Choco Lava Cake

Ever had your kids make your life miserable for something they want. If you haven't then consider yourself lucky. They say Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Believe me, that's nothing. Hell hath no fury like a demanding kid ...atleast till the demands are not met.

My younger one had this craving for a chocolate lava cake...and that was not all. He didn't want the one available in restaurants. He wanted ME to bake him one. 3 days of persistent quizzing by him, on whether today was the day, emotional hijacks that I don't love him (and he is only 4), hunger strikes (I will only have food if the dessert is a choco lava cake), mass announcements to neighbors that his father will bake him a molten cake, I finally relented. Last Sunday, he  got his Choco Lava cake and yes! I did bake him one 6-7 so that he could have one for the next 3 days.

The choco lava cake (as my son calls it) is known by many names - Molten Chocolate cake, Chocolate fondant pudding, Chocolate Lava Cake. It's invention is disputed, with Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten claiming to have invented this in 1987, and Chef  Jacques Torres(France) claiming that this dish existed in France from much before. Still, Chef Vongerichten did make it popular within the US and is credited with the same.

Choco Lava Cake

Make 8 Ramekins


Ingredients:
Chocolate (semi-sweet or bitter), chopped - 170 gms 
Butter, cut into pieces - 115 gms
Eggs, yolks & whites separated - 3
Granulated white sugar - 65 gms (For the egg yolks)
Granulated white sugar  - 1 Tblsp (For the egg whites)
Vanilla Essence or Extract - 1 Tsp
Cream of Tartar - 1/8 Tsp


For the ramekins/molds
Butter - 1.5 Tsp
Castor Sugar - 2 Tblsp

Method:
1. Prepare the ramekins/molds by buttering the insides evenly and then coating them with sugar. An easy way to coat with sugar is to drop a tsp into the buttered mold and then just swirl it around. The sugar will stick to the buttered portions and you can tap the excess back into another bowl.
2. Preheat oven to 200 Degrees Celsius.
3. In a medium heatproof bowl, add in the chocolate pieces and butter pieces. Put it on a double boiler (or over a pan of boiling water ensuring that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water but is just above it). Melt the chocolate and butter. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
4. In a large bowl, add in egg yolks and 65 gms. sugar. Beat till they turn white (very pale...almost white), thick and fluffy.
5. Add in the vanilla essence. Beat the egg mixture again till the batter starts to fall back in ribbons once lifted.
6. Fold in the melted chocolate and butter.
7. In another clean bowl, add in the egg whites and whip till they turn frothy.
8. Add in the cream of tartar and whip to form soft peaks.
9. Add in the 1 Tblsp of sugar and whip till stiff peaks form.
10. Gently fold these egg whites into the egg & chocolate mixture. Take care not to overmix or the batter will deflate. An ideal way is to fold it in batchwise. Do not worry, if certain streaks of white remain visible.
11. Pour into the buttered and sugared molds.
12. Bake for 10 minutes or till outside is set and middle appears wet. NOTE: Cracks may appear on the surface and that is normal.
13. Remove from oven. Rest for a minute and serve either in ramekins/molds or independently.
14. You can garnish with raspberries, sprinkling of icing sugar, coffee powder, whipped cream or ice cream on top.

NOTE: You need not rush to bake after pouring the mixture into the molds. You can also prepare this in advance and cover with a film of wrap and keep it in the refrigerator and bake later. Just increase the baking time to make up for the cold mixture. It keeps well for 4-5 days.

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The joys of baking - Chocolate Chip & Fruit Tea Cake

My better half discovered the joys of baking a few months back and has not looked back since then. At first it was my signature weekly banana bread that got passed on to her, and I must admit it tasted better when she baked. Then came the other breads and cakes. The cheesecakes (I still feel deeply my cheesecakes are the primary reason she married me) will come sooner or later ...I'm waiting.

Chocolate Chip & Fruit Tea Cake



Ingredients:

Refined Flour - 225 gm
Brown Sugar, ground - 100 gm
Unsalted Butter - 175 gm
Eggs - 4
Baking Powder - 1 Tsp
Chocolate Chips - 175 gm
Raisins, soaked in hot water - 100 gm
Walnuts - 50 gm

Method:

1. Sift the flour and baking powder. Keep aside.
2. Cream butter and sugar until soft, light & fluffy.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Add in the flour & baking powder.
5. Stir in chocolate chips, raisins and walnuts.
6. Pour into a greased & floured cake tin.
7. Bake at 180 Deg. Celsius for 40 minutes to 50 minutes.
8. Cool for 10 minutes in the tin.
9. Turn out on a wire rack carefully and allow it to cool completely.
10. Cut into thin slices and serve.

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Cheesecake Omnia

Its been sometime that I started visiting Diva's blog and the visual onslaught of some of my favorite dishes out there has made me go back for more everytime. It's one such post that caught my eye or rather, woke up the sleeping gastronome. It was the Beauty and the Feast challenge. All it required to do was to pick a cosmetic/beauty product which had a food related name or ingredient and combining the flavors as best as one could come up with a dish inspired by it. This one required me to think and conjure up something different.

I immediately looked up my stock of guy products. Now some would argue that it would mean just a few, cos guys really don't have that many. But I spend quite a bit on myself and really have a decent collection of guy products but nothing that I could turn into a dish. Next was my wife's cabinet...and that took time. Finally, I zeroed in on the most unusual product ...her parfum and the vast bouquet of ingredients really presented a challenge. It had Mandarin, White Chocolate, Masala Tea (yes, masala chai ) and saffron. Now these varied ingredients posed a good challenge. It was going to be an uphill task to come up with something that had all of these. How would it taste ??? If it smelt good, it must taste good too. So here I was making something out of the ingredients used for Bvlgari Omnia Parfum...and rightfully I named it the Cheesecake Omnia. In simple terms it's Mandarin & White Chocolate Cheesecake with Masala Chai Sauce.

To be honest, when I started out in the morning, I really didn't feel like entering the kitchen. It was more like a day meant for lazing in the bed, watching a movie after the other. IPL had almost lost its charm after Delhi Daredevils failed to make the cut. Thankfully, Sachin is still there. I walked almost unwillingly to the kitchen and on the way put on my ipod and selected a random playlist and hey! it started belting out one amazing track after another. I felt ready to take on the kitchen. This creation of mine is as much a help from music as the challenge posed and the amazing family that shares my love for cheesecakes.
It tasted heavenly and my son finished one whole tart. Most of them were hijacked by my better half, whatever I did lay my hands on, I enjoyed and silently patted myself. The Tea Sauce was a killer.
Diva, this is officially my entry to the Beauty & The Feast Challenge. If time permits, more will follow.

Cheesecake Omnia Ingredients:

For the Crust:
Refined Flour - 1 Cup
Butter - 1/2 Cup
Salt - 1 tsp
Sugar - 2 Tblsp
Water - 3 Tblsp

For the Cheesecake
Hung Yogurt - 1 Cup
Orange Pulp /Juice - 1 Cup
White Chocolate, melted on a double boiler - 60 gms
Custard - 2 Cups
Gelatin - 2 Tsp
Mandarine Napoleon Liqueur - 30 ml

For the Custard -
Egg Yolks - 2
Milk - 1 1/2 Cup
Sugar - 1/2 Cup
Vanilla Essence - 1 Tsp

For the Sauce
Tea Leaves - 1 Tsp
Cinnamon - 1
Cloves- 2
Green Cardamom - 3
Ginger- 1 tsp
Peppercorns - 2
Water - 2 Cups
Sugar - 4 Tsp
Butter - 3 Tsp
Saffron - a few strands ( soaked in some milk)

Method: Make the short crust pastry
1. Sieve the flour and salt together in a bowl.
2. Add in the sugar (now traditionally sugar does not go into a short crust pastry...but I used it).
3. Cut the butter into small cubes and rub lightly into the flour. Life the mixture as you do this to incorporate air. Keep doing until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
4. Stir in water (little) and knead to make a soft dough.
5. Put it in a polythene bag and chill for 30 mins.
6. Take it out and roll it out into the shape you desire or the mold that you have and bake in a pre-heated oven at 200 deg for 18 mins.
Note : I love this site. Tells you step by step on shortcrust pastry.

Make the Custard
1. Beat the egg yolks with sugar on a double boiler till the mixture turns white and creamy.
2. Slowly add in the milk continuing to whisk.
3. Keep whisking till all ingredients combine and the mixture starts to thicken.
4. Take it off fire.
Note : Use the ready to make custard powder that you get in the market. I can't help it, I have been taught how to make it the traditional way...still cannot use the powder. My wife however, excels in using it ( Despite my sarcasm on the real way).

Make the Cheesecake
1. Add in the cooled custard to the hung yogurt.
2. Add in the mandarin pulp, melted white chocolate, Mandarine Liqueur and gelatin(soaked in warm water).
3 Pour in the molds and keep in fridge.

Make the Sauce
1. Make the masala tea, bu boiling water with all the spices and condiments added to it.
2. When the water start starts to boil, add in the tea leaves, and let them infuse into the mix.
3. Simmer for 10 mins. Take off flame.
4. Pour the sugar in a saucepan and put on a medium flame.
5. Once the sugar starts to caramelize, add in the butter. This will prevent the sugar from burning.
6. Add in the Masala Tea and let it cook for 5 mins.
7. After 5 minutes, stir the sauce and mix the caramelized sugar with the tea. Stir till sauce thickens a little bit. Add in the saffron.
8. Take it off the flame and cool.

Serve the cheesecake on a bed of masala tea sauce and some dribbled over it, garnished with either white chocolate flakes or a small cube of it and some orange slices.

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Stuffin myself with Muffin

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Enough has been said and written about it. It provides the body with the right fuel to keep us going through the day. And as said, “Well begun is half done”.

The weekend happened to be a long one, with the Ugadi festival (Telugu New Year ) on Monday and it was just the break I needed to get away from the maddening workplace. Since this was an unwinding and catching movies weekend, there was to be no golf and come Monday the skies opened up and rain gods again poured down.

The weather was perfect for some good food, and I had been contemplating making some muffins for a long time. Today was just the day to go ahead and have them ready for breakfast.

I had this good recipe from cooks.com which I had tried out in the past and felt the need to make some adjustments. Firstly, it was for strawberry muffins and I wanted to make some chocolate ones, secondly, the sugar quantity prescribed in the recipe was extremely low. The muffins per that came out, so to say, bland. So I made my own adjustments and made the chocolate muffins …it surely was a good breakfast :)

For the original recipe you can visit the cooks.com site and have a look at that one too. Just remember my words on the sugar part.

Chocolate Muffins

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cup sifted refined flour
2 cup powdered sugar
3 tsp. baking powder

5 tsp cocoa powder

½ tsp Eno (optional)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup oil
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla essence

1 tsp chocolate syrup (Hershey’s)
1 chopped chocolate

Method:

1. Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, cocoa powder, eno and salt.

2. Beat eggs. Blend in oil, vanilla essence, milk & chocolate syrup.

3. Add the liquid to dry ingredients. Stir quickly just until moistened.

4. Fold in the chocolate chips.

5. Spoon into well greased muffin tins.

6. Bake at 220 degrees for 25 minutes or until done.

7. Remove to wire rack. Serve.

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