A little bit of this and that

A little bit if this..these are called Nanaimo Bars and you can find the recipe here

And a little bit of that..a chocolate orange tart - no recipe really - just used ingredients at home all in a biscuit base.

Berry muffins

In my last post I cribbed about missing Hypercity – I still do – like hell. But like I also pointed out, we’ve found a close equivalent in Spar Hypermarket. Located in the MGF Metropolis, its right opposite our place (Metro stop: MG Road). Spar is a joint venture between the Dubai based Landmark Group (which also owns Lifestyle) and SPAR International (of Dutch origin).

Coming back to Spar, its well, quite your regular supermarket with all the regular stuff. Some imported stuff, though I think Le Marche would be a better option if you were looking for purely imported stuff.

Went through the chips, soft drinks routine then finally arrived at the frozen foods section. To my utter joy I discovered they stored frozen berries, which went by the name The Connoisseurs. Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries all available. Pricing is a little steep at 150 for a 200 gm pack. The husband loves blueberry muffins, the ones you get at coffee shops are totally fraudulent – muffins with half a teaspoon of blueberry jam. Such a pity, but we used to buy a ready mix to make them almost every week. Hence, I jumped when I saw them.

Made them through the whole of last week – they were just lovely – threw in some strawberries I had as well – very moist and stayed almost a week. Here goes.

Adapted from: Joy of Baking

325 grams all-purpose flour

150 grams sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Zest of one orange and juice (used a kinnow, which is in season)

1 egg, lightly beaten

240 ml yogurt, whisked

120 ml oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

About 350 gms frozen berries (I used blue & strawberries)

Method

· Preheat oven to 190 degrees C

· Position rack in center of oven. Line with paper liners

· In a large measuring cup or bowl whisk together the egg, yogurt, oil, and vanilla extract

· In another large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt

· Gently fold in the berries. With a rubber spatula fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are combined

· Add orange zest and juice

· Fill each muffin cup almost full with batter

· Place in the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about20 - 25 minutes

· Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for about 5 - 10 minutes before removing from pan

· Enjoy!

If you want to order the same (in Gurgaon), please do not hesitate to email me on shenoy.sneha@gmail.com!

Picture post

The strawberry season came, it went. Beautiful, ain't they?

Here are some strawberry custard tarts.

That was desert, for dinner there was stuffed mushrooms (parsley & mozzarella cheese) and spinach & goat's cheese pizza.

Thoroughly enjoyed our meal!

Fruits with a heart of stone

Many reasons why I love summer

• Mangoes
• Peaches
• Cherries
• Apricots
• Litchis
• Time to celebrate Little's birthday!

The fruits have hit the market in a big way, and the crop seems to be pretty good too. Juicy peaches and the darkest of cherries. Litchis with their juice running down your hands! Simply gorgeous.

Went by a fruit seller today, and he had the loveliest looking fruit. Bought a whole box of cherries, some peaches and litchis. Alas, with the cherries, the bottom-most layer was the not so great fruit. A risk one takes with buying a whole box. Quickly, quickly - the bottom-most layer had to be turned into something more palatable. Hence the crumble (British) or crisp (American).

Pitting cherries is easy, but time-taking - slice an 'X' into both ends then squeeze! The seed just pops out. Bored? Want to try another method? Cut around the seed and voila! there you have it! Else I believe there is a supposedly a gadget called a 'pitter'! Self explanatory I think.

Bottom-most layer was pitted and turned into a glass dish. About a cup and a half of cherries. I added a cup of sliced peaches for good measure. I used a combination of oats (about a cup) & butter (about 3 tbsp) for the topping, omitting the flour altogether - trying to keep the dish as healthy as possible. Added a bit of brown sugar to the fruit as well as topping.

The flavor of the peaches dominated the dish, cherries added a nice tartness.

I did manage to take a picture..until

Along came a Little fella! Who insisted on biting into a peach (he has 4 teeth which need to be used you see) and then wanted a taste of the crumble!

Having said and done all of this, I'd much rather eat peaches & cherries - however, this is a great way to use up fruit which is not all that eat worthy.

Broken hearted

Pineapple season is supposedly from July to September. In Mumbai however I've seen it available almost through out the year. We've suddenly rediscovered it yumminess and have been buying it almost everyday. I love the way the fruit vendors deftly peel and chop fruit, resulting in packet full of starry discs. Did you know pineapple is a good source of vitamin A and B and fairly rich in vitamin C and minerals like calcium, magnesium, potassium and iron?

Of late there's been a lot of chocolate baking at home, be it cookies, brownies, cupcakes - ALL chocolate! We love chocolate, but at the same time change was most welcome.

Another of Nigella Lawson's recipes. The only ingredient I omitted was candied cherries. Add if you have access to them, will definitely add colour to the cake.

Pineapple upside down cake

Ingredients
2 tablespoons sugar
6 slices pineapple (fresh or from the can - I used fresh, but ofcourse!)
3 tablespoons pineapple juice (Tropicana)
100g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon soda bicarbonate
100g soft butter
100g caster sugar
2 eggs
butter for greasing

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Butter a tin

2. Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of sugar on top of the buttered base, and then arrange the pineapple slices to fill up the base
3. Mix flour, baking powder, soda bicarb, butter, caster sugar and eggs

4. Pour in the 3 tablespoons of pineapple juice to thin it a little
5. Pour this mixture carefully over the pineapple; it will only just cover it, so spread it out gently
6. Bake for 30 minutes, then ease a knife around the edge of the tin, place a plate on top and, with move, turn it upside-down

It turned out just lovely, light and fluffy, super moist, with a subtle flavour of the pineapple, with a juicy slice of pineapple to top it off. It looked so so tempting, a piece was cut off even before I could take a picture, and as I write this blog most of it has been eaten by the husband and just the husband alone!