can always use the honey as is, adjusted to taste.
Check out this recipe
Eggless Raspberry Vanilla Bean Cake
Delicate, calming and deeply indulgent, this is a special cake for October!
Check out this recipe
Eggless Tiramisu Chocolate Tart
Simple pantry ingredients make this delicious tiramisu inspired tart with classic flavours of coffee, Kahlua and mascarpone.
Check out this recipe

Salted Caramel Sauce … simple goodness back to the basics

Salted Caramel Sauce … some recipes are so simple yet so amazing that you keep going back to them over and over again. This recipe for Salted Caramel Sauce is one of them. Basic, simple, four ingredient, indulgent good and always handy to have on hand. Dangerous too since you somehow keep walking towards the jar to get ‘just another little spoonful‘!

Everyone has their own version of it, and why shouldn’t they. Something this simple should be stirred up often, shared often, gifted for no reason at all, drizzled over dessert. Just a tiny serving of this sweet salty magic adds so much oomph to dessert, whether chocolate or otherwise. It makes for a great gift too if you can keep yourself from spooning it into your mouth before that. It’s also great drizzled over ice cream, pies, in cookies, over waffles, on cheesecake … so much!

The recipe doesn’t require fancy equipment like candy thermometers etc. Also it needs is just 4 simple everyday pantry ingredients namely sugar, butter, cream and salt. Most importantly, it needs your attention, so keep that phone at bay. Also, since sugar can burn very easily and is very very hot once melted, best to keep kids and any other distraction away as well.

You simply need to melt the sugar down in a heavy bottom pan until it’s completely dissolved and looks clear and a beautiful light golden. From here on move fast, so keeping the ingredients lined up is key. Add the butter to the beautiful golden melted sugar and you’ll find very rapid bubbling takes place for a couple of minutes while the butter melts. That’s the different temperatures and consistency trying to even out. I added diced butter straight out of the freezer and it was no problem at all. Once that sizzles and spatters, melting into the sugar giving out the most delicious aromas, you gently add the cream.

Here is where you need to be even more careful because again for a few seconds the mixture sizzles and coughs at you like an angry monster {okay, slight exaggeration, but I did need you to be careful}. Then it all submits most beautifully into a Salted Caramel Sauce! As you can see, I use it often!

See, S I M P L E! Told you. Please make a jar ASAP. I know it’s indulgent, I know the calories are high, but just a little drizzle goes a long way mostly…… unless of course you want to make a Chocolate Salted Caramel Tart! Now we’re talking. Honestly. I made a gluten-free Quinoa Chocolate Salted Caramel Tart a few days ago while working with organic flours  for a client. That turned out drop dead delicious. Tell you what. You make a jar of this Salted Caramel sauce, and I’ll share that recipe next! Deal?

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Salted Caramel Sauce

Salted Caramel Sauce … some recipes are so simple yet so amazing that you keep going back to them over and over again. This recipe for Salted Caramel Sauce is one of them. Basic, simple, four ingredient, indulgent good and always handy to have on hand. Dangerous too since you somehow keep walking towards the jar to get ‘just another little spoonful’!
Keyword dessert, eggless, glutenfree, homemade, no bake, sweet
Prep Time 2 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 12 minutes
Servings 1 jar

Ingredients

  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup single cream
  • ½ cup unsalted butter
  • ½ tsp Sea salt

Instructions

  • Keep all the ingredients ready. Be careful when you work with melting sugar.
  • Place the sugar in a heavy bottom saucepan over medium heat, stir a couple of times, else swirl the pan.
  • Once all the sugar has melted to an even brown, work swiftly because sugar tends to burn very fast. Immediately add the butter {mine was straight out of the freezer} and simmer until the butter has melted, stirring often, for a couple of minutes. Be careful since the mixture might splatter.
  • Now carefully drizzle in the cream as the mixture will continue to bubble rapidly and splatter until the temperatures settle.
  • Stir in the sea salt, simmer for a minute. Allow to cool a little bit, then pour into a jar, or use as desired. The sauce continues to thicken up as it cools.
  • Refrigerate the sauce once cool. It stays good for up to 2 weeks in the fridge.

Notes

Note: Store in a lidded glass jar. Heat in the microwave briefly for 10-20 seconds before using.
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