“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”
Charles Dickens
Another year draws to a close, merging easily from 2011 into a spanking new 2012. A time-line crossed with celebrations, yet a day like any other. For me, a fulfilling year, one with challenges galore {read pre-teen and teen challenges}, minutes disappearing into days, always a lack of time, yet always time for good food! Raising a toast to a wonderful 2012 for all of you … with these delectable White & Dark Chocolate Desserts with Strawberries. These are on par with the chocolate covered strawberries that everyone loves to eat.I look back at my blog with satisfaction, with loads of retrospective thoughts, with knowledge that I could have done better, and with happiness at some stuff well done. I loved 2011 for macarons, for fruit like strawberries, for chocolate, for cakes, for bread, for #applelove … for friends galore, and for some small recognition in the local media.A fulfilling journey in every way, a happy learning curve as always but in the end a humbling feeling to hear from my readers. I am honoured to share a few of the words that came into my inbox from day to day this year, a peep at a few … This is what makes PAB so worthwhile for me. You have inspired me through the years.Some days I feel pressurised and suddenly want a blog break, and then ‘that mail’ comes as sunshine to my world, bringing a huge smile on my face. These are words that spur me on, the ‘fuel‘ for my blog, my inspiration …This post is for you dear readers, and for you, all you wonderful food bloggers, who keep my virtual world so inspired, so colourful and sinfully delicious. For the new year, I wish you all the happiness and peace in the world, good healthy food, loads of sunshine … and a goblet of sweetness, a dash of colour! THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!No resolutions for me. This year I have tried to be more patient {have achieved it to quite an extent}, I have managed to train and tame a playful pup yet had less luck with taming the terrible teens, have enjoyed fruit of each season, have discovered a new found love for the humble aubergine, am still stuck on auto on the camera, have had less time on twitter … and am now ready for the new year!Clichéd as it may sound, hope the year brings more promise, more time as we have a full 365 days to begin with, better time management, yummy recipes and real time tête-à-têtes with my sweet blog pals. I traveled east quite a bit in 2011 {did Hong Kong a couple of times, Sydney, Tokyo}, and wish I can head to Nantes this year … maybe!Here’s wishing for another sweet year of good food, colour, inspiration, more savoury fare, more food for thought and maybe for the soul too! Hoping I have more time to bloghop and tweet … let the good times roll into the next year!Time for a little break, time to bake a cake as the ‘not so terrible anymore teen‘ turns 16 in a couple of days { the New Year is always busy here with her birthday on the 2nd of Jan}, a chocolate and strawberry cake for her is to be ‘produced’ on demand … and then I’ll be back!
Until then, I leave you with sweet wishes for a wonderful 2012! Usher in the year with a nice classy dessert, maybe like this, which is simple, delicious, eggless and can be made ahead. The white chocolate pairs beautifully with the dark, and the strawberries compliment the dessert beautifully. Serve it in fun individual wine glasses or goblets and ENJOY!!
[print_this]Recipe: White & Dark Chocolate Dessert with Strawberries
Summary: A classy combination of white and dark chocolate topped with a strawberry puree … easy and dramatic, leaves you asking for more! {Adapted from Divine Chocolate Desserts by Jose Marechal}
Prep Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
150gm dark chocolate, broken into pieces {55%+ couverture}
Strawberry Puree
300gm strawberries, chopped fine
2-3tbsp powdered sugar {increase/decrease as per tartness of strawberries}
Juice of 1 lime
1tbsp water
Method:
White Chocolate Mousse
Soften the gelatin in 1/4 cup water.
Bring 100ml cream to a simmering boil. Remove, stir in the gelatin mixture util dissolved and then pour over the white chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted. Cool to room temperature.
Whip the remaining cream to soft medium peaks, and gently fold into the white chocolate mixture.
Fill 1/2 of this in 6-8 serving glasses {less than half full} and leave to set in the fridge for an hour. Leave the remaining white chocolate mousse out at room temperature.
Meanwhile, make the Dark Chocolate Mousse.
Place the cream and dark chocolate in a heavy bottom pan and simmer until the chocolate has melted. Take off heat and whisk until smooth. Cool.
Distribute between dessert glasses and chill for 20-30 minutes, then top with the remaining white chocolate mousse.
Chill in the fridge for 1 hour, or until when required.
Make the Strawberry Puree.
Lightly crush the chopped strawberries with the powdered sugar with a fork until the strawberries release their juices. Mix in the rest of the ingredients and reserve in a bowl in the fridge. Distribute over the glasses before serving.
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#Welcome2012 Blog Hop. This virtual party is being hosted at Lite Bite.
“Christmas Shopping: Wouldn’t it be wonderful to find one gift that you didn’t have to dust, that had to be used right away, that was practical, fit everyone, was personal and would be remembered for a long time? I penciled in “Gift certificate for a flu shot.”
Erma Bombeck
Wish you all A Merry Christmas, May the Joys of the season Fill your heart with goodwill and cheer. May the chimes of Christmas glory Add up more shine and spread Smiles across the miles, To-day & In the New Year.
Rosie Cash
Have a wonderful festive season dear readers. I eventually got my fruit cakes baked. Did you? I even found time for some marzipan magic!!
~Happy Holidays!!~
[print_this]Recipe: Garam Masala Fruit Cake
Summary: An Indian twist to the traditional fruit cake. Garam masala adds to the warmth of the spices. The fruit marry well with flavours like garam masala, orange juice, brandy,caramel and lime juice. The coffee and caramel syrup give the cake a nice, deep hue!
Prep Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 2hrs 30minutes Ingredients:
Garam Masala Fruit Cake
1-1.25 kg mixed fruit,nuts,peel mincemeat {mincemeat recipe follows}
400gm plain flour
300gm unsalted butter, room temperature
200gm sugar
6 eggs
3/4 cup caramel syrup {Made with 1/2 cup of sugar caramelised. Add some water and heat gently to liquefy. Measure and top up with water to make 3/4 cup liquid. Cool}
2tsp instant coffee
2.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt {skip if using salted butter}
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Mincemeat or fruit mix, sans suet
700gms raisins, chopped if desired
200 currants
100gms orange peel, chopped
170gms almonds, chopped
250gms cashewnuts, chopped
100gms candied cherries, chopped
1/4 cup cherry liquor {or brandy}
1/2 cup brandy {or rum}
3/4 cup fresh orange juice {from 3 keenus/oranges}
Juice of 3-4 limes
Zest of 2 keenus/oranges
4 tbsp garam masala
2tsp brown sugar
2 tsp instant coffee
Method:
Garam Masala Fruit Cake
Toss the soaked mixed fruit in the flour well in a large bowl {I used a huge wok} so that the fruit is completely coated. Reserve.
Stir coffee into caramel syrup. Reserve.
Beat the butter and sugar till fluffy, 2 minutes, add the eggs one by one and beat well again.
Now add the caramel syrup and vanilla extract and beat again for a minute till well incorporated. The mixture may appear curdled but that’s fine. Add baking powder and whisk again.
Turn this batter out over the mincemeat and stir well with spatula to blend uniformly.
Turn into lined loaf pans/baking tins and bake at 140C until the top appears done when you touch it, about 1 hour for the loaf pans, and almost 2-2 1/4 hours for my 15 X 11 tin. {Do keep an eye on the top of the cake. My ovens ‘bake’ setting is just the lower level so the top doesn’t brown too quick. If you find the top browning too soon, please slip a foil loosely over the top about an hour and a half into baking.}
Cool in tin, turn out and wrap in cling-film once cold. Allow to stand and mature in a cool dark place for a day or two, at least overnight. The longer it stands the better the flavours, but we never get that far in my fruit-cake loving household.
Poke the top with a skewer and pour a few tbsps of brandy {or rum} over the top before wrapping the cake if you like. Makes the cake nice and moist.
Sift icing sugar over the top if you like, and add some homemade marzipan toppings.
!Mincemeat / fruitmince or fruit mix, sans suet
Mix all the ingredients nicely and soak overnight in a cool place, or for 3-4 days. The longer you soak the fruit, the more mature the flavour. I soaked mine for 3 days. {You can substitute the alcohol with an equal amount of orange juice too}
If you find the fruits are looking dry, add about 1/2 cup of brandy/rum/orange juice and toss again. Leave for a few hours for the juices to get absorbed.
“Marge, it’s 3 AM. Shouldn’t you be baking?”
Homer Simpson
Did you make your own fruit mincemeat this year? I just about did, and far too late in the month IMHO. I procrastinated forever; then noticed it was the 18th of December and hit the panic button. It was now or never since it needs a few days to soak the fruit. I eventually got it done, also getting distracted along the way … and suddenly, it was time for a batch of Christmas Fruit Mince Pies!Day 3 yesterday and the soaked fruit was looking plump, good and shiny. I should have waited to turn the whole batch into my Garam Masala Christmas Cake, but I couldn’t resist making some little mince pies! {I write this post as my fruit cakes finally bake in the oven!}My sister sent me a load of baking goodies with the BIL who flew in from the US, much like Santa who got here before time. Petit tins of all sizes, something that I love, vanilla beans, sprinkles, a dessert cookie baking tray, a Lindzer cookie cutter, a ‘sack‘ of baking chocolate chips … loads more!Despite telling her that I hardly bake ‘fancy‘ {read tedious} cookies any more, I pulled out the Lindzer set to make a batch of Toasted Walnut Linzer Cookies with Strawberry Filling. Typically, my mind wandered in the opposite direction, and I whizzed some pâte sucrée in the Thermomix. Soon the dough was being rolled and the Lindzer cookie cutters were being used to make toppings for petit fruitmince pies!Its dangerous to have a big bowl of fruit soaking on the counter. Hungry mouths on the prowl get attracted to it, so I hid it … but couldn’t get it it out of my head! Yesterday I figured I could nick some for a before Christmas cake treat. These little pies are fun to make; quick too. I love using the snowflake cutters sweet Nic @ Cherrapeno gave me … so festive! Use your favourite pâte sucrée / sweet pastry dough or use the one below. This works a classic 2:1 ratio of flour and butter. As with pie/pastry dough, keep handling/kneading to an absolute minimum. That way you’ll have a nice light, crisp pastry once baked. If you like, you can add some apple to the filling, like Alli did in her Christmas Chocolate & Fruit Mince Pies. Nice!!
It happened one November midnight, in Twitterverse, we saw this tweet from our dear Nelly @ nella22. Without missing a beat, we all knew Nelly had “said YES” to her beloved “M”,as she sweetly calls Brian Murray, her fiancé.
So here we are, Nelly dear, your friends in the food world, wishing you and Brian,all the best. And with our wishes, a simple recipe with an easy formula for a life of bliss, rich with EVERYTHING in it!
BLOGGERS RECIPE FOR NELLY ‘S WEDDED BLISS
Mix together: A lot of Love, Patience, Perseverance, Respect, Courage, Strength, Trust, Kindness, Honesty, Compromise & Great Sex.
Stir in : Equal Parts of Love, Support, Faith, Fidelity, Hope, Validation, Friendship, Forgiveness, Communication.
Cook over slow simmer for the rest of your life. Dot daily with a Sense of Humor.
Leave out the nagging, sarcasm, skepticism, doubts and stubbornness.
Serving Suggestions: Best prepared daily. Serve with flourish because Married Life is a FEAST. Live it with flavor, spice it with unconditional love, enjoy its richness.
Recipe Notes: Some ingredients won’t always be fresh or available. Or the heat may flare up and the anger spills over. Simmer down and douse the flames with all the LOVE you can throw in.
Enjoy the feast of marriage, love and life!
{Written by : Elizabeth @Mango_Queen}
These Dark Chocolate & Strawberry Mini Cloud Gateaus were a big hit! Can’t go wrong with dark chocolate and strawberries, a pairing made in heaven. These were decadent and festive, almost a gateau celebration in themselves, so I am posting them for sweet Nellys Virtual Bridal Shower! I got in on the event a little late, but am thrilled to be part of the surprise bridal shower for this very sweet lady with a very sweet tooth! Thank you Sanjeeta for roping me in, me who lovesLOVES twitter to death, but have been missing from it for far too long. It’s good to be back in the midst of all the frenzied tweets, the excited timelines, the viral food talk … and the fun events and camaraderie for great tweeps like Nelly or rather Marnelly!Just back from a short, wonderful trip to the Land of the Rising Sun, a trip I could only have dreamt of, a country I never imagined I would be fortunate enough to visit, and bets placed on the fact that the dwarves would miss me and their organised lives which was about to be upside down for 4 days! To cushion the kids rough ride, I made them these Dark Chocolate & Strawberry Mini Cloud Gateaus … I hear they were divine, and so can’t resist sending them {virtually} for Nelly’s bridal shower!!
Best wishes to you sweet Nella for this most wonderful time of your life. Hope your days with M are filled with passion and love. ENJOY!!!
It’s been wonderful being part of this huge, fantastic, very excited group Nella’s virtual bridal shower brought together. We whispered loudly, we emailed ferociously, we confused each other endlessly {12am/12pm/EST???}, we giggled, we laughed like nervous brides {and grooms?} … and we supported each other! Please catch our posts us on twitter with #nellysbigday, and on the linky love below.These mini gateaus were made out of a leftover layer from a 16th birthday cake I made for my daughters dear friend. The order – “Cake to be made, CHOCOLATY CHOCOLATY CHOCLATY, oh, with strawberries too!” Pictures were taken and mailed at each stage {making me very nervous}, drafts of what was to be written on top down to the last dot and dash, NO CHANGES AT ALL, colour combinations … and the phrase ‘very chocolaty‘ being rung out repeatedly! So many instructions that I almost lost my nerve and whatever creative bend of mind I possessed.{If you wish to make the birthday cake, then you will need 2 portions of the batter for 2 cakes that will give you a 6 layer cake, enough for about 20-25 folk. The chocolate pastry creme filling is enough for a 6 egg cake, with a little extra.}
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This is my recipe/post for the virtual bridal shower for Nelly hosted by Sanjeeta kk at Lite Bite.
Special thanks to Heather for the logo, Elizabeth for the intro write up and to Junia for the spreadsheet.
Intro paragraph written by Elizabeth @Mango_Queen
“Chemically speaking, chocolate really is the world’s perfect food.”
Michael Levine
Sublime, sweet, seductive … words that can win over the most of us. Bittersweet chocolate paired with sweet scents of orange zest, topped with strawberries in a Digestive biscuit crust – eggless too. I think this might well be a dessert than can please one and all, chocolate lovers that is and tempt the non-lovers too! A Rich Bittersweet Chocolate Orange Strawberry Tart – festive and indulgent for the holiday season!! I made this special tart for Macy’s mBlog Recipe Showcase for which I was invited to share a favourite holiday recipe, with a story alongside. I have an old ‘Digestive biscuit connect’ which I shall share in a bit, though too late for the showcase. Life got the better of me, it’s been busier than usual, and I missed the deadline. Just back from a short ‘happy’ vacation to Tokyo, courtesy Mr PAB who was going there on work and gladly took me along! ’twas like a dream … a bit of which I shall attempt to share soon. In the meantime, this tart is served up here for you dear readers!! It was DELICIOUS and indulgent good! Digestive biscuis have been on my list of favourite biscuits forever, and my first choice always for biscuit bases for tarts and cheesecakes.There was a time, many moons ago, when working with an airline meant regular trips to London. That in turn meant bags full of delicious goodies including Digestives and Chocolate Digestives. The regular ones were my Mums favourite, though at the time I was quite partial to Walkers Shortbread too. Flight crew who flew overhead New Delhi from London to HKG would often radio in to chat while we manned station ops in the wee hours of the night, and would ask for ‘biscuit wishlists’ as they would stopover in Delhi on the way back. One particular flight crew, who I nicknamed Capt HobNob, made sure he always left a big parcel of HobNobs for me! Those were delicious days, post BOAC ones!!A few years later, shortbread ‘butter alarms‘, carbon footprints and locavore choices came along; an inherent consciousness crept in! Age does that to you I guess! I got ‘food educated‘ and sadly learnt that shortbread was delicious but oh-so-butter laden. My first choice then on were digestive biscuit. IMHO, they make me the perfect pie/tart crust as I don’t have the time to make graham crackers from scratch! I have used Digestives in Chocolate Quark Mousse Tartlets, Strawberry Chocolate Yogurt Mousse, No Bake Strawberry Quark Cheesecake, Apple Brown Sugar Meringue Pies, No Bake Upside Down Mango Quark Cheese PieWhat can I say about this beautiful tart … it was just too good to be true {if I may say so myself}. I have kept it eggless as a lot of local readers, being vegetarian, ask me for eggless desserts and bakes. Keeping them in mind, with the holiday season here, time for entertaining, guests, food & fun, I put this tart together. I also kept in mind easily available and mostly ‘there in the pantry‘ ingredients!I love the pairing of chocolate, orange and strawberry. Use a deep, rich, good quality chocolate here. Of course I was rather unsure when I cut it as I didn’t know if it would set well. Luckily for me, the proportions were good and the balance of the filling and tart shell just right. The taste?Délicieux!!
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This recipe is on its way to IndiBloggers food contest …
As I go I wanted to share a little something; two places where PAB has recently been featured. One was in the November issue of Harper’s BazaarIndia {was thrilled to see lovely Meeta, Pamela and Mallika there too}, the article on food bloggers called “The Web Culinaries“,and the other a press feature at Lx World, ‘Cakes to Bake‘.
Don’t miss a post Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India
“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”
Martin Luther
Sometimes I wonder if I love stone fruit more or apples. After hanging on to the last of summer fruit so desperately, I think I was childish. Apples are a whole new passion and hold so much versatility. Munch them or bake them, never ending possibilities… one such delightful possibility being these homey, comforting Mini Apple Upside-down Cakes with Salted Butter Caramel … #applelove!I absolutely love the goodness of simple bakes. For me, individual portions hold eternal charm, so when I saw these delicious bites at Jamies place one day, I knew I would be baking them really soon. As I crept into Lifes A Feast while she was in sleeping {day here, night in Nantes}, I knew these little apple cakes were going to be good.
I also knew that the salted butter caramel sauce would be the most delicious sauce I had ever made! Mmmm … while the cakes baked, the addictive sauce cooled. Spoonfuls did the disappearing act as usual, the hungry little dwarves at work in the kitchen!These cakes are convenient to make. Great for a fast track fall/winter dessert, individual portions that warm the cockles of your heart, slathered in a buttery caramel sauce . C’est bon … caramel, butterscotch, butter, sweet, salty – all goodness in my little white jug, delicious thoughts happily playing in my head! It’s a good sauce to have in your recipe folder. Très savoureux!! These are tasty little cakes to make you happy this holiday season. Make a double helping of the salted butter caramel if you like as it stores well refrigerated. Reheat it in the microwave for 15-20 seconds and you’re good to go! I added a bit while whipping up my low fat cream for this Perfect Pumpkin Pie; I dare say that cream would make a delicious frosting for a cake!
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Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!
Talking about the holiday season, here are a few things I’d like to share with you …
Play Visa Signature’s ‘Go Weekends‘ Instant Win Game for a Chance at $300 worth of prizes. For your chance to win, visit the Visa Signature Facebook Page and click on the Go Weekends tab. Drag and drop the activities you’d like to do this weekend and submit your plans to see if you are an instant winner. You can play once every day until November 18th. No purchase necessary. Prizes could include $100 to Restaurants.com, Omaha Steaks, and even Sur la Table.
For my local readers in India … Timesdeals have an an amazing deal in partnership with Barista Lavazza – ‘Buy any beverage and Get another one absolutely Free @ Barista Lavazza’. This deal is available Pan India.
