Mango Ice Cream

Yes, you might be thinking that I have gone crazy. The season of Mangoes and Ice-creams has not been arrived yet or I must say we are just a few weeks away to indulge ourselves in the sweetness of mangoes and the rich, creamy goodness of Ice-creams.

To be very frank I am a die hard fan of Ice-creams and can enjoy it even in the subzero temperatures and when its Mango flavored I can't resist myself to have a scoop of it. Moreover who doesn't love mangoes after all it's the King of all fruits.

Recently, I found a can of mango puree in a departmental store and as usual I couldn't stop myself from buying it without a second thought. I was walking through the aisles and thinking what to do with this puree. Suddenly I turned and saw an aisle of ice-creams. Yippee!!! I got it. I decided to treat my family and of course myself with Mango Ice-cream.

Whenever we think of making ice-cream at home two thoughts comes in our mind successively:

• Will it be smooth, creamy, rich and soft like store bought?
• Is it possible to make ice-cream without an Ice-cream maker?

Well, the answer to all your questions is "Yes, Of course!" . It's just a pleasure when your ice-cream scooper glides through the ice-cream without encountering any ice crystals and yet you get a nice and perfect scoop. Moreover it requires very few ingredients and no cooking or churning. Just mix all the ingredients together and set it in the refrigerator for 5-6 hours. 

So let's dig into the divine flavors of Mango Ice-cream:

Ingredients:

1. Mango Puree: 1 and 1/2 cup

2. Heavy whipping Cream: 1 and 1/2 cup

3. Sweetened Condensed Milk: 1 cup

4. Salt: a pinch

5. Powdered Sugar (if required)

Method:

1. In a mixing bowl Pour the heavy whipping cream and whip it with your electric blender or wire whisk until you get soft peaks.

2. Add in the sweetened condensed milk and mix very gently otherwise the whipped cream will deflate.

3. Now add the mango puree and a pinch of salt then fold the mixture with very light hands.

4. Once everything is well incorporated, pour this mixture into a bowl and keep it in the freezer for good 5-6 hours and till then control yourself not to open the freezer every single hour and check whether its set or not :)

5. Take out the bowl 5 minutes prior to serving scoop it and top with anything you like. 

6. Enjoy the real flavors of mango and the richness of ice-cream blended together.

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Raspberry Pannacotta......A perfect dessert for your Valentine

Love is in the air as Valentine's Day is here. We all know this day is celebrated as the day of love and romance all over the world. Being a foodie the best way to celebrate this special day is making something special for the love of my life. So, I decided to make one of my all time favorite desserts - "Raspberry Pannacotta".

Pannacotta is an Italian dessert which means cooked cream. Traditionally it is made from milk, cream, sugar and gelatin. It is generally served chilled and topped with chocolate, caramel sauce or fruits of your choice. You can enjoy this dessert as it is just spoon up and indulge yourself in it's silky smooth texture.

These days we can easily find gelatin in our local grocery stores unlike earlier; people would use egg-whites instead. So, if you are not in favor of using gelatin you can always replace gelatin with egg whites but in that case you need to bake it. Having gelatin in your pantry makes your life easy and you can make really gorgeous looking desserts instantly.

I used Raspberry but you can always use fruit of your choice or replace it with chocolate the options are endless! So let's begin with the recipe:

Ingredients:

1. Milk: 1 cup
2. Cream: 1 cup
3. Sugar: 1 cup
4. Vanilla Extract: 1 tbsp
5. Fresh Raspberries: 1 cup
6. Unflavored Gelatin: 2 packet

Method:

1. Dissolve one packet of gelatin in water as per the instructions on the packet and keep it aside.

2. In a separate pan pour the milk and boil it on low-medium heat. Keep stirring so that it doesn't stick to the bottom. Add the cream and mix well.  

3. Add 1/2 cup of sugar to the milk-cream mixture and cook it for 5-6 mins. Check the sweetness and adjust accordingly. Pour vanilla extract and give a nice mix.

4. Add the gelatin to the mixture and stir continously until the gelatin gets dissolved completely.

5. Pour this mixture into individual glasses or ramekins and refrigerate for 2-3 hours or until it sets.

6. In the meanwhile take the raspberries and sugar in the blender and puree it. Strain it through a strainer to discard the seeds.

7. Once the milk-cream mixture is set completely take them out of the refrigerator.

8. Dissolve the other packet of gelatin in water as per the instructions.

9. Mix gelatin with the raspberry puree and pour the mixture into the glasses. Refrigerate it for 2-3 hours.

10. When you are ready to serve garnish it the way you like.

11. Enjoy.

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Palmiers.......Cute Little Hearts Cookies

Palmiers is a French Pastry which is also known as Elephant Ears or Angel Wings because of its shape. It is extremely light, flaky, caramely and buttery. Each time I bake Palmiers, I just fell amazed that how effortless and painless its recipe is. It's a perfect snack to munch on when you want something to eat during those odd hours of the day. 

These cookies are made up of puff pastry which is a dough wrapped around butter so the butter gets completely enclosed within the dough which is then rolled and folded over to double the number of layers and then the whole process is repeated. The number of times you repeat this process the more flaky your pastry will become. But making puff pastry at home is a very time consuming process and needs a lot of elbow greasing. Thanks to the frozen puff pastry sheets available at the supermarkets these days.

Making Palmiers at home becomes super easy if we have frozen puff pastry sheets in our freezer. You just need to thaw them, roll them, sprinkle granulated sugar and bake them. Ta-dah you're done! I know it's very difficult to resist until they cool down. I myself can't stay away from them for long. 

So let's get started:

Ingredients:

1. Frozen Puff Pastry Sheet: 1

2. Granulated Sugar: 1 and 1/2 cup

3. Crushed Green Cardamom (optional): 1 tsp

4. Egg: 1

Method:

1. Thaw the puff pastry sheet as directed.

2. Sprinkle some granulated sugar on your kitchen counter and unfold the puff pastry sheet.

3. Roll the puff pastry sheet to approx 1/8" thick. (If your pastry sheet gets sticky sprinkle some more sugar and roll it until you get the desired thickness)

4. Sprinkle sugar and crushed cardamom (if using) on top of the sheet. 

5. Fold one edge of the pastry sheet into the midle. Fold the opposite edge to the middle. At this point both the edges will touch the middle of the pastry. Continue this process until you can't fold anymore. By now it will take the shape of a log. 

6. Break the egg in a bowl and whisk it with a fork. Brush the log with this beaten egg.

7. Wrap the log with a cling wrap and place in the freezer for 15 minutes.

8. Preheat the oven to 350 F. 

9. Take the log out of the freezer. Cut it into 1 cm thick pieces. Sprinkle granulated sugar on top of each piece and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

10. Bake the cookies for 15 minutes. Flip the cookies after 7 and 1/2 minutes or until they become golden brown on each side. 

11. Take them out of the oven and place them on a cooling rack. 

12. Enjoy them with your evening tea. 

Note:

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Skinny Mango Cheesecake.........A Cheesecake Without Cheese

By now you all know that I have a ginormous sweet tooth. My dinner is not complete unless I have a bowl of anything sweet. But whenever I eat anything sweet I always get a guilt feeling that how much calories its been adding up! This feeling turns me upside down and muddle up the state of bliss.

There was a time when we would gobble up everything without even giving a second thought. That was the time we never thought how would we look like in our profile pic. Well, time changes so do our thoughts. 

I'm a huge fans of Cheesecakes, aren't you? But we all know that cheesecake adds a lot of calories in your waistline.......Sigh :(. So, I decided to cheat these "Caloricious Cheesecakes" without any "Cheese" content in it. Yes, you heard it right: "A Cheesecake Without Cream Cheese". It not only helps you to get rid of that "guilt" but it does full justice to the taste of an original Cheesecake. Isn't that great!

This recipe is very easy and requires very few ingredients. It is also a party pleaser which can be prepared in advance. So let's dig into this recipe of making my version of "Skinny Mango Cheesecakes":

Ingredients:

1. Mango Puree: 1 cup
2. Heavy Whipping Cream: 1 cup
3. Fat Free Yogurt: 1 cup
4. Powdered Sugar to taste
5. Unflavored Gelatin: 2 packets
6. Graham Crackers: 5-6
7. Unsalted Butter(melted): 1/2 cup
8. Vanilla Extract: 1/4 tsp

Method:

Making the crust:

1. Using a food processor or blender grind the graham crackers into fine crumbs. You can substitute graham crackers with digestive biscuits too.

2. Take the graham crackers crumbs in a separate bowl and add the melted butter. Mix it well. 

3.Now take individual greased ramekins or a cake pan and add a layer of graham crackers. Press well and place them in the refrigerator for 15 mins.

Making the filling:

1. Dissolve the gelatin in water as per the instructions on the packet. Mix well and keep it aside.

2. In the meanwhile take heavy whipping cream and whip it until you get soft peaks. At this point add powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Beat it again for a minute.

3. In a mixing bowl take the yogurt, whipped cream and sugar. Mix well until the mixture becomes smooth and creamy. It will take around 2-3 minutes.

4. Add the gelatin in this mixture and mix well until everything is well combined. 

5. Pour this mixture into the ramekins or cake pan. Let it set for 3-4 hours. 

6. In a separate bowl take the mango puree, powdered sugar and add the remaining gelatin mixture. Mix well.

7. Pour this mixture into the ramekins and let it refrigerate for another 3-4 hours.

8. Now hold the ramekins in warm water for 10 seconds. Demold the ramekins on the serving plate.

9. Garnish it the way you like. 

10. Enjoy these skinny cheesecakes without any guilt :)

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Nankhatai....Cardamom Flavored Eggless Cookies

Holiday Season is here.......I just love this time of the year when you can see decorations everywhere. Everything is in the festive mood. Everything becomes bright colored and sparkling. You can see decorations and fairy lights all around. Even if you don't celebrate this festive season its very hard not to get enticed from these lights and decorations.

A light breeze of cold air, foggy mornings, warmth of the woolen clothes, fragrance of hot coffee are the things which we can enjoy at this time of the year. 

Baking is my way of celebrating festive season. The aroma of freshly baked cookies and cakes embarks holidays. This time I was very eager to bake a very basic cardamom flavored cookie which is also known as "Nankhatai" in India.

These cookies are very simple to make and require very few ingredients which we always have at our home. So, whenever you crave for some homemade cookies try them out. I can assure once you make and store it you can't keep yourself away from these goodies.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1. All purpose flour (Maida): 1 cup
2. Butter (at room temp): 1 stick (113 gms or 4 oz)
3. Sugar (powdered): 3/4 cup
4. Baking Powder: 1/4 tsp
5. Green Cardamoms (crushed): 7-8
6. Salt a pinch

Method:

1. In a mixing bowl sift all purpose flour with salt and baking powder. Keep it aside.

2. Take a separate bowl and cream the butter with powdered sugar manually or with the help of a hand blender. Add half of the crushed cardamoms to this mixture.

3. Add the sifted flour mixture into the butter and sugar mixture and knead it to form a smooth dough. Rest it for 10 mins.

4. In the meanwhile preheat the oven to 375 F.

5.  Now divide the dough into equal size balls. Shape them into bite size balls. Press the balls in the middle with your finger and add a pinch of crushed cardamom on it. 

7. Line a baking tray with a parchment paper and place the cookies on it. Bake them for 15-20 mins.

8. Take out the cookies and place them on cooling rack for 10 mins.

9. Enjoy them with your evening tea or coffee.

Note:

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Garlic Naan......Garlic Flavored Yeast Free Indian Flat Bread

Naan.......A flat Indian Bread which doesn't need much introduction. It is appreciated all over the world. A meal in an Indian restaurant is incomplete without having "Naan" in it. A Naan is an oval-shaped, soft, pillow-like bread which is brushed with butter and pairs well with every Veg and Non-Veg curries . 

Traditionally, Naans are prepared in Tandoor (Clay Oven) on extremely high temperature. Since I don't have that kind of oven I make it in my conventional oven. It can also be made on a stove-top or skillet. There are many variations of Naan. You can flavor it with whatever herb you want and stuff it with your choice of vegetable or meat.  

I always thought making Naan at home is impossible. The texture and taste we get in the restaurant is impossible to replicate. But then one fine day I made "Paneer Makhani" and was thinking it would taste great with "Garlic Naan". It was then I experimented with the recipe of Naan and was quite amazed with the result. 

So let's dig deep into the recipe:

Ingredients:

1. All purpose flour (Maida): 4 cups

2. Yogurt: 2 cups

3. Baking Powder: 1 and 1/2 tsp

4. Baking Soda: 1 tsp

5. Sugar: 1 tbsp

6. Salt to taste

7. Garlic (finely chopped): 5-6 cloves

8. Cilantro (finely chopped): handful

9. Butter: for brushing

10. Warm Milk: for kneading

Method:

1. In a large bowl sift all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt. 

2. Add yogurt and stir well with a wooden spatula until the dough comes together. Knead the dough well with your hands by adding few drops of warm milk at a time.

3. Keep kneading until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl. It should be sticky but will form a soft ball.

4. Cover the dough with a damp towel and let it sit in a warm place for at least 2-3 hours or until it gets double in volume.

5. Preheat the oven to 475 F or 250 C.

6. Once the dough gets double in volume punch it down and divide it into equal sized round balls. Dust your work surface with little bit of flour and with the help of your rolling pin roll out each ball into an oval shape. It should be 5-6 inches long and thick enough.

8.  Sprinkle some chopped garlic and chopped cilantro and press it with light hands. This will help the garlic and cilantro to stick to the Naan.

9. Place each Naan on a greased or parchment paper lined baking tray. Brush it with melted butter and put it  in the oven for 3 mins or until you see some bubbles on the Naan.

10. Flip the Naan, brush with melted butter and again bake it for 1-2 mins.

11. Repeat the same process with the remaining balls. Serve hot with curry of your choice.

Note:

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Eggless Mango Mousse....No Cook No Bake Mango Mousse

Mango Mousse.......Yes, I know this is not the season of Mangoes but last week when I went out for grocery I saw a can of mango puree which caught my attention. Immediately, chain of "Dessert-full" thoughts ran through my mind because when it comes to Dessert my imaginations get wings and they fly randomly. I have a sweet tooth so does every Bengali and I love to try desserts from every cuisine.

These days fruits and vegetables don't have any season constraints. We can get all our favorite fruits and vegetables all year round but mangoes. We can get them in puree form tough and enjoy its taste throughout the year.

Mango is considered as the king of all fruits and it deserves too. It is also known as national fruit of India where summers are incomplete without them. 

There are endless recipes made from mangoes starting from pickles to sweets. The recipe I am going to share today is Eggless Mango Mousse. It's hassle free and requires very few ingredients.  A Mousse may be sweet or savory. Dessert Mousses are typically made from whipped egg whites or whipped cream and flavored with chocolate or fruit puree. I used Mangoes but you can use any fruit of your choice.

Ingredients:

1. Mango puree: 2 cups (You can use ripe mangoes too and puree it in a blender)

2. Gelatin: 1 tbsp

3. Heavy Whipping Cream: 1 cup

4. Powdered Sugar to taste
5. Strawberries for garnishing (optional)

Method:

1. In a mixing bowl pour the heavy whipping cream. Add the powdered sugar. Whip the cream with your hand blender until you get stiff peaks. You can also use your wire whisk for this. Using electric blender makes your life easy. This will take around 2-3 mins on medium speed.

2. Dissolve the gelatin in water as per the instructions on the packet. Mix well and keep it aside.

3. Now, in a separate bowl take the mango puree. Add the dissolved gelatin and combine well so that the gelatin gets dissolved completely.

4. Now add the whipped cream to this mixture. Fold in the cream very gently. 

5. Check the sweetness and transfer this mixture into a big size serving dish or individual glasses.

6. Refrigerate it for at least an hour or until set. Remove from refrigerator 5 mins prior serving and garnish it as you like.

7. Enjoy your rich and creamy Eggless Mango Mousse  

Note:

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