Saffron Cheesecake …the best thing ever! Smooth, beautifully flavoured, most addictive, so satisfying. I know I’ve said this before, but honestly, this is my ALL TIME favourite cheesecake, a recipe I’m sharing here today. Flavouring this beautiful recipe is a very special product, the best quality saffron I’ve ever used, and it’s from Tahmina International. There is a heart-warming story behind the brand, and how it contributes back to society; a brave story that helps communities in conflict zones.One whiff of Tahmina transports you into another world, and I’m not kidding. I use a lot of saffron, always ensuring its good quality. After all you can’t go wrong with the most expensive spice in the world!I still remember when my son came back home from school years ago telling me they had learnt about the most expensive spice in the world! He was most impressed by his mothers in-depth knowledge when she said must be saffron! And his eyes opened as big as saucers when I showed him some from my pantry. He thought I was the richest mama in the whole world! Little did he know that in almost every kitchen here in India, there will always be saffron!Saffron is an inherent part of our existence, deeply rooted in our culture, both culinary and religious. While most auspicious ceremonies are embarked upon by a ’tilak’ that includes saffron, a wide variety of Indian desserts are delicately flavoured by this beautiful spice. You’ll also find savoury dishes that celebrate the fragrance – kormas, pulaos, kebabs and so much more. A little goes a long way, which is why using the best quality you can find makes so much sense.
We have always used saffron at home. My old aunt still makes her caramel custard with saffron as the central flavour and swears by it. I use saffron a lot too, and it’s one of my all-time favourite spices. One of my favourite uses has been my own special version of the Indian rice pudding or Zafrani Phirini, a recipe that I fast tracked to make super simple. Of course, now I have a new favourite, this Saffron Cheesecake flavoured most luxuriously and deeply by Tahmina’s saffron. That brings me to Tahmina. Derived from the Persian word ‘tahm‘, meaning strong and brave, Tahmina is an international brand with a vision to export transformational products from different conflict areas of the world. Their belief that economic development is one of the sustainable agents of change to war-torn societies resonates with me deeply, knowing that positivity like this can bring about much-needed change in a world torn apart by strife. It was heartening to hear the story, first hand for me as I was fortunate enough to meet the founder of Tahmina International in Gurgaon recently. She spoke so passionately about their maiden project, Afghan Saffron and Saffron-infused Teas, that I was moved. To see a brand so young and so brave, with such a strong vision to make the world a better place fills me with pride. To be able to get one of Afghanistan’s best luxury products saffron to international markets by connecting local farmers, employing Afghan women, and helping to develop an industry that can offer meaningful alternatives to an illicit drug economy is so meaningful. Tahmina breathes and lives this dream. They work hand in hand with communities, speak the local language fluently and are extremely proud of the quality of saffron made available to the international market.And proud Tahmina should be. I take in strong whiffs of the saffron as I pry open the beautifully designed box. When I first saw the branding and packaging, I was smitten. It was love at first sight. The colours, the design, the branding, the concept. For me, everything works like magic! And believe me, try a few strands of Tahmina’s saffron, and you will know what I mean. As the world’s most expensive spice sees a growing demand internationally, the popularity soaring, it’s so easy to fall prey to poor quality saffron.While Afghan saffron struggles to demand a good price in the international market, currently priced almost a seventh the price of Spanish saffron, Afghan saffron has been named the best in the world by the International Taste & Quality Institute for three years running. Given the relatively newer and largely underdeveloped saffron industry in Afghanistan, proper development and branding of this quality product should fetch it recognition and the price that is rightly due. Tahmina is working towards shaping this future, raising hopes to rewrite their story!And if the saffron is as good as this, it can only be a win win situation for all. The flavours became deeper chilling in the fridge overnight, the cheesecake beautifully fragrant. It tasted like heaven! Light, silky, smooth, sensuous, all the flavours tying in beautifully. It’s a luxurious yet simple cheesecake to bake. I often bake large cheesecakes, but this time chose to bake little and medium-sized ones.The fun part was dressing them up with the saffron mascarpone frosting, then adding the garnish. I love how pretty all the colours look, like a dessert worth celebrating. The Saffron Cheesecake can be made a day or two ahead, frosted a day ahead too. It holds really well, so in many ways is the perfect dessert for a special celebration.And one last word before I leave you, do try their Saffron Black Tea Blend too. I’m not a huge tea drinker but I love iced tea in summer. I made a cold brew with the tea bags {look at that colour!}, sweetened it with a little honey, and added pomegranate pearls to the glass. So refreshing, and bursting with saffron flavour. So potent! I’ve got another saffron dessert brewing in my head as I write. Another time perhaps…
Saffron Cheesecake …the best thing ever! Smooth, beautifully flavoured, most addictive, so satisfying. I know I’ve said this before, but honestly, this is my ALL TIME favourite cheesecake. Flavouring this beautiful recipe is a very special product, the best quality saffron I’ve ever used from Tahmina International.
Prep Time 10 minutesminutes
Cook Time 1 hourhour
Total Time 6 hourshours10 minutesminutes
Servings 8people
Ingredients
Biscuit base
200gdigestive biscuits
25gpistachiosfinely chopped
50gunsalted butter
1pinchsaffron strandsgenerous
Saffron Cheesecake Filling
150gmascarpone
175gcream cheese
300gsweetened condensed milk
200gsingle cream
25gcornflour
3eggs
1/2tspvanilla bean paste
1tspsaffron strands
Mascarpone Saffron Cream
100gmascarpone
50gwhipping cream
15g{1 tbsp} icing sugar
1pinchsaffron strandsgenerous
To garnish
saffron strands
Pistachio slivers
Organic rose petals
Instructions
Biscuit base
Preheat the oven at 180C. Prepare one loose bottomed 8-9" round tin, or smaller tins as desired. Lightly grease the inside, and wrap the outside with heavy duty foil. Place on baking tray.
Place all ingredients except pistachios in jar of processor. Process until fine breadcrumb like mix. Stir in chopped pistachios.
Turn into prepared tin, press gently. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool on rack, then top with saffron cheesecake filling.
Saffron Cheesecake Filling
Place all ingredients other than saffron in jar of processor. Blend for 30 seconds to a minute until well mixed together. {I used the Thermomix, Speed 7, 20 seconds}
Add the saffron strands and mix in on low speed {Thermomix, Reverse speed 4, 5 seconds}
Pour over biscuit base. Pour about 1 cup of water into baking tray.
Bake 170c for an hour/until slightly firm to touch. Cool completely, then cover and chill overnight.
Mascarpone Saffron Cream
Place whipping cream and sugar in a large bowl and whip to medium stiff peaks. Add mascarpone and whip on slow speed until blended, then add saffron strands and mix in on lowest speed for 20 seconds.
Transfer to piping bag fitted with star nozzle. Pipe over chilled cheesecake.
Garnish with pistachio slivers, saffron strands and fresh, organic rose petals.
Dark Chocolate Quinoa Cake with Balsamic Cherries & Whipped Almond Cream … and how easy it was to bring the whole thing together using one basic magic machine in the kitchen. I’m talking about the Tefal Masterchef Gourmet that I recently received to review, and I have to say it is fab! Any new kitchen appliance is JOY for me, the prospects of using it to create something I enjoy, immense. Add to the experience the Tefal Hard Titanium Pan, and the joy doubled. I really enjoyed using the two.I’ve used Tefal products for a long time. Years ago when I worked with BA, I bought a lot of my appliances from the UK, and it was Tefal more often than never. I still have the Tefal Coffee Maker & Toaster for the 1990’s though it might well be a museum relic now! Just the nostalgia and connect to the days gone by made me happy to try the brand again now that it’s been launched in India.Unpacking the Tefal Masterchef Gourmet is like entering a candy shop. It has everything and more. The good thing about the machine is that it includes JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING you might need in the kitchen. Leaves you no requirement to buy additional appliances. I had to take a deep breath while unpacking as the bits and bobs seemed never-ending. I’ve yet to see a gourmet station that comes with a blender, slicer/shredder, meat mincer and juice extractor.I had to put it to use, and tried to churn out a cake using a few of the attachments. I have to say that the powerful 900W appliance did not disappoint. Seemed to do its job effortlessly and efficiently, with hardly any noise. My favourites were many, but the die cast beater that whipped up the cream to beautiful peaks won me over. Living here in India, that has to be one of the biggest challenges to making a layer cake with single whipping cream. {My secret is in the recipe below.}
Small amounts of cream just don’t get whipped up in large bowls, and often I reach for the electric hand beater. I like to make small desserts often for the family that are enjoyed and devoured quick. It gives me an opportunity to bake more often, keep experimenting and have fodder for the blog! It’s only when we have folk over that I need larger portions, and the large 4.6 litre capacity bowl works well for both.Thanks to its die cast beater and Flex Whisk Technology, the Masterchef Gourmet effortlessly whipped up the cream to beautiful peaks and made me SMILE! For me, that has to be the best thing ever. The appliance also effortlessly whips egg whites that are ultra fluffy and ultra airy, even from 1 egg up. That’s huge for me and for people who do home baking and need small portions. That it caters to larger portions as well is great!So I decided to experiment with a healthy chocolaty quinoa layer cake with a frosting, something much in line with my latest obsession of using whole grains. Add to it, the recent discovery of a love for quinoa, this was going to be fun. I put the blender to use for the quinoa, dark chocolate and wholegrain flour. The blender seemed light, yet was so efficient. It fits on top of the machine. It took me five minutes to figure out where it should go, but the French designed appliance had me covered. One look at the manual, and I found a neat hidden cap on the top.The appliance is very intuitive and fun to use. Within seconds, I had a crumb mix which I transferred into the large mixing bowl. In the next couple of minutes, I had batter. Really that simple! If you’d like a lighter cake, feel free to whip the single egg white separately, and fold it in gently towards the end.Flourless and wholegrain cakes generally have heavier crumbs, and it’s all a matter of taste. We love the bite and luxury whole grains offer. That said, I’m not a purist and I can’t wait to try a light as air sponge cake with the machine! Maybe that’s next!
While the cake was baking, I turned to the cherries. What a breeze. It aint no secret that I love good quality frying pans and this one from Tefal, the Hard Titanium Pan is my new love. Its Thermo-Spot ring turns full red when your pan reaches the right temperature for perfect searing. Fancy! The range has a pancake pan, a wokpan and 2 frypans.Also, you can use a metal spoon to stir, which is just so convenient. I don’t need to constantly switch between metal spoons I use everyday to special spatulas. And did I tell you that it’s easy clean? Yes, and how. I’m one of those who work in the kitchen and wash up everything and put them back when I’m done. The pan was a breeze to clean.So here’s the recipe, much in line with my current obsession of baking/cooking with whole grains and my hashtag of #makehalfyourgrainswhole. Happily, this is a trend that Tefal promotes too, “the emphasis is on family, sharing, and healthy ingredients“. You can make this cake eggless. Skip the egg, add a tbsp of yogurt but do note that the cake must be chilled and preferably not layered as the crumb is very delicate.You can also make it gluten free using oat flour instead of wholewheat flour. Same thing applies re the delicate crumb. Lastly, make this vegan by using coconut oil, coconut yogurt and coconut cream to experiment. I haven’t tried that yet but think of the immense possibilities. Once you have a kitchen appliance that works like magic sorted out, you can experiment endlessly! Have fun!
Dark Chocolate Quinoa Cake with Balsamic Cherries & Whipped Almond Cream
Flourless and wholegrain cakes generally have heavier crumbs, and it's all a matter of taste. We love the bite and luxury whole grains offer. This Dark Chocolate Quinoa Cake with Balsamic Cherries & Whipped Almond Cream is a simple one bowl cake. Topped with luscious whipped cream and seasonal cherries makes it a great tea or birthday cake. Recipe can be easily doubled.
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time 45 minutesminutes
Total Time 3 hourshours5 minutesminutes
Servings 4people
Ingredients
Dark Chocolate Quinoa Cake
100gcooked quinoachilled
100gdark chocolatechopped, room temperature
50gwholewheat flour
50gclarified butter/ghee
100gjaggery
1egg
1tspvanilla extract
15gcocoa powder
1tspbaking powder
1tbspyogurt {dahi}
Balsamic cherries
300gcherriespitted
2-3tbspbrown sugar
1tbspbalsamic vinegar
1/2vanilla beanscraped {optional}
Simple Sugar Syrup
1/2cupWater
1/4cupraw sugar
1tbspKirsch {optional}
Whipped Almond Cream
200mlsingle creamchilled
30mlclarified butter/ghee
2-3tbspraw sugar
4-5drop almond extract
Topping
Fresh cherries
Sprigs of fresh mint
Instructions
Dark Chocolate Quinoa Cake
Preheat the oven to 160C. Line the sides and base of a 4" springform round tin with parchment.
Place the quinoa, dark chocolate and wholewheat flour {or oats} in jar of Tefal blender. Attach to top of food processor and process for 10-15 seconds at a time, scraping down each time, until you get a breadcrumb like mix.
Place the above with remaining ingredients in the bowl of the Tefal Kitchen Masterchef Gourmet, with the paddle attachment fitted. Process on low speed for 30 seconds until you get a uniform mix. Don't overmix.
Transfer to prepared bowl. Bake for 35-40 minutes until a tester comes out clean. Cool in tin for 20 minutes, then cool completely on rack. Cut into two horizontal layers.
Simple Sugar Syrup
While the cake is baking, place both the ingredients in the Tefal Hard Titanium Pan and keep over medium heat, stirring until the sugar melts. Stir in Kirsch if using. Transfer to a small jug {or bowl}, and use same pan for cherries.
Balsamic cherries
Place all the ingredients in the Tefal Hard Titanium Pan and keep over low heat, stirring often. Feel free to use a metal spoon. Cook down until the syrup is nice and thick and the cherries are deep red. Allow to cool completely, transfer to a bowl. Chill.
Whipped Almond Cream
Place all ingredients in bowl of Tefal Kitchen Masterchef Gourmet with the whisking attachment fitted. Whisk on the highest speed for 4-5 minutes until the cream thickens and holds peaks. Taste and adjust sweetness if required.
Assemble
Place the lower layer of the Dark Chocolate Quinoa Cake on a serving platter, and moisten with simple sugar syrup.
Top with half the Whipped Almond Cream, then half the Balsamic Cherries. Moisten the other layer of the Dark Chocolate Quinoa Cake with the sugar syrup and place on top.
Top with remaining cream. Garnish with fresh cherries and sprigs of fresh mint.
“But don’t forget, in the meantime, that this is the season for strawberries. Yes.”
Clarice Lispector
Baked White Chocolate Cheesecake with Mascarpone & Strawberries might well be my best cheesecake to date. Smooth, rich, indulgent, satisfying and quite impressive for something made so simple. It’s inspired of course by the Dark Chocolate Cheesecake which is an absolute winner recipe by Ruchira.I had to bake dessert the other day, another late decision, another fast track recipe. I wanted something different this time, something lighter, something more Spring. This was experimental, and we waited with baited breath while it was cut. One bite … and I knew it was a winner.It’s not always easy to throw in this and that, hoping things will work out. Sometimes stuff like this works, sometimes it’s a total disaster. This time around it was surprisingly a 100% success. There was nothing I’d change about this Baked White Chocolate Cheesecake with Mascarpone & Strawberries recipe, and I’m glad I took notes as I threw things in.As I mentioned earlier, I was really short on time. I first put the white chocolate into the Thermomix and blitzed it into a fine powder, then just added the remaining ingredients and stirred everything together. Ideally, like most cheesecake recipes with chocolate, you need to first melt and cool the chocolate before adding it to the batter. Well, this worked fine for me, so I think that’s yet another chocolate cheesecake shortcut will turn too often. If you have a sturdy food processor, then it takes less than a minute to grind chocolate really fine. Do try it this way too someday!This Baked White Chocolate Cheesecake is the easiest as the base doesn’t need to be baked separately. Leaves you a ton of time to figure out how to top it. Maybe too much time because I went a little indulgent. Well, to be honest, it was a special occasion bake, so some luxurious vanilla bean spiked mascarpone was much in place. Then of course the strawberries. So much you can do with them! This season in North India has seen an EXCELLENT strawberry crop, possibly the best ever. I’ve used them in just about everything, and they’re still falling off carts in the city. A quick jam like reduction, some balsamic, some vanilla, a dash of lime juice and sugar of course yielded a beautiful topping for the Baked White Chocolate Cheesecake.
Baked White Chocolate Cheesecake with Mascarpone &; Strawberries
Baked White Chocolate Cheesecake with Mascarpone & Strawberries might well be my best cheesecake to date. Smooth, rich, indulgent, satisfying and quite impressive for something made so simple. A quick jam like reduction, some balsamic, some vanilla, a dash of lime juice and sugar of course yielded a beautiful topping for the cheesecake.
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Cook Time 1 hourhour
Total Time 9 hourshours15 minutesminutes
Servings 8people
Ingredients
Biscuit base
185gdigestives biscuits
25gjaggery {or brown sugar}
55gbutter
White Chocolate Filling
200gwhite baking chocolate melted
300gcream cheese
400mlsingle cream
20gcornflour
4eggs
1/2tspvanilla bean paste {or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract}
100graw sugar
Vanilla Mascarpone Cream
150gmascarpone cheese
25graw sugar
1/2tspvanilla bean paste
Strawberry Topping
250gstrawberrieschopped
Few sprigs fresh rosemary
100gsugar
1/2tspvanilla bean paste
1tbspbalsamic vinegar
Juice of 1/2 lime
Instructions
Biscuit base
Whiz the biscuits and jaggery in food processor until you get a fine meal. Add butter, whiz again to mix. Press into 7-8" loose bottom tin. Chill in the freezer while you get the filling ready, and the oven preheats.
White Chocolate Filling
Preheat oven to 160C.
Place all ingredients in bowl of food processor, and blend well to mix, 1-2 minutes on medium speed.
Pour into crust, and bake for an hour.
Cool completely in the oven, then chill covered in the fridge, preferably overnight.
Vanilla Mascarpone Cream
Place all ingredients in a large bowl an whisk until just mixed and smooth. Don't overmix. Spread over chilled cheesecake.
Strawberry Rosemary Topping
Place all ingredients except lime juice in a non reactive sauce pan. Simmer over low heat until it becomes jam like and reaches the desired consistency. Taste and adjust sweetness. Discard rosemary. Add lime juice if desired. Cool completely {Can be made a day ahead}. Top the Vanilla Mascarpone Cream with this.
Garnish with freshly sliced strawberries and fresh rosemary sprigs.
“I’m a man of simple tastes. I’m always satisfied with the best.”
Oscar Wilde
When the Tropical Collection from Chumbak comes knocking at your door, how can you not fall in love with it? It’s fresh, it’s tropical, it’s everything you can celebrate spring with, a line you can usher summer in with as well! It’s an inspiring line, and immediately nudged me to do something fun. Take a look….
I played with the collection endlessly. It brings alive the child in you. You can’t take us Indians out of the our beloved tropics {for long at least}and you can’t take tropical out of India, so the collection is a sure win. I love the crisp, colourful feel, the energy it shares, the vibrancy it spills. The collection is inspired by tropical elements like palm leaves, pineapples, flamingos and the like.Here’s what I was inspired to do – Strawberry Pineapple Smoothies & Watermelon Kiwi Gooseberry Fruit Bowl. When we were young, my dad scooped or rather balled out watermelons and musk melons on our birthdays, then served the fruit chilled in fruit bowls. For some reason, just looking at the collection took me right back there, and before I knew it I was carving a fruit bowl. It’s the funnest thing to do for a pool party, kids birthdays, an evening pick me up in summer, or an anytime fresh healthy snack.I used kiwi stars, halved gooseberries and watermelon balls. I thought I’d throw in strawberry hearts too but forgot the in the fridge. Gah! Summer will see stone fruit galore, so the fun will double. You could do a stone fruit and berry inspired bowl. Or maybe set a watermelon granita in the melon bowl, freeze, slice and serve! No dearth of ideas when your life is flooded with inspiration.
Chumbak had a #spotthepineapple fun campaign to launch the collection. How can you be tropical and not have pineapple? So I figured I’d do a pineapple strawberry smoothie too. I freeze both strawberries and pineapple chunks, so this smoothie is the easiest thing ever. Throw in a cup of each, a cup or two of water, some sweetener, a dash of lime juice into the blender. Whirrrrrrrr it up and you’re good to go.That’s what the coming summer is going to ask for. Quick fresh foods that will keep the spirit light and happy. See how beautifully they paired with the Chumbak Tropical in the light of the afternoon setting sun? Such pretty hues that go so beautifully with the bougainvillea too. Same colours, tropical feel, and I am all set! There’s plenty of choice…
With a range of cushion covers that explode in bright colours, I think this is the best time for a summer makeover! Vibrant, vibrant, vibrant is all I think! Pineapples, flamingoes, elephants, flowers, geometric patterns {♥♥♥}, I want to redo my place! Oh and the sweet little owl too stepped out from a smitten golden ex Diwali into a rustic rainbow coloured creature. Can you imagine that the ullu {owl in hindi} went tropical too? I fell in love with this little fellow, toes and all!The other thing I really liked are the cookie jars. Spacious, clean lines, good quality airtight jars, and beautifully patterned, the counter tops will never be the same again. Even though I am not a gold person, I really like the golden cookie jar too. It fits in so well with the rest. And of course there is PLENTY MORE to the collection. I just picked a few.My all time favourite is of course the palm leaf pattern line. That has my name written all over it. It is fresh, understated, almost like each piece has been hand painted. The teacups are a generous size and stand tall. The pitcher is a winner and I would LOVE for it to sit on my counter. It pours well, it’s easy to clean and is an ideal size for milk or juice. Heck, it even doubles up as a stunning flower vase! It’s lovely to begin the day with for breakfast. Quick granola and fruit parfaits, omelette, toast, a glug of milk from the jug, coffeeeeeee … the leaf pattern is my kind of pattern. For salads too. The interesting bit is that the leaf pattern fits in to every time of the day, every meal too. From a crisp beginning in the morning for breakfast, to a soothing, lilting sun-downer feel, with calming, soothing hues.
Even the coordinated leaf platters are darling. I just find the leaf pattern very very refreshing, something anyone would love to own, serve on, put out for guests, hang on their wall as part of a plate collection. I shot with it a lot as you might notice.You can see I shot it the most. With flowers {poppies} for breakfast, with milk for breakfast too, with onion flowers just like that, then with the Strawberry Pineapple Smoothies & Watermelon Kiwi Gooseberry Fruit Bowl . That’s how versatile and handy it is. The great thing is that it pairs with almost every colour and meal. I’m thinking chilled lemonade through summer!
Strawberry Pineapple Smoothies & Watermelon Kiwi Gooseberry Fruit Bowl
Strawberry Pineapple Smoothies, and a Watermelon Kiwi Gooseberry Fruit Bowl are quick, inspired, no cook, tropical fruit based recipes for summer! Inspired by the Tropical Collection from Chumbak.
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Total Time 15 minutesminutes
Servings 3people
Ingredients
Strawberry Pineapple Smoothies
1 1/2cupfrozen strawberries
1 1/2cupfrozen pineapple chunks
2cupschilled water
Raw sugar as required
Juice of 1/2 a lime
Watermelon Kiwi Gooseberry Fruit Bowl
1small watermelon
1kiwi
1cupcape gooseberries
Fresh mint to garnish
Instructions
Strawberry Pineapple Smoothies
Place all ingredients in jar of blender and process until smooth. taste and adjust seasoning adding more sugar if required.
Garnish with slices of fresh strawberries.
Watermelon Kiwi Gooseberry Fruit Bowl
With a melon baller, scoop out balls of watermelon. gently remove any remaining flesh to take a bowl out of the skin. Carve the edges with a sharp fruit knife if you like.
Peel and slice the kiwi. Stamp out stars with a small cookie cutter.
Halve the cape gooseberries.
Toss them all and put into the watermelon bowl. Chill. Scatter fresh mint over it. Serve chilled.
Note
Run the left over watermelon and kiwi in a blender to make watermelon juice. Add a dash of honey, fresh lime and rock salt. Serve chilled.
“Fussing over food was important. It gave a shape to the day: breakfast, lunch, dinner; beginning, middle, end.”
Robert Hellenga
Summer Mango Smoothie Bowl, another thing off my bucket list, the most beautiful way to begin the morning. Colourful beginnings!! They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I say bring it on! This one was fun to make, thinking ingredients, plating {or rather bowling} it, adding bits and bobs to the top. So much went into it, near raw other than the yogurt, very in season, a mélange of flavours and textures.For me, an edible pot potpourri, inspired and exciting. With the first one down, my call was, “This was fun, now can someone set me a bowl everyone morning please!!“The inspiration came from Ruchiras smoothie bowls each more delightful and colourful that the other. Inspiration really gets me going, food shared the best thing ever. Talk about breakfast and it’s amazing to see how different cultures wake up to the most important meal of the day. Granola, crepes, vadas, puris, kachoris, omelette, fruit bowls, smoothies, waffles, pancakes, overnight oats, avocado and egg on toast are some of the simpler everyday options.My recent overnight oats were a great experiment and now find a spot in the fridge every night. It’s a really convenient way to wake up to healthy ready made breakfast. Grab a spoon, dig in. I change the flavours with fruit in season and experiment as I go on. The main characters in the story remain the same – oats, milk/yogurt/coconut milk, honey, basil seeds, watermelon seeds. Fruit in season breaks the monotony. Mango, peaches, apple, banana, strawberries rotate. Pie spice, cinnamon, thandai mix, pepper, nutmeg, saffron. You get the drift! It’s always fun to explore something new and different apart from the regular old breakfast choices we usually have.Step out of home, travel a bit, within the city, country or overseas and new frontiers open up. Food and flavours begin to get magical, new and interesting. For someone who constantly cooks at home, hands that cook in other kitchens are fascinating. They offer exciting experiences, food adventures! Here are some breakfast stories, delicious bites mainly in pictures and in no particular order. Actually just as they tumbled out of my head when I read about #Foodventures by Axis Bank Dining Delights!
We sleepily got off the train in Benaras early one winter morning, a hungry foursome, and hit breakfast street quite soon. The city has a reputation and we knew where to head. Can there be anything better than fresh garam kachoris, sabzi and jalebis straight out of the pan? Perhaps not.
Perhaps yes if you add some famous Pehelwaan ki lassi to wash down breakfast. Nirvana. Life accomplished.
Ticked off list, but ‘will be back soon‘ recorded.
Fly across the globe. Switzerland, where I was last year at this time, a European breakfast will spoil you for choice. Every city we traveled to had a different layout, a regional offering, local produce shining through, breakfast an elaborate ceremony, fit for a king, something to sit and enjoy.Tuck in. Cheese, yogurt, fresh baked breads, fruit, coffee, tea, eggs galore, cold cuts, fresh milk, best way to breakfast. Did you hear me say “Serve me breakfast and I shall be happy!” ? Swing back to India, a trip into the heart of the South, Karakudi held us mesmerised earlier this year. It was a trip of a lifetime. Same feeling – breakfast is a celebration. Simple, flavourful, delicious and so much variety. Almost always ‘from the frying pan onto the plate‘, whether it was the elaborate ‘eat till you drop luxury at Chidambaram Vilas‘ or the street food at the temple at Pillaiyarpatti with the most refreshing filter coffee and finger licking good vadas. Memorable, satisfying and an absolute joy.
And then there was the absolutely amazing breakfast with peacocks and neelgai as company at Lakshman Sagar in Rajasthan? Breakfast was an eye opener there. Elaborate, each morsel served with love, truely regional and so much variety. Breakfast day 1 was something like this – fresh orange juice, maize dalia, googri {overnight soaked and cooked wheat kernels and horsegram}, sapota/cheeku jam, gum berry jam, fresh fruit, gur/jaggery, boora, honey, achaar, masala omelet, fire roasted tomato. Nothing refined or processed. Experiencing it was pure joy.If that wasn’t enough, one morning we trudged across the countryside for a breakfast in the fields! Get closer home, one trip into Old Delhi and you’ll be cured of any breakfast woes. Nagori halwa puri, nimbu ka paraatha, sweet lassi, hot jalebis, garam chai, then begin again! If you are stuck with the same old routine of toast and cheese, wake up and smell the coffee! Rustle up something fun and interesting {or bribe some willing soul to do it}. Better still, get out and explore. Make the mornings matter!
Colourful beginnings!! They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I say bring it on! This Mango Smoothie Bowl was fun to make, very in season, a mélange of flavours and textures. For me, an edible pot potpourri, inspired and exciting.
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutesminutes
Total Time 10 minutesminutes
Servings 2people
Ingredients
1mangopureed
200gGreek Yogurt {or regular full fat yogurthung for 30 minutes}
Honey if required
2tspsabja seedssoaked in water for 10 minutes
1/2cuppomegranate pearls
1kiwichopped
1peach chopped
2tbspmelon seeds
2tbspchopped walnuts
Fresh mint for garnish
Instructions
Stir the mango puree through the yogurt until uniformly mixed. Adjust sweetness if required.
Ladle the mango yogurt into 2 breakfast bowls.
Top with the remaining ingredients.
You could always just mix everything through too, yet it makes the first meal of the day attractive this way, garnished with love!
“I am starting to think that maybe memories are like this dessert. I eat it, and it becomes a part of me, whether I remember it later or not.”
Erica Bauermeister
Oat Walnut Trifles with Roasted Stone Fruit … one of those really interesting recipes that came together like it was just meant to be. Each element paired beautifully with the other. The oat walnut sponge offered great texture to ‘drink up‘ the juices of the vanilla roasted fruit, healthy as it was! The low fat cream whipped up beautifully with almond undertones, luxuriously settling down atop the soaked fruity sponge in pretty silky swirls. It was a dessert like poetry!
So much yumminess you might ask, such a divine dessert, yet why am I sharing it so late. Well this time the culprit was this huge scatter brain that jotted the Oat Walnut Genoise Sponge recipe down on that most ‘important scrap of paper, then promptly misplaced the darned thing. It took me several days to try and locate it, then I just gave up. Bits of the recipe for the sponge stayed in my head. It was quite a delicious nibble on it’s own, and many ‘cubes’ fell to nimble fingers!Then one day this dessert popped up on my insta feed with someone asking for the recipe. Spurred into action by the guilt of a failed promise, I set off once again to make the Oat Walnut Genoise Sponge. Of course I am a sucker for punishment yet I enjoy baking so much, so I recreated the base recipe from what I remembered, and happily it worked out just fine. This time I baked the dough/batter/dough differently, and for longer, in the form of tiny cookie pies with pretty dark chocolate ganached piped on top. They seemed an obvious choice as I was at the receiving end of some excellent KitchenAid bakeware.
Being part of the Kitchen Aid Culinary Council, these are things I really enjoy and am eternally grateful for! The mini pie pan is the sweetest ever, great great quality, and so are the measuring spoons. Fortunately enough, the doughy batter was a great choice for these cookies too!
So here we go, better late than never,Oat Walnut Trifle Bowls with Roasted Stone Fruit that were good to the last crumb! Feel free to use berries, fruit in season like mangoes etc. If you don’t have time for roasted fruit, make a simple sugar syrup to moisten the oat walnut sponge, and trifle on! Triflesare desserts with immense possibilities, great for failed bakes too as in these ‘Upcycled’ Butterscotch Blondie Puddings.
I am beginning to enjoy the challenge of creating with oats more and more. There is so much and more you can do. If you are like me, a dessert needs to be celebrated. Find a nice bunch of stemmed glasses, or beautiful glassware like this, and assemble your trifle. For a lighter version top with vanilla Greek yogurt, maybe piped almond quark! Will make a fit bressert {dessert for breakfast=bressert}!
Oat Walnut Trifles with Roasted Stone Fruit came together like they were just meant to be. Every element paired beautifully with the other. The oat walnut sponge offered great texture to 'drink up' the juices of the vanilla roasted fruit. The low fat cream whipped up beautifully with almond undertones luxuriously settling down atop the soaked fruity sponge in silky swirls.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Cook Time 30 minutesminutes
Total Time 45 minutesminutes
Servings 6people
Ingredients
Oat Walnut Sponge
40goats
55gwalnut halves
20gbrown sugar
pinchsalt
2eggs
100gbrown sugar
1tsppure vanilla extract
20mlclarified butter/ghee
1tspbrown sugar
Vanilla Roasted Peaches & Plums
4peaches
5plums
75-100gbrown sugar
Juice of 1 lime
1/2vanilla bean
Whipped Almond Cream
300mllow fat cream, chilled
25mlclarified butter/ghee
4-5dropsalmond extract
50gicing sugar {adjust as per taste}
Instructions
Oat Walnut Sponge
Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 8" X 8" square baking tin with parchment.
Place oats, walnut halves, pinch of salt and 20g brown sugar in bowl of blender. Process briefly in short spurts until you get a fine grind. Don't over process else the nuts will leave oil.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, place the eggs, 100g brown sugar and vanilla extract. Beat on high speed until mousse like and doubled in volume, 5-7 minutes.
Gently fold in half the oat nut mix, then the other half.
Drizzle half the clarified butter over and fold in, then pour over the remaining.
Turn into prepared tin, sprinkle over 1 tsp brown sugar. Bake for 30 minutes.
Cool in tin completely. Then cut into cubes for the trifle.
Vanilla Roasted Peaches & Plums
Place all ingredients in oven proof dish, stir well to mix and roast for 30 minutes. Discard vanilla bean. Reserve.
Note: You can bake this alongside the sponge, or a day or two in advance.
Whipped Almond Cream
Place all ingredients in a large bowl. Whip with an electric hand blender on the highest speed until thick enough to pipe. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle.
Assemble
Take 6 dessert bowls. Layer the bottom with cubes of oat walnut sponge, top with roasted fruit and juices. Repeat once again. Pipe whipped almond cream swirls on top.
Keep chilled for a couple of hours, if not overnight, top with fresh cut fruit, walnut halves, some fresh herbs and serve.
