Cinnamon Roll Bun

A must try recipe for those with a sweet tooth.This can be eaten at breakfast or tea time.I have introduced two additional ingredients : jaggery and cardamom to the traditional cinnamon roll bun recipe .The combination of cinnamon , cardamom and jaggery does wonders for your tastebuds.And the sweet aroma of these yummy delights will make you ask for more.Best when eaten warm  alongside a cup of tea

The rich flavours of jaggery,cinnamon and cardamon

For the dough 
ingredients.

4 cups all-purpose flour
 1 tablespoon active yeast
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoon milk powder
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup raisins

Method for making dough

In a large bowl combine the flour, yeast, milk powder,sugar ,salt,  melted butter and the warm water and stir well to combine.knead it well with an electric mixer.When the dough has pulled together, scoop it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic,
Slightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and  cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size about 1 & 1/2 hours.

 Preparing the baking tray ( line the tray with aluminium foil for easy cleaning)

For the base
(Ingredients)
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup jaggery ( scrapped and melted in the microwave ( 30 secs)
2 tablespoons  cinnamon powder
1 tablespoon cardamom powder


In a pan, melt 3/4 cup butter in medium heat. Turn off heat. Stir in 3/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup melted jaggery ,cardamom powder,cinnamon powder whisking until smooth  Pour it evenly  into greased 9x13 inch baking tray. Set aside.

The baking tray lined with aluminium foil and the jaggery- cinnamon mixture

For the cinnamon roll filling.
(Ingredients)
3/4 cup brown sugar
 2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon cardamon powder
1/4 cup melted butter
Method for the filling-
Melt butter; set aside. Combine 3/4 cup brown sugar,, and mix cinnamon/cardamon powder and  set aside.

Preparation for baking

 Gently deflate the dough ( remember?? Which was kept to rise in a warm place ) and onto a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough  into an 18x14 inch rectangle.
(Herein  make use of the cinnamon roll  filling ingredients )
Brush the rolled out  dough with 2 tablespoons melted butter, press the raisins firmly on the dough. sprinkle with brown sugar ,cinnamon and cardamon powder. Tightly roll up the dough, pinching seam to seal. Brush with remaining 2 tablespoons butter.Cut the roll into 15 pieces; and arrange the pieces in the prepared baking tray. Cover and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in volume.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Bake in preheated oven for 25  minutes, until golden brown. Invert into a serving dish  whilst still warm.  

   

Press the Raisins firmly into the rolled out dough

Brush with butter and sprinkle with sugar,cinnamon and cardamom

Roll the dough

The cinnamon rolls kept in warm place to double in size

Just out of the oven

Invert the baking tray onto a serving platter 

Indulge in the most delicious and goey buns

Mock Cheese Cake

Sometimes in the spur of the moment I tend to make something out of the ordinary.When I  create a new recipe ,I usually eyeball the ingredients and the dish emerges as the best I could have ever made.Lately   I have been playing around with custard powder inventing  new desserts which at the beginning became a total disaster but then with a lot of trial and error ,I learnt to use and balance the correct amount of ingredients  to make something  interesting.

I made custard pudding using fresh mangoes and apples , instead of the usual  pudding dish i used a  springform tray to set the pudding in .And what a transformation the springform tray did to my pudding.It had the typical  look of a cheese cake and anyone looking at it would think I had made cheesecake .At least a mock cheese cake to devour on a breezy afternoon.

For a thick  custard pudding ( my mock cheese cake)

1 litre milk

1 cup custard powder

1/2 tin condensed milk

1 small apple grated

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1 cup sugar or to taste

1 tsp vanilla essense

A little less than a cup of water

For the pudding base

Tea biscuits to fill a springform baking tray ( single layer)

Hot coffee to dip biscuits ( not to soak)

1 tablespoon sugar

For the topping

2 big juicy mangoes

1 tablespoon sugar

Preparation

Step 1- Dip the tea biscuits in hot coffee and in a single layer fill the springform tray.keep aside .

Step 2 -Make a thick paste of the custard powder using water.set aside.In a heavy bottom pan,add the milk,condensed milk,sugar and the custard paste and cook till it thickens.Then add the grated apple,lemon zest and the vanilla essense and stir it continuously till the the custard is very thick (the custard should not be creamy but very thick consistency) . Pour the custard into the springform tray and evenly level  it with the help of a spatula .Keep it aside to cool and then refrigerate  to chill.

Step 3 - With your  handy manual  kitchen grater ,grate the mangoes.It will have a kind of pureed consistency . Mix into it 1 tablespoon of sugar.

Remove chilled custard pudding from refrigerator and top it with the fresh  mango puree and refrigerate again for a couple of hours.

To serve, carefully remove the  top part of springform tray  ,place the pudding  on a serving platter with the bottom of the tray still intact.Cut into wedges ( how big the slice is according to your preference).

Banana Apple Fritters

So far the only recipe I can think of making with  over ripened bananas  are banana fritters.But that didnt stop me from putting  a new spin to my old recipe.Adding some shredded apple and a teaspoon  of lemon zest took  the banana fritters to a whole  new level.I was a bit hesistant to introduce  the new addition  to my old banana fritter recipe ,nevertheless , I gathered some courage and  went   ahead with my decision.I did nt regret adding them as they brought out extra new flavours to it. I wish my daughters were here with me at home to taste it as  they  are my best critics when it comes to  my ' sweet'  dishes.

 Recipe for Banana Apple fritters

Sieve 1 1/2  cups of flour.Mash 5 well ripened  bananas and mix them together..Add a pinch of salt and 1/2 a teaspoon of bicarbonate soda.Add  a little water .( the mixture should be of very thick consistency). Shred a piece of apple to the mixture and throw in a teaspoon of lemon zest.Leave aside for 15-20 minutes.Drop spoonfuls into hot oil and fry till golden brown.Then you soak these delightful fritters in a puddle of jaggery syrup before you enjoy them.

To make the jaggery syrup -

In a pan, add about 250 grams of jaggery to 1 cup of water and bring to a boil.Mix into it, about 3-4 tablespoons of sugar,a few crushed cardamoms and a small stick of cinnaman.Remove from heat , cool and add the fritters.(Remove the spices before your serve)

Fruit Salad

Apart from being lactose intolerant, one of my daughters has gluten sensitivity so I have to carefully plan what I make for her. A few days ago, we bought some fresh fruits from the super market and it had been in the fridge ever since. I hadn't touched them because we went out of town for a couple of days. Personally I'm not a dessert person but coming back to a fridge full of fruits, I decided to do a fruit salad. Fruit salad is a combination of different fruits chopped into pieces and with a squeeze of lemon juice served chilled or served with whipped cream or ice cream. I love to eat my bowl of fruit salad just as it is without any accompaniment. It's an ideal dessert for the summer. I had a couple of mangoes, kiwi fruits, pears, apples, plums, mandarins and a medium sized papaya.My daughter was full of smiles when she figured out that she could enjoy the bowl of fruit salad without any guilty feelings.

Instructions
Wash and peel whatever fruits you have in your refrigerator
Cut into small bite size pieces (best if it's cut into the same size)
Toss them into a glass bowl
Squeeze in juice of a lemon
Chill for 2-3 hours so that  the fruits get well blended with its own juices
Serve into individual dessert cups and enjoy

My daughter and I ate it without any guilt

How to make cake made from cake mix taste like home made

One thing I am sure to find in my pantry is a box of cake mix. The reason I buy extras is whenever my children get hungry for home made cake, I just have to grab a box from the pantry, add or switch ingredients and make my own twist to it and la voila, my children are happy to eat an almost homemade cake. All I do to tranform the store purchased mix  into home made one is to play with the cake mix and try to enhance the look and flavour so that it gives a more home-baked taste. Here are some things I add to replace the ingredients to be used as per instructions  in the box; I substitute milk or orange juice for water. I add half a cup of mashed bananas to a vanilla or yellow cake mix to get  a taste of banana cake. Sometimes,just before placing the cake mix batter into the oven I  add chocolate chips to get a shiny finish and throw in some crushed walnuts or pecans to bite into.once it's done,the aroma fills the whole house inviting everyone into the kitchen.

Here I have made a pineapple upside down cake with a pound cake micx

My son helping me with the batter

To this strawberry cake mix I added choco chips.It tasted great

No Bake Pomegranate Cheese Cake

Pomegranate Cheese Cake (no bake)

Ingredients

For crust:

2 cups crushed biscuits

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter melted

For the Cheese cake

1 sachet (.25 oz.) unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup cold milk

2 pkgs. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup yoghurt

1 cup icing sugar

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, (whipped)

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For garnishing -pomegranate seeds

Method

1. Combine crushed biscuits and butter in a bowl .Mix well. Firmly press onto bottom of a spring form pan. Dissolve gelatin in warm water. Let it stand for a minute.
2. Beat cream cheese, yoghurt and icing sugar in a mixer bowl until fluffy. Mix in the gelatin,lemon zest and vanilla extract.Gently fold in the whipped cream. Remove the crust from refrigerator and pour the cheese cream mixture onto crust. Chill again for about 4 hours or until firm. Remove side of springform pan.
3. Garnish with pomegranate seeds.Serve and Enjoy

Fancy Fruit Cake Dessert

I made fruit cake using  Betty Crocker's chocolate cake mix as the base.It came out delicious as excitedly vouched by my family.I threw in a lot of dried fruits and a combination of nuts.I had made extra as I had planned to join some friends for a potluck but unfortunately had to cancel our get together due to unavoidable circumstances. Suddenly I was left with too much of cake.I was wondering what to do with the additional which was now neatly tucked away in an airtight container in the refrigerator.After  a few days wrecking my brains what to do, I decided to make use of it in a new dessert. Previously I  had made a  dessert using  crumbled cookies as the base of the pudding.This time I used the cake and topped  it with a  thick creamy custard. It was heavenly. Every bit was deliciously savored.

I used almost the same ingredients that I had used for my semolina custard pudding but instead of crumbled cookies I used  the cake.

I used the fruit cake as the base of my pudding

 

My son digging into the dessert.

Sago Pudding

Sago is a cereal acquired from the powdered pith of a sago palm. A type of flour, called sago flour, is made from sago It is starchy and  used for making  puddings and pancakes and for various other purposes. Sago is commonly used for cooking  in India, Bangaladesh and  Sri Lanka.

Traditionally,in our home,sago is  cooked and eaten in the form of a pudding.It is in  the spotlight during the festive seasons.It makes a good dessert  and keeps us feeling warm and cosy during the  cold wintry days.In summer, you can chill the pudding and enjoy it's thick texture. Sago is  widely sold  in the form of "pearls". Sago pearls can be boiled with water or milk and sugar to make a sweet  sago pudding.I usually  purchase white sago pearls to make  a warm dessert.Some prefer to eat  sago pudding or porriage  with a serving of thick coconut milk.

Ingredients

¼ pound sago pearls

6-8 oz jaggery

½ teacup coconut milk

5 cardomom pods

A piece of cinnamon stick

A pinch of salt

A tablespoon sugar ( optional)

Method

Wash and soak the sago pearls for about 15 minutes.Put the pearls into a pan,add the water ,cinnamon ,and the cardamons and bring it to a boil.Scrap the jaggery and add it to the cooking sago.Add a pinch of salt.At this point,( optional)  you can add an extra tablespoon of sugar if you want the pudding to balance your taste buds..Now pour the coconut milk and stir it very well.Remove from heat and pour the contents  into a glass dish.This will taste good when eaten warm. Some love to serve it with a spoonful of thick  coconut milk/cream.

Remove the  cinnamon stick and cardamom pods before serving.

Tip: Add an extra cup of water to the above recipe to make sago porridge. And add sugar according to taste.

 

 

Wattalappam ( Jaggery pudding)

This pudding is popular mostly in Muslim homes in my home country.Muslims prepare this dessert during special occasions like weddings and festivals.This pudding was originally known as the Malay pudding and later became to be popularly known as wattalappam.This dessert  is mostly steamed but for the last few years I have tried baking the pudding,by placing the  pudding bowl  in a tray with water.I believe it is as good as steaming.

 Wattalappam


Ingredients
10 eggs
1 pound jaggery
2 teacups thick coconut milk
1/2 teaspoons powdered cardamoms
A pinch of salt


Method
Break the eggs into a bowl and beat well .Scrape the jaggery and mix it with the eggs .Add the coconut milk ,cardamoms and the salt and mix well.Pour into  small moulds and steam for about 1 and  1/4 hours or until firm..
Baking takes a longer time to cook.It took me almost 2 and 1/2 hours for the pudding to be well cooked.