Double chocolate chunk cookies

This isn’t the first chocolate chip/chunk cookie post on this blog, and most certainly not the last. But before you roll your eyes and dismiss these sweet little discs of joy, at least stare at them for a while, and notice that there are two kinds of demonic babies in there. I meant dark chocolate and white chocolate; a pairing made in gluttonous heaven of sweet sin.

These golden halos of chewy rapture are sweet, rich, and sometimes responsible for stealthily increasing your waistline..but that’s a different story for a boring day. Make a big batch and freeze some for later I say.

These need no heavy machinery, or special equipments or even muscle power. The ingredients are few and it takes moments to conjure these lovers

just butter (softened to room temperature), dark brown sugar, white sugar, flour, an egg, salt, baking soda, vanilla extract, and of course chocolate chunks both dark and white. Feel free to use chocolate chips instead (only they won’t be as awesome)

add the softened butter to a bowl of choice. Ahem! notice my gorgeous new pink spatula?

rain in the white sugar

and the brown sugar and simply beat it together. It shouldn’t take long if the butter is nicely soft.

a minute of creaming together and it comes to look like this.

crack in the egg

splash in the vanilla

and beat again, until it looks something like this.

in a separate bowl, add in the flour and salt

and the baking soda

and mix to combine

and stir it into the butter sugar mixture.

mix until it just about comes together.

clatter in the chunks..the white

and the dark, and mix until just barely there. Do not over-mix the cookie dough. Please!

this is how it comes together. Now cover with a cling film and let it sit in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes.

in the meantime, line your baking tray with parchment or butter paper, ignore that this is full of creases.

after 45 minutes, we’re ready to bake. It’s easiest with an ice cream scoop.

like so

like so.. bake at 180℃ for 12-14 minutes, until the edges just start to slightly brown

tadaa!! do not attempt to transfer the hot cookies immediately onto a cooling rack, they will all too easily tear. let them rest for at least 2-3 minutes.

and finally this!

Dunk into milk, crumble over ice cream or just apply to face as is, they’re fantastic either way..and..and oh so gorgeous. The sides are slightly crispy, the center chewy, the chocolate chunks absolutely blowing these darlings into another dimension.

Ingredients

butter: 110g

white sugar: 70g (about 1/3rd cup)

brown sugar: 80g (a little less than 1/4 cup)

egg: 1

vanilla: 1 tsp

flour: 150g (1 and 1/4 cup)

baking soda: 1/2 tsp

salt: 1/4 tsp

dark chocolate (at least 60% cocoa): 70g (1/2 cup)

white chocolate : 70g (1/2 cup)

Preparation instructions:

Mix the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda) into a separate bowl and set aside.

In a clean bowl, add in the softened butter and the sugar and cream until they’re light and fluffy. Crack in the egg and add in the vanilla extract and beat again for about a minute.

Add in the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Tumble in the chocolate chunks and stir again until all chunks are just incorporated into the mixture.

Cover with a cling film and let it sit in the fridge for at least 30-45 minutes.

layer your baking tray with parchment paper, and using an ice cream scoop place them at least an inch apart, since these cookies will spread.

bake at 180℃ for 12-14 minutes, until the edges just start to slightly brown.

Let them rest for a few minutes before you transfer them to cool on a cooling rack.

Store in an airtight container and they should disappear by the end of day.

now you seriously gotta make these. Enjoy!

Chocolate chip cookie bars

So here it is, the most luscious enemy you’d want to feast on. Chocolate chip cookie turned into bars; so now not only do you get to eat a cookie, you get to eat it in a crispy thick slab of voluptuous bar. It’s rich, moist and crunchy, loaded with chocolate.. in all it’s an orgy of scrumptious exquisiteness. You might die eating it, but oh! what a happy death will it be. I do not recommend making a lot of these, because sweet and rich as they are, they’re also too easy to eat, and while your mouth might say no, your soul will want it all. I promise!

What’s more, it’s tinted ever so lightly with salted peanuts, and this sinful pairing of sweet and salt will definitely bring all the boys to the yard. So let’s get cracking!

basic chocolate chip cookie ingredients: butter, flour, vanilla, chocolate chips, salted peanuts, egg, salt ,baking soda,light brown sugar, regular white sugar.

no heavy machinery needed. A friendly steel bowl and wooden spoon will do the trick.

cream the butter for about a minute. it’d help a lot if your butter is at room temperature.

in with the sugars..the white

and the brown.

beat it again till it takes on a fluffy appearance or looks something likes this. You needn’t worry about going wrong. it’s a forgiving recipe.

pour in the vanilla.

crack in the egg

and beat again.

dump in the dry ingredients. This is flour, salt and baking soda.

mix it all in till it just comes together.

finally the salted peanuts

….and the chocolate chunks.

mix until well combined and keep aside for a minute.

prepare your cake tin. I lined it with aluminium foil and buttered it generously.

pour it in, or rather gloop it in and level the top using back of a spoon and bake at 180°C for 35 minutes, or until the top is crisp and burnished and cracking brown.

like so! beautifully brown and crunchy looking. Let it rest and cool completely.

cut into bars and apply to face.

Ingredients:

flour: 130 g (1 cup)

salt: 1/2 teaspoon

baking soda: 3/4 teaspoon

butter: 110 g

white granulated sugar: 100 g (1/2 cup)

light brown sugar: 70 g (1/3 cup)

vanilla extract: 1 teaspoon

egg: 1 large

bittersweet chocolate: 60 g

dark chocolate : 60 g (or use any combination you want)

salted peanuts: 20 g (3 tablespoons)

Preparation instructions: cream room temperature butter until light and airy. add in the sugars and beat again until fluffy. add the vanilla extract and egg and beat again for about a minute.

Add in the dry ingredients except chocolates and peanuts and mix well together. Finally ad in the peanuts and chocolates and mix until just combined.

Prepare a cake tin of choice preferably square and line with a buttered aluminium foil. scoop in the cookie dough and even out the top to make it flat. Bake at 180°C for 35 minutes or until the top looks crisp and the batter has risen a bit.

Let cool completely before slicing into bars.

This recipe is not only easy to put together but also all too easy to devour as I already mentioned. So instead of making some mere cookies, glitz it a bit and turn into bars.

enjoy!!

Chocolate mocha marbled bundt

I’m sorry if this sounds like a mouthful, but calling this magnificence a mere cake, would be like calling the ‘Taj Mahal’ a mere tomb. Did I go too far? It doesn’t matter, because what really matters is this cake, its refined elegance, sophisticated marbling and luxurious taste.

One bite and you’re in bundt heaven. Superb taste, beautiful crumb and criminally fun to put together.

This is the kind of cake (gasp! dies) that you could serve for dessert with a scoop of ice cream, or with coffee, cut into sort of thin slices, as I did.

In fact I had made it for a big party I had in my house, and served it as a post dinner accompaniment to coffee, since most of my Chinese friends are not very big on desserts, but Coffee! they love, and as I keep getting requested to make my regular vanilla cake, I decided change it a bit and turn it into something more exotic.

nothing too strenuous. Just good quality dark chocolate, instant coffee granules, salt, baking powder, butter, strong cooled coffee (the real deal not instant coffee this time),eggs, vanilla extract (I’m using my own,DIY) , flour, almond meal (grind some almonds in a grinder, jeez), sugar and milk.

ok, this is my bundt pan, fairly basic, fairly average, fairly good! We need to prepare this and yes you can use any other regular baking pan except it won’t be as exquisite.

first we need to prepare this pan so that our cake comes out in one perfect shape. brush with some melted butter.

paint it well, all the nooks, the crevices

all the walls.

sprinkle in a bit of flour. We’re taking precautions and there ain’t nothin’ wrong with that my love.

move around the pan in all directions so the flour sticks to the butter. Move that real well. turn it up, turn it down, turn it round and round and round, or just make sure it’s coated well

like so…. now forget about it for a while.

take a big bowl and dump in your flour

and almond meal

and salt

and baking powder…and phew!

mix it well and forget about it for a while.

in a separate bowl too sizes too small add some butter to the chocolate

then the coffee granules (the instant kind)

then your strong brewed coffee, the real kind

melt in a microwave in 30 second bursts, or melt in a heat proof bowl over simmering water. I shifted mine into a bigger bowl because things were getting pretty cramped. Now forget this for a while.

in a separate bowl, add the sugar to the butter which should be soft btw.

and beat together for a couple of minutes until they’re kinda fluffy.

add in the eggs one by one, beating briefly after each addition.

Once all the eggs are beaten in, you will end up with something like this.

add in your vanilla and beat for another half a minute or so.

now add your flour mixture and milk alternately. The flour mixture should be added in three stages and the milk in two, and the beginning and ending should be with the flour mixture. Got it? ok beat in 1/3rd of the flour mixture.

then half of the milk, then 1/3rd of the flour mixture, then rest of the milk and finally last of the flour mixture, and beat until just combined. This alternating stage is important so that you don’t end up over beating the batter.

the mixture will look like so, specked with almond meal. Do not over beat the batter at any stage or your cake will be tough and you’d hate it and blame me.

now bring back your chocolate mocha pool of sin.

Take a little less than half of the vanilla batter

and add it into this chocolate coffee pool of love and mix together very briefly

to get this.

now bring back your bundt pan and do this

then this, basically alternate between the batters

to form this

then take a tooth pick or a knife or in my case and offset spatula and swirl it lightly in the batter. Don’t Jackson Pollock this! You need to be gentle about it or the marble pattern will be all kinds of evil. But of course it’s your cake and you do what you want!

so mine looked something like this. Bake at 180℃ for about an hour

to get this! Let it cool in the pan for a while

and with all that greasing and flouring, it will come out like a song! Look at this! oh my, oh dear, oh wow! Carry this triumphantly to a table full of people, and see how quickly they whip out their phones to instagram this baby!!

marbled pattern in my cake.

Ingredients

Flour: 350g

Almond meal: 70g

baking powder: 1 teaspoon

salt: 1/2 teaspoon

butter: 210g + 2 tablespoons

dark chocolate: 90g

strong coffee: 60mls(1/4 cup)

instant coffee: 1 teaspoon

sugar: 230 g

eggs: 4

vanilla extract: 1 tablespoon

milk: 250mls (1 cup)

Baking instructions: butter the bundt pan and dust with flour to coat completely and shake off the excess flour. Keep aside

Mix together the flour, almond, salt and baking powder.

combine the chocolate, 2 tablespoons of butter, instant coffee and coffee and melt in a microwave. I did in 30 second burst mixing after each, until nicely melted and combined.You can also melt in a heatproof bowl over gently simmering water. Microwave is just easier and less fussy.

In a separate bowl, beat together the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add in the eggs one by one, beating well after each addition. beat in the vanilla extract. add the flour mixture in 3 portions and the milk in 2, so the beginning and ending should be with flour mixture. Beat only until just combined.

Add a little less than half the vanilla batter into the melted chocolate coffee and mix.

Start layering these 2 batters into the bundt pan as you wish. You can alternate them as I did, or even layer them separately with chocolate layer sandwiched in between vanilla.. Once done you can take a knife or a tooth pick and gently swirl it through the batter.

Bake at 180℃ for about 60 minutes. You might want to increase the time depending on your oven. Just keep checking by inserting a tooth pick, if it comes out clean, the cake is baked.

Once done let it cool for at least 10-15 minutes. Unmoulding would be very easy if you’ve greased and floured the pan well.

This cake will be your pride and joy and the centre piece of your party table.

enjoy!

Orange torte (gluten free)

I was dying to make something citrusy, something with a bright yellow colour, something that would remind me of sunshine and fill the house with summer smells of freshness.

I love desserts that have a citrus note to them and this torte was no exception. This sunny disc of luscious flavours is a gluten-free torte which I adapted from Stephanie Jaworski of joyofbaking.com . she has such a wonderful collection of fabulous recipes and it’s all explained in such perfect details that it’d be impossible to go wrong, and this torte was no exception. I came across her clemetine torte and knew that I had to make it.

I just want to emphasize on the luxuriousness of this cake and that it’s one of the best things to come out of my kitchen. It’s pure tasteporn..I mean it.

Since this is an orange torte you need oranges, almond flour, salt, baking powder, vanilla extract (I used a vanilla bean), sugar and eggs.

Before I start, I’d like to mention that these oranges need a good boiling because you want these golden beauties soft, soft, soft. I boiled these oranges a day in advance, and boiled them for about 1 hour until they were soft. Let them cool and store in fridge to use next day.

Also a word on almond flour/meal- please don’t get put off or think ‘meh this needs almond meal, who’s got that’? well I didn’t. I simply made it at home by blitzing almonds in a grinder until it resembled flour. It took me about 2 minutes. You can do it and you should, because this cake is extraordinarily delicious and moist and dense and orangey and you’d probably go to hell if you didn’t try this recipe.

ok moving on..

take a clean blender or food processor

throw in your oranges

crack in the eggs in the most clumsy fashion

add in the vanilla (I’m using a vanilla bean, but please use good vanilla extract if you want, I just happen to have a truckloads of these beans)

Once it’s all in

blitz to mix. It will turn into a golden pond of citrus love in a matter of seconds.

admire your handiwork and realize it resembles a milkshake and that you’re lactose intolerant..shed a few tears and get back to work.

in a separate large clean bowl.

dump in your almond flour/meal (whatever you call it)

add the sugar

in with the baking powder

don’t forget the salt

it’s all heaped in. good!

mix using a wire whisk. It’s just easier

mix well like so. I put a spoonful in my mouth and it tasted great already.

Now tip in your orange+egg+vanilla mixture

mix until it all comes together. Don’t be too vigorous.

let that rest a bit and prep the pan. Take a springfoam pan and using its base as guide, cut out a round piece of parchment paper. It’s not geometry, you needn’t be precise. (Again, don’t be put off by this step. It takes a mere minute and it’s important for the cake)

take a bit of melted butter and spread on the base of the tin.

like so.

this enables the parchment to stick better. Flatten it out well so that there are no air bubbles.

Brush the sides as well. I took an extra precaution and lined the base with aluminum foil to prevent any leakages. I have trust issues with this pan, and in return it doesn’t love me back.

Tip in your batter. Tap it a bit and bake @ 190℃

take it out after and hour. Check with toothpick in case it comes out clean and LET IT COOL COMPLETELY! I’m sorry for yelling but this how I yelled at the man who kept trying to eat it.

once completely cooled, very carefully and gently remove the base pan and peel off the parchment paper. Just be a little cautious. It’s a wonderfully moist cake so don’t be too heavy-handed with it.

cut yourself a piece and fall in love.

Note: this cake tastes best after a couple of days of making, and for best results you have to let it be undisturbed overnight.

Ingredients

Oranges : 450g (boiled until soft, best to do a day in advance)

Eggs: 6

vanilla extract : 1 teaspoon or vanilla bean.

Almond flour/meal : 250 g (if you can’t buy it, then grind the same wight of almonds until it resembles flour)

Sugar: 230 g

baking powder: 1 teaspoon

salt: a small pinch

How to: In a blender or food processor, blend in the oranges, eggs and vanilla.

In a separate large bowl mix in the almond flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Pour in the batter and mix well.

Line your springfoam tin with parchment paper after greasing the base and sides. To prevent leakages line the outside base with aluminium foil.

Pour in the batter and bake at 190℃ for 45-60 minutes. Check with toothpick to see if it’s baked. Mine took one whole hour.

Note: Around the 40 minute mark I covered the top with aluminum foil as it was getting a little brown.

Here’s another delicious picture. Enjoy!!

Baked potato fries

Potatoes!! Is there anything as comforting, as loving, as selfless, as versatile, as sexy, as sensuous as potatoes?? No, the answer is no!! Potatoes love you back they understand your feelings, they believe in giving and they care.

Sadly with modern times now, these beautiful spuds of love have been maligned as fattening food.. gasp! people are told to steer clear of them if they want to lose weight.. I say, what rot?? It’s not true. Potatoes aren’t bad for you, you’re bad for potatoes. Who thought of loading them with MSG and packing them into airy bags? you did! who thought of over salting them to the point of oblivion?? you did!! So please do not blame these humble vegetables for making you fat. Blame yourselves. Fried food WILL fatten you, it does not take a rocket scientist to know that, but when you bake these beauteous vegetables with the right amount of love, they love you back.

Case in point are these baked fries. They require no effort but give you all the love you need these winter months. Not only do they satisfy your spud cravings but they also don’t make you feel bad about it.

So for those moments of anguish when only a potato will do, bake these fries and get caught in the rapturous greed of smug satisfaction.

Just potatoes, garlic, olive oil (any oil really), mixed italian seasoning, paprika and sea salt.

before you start, line your baking sheet with foil.

wash and peel your potatoes. Remove any eyes and anything weird you don’t like seeing on your fries. You can keep the skin on the potatoes if you wish, just wash and scrub them really well.

Since my potatoes were not exactly equal in size, I cut mine to make three roughly equal sized potatoes. You don’t have to do this if your vegetables are symmetrically proportional.

I cut each potato segment into three, because I don’t exactly like very skinny fries, but if you do, please go ahead and make them as thin as you like.

So many potatoes.

I cut each segment in three’s.

I had almost equal sized fries, those which were a bit thick I cut them to size. Nobody messes with the size okay!

Into a pot of cold water to rinse away the starch. Let these be for a while now.

Now about their massage oil. Peel your cloves of garlic and mince them fairly well or chop, whatever you prefer.

add the seasoning mix. I’m using dry simply because It’s too cold and I have no fresh herbs left, but if you wish you could as easily use them fresh. Dried is just easier. These mixed Italian seasonings are pretty nifty.

in with the paprika. As little or as much as you like.

a glug of oil. This is about a tablespoon, but you could use more, you could use less.

stir with a spoon of choice until all is well combined.

Drain the potatoes and pat them dry with a kitchen towel or cloth of your choice.

give them a good pat. You want them completely dry.

tumble onto your lined baking sheet

make sure there isn’t a single wet spot. (snigger)

pour over the massage oil and this gets a little messy because you need to use your hands to evenly coat them

like so. Make sure the oil is distributed evenly and that every piece is well bathed.

sprinkle on the salt and into the oven at 200℃ for 35-40 minutes.

this is what they looked after 30 minutes of baking and the kitchen was smelling so divine. Garlic infused herbal incense. I was mesmerized and hungry.

like this at 38 minutes of baking, and I turned on the broiler for about 2 minutes because I was getting impatient and I love it when they turn golden and crisp on the top.

like so!!

How were they? what can I say? see for yourself. They were beautiful, they were crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. I gave them a final sprinkling of salt before I served them.

A flask of masala tea and potato fries.. what more can I ask this winter?

Ingredients

Potatoes (as many as you want)

Garlic- 2 to 3 cloves

Italian seasoning – 1 teaspoon

Paprika – 1 teaspoon

Salt to taste ( I used 1 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt)

Olive oil/any vegetable oil – 1 to 2 tablespoon

RECIPE: Line a baking tray with aluminium foil. Wash and peel your potatoes and cut each into 3 segments and each segment into two or three fries, depending on how thick or thin you want them. Soak them into a bowl of cold water to remove excess starch.

Into a separate bowl, mince your garlic, add in the Italian seasoning, paprika and oil and mix well.

Drain the potatoes and dry thoroughly.

Tip them on your aluminium lined baking tray and pour over the prepared oil mixture and coat every fry with the mixture, making sure they’re all evenly coated.

bake at 200℃ for 35-40 minutes until deeply golden. Depending on your oven the baking time will vary. In some ovens it might take longer in some lesser, so keep an eye.

Enjoy!!

Garlic basil focaccia

Focaccia sounds like an enigmatic lover. It’s the kind of romantic name that would roll off my tongue after going easy on the wine, when in the throws of passion I’d utter in a husky femme fatale voice and say ‘oh focaccia my love, I have killed Valentino to be with you forever’ or something idiotic like that.. except Focaccia isn’t some chivalrous lover, it’s a chivalrous carb form, a wondrous bread if you must. A sort of flattened bread, slicked with olive oil and a treat to end all treats. Much like focaccia the lover, you’d want to take this bread back to bed with you.

Wonderful as it is, I decided to up the ante by adding in hints of garlic and basil, seeing that harsh winters were not too kindly with my basil plant I decided to experiment with focaccia and the results were nothing short of magnificent. It was delightful and not too overwhelming. The best part however, was that it was easy to make.

Not too fussy and without too many ingredients

Flour, sugar, yeast, salt, olive oil, basil and garlic.. also water which I forgot to picture.

Chop the garlic and basil not too fine.

we begin with the garlic part of focaccia and I do this by making some garlic oil. I didn’t want to put bits of garlic in my bread as I want the garlic flavors, but not too pronounced. Heat some olive oil in a pan or vessel of choice.

add in the chopped bits of garlic

let the oil heat up slowly sizzling the garlic

slowly as the oil heats the garlic will start oozing its flavours.

like so..

and when it just starts turning brown you turn off the heat because they will keep getting darker in the hot oil.

at this moment when the oil is really hot you also add in the chopped basil

the basil will sizzle with the garlic and you’d wonder why this aroma has never been used for creating incense sticks.

Leave it to cool and start with prepping flour for the bread.

sugar into a cup

followed by warm water

followed by sprinkling of yeast. leave it to proof for about 10 minutes and enjoy the proofing show from afar without disturbing it please.

Use a big bowl or vessel of choice for the initial mixing of the flour. here is the flour in question.

sprinkle in the salt.

and mix and create a crater of sorts in the middle. This is where our liquid items will go i.e the yeasty water and the oil, and speaking of the oil..

aha!! it has cooled down and now we just have a small task at hand.. we need to get rid of these bits of garlic.

I use chopsticks, but please feel free to use fingers, spoon, fork.. it’s your oil.

chopsticks are efficient. this is in essence very good aromatic and strong-smelling garlic oil with a hint of basil. here is where I realized I need MORE BASIL!!

Back our yeasty water. see how well it has foamed.

Water into the flour

Garlic basil oil into the flour and get a mixing

mix with yer hands until it all just comes together.

you need space for kneading.. so dump it on a very very clean surface and start kneading.

I knead by pushing the dough forward and pulling it back. This is where I thought would be a good time to add some more basil.

Basil meet dough. Dough meet basil.

cover and knead

like so

and like this

keep kneading to form a smooth ball. I worked on this dough for about 10 minutes. It gives you serious muscles but if you’re not a fan of working out then by all means use your muggle gadgets.

Now this dough, like any other yeast dough needs to rest. I used the same bowl from the initial mixing and poured in some oil, because we do not want our lover to stick do we?

coat the entire dough with the oil and you can see that it’s a beautiful soft dough.

Cover and let rest for at least 1-2 hours or until the dough has doubled in size. If your house isn’t warm enough it might take longer but don’t fret.. it will get fatter.

there!! so big, so beautiful. Flecked so daintily with basil.. sigh!!

Now retrieve a pan or tin from the abyss of your pantry which you’d want the focaccia to bake in. Oil generously!

Pull your risen dough out of its hibernating vessel. You don’t need to deflate or anything, because we will soon be puncturing its smooth exterior with much-needed dimples.

Plop it on the oil.

and using your fingers, spread it to fit into the pan.

Like so. You only need gently coax it with your fingers and this smooth dough will fit beautifully. If you want a very fat focaccia please use a smaller, less wider pan.. however I like them lovers a bit lean so…

Now we oil it more, because it’s focaccia and it needs the good stuff. be sure to use good olive oil all the way.

Massage in the oil gently.

Cover well with a cling film and let rest again for another 45 minutes or until the dough has visibly risen and puffed up.

like so.

It needs some more olive oil. Don’t be shy and spread on. Don’t forget this is focaccia not some virtuous salad, so spread on the oil and do not feel ashamed.

like so. Make sure all it’s pretty dimples have some amount of oil pooling in it.

scatter some sea salt on top and now it’s ready for the oven.

Time for celebration!! a jubilant slab of exquisite focaccia to be feasted on. devour with your eyes for now and let cool a bit.

while it cooled I brushed some more olive oil because why not?

There you go!! Dip in some more olive oil and enjoy!!!

The garlic and basil flavors were not overwhelming but very mild and subtle. If you want bigger flavors, by all means increase the garlic and basil amounts.

Ingredients

Strong bread Flour 250g (about 2 cups)

Warm water 200 mls (about 3/4th cup)

Yeast 1 teaspoon

Sugar 1 tablespoon

Salt 1 teaspoon

Basil 10-15 leaves or more for stronger basil flavour

Garlic 1 clove (more if you want a stronger garlic taste)

Extra virgin Olive oil 75 mls (5 tablespoons) + more

Sea salt (optional) 1 teaspoon

Recipe:

Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the chopped garlic until it starts turning brown. Turn off the heat under the oil and add the chopped basil. Let cool. Once cooled discard the garlic and retain the basil.

Mix the sugar and warm water and add the yeast. Let it start foaming on top. It takes about 5-10 minutes.

In a separate bowl add the flour and salt. Make a well in the center and add the yeast water and oil. Mix until it starts clumping together and knead to form a smooth dough. In case the dough is too dry add some more water a little at a time. Knead for at least 10 minutes until the dough is very smooth and slightly springy to the touch.

Let the dough rest in a well oiled bowl for at least 1-2 hrs or until it has doubled in size.

Once the dough has risen, tip it out on a well oiled baking sheet of your choice and spread using your fingers to give it the characteristic focaccia dimples.

Smear some more oil on top and cover with cling film and let rest in until puffed up (about 45 minutes)

Once it’s risen pour some more oil ( about 3-4 tablespoons) on top and let it pool in the focaccia dimples. Sprinkle some good sea salt on top or regular salt or none if you wish.

Bake at 190℃ for 25- 30 minutes or until the top has turned golden and the bread has risen gorgeously.

Let cool for a bit and brush again with some olive oil.

Serve with hummus (see recipe here) or just plain olive oil.

I eat mine with butter 😉

Enjoy!!

Lemon bars

These winters when the sun is scarce and sky seems frozen, these lemon bars will inject that bit of sunshine and tang to your day. I had earlier been of the view that chocolate heals all ills, chocolate is the universal answer and that chocolate gives meaning to your life… however once I made these bars I realized It’s actually these sweet lemon bars that can actually bring about world peace. No seriously, its true!! These lemon bars aren’t just good they are dazzling with sexy oomph!

They are super chic, exquisite and the taste is like a mouthful of magnificent citrus love. It makes no sense because these bars make no sense. They are so ridiculously good, very zippy, tart, sweet and rich all at the same time. You have to MAKE THESE to believe it, and you’d say, that crazy internet girl was right about this one.

The best part about these is that they are easy to make. Not fussy like a lemon meringue pie. Easy to put together and easier still to eat. But careful, these yellow babies are rich!!

These bars are made of a shortbread base and a mouth-watering lemon filling. Here is how its done.

For the shortbread base

very easy. Just three ingredients. Butter, sugar and flour.

In a clean bowl with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar, until it’s umm creamed. It should resemble something like this or better.

Add in the flour and beat again

until it just starts clumping together. Once it starts coming together we stop.

Tip this shortbread mixture into a baking vessel of choice. Mine happened to be a square silicon mould (7 x 7 inches).

spread it around as well as you can and bake at 180℃ for 15-18 minutes or until the sides just start turning a shade brown.

like so. Leave this to cool and prepare the filling.

The filling is fairly straightforward. Just eggs, lemon juice, sugar, lemon zest and flour.

we start with eggs

followed by sugar

then light mixing.

and some lemon zest

add in the lemon juice

finally in with the flour and a good beat up.

Mix it until it looks something like this, which means stir without caution for a couple of minutes and you’re there.

tip this batter in the now cooled shortbread base

making sure it’s evenly spread and bake at 175℃ for 18-20 minutes

My oven got a little too hot, hence the tan, but if you think the top of the bars is getting browned too quickly then just tent it with silver foil. This tan is not going to affect the final outcome because it’s just pleasantly golden not overly burnished, so don’t worry. You will know the top is done when it’s just set and there’s a slight jiggle to it.

You have to let it cool complete before you do anything to it. Mine took about 45 minutes.

pass some powdered sugar through a sieve.

blanketing completely

cut into squares and thank Ma nature for creating lemons.

I cut mine into fairly small bars, simply because these are so rich and so sweet and citrusy that it’s all too easy to eat them.

You wouldn’t believe the smugness you’d feel after making these, because they come out perfect every single time, even if you’re making these for the first time. They work great as desserts and taste unexpectedly delicious. Make these Now!!

Recipe

For the shortbread

butter 110 g ( a little less than 1/2 cup)

powdered sugar 30 g (about 2 tablespoons)

flour 125 g (about a cup)

– In a clean bowl cream together the butter and sugar using a hand mixer.

add in the flour and beat until it just starts to come together.

Tip into a baking dish and evenly spread to form a base.

Bake at 180℃ for 18-20 minutes or just until the sides lightly brown

allow to cool.

For the lemon filling

Eggs 2

sugar 170 g (a little less than a cup)

lemon juice 70 mls (2.5 tablespoons)

lemon zest 1 tablespoon

flour 30 g (about 2 tablespoons)

– In a clean bowl beat the sugar and eggs until smooth.

add in the remaining ingredients and mix well.

Pour over the now cooled shortbread base making sure it’s evenly spread out.

Bake at 175℃ for 18-20 until just set with a bit of jiggle. If the top starts getting too brown, tint with a foil.

Allow to cool completely and sift some powdered sugar on top before cutting into bars.

You do not want to miss this.

Enjoy!!

Chocolate orange cake

Orange and chocolate when put together, open a portal of another dimension, which leads you into a parallel universe where there is endless happiness, where eating more makes you lose weight and where lemons give you life.

Orange and chocolate form something so deep, so intense and flavourful and so unbelievably delicious that you’d think the person who discovered this was given a nobel prize or at least he should be given one asap.

This cake is so rich, so damp, dense, dark and irresistible that you wouldn’t be able to stop yourself from devouring this completely. It’s almost impossible to put in words but it tastes like a mouthful of happy malevolence. Crazy right? but this cake has to be made to believe and this is one of the best desserts you could serve at a dinner party. It’s gorgeous and it has an air of elegant simplicity with the most aromatic and not so subtle flavours of orange and chocolate.

The other best part about this cake is that it’s easy and it can be made into just one bowl.

Just flour, salt, baking soda, butter, best quality dark chocolate, sugar, orange marmalade, vanilla, orange liqueur (optional), eggs.

I started by melting the butter and the chocolate into a microwavable bowl. You could by all means use a double boiler but this was easier and faster.

Stir together and exercise enough restrain to not dive into this dark pool of melted chocolate and butter. It’s so easy that I’m using a tiny wooden spoon and a bowl two sizes too small to make this cake.

Into this add in the orange marmalade

the sugar

the orange liqueur

the vanilla extract

and stir. You can see lumps of the marmalade I put in and this is what helps the texture of this cake making it moist with small pieces of marmalade studded in the chocolate.

In with the beaten eggs

and gradually adding a bit of flour and stirring to incorporate. Instead of adding in the whole heap, add in a tablespoon at a time and gently mix in without over beating.

like this

to finally get this.

Into a cake mould. You can also make cupcakes out of this and more often when I have a lot of people, I actually make these into small cupcakes and these need absolutely no frosting/icing of any kind… none!!

Now because this cake is damp, it takes a bit longer than usual cakes but this is so glorious and intensely aromatic. It’s fabulous.

You really have to make this cake and see for yourself how easy it is to create something so rich and elegant yet so simple. This cake is a hit and you’d be asked for seconds and thirds. You really have to make this..

Ingredients

butter 125 g (unsalted)
dark chocolate 100g (at least 60%cocoa)
Orange marmalade 150 g
Orange liqueur (optional) 30 mls/1 tablespoon
sugar 120 g
salt 1/4 teaspoon
baking soda 1/2 teaspoon
eggs 2 large beaten
flour 150g
vanilla extract 1 teaspoon

Recipe: Melt the butter and the chocolate. Add in the marmalade, sugar, liqueur and vanilla. Stir to combine

add in the eggs and mix thoroughly.

Add the flour slowly or one tablespoon at a time and mix completely without over beating.

The batter will be very moist. Bake at 180℃ for 45-50 minutes. Let cool completely.

This cake needs no icing or frosting at all.

Alternatively you can use this recipe and make cupcakes as well.

Enjoy!!!

Lemon meringue pie

This is the official dessert served to all sinners in hell. It’s also known as crack for angels! This slice of sunny gold is actually all the happiness in the world bound into a pie. It’s sweet, lemony, buttery and guilt inducing. Guilt you would happily live with, guilt that would never weigh on your conscience, guilt that would force you to commit this sin over and over again. Lemon meringue pie is also a perfect substitute for love and all those carnal pleasure everyone keeps raving about.

This is a time-consuming recipe, but that does not mean it is difficult. It’s easy and the time that takes making this is more than worth it, because time hasn’t eaten this and if it had, time wouldn’t be such an ass at times.

So let’s get the basic first!

this pie has three parts. The bottom pie crust which is like the tissues & the muscle fibres of a body, then it has the lemon filling which is like the soul of a body and finally the meringue which is like skin and makeup. So there you have it. This is easy stuff! let us begin

Pie crust ingredients: flour, water, butter, sugar and salt.

Make sure the butter is very cold and cut into cubes. Then into a bowl with the flour, sugar and salt we need to work the butter into the flour until it resembles fat breadcrumbs. you can either use a food processor/pastry cutter/fork or just use your finger tips and mush the butter and flour together, making sure the butter stays cold at all times.

this is what you want it to look like. Form this into a dough by putting in a tablespoon water at a time until it comes together to form a dough. DO NOT KNEAD!! we don’t want any gluten formation. using a spoon or a butter knife make criss cross actions until you feel the dough starts clumping at which time you shall stop and very gently with your hands form into a ball.

Like so!

Divide into two parts, Wrap them in cling film and stick into the fridge for about 20-30 minutes.

I do not have the rolling out pictures of the dough because my hands were greasy and floury but it’s very easy.

You only need one dough ball for this. Freeze the other one for the next time you want to make a pie.Once you’ve retrieved the dough from the fridge just roll it out on a lightly floured surface and keep rotating it so that it doesn’t stick on the platform. Once it’s the size of your pie tin, you need to lay it on to fit and cut the excess from the edges.

Another simple way it to break small balls off your dough and line them in the pie tray and with the back of a glass just flatten them evenly so that all the sides are covered with the dough.

Once you’ve lined the pie crust in the pie tin, poke some holes into it so that it doesn’t rise while baking. We are going to blind bake this pie crust, which simply means this..

Line your poked pie crust with aluminum foil and fill with beans/rice or pie weights if you happen to have them. This will ensure that there is no silly rising in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes

After 15 minutes let the pie crust out and let cool.

Now for phase 2

The soul of the pie: Lemon filling. You don’t need egg whites for this but you need them for the meringue, also I forgot to mention that you also need some butter (not pictured) because it’s forever alone okay?

Into thick bottomed sauce pan, add the sugar and the corn flour/ corn starch whatever you call in your part of the world.

Mix to combine

add water

lemon juice

On a low flame start mixing without stopping for even a second. Thou shalt not stop, no matter what. Keep stirring with a whisk, your arms will be sore but the pie will be delicious.

After a few minutes of whisking CONTINUOUSLY this is what will happen. It’s called magic. The corn starch/flour will form this..

This is what you want!

Put a spoonful of this hot mess into your egg yolks to temper them. You don’t want lemony scrambled eggs, so do this!

Put these tempered eggs back into the saucepan where we have some weird magic going, and now look at this transform

Very quickly add in the zest and the butter (not pictured, it’s forever alone).

Whisk, whisk and whisk. Keep the flame low.

Lift your whisk and admire your handiwork, Turn off the flame and keep it aside to cool for a bit.

Let’s get on to forming the skin & makeup of this pie.. I mean the meringue. Feel like a god!

Egg whites and a faithful beater

Beat till it’s all foamy, and add in sugar

Keep beating until it looks like this. It resembles whipped cream, but it is actually whipped eggs! The should look nice & shiny ok?

Assembly!!

Lemon filling into the pie crust now completely cooled.

Even it a bit

Top with the meringue.

Take a good look. I made pretty peaks!! Push into an oven and wait patiently.

Once the meringue is nicely browned you know it’s done. Pull it out and let it COOL COMPLETELY! you have to wait for at least 2-3 hours before you push this in your mouth. The cooling step is absolutely essential if you want an awesome pie, and as I mentioned that wait is worth it. I went out for a movie while it cooled. Just giving you some ideas..

And once it’s cooled you can slice it and bathe in it.

This is how it looks from the top

and from the side. If you want to know what it tasted like, then let me tell you that you’d want to take it to bed with you.

Make it this weekend.

Ingredients

For the pie crust

Flour 350 g

Sugar 1 tablespoon

Salt 1 tablespoon

Butter 200 g (cold & cubed)

Cold water 3-4 tablespoon

For the lemon filling

3 Egg yolks

sugar 100 g

cornflour/corn starch 5 tablespoons

Butter 30 g

Lemon juice 4 tablespoons

Lemon zest 1 teaspoon

Meringue

3 Egg whites

Sugar 50 g

Recipe : Into a large bowl sift in the flour, salt and sugar and add the very cold butter and work into the flour until the flour resembles fat crumbs. You can also process it. Add one tablespoon water at a time until the dough just comes together or starts clumping. Do not add too much water to the dough.

Divide the dough into two balls and wrap and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes. I use only one dough ball since my pie tin is 6 inches and freeze the rest for next time.

Roll the dough on a floured surface making sure it doesn’t stick to the surface, rotating every few seconds helps. Line in the pie tin and cut off the extra from the edges.

Make holes all over using a fork and line with aluminum foil weighing down with beans or weights. Bake in a pre heated oven at 180℃ for 15-18 minutes. Remove the foil and let it cool.

Lemon Filling: In a heavy bottomed sauce pan add the sugar, corn starch, water and lemon juice. Whisk continuously over a low flame until it starts coming together and looks weirdly congealed.

Take a spoonful of this mixture and add into the egg yolks to temper them.

Add the now tempered egg yolks into the sugar mixture and whisk again, adding the butter and the lemon zest. keep whisking for another few minutes until the mixture is hot and then remove from the flame and let cool slightly.

Meringue: Into a very clean bowl, beat the egg whites to form a somewhat foamy mixture and gradually add in the sugar and keep beating until it starts resembling shiny whipped cream and holds peaks.

Assembly: Fill the pie crust with the lemon filling and smooth it out evenly. Top with the meringue and bake at 170℃ for 30- 35 minutes or until the top starts browning.

Let cool completely for at least 2-3 hours before slicing.

Enjoy!

Rose flavoured rose cookies

These are rose cookies! They smell of rose and they somewhat look like one. Okay they might not completely look like one, but the fact is that they smell so subtly rose perfumed that you might as well be reading Arabian Nights.

The scent of rose always evokes something so mysterious and heady yet lightly perfumed that I just had to make one of these babies for me.

Lately I’ve been so enamored by rose related food that I absolutely had to create something sweet. I was a bit skeptical at first, since I just wanted a subtle hint of the rose and not the full on heady perfumed punch, but once these were made, I knew this was a triumphant test recipe. It’s here to stay and I won’t make any changes to this. I stick to this rose cookie recipe, I do!!

Before I begin, let me just tell you how wonderful they tasted. They were sweet with a subtle rose flavour and absolutely perfect. These didn’t make through an entire day and were greedily devoured even before they could cool completely.

So here goes..

The ingredients were simple enough. Butter, flour, sugar, rose jam, egg, vanilla extract and rose-water. In case there is no rose jam available you can up the quantity of rose-water, however it wouldn’t be all that difficult to get rose jam around your area, I ordered mine online.

You don’t need any heavy machinery for this. A bowl and a wooden would just about do it. Begin by beating the butter until light and creamy.

Add in a tablespoon of the rose jam.

beat to incorporate the rose jam. Can you see the flecks of rose petals? well they are there somewhere.. did you see them? yes? good!

add the sugar and beat again.

This does not look pretty but it doesn’t have to.ahem!

In with the egg.

beat vigorously. This is a very good work out and you’d thank me later for all the muscles you’ve built.

I added in about a 1/4 tsp of vanilla and I didn’t take a picture. I’m pretty rebellious that way

In with a tablespoon of rose-water and I cannot tell you how beautiful it smelled. I have a good mind to actually dab this around my neck instead of perfume. I’m serious.

Finally the flour, and believe it or not but this right here is the cookie batter or dough. easy peasy.

You see this? this is everything mixed well. I’d show you all the muscles I’ve built in this process, but I’m too modest.

Now the fun part! Putting the second rose in the rose flavoured Rose cookies part.. just so you know, the cookie dough is made and of course you can scoop out the cookie dough or batter and bake it just as it is, but I’m fiddly by nature and I had too much time on my hands, so I pulled out my piping bag with a star tip and decided to make swirls.

Put your piping bag in a long glass and scoop in the batter. You have no idea, how difficult this was to photograph! Don’t fill it up to the top because you need enough space to gather the edges of the piping bag and with a twisting motion push the batter to the tip. Squeeze out a bit so that there is no gap or air bubbles and star piping your roses.

I lined my baking sheet with a parchment paper and went on to work. It’s completely up to you how you want the cookies to be. You can make them large or small, I went with the medium size. This is not a necessary step. As I mentioned you can just scoop out the cookie dough and make round cookies and completely avoid this piping madness.

Pretty cookies!!!!!!!! bake them at 180℃ for 12 minutes. If you want them a bit more tinted and browned you could probably do it for about 14 minutes. If you want them underdone then 10 minutes should be about alright.

Seeeeeee!!! pretty pretty rosy cookies. Remember to let them cool on a wire rack before you store them.

Here’s another picture..

Ingredients:

Butter 80g

Sugar 100g

Flour 125g

Egg 1

Vanilla extract 1/4 tsp

Rose jam 1 tablespoon

Rose water 1 tablespoon

Recipe: In a bowl beat the room temperature butter until light and fluffy. Add in the rose jam and beat to incorporate. Beat in the sugar followed by the egg until well combined. add in the vanilla extract and the rose-water and mix well. Finally add in the flour and mix.

The cookie batter is done. You can either scoop these onto the parchment paper and bake or you can put this into a piping bag and using a star tip or in fact any tip you wish, pipe out swirls to make it vaguely resemble a flower. Bake at 180℃ for 12 minutes.

Enjoy!!

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