Caramel Brownie

Brownie time again & here is another flavour of it. I was only going to eat a bite, but then I had another bite & another bite. Thankfully I have two kids & a hubby who also loved it & I was saved from having to do extra workout ;)

Ingredients 

Brownie

1 cup plain flour (maida)

2 tsp cocoa powder (preferably unsweetened)

1 1/2 tbsp dark chocolate

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp soda bi-carb

1/2 tsp baking powder

6 tbsp curds (dahi)

5 tbsp melted butter

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (akhrot)

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

6 tbsp milk

Caramel toffees according to your liking

Caramel Sauce

1/2 cup Sweetened Condensed milk 

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp dark chocolate (optional)

Method

Brownie

Pre-heat the oven to 180˚ C

Sieve together flour, Cocoa, soda & baking powder.

Melt dark chocolate & butter over double boiler

Add sugar & mix well. Add curds & mix really well.

Mix walnuts with flour so it wont settle down after baking.

Fold flour & milk alternately, making sure to end with flour.

There should be no lumps.

Pour 1/2 of the brownie batter into a greased and dusted baking pan.

Arrange caramel toffees & pour rest of the brownie batter.

Place in the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Once ready, drip caramel sauce and cut into 2" x 2" pieces. 

Enjoy :)

Caramel Sauce

Melt brown sugar & butter in a pan and simmer on a low heat until the two become a smooth liquid.

Add condensed milk & raise the temperature very gently until it starts to simmer. 

Keep the temperature low & stir continuously until brown. Add chocolate if using.

This should take around 20 minutes.

Tips

* The caramel toffees inside & caramel sauce outside makes the brownies little on sweeter side, so reduce the sugar amount in brownie recipe if you prefer less sweet.

* Don't use old caramel toffees as they become hard & does not melt while baking.

* You can store any left over caramel sauce in a PLASTIC container in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. 

* If the caramel thickens then warm it up, adding little milk till you get the consistency required.

* Always remember caramel burns quickly so be alert when working with it.

* If you don't have caramel toffees then make some extra caramel & pour that extra on a parchment paper to firm up. Place in refrigerator. Cut pieces & use. Just remember to thicken this extra caramel so that it firms up faster.

Mango Cupcakes

 I was thinking of preparing something different with mango since a long time. So I made eggless mango cupcakes. I wanted to do mango frosting too but the muffins were over before I had time to do it. Still the final verdict was that the cake was very delicious and yummy :)

Ingredients

For Cupcakes

3/4 cup maida

3/4 cup Mango pulp

1 tbsp Flax Seed Meal

1/4 tsp Cinnamon powder

1/2 cup Sugar 

1/4 tsp Baking soda

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/8 tsp Salt

1 tbsp Oil

1 tsp Vanilla 

1/8 cup Walnuts (optional)

1 tbsp milk (if batter looks a bit dry)

For Cream Cheese Frosting

1 cup fresh cottage cheese

2 cup sugar (according to taste)

1/4 cup mango purée 

2 tbsp fresh cream

For Garnish

1/2 cup chopped mango

Method

For Cupcakes

First mix the 1 tbsp flax seeds meal well with 3 tbsp water.

Preheat the oven to 180 C and Grease & dust the cake pan or muffin tray.

Mix the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder,cinnamon powder & chopped walnuts.

In a bowl, mix oil, sugar, flax seed-water mixture, mango pulp, & vanilla extract.

Mix in the flour in batches & fold gently. If you feel the need to add milk then add it but end with flour.

Pour the batter cake pan and bake for around 45 minutes or until its done.

Cool & Enjoy yummy Mango Cupcakes just like that or do mango frosting :)

For Cream Cheese Frosting

Blend together cottage cheese, sugar & cream

Keep blending until a creamy texture is obtained.

Add purée & blend again. You will get a beautiful light yellow colour.

Keep refrigerated till needed.

Once cupcakes cool downs, pipe the frosting & garnish with sliced mango.

Tips

* If mango is too sweet, reduce the sugar accordingly.

* If you are doing frosting then please do reduce sugar in cake as frosting will make it sweeter.

Orange Cheese Cake with Orange Sauce

I had some oranges & there was no after dinner dessert. So here it is, another no bake, no gelatine & super yummy cheese cake but this time with orange flavour.

Ingredients

For Biscuit Crust

10 to 12 Digestive Biscuits

1 tbsp cocoa powder

2 tbsp sugar powder

4 tsp melted butter

For Orange Sauce

1/4 cup Sugar

1 tbsp Cornstarch

1 tsp fresh Orange Peel (finely shredded)

3/4 cup fresh Orange Juice

2 tbsp Butter

For Cheesecake

1 1/2 cup fresh cottage cheese (Without whey)

3/4 cup sugar (according to taste)

1/2 cup low fat cream

2 tsp orange marmalade

4 tbsp fresh orange juice

Method

For Biscuit Crust

Grind the biscuits till coarse. Add cocoa powder, sugar & melted butter &

mix gently.The mixture will resemble bread crumbs.

Grease individual bowls with little butter.

Spread the biscuit mix evenly & gently level the surface using back of spoon.

Refrigerate the bowls for about 30 minutes.

For Orange Sauce

Combine sugar, cornstarch & orange peel in a small saucepan.

Stir in orange juice and cook over medium heat until thickened & bubbly.

Cook and stir 2 minutes more.

Remove from heat; stir in butter and keep aside.

For Cheesecake

Put the cottage cheese in a big bowl and using a mixer, churn until it turns slightly fluffy. Or use electric beater.

Add the sugar and churn some more. You will see that the filling has increased in volume.,

Now add in the cream & churn.

Mix orange juice & Orange Marmalade & churn again.

Pour the mixture into the cooled crust & using a spatula level the mixture.

Refrigerate or about 15 minutes.

Pour the cooled orange sauce on top of the cream cheese mixture and level it once again.

Place the bowls in the refrigerator to chill overnight.

Serve chilled.

Tips

* Do taste cheese cake mixture to adjust sugar.

* If you don't have Marmalade, you can add 2 tsp of orange sauce too.

* This recipe is without gelatine, so it's always better to set in individual cups or bowls. They are easy to serve and looks nice too.

* You can garnish with orange segments.

* The leftover Orange Sauce can be used as topping for fruit creams or as spread on toasts.

Wholegrain Banana Cake

I saw this yummy and healthy cake recipe on a blog - Chef In You - when I was looking for an eggless banana cake to use up some over ripe elaichi bananas. I did some changes in it, like used my Granola Squares recipe to change the topping a bit & used olive oil instead of butter. The cake was moist & little chewy due to toffee chips & granola topping, and also a little heavier due to wheat flour. But everyone just loved it :)

Ingredients serves 8

Crunch Topping

1/4 cup oats

1/4 cup wheat germ

1/4 cup packed light or dark brown sugar

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp butter, melted

1/4 cup chopped cranberries or raisins

Cake Batter

1/2 cup oat flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup packed light or dark brown sugar

3/4 cup mashed bananas 

1/4 cup yogurt 

1 tbsp milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 cup chocolate or toffee chips (optional)

Method

Crunch Topping 

Dry roast everything except cranberries or raisins.

Combine all the dry ingredients & add melted butter, brown sugar & cranberries.

Cake Batter

Preheat the oven to 180 C and grease & dust a cake pan.

Whisk together the flours, soda, baking powder & salt. 

Mix nuts & chocolate chips in flour & keep aside.

Cream together oil & sugar in a large mixing bowl.

Add in bananas, yogurt & vanilla. 

Add the flour & keep folding gently.

Add milk & fold, but remember to end with flour.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan.

Sprinkle the topping over the batter in the pan.

Bake for about 40 minutes, until the edges pull away from the pan & a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Cool on a rack and serve warm as it is or with ice cream.

Tips

* Powder regular oats to get oats flour.

* You can use butter instead of olive oil.

* I used small (elaichi) bananas (had over ripe ones, & its not good to waste anything), but you can use big ones.

* For crunch topping you can use my recipe of Granola Squares

* I would suggest that you taste the batter before baking & accordingly add sugar in the topping.

* You can use curds instead of yogurt, but do remember to add extra sugar if using curds.