Crème Caramel

Crème Caramel, Flan de Leche or Caramel Custard whatever you call, it won't change the deliciousness of this extremely melt in mouth dessert. Each country whether its America, Spain, France, India or any Asian has its own recipe for this caramel coated custard. 

The variation of names and recipes is self explanatory that how much this dessert is appreciated internationally. Whatever you call it or whichever recipe you follow the taste of this silky smooth custard always pleases your taste buds.

Crème Caramel is said to have a French connection which requires very few ingredients which is easily available in our pantry. It has two main steps:

• Making the Caramel
• Making the Custard

Once you master the first step then you'll always get your Crème Caramel perfect. It is a perfect dessert for any party. For parties we usually make multiple dishes in maincourse but when it comes to dessert we search for something quick and easy. This dessert is the answer to all your search queries.

So let's get started:

Ingredients:

1. Evaporated Milk: 1 cup

2. Heavy Whipping Cream: 1 cup

3. Sugar: 1 cup + 1/2 cup

4. Eggs: 3

5. Vanilla Extract: 1 tbsp

6. Hot Water: as required

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

2. Place a pan full of water on medium heat.

3. In a pan add half cup of sugar with 2 tbsp of water and place it on medium heat. Let it boil. Don't stir the caramel otherwise the sugar will crystallize. If required rotate the pan occasionally. As the sugar changes it's color to golden turn off the heat.

4. Now carefully pour the caramel into individual ramekins or baking dish to coat the bottom. Keep them aside.

5. Crack the eggs in a separate bowl and beat them well. Add the evaporated them and mix well until well combined.

6. Add sugar and vanilla extract into the eggs and evaporated milk mixture. Mix well until well incorporated.

7. In the mean time beat the heavy whipping cream until you get soft peaks. Add the cream to the mixture and mix very gently.

8. Pour the custard into the caramel coated ramekins or baking dish. Place the ramekins into the baking tray so that it has enough space in between the ramekins.

9. Add hot water into the baking tray and place the baking tray very carefully into the oven. Bake the custard for around 30-40 mins until set (If you are using baking dish then it will take 50-60 mins).

10. Take the tray out of the oven and let them cool down. Flip the custard into the serving tray and pour the caramel on top of the custard.

11. Enjoy the silky smooth Crème Caramel.

Note:

For regular updates just click the "Like" button on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Flavors-Of-My-Plate/737185573034586?ref=hl

You can also follow me on:

Instagram: http://instagram.com/ananyabhowmick

Twitter: https://twitter.com/flavorsofmyplat

If you want the recipe in Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu (or any other language) click on the Google Translate button on the left side.

Cream Horns

From past one and half month I'm just roaming around my oven. I know that but I'm so addicted to it that I become helpless when it comes to baking. The aroma of freshly baked cakes, cupcakes and cookies pulls me towards my oven. 

Whenever I go to my nearby grocery store I always get stick to the bakery section those cute little cupcakes, beautifully decorated cakes, freshly baked breads magnetize me. I can fell the magnetic properties of that section. My husband literally drags me out of there. Anyway enough of rambling lets come back to today's recipe.

Cream Horns or Kremrole is a pastry made with flaky or puff pastry and filled with flavored whipped cream. My husband love them but the saddest part is we don't get them in our local grocery store. We get them in an Asian Store tough. I'm not a big fan of these cute little pastries, last time when we bought it , they somehow invited me and compled me to try one; that day I decided to try them at home. But I was not having molds or funnels for making the cream horns then I "Googled" a little bit and got the idea to make these cutie pies without molds.

So let's start making these Cream Horns without molds:

Ingredients:

1. Puff Pastry Sheet:1
2. Heavy Whipping Cream: 1 cup
3. Powdered Sugar: 1/2 cup
4. Granulated Sugar: 1/2 cup
5. Vanilla Essence: 1/4 tsp
6. Egg: 1
7. Flour: for dusting
8. Ice cream cones: 5-6

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.

2. Prepare the ice-cream cones by wrapping it with aluminium foil and lightly greasing it with butter.

3. Thaw puff pastry sheets as directed. It's absolutely okay if you see some cracks in it, seal it with help of water by just wetting your fingers.

4. Lightly dust your work surface with flour and roll out the puff pastry gently.

5. Cut into equal long strips (2 cm wide approx).

6. Take a strip and roll onto the prepared ice-cream cones, push down and overlap as you go. Repeat the process for rest of the strips.

7. Crack the egg in a bowl, add 1/4 tsp of water and beat it with fork. Brush the prepared puff pastry with the egg and sprinkle granulated sugar.

8. Place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake the pastries in the oven for 15 mins.

9. In the meanwhile beat the heavy whipping cream with powdered sugar and vanilla essence until you get stiff peaks. Keep it aside.

10. Take the pastries out of the oven and let it cool down.

11. When the pastries are completely cooled fill in the whipped cream with the help of a cream bag or a ziploc bag.

12. Enjoy !!

Note:

For regular updates just click the "Like" button on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Flavors-Of-My-Plate/737185573034586?ref=hl

You can also follow me on:

Instagram: http://instagram.com/ananyabhowmick

Twitter: https://twitter.com/flavorsofmyplat

If you want the recipe in Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu (or any other language) click on the Google Translate button on the left side.

Golap Pithe.......Edible Rose Garden

As I'm celebrating "Poush Sankranti" or "Makar Sankranti" on my blog so my posts are revolving around "Pithe". Let me just give you an idea of what this festival is all about, so basically its a major harvesting festival which is celebrated in many parts of India. As India is a very diversified country, this festival is celebrated in many regions but with different names: 

Assam==> Bhogali Bihu

Andhra Pradesh==> Makara Sankranti

Bihar, UP and Rajasthan==> Sankrat

Gujarat==> Uttrayan

Goa and Maharashtra==> Makar Sankranti

Himachal Pradesh==> Magha Saaji

Karnataka==> Suggi

Kerala==> Pongal

Punjab==> Maghi

Tamil Nadu==> Pongal
Goa and Maharashtra==> Sankrant

West Bengal==> Poush Sankranti

I believe it really doesn't matter how a same festival is being celebrated in different regions, but what counts is same level of happiness that it brings along.

We Bengalis celebrate it with "Pithe-Payesh". For those who don't know what is "Pithe" so let me introduce it to you its basically a type of cake or dimsum common in the Eastern India and Bangladesh. They are made up of rice flour or wheat flour batter (or dough), stuffed with sweet or savory ingredients and then cooked and "Payesh" is rice pudding which is made with "Nolen Gur" (date palm jaggery) available only this time of the year.

To keep the spirit up of this festival I chose a very unique dessert called "Golap Pithe". It involves not only "Cooking" but "Crafting" too and when these two combine they give a recipe which pleases your mind aesthetically.

So let's begin:

Ingredients:

1. All purpose flour: 1 and 1/2 cup

2. Sugar: 2 cups

3. Milk: 1 cup

4. Egg: 1

5. Ghee (clarified butter): 2 tbsp

6. Green Cardamoms(crushed): 5-6

7. Salt: 1/2 tbsp

8. Oil: for frying pithe

9. Water: 3 cups

Method:

1. In a heavy bottomed pan boil two cups of water with sugar on medium heat. Stir in between and remove the scums (if any). Once sugar is dissolved completely reduce the heat.

2. In another pan boil a cup of water with salt on medium-high heat. Once the water starts boiling add the flour and mix well with a wire whisk. Remove the mixture from heat and let it cool down.

3. Crack the egg in a bowl and beat it nicely with a fork. 

4. Add ghee, beaten egg (very little at a time) and remaining crushed cardamoms to the flour mixture. Knead well until the mixture comes together into a dough.

5. Make small balls (8-10) out of the dough. Take one ball at a time and roll it into a flat puri (bread) with your rolling pin. 

6. Now take the puri (bread) and cut a circle with the help of a cookie cutter. In the same manner make the other two puris (breads). We need three puris (breads) to make one flower.

7. Put one puri on top of the other and make three cuts leaving the center as shown in the figure. Take one part at a time and fold it inwards to form the petals. Use water to seal the edges together. Continue the process until you are done.

8. Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan on medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and add the pithe. Fry them until they get a nice golden hue. Take them out on a plate lined with paper-towel. 

9. Put them in sugar syrup (the syrup should be warm enough) and let it rest for good 2-4 hours.

10. Enjoy these beautiful "Golap Pithe" with your friends and family.

Note:

For regular updates just click the "Like" button on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Flavors-Of-My-Plate/737185573034586?ref=hl

You can also follow me on:

Instagram: http://instagram.com/ananyabhowmick

Twitter: https://twitter.com/flavorsofmyplat

If you want the recipe in Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu (or any other language) click on the Google Translate button on the left side.

Strawberry Mousse Cake.........It's his Birthday

Yes, I know since last few posts I have been playing around Strawberries a lot. Strawberry Swiss Roll, Strawberry Shortcake Shoooters and now Strawberry Mousse Cake - they all have Strawberries in common. It's my husband's birthday and he loves strawberry flavor so I was treating him with desserts made with it.

I baked this cake for his birthday party but you don't need any special occasion to bake a cake. As we all know it must be someone's birthday somewhere so have a slice :) Moreover it's holiday season what else we need to dig into a slice of cake!

So, without any further ado let's begin with the recipe:

Ingredients:

For the sponge cake:

1. All purpose flour: 1 cup

2. Unsalted butter: 1 cup 

3. Sugar: 1 cup

4. Baking Powder: 1 tbsp

5. Vanilla Extract: 1 tbsp

6. Milk: 1/4 cup

7. Salt: 1 tsp

8. Eggs: 4

For Buttercream Icing:

1. Vegetable shortening: 1/2 cup

2. Butter: 1/2 cup

3. Powdered Sugar: 4 cups

4. Vanilla Extract: 1 tbsp

5. Milk: 2 tbsp

For Strawberry Mousse:

Check out my recipe of Mango Mousse (http://flavorsofmyplate.blogspot.com/2014/11/eggless-mango-mousseno-cook-no-bake.html). I just replaced mango puree with the stawberry puree.

Method:

For making Buttercream Icing:

1.In a bowl beat vegetable shortening and butter with electric mixer until light and fluffy.

2. Add vanilla extract.

3. Gradually add powdered sugar one cup at a time. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to combine everything. 

4. If the icing appears to be dry add milk. Beat until the icing appears fluffy and glossy.

For making the sponge cake:

1. The first thing to keep in mind while make a sponge cake is that all your ingredients should be at room temperature. So bring all the ingedients to room temperature.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

3. Grease a 9 inch round pan with butter and line it with a parchment paper.

4. Sift together all purpose flour, baking powder and salt. Keep it aside.

5. Take unsalted butter and powdered sugar in a bowl and beat well with your hand mixer on medium speed until it becomes creamy.

6. Crack all the eggs in a large bowl and beat them until it becomes light and fluffy. It will take 8-10 mins on medium speed. Add vanilla extract and again beat the mixture for a minute.

7. Add flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture and mix with the help of a spatula.

8. Gently add the beaten eggs to the flour-butter-sugar mixture and combine everything by using cut and fold process.

9. Add milk and mix well by using the same cut and fold process.

10. Pour this batter into the round pan lined with parchment paper and put it into the oven for 25-30 mins.

11. To test whether your cake is done or not, take a toothpick and insert it into the center. If it's clean your cake is done otherwise bake it for a minute or two.

12. Take out the cake from the oven and let it cool down for 10 mins.

13. Meanwhile prepare your strawberry mousse 

(http://flavorsofmyplate.blogspot.com/2014/11/eggless-mango-mousseno-cook-no-bake.html) 

14. When the cake is completely cooled cut it into two halves. Add a generous layer of strawberry mousse on one half and put the other half on top of it. 

15. Put the cake in the refrigerator for the mousse to set. It will take around 3-4 hours. Once done do icing as per your choice.

16. Enjoy your Strawberry Mousse Cake.

Note:

For regular updates just click the "Like" button on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Flavors-Of-My-Plate/737185573034586?ref=hl

You can also follow me on:

Instagram: http://instagram.com/ananyabhowmick

Twitter: https://twitter.com/flavorsofmyplat

If you want the recipe in Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu (or any other language) click on the Google Translate button on the left side.  

Strawberry Swiss Roll

Christmas is just around the corner. Decors and fairy lights are widely visible, people sing carols everywhere and everything looks festive and charismatic.

During this time of the year everybody is joyful, delighted and full of life. When everything is happy and merry all around how can food be aloof form these festivity. Since my childhood I have seen my Mom baking cakes throughout December to celebrate Christmas and New Year. I used to love that soft and fluffy vanilla cake.

To embark the festive season I decided to bake that vanilla cake and turn it into a "Strawberry Swiss Roll". No, this cake has nothing to do with "Switzerland" as the name suggests but I have seen these in our local Asian grocery stores.

Swiss Roll also known as Jelly roll or Roulade is a sponge cake layered with jelly or cream, rolled up and served in cross sectional slices. It tastes delicious and divine. Even if you don't get the swirls perfect or your cake gets cracked while rolling it's okay. You will still love the tasty and heavenly Swiss Roll.

Ingredients:

1. All purpose Flour (Maida): 6 tbsp + 1 tbsp (for dusting the pan)

2. Corn Flour: 6 tbsp

3. Sugar: 6 tbsp (divided 3+3)

4. Eggs: 5 (separated into yolks and whites)

5. Vanilla extract: 1 tbsp

6. Butter for greasing the pan

7. Salt a pinch

8. Powdered sugar: 1 tbsp (for dusting the cake)

9. Strawberry Jam

Method:

1. Take a jelly roll pan (17" X 12" X 1") and grease it with butter. Line a parchment paper and grease it too. Dust the pan with all purpose flour and remove the excess by tapping.

2. Preheat the oven to 375 F/190 C

3. Sift together all purpose flour, corn flour and salt. Keep it aside.

4. Separate the eggs into yolks and whites. 

5. Add 3 tbsp of sugar to the egg yolks and beat until its smooth, creamy and pale yellow in color. You can use your hand mixer or stand mixer. It will take almost 5-7 mins on high speed. 

6. Add vanilla extract to the yolk mixture and again beat it for a minute.

7. In another bowl beat the egg whites until you get soft peaks. Add 3 tbsp of sugar and again beat it till you get stiff peaks. 

8. Now add flour mixture to the beaten egg yolks and gently fold in. Once all the flour is nicely incorporated into egg yolks its time to add beaten egg whites.

9. Add 1/2 of the egg whites to the mixture and fold very gently. We don't want our egg whites to get flatten away. Add rest of the egg whites and continue folding.

10. Pour the batter in the greased pan and spread it evenly with a spatula. Put it in oven on middle rack for 6-8 minutes until it gets a nice golden color. You can test it by touching and it will spring back.

11. Remove the cake from oven and dust it with powdered sugar. Place a clean kitchen towel on your kitchen counter, flip the cake very carefully and remove the parchment paper. 

12. Dust the cake with powdered sugar and roll it tightly (with kitchen towel) so that it can hold its shape. Let it cool down completely.

13. Once the cake is completely cooled unroll it and place it on a new parchment paper. Spread strawberry jam with the help of your butter knife. 

14. Start rolling the cake very carefully with the help of parchment paper (you will notice some small cracks in the beginning but don't worry).

15. Wrap the cake in a aluminium foil and place it in the refrigerator. When you are ready to serve slice it and top it with whipped cream and strawberry sauce.

Note:

For regular updates just click the "Like" button on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Flavors-Of-My-Plate/737185573034586?ref=hl

You can also follow me on:

Instagram: http://instagram.com/ananyabhowmick

Twitter: https://twitter.com/flavorsofmyplat

If you want the recipe in Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu (or any other language) click on the Google Translate button on the left side.  

Garlicky Egg Curry....A simple recipe to satisfy any Garlic-a-holic

"Sunday Ho Ya Monday Roj Khao Ande"..............we all have seen that advertisement in our childhood. Me and my husband both are egg lovers. Whenever I don't like to cook anything I reach out for the eggs in our refrigerator and yes, they never disappoint me. 

Egg is a very versatile cooking ingredient. You can cook it the way you like and it tastes good in any form you cook either its poached, scrambled, omelette, boiled, or in a curry . Yesterday it was a very dull day for me and I wasn't feeling to cook anything and suddenly this Egg Curry struck in my mind which wouldn't take much time to cook and pairs well with anything starting from naan, paratha, chapati, fried rice or simply a bowl of steamed rice.

For this recipe you need hard boiled eggs. You would have noticed, usually eggs get cracked while boiling or at times even after boiling you have hard time to peel them off. It's due to the temperature. When you take out eggs from the refrigerator and put it in boiling water it tends to crack. So here is the trick which I learnt. Take a pan with cold water, dip the eggs in it and add a teaspoon of salt (this will prevent the eggs from cracking). Place the pan on low heat. After 5-6 mins increase the heat to medium and let it boil for 7-8 mins. Remove the pan and run the eggs under cold tap water. So, here you are with the easily peeled hard boiled eggs.

Now let's start with our recipe:

Ingredients:

1. Hard boiled eggs: 6

2. Onions (medium sized): 2

3. Potatoes (medium sized): 2 (cut into wedges)

4. Tomatoes (medium sized): 3 (chopped)

5. Cumin seeds: 1/4 tbsp

6. Garlic (crushed): 8-9 cloves

7. Green chilies: 4 (adjust to your taste)

8. Turmeric powder: 1/2 tbsp

9. Kashmiri red chili powder: 1/2 tbsp

10. Salt to taste

11. Oil for cooking

12. Cilantro (Coriander leaves) for garnishing

Method:

1. Boil the eggs as explained above.

2. Peel the eggs (I like to make a slit on the eggs for salt and other spices to get in easily) and potatoes, sprinkle a pinch of salt and turmeric powder and set it aside for 5-6 mins.

3. Heat oil in a pan on medium heat. Fry eggs and potatoes till they get a nice golden hue. 

4. In the same pan add some more oil (if required), add the cumin seeds, let them crackle, now put the onions and fry them until they are translucent.

5. Its time to add in our main ingredient i.e Garlic. You can use garlic paste too but garlic tastes best when its crushed. You can use your mortar and pestle or garlic crusher for this. Cook for 2-3 mins.

6. Add the tomatoes and cook till they get nice soft and pulpy. Add green chilies, salt, turmeric powder, kashmiri red chili powder. Cook for another 5-6 mins or until the oil gets separated.

7. Add half cup of water, cover the lid and cook for 1-2 mins. Add the fried eggs and potatoes. Cook for another 2 mins.   

8. Remove the pan from heat. Garnish it with cilantro and serve hot with rice or chapati.

Note:

For regular updates just click the "Like" button on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Flavors-Of-My-Plate/737185573034586?ref=hl

You can also follow me on:

Instagram: http://instagram.com/ananyabhowmick

Twitter: https://twitter.com/flavorsofmyplat

If you want the recipe in Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu (or any other language) click on the Google Translate button on the left side.