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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Greek Simiti / Koulouria

I am very happy that Eggless Bakers Group has completed two years and I myself have been a member of this group  for almost a year now. This group has taught me a lot . I first used to stay away from bakes which include eggs as my mother in law doesn't eat eggs. But with this group I have successfully learnt to substitute eggs without compromising on texture and taste. So thanks a lot gayathri for including me in this wonderful group and wish you many more successful years of eggless baking . 

This month we are making a Greek sweet bread called Simita or Koulouria . These actually are big ring like structures though I have made small rings . This bread is suggested by Priya Suresh . Thanks Priya and Gayathri for this yummy bread ring.

Original Recipe : My Little Expat Kitchen

Ingredients :


For the dough :

2 tsp................dried active yeast
100 ml.............warm water
50 ml ..............warm milk
2 tbsp..............sugar
1 cup..............wheat flour
1 1/2 cup..........all purpose flour
2 tbsp...............thick sour curds ( to substitute 1 egg )
2 tbsp + 1 tsp...oil
1/2 tsp..............salt

For the coating :

1 cup ................dry toasted sesame seeds
1/4 cup..............black currant crush ( diluted with 1 tbsp water )


Method :

In a bowl add yeast, sugar and 2 tbsp warm water.

Mix the yeast with fingers and make a paste.

Now add remaining warm water, both the flours, curds, oil, milk and salt in this order.

Now knead the dough for almost 10 minutes with your hands.

The dough should be soft , elastic but non sticky.

You can add more flour to achieve the above consistency.

Now apply oil to dough and keep it in greased bowl.

Cover the bowl and let the dough rice for 1 hour or till double in size.

Take sesame seeds and diluted black currant crush in two separate wide plates.

After the dough has doubled knead it and make 10  to 12 equal balls .

Roll each ball to a long rope as shown in picture.

Fold it and braid the two strands and form a ring .

Press the ends with water to stick.

Dip this ring first in diluted crush and then coat it well with sesame seeds.

Keep them on greased baking tray .

Bake 5 to 6 at a time in a preheated oven for 20 minutes at 180 degrees .

Keep the rings well separated as they rise while baking.

Serve warm or cold .

Eggless Creme Brulee

Creme Brulee is an exclusive dessert and I first came to know about it while watching Australian Masterchef . The blowtorch technique used to melt the sugar and to form the crusty top fascinated me and I was like there are certain desserts which are just not meant to be done at home. And Creme Brulee was just one such  dessert about which I could only  imagine .

But then there are some who just like to take such challenges which sound impossible at first and then making them look possible to attain . This was the feeling I got when I saw that this month Gayathri  had challenged the members of Baking Eggless  with Creme Brulee a dessert suggested by Vimalalakshmi and that too an eggless version. She had also taken pain to describe in detail how to prepare the crust at home without the blow torch method.

I obviously found  this challenge very exciting and not to be missed at any cost. The part which I most enjoyed while making this dessert was no doubt the melting of sugar. This I tried by two different techniques. First I tried heating the backside of a spoon till it turned black and then keeping it on sugar . The sugar sizzled and melted but also made the spoon sticky in the process. After heating the spoon 2 to 3 times it became totally black and it became difficult to melt the remaining sugar. So after melting sugar in 2 bowls in such a way I opted the other way.

The other way to form the crust was  to caramalize the sugar and pour a thin layer on the baked and cooled  custard. This method was very easy and the caramel formed a thin crunchy layer on the top . We all broke it with a spoon and enjoyed our Creme Brulle just the way the judges had done in Australian Masterchef Episode. Absolutely loved breaking the crunchy caramel layer on top.

Thanks Gayathri for this wonderful recipe and this amazing technique which I learnt .

Ingredients :

1 cup................................fresh cream
1 cup ..............................milk
4 tbsp...............................vanilla flavored custard powder
4 tbsp + 5 tbsp................sugar
1 tsp...............................agar agar ( veg version of gelatin )

Method :

Mix agar agar in 4 tbsp water and keep aside for 10 minutes.
Mix the custard powder in 1/4 cup milk .
Heat the remaining milk with 4 tbsp sugar.
When hot pour the milk mixed with custard powder and stir.
The mixture will thicken.
Switch off the gas and let the mixture cool.
Whip the cream till stiff and add to the cold thickened mixture.
Also add agar agar dissolved in water and beal well till everything is mixed.
Now pour this mixture in 5 to 6 bowls.
Take a deep tray and fill it 1/4 with hot water.
Keep the bowls in water and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.
Let the baked custard cool down compleately.
You can keep it in fridge for 3 to 4 hours to chill.
Now sprinkle 5 tbsp sugar uniformly on top of the custard.


For the  crusty top

Method 1 :

Heat a medium spoon directly on the flame til it become very hot.
Then place it on top of sprinkled sugar .
The sugar will start sizzling and melting.
Repeat this till all the sugar melts and you get a nice crusty top.
Though in this process the spoon gets totally spoilt and black.

Method 2 :

Heat 5 tbsp sugar with 2 tbsp water .
Go on heating till the sugar caramalizes.
Pour 1 tbsp caramalized sugar on top of the baked custard.
The caramel will immediately harden forming a nice cruncy crust.



For a detailed post describing how to make the crusty sugar top without a blow torch please refer to the following post :
 http://www.kitchenbutterfly.com/2013/06/13/technique-how-to-brulee-without-broiler-or-blowtorch/

Jewish Vegan Challah

Made this challah ( a type of Jewish Bread ) with onion soup and that was our lunch  few days back . As many must be knowing that  I am part of a group called HBC ( home-bakers-challenge)  an event started by Priya Suresh . In this event for the month of December we were given many interesting options by  Priya Ranjit  host of this month's .

 One of them was this Vegan Challah .  I have already made these lovely american-sugar-cookies  for the event and just couldn't resist trying out this Vegan Challah because it was made using Chick pea flour. This sounded very weird and interesting at the same time .

So planned to give it a try and I was really surprised with the resulting bread. The challah was perfectly soft very tasty.

 This Challah is the perfect entry for today's vegan-thursdays  where few of us bloggers post a Vegan recipe on the first and last thursday of the month .

 Original Recipe From : thesweetlifeonline

Ingredients :

1/2 cup.................. besan ( gram flour ) + 1/2 cup water
4 cups..................maida ( all purpose flour )
1/4 cup .................sugar
1 cup.....................water
1 n 1/2 tsp ..............dry active yeast
1/4 cup...................ground nut oil
salt

Method :


In a bowl mix yeast, 1 tsp sugar and 1 cup warm water and let it rest for 10 minutes.

The yeast mixture will rise and become foamy.

If the mixture doesn't rise means the yeast is not active and you will have to start again with new yeast.

Meanwhile in a blender blend besan and water till very frothy.

Add oil to it and continue to blend.

Now add the foamy yeast mixture and blend well.

Take this in a big bowl and gradully add maida to this mixture.

Continue kneading till all the maida is over.

Now knead for 8 to 10 more minutes till the dough is soft and non - sticky.

You may add some more maida to get the right texture. ( I had to use 2 to 3 extra spoons)

Oil the dough and keep it in a greased big bowl and let it rise for one hour .

Use a very big bowl and the dough rises considerably.

After one hour punch the dough and again let it rise for 30 minutes.

Now make three equal parts of the dough and roll them into 12 inch long strands.
Lay them straight and make a braid shape with these three strands.


Lift this braided dough and keep it in greased tin .

Brush the surface with milk and let the dough rise again for 45 minutes.

Bake in a preheated oven for half an hour or till the surface is firm and golden in color.

Serve with jam , chutney or even with a warm soup like I did.

Slovak Paska Bread N Paska Peeps ( For Baking Eggless )

Our november month's challenge  for    Baking Eggless   group started by gayathri was this beautiful East European Easter Bread with cute little peeps.

 I first had many inhibitions as to whether I will be able to make justice to this traditional bread or no , or what if the expreriment is a total failure ? But I finally mustered enough courage and then one more disaster struck. My oven started giving problems. It took almost 3 weeks to get it repaired. I was now depressed because I was going to miss out on this wonderful opportunity to try something totally different.

And then finally when I came to know that Gayathri had decided to keep the link open for 10 more days of December  I just went ahead and made the bread. And I am glad that I gave it a try .

 Gayathri this was a real adventure and tremendously enjoyed making and baking the bread and peeps.

Recipe Source: Eastern European Food


Ingredients :

3 to 4 cups .....................maida
2 /3 cup.....................milk
4 tbsp.......................sugar
1 tsp .......................sugar
1/2 cup.....................homemade butter ( loni)
2 tsp.......................dry active yeast
1/3 cup...................lukewarm water
1/3 cup..................sour curds
1/4 tsp.................baking soda
a pinch.................salt

Method :

In a pan heat together milk, salt, sugar and butter till the butter melts and sugar is dissolved.

Also mix warm water , 1 tsp sugar and yeast separately and keep it to rise for 10 minutes.

Now to the yeast mixture add curds, milk mixture and half the maida.

Mix well , I did it with a blender.

Now go on adding remaining maida little at  a time and mix straight with your hands.

Knead the dough for at least 5 to 8 minutes till it is soft, elastic and non sticky.

Can add more maida if the dough is very sticky.

Now keep it in a big greased bowl and plastic wrap it .

Keep it aside for 2 hours to double in size and rise.

Now make three parts of the dough.

Keep the third portion for decorated braids and peeps.

Mix the other two parts and press the dough in a greased pan lined with butter paper.

Cover the pan with wet cloth and let the dough rise for 1 more hour.

Now the decoration part.

Divide the 1/3 part of dough again in 3 parts.

Take the 1st part and make 4 small balls.

Elongate each ball into a long rope and make a knot.

Put two cloves as eyes at the end of short knot to make the face .

Press the longer part with fork , to  make the tail of the peeps.

No need to prove the peeps , just brush them with milk .

And bake them in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes.

Brush them with butter after baking for a shiny surface.

Take the 2nd part and divide it further into two parts to make long rolls.

Twist the rolls and make a braid to circle it round the top of the bread.

Now take the 3 rd part and make snails or a decorative flower for the middle portion of the bread.

Brush the bread with milk and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.

Once done remove from the oven and cool it completely.

Pinacolada Cupcakes ( For Baking Eggless Challenge )

For October's Baking Eggless Challenge we were supposed to make a beautiful and rich Pinacolada cake and  I did make the cake but unfortunately had some camera problem . I lost few of my pictures which also included this pinacolada clicks.

 So I planned to make them again once the Diwali was over and I tried it and relished the taste once again. This time I was inspired by Soumya's  cupcakes and made mine too in muffin trays . These cute mini pinacoladas were really very yummy.

Though the original recipe had used lots of eggs I made a normal eggless recipe with wheat flour which usually never fails me. I have actually used half of all the quantities given below so it gave me about 6 cakes. The quantity given below will give you 12 to 14 cakes.

Linking this to gayathriscookspot

Ingredients :

1/2 cup......................wheat flour
1 cup.......................maida
4 tbsp.....................oil
4 tbsp....................curd
1 cup.................... thick pineapple puree
1 tsp......................baking powder
1/4 tsp....................baking soda
1/2 cup...................sugar
1/4 tsp.....................pineapple essence
1 cup......................pineapple juice ( grind the pieces with sugar and strain the juice)
1 cup .......................fresh coconut grated
1 cup .......................whipped fresh cream

Method :

Dry mix the flours, baking powder and soda in a processor till well mixed.

Keep them aside and in same processor mix oil,curd, puree and sugar till light.

Add essence and mix both wet and dry ingredients by folding gently.

Take care not to over mix.

Pour spoonfuls of batter in a greased muffin tray.

Bake the cup cakes in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes at 180 degrees.

When they are completely cold , sprinkle some pineapple juice on them.

Let the juice be soaked by the cakes.

Do not add more or else they will become too soft and soggy.

Now spread the whipped cream on top and sprinkle fresh grated coconut.

Ferrero Rocher Tarts ( For Baking Eggless)

The challenge this month for baking - eggless  was in many ways a hit. This recipe was suggested by Priya of enveetukitchen from the site trissalicious .

We were supposed to make either Frrero Rocher Tarts or Verrines. Needless to say I ended up trying both and immensely enjoyed making it. Half the time I was licking my fingers ( it was inevitable ) .

 Though it was an interesting challenge and did not want to miss it at any cost , it did take me many days to make it . Firstly because I was busy in the first half of the month due to some personal reasons and then the whole process seemed very time consuming so kept postponing making this delicious dessert.

 Finally during this weekend managed making it and was really happy to try it out. Though the tart shells did not come out as per my expectations and more than half of them broke while demoulding them. So
decided to use the crushed tart shells and make verrine cups. Offcourse all were very happy with this decision as according to them the cups did hold more dessert than the cute little shell.


 


Ingredients for Tart base :

2 tbsp...................cocoa powder
2 tbsp...................cold butter ( diced)
2 tbsp..................curds
4 tbsp..................sugar
1/2 tsp.................baking powder
1  n 1/2 cup.........maida

Method for Base :

Mix cocoa powder, butter cubes and sugar with fingers till they resemble bread crumbs.

Now add curds , maida and baking powder and knead till everything just comes together.

Do not over knead this makes the base chewy and not crispy.

Plastic  wrap it and roll into 1 cm thick disc and chill for 2 to 3 hours.

Take a lemon sized lump and press it with your fingers in a greased cupcake mould .

Bake them for 10 to 15 minutes at 180 degrees till crisp and cool completely.

Ingredients for Hazelnut Mousse :

1 cup ...................milk
4 tbsp...................sugar
2 tbsp..................cornflour
2 tbsp..................nutella ( made at home)
5 tbsp.................fresh cream ( whipped till stiff)
2 tbsp................agar agar powder ( it acts like gelatin)
1/2 tsp ................vanilla essence



Method for Mousse :

In 2 tbsp milk mix the cornflour, nutella , agar agar and vanilla essence and keep aside.

Boil the rest of the milk and add sugar .

When the sugar dissolves add cornflour mixture and stir or slow flame till mixture becomes thick.

When the mixture cools add whipped cream and set in the fridge.

Method for Nutella :

50 gm ..................Almonds
50 gm ...................Hazelnut
2 to 3 tbsp.............salted butter
1/2 cup ..................sugar
1/2 cup...................cocoa powder

Roast almonds and hazelnuts till you get a nice nutty aroma.

Grind them in a mixer till you get a fine powder and they start leaving oil.

Add sugar, butter and cocoa powder and grind further till you get a smooth shiny thick mixture.

If you want more flowing consistency you can add more butter.

Store it in fridge and use as needed.

Ingredients for Caramelized Hazelnuts :

50 gm..................hazelnuts
1/2 cup ..............sugar
1 tbsp................water

Dry roast the skinned hazelnuts till light golden in color.

In a thick bottomed pan heat sugar and water .

The sugar will first dissove and then form a thick brown syrup.

At this point add the roasted nuts and mix well till they are well coated with thick syrup.

Cool them completely.

Keep half the nuts as they are and crush half of them for the hazelnut thing.

Ingredients for Chocolate Hazelnut Thing :

2 tbsp..............Nutella
50 gms ...........dark chocolate
2 tbsp..............honey
2 tbsp..............crushed n caramalized hazelnuts

Method for Hazelnut Thing :

Mix nutella, honey and chocolate and heat on a very slow flame.

When the chocolate melts mix everything and add crushed nuts and again stir well.

Remove from flames and let it cool completely.

Assembling the Ferrero Rocher Tart :

Fill the cooled tart shells with mousse .

Spoon out some hazelnut thing on top.

Garnish with whole caramalized hazelnuts and serve.

Assembling the Verrines :

Spoon some crushed tart at the base of a glass.

Spoon out some mousse on it.

Again add some crushed tart.

Add some hazelnut thing on it.

Finally top with whole caramalized nut and serve chilled.

Eggless Choux Pastry with Chocolate Filling ( For Baking Eggless)

Few months back I had tried making the choux pastries and had ended up with a disaster. The eclairs were completely burnt out and I just had to throw that lot.

 Than with a little more courage I tried them again and ended up with tasty and crisp eclairs but which were without proper shape or colour .

Now almost after 2 months when  I read about the baking-eggless  challenge ( Started by Gayathri ) of this month and saw that it was making eggless choux , I was very apprehensive. When I couldn't make them with eggs how was I supposed to succeed  trying to make them without eggs.

So to be on a safer side I used an egg replacer rather than any other substitute wishing to get the results right. And this time I am very happy that I did not fail but made these cute little choux pastry. Thanks a lot to Shey of justnotthecakes for suggesting this recipe .

Also tried making baking some eclairs. The only drawback was that this time I almost reduced the ingredients to more than half and so ended up with very few choux and eclairs and had to promise family members that I will soon make them again.

For the chocolate filling I simply cooked butter, cream and bitter chocolate and got the most delicious and simple filling.

Ingredients for Choux Pastry :

1/2 cup ..............all purpose flour ( maida)
1/2 cup ...............water
1/2 cup.................milk
2 tbsp...............egg replacer
2 tbsp...............butter
pinch of .............salt
1 tsp..................sugar
1/2 tsp...............baking powder


Ingredients for Chocolate Filling :

2 tbsp ......................Fresh cream
1/2 cup......................bitter chocolate
1 tbsp.......................butter

Method  for making Choux Pastry :

Heat water ,salt , sugar and butter in a pan.
When it boils add the maida,  switch off the gas and mix the mixture very well .
Again keep it on slow flame and keep on stirring continuously till the mixture forms a ball.

When it starts leaving the sides of the pan remove it from gas.
Mix the egg replacer with 2 tbsp water and whip well till stiff.
To this stiff mixture add baking powder and mix well again.
If the mixture is still stiff add 1/2 cup milk and mix very well.
The mixture should form a beak like shown in the picture.

Put this in a piping bag and chill it in the fridge for 2 to 3 hours .
Now pipe small chouxs on a greased baking tray .
Bake in  a preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes at 180 degrees or till golden brown in colour.

Let the chouxs cool completely.

Method for making Chocolate Filling :

Cut the chocolate in cubes and add butter to it.
Melt this chocolate on a double boiler and mix well.
Whip the fresh cream in a chilled bowl till stiff .
Add the melted chocolate to the cream and fold it gently.
Chill it and let it thicken a bit.


Cut the Choux pastry and fill it with the chocolate filling.