Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Litchi-Strawberry-Blueberry fruit pudding.

The inspiration for this recipe (which was originally litchi pudding) comes from this amazing friend of mine Pooja Mohan. I knew her for about two years from my days in Muscat,but we were just hi and bye friends. Only after I shifted to Dubai did we became thick pals while chatting and realized we have so many things in common. She is another reason for me landing up in the kitchen the last place I want to be...LOL!!
I have this fascination for colours and layers... so I decided to add some more colours and flavours and of course layers to the pudding :)

























Ingredients I used:

Milk :1litre
Agar Agar (instead of gelatine) : 10 gms
Condensed Milk : 100 gms
Fresh Litchi : 10
Fresh Strawberries : 6 medium sized ones.
Blueberry topping : 150 gms.
Fresh Blueberries: 2
Sugar : As per taste

Method
 
I soaked the agar agar in sufficient water for about 10 mins.
Kept 1 litre milk to boil on the stove.
Blended the litchi and strawberries separately till smooth. (Initially I intended to do the same with the blueberries but had some leftover Blueberry topping so decided to use that instead :) )
 
Added the condensed milk  and sugar(as per your taste) and the drained agar agar to the boiling milk. Kept stirring on and off till the agar agar completely dissolved.
 
By this time I had my litchi, strawberry(since my girls like the strawberries sweet I added extra 2 tbsp of condensed milk) and blueberry topping ready in different bowls.
 
Divided the milk into the three bowls.
 
In a separate bowl first poured the blueberry mix, and as it set poured the strawberry mix over it and finally the litchi mix and let it set at room temperature.
 
I tried layering it out in glasses but I was a little slow and as it set quite fast and I had a few air bubbles :) However I thought it still looked good!
 
It had a mild flavour of all three and the kids loved it so nothing more rewarding for me.
 
Hope you enjoyed your visit here. Cheers and have a great day ahead!

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Thursday, February 11, 2016

Heart shaped cookies- Valentine Day Special !!

With Valentine's Day round the corner nothing can be better than sipping a hot cup of tea with some Heart shaped cookies.
 
I really can't get myself to enter the kitchen unless I really have too.
However, since I started developing an interest in baking and checked around the net for easy recipes, since I really don't have patience and like things simple and better still those I can prepare fast, I came across a blog Edible Garden written by Nags and have remained a fan ever since! I have tried quite a few of her recipes and they have always been a hit!
Today's recipe is taken from her blog and with of course a little twist of my own here and there :)
 




















Ingredients:
 
Icing sugar- 1/2 cup (you can alter as per your preference)
Butter- 60 gms at room temperature
Egg-1 lightly beaten, we will be using just half of this.
All Purpose Flour -1 cup
Red food colouring- a few drops
Vanilla Essence- I/1 tsp
Saffron Flavoured Essence










 



















Method :
Whisk the butter and icing sugar in a bowl until you get a smooth texture.
Add half the egg mixture and vanilla essence and combine it.
Divide the mixture into two bowls.
Add the red colouring to one.















 
To the other half add the remaining 1/4tsp of Saffron flavoured essence and mix well.
 
Divide the flour into equal halves and use your hands gently to make a soft dough.




















Then transfer one portion of dough between two pieces or parchment or grease paper and roll out 1/4"
Using both cookie cutters cut out hearts(or any other shapes you prefer).
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Repeat the step with the other dough and gently swap out the inner smaller hearts.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
Bake them in a pre-heated over at 180 degrees(I use my convection microwave) for about 12 mins.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
And here are your Heart shaped cookies ready!!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



Cool them completely before transferring them into an airtight container.
 
I tried adding cocoa powder to one batch as Diya(my elder one)prefers anything that is chocolate flavoured and Hiya(my younger one) likes them in pink. So when they saw the cookies they we happy with no complaints :)

Hope you Enjoyed your time here. Cheers!!
Linking up for more creative blogs at :
Inspire Me Monday
Amaze Me Monday
Monday Madness
Mix it up Monday
Inspiration Monday
Hand Made Tuesday
The Gathering Spot
Create Link Inspire
Tuesday Afternoon
Wine'd Down Wednesday
Worthwhile Wednesday's
Show off what you have Created
Create and Share
Creative Ways
Creative Spark Link
Wonderful Wednesday
Create it Thursday
The Creative Exchange
Creative Inspirations
Artsy Corner Thursday
Little things Thursday
Soulfood Friday
Show and Tell Friday
Photo Friday
Friday Photo Journal
Saturday Show Off 
Sharing Saturday
Craftastic Mixer
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My Crafty Spot