Category: COOKIES

Amaranth Oat Walnut Ginger Cookies … inspiration in every crumb

“Cookies are made of butter and love.”
Norwegian Proverb

Amaranth Oat Walnut Ginger Cookies

Amaranth Oat Walnut Ginger Cookies were an experiment, yet another happy one!. Strangely enough, ever since I claimed I hardly ever bake cookies, that’s just what I have been doing of late. Eggless Honey Almond Cookies … then Coffee Shortbread which still has to see light of day on my blog. We’ve got some happy cookie monsters on the prowl this end!!

Did you notice something? They’re all eggless cookies, or lacto vegetarian as they call them. Like the ‘Not Quite Anzac Cookie Pops’ below. I woke up early one morning and had fun making on Anzac Day last week. I did a Not Quite Anzac Cookie Cake too! On this eggless trail, I also recently stirred up Dark Chocolate Nutella Kumquat Pudding … sinfully addictive!  Hmmmm … maybe it’s a trend? Certainly feels like one! Then the other day Ruchira & I popped by at Sangeeta’s and were treated to these fab GF Ginger & Jaggery Energy Bars. The taste of the bars lingered on for long, flavours dancing in my head. That they were just 5 ingredient bars and had amaranth flour and oats was intriguing enough!

I had to come home and recreate ‘something‘. Her recipe inspired me. I’d do cookies. Nice plump whole grain bites. Cookies are always handy to have at home, gluten free more so for Mr PAB. I didn’t have jaggery on hand, so changes happened. Many changes.

Eventually ended up with these and they packed a nice punch. The subtle undertones on ginger and honey teased the palette. The walnut taste didn’t come through, but upped the ante on the ‘healthy nuts’ factor. I ran the Amaranth Oat Walnut Ginger Cookies past the ‘inspirer‘ at the Food Freak Awards Gurgaon later that evening. She gave them a huge thumbs up, so here you are.

These possibly aren’t going to be huge kiddie favourite cookies as they aren’t very sweet. Slightly crumbly, reminiscent of the quintessential Indian nan khatai that we used to bake in our childhood, I found the Amaranth Oat Walnut Ginger Cookies quite addictive. They grow on you. For eggless, gluten free cookies, they are fabulous! I shall experiment some more with the recipe, maybe crack an egg or two in the days to come. Until then, these eggless cookies might please you like they did Sangeeta and me!

[print_this]Recipe: Amaranth Oat Walnut Ginger Cookies

Summary: For eggless, gluten free baking, these Amaranth Oat Walnut Ginger Cookies are fabulous! Slightly crumbly, reminiscent of the quintessential Indian nan khatai that we used to bake in our childhood, I found them quite addictive.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:

  • 100g + 50g oats
  • 50g amaranth flour
  • 50g walnuts
  • 100g butter, chilled, cubed
  • 1″ piece ginger, grated
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 50g brown sugar
  • 50g honey
  • 1-2 tbsp brown sugar for sprinkling

Method:

  1. Place 100g oats, amaranth flour, walnuts, chilled butter and ginger in bowl of food processor and blend to a fine meal.
  2. Add the baking soda, brown sugar and remaining oats and pulse al low speed to mix.
  3. With the motor running on slow, pour in the honey until mixed and the cookie dough comes together.
  4. Heat oven to 150C.
  5. Scoop out walnut sized bits of cookie dough and place on a parchment lined cookie tray. Gently press down with the tines of a fork. Sprinkle over with brown sugar.
  6. Bake for about 20-25 minutes until light golden brown and firm to touch.
  7. Cool completely on the rack.
  8. Note: For a GF diet, make sure your oats are GF.

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Eggless Almond Honey Wholegrain Cookies … #comfortfood

“You’ll never convince me that there’s more to life than chocolate chip cookies”
Charles M. Shultz

Eggless Almond Honey Wholegrain Cookies … cookies that are meant to be shared! I haven’t posted a cookie recipe for a while on PAB. Possibly since I don’t make new variations very often, or when I do, I forget to jot the recipe down. Ones that I regularly make are all time favourites like Wholewheat & Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies & these Not Quite Anzac cookies.

That morning I was due to meet a sweet girl who was coming in to meet me from halfway across India. I knew she was a vegetarian and I wanted to bake something eggless for her. Cookies seemed a good idea for the coffee morning. I had some Strawberry & Cape Gooseberry Quark Mousse chilling in the fridge for her too.

Spring has all but given way to summer. Mornings and evenings are beautifully pleasant; the season inspires like no other. Flowers bloom, fruits spill off bazaar shelves, birds chirp, butterflies zip around. Baking is fun in this weather though baking cookies is fun any time!!

The cookies came out delicious, even better since they were packed with nutrition and whole grains. I love the idea of adding nut meal to cookies. In my case I ‘have to‘ since the daughter dislikes nuts with a vengeance. She loves cookies with nut meal though!

I baked another batch soon after as we flew into breathtakingly beautiful Srinagar for a short vacation. It’s always nice to carry a ‘taste of home’ with us. Though Srinagar is known for its little bakeries that dot the length and breadth of the city, my humble cookies were much in demand with the kids too! One look at the ingredients in the recipe and you’ll see the cookie goodness I am talking about. Almonds, whole wheat, amaranth {my latest obsession}, oats, and honey instead of  corn syrup!  Told you … these are deliciously healthy cookies. Indulgent too!

Try them. Cookies don’t get simpler than these. One bowl goodness, fun to make, get the kids involved. Do watch them towards the end of baking. Honey in baked goods tends to lead to faster browning. So do keep an eye!

Healthy, fun recipes with amaranth, whole grains, oats {read lots of oats}, unrefined sugars, honey etc have kept me busy of late. I’ve been involved in doing a project for Saffola Oats here in India.

Shot two recipe videos with the very sweet Michelin Starred Chef Vikas Khanna for Food Food Channel, India as part of the engagement. You can catch the first episode for a Bittersweet Dark Chocolate Gateau {Gluten free} which has been uploaded onto You-tube.

[print_this]Recipe: Eggless Almond Honey Wholegrain Chocolate Chip Cookies

Summary: Eggless Almond Honey Wholegrain Cookies offer deep delicious butterscotch flavour thanks to the brown sugar and butter. Almond meal adds interesting taste, and chocolate chips are thrown in to make another quintessential chocolate chip cookie, this time eggless. These whole grain cookies are nice, chewy if you underbake them a little, and crisp if you bake them longer!  Makes approx 2 dozen
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:

  • 100g unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 100g honey
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • pinch salt
  • 55g brown sugar
  • 100g whole almonds {or almond meal}
  • 50g amaranth flour
  • 50g whole wheat flour
  • 100gm oats
  • 50g chocolate chips {I used dark}

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 150C
  2. Run the almonds in the processor with the wholewheat flour until you get a fine-meal.
  3. Heat butter, honey and vanilla bean powder in a pan over low heat till the butter melts. Mix well. {Can do it in the microwave too}.
  4. Add the baking soda, salt and brown sugar and whisk to mix.
  5. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to form a cookie dough. The dough will be a little stiff.
  6. Drop tbsp of dough on parchment lined cookie sheets, flatten with the tines of a fork. {I rolled the dough into balls, flattened them slightly with the palm of my hand, and then further flattened them by pressing down with a fork.}.
  7. Bake for approx 20 minutes until golden brown.
  8. Leave to cool on cookie sheets for 5 minutes {they are quite tender when they come out of the oven} , and then transfer on racks to cool completely.
  9. Thermomix Recipe:
  10. Run the almonds in the TM bowl with the wholewheat flour on speed 7 for 30 seconds to get a fine-meal. Scrape and repeat if necessary. Turn into a bowl and reserve.
  11. Place butter, honey and vanilla bean powder into TM bowl. Heat for 2 minutes at 60C on speed 2 until fully dissolved. Place bicarb into bowl and mix for 5 seconds on speed 3.
  12. Add remaining ingredients and set dial to closed position and mix for 30-35 seconds on interval speed…. then continue as above from step 5.
  13. Note: Since the dough has honey, the cookies tend to brown faster than normal cookies. I use double cookie trays. Keep an eye on them.

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Baking | Wholegrain Chocolate Nutella Whoopie Pies … healthy sweet pies with promise

“Never doubt that a small, committed group of people with pies can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Subcommandante Tofutti

Wholegrain Chocolate Nutella Whoopie Pies …  come December and the Daring Bakers challenge to end 2013 was to bake whoopies. Given all the frenzied baking over Christmas, these were fun. Whoopies always are. Relaxed, super creative and ‘in sync with the holiday season‘, they were a wonderful pick to end the year!

The December Daring Bakers’ Challenge had us all cheering – the lovely and talented Bourbonnatrix of Bourbonnatrix Bakes was our hostess and challenged us to make fun, delicious and creative whoopie pies! Delicious little cake-like cookies sandwiching luscious filling in any flavors we chose… What else is there to say but “Whoopie!”

I still remember my first whoopies, Oatmeal Nutella Whoopie Pies adapted minimally from a great recipe from Ree @ Pioneer Woman. Those were a big hit with the kids and adults alike. At the time Mr PAB did say they were oversweet. I reduced the sugar this time around. They were perfect!

Whoopie pies are a cross between a cookie and a cake (not a pie!), with two round, mound-shaped halves sandwiching a sweet creamy filling. According to Wikipedia, Whoopie pies are considered a New England phenomenon and a Pennsylvania Amish tradition. It is also Maine’s official state treat. The traditional Whoopie pie consists of a chocolate cake and a vanilla marshmallow filling, but pumpkin and gingerbread cake is also common enough. 

Onto this challenge, I knew I was going to go wholegrain, so half my work was cut out. I based my recipe on the Oatmeal Nutella Whoopie Pies measurements, changing a few bits and bobs here and there. It worked quite well actually. The Wholegrain Chocolate Nutella Whoopie Pies began disappearing at an alarming rate!

Of course they aren’t as light, cakey and airy as all purpose flour whoopies. These are heavier to bite, more earthy, more rustic and definitely more healthy. I was glad I did the challenge pretty early in the month with red and green firmly in place. Later, each day raced into the next, the month literally galloping towards the end.

One look and bite into the whoopies and both kids {and Mr PAB} exclaimed, “You’ve made these before!” Bravo to good food memories! I had made my first whoopie pies back in May 2012 fresh from an invigorating trip into Old Delhi, one of my favourite places to be in. Time flies ….

It’s difficult to believe the year’s almost drawing to an end. December has almost vanished. It’s been a busy year. Being a Daring Baker is always a positive part of every year, though losing our co-founder Lis unexpectedly left us crestfallen. Knowing her, she would like the whisks in the kitchen to mix non-stop. Through these challenges, her spirit lives on.

The challenges I have enjoyed through 2013 include Dark Chocolate Beetroot Cake with Peanut Butter Filling, Swedish Prinsesstårta Cupcakes, Mango Pastel de Tres Leches or Three Milk Cake, Momofukus {Infamous} Crack Pie, Savoury Phyllo Pot Pies and Rye Cheddar Crackers & Pizza Dough Crisps.

Do stop by here and check out some real cutie pies the talented Daring Bakers are whooping with! Thank you Bourbonnatrix for the fun challenge. Thank you too Ivonne of  Cream Puffs in Venice for hosting this fab kitchen!!

[print_this]Recipe: Wholegrain Chocolate Nutella Whoopie Pies

Summary: Earthy, rustic and definitely more healthy that the normal whoopies, these Wholegrain Chocolate Nutella Whoopie Pies are worth the bite. If you don’t have Nutella on hand, you could do a peanut butter or salted butter caramel filling instead. 

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:

  • 75g unsalted butter, room temp
  • 175 g vanilla sugar
  • 1 egg
  • pinch salt
  • 1tsp baking powder
  • 2 tbsp boiling water
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 100g whole wheat flour
  • 100g rolled oats
  • 25g cocoa powder
  • 50g dark chocolate, chopped
  • Method:
  1. Place the wholewheat flour, oats, baking powder, cocoa and chocolate in bowl of food processor. Blend to fine mix. Reserve.
  2. Beat the butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract, egg and salt and beat again.
  3. Mix in the baking soda into the boiling water. Beat into the butter mixture.
  4. Fold in the dry mix.
  5. Measure out tbsp scoops onto a prepared baking sheet.
  6. Bake at 180C for 30 minutes / until slightly firm to touch.
  7. Cool completely on racks and then sandwich with Nutella.

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Baking | Wholewheat Doily Cookies & Chocolate Pretzels for the Great Cookie Swap 2013 #fbcookieswap

Wholewheat Doily Cookies & Chocolate Pretzels … it’s the time of the year when the bells begin to jingle and there are hungry cookie monsters on the prowl. With the cookie season in full swing, this year I have literally abandoned plain flour for whole grains. This year, there was another reason to bake cookies – a fundraiser called the Great Cookie Swap 2013, which a bunch of us got roped into thanks to sweet Charis via Roshni!

I’ve been watching it take shape over the years, attempted to enroll once. We never did find enough folk to make a ‘team’ in India. This time was different and we made a beginning. With India now on the map, hopefully we get a whole bunch of food bloggers joining in next year. If you wish to be notified about the swap next year, do sign up here. 

The cookie baking experience was a whole lot different this year thanks to the event. The swap made it special. For a change I was baking for a cause, and guarding my loot from the cookie monsters! From a dozen that were normally available for them to munch, there were just a couple on offer!

We had to bake a dozen cookies for each of 3 surprise recipients, who wouldn’t know until the bell rang that cookies had arrived. I was fortunate to get my first secret batch from Riddhi @ Cook By The Book. Her cookies were delicious! That set me in the mood and I headed straight for the kitchen.

I wanted to bake everything for everyone, but then got real. Couriering can prove to be harsh on cookies, the logistics a little dicey. I narrowed down to whole-wheat cinnamon ginger cookies and whole-wheat chocolate pretzel cookies. I had recently made dozens of whole-wheat gingerbread men for a home for homeless girls and really enjoyed that experience.

I decided to bake fluted cookies for the swap since gingerbread men are fragile. Then the daughter joined in, found some doily cookies on Pinterest and pestered me to make them. I did but with whole-wheat gingerbread cookie dough.

She wasn’t a 100% impressed though as wanted finer lacier cookies. I was happy with whole-wheat deep flavoured ones. I think the doily idea is stunning, and would definitely work more beautifully on sugar cookie dough etc. This was something new learnt, and immensely enjoyed. It certainly was a WOW moment!

The chocolate pretzel cookies I used to make often when the kids were little. Haven’t made them in years. To my delight, the minute tray #1 popped out of the oven, the daughter whooped in delight, “Yay pretzels!! You haven’t made them in years. I love them“. The son reacted similarly!! Happily enough, there were plenty for the two of them too.

The pretzels too underwent a wholegrain makeover. The kids loved them like before. I still wonder why I didn’t think of these things earlier. They tasted crunchy good and chocolaty with whole wheat flour too.

I love the idea of a bakers dozen, and stuck in a cute gingerbread man to accompany the cookies. Each box had a special happy man in there too. I hope my cookies surprised my secret recipients.

The GREAT FOOD BLOGGER COOKIE SWAP brings together food bloggers from around the world in celebration of all things scrumptious. The premise is this: sign up. Receive the addresses of three other food bloggers. Send each of them one dozen delicious homemade cookies. Receive three different boxes of scrumptious cookies from other bloggers.

This year they have again partnered with COOKIES FOR KIDS’ CANCER, a national non-profit organization committed to funding new therapies used in the fight against pediatric cancer, which claims the lives of more children in the US than any other disease.

 I really enjoyed doing the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap‘. From deciding what to bake, to waiting impatiently for the surprises to arrive, to waiting for posting date, it was n enriching experience.

Thank you Riddhi @ Cook by the Book for the wonderful Zesty Whole-wheat Pumpkin Seeds Oatmeal Cookies, Sangeeta @ Healthfood Desi Videshi for the addictive savoury GF Lentil Cookies {with loads of my favourite flavours}, and Roshni @ The Vanilla Bean for the delicious Lavender Crisps.

My cookies to Sangeeta and Himanshu reached quite early, but Riddhi in Bangalore wan’t that lucky. Got a call just this afternoon from the courier that the package came back undelivered. Sangeeta’s cookies also apparently reached Riddhi very late. Will mail some later as she is travelling this month!

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Recipe: Whole-wheat Chocolate Pretzel Cookies 

Summary: Crisp, chocolaty and sweet, these 100% Whole-wheat Chocolate Pretzel Cookies are wonderful to include on your cookie platter. They are also a fun way to involve kids in cookie making as they playing with cookie dough like play dough! Makes approx 2 -2 1/2 dozen pretzels

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:

  • 150g whole-wheat flour
  • pinch salt
  • 25g cocoa powder
  • 100g unsalted butter
  • 110g vanilla sugar
  • 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 egg white, whisked gently, for glaze
  • Granular sugar or sprinkles to decorate

Method:

  1. Sift the whole-wheat flour, cocoa and salt. Reserve.
  2. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat again.
  3. Add the dry ingredients and knead together briefly to make a firm, smooth dough. Wrap the dough in cling wrap and refrigerate for about an hour.
  4. Preheat the oven to 190C. Line to cookie sheets with baking parchment.
  5. Divide the dough into 4, then into 6-7 portions each. Roll into tight neat balls.
  6. Roll each ball into an 8-10″ long rope, and form a loop to make them look like pretzels. Transfer the cookies with the help of a fish slice/spatula to the prepared sheets.
  7. Brush over with the glaze and sprinkle sugar or sprinkles as required.
  8. Bake for about 12-14 minutes until firm to touch.
  9. Allow to cool on trays for 2-3 minutes, then remove to cookie racks to cool completely.

Recipe: Whole Wheat Doily Gingerbread Cookies

Summary:These 100% Whole Wheat Doily Cookies are crisp, sweet, spicy and keep well in an airtight container for 1-2 weeks in a cool place. Makes approx 6 dozen 2″ fluted cookies. You can make gingerbread men out of the same dough too.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:

  • 280g whole wheat flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • pinch salt
  • 10g ginger powder
  • 10g cinnamon powder
  • 100g unsalted butter, cubed
  • 150g brown sugar
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 15-25 ml milk, as required

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C. Line 4 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  2. Sift the whole wheat flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.
  3. In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour mix to the cold butter, & pulse briefly to make a breadcrumb like mix.
  4. Tip in the sugar, pulse. Then add the beaten egg, and pulse briefly to mix.
  5. Now add enough milk to make a firm yet pliable dough.
  6. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness & cut with desired cookie cutters.
  7. Bake for 12-15 minutes till they smell done and the edges start turning golden-brown.
  8. Cool on cookie racks.

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Whole Wheat Gingerbread Men … Christmas cookies with a heart

‘Gingerbread Men’
Stir a bowl of gingerbread, smooth and spicy brown,
Roll it with a rolling-pin, up and up and down.
With a cookie cutter, make some little men,
Put them in the oven, until half past ten.
Author unknown

Whole Wheat Gingerbread Men … I call them cookies with a heart even though I cut them out! There’s really nothing like cute little gingerbread men to bring a smile to your face. I’ve been making these for years, almost now a Christmas tradition.

I love the deep cinnamon and ginger flavours that get heightened by earthy whole wheat flour. For 100% whole grain cookies, these are nothing short of amazing. Crisp, spicy and sweet! C.U.T.E. too!

A few days ago, the husband said he was headed to a home for homeless girls as part of his company’s CSR, and asked if I could bake something. Yes! I instantly knew it was going to be these. He also asked me to try to make some goodie bags for the girls!

I haven’t had SO MUCH FUN in ages. Actually ever since the kids grew up and kissed birthday parties and return gifts goodbye. This was even more fun than those days. Also very interesting to see the level of interest it drew out of the daughter.

She began making the goodie bags in the car while I was driving her back from art class. She didn’t lose interest. For once. She continued to giggle stupidly, sing crazily, talk non stop to Coco while making the bags.

They are slightly tedious to make as compared to normal cut out cookies. The stamping out of the hearts, the adding little heart sprinkles, and then the smile of course are a little involved! There was a time I used to make the little smileys in a flash. Now with more years under my belt, the eyes aren’t as sharp. So the smileys take a little longer, the little dragees rolling all over the place. Some have a mind of their own!

Well, in the end, it was all very worth it. Just stamping out gingerbread men makes me happy. They promise to spread holiday cheer, sharing happiness with the nibblers! The kids got one each much to their delight since I was guarding the men with my life!

I made a few extra for another special cookie occasion too. More on that very soon! So are you into cookie mode too? I certainly am. What are your cookie monsters munching? My cookies are pretty much whole grain now. I look back in guilt at the many years of plain flour that I baked with.

The internet is a wonderful place, and food blogs are the best! So much inspiration, food for thought and so much creativity you can build upon. These days there’s plenty of oats, barley, whole wheat and amaranth in my baking.

You can find more festive food here


Christmas Mince Fruit Pies
Pistachio & Craisin Cookies
Garam Masala Christmas Fruit Cake
Christmas Stollen {Dresden Stollen}
Strawberry & Vanilla Macaron Trifle
Pannetone
Vanilla Bean Chocolate Chip Wookies {Waffles + Cookies}
Apple Cranberry Almond Olive Oil Popovers
Christmas Stollen Pudding
Toasted Walnut Lindzer Cookies
Gingerbread House

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Recipe: Whole Wheat Gingerbread Men

Summary:These 100% Whole Wheat Gingerbread Men bring cheer to the cookie platter and make for great gifts. They are crisp, sweet, spicy and keep well in an airtight container for 1-2 weeks in a cool place. Makes approx 3 dozen 3″ gingerbread men cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:

  • 280g whole wheat flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • pinch salt
  • 10g ginger powder
  • 10g cinnamon powder
  • 100g unsalted butter, cubed
  • 150g brown sugar
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 15-25 ml milk, as required

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C. Line 4 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  2. Sift the whole wheat flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.
  3. In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour mix to the cold butter, & pulse briefly to make a breadcrumb like mix.
  4. Tip in the sugar, pulse. Then add the beaten egg, and pulse briefly to mix.
  5. Now add enough milk to make a firm yet pliable dough.
  6. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness & cut with desired cookie cutters.
  7. Bake for 12-15 minutes till they smell done and the edges start turning golden-brown.
  8. Cool on cookie racks.

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Wholewheat Dark Chocolate Biscotti, GF Buckwheat Mini Apple Pies & Wholegrain Coffee Chocolate Chip Cake … & a product review #élan

“You begin with the possibilities of the material.”
Robert Rauschenberg

My love for food props is understated. I am avid lover and collector of any prop related to food, from a spoon to a cauldron! It’s no secret that I haunt the streets of Old Delhi looking for vintage finds, that I browse Etsy just to drool, that Pinterest is another favourite hang out. That’s probably the tip of the iceberg as food photography props are an obsession! élan is a refreshing discovery!

I rarely veer towards bright colourful props, maybe something to do with my inherent bend of mind towards pristine neutral whites and dull un-shiny metallics! No longer though! I was recently sent this BRIGHT POP ART styled cake stand with server, and 3 tier stand. Gingerly taken out of ‘the well packed box‘, they bowled me over!!

This was where the very talented NY art school graduate Vidushi Gupta, the creative brain behind ‘Living with elan‘ comes in. She describes herself as  “passionate about the tactile, the messy, and the raw – designs and colors that transcend the mundane and bring joy to your everyday life.“

élan is a treasure-trove of fascinating lifestyle products waiting for you to organise, garden, entertain, gift, and even entice. Buckets, boxes, caddies, gardening tools, blackboard markers, suspended hearts-birds-mini homes, lanterns, stools, trays, napkin rings and more! Enjoy basic geometrics, vivid colors, patterns, and raw textures. Each piece is handmade.

I was instantly drawn to the bright, cheerful colours, the interesting and refreshing designs, and the powder coated finish. I love metallic bric-a-brac, and élan fills my heart with joy. That they used the rather underrated and unexplored world of galvanized sheet metal {read unbreakable , long lasting and sturdy} is a HUGE plus for me.

The filigree lacework on the cake stand and matching server, the very neat powder finish of the tier stand all scream quality. And this quality available in the very heart of the NCR is even better! The lady was sweet enough to offer me the rani pink cake stand {though she did ask me if I’d rather have another colour}. PINK fitted in beautifully with Pinktober and my breast cancer awareness drive.  How wonderful that the tiered stand also had a nice touch of PINK {and the server can be used with it too}… sweet!

The products are not painted – they are powder coated in an industrial oven to ensure maximum quality and life. All their powder coating is lead-free and safe for foods, so you can eat from any of them. There was plenty in Entertaining with élan for me, yet curiosity drove me to explore further! Plenty of ♥-tuggers I have to say…

Organizing with élan

Wooing with élan

Gardening with élan

Traveling with élan

Mini bird homes, bucket caddies, chantilly gift boxes, an amphora pitcher of l♥ve {♥♥♥}, everything organiser, a fabled accessory bucket, mughal flower bucket, a mughal pie in the sky storage box {♥♥♥}, the dabbawala box {♥♥♥} … I was running out of words! These are just a few of the products they have on offer. The vivid colours, thoughtful designs and versatile range makes sure there is something for everyone.

Better still, they offer ‘tailor made‘ options! How cool is that? They can customise any product for you , match it with a theme or occasion, or both. Their existing line can be custom coloured to match party theme or brand colours. You can even ask for a brand logo to be added! Immense possibilities to create refreshing, happy moments!

Of course I had a field day. I made a Wholegrain Coffee Chocolate Chip Cake that morning. Almost similar to the one above, but for a teeny bit of buckwheat flour. Also sneaked some Chocolate Almond Olive Oil & Whole Wheat Biscotti from a batch baked for Mr PAB who was leaving for HKG. He likes to carry a ‘taste of home‘ with him when he travels!

Being a kinda free day, I made tiny little GF apple pies with buckwheat just because …

I scribbled  the recipe on a scrap of paper and can’t find it of course. It was basically chopped apples, brown sugar, cinnamon powder, chopped walnuts & raisins, a few tbsps of buckwheat flour all tossed together. I patted them together into cupcake liners {thank you Finla}, dotted them with butter and baked them for about 20 minutes. The daughter loves anything apple, and loved these cold!

[print_this]Recipe: Wholegrain Coffee Chocolate Chip Cake 

Summary: Light, moist flavourful crumb. A deeply flavoured coffee cake with bittersweet dark chocolate melting into the crumb. It’s a great tea time option, and is wonderful served warm. Whole Grain makes is a good choice to include on the menu. Top with crumbled demerara sugar cubes if desired!

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:

  • 175g whole wheat flour
  • 50g buckwheat flour
  • 3/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 100g unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 200g vanilla or plain sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tbsp coffee powder steeped in 2 tbsps warm milk
  • 150ml buttermilk
  • 1 tsp pure coffee extract
  • 100g dark chocolate, chopped {I used 85% bittersweet}

Method: 

  1. Preheat the oven to 170C. Line the sides and base of a 7″ round tin.
  2. Sift both flours with baking powder, baking soda and salt. Reserve.
  3. Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by the coffee extract & steeped coffee.
  4. With beater on low add the flour and buttermilk alternately in three lots. Stir in chopped dark chocolate. {you could use chopped walnuts instead}.
  5. Bake for 50-60 minutes till golden brown on top, and the tester comes out clean. Leave in tin for about 20 minutes.
  6. Overturn the cake out gently on rack, and remove the lining. Turn it back on another rack. Let it cool for about 30 minutes.
  7. Serve warm or at room temperature

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