Tres Leches Cake -- Cake for friend

This is the first cake I ever liked in USA. The most moist and delicious cake. Tres Leches literally means 3 milk cake. regular yellow cake is soaked in 3 milks(Condenced, Evaporated and whole milk). This cake is most popular in Latin America.

After my cake decorating class I have decided to make cakes for all my friend's birthdays. Today is one of my friend birthday. So decided to make Tres leches since this cake is favorite for all his family members.
Only difficult part of this cake is to decorate. Since this cake is frosted with whip cream it is very difficult to make nice flowers and designs. I tried my level best to make it pretty. But not so great. May be next time i will be better.




Got the picture from friend after cutting.



Here is the recipe and picture of the cake.

1 regular yellow cake mix. (Today I used regular cake mix instead of baking from scratch)

Glaze:

1 can of evaporated milk
1 can of condensed milk
1 cup of whole milk

Frosting

2 cups of whip cream
2tsps of gelatin powder
8tsps of water
1tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup of powdered sugar

Filling:
10 strawberries


Procedure:

Bake 2 8 inch round cakes as per the cake mix instructions. Once the cake is baked remove it from oven and cool it in the pan for 10 mts. After 10 mts remove cakes from pan and cool on rack completely. Cake should be completely cooled.
Once the cakes are completely cooled, using a serrated knife saw the top of the cake leaving 3/4 inch border. This will prevent the cake drenched in the milks. Keep parchment paper in the bottom of the pan and transfer the cake to the pan.

Mix all the milks and pour the milk evenly on the cakes. Refrigerate the cake overnight.



Frosting:

Combine agar agar or gelatin in a cold water  and set it aside until thick. Warm it in microwave for 30 seconds until gelatin dissolves. Remove from heat and cool slightly. In a stand mixer or hand mixer whip cream, sugar and vanilla until slightly thickened. While beating slowly, gradually add agar agar/gelatin mixture to whipped cream mixture. Whip at high speed until stiff.

Cut 5 to 6 strawberries into thin slices. Add 2 tablespoons of sugar and toss them.

Now carefully remove the cake from the pan and keep it on serving plate. (This is the most difficult step. I used angled spatula to lift one corner of the parchment paper and carefully lifted the whole cake using my palm).

Layering:

now add 1 tablespoon of whip cream and spread on the cake and cover with strawberries. Cover the strawberries with 1 tablespoon of whip cream. (This step is optional.).
Carefully top the second cake cut side down.





Now frost the cake with remaining whip cream and garnish with few strawberries.

The most delicious and moist cake is ready to be served.

NOTE-- Keep the cake in the refrigerator till you serve.

Green curry

At least 3 times a month I like to have Thai food. After Indian cuisine my second favorite cuisine is thai. It could be because I just love spicy food. After relaxing for few hours today thought of making Green curry for dinner.
Here is the easiest and simple green curry recipe.

Ingredients:

3 tbsp Green curry paste(You can get it from Whole Foods or Trader Joe's)
1 can of coconut milk
1 packet of Stir fry vegetables. You can use fresh vegetables too. ( Brocoli, carrots, Green peas, shallots, bell peppers)
1 cup of cubed tofu
pinch of salt
Basil leaves for garnish

Procedure:

Mix green curry paste in coconut milk and keep it on simmer. In a separate pan boil the vegetables.(You can even cook in microwave). Once the coconut milk starts to boil add tofu and cook for 5 mts. Now add cooked vegetables and hot sauce as per your spice level and keep it on low heat for 5 more mts. Adjust the spices and remove it from heat.
Garnish with basil leaves and serve with Jasmine rice.

My drawing practice -- Venus Cast Drawing with Charcoal..

Didn't do much of cooking this week due to hectic week. Usually I do work on some of my hobbies to get out of the stress. This week stress relief is drawing. Yesterday spend 3 hours on this drawing and very happy with the output.

Thanks to my dad who taught me drawing when I was a kid. I can never draw like my dad. He is damn good at drawing. I still remember those days when my dad used to help me to draw for my school projects.
One more person, I would like to thank is Jean for helping me to understand the tone and applying the techniques for perspective drawing.

Here is the picture of my yesterday's drawing...

Course 4 -Graduation Cake... How I survived...

For past 4 days I have been baking cakes for my course 2 final class and my daughter's b'day. Believe it or not it is lot of work to bake and decorate cakes. On top of it hectic week at work. With all these I had to bake and decorate a cake with fondant for my course 4 class which is today. Yesterday after my work started baking one cake around 10pm and finally iced and covered with fondant around 1am. At that time I didn't have any energy to make any more flowers to decorate my cake. Thought of making few daisies today after my work. But I came home pretty late and class was at 6.30 so ended up making only 15 small daisies. Short story small, entered the class with bland cake with no flowers to cover. Started making few more daises in the class and did some borders. Even then my cake was bland. All my friends in the class generously gave their flowers and helped me to arrange my cake and make it pretty.

Thanks to all and Daisy(My teacher) for helping me today to complete the class. Thanks a lot Daisy for teaching me. I am officially completed all the wilton classes. Hurry...

Here is my cake :







Here are the cakes of my friends/classmates from my class :

A gift of Love (Bag Cake)

Today is my little princess birthday. Here is the cake which I made for her b'day.
All the items are edible. I made high heel sandal, two nail polishes,liquid eye liner, lip stick, eye shadow and compact with Gum paste. I made these accessories 1 week before. Bag cake(Yellow cake with strawberry spread filling) with Fondant. .
I started making this cake y'day around 9pm and finished exactly 10 mts before 12am :) I thought I will not be able to make it, somehow managed to finish it..

Since my daughter's favorite cake is cheesecake. So made one Cheesecake too ... She cut both the cakes today morning..

Basketweave Cake - Course 2 Finale

Today is my last class for Wilton Course 2. Made this prettiest Flower basket cake. Let me tell you the birds on this cake are so delicate. Birds are made with Color flow icing. Transportation was challenging for these color flow icing items. I broke 1 while going to class, second one while coming back. That's why Dayse asked us to make more birds so we can have backup. Finally ended up with no birds on the cake.

Thanks to Dayse for teaching these amazing flowers.

Here are the pics of the same.

Cake with two birds taken in the class:

Moist Chocolate cup cakes.

For the past few months I was looking for some good moist chocolate cake recipe. Thanks to internet found a good recipe last week. Today tried the same recipe for my tomorrow's final Course 2 class and made 6 cup cakes.

Let me tell you one thing about chocolate. Somehow I am not a great fan of chocolate. Most of my friends cannot resist chocolate and I don't even go near chocolate :) strange right. But my daughter loves chocolate. So whenever I make anything with chocolate it is just for her :).

Here is the recipe which I found on internet. This recipe yields 2 8inch round pans and 6 cup cakes or 2 9inch round pans.


Ingredients:

2 cups of all purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup hot strong brewed coffee
1 cup oil
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
1 cup milk
2 eggs

Procedure:

Preheat oven at 325 degree F. Grease the pan or keep the backing cups in the cup cake pan holder and keep it aside.
Sift and mix all the dry ingredients. Now add oil, milk, coffee,vanilla extract and mix with hand mixer. Add 1 egg at a time while running the mixer. Mix thoroughly for 3 more mts and pour the batter into the pans.(Batter will be runny. Don't worry) Bake it for 30 -40 mts or till the tooth pick comes out clean when it is inserted in the center of the cake.

Turn off the oven let the cake/cup cakes cool completely. (if it is 8inch or 9inch cake cool the cake in the pan for 5-6 mts and remove it from the pan and cool it on rack )

This cake goes with any icing. So next time when your kid wants to have a cake try this recipe and let me know.

My First Oil Painting project

Last weekend i tried to finish my first oil painting project and started the second one(Pear one). Thanks to Jean for helping me to understand oils and techniques to create stunning pictures...
Here are the pics of the same

Ragi(Finger millet) Dosa

Yesterday morning I was debating myself what to make for breakfast which is going to be healthy and quick. Checked my pantry and found Ragi flour decided to make quick Ragi Dosa similar to Rava dosa.

There are multiple ways to do Ragi dosa. Today's recipe is similar to Rava dosa (Quick and easy).

Here is the recipe for the same

Ingredients:

1 cup Ragi flour
1/3 cup Rice flour
2tsp cumin seeds
one medium sized onion(Finely chopped)
salt as per taste
2 green chilies finely chopped (Optional)
1tsp red chili powder (If chilies are used skip this ingredient)
3tbsp of yogurt
Oil for shallow fry

Preparation:


Mix all the ingredients with water into thin consistency.

Heat a pan(cast iron or non stick), add 1 tsp of oil, spread it with top part of onion(You can use other vegetable tops like brinjal or bottle gourd). This is to season the pan so that the dosa comes off easily without sticking to the pan. The pan must be hot for dosa to come out in good shape. You can check the hotness of pan by sprinkling water on the pan, it must sizzle. I learned these tips from my mom.

Take one ladle full of batter pour it from the edges to the center. Add 1tsp of oil around the corners of dosa this helps dosa to cook evenly and crispy.

Once dosa turns golden brown remove it from pan and serve with your favorite chutney.

100th Post -My First Fondant Cake

Hurray this is my 100th post and my first fondant cake. Hopefully I can keep this blog active with more posts.

Bachhali Pulusu with buttermilk(Malabar Spinach Soup)

Bachhali is a leaf vegetable. Binomial name is Basella Alba. It is also known as Malabar Spinach/ Chinese spinach/ buffalo spinach.
Typical of leaf vegetables, Malabar spinach is high in vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, and calcium. It is low in calories by volume, but high in protein per calorie. The succulent mucilage is a particularly rich source of soluble fiber. Among many other possibilities, Malabar spinach may be used to thicken soups or stir-fries with garlic and chili peppers.
-Source Wikipedia.

My mom used to make lot of recipes with Bachhali. To list few (Kanda Bachhali, Bachhali pulusu with Magaya, Bachhali pulusu etc)
We get this vegetable only summer time in Southbay unlike India. In India it is available through out the year.

Today I made soup using this vegetable.

Here is the recipe for same. Thanks to my mom for teaching me all these recipes.

Mango Dal (Raw mango lentil soup)

Summer is the season for mangoes. Growing in India I always look forward for summer. Summer means meeting relatives, having fun playing with cousins, helping mom and aunts for making pickles etc. If I start listing I cannot finish this post even in a week time.

Today I am talking about one of the irresistible recipe Mango dal(Raw mango lentil soup).

Ingredients:

1 Raw mango (should be sour)
1 cup Toor dal/yellow pigeon pea
3 to 4 green chilies (increase or decrease as per your spice level) Slit length wise
pinch of turmeric
Salt as per your taste

Seasoning:

1 tsp mustard seeds
1tsp cumin seeds
3-4 curry leaves
3 red chilies
1tbsp oil
pinch of hing(asafoetida)

Preparation:

Cook dal(using 1:2 ratio of lentil to water) in pressure cooker and keep it aside.
Peel the skin of mango using a peeler. Cut into small cubes and cook them along with green chilies and turmeric and keep it aside.
In a saucepan heat oil. Once oil is hot add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, red chilies, curry leaves and hing. Once mustard seeds splutters add cooked mango cubes, dal(lentil) and salt. Mix well and cook for 6 to 8 mts till lentils are completely cooked in mango flavor(if dal is too thick you can add little bit water). Taste and adjust spices and remove it from stove.

Delicious healthy mango dal is ready to be served.

Happy Mother's Day

Wishing you all Happy Mother's day. Any day or time, happiness or sadness one person will always be with you (virtually or in person) none other than mom.

Sharing some beautiful quotes and poems

M is for the million things she gave me,
O means only that she’s growing old,
T is for the tears she shed to save me,
H is for her heart of purest gold,
E is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
R means right, and right she’ll always be
--Author -unknown

All I am, or can be, I owe to my angel mother. -Abraham Lincoln

My Mother, my friend so dear, Throughout my life you’re always near, A tender smile to guide my way, You’re the sunshine to light my day. --Author -unknown

There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it. – Chinese Proverb

Spinach Rice

A month back we had a potluck at one of our friend's place. My friend Raki got Spinach rice for entree. I really loved that rice item. Today I have decided to make the same recipe for dinner. Thanks Raki for sharing the recipe.


Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

Spinach - 1 bunch
Rice - 2 cups
6 green chillies ( increase or decrease as per your spice level)
ginger - 1/2 inch
salt - as per taste
garlic - 2 pods
corn kernels - 1 cup (Optional)
capsicum - 1 chopped in strips (optional)
onion - 1 medium size cut in strips
1 tomato - chopped finely
1tbsp cashew nuts (Optional)
oil

Preparation:

Cook rice (using 1:2 ratio of rice to water). Once rice is cooked spread it out in a wide pan and cool it.
Blanch spinach and drain it well. Once its well drained add spinach, green chillies and ginger into a mixie and grind it smooth paste. (don't add too much water)

In a wok add oil. Once oil is hot add cashew nuts and garlic fry till they are light brown then add onions. Once onions turn brown color add capsicum, corn and tomato. Cook for 5 more minutes and then add spinach paste and cook for 1 more minute. (To avod decolorization of spinach don't cook too much after adding spinach paste.)
Now add rice and salt and mix well. Remove from stove.

Delicious spinach rice is ready to be served. Serve with raita.




Sending this recipe to "Green Gourmet" Event hosted by Preeti

1st Roses of the season

So happy and proud to see the first roses of the season. These plants are just like my babies. Looking at these plants growing makes me happy.

Here are the pics.

Misal

Anyone from Mumbai can relate to this recipe. I lived in Mumbai for almost 2 years. I cannot forget those days. Pani Puri,chat, bhel puri, Sardar pav baji,frankie, Kulfi etc. You name it everything is available. There is one street in Ghatkopar just for street food. At least once a month we used to go to that street just to eat food. My daughter always complains that I talk too much about Mumbai food. What can I say it is the fact ;).

Today I am talking about one of the healthiest recipe which I learned from one of my best friend Anvi. I am not sure about the origin of this recipe , but for me it is from Mumbai.

Here is the recipe.

1 cup moth beans(matki)
1 cup whole moong
1 cup kala chana
1 cup dry green peas
1 finely chopped large onion
3 medium sized tomatoes chopped finely
1tsp mustard seeds
1tbsp amchur powder(Dry mango powder)
1tsp haldi (turmeric)
salt as per taste
3 tbsp oil
1tsp garam masala
1tbsp ginger garlic paste
curry leaves
1tsp red chili powder(Increase as per your spice level)
Coriander for garnish
Lemon wedges for garnish
Namkeen
Pav/bread to serve with Misal


Procedure

Soak all the lentils overnight. Pressure cook the lentils and keep it aside.
In a pan heat oil, add mustard seeds, curry leaves. once mustard seeds splutters add ginger garlic paste and fry for 2 mts till the raw flavor goes. Now add onions cook till onions turn brown color. Add chopped tomatoes, masala powder,turmeric, aamchur,salt and chili powder. Cook for 5 mts. Now add cooked lentils and 1/2 cup water. Make sure misal is medium consistency if you think it is more thick add little bit water. Taste it and adjust the spices. Cook the lentils in the spices for 6 to 8 mts and remove it from heat.

Delicious and yummy misal is ready to be served.

Garnish with chopped coriander, chopped onions, chopped tomatoes and namkeen and serve with Pav.

My Daughter's wood work- Dinosaur Puzzle (2nd assignment)

Here is my daughter's wood work "Dinosaur Puzzle". Very impressive. Thanks to the teacher who is teaching this amazing wood work.

Couscous dry fruit pudding

Yesterday I tried this new recipe called Couscous pudding from Alton Brown's recipe collection. I was very skeptical how this recipe will turn out. But it turned out to be ok. May be next time I will use rice instead of couscous also little bit more sugar.
This recipe is very healthy and low calorie dessert.

Here is the recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup couscous
2 cups milk
1 cup plain yogurt or vanilla flavored yogurt
1tsp vanilla extract
4tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup of dry fruits. ( I used cranberries, raisins, cherries)

Procedure:

Cook couscous in a microwave or in a pan using 3 cups of water.
In a medium saucepan heat milk, dry fruits on medium heat. Once the milk starts boiling add cooked couscous and vanilla extract. Once the mixture cools down add yogurt and mix well. Transfer this mixture into custard bowls/serving bowls and refrigerate. Garnish with crushed pistachios or almonds and serve. This pudding can be served hot or cool