“Soup puts the heart at ease, calms down the violence of hunger, eliminates the tension of the day, and awakens and refines the appetite.”
Auguste Escoffie
Baby Mustard Greens, Turnip & Almond Soup with a Mustard Vinaigrette made in the Philips SoupMaker. Days in the lives of food bloggers are sometimes very interesting. It was an exciting day when ‘it’ arrived. An appliance that was highly anticipated, and lived up to it’s expectations… after a few hiccups while I figured the soup maker out of course! From there on, it was smooth sailing! What followed was conversations that flowed smoothly {and sometimes chunkily} over soup of many kinds.
I admire good kitchen designs. How fun and creative can minds get. I have been using the Thermomix now for several years and was always fascinated by it’s ability to cook and blend like magic. Along comes another option, at a fraction of the price, almost a tenth actually, and promises fuss free simple soups the winter through, and smoothies galore through summer. Bonus…frozen yogurts and fruit compotes too!New toys are always fascinating for food bloggers and this one shone. It’s a simple machine, though a better manual with CLEAR instructions might have helped. It took me a little figuring out, cleaning my steamed spectacles a few times. I wish there was a better manual to go with it, maybe better online videos. After sifting through very vocal and gibberish Spanish videos galore, an advertorial video on the website, I finally figured out what I was doing wrong.For my second experiment, a mushroom walnut oat soup, one of my all time favourites that I cooked with Chef Vikas Khanna for Food Food Tv. I wanted chunky soup and presumed that it would give me ‘chunky chop’. So I cooked it, and cooked it…and cooked it again. Thought the machine was spoilt. Later, the better half suggested that maybe chunky is cooked but with the choice of pre-cut sizes. Obviously he was right!! I turned to something quite genius the machine offers – a manual blend! In the beginning I forgot to add oil, butter etc. Later I realised that it didn’t really matter. You can always top soup with some EVOO, a vinaigrette, butter or Parmesan. Once I got the hang of things, we were swinging soups by a dime a dozen! I loved some things about the soup maker, not least how sleek and shiny it was.
It fits small on the counter, so is great for compact kitchens. Of course, it’s great for big kitchens too. Mine is spacious, and the soup maker is sitting happily next to the Thermomix and Philips AirFryer
It’s simple to use once you get the hang of it. Just put everything in, give it a good stir, shut it and forget about it. Turns off after the soup is made.
Makes a comfortable serving of 4.
Keeps the soup nice and warm since the body is like a thermos.
Is handy to take to the table as the cord slips off easily, transforming the soup maker into an elegant jug.
Has a clean, non drip, pourable spout.
Last but certainly not the least, it’s a quick wash and dry design. No uncomfortable bits an bobs to deal with, a straight clean jug.
Did I tell you that the finger touch menu buttons on the top are neat, fascinating and so simple? {Don’t push them too often the first time, or the poor thing gets confused. I know because I confused the poor machine, then called Ruchira for advice! My problem was eventually the ‘chunky chop’}
The good thing is that once you get a HANG of things which should ‘happen’ almost instantly {I confused mine with my Thermomix which behaves a little differently}, there’s no looking back. Suddenly soups are all you want and your creativity takes over. I’ve been in this healthy ‘fitfoodie‘ frame of mind even more of late while working with Saffola as part of their Fit Foodie Panel. The soup maker makes me think out of the box even more! It takes the ‘work out of the soup’.
If you are looking for inspiration, the Philips SoupMaker comes with a packed book of recipes. Interesting smooth to chunky soups across seasons, hot & cold soup recipes, smoothies, compotes, frozen yogurts too. Use local produce like fresh beetroot, baby mustard greens, or go gourmet with ingredients like courgettes and Gorgonzola cheese, the book has something for everyone. Even quick recipes for fruit compotes with apples and plums, and smoothies! A quick strawberry fro yo tempts you so. I know where the mangoes will head this summer!
Quick, easy and pleasing to the eye is how Philips as a brand has developed kitchen appliances. The AirFryer was one such example, and the rice cooker is another. Philips has been nice to offer a Daily Rice Cooker as a giveaway to a reader of my blog.
To qualify,
All you need to do is leave a comment telling me what your favourite soup is.
Please leave a valid email address. Will pick a random winner at the end of the month. The giveaway is open to anyone who has a permanent address in India.
Thank you for being part of the giveaway!
[print_this]Recipe: Baby Mustard Greens, Turnip & Almond Soup with a Mustard Vinaigrette
Summary: Flavourful and earthy, this soup offers the best of winter comfort in a bowl. The mustard vinaigrette adds a nice dash of mustard tones and lime tanginess taking the simple soup to another level. Made in the Philips SoupMaker, it’s the fastest soup I have made. Fuss free too
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes Ingredients:
“Do something you love and people will love you for it.”
Maneet Chauhan
’twas a great way to begin Monday morning. I almost fell off my twitter perch to see that Alice Medrich had followed me. She was one of my first baking inspirations. The author of an array of sinfully delicious cookbooks like Pure Dessert, Seriously Bitter Sweet, Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy and of course Bittersweet {among many others}, never fails to amaze. Chocolate dessert chef, teacher, James Beard and IACP Cookbook of the Year Award winning author … one of my favourite dessert chefs!
My first window into her world was way back in 2008 when I was inspired to make her Olive Oil Orange Cake. The inspiration continues … Dark Chocolate, Craisin & Walnut scones, Nibby Buckwheat Butter Cookies, and one of our all time favourites, the Bittersweet Dark Chocolate Fallen Cake.
Talking of chefs, more specifically favourite chefs, I have a few more quite a few more on my list. These I have been fortunate enough to meet, they are large hearted, affable, poster boy chefs who are some of the nicest human beings I have met. Saby or Chef Sabyasachi Gorai was among the first I met in Delhi. He’s the sweetest ever. A chef who is a painter? Yes indeed! A chef with the midas touch as I always tell him. Down to earth, hugely talented, young, bursting with energy and ideas. As I write this, Saby is in Goa launching his first restaurant there today, Destination One!
Next on my list is one of my favourite chefs, Michelin star Chef Vikas Khanna. Down to earth, a crowd pleaser, uber talented, works 28 hours a day, feet firmly on the ground, bursting with stories not necessarily food related, passionate about India, passionate about America … words escape me.
We worked together on the Saffola Food Food TV series {episode 1 & episode 2}. All of us were blown away by his friendly nature, unfussy attitude and his side splitting humour. From Amritsar to America, he is possibly India’s best and most loved export to the west. .
More favourites … Aussie Masterchefs George and Gary who we had a chance to meet over breakfast when they were here, the heart of gold Chef Kunal Kapoor, the absolutely animated and entertaining Chef Vicky Ratnani, the sweet Chef Maurizio Raselli at the Hyatt…
…quiet and unassuming Chef Anahita at Soda Bottle Openerwala {restaurant pictured above}, the ever charming David Rocco…… I could go on forever but instead will leave you with a question and a holiday giveaway.
Who is the one chef that has left their impression on you? Who is your favourite chef?
Since we’re just ringing in the holiday season here.Zoutons have been sweet enough to sponsor a giveaway for one of my readers.
The giveaway is a gift voucher worth INR4000 from Flipkart.
To be included in the giveaway, there are 2 simple rules:
1. Name your favourite chef
2. At the end of your comment, you must mention “For the contest on “My Favourite Chef” sponsored by Zoutons.com“
Please ensure you leave a valid email address.
The contest is open worldwide.
The contest closes on the 15th of October. We will randomly pick a winner thereafter.
The contest winner is VJ Sharma . Congratulations. Please send me your email address so I can send you the coupon details.
‘Going green has never been so deliciously exciting. Bon Apetit…’
Farhan Akhtar
Roasted Red Bell Pepper & Broccoli Salad from Vicky Goes Veg. Everything about the book is colourful, fresh, exciting, full of flavour and vegetarian of course! It’s an exciting new book by Chef Vicky Ratnani and holds a LOT of promise. Vegetarianism is no longer considered ‘second food. Slowly but surely vegetarian centric cookbooks are appearing on bookshelves, grabbing eyeballs as they do so!We were hosted by Harper Collins & Nachiketa at the lush and beautiful ‘The Palms‘, Gurgaon for the book launch. Vicky Ratnani has infectious energy, is animated and absolutely passionate about food. I was fortunate to meet him in Jan last year at a tea & food pairing session, and it certainly was a pleasure to meet him again.
He held fort by the poolside under the blazing setting sun, which shouldn’t have been quite so blazing in Mid March … but was! Sporting that he is, he didn’t blink an eyelid, no complaints nothing. He was there well before the guests began to arrive and after a short delay {thanks to the TV crew}, he fired up!
Sauteing, chatting, sharing tips and trivia and a load of his passion, he held the attention of the select audience. As he stirred up magic, we were served the same from the kitchen alongside. The flavours blew us away! Who wants to eat non vegetarian food if vegetarian food can be so exciting. Not me!! The Braised Plantain with Thai spices was out of the world good, as was the Eggplant & Bok choy in sambal.
I love the energy throughout the book. It entices you to ‘try’ something different. I also love that Vicky has stuck to the concept of sourcing local produce, something that makes the locavore in me do a merry dance. The photographs that liberally colour the pages are a journey of the food chain in India including the merchants and the local bazaars.
Vicky is often seen arm in arm with the guys who matter … yes, those who grow, deliver and sell local produce. It’s refreshing to see so much space dedicated to the local sabziwala i.e. vegetable vendors. The recipes in the book are unique, hail from across the world but come with an Indian twist, all green and fresh!
The good thing is that Vicky encourages you to think out of the box, constantly innovate and evolve. He offers his book as a stepping stone for new ideas in vegetarian cooking, and tells you to be fearless. If you don’t have this, use that. There’s plenty of trivia tucked within that makes the book even more interesting. One downside is that the number of portions or ‘servings’ aren’t specified. So I set off to make the RoastedRedBellPepper& BroccoliSalad. Of course, my heart followed his advice and my recipe meandered off as I was short on time. I didn’t blend the dressing, only whisked it. Substituted apricots for walnuts, simplified the dressing a bit. I also made Stromboli from the book which disappeared too quick!
If you’d like to win a copy of the book, VICKY GOES VEG, please leave a comment below telling me which your favourite vegetarian dish from across the globe is. Please be sure to leave a valid email address so I can contact you. This giveaway is open to residents of India, or anyone with an Indian mailing address. {GiveawaysponsoredbyHarperCollins}
[print_this]
Recipe: RoastedRedBellPepper& BroccoliSalad
Summary: Summary Info Goes Here
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 40 minutesIngredients:
Salad
1 red bell pepper, roasted
1 yellow bell pepper, roasted
1 big head of broccoli, cut into florets
1 broccoli stem, peeled, thinly sliced
Salt to season
A pinch of cracked black pepper
A few sprigs of thyme
2tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves
Dressing
2 cloves of garlic, cut into chips
2tbsp olive oil
1/2 a white onion, sliced
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1 spring onion, cut into 3cm long batons
4-5 dried apricots
Method:
Season the bell peppers, broccoli florets and stems with salt, pepper, thyme and olive oil {I blanched the broccoli for 2 minutes first and then plunged it into ice cold water}
Cut the bell peppers into strips
Fry the garlic in olive oil, and allow to cool and crisp. Reserve the garlic flavoured oil for the dressing.
Dressing
Sauté the white onion in the garlic oil. Deglaze with red wine vinegar. Transfer into a bowl to blend it to a dressing.
Season with salt and pepper. Add the coriander leaves including their juicy stems. Whizz to blend to a smooth, sour, creamy, garlicky dressing.
Mix the spring onion batons and apricots along with the broccoli and peppers. Spoon the dressing over the veggies. Garnish with the fried garlic chips.
Yum! Toss all the veggies along with the dressing. Chill before serving.
“Soup puts the heart at ease, calms down the violence of hunger, eliminates the tension of the day, and awakens and refines the appetite.”
Auguste Escoffier
Mushrooms and Onion Scapes Soup … for the soul! I was completely mesmerised by the onion scapes I bought at the local bazaar. I love this fantastic season. Each time I step into the overflowing fruit and vegetable shop, I rediscover seasonal produce from last year. That day two large bunches of scapes stared at me, and again, shouting my name out LOUD!
How could I resist it? I asked the guy for a few stalks, and he packed the whole bunch off with me. Said, “Take the whole bunch. I know you’ll do something with it. All yours!!” Seriously, they are beautiful. I put some in a milk-jug and they began opening into the most beautiful flowers a while later.
Wasn’t very sure what I’d with so many, but knew how pretty they would look in a vase! Sometimes the real beauty of nature comes from flowers like these. I love them! A discussion with Man Friday followed where he declared these were garlic scapes. A nibble later, I figured they were definitely more oniony than garlicky.
I had mushroom soup on my mind that morning. With the weather nippy all over again, soups offer the ultimate comfort; a healthy option, even better. This one is simple, uses staple pantry ingredients, and can go gluten free too.
In the past I have made it with mushrooms, potato and a generous amount of fresh coriander. The base is often milk and some vegetable stock as I usually have a large jar of homemade stock in the fridge. When I feel indulgent, you can find me pouring in some low fat cream too! Oh and often walnuts to add texture…
Some onion scapes needed a more handy alternative to sitting in the milk jug as it was rather full. The soup offered the perfect destination. As I said, you can pretty much play around with the ingredients. Is fun!
I did something else with the soup too that night. I was making breaded chicken fillets for the kids. Instead of doing the normal egg, flour and breadcrumbs coating assembly line, I sneaked some soup into a bowl. Dunked the Italian seasoning marinated breast fillets first into soup, then into wholewheat home made breadcrumbs, and shallow fried the fillets.
While the son enjoyed his in burgers, the ‘constantly on a diet’ daughter ate crumb fried fillets with char grilled broccoli. The son came back to say these were the best tasting burgers ever! “Really nice Mama!” Must have been the soup!! Soup has been the call this winter! Loads of it.
So what’s your favourite comfort or soul food in winter? Do you make soup from scratch? I did an amazing Smokey Roasted Tomato Soup {pictured above} for a client I am developing recipes for. Heard the other day that a friend was making pumpkin and peanut butter soup. I was completely intrigued. I guess it’s time to explore more soups as winter is still here.
And before I scoot, it’s time to announce the winner {s} of the Nirlep giveaway on my blog. A 1000 apologies for the delay, but I was travelling a little bit, and now the elder teen has her board exams. Between driving her up and down, and feeding her ‘comfort food’ on demand 24 X 7, there seems to be little time to blog!
Food however is always cooked in the PAB household, so the handi has been put to good use. I am really happy to have received it for review because I didn’t know what I was missing! The Nirlep handi is very very versatile indeed. From cooking pasta until al dente to making pasta and pizza sauces, to numerous rounds of steamed bathua leaves or chenopodium{or lamb’s quarter}of bathua ka raita, to delicious stir fried chicken mince, then meatballs too, I have seriously used it a lot!
I am thrilled to offer one as a giveaway that was announced when I reviewed the utensil. The winner of theEbony Handi is Swapna Mickey. Since we had a load on entries, Nirlep offered to send Nirlep Cookwareto two more participants. They are Reeta Skeeter and Manjeet Kaur. Congratulations ladies and thank you so much for joining the giveaway {and for waiting so patiently}. Will mail you shortly.
[print_this]Recipe: Mushroom and Onion Scapes Soup
Summary: Soul satisfying, rich and creamy without extra calories, Mushroom and Onion Scapes Soup is pure comfort food for winter. Serve with a chargrilled broccoli salad, oven wedges, crumb fried chicken / fish, some crusty bread, maybe a green salad.
Heat oil in the handi or a heavy bottom pan. Add the onion and garlic and sweat until light pink. Add the onion scapes and saute briefly.
Now add the mushroom, chili and potato. Saute for a minute.
Add the milk and water / stock. and simmer covered for about 20 minutes until the potato is cooked.
Stir in the cornflour mix and stir until the soup thickens. You can skip the cornflour for a GF version. Reduce the water/stock, or add it only if required.
Add salt to taste. Take off heat once the desired consistency has been reached. Puree with an immersion blender once it’s cool enough to do so.
Thermomix version
Place onion, garlic and onion scapes in TM bowl and process for a few seconds on speed 5 to chop.
Drizzle in olive oil and cook on 100C, reverse speed 1 for 3 minutes.
Add whole mushrooms and a quartered potato and run on speed 5 for a few seconds until chopped.
Add the milk, cornflour, salt and water. Stir for 10 seconds on reverse speed2.
“People close to me called me ‘Curry in a Hurry.’ I was moving through life at 100 miles an hour trying to further my career and be a great mom and make everyone happy.”
Ann Curry
Smoked Indian Chicken Curry / Dhungaar-e-Dum ka Murgh … a simple slow cooked baked Indian chicken curry that makes life on the table seem somewhat easier. I normally cook curries on the stove top. This time was different, and it worked out quite well. Smoking it added a delicious dimension!
I haven’t posted a curry for ages even though I cook them often, including chicken and lamb korma. I’ve recently done a ‘butterless‘ butter chicken and the feedback was great. Mr PAB even commented saying it was better than buttery butter chicken!! At the time I took no pictures as it was still ‘work in progress‘…
Nirlep contacted me and asked if I would like to review any of their products. With a range as varied as Premium Steel Casseroles to a simple sandwich pan, I left it to them. All I asked for was something I could maybe pop into the oven, since I know they do a stove top range. Not that I don’t cook stove top {read I DO ALL THE TIME}, but the baking blog needed a connect!
They sent me a beautiful hard anodized handi, so I grabbed a chicken and set to work. The curry is simple as can be. It’s a simple overnight marination which tenderises the chicken. I cook it on the bone, but you can go boneless too if you like. This time I added green chutney to the marinade, some caramelised onions too. Experiment as you like because you never know what will hit the sweet spot!
As all Indian cooking, this curry works on beautiful ‘andaaz‘, eye balling as it is better known. A bit of this, a dash of that, a few green chillies for flavour, maybe a couple of beautiful red ones too. Mix it all in and marinade straight in the pot, and then throw into a low oven the next day. An hour and a half later, you have CURRY, a nice thick wrapped one!!
OR … heat a little clarified butter in the handi / pan {OK you can use oil}, caramelise some finely sliced onions, pick out the chicken pieces from the marinade and cook over high heat to seal the juices and get the pieces beautifully browned. Add the rest of the marinade, give it a quick gentle stir, seal tightly … into the oven again! Of course you could also cook over a very gentle stove top.
I have a few idea for the handi. A Basque Lamb Stew, kaali dal, stir fried veggies, Thai green curry, kadhi … all in the pipeline. Maybe a little ambitious but pot bread too. It’s quite cold {read freezing} here these days, so as soon as the weather lets up, it’ll be time to bake bread. Have to keep the yeast monsters happy!
Convenient ergonomic design which is ideal for sauteing, cooking, heat distribution
That it goes from the stove into the oven, and back with ease
That you can serve right out of it, fuss free!
Easy clean up
So tell me dear readers, what would you make if you had a pot / handi like this? Nirlep will be happy to giveaway a similar pot to a reader of my blog. Additionally, I will add a cookbook from one of my favourite Indian authors and chef Vikas Khanna. He’s a large-hearted, fun, talented guy who is passionate about what he does. I love ‘My Great India Cookbook‘ {one of his 3 cookbooks ranked #1 in India by Gourmand World Cookbook Award 2013}. I figured you might love it too, so I am including it in the giveaway. The giveaway is open to anyone who has an Indian postal address and loves to cook/bake of course!! {Entries close on the 15th Jan 2014}
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[print_this]Recipe: Dhungaar-e-Dum ka Murgh
Summary: Simple, smoked, delicious Indian chicken curry that can be baked {or cooked on the stove top}. A do ahead marination ensures very little work just before serving. Serve over steamed rice, naan, etc with a mixed greens salad.
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 2 hours Ingredients:
800g chicken on the bone, without skin,{1 whole} cut into 12 pieces
200g full fat yogurt, hung for 30 minutes
3 onions, 1 quartered, 2 sliced fine
2 tbsp ghee/clarified butter
5-6 cloves garlic
1″piece ginger
2-3 green chilies {deseed if required}
2 tsp garam masala
Juice of 1 lime
Salt to taste
3 tsps green chutney {optional}
1 stick cinnamon
1 small bunch fresh coriander, chopped fine
2-3 small red chilies, optional
Dhungaar / Smoke
1 small piece wood coal
3-4 drops melted ghee
Method:
Fry the 2 sliced onions in the ghee until crisp and golden brown.
Grind the quartered onion with ginger, garlic and lime juice to make a smooth paste.
In a large bowl, whisk the yogurt. Mix in the onion paste, caramelised onions, green chilies, red chilies if using, fresh coriander, stick of cinnamon, green chutney and garam masala. Add salt as required {you can taste it at this time to check}. Adjust seasoning if required.
Now mix in the chicken pieces well, turn into handi / casserole/ baking dish, cover tightly and leave to marinate in the fridge for a few hours, preferably overnight.
Place the handi/casserole in a bigger empty metal bowl. Place a tiny metal bowl half filled with water on the lid of the casserole.
Place in oven set at low heat and bake for about 1 1/2 hours. Let it sit for a while.
Open and stir gently to get the gravy uniform. Adjust salt if required. Add some more lime juice if you like, maybe some more fresh coriander. Smoke it if desired.
Make a tiny bowl with a aluminium foil. Place a hot burning coal in it and quickly drizzle a few drops of melted ghee/clarified butter over it. The coal will begin smoking immediately. Tightly shut the lid and leave for about half an hour.
Note: Left overs can be deboned and used in wraps {reduce the curry to almost dry}
“Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.”
Hans Christian Andersen
A Tea Rose Fondant Cake … inspired completely by Peggy Porschens‘Pretty Party Cakes’. I have had this stunning book by this very talented sugar craft artisit for years. It sits by my bedside and provides infinite hours of eye candy. I didn’t once think I could attempt her beautiful work; until yesterday …
I have long delayed making sugar paste at home. LONG! The one day I saw a fondant cake at The Great Cookaroo, sometime late last year, and I knew she had beaten me to it. Bah humbug! It still seemed pretty formidable to me, even though Ruchiraconvinced me it was quite easy. She made her fondant out of marshmallows.
Sugar Paste icing is a very sweet edible sugar dough usually made from sugar and glucose. It is sometimes referred to as fondant or sugar gum or gum paste. It can be used to cover cakes, mould features and create decorations for cakes and many other uses.
Then a few days ago I met a very talented Amrita at I Bake who commercially does cakes with fondant. She convinced me it was really easy to make at home. The sweet girl even offered to send a batch home for me to work with. Enough! It was time to give fondant from scratch a shot, and was promptly entered as a new year resolution; rather an update of one which has been long postponed.
Seems like flowers are ‘in season’!! A few days ago, I was asked if I’d like to host a floral giveaway for readers of PAB from the beautiful Serenata Flowers in the UK. Serenata Flowers is a gift shop where other then flowers, you can find chocolates and wine too. They are hosting a giveaway well in time for Valentines day.
The prize is a £30 voucher at Serenata Flowers, that should give the winner the chance to choose a nice gift. Delivery would only be to an address in mainland UK , the winner may live outside UK though. All you need to do is visit the site and leave a comment saying which bouquet you like best. The contest is on until the 31st of Jan, 2013, and the winner will be announced thereafter.
It was time to pair real flowers with edible ones, and also time to ‘fondant or sugar paste’! This was my first attempt at working with fondant and I have to say I loved it! The end result wasn’t perfect, creases that peeped through, yet it took me back many years. Back to those play dough times, flowers, leaves, roses …
I loved using the leftover bits to cut out ribbons etc. Later thought I could have done bees and butterflies too. Maybe the next time I feel so inspired, now that I can ‘do it’!! Fondant is therapeutic; makes you rediscover the inner child in you!
See the ‘cake’ platter? I have to confess that it’s actually a salad plate from Urban Dazzle. It’s a classic white, round platter. The interesting bit is the offset centre which gives you a slight forward tilt. It’s a great aesthetic platter to have, and happily one that doubled up as a cake plate as in this case.
Cookies, finger foods, cupcakes, fruit, candy seem like some other fun uses. Until I do salads in it, I’m enjoying its versatility! This Tea Rose Fondant Cake was the best baking beginning to my new year. I love you fondant!!
I learnt something else. Kids never grow up! You should have seen their eyes light up when they saw all that sugary sweet prettiness! I thought they were both way beyond it. Pictures of the cake furiously ‘WhatsApped‘, the urgency to have dinner done, the impatience to cut a slice, the happiness at devouring the cake {the vanilla buttermilk pound cake is wonderful on it’s own}… so worth the effort!
If you don’t want too much sugar overload you could always just do a 1 egg mini cake. The little one came away neatly and looked sweet on it’s own. The fondant recipe is minimally adapted from ‘Essential Guide to Cake Decorating’ by Alex Barker, which the kids gave me us on our anniversary 4 years ago. This was my first foray into the book … and I loved it!
So go on guys. Spread out some fondant if you are so inclined. Otherwise send someone you love a beautiful bunch of flowers from Serenata Flowers. Share some joy!!
[print_this]Recipe: Sugar Paste/ Fondant
Summary: A simple fondant recipe that was silky smooth and fun to use. minimally adapted from ‘Essential Guide to Cake Decorating’ by Alex Barker
Prep Time: 5 minutes Total Time: 30 minutes Ingredients:
3 tbsp liquid glucose, warmed {I used Solar, an Indian brand}
1 egg white {or 20g egg white powder reconstituted according to maunfacturer instructions}
400g icing sugar
Method:
Place egg white in a large bowl, whip lightly with fork and then then stir in the liquid glucose. {It tends to harden very fast in winter}
Add the icing sugar bit by bit and gradually work in with a wooden spoon until it begins to form a paste. Gently knead into a ball.
On a very clean surface, knead it until smooth and pliable. Wrap with cling-wrap if not using immediately.
To colour, take small portions, or as required, ans knead in a few drops of the colour as desired. Keep the remaining fondant wrapped in clingwrap at all times.
On a very clean surface dusted with icing sugar, roll out the fondant quite thin. Then cut into shapes with plunger cutters or hand make roses.
I fastened the flowers etc with egg white, though the book says to use royal icing.
Recipe: Vanilla Bean Buttermilk Pound Cake with Vanilla Buttercream
Summary: A lighter version of the classic pound cake, the Tea Rose Fondant Cake is sandwiched with a light confetti buttercream, and makes a delicious base for the fondant art.
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes {including cooling time, and time to make fondant decorations etc} Ingredients:
Vanilla Pound Cake
240g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
150g unsalted butter, room temperature
275g vanilla sugar
3 eggs
130ml buttermilk {or substitute recipe below}
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
To make buttermilk substitute
Take 130ml milk at room temp; add 1 tsp white vinegar. Let it stand 5-10 minutes. When it curdles, it’s ready.
Vanilla buttercream
100g unsalted butter, room temperature
225g icing sugar
50g low fat cream
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
2 tbsp rainbow confetti {optional}
Royal icing or egg white to secure fondant flowers etc onto cake.
Method:
Vanilla Buttermilk Pound Cake
Grease and flour the sides of a 7″ ring tin, or a 4″ round tin. Line the bottoms and sides with parchment paper.
Preheat the oven to 170C.
Sift the flour with the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Reserve.
Cream the butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract and scraped vanilla bean.
With beater on low add the flour and buttermilk alternately in three lots.
Divide the batter between the two tins.
Bake for 50-60 minutes till golden brown on top, and the tester comes out clean. {The smaller cake will get baked in 35-40 minutes}
Cool completely, then slice into two horizontally.
Vanilla butter-cream
Beat the butter, vanilla bean and icing sugar until smooth and fluffy.
Gradually add the low fat cream and whip to desired consistency.
You can add more {or less} depending on how stiff you want the butter-cream.
Assembling
Sandwich the cakes with a light spread of butter-cream with the confetti stirred in.
Give both cakes a thin coat of butter-cream to provide a base for the fondant.
Note: Use squeaky clean hands, counter, rolling pin etc when handling sugar paste/fondant as it is white and shows impurities very easily.
Take about 1/3rd of the fondant {If it is too hard, then briefly, heat it in the microwave wrapped in cling-wrap for 10 seconds. {Keep the remaining fondant well wrapped else it will dry out.}
Sprinkle the work surface with icing sugar, and roll the fondant out thin. {I kept it quite thin to keep the sugar intake a little lower}.
Gently transfer it onto the 7″ cake and press into place. I got a few creases but covered most up with flowers and leaves. Handle gently or it will tear. Trim the edges around the base.
Take 1/2 the remaining fondant and repeat with the smaller cake.
Place the smaller cake on top of the bigger one.
Take bits of fondant, one bit at a time, and colour them with liquid colour as desired. Using plunger cutters or your hands, make flowers, leaves, roses etc as desired.
Roll any remaining scraps and using a fluted or plain pastry cutter cut out ribbons to cover up the bottoms edges.
Use either royal icing or egg white to stick the sugar paste flowers, leaves or ribbons onto the cake.
Note: I used the microwave {10 seconds, high} quite often as the fondant kept getting hard as the weather was freezing cold at 6C.
