Jackfruit Muffins

Nowadays the markets are loaded with Jackfruits . Jackfruit comes in two varieties. In karwari we call these varieties " kappo" and "barko" . The kappo variety has firm texture whereas the barko variety is very soft and juicy .

This barko variety is usually used to made various dishes like sweet dosas, idlis , cakes etc . No essence or any extra flavor is needed in these muffins as the jackfruit itself imparts an lovely flavor to these muffins . If the jackfruit is very sweet you won't have to add sugar at all . So decide the amount of sugar accordingly.

So make these simply yet delicious muffins when  the season is in full swing .

Ingredients :


2 cups..................sweet jackfruit plup
1 cup....................rawa ( dry roasted for 5 to 10 minutes )
1 cup..................wheat flour
1 cup..................milk
1/2 cup..............sugar ( if needed)
1 tsp...................baking powder
1/2 tsp...............baking soda
2 tbsp...............pure ghee
few..................broken cashewnut pieces ( optional)



Method :


Mix everything except the baking powder and soda .

Keep aside for 2 hours .

If the batter is too thick add some more milk and mix.

Grease the muffin tray .

Add baking powder and soda to the batter and mix well.

Pour spoonfuls in the mould .

Bake the muffings in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes .

Insert a toothpick to check if the muffins are baked.

If the toothpick comes out clean without any batter sticking to it muffins are done.

Remove the tray from the oven and let the muffins cool down.

Galician Empanada

Galicia is the name of a community in Spain and the Galician Empanada is a very popular stuffed bread in Galician cuisine. This is usually had as an appetizer . But I made it in big quantity and we had it as our dinner with soup. It was quite filling and yummy. Thanks Swathi for choosing this dish for this month's . Baking Partners Challenge .

The clicks are though not upto the mark as the camera was not working properly.

Recipe source : Marisa of Thermofan.  

Ingredients :

For Dough :

2 cups....................warm water
1 tsp.......................yeast
1/2 tsp ...................sugar
250 gm ..................wheat flour
1 tbsp......................oil
1 tsp........................salt


For Filling : ( zaragallada )

2 tbsp..................oil
2 ......................onions ( chopped )
1 tsp..................garlic cloves ( finely chopped)
1....................... carrot ( scraped n chopped)
1 cup.................cauliflower ( florets)
1 cup................shelled green peas
1 cup................chopped tomatoes
1 cup................capsicum ( chopped)
1 tsp...................pepper
salt







Method :

Filling : 

In a thick bottom pan heat oil and add onions and garlic.

Saute the onions till trasparent and add all veggies except tomatoes and capsicum.

Again stir till the veggies are half cooked .

Add tomatoes and capsicum.

Adjust salt and pepper and cook till done.

The vegetables dish should be completely dry or strain out the liquid formed.



Dough :

In a bowl add yeast, 1/4 cup warm water and sugar and keep for 10 minutes.

Now add 2 tbsp oil, flour and salt and mix well.

Now gradually add remaing oil and flour and knead a soft elastic sticky dough.

Knead the dough well for 10 / 15 minutes.

Wrap it and keep aside for 1 hour for the dough to rise.

Now take a baking tray and grease it.

Take half of the dough and roll it as thin as possible.

Now carefully transfer it on the greased tray.

Spread the prepared veggied evenly on it leaving a border of 1 inch on all sides.

Roll out the remaing dough similarly and lay it on top of the filling.

Seal the borders on all sides and make a slit at the centre for steam to come out.escape.

If some dough remains you can make some design the way I made on top.

Brush the top with milk.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 30/ 40 minutes.

Baked Banana Pudding

I just love warm puddings . They make a wonderful desert after any meal. So when I saw that this month's home-bakers-challenge had a variety of pudding to choose from I was very happy.

This month's challenge was hosted by a dear friend Rafeeda and she gave some healthy options . I chose banana pudding as I already had bananas at home . I also wanted to try baking meringue and so thought that it was a great opportunity. I don't know whether I have baked the meringue top perfectly , but we did like the taste and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Though at the last minute my camera started acting funny and I got really horrible clicks.

Ingredients :



2 .....................big ripe bananas ( peeled and sliced )
1/2 cup.............sugar

2 tbsp................all purpose flour

1/4 tsp................salt

4 .........................eggs ( yolk n white seperated )

1/2 tsp.................vanilla esssence

15 / 20..................vanilla waffers

Method :

Beat the egg whites till soft peaks form and keep aside.

In a thick bottom pan add sugar, flour , salt and egg yolks.

Whisk them well.

Cook on a medium vessel stirring continuously till it thickens.

When the mixture starts bubbling remove from the flames and mix well.

Add vanilla essence and again mix .

Take a oven proof glass bowl and spread 1/3 mixture at the bottom.




Now spread the vanilla wafers on it and then arrange the banana slices.





Add some more pudding mixture and spread evenly to cover the slices.




Again repeat the layer of wafers and banana slices.




Now spread all the mixture evenly.

Pour the stiffly beated egg white on the mixture covering the edges fully.

Bake at 180 degrees for 10 / 12 minutes till the meringue top changes little color.

Cool before serving.






.

Kerstkransjes - Dutch Cookies

I have been making various cookies this week for Christmas . Two days back I made suji-crystal-cookies  and today it is these delicious Dutch Cookies. They were so yummy , they got over in a jiffy and I had to make one more batch the same day. These cookies are for International Food Challenge by Saras .

Recipe Source : dutchessroz.com

Ingredients :

200 gm .......................flour ( maida )
150 gm .....................cold butter ( finely chopped )
1 .............................egg  ( yolk n white separated )
1 tsp........................baking powder
100 gm .................sugar ( powdered )
pinch full ...............salt
1/4 tsp...................vanilla essence
2 tbsp..................almond flakes ( to garnish )



Method :


In a mixer add flour, butter, egg yolk, baking powder , salt , sugar and essence.

Process it for few seconds.

Knead into a smooth dough .

If needed add few drops of milk .

Wrap the dough in a cling film and chill it for 1 hour.

Take out the chilled dough and roll it to 1/23 cm thick disk.

Cut the cookies with cookie cutter.

Make a small hole at the centre with another cutter.

Brush the cookies with egg white and sprinkle almond flakes.

Arrange them on a greased baking tray 1 inch apart.

Bake in a preheated oven at 160 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

Suji Crystal Cookies

Feeling very excited to post these colorful cookies which were instant hit with everyone in the family. Personally I don't like such colorful snacks as there is a liberal usage of artificial colors. But I think once in while we all can afford indulging in such lovely treats and be childish. After all they are perfect for this festive Christmas season.

Though the name of these cookies is Suji cookies they do not contain Suji ( semolina ) at all. Instead the are made of maida and the almond powder used lends it a very rich texture and flavor.

 Loved making these cookies for Priya's  Home Bakers Event  hosted  by Niloufer .

Recipe Source : umaskitchenexperiments.com


Ingredients :


1 cup.......................maida
1/2 tsp.....................baking powder
1/2 tsp.....................baking soda
1/2 cup ..................sugar powder
1/2 cup ..................almonds ( dry powder )
1/2 cup..................ghee
a pinch ................salt
1/4 tsp.................vanilla essence
1/4 tsp each ........ food colors (  used yellow, pink and green )



Method :

In a mixer pulse together maida , baking powder and baking soda.

Also add sugar powder, almond powder, essence and salt to it.

Now take this in bowl and add ghee to it and knead to a soft smooth dough.

Rest the dough  for 15 - 20 minutes .

Make three portions of this dough .

Add 2 / 3 drops of color of your choice to each part and knead well.

The color should uniformly be spread all over.

Now take a small ball of each color and roll them to form a big ball.

This should be done gently so the colors don't mix and you get a marbled effect.

Press this ball to get a cookie shape.

Spread 2 inches apart on a greased baking tray .

Bake in a preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes at 150 degrees celcius.

Baingan / Banjan Borani - ( Layered Afghani Eggplants )

This month for the International Food Challenge an event by Saras we tried dishes from Afghanistan.

This month's event was hosted by  Pavani who suggested some very interesting dishes. As I already had some brinjals at home I decided to make this Baingan Borani .

Baingan or Banjan Borani is a baked dish made with brinjals and tomatoes layered with a thick sauce . The dish tastes delicious and even the ones who don't much favour brinjals will love it.

Do serve the dish with whipped curd as this brings out the real flavour of the dish.

Recipe Source :  Afghan Cooking.
Ingredients :

250 gm ..................medium brinjals ( thicly sliced )
2 ...........................firm ripe tomatoes ( thickly sliced )
2 tbsp ....................olive oil
2 tbsp + 1 tsp ...................minced garlic
1 tsp....................chilly powder
1/2 tsp ...............turmeric powder
4 to 5 ................maggi chicken cubes
1 tsp ................pepper powder
1 cup ...............tomato paste ( use about 3 tomatoes )
fist full...........finely chopped coriander
1 cup............thick curd ( whipped)
salt for taste


Method :


Grease a non stick tawa.

Arrange the brinjal and tomato slices on it.

Shallow fry them with very little oil till the slices are semi cooked and tender.

In a pan add 1 tbsp oil and saute minced garlic till golden .

Add tomato paste, all masala powders and maggi cubes.

Cook till the sauce becomes thick and the raw smell of tomatoes disappeares.

Now grease a baking pan .

Pour 1/3 of the prepared sauce on it.

Now arrange 1/2 of brinjal slices on it.

Then arrange 1/2 tomato slices and sprinkle some chopped coriander.

Again repeat the above three steps .

At the top pour the remaining sauce to coat the brinjals and tomatoes completely.

Cover the pan with aluminium foil and bake for 1/2 an hour at 180 degrees.

Now uncover the pan and again bake for further 10 minutes .

Mix 1 tsp minced garlic, salt and whipped curd together.

Pour this whipped curd over the baked brinjals and serve with bread or roti.

Basbousa - Egyptian Semolina Cake

This month for Home Bakers Challenge I chose to make this simple Egyptian semolina cake which was suggested by Nupur  .  Known as Basbousa basically this is a simple semolina cake .


Usually when we make a cake sugar is added before the cake is baked. But here the cake is first baked with very less sugar and then sugar syrup is poured on the baked cake which is still hot. This makes the cake moist and keeps it super soft for a longer time.

Ingredients :

2 cups .....................rawa ( semolina )
1/2 cup ..................sugar
1/2 cup................... scraped coconut
2 tbsp.......................ghee
1 tsp........................baking powder
1/2 cup.......................milk
3/4  cup....................buttermilk
few drops................vanilla essence
few almonds



For Sugar Syrup :

1 cup....................sugar
1 cup.....................water
1 tbsp...................rose water

Method :


Mix all the ingredients except almonds .

Keep the mixture in fridge for 2 hours.

Now grease a cake tin and pour the mixutre in it.

Press almonds on the batter top to garnish it.

Bake in a preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes at 180 degrees.

Make sugar syrup by boiling water and sugar.

Let the mixture boil for 2 - 3 minutes and switch off the gas.

When warm add rose water to the syrup.

Cut the baked basbouse into pieces when still warm.

Pour the warm sugar syrup on the baked cake immediately.

This will ensure that all the sugar syrup is soaked properly.

This makes the cake very moist and soft.

Peach N Cornflakes Pudding

I love baked items and especially bread pudding is my childhood favorite. So this time while making bread pudding.  I also added equal amount of cornflakes and peaches to give a twist to the normal bread pudding.
The pudding filled my kitchen with a lovely peachy aroma when I baked it.

 The reason for adding cornflakes n peaches was that these are my secret ingredients for our monthly event shhh-cooking-secretly-challenge started by Priya Suresh. My this month's partner Sonali gave me these two secret ingredients which worked wonders and made the pudding very delicious .

Ingredients :

2 cups..............................cornflakes ( roasted )
2 cups............................bread crumbs
2 ..................................eggs
2 .................................peaches ( deseeded n cubed )
1 cup...........................sugar
1 tsp...........................baking powder
1/2 tsp........................fruit flavored essence
1 tbsp.......................ghee





Method :

In a bowl mix bread crumbs with eggs , sugar, baking powder and essence.

Keep aside for 1/2 an hour .

Then add the chopped peaches and cornflakes n mix gently.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 20 minutes or till the surface becomes golden.

Serve as it is or serve with vanilla ice cream.

Cherry Shortcakes

Shortcakes were something I had heard of but never ever tasted or tried. So felt very excited to try them out when Swathi suggested these yummy berry shortcakes for this month's baking-partners challenge. They were very simple to make but had an exotic feel. The taste was yumm and were enjoyed by all of us. 

These shortcakes are very rich and heavy too. They make an excellent dessert options and the cherries can be replaced with any other fresh fruit of your choice .

Ingredients :

2 cups.......................fresh cherries
4 tbsp.......................sugar
1 cup........................maida
1/4 cup...................cornflour
1 tbsp....................baking powder
1/4 tsp.....................salt
2 n 1/2 cup ..............fresh heavy cream
2 tbsp......................melted butter





Method :


Wash, wipe n deseed half the cherries n chop them roughly.

Now sprinkle 1 tbsp sugar on it keep them aside so sugar mixes well in cherries .

In a bowl mix well maida , salt , 1 tbsp sugar and baking powder together.

Mix beated heavy cream gradually and try to bring all the flour together with fingers.

When it resembles like bread crumbs add cream so that the flour just comes together.




Take care not to knead the dough at all.

Now pat this dough on a well floured platform and shape it into a 1/4 inch thick disc.





Cut rounds with a cutter.




Dip these rounds in molten butter and arrange them on greased baking tray.





Bake them in a preheated oven for 20 minutes  or till they rise.





Cut the cakes horizontally into half.

When the cakes are baking whip the remaining cream n sugar till stiff .

When the cakes cool down add a spoonful of this stiff whipped cream and some chopped cherries.

Keep the other half on top and again add a spoonful of cream and cherries.

Kunafeh - Sweet Cheese Pastry

This month for the  home-bakers-challenge a monthly baking event started by Priya Suresh and this month  hosted by Nupur we had a wide variety of Arabic desserts to choose from. Arabic sweets are very well known for their liberal use of butter and dry fruits.

I think Baklava is one of the most richest and most popular of the Arabic desserts . But few others like Kunafeh, basbousa are eqyally addictive ones and so I tried my hands at both these yummy treats.

Though I personally wanted to try baklava very badly I changed my decision due to the rich and heavy ingredients like lots of butter and dry fruits in this sinfully royal dessert. Instead I decided to try Kunafeh which is comparatively simpler and yet very addictive.

 The crispy pastry sheets with cheese and sugar syrup taste very yummy and one just can't stop eating this dessert.

Ingredients :


10 sheets ........................phyllo pastry
1/2 cup.......................molten unsalted butter
1 cup.........................mozarella cheese ( shredded )
1 cup.........................cheddar cheese ( shredded)
1/2 cup ...................sugar syrup or diluted honey
2 tbsp....................nuts ( almonds / pistachios for garnishing)




Method :


Pulse the pastry till it is shredded into small pieces.

Mix in the butter gently.

Press half of this shredded pastry in a small pan.

Spread the shredded cheese on it .

Again press the remaining half of the shredded pastry .

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or till golden brown and puffed up.

Pour the sugar syrup evenly over the pastry and let it get absorbed.

Garnish with nuts.

Hungarian Kiffles ( Eggless )

This month for our Baking Eggless challenge Gayathri chose these delicious Hungarian Croissant Rolls called Kipfels / Kiffles.

They are usually made during functions , wedding and festivals and are traditionally made with eggs and filled with lekvar ( a jam filling of apricots or prunes )

Our challenge was to make them eggless and so to replace eggs I used thick curds which worked wonders and gave a very rich and smooth finish to the pastry. 

I substitued lekvar with lemon marmalade which gave a very lemony yummy taste to these delicious pastry.

Thanks Gayathri for this lovely recipe , thoroughly enjoyed making it. 

Ingredients:

2 cups .....................wheat flour
1tsp ........................active dry yeast
a pinch.......................baking soda
1/2 tsp .................salt
2 tbsp...................sugar
1 ........................lemon ( squeeze the juice )
1 tbsp...............candied lemon zest
1/ cup..............warm milk
2/3 cup..............thick curd
85 gms ..............homemade butter ( loni )
4 tbsp.............jam ( I used lemon marmalade )
2 tbsp..........nuts ( used almonds and pistachios)

Method :

Now in a bowl add flour, yeast, salt, sugar, lemon juice , lemnon zest, baking soda, curds and butter .

Knead with warm milk to form a  soft dough.

Add butter and knead till soft and smooth.

Keep it covered in a greased bowl and set aside for 1 hour or more  till the dough doubles.

Now divide the dough into two and roll in to a big round of approx 8 to 10 " diameter.





Cut into 12 triangles like a pizza and keep a spoon full of jam at the broad corner of the wedge.

Add little jam or it might ooze out of the pastry.

Sprinkle some crushed nuts of top of jam.






Roll it like a croissant shape.

Arrange them on a greased baking tray and keep to rise for another 1/2 an hour.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 25 minutes or till golden brown .

Serve warm.

Komaj - Persian Stuffed Bread

Komaj is one of the most unique breads I have come across . This bread consists of most unusual flavors like cumin seeds and turmeric . The stuffing is made with dates and cardamom powder. You will naturally wonder what kind of weird combination is this. But trust me it works amazingly. This stuff bread tastes superb with a hot cup of tea. Have it warm to get the real taste of this delcious bread. I baked it as a challenge for we-knead-to-bake an event by aparna . She has taken the recipe from the book  Saraban – A Chef’sJourney Through Persia.

Ingredients  for the bread :

3 cups ...................... all purpose flour
1 tsp........................dry active yeast
1/2 tsp ...................sugar
4 tbsp .....................sugar powder
1/2 tsp .................salt
1/8 cup ..............warm water
1/2 tsp................turmeric powder
2 tsp...................cumin seeds ( slightly crushed)
1........................egg
2/3 cup...........warm milk
1 n 1/2 tbsp....oil




Ingredients for the filling :


10 - 12 ....................soft deseeded dates ( chopped)
1 tsp.........................crushed cardamom
1 tbsp.....................soft unsalted butter

Mix these three thoroughly and keep aside to fill in the buns.

Milk for brushing

1tsp...................cumin seeds ( slightly crushed)










Method :

Dissolve yeast sugar and water in a bowl and set it aside for 10 minutes .

In another bowl mix well flour, turmeric powder , cumin seeds , sugar powder and salt.

Now add the yeast mixture which would have formed a froth to this flour bowl.

Mix everything very well and add milk and oil.

Knead for 5 minutes till you get a soft , elastic and non sticky dough.

Keep the dough covered in a well greased bowl for 1 hour and let it rise.

After 1 hour punch the dough and deflate it and again let it rise for 1 more hour.

Now make 8 equal ball of the dough and roll them 1/8 " ovals or rectangles.

Brush them with milk and keep a tsp of filling at corner of this rolled rectangle.

Now cover this filling with the other side of rectangle and press all sides to seal well.

Now with a cookie cutter cut the dough taking care that the filling doesn't come out.

Keep these rounds on greased baking tray and let them rise for 15 minutes.

Now brush them with milk and sprinkle some crushed cumin on top of each round bun.

Bake them in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 12 - 15 minutes.

Have the buns warm while eating.

Masala Scones

Though I love baking I am not an expert baker and so there are certain bakes which I hesitate to prepare. Scones is one such baked dish. I have gone through many scone recipes in the past but was too scared to try one.

So this month when I saw that  Archana has suggested Scones and Tarts for our this months baking-partners-challenge it was tarts for me. But then when I read the recipe of scones found it interesting and moreover Archana made it sound so simple that I couldn't resist trying it out.

 And then when I finally gave them a try was really glad that I made a right choice . They were so crumbly and soft . The cheesy flavor was just yumm.

 Though the original recipe is eggless I tried them with eggs when I saw Swathi doing the same because I did not want to spoil the dish at any cost. I also substituted sage leaves with coriander leaves and chillies . The result was amazing and loved these scones with our morning breakfast.

Ingredients :

2 cups .....................wheat flour
1 tbsp.......................baking powder
1 tsp......................pepper powder
5 tbsp.....................chilled butter ( cubed)
2 tbsp......................fresh coriander leaves ( chopped)
2 ..........................green chillies ( very finely chopped )
2 .........................eggs
2 tbsp..................fresh cream
100 gms................grated cheddar cheese
salt to taste







Method :


In a bowl take the flour and add pepper powder and baking powder.

Now add the chilled butter cubes and rub the flour with your fingers.

Continue till you get a crumbly texture.

In another bowl whip eggs and fresh cream .

Mix chopped coriander and chillies to egg and cream mixture and beat lightly.

Add this to the crumbled flour.

Also add  cheese and salt and knead into a dough.

Take the dough on a well floured platform and roll it into a thick disk.





Cut the disk into triangular parts and arrange them in a greased bowl.




Brush the surface with butter and bake in a preheated oven.

Bake at 180 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes till the top is golden .

Spinach Fatayer

I love making variety of savory bakes and so when I saw that this month's home-bakers-challenge had sweet as well as savory bakes was very happy to  choose this yummy snack item.

Spinach Fatayer is a very easy and healthy snack . This recipe is from Middle East and was one of the dishes chosen by Rafeeda who is hosting this month's home-bakers-challenge an event started by  Priya Suresh .

These samosa  like baked snacks were very easy to prepare and made for a delcious snack for our evening tea. You can make these fatayer for your party and get sure likes from kids and adults alike. The health conscious folks will really appreciate your choice of starters.

Everyone at home thoroughly enjoyed having them and have decided to include this hassle free dish in my party menu for starters .

Ingredients  for the covering :

1 cup..................maida
2 tbsp.................oil
1/4 cup...............warm water
salt to taste



Ingredients for the filling :

1 small bunch ...................fresh spinach
1...................................onion (finely chopped )
2 to 3 tbsp....................walnuts ( roughly crushed)
1.................................green chilly ( finely chopped )
1/4 tsp........................pepper powder
1 small....................lemon ( take the juice)
salt to taste.

Method :

Mix together maida, oil and salt .

Gradually add warm water and knead a soft dough.

Cover it with a wet muslin cloth and keep aside.

In a bowl mix well all ingredients given under filling .

Now make balls out of the dough and roll a puri .






Keep a heaped spoonful of the filling on it.







Fold the circle in a triangular shape and seal the edges by pressing them.






Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes till they become golden brown.

Saltine Crackers

This month it was  Aarthy  who suggested a brilliant idea of making crackers for baking-partners a very interesting event by Swathi . She suggested two type of crackers - Saltine Crackers which are usually salty and Graham Crackers which are sweet . I chose to make Saltine Crackers and am also planning to make the sweet variety soon .

 As making crackers was completely new to me I did not modify the recipe at all and thought of following the original recipe . But I made two goof ups -  firstly I completely forgot to fold the rolled out dough and then also forgot the prick the rolled crackers with a fork . But even after all this my crackers turned out good. They were not very crispy n crunchy but still were yummy and delicious. Planning to make them again for perfection.

Ingredients : 

3/4 cup.........................maida
1 pinch.........................baking soda
2/ 3 drops ...................... vinegar
1 pinch .........................salt
1/2 tsp.........................sugar
1/4 cup........................lukewarm water
1 1/2 tsp......................dry yeast
3 tbsp........................water
1 tbsp........................butter
1 tbsp.......................oil
1 tsp salt + 1 tbsp pepper powder ( for topping )


Method :


Boil 3 tbsp water, butter and oil till butter melts and cool till it is lukewarm

Add yeast and sugar to 1/4 cup lukewarm water and set aside for 10 minutes.

When the yeast mixture becomes frothy add maida, salt , soda and vinegar .

Mix the mixture and add the lukewarm butter mixture.

Now knead to form a dough.

The dough will be very soft and sticky.

Keep the dough in a well greased bowl and plastic wrap it.

Keep the bowl in fridge overnight.

The next day bring the dough to room temperature and knead it .

You will need extra maida as the dough will be very sticky.

Roll the dough in a rectange and fold one third rectange through the left half .

Fold the right side on the left part .

It should resemble the folded envelope. ( I forgot this step totally )

Again roll the dough in rectange shape and roll it very thin.

Press the topping with the rolling pin for it to stick in the crackers

Cut them into squares .

Seperate them carefully and place them on a greased tray.

Now prick them with a fork . ( I forgot this step too )

Bake these crackers in a preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes at 180 degrees.

Cheesecake Cupcakes

Cupcakes - the goodness and flavor of cakes packed in mini cute package. This is the current trend going on. Making and eating big cakes is a complete no no in today's health conscious society. Its then better to make the cakes in small size where you can enjoy them and also control the individual portion.

I have made cheese cakes a lot of times in different flavors but never baked them. So when for home-bakers-challenge  our this month's host Siri @ thebravecook   gave this cheesecake cupcakes as one of the choices I decided to give it a try. The cakes when baked had fluffed beautifully, actually I should have taken at least one click at that time. But when they cooled down they just sunk . Though the texture of these cupcakes was amazingly soft . Topped with orange crush ( orange toppings being my personal favorite ) they tasted just out of this world.

Thanks Priya Suresh  and   Siri for this yummy challenge

Ingredients :

2 cups .......................cream cheese ( home made )
1/2 cup ........................sugar
2 ............................eggs
1 tsp......................butter
2 tbsp + 5 tbsp .....................orange crush
10 .......................plain vanilla waffers

Method : 

Place a paper cupcake liner in each of 12 muffin cups.

Preheat the oven at 180 degrees and keep ready.

In the meanwhile beat cream cheese until fluffy.

Add  sugar and butter and beat well.

Add eggs, one at a time, and again beat till very fluffy. 

In each muffin cup place a waffer at the bottom and spoon fluffy over wafers.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Let the cakes cool completely.

Top each  cupcake with a spoonful orange custard.

Cinnamon Swirl Brioche

Making and baking breads was a dream for me just two years back . But ever since I entered this blogging world I was amazed to see so many wonderful breads being baked by fellow bloggers which were totally unheard of by me before.

Then again I was very hesitant to try out such daring experiments and so decided to join some online baking groups where every month the members bake a bread or some other baked item . I must say that this helped me improvise my baking skills a lot.

One such unique baking group is baking-eggless  by Gayathri  . Unique in the sense here we not only make a baking item but we substitute the eggs with some other vegetarian ingredient and try to make it as perfect as the one with egg variety. This month's challenge was this lovely Cinnamon Swirl Brioche which made use of 8 eggs and thats really a large amount to substitute.

Making this delcious Cinnamon Swirl Brioche was a real challenge as I had to think of the substitute for 8 eggs. Finally used a combination of flax seeds and paneer . Also due to health issues have planned to avoid the use of maida as far as possible and so used maida and wheat flour in 50 : 50 proportion. Was a bit worried of the results but the Brioche was so delicious and soft  that it got over within minutes . The brioche had a soft texture and a nutty flavor due to flaxseeds .

Thanks once again Gayathri for introducing us to such an interesting bake.

The original Recipe is from Barbara Bakes.

Ingredients :

1 tbsp...................yeast
1/2 cup...........lukewarm water
4 tbsp.............flax seeds
1 tbsp..................salt
4 tbsp.................. paneer
1/2 cup ..............honey
1 n 1/2 cup ........loni ( homemade butter )
3 n 1/2 cups ..............wheat flour
3 n 1/2  cups ..............maida

Mix together and keep :

1 cup .............sugar
3 tbsp.............cinnamon powder
1/2 tbsp .........salt



Method :

Mix water, yeast,honey and molten butter in a big bowl .

After 10 minutes add paneer and flax seeds paste and mix well .

Now gradually add all the flour ( wheat and maida ) and mix properly.

Keep aside for 2 hours for the dough to rise and then collapse.

You can refrigerate this dough and use it over the next five days.

When making the Brioche grease a bread loaf tin.

Roll the dough carefully into a wide rectangle.





Wet the top surface of the rectangle with little water .

Now sprinkle  the sugar cinnamon filling on it and again sprinkle some water on it.





Now roll the rectangle and keep it for 10 to 15 minutes.





Now cut the roll into half and stretch each half to 14 inches rolls.





Cut the first roll vertically so that the cinnamon sugar lines are clearly visible.





Now keeping the cut side open braid the rolls and keep them in a greased loaf tin.





Also cut the second half in a similar way and braid it .

Since I did not have a second loaf tin , I used a circular tin.

This gave me a beautiful shaped brioche which looked like a blooming flower.






Cover the pan and let the dough rise for 2 hours.

Bake in a preheated oven for 25 minutes at 180 degrees .

Reduce the temperature to 150 degrees and further bake for 20 minutes.

The top will be golden brown in color.

Cool it completely on a wire rack and then slice it.