Ginger, Orange And Date Cookies

I have been lazy.. ..plain lazy. I have all these posts in my head and that's just where they stay. All December I've been seeing these posts counting down to Christmas and told myself I have enough time to do all the posts I wanted to. And here I am two days before Christmas, scouring cookery books and websites for an apt Christmas dessert. We may not celebrate Christmas at home but it's always an occasion to take out the pretty plates and twinkly lights and raise a toast to the good times!

So, while I search for my Christmas dessert for the year, I made some cookies. Mama hinted two week back how she wouldn't mind if I baked her a batch of cookies to go with her tea. Of course, I procrastinated and finally with the Christmas inspiration all round, these cookies were thought of and baked this afternoon.

These are simple eggless cookies infused with the flavours of the season. I like the fact that the recipes uses fresh ginger as opposed to ground ginger. When they first came out of the oven, they looked so nondescript that I wondered how I could jazz them up. But, taste them and you realise that these cookies need no help. 

You will taste the ginger and the orange, and neither are overpowering. With the first bite, you might wonder if these cookies need a bit more sugar but once you encounter the dates, it all makes sense.

These are not fancy show-off cookies. These are regular cookies to go with your daily cuppa. And it helps that they hardly take any time to put together. Although, when you buy the dates, buy the pitted ones, something I clearly did not check while buying them myself!

I think I have narrowed down my dessert for Christmas and hopefully I can get it done in time, with a post to show for it. But, knowing my track record with this blog this year, I won't say much till I get the post done, for sure. So, fingers crossed!

But, what about everyone else? Anyone hosting a Christmas dinner or baking something special or any other special plans for the weekend? I'd love to hear about itl!

Chocolate Cake With Strawberries, Pomegranate And Mint Wreath

Things have been so quiet around here on the blog that Christmas almost passed us by. Rather than going into why I've been missing in action, I'm just going quietly slink in and join the Christmas party because that's all that matters!

 

We may not celebrate Christmas at home but there's no reason why one can't put up the twinkly lights, pull out the pretty plates, bake a cake and raise a toast to the year gone by! 

And that's what we did. The cake is my trusted eggless chocolate cake with a fudge frosting that I bake every time I need a cake on short order and am assured will not disappoint.

 

How could I not jazz it up keeping the colours of Christmas in mind?! Luckily, strawberries and pomegranates are in season right now and a few mint leaves from the garden did the job beautifully. And lest I forget, thank you Pinterest for the inspiration.

This is the first time I have used fruit in such a way to decorate the cake and I must admit I absolutely love the final result. It hardly took any time and effort and made the cake look so festive. It's an idea which I shall be turning to time and again.

 

 

And on the taste front, the fruit cuts through all the chocolate and freshens up the cake and the palate, both in danger of being overwhelmed in this season, where indulgence is the norm.

Wishing you and your families a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I wish that you spend the last week of this year surrounded by family, friends, laughter, good food and all that makes this season special!

 

Mulled Wine

Before you know it, Christmas is here! And while we may not celebrate Christmas at home, I do look forward to this time. It ties in perfectly with the end of year holiday mood. And helped along by the weather, it is also  the time when I am more than inclined to work the oven overtime. And yet this year, Christmas has caught me unaware.

 

So, while I may not have food to share with you today, we can always have a drink together. Keeping the occasion in mind, it is only natural that today's special should be mulled wine!!!

 

 

If there is one drink that usually finds itself on most Christmas menus, it is mulled wine and with good reason. Warm wine that has been sweetened and flavoured with spices is perfect for the weather in mind. And helping matters along is the fact that it takes no more than 10 minutes to get it on the table.

 

 

In this case, I flavoured the wine with traditional Christmassy flavours, with orange and spices like cloves, cinnamon and star anise. Ten minutes on a gentle flame and you are done. It is a perfect  time to use up that bottle of red wine in the cellar that no one thinks too highly of because this recipe transforms it into a real celebratory drink.

 

 

Pour yourself some  mulled wine in a glass, wrap your cold fingers around it, take a deep breath of the beautiful spices in there and then take a sip of this warm, flavoured wine. As it hits the back of your throat, you are warmed up in no time. And if like me, you are feeling a bit under the weather, this is what the doctor prescribed!

 

Be it a large group at a party or a small cosy gathering at home, this is the drink for the season!

 

 

Wishing you and yours a very happy Christmas!! May you have a beautiful day that is filled with love, fun and laughter!

 

Florentines

Well, hello December!! I am not sure how you got here so fast but you've arrived with all your trappings! My inbox is filled with Christmas and holiday recipes. My Facebook page is filled with impending travel plans. Every second day is an auspicious day for weddings as per Indian almanac and with it the never ending stream of ceremonies, parties and traffic jams. The migratory flock of NRIs (non-resident Indians) have returned to teach us a thing or two on how to exploit an advantageous exchange rate. Yes, it looks to be a typical December!!

And December is also the month when food blogs throw up some of their finest food posts, keeping the holiday mood in mind. You will also see a surge in cookie recipes as families get ready for the impending family reunions.

 

And that's how I got the idea to make these florentines. Most florentines that you would have come across are these thin cookies that have nuts and dried fruits, bound together by sugar and butter. But, the recipe I have gone with, is a mini version from my all-time favourite 'Popina Book of Baking'. The recipe bakes them in a mini muffin tin that results in these adorable bite-sized confections.

This recipe by Isidora Popovic, the lady behind the Popina bakery, is a very simple one. The florentines are chewy, surprisingly not too sweet and with each bite you will taste one of the different components. Dipping one side with chocolate helps complete them. And yes, I will acknowledge that I could have been less clumsy with the dipping.

If there ever is a month of late nights, it has to be December. And what better accompaniment to all those late night coffees than these florentines!!!

Gingerbread Men And Women

It does not matter whether you personally celebrate Christmas or not. In a month of holidays and partying, its just another excuse to celebrate. For the past few weeks, food blogs have been putting one Christmassy post after another. Procrastination, of course, saw me waiting till the very last for this post. At least, I got it up before Christmas!

 

I decided on the gingerbread theme. Its just so Christmassy.. you never hear of anyone making gingerbread biscuits, any other time of the year. It's only for Christmas!! And its a family affair, with everyone from kids to adults discovering their inner artist when it comes to decorating them.

 

Only one hitch .. I couldn't find any gingerbread cookie cutters, neither in Bombay nor in Delhi. Luckily, a darling sister-in-law carted these all the way from Down Under. I got the whole family, gingerbread man and woman and the kiddies, a boy and girl.

 

One you have the requisite cookie cutters, its all pretty straight forward. The dough is made in a food processor, then rolled out, cut up and baked. Once cooled, that's when the fun begins.

 

 

My advice to you, enlist the help of all those around you.. kids and adults alike. I did it all by myself and let's just say, I have new found respect for all the professional cookie decorators out there and their craft.

 

The photographs speak for themselves.. I am not the most creative nor the most patient. I did try to get creative with red accents on the clothing and red lippy for the girls. I strung all the kids together as a garland. And all my friends out there, do notice the curly hair on the women.. that's my personal touch!

 

 

And for all the observant ones out there, Rudolph the reindeer also makes an appearance, complete with his red nose. If you can't find him, look for the upside-down gingerbread boy in the garland. Go ahead and have your laugh for the day!!

 

Aside from all the decorating, there is also the taste of these cookies. It essentially has the texture of a shortbread with a mild ginger taste that matures with time. These would make an excellent addition to the cookie platter but they will be even better as edible Christmas tree decorations!! Engage the kids and you can imagine the fun with each one unleashing their artistic potential on these cookies.

 

 

Like I said earlier, whether you celebrate Christmas is immaterial. There is a spirit of love and celebration out there, embrace it and spread the joy. Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas and a beautiful festive season!!

Christmas Fruit Cake

And... Christmas is here!! Even if you don't celebrate Christmas like me, you cannot escape its infectious spirit of joy and celebration that it brings. So close to the New Year, it is just one more reason to celebrate, forget your worries and indulge yourself!

 

Christmas is a baker's delight. This time of the year is made for the oven. Food blogs are crammed with stories with people rushing against the clock to do their holiday baking, buying their gifts, catching up with friends and family and then there's not only the mammoth Christmas Feast but the breakfast the morning after!!!

 

 

Life's a bit simpler out here. Since, we don't celebrate Christmas, I get into the spirit of things by baking a Christmas Fruit Cake. It's traditional, Christmassy and reason enough to surround myself with family and close friends.

 

The recipe I turn to is Nigella's Chocolate Fruit Cake. Nigella and her recipes are no brand ambassador for Weight Watchers and that's what makes them perfect for Christmas. And her recipes not only deliver as promised but are almost, always crowd-pleasers!!

 

 

The recipe cannot get simpler even if you tried. This is not one of those recipes where you should have steeped your dried fruits in alcohol weeks or months in advance. Nigella cheats her way by simmering the dried fruits in an alcohol mix over heat, for ten minutes. This may not meet the approval of the purists but it definitely meets the approval of the harried, practical and pragmatic cook.

 

Talking about how simple this cake is, it does not even use a hand-held mixer. You simply mix everything with a wooden spoon. It really can't get easier than that!!

 

 

The cake hardly takes much time to put together but it does have a fairly lengthy baking time. But, that's a good thing because by the time it is baked, your whole house is filled with the fragrance of Christmas. If for some reason you are not in the mood of things, this will definitely get you in the mood.

 

 

The cake is everything a Christmas cake should be. It is dark, dense, moist, slightly sticky and tastes of Christmas. Its all in there -  the alcohol, the spice, the dried fruits, the oranges, all the traditional flavours you associate with Christmas. If the chocolate in her title makes you wary, then worry not, because it is hardly discernible but just adds to the darkness and depth of this cake. A small slice goes a long way so this cake feeds a lot of people.

 

I cannot recommend this cake enough. With hardly any effort, you will have a Christmas cake that will become a family favourite and an integral part of your Christmas memories.

Wishing you and your loved ones a Merry Christmas. May the magic of Christmas brighten every part of your lives with love, laughter and happiness!!

Finnish Pulla : 'TWD : Baking With Julia'

As far as 2012 goes, we are in the home stretch now. Your time to ponder on what you could've, should've and would've done with the year, has come and gone ... You should have already done that by now! Now, all eyes are on 2013 and all that remains for us to do is bring in the new year with hope, excitement, optimism and of course, a party!!

 

And for the last 'TWD : Baking with Julia' post of the year, the group has chosen the Finnish Pulla. The book describes it as a celebration loaf, apt for the mood of the season. In this version, it is braided into a wreath which fits in beautifully with the Christmas theme.

 

I was quite excited to try my hand at this bread because of its Finnish origin. For us in India, Scandinavia seems so far away. It's not the physical distance as much as how different  the culture, the people, the climate, the landscape and the food is compared to ours.. it all seems so different and exotic to us. And am pretty sure, the feeling is mutual from their end towards India.

 

And yet, this Finnish recipe has a tiny Indian component, cardamom. Grown in abundance in southern India, cardamom is used extensively in Indian cuisine. I reckon, the spice trade of yore was responsible to taking it to Northern Europe. My guess is that coming from so far, it must have been considered exotic and used mainly for times of celebration, such as in this pulla. Do correct me if I've got it wrong!! 

 

Much like the brioche dough that was used to make these sticky buns, this loaf is also made from an egg and butter-rich dough. Fairly simple to put together, the stand-out feature of the recipe is the addition of crushed cardamom seeds to the dough.

 

The dough performs beautifully and even clumsy fingers like mine could shape it into a wreath without much fuss.

 

Pull the bread out of the oven and you know you are onto a winner. This bread scores the maximum when it comes to its visual appeal. That beautiful, golden-brown crusted bread accompanied with the faint smell of cardamom looks so impressive that you can't help pat yourself on the back. That's the beauty of this recipe and the book that a novice like me can attempt this bread and actually pull it off!!

While the egg and butter keeps the bread soft and light, it also makes this bread a wee bit rich. It is slightly sweet tasting with the flavour of the cardamom shining through. Although a familiar flavour for me, I can well imagine the cardamom being an exotic taste for others. If you've never tried cardamom before, you are missing a good thing!! A piece of this bread would be ideal with your morning coffee!!

If you are an enthusiastic baker, keen on trying out new recipes, I'd recommend that you make this bread atleast once. It is definitely one to be added to your repertoire! 
 

Gingerbread Baby Cakes : 'TWD : Baking with Julia'

So, I've been noticing a trend among food blogs. October was all about a pumpkin overdrive. November went by with everyone wondering where the year had gone by and how it was November already. No prizes for guessing what December is going to be about ... why, Christmas of course!!!

In keeping with the mood of the month, the 'TWD :  Baking with Julia' group zeroed in on Gingerbread Baby Cakes for our first recipe of the month. Gingerbread recipes, with their Christmas association, are the quintessential December recipes. The list includes gingerbread cakes, gingerbread houses and everyone's favourite, gingerbread cookies aka the gingerbread men and women. 
 

In this recipe, the gingerbread is in the avatar of baby cakes. For someone, who enjoys petite-sized individual cakes and desserts, this recipe was written for me.

The recipe was much like the other gingerbread cake recipes that I've seen. The standout points were the generous helpings of coffee powder, molasses and of course, ginger (powder as well as fresh).

 

Fifteen minutes into baking and the aroma of the coffee and ginger will take over your kitchen. Out of the oven, unmould these dark and moist baby cakes and as promised by the recipe, you will be deceived into thinking that these look like harmless, little chocolate cakes.

 

 

One bite later and you'll be proved wrong. This is a ginger cake and ginger is what will hit you from the very first bite. There is also the hint of the coffee that comes through. Apart from that, there is a certain denseness of flavour that unless you've made these cakes, will hold a certain mystery for you. The molasses, black pepper and cocoa powder provide a certain depth and darkness that is not easily identified.

These cakes promise a punch and they deliver a punch. I'd recommend these cakes for an adult and mature palate.

 

 

These can be served with some whipped cream and candied lemon. Instead, I served these with vanilla custard. It was a good choice. It helped mellow the overt spiciness of these cakes.

Christmas Mini Muffins

Don't shake your head!! I do realise Christmas was a while back and we are approaching mid-January..some of your New Year resolutions are probably already crumbling! But here's the story..this blog was to make its debut in December and these muffins were to be its first post, just in time for Christmas, you see!

Unfortunately, yours truly didn't take into account the various technological aspects that go into creating a blog. I thought it would be a breeze and I would be good to go in a day or two ..the perils of naivete, I rue!! To cut a long story short, technology and procrastination saw the blog making its debut only this week. And so I plead leniency on account of being a new blogger to present these Christmas muffins in the middle of January! Because, frankly, the next opportune time to post this recipe is toooo far away!

The recipe is fairly straightforward and adapted from a recipe given on the BBC Food website. The only thing I had to prepare in advance was the mincemeat. And for that I turned to the Web's most popular meatless mincemeat recipe by David Leibovitz. Not only is this mincemeat recipe simple and does not require any meat fat (as the traditional recipes) but it is also a life-saver for last minute Christmas baking as it needs to be made only three days before use. Trust me, a whiff of it once its ready will evoke every Christmas food memory that you treasure!!

The muffins are simple to make and best eaten warm. The mini muffins are a perfect size for a time when festive eating is already creating havoc on the weighing scales. I tried to jazz them up by dunking the top of the muffins in white chocolate and sprinkling them with red and green edible decorations that I had on hand. I'll leave you to decide on which version you prefer!!