Dessert | Cooking Sutra

Eggless sugar cookies

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Friends, if you are looking for a super easy eggless cookie recipe, you are in the right place. In keeping with the Valentine’s day theme I have used a heart shaped cookie cutter, and have decorated with some easy royal icing.

Here is the recipe:

Recipe: Adapted from “Mommy’s home cooking”. Made 12 cookies

Ingredients;

All purpose flour: 11/2 cup

Salt: very small pinch

Granulated sugar: 1/2 cup

Unsalted butter: 9 tablespoons

Vanilla extract: 2 tsps

Royal icing: Confectioner’s sugar 2 cups, water 4-5 tsps, light corn syrup 4 tsp, lemon juice 1 tsp

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie tray with parchment paper.

In a stand mixer beat the butter for for a couple minutes.

Add the sugar and continue beating till fluffy for another two minutes. Add the vanilla extract and mix again. Now add the flour and the salt, reduce the speed on the mixer, mix till all the ingredients, so that they are well incorporated. Take the dough on the counter top. Roll in between two wax papers. I used a heart shaped cookie cutters, to form 12 cookies.

Bake for about 12-15 minutes, until the edges are starting to brown lightly.

Turn the oven off, cool the cookies on a wire rack.

Mix the confectioner sugar and water till no lumps remain. Add the light corn syrup, mix well to incorporate. Finally throw in the lemon juice.

I have separated part of the icing and added a couple drops of food colour. I dipped one side of the cookie in the icing and let it dry. Using a brush I drew a few strokes with the coloured icing. Wait to dry.

Caramel ice cream cheesecake

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By Ratna,

As you know I stay away from traditional baking. There is one exception though. If the header starts with phrases like No bake Cake, Easy to assemble Tart and such, well that is a different story. You have my undivided attention.

I am very excited to share with you that our family is growing. I meant my work family. D is expecting a baby. Before she went for Mat leave, we had a baby shower planned for her.

Not sure what I would bring for the potluck, I put down ‘ Cheesecake’ by my name in the office notice board. “Cheesecake”? What kind, I was asked by my curious team members. I did not give out any details. “Surprise” I smiled.

Every evening after work I read and reread the recipe. Made a list of ingredients for shopping. Not wanting to disappoint my team members at work I bought back up ingredients in case the first one didn’t work.

My inspiration for this recipe was from this beautiful blog, Sugar et al. You can take a look at her stunning work here. I kept the basic recipe similar but played with the topping. With the abundance of summer fruits this time of year, I felt obligated to include them in my recipe.

Individual portioned desserts appeal to me a lot. Instead of making it into a traditional cake form, I served them in tall glasses. Here it is friends Caramel Ice cream Cheesecake with fruit topping.

Recipe:

I made 12 servings.

Ingredients;

Vanilla ice cream 500 gms

Philadelphia cream cheese 500 gms

Chocolate chip cookies 180 gms

Smucker’s caramel 334 ml

Melted Unsalted butter 75 gms

Seasonal fruits ;

I used cherries and mangoes cut in small pieces.

Caramel sauce;

Butter 2 Tbsp

Sugar 1 cup

Heavy cream 3/4 cup

Water 1/4 cup

Method:

Break the cookies into crumbs using a Food processor. Mix the melted butter. Pour this equally in the serving glasses, press and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

In a big bowl beat the Cream cheese till light and fluffy. I used an electric beater. Add the ice cream and mix well. Gently fold in the Smucker’s caramel. Pour this mixture over the cookie crumb layer in the individual glasses. Freeze overnight.

About 10 minutes before serving pour a layer of Caramel sauce on top. I followed this video to make the sauce.

Decorate with the fruit pieces and serve.

Inside Scoop:

The glasses were empty pretty soon. It must have tasted great!

Lavang latika : Clove twisties.

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By Ratna

Celebrations need sweets. Period.

In as much as we write volumes about the bitter side of sweets, we can’t do without them. Not in my household. You see my husband has a big sweet tooth. As I said before, the innocent enquiry after supper about the leftover sweets, if any, actually translates to can I have some sweets right now?

Now when it comes to birthdays, there is no denying this treat. Can we? Payesh or rice pudding is the must have for birthdays.

This year I decided to be a bit more adventurous for his birthday.

I tried my hand in these beauties. They are variously called Lavang latika or lobongo lotika. A very distant cousin of Danish. Maybe?

I loosely translated it to Clove twisties.

It is a pastry with filling inside. A clove is strategically placed to hold things in place. Deep fried and then dunked in sugar syrup. Crispy to bite in. A couple chews, the flaky sweet exterior reveals the delicious filling inside. The ever so slight crunch still left from the coconut.

Oh! Who am I fooling. I am a sucker too when it comes to the deep fried and syrup dunked combinations…

Recipe: Made 12 pieces.

Ingredients;

Cloves 12

Oil As needed for frying

For the pastry;

All purpose flour 1 cup

Canola oil 3 Tbsps

Water As needed

For the filling;

Grated coconut 3/4th cup

Condensed milk 1/2 cup

Milk powder 1/2 cup

Cardamom powder 1/4th tsp

For the syrup;

Sugar 1 cup

Water 3/4 cup

Method;

Pastry;

In a bowl mix the flour and 3 Tbsps oil. Rub the flour between the palm of your hands. It should hold form when held in a closed fist. Now add water to make it into a dough. Cover with a damp cloth and let it sit for half hour.

Filling;

In a pan take all the ingredients listed under filling. Keep the heat on medium. Carefully stir the mixture till it forms a soft dough, about 4 minutes. Turn the gas off. Work while the mixture is still warm, to make 12 small balls. I had a bit leftover.

Syrup;

Take the sugar and water in a saucepan on high heat. Bring it to a boil. Turn the gas to medium now and let it simmer for about 3-4 minutes. Pour a drop of this syrup in a bowl. Wait till it cools down. Touch it with the first finger and thumb. A string when formed as the fingers are taken apart indicates the syrup is done.

Assembling;

Divide the dough in 12 balls.

Roll one ball to an elliptical shape, not round. Brush the surface with water. Sit the filling in the centre. Press gently. It will make the filling a bit elongated and stick it to the pastry. Refer to the picture collage above. Fold the left side over the filling. Press at the folds. Repeat with the right side. Press at the folds. Turn over. Bring the top and bottom half of the pastry together. Press. Add a clove firmly to hold things together.

Take about an inch deep oil in a pan on high heat. Drop a pinch of dough in it. The oil is ready when it floats right up. Drop the lavang latikas carefully in oil. Crank the heat down to medium. Fry till golden.

I fried in two batches.

Dip them in sugar syrup on low flame for a minute. Collect them on a bowl.

Inside scoop;

Pressing the pastry with each fold ensures that it won’t open up while frying.

Hot sugar syrup can take skin right off.

If the filling gets very firm, add a tsp of milk to get it pliable again.

Kaju Katli: Cashew fudge, GF, DF

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By Ratna,

I just read this article in Saveur “15 Indian desserts that give you a tour of the country “. Indian sweets are anything but boring. I totally agree with the editors. The sweets can be dry or dripping with syrup, milk or flour based, a vegetable or fruit can be the star ingredient, most of them are even eggless, respecting the vegetarians.

Did you know that sweets can be coated by gold or silver leaf? If you have come across some pictures of Indian movies or festivals, I bet you have noticed that we like the “Bling”. This affinity is so strong that we even like our food “Blinged”? Yup. You heard that right.

Festivals are incomplete without dessert. Coating the desserts with a silver leaf also known as “Vark”, is quite common. This is what I tried for Diwali this year. Cashew fudges covered with edible silver foil. Kept in an airtight container it will safely store for two weeks. Make ahead recipes always come handy wouldn’t you agree?

Recipe: Adapted from In house recipes.

Made about 30-35 pieces.

Ingedients;

Raw, unsalted Cashews 2 cups ground fine

Sugar 1 cup

Water 1/3 cup

Cardamom powder 1/2 tsp

Vark ( optional ) Two sheets, about 6 cms squared

Method;

Take the sugar, water and cardamom powder in a nonstick pan on high heat, till it comes to a boil. Crank the heat down to medium and let the syrup thicken, about 3 minutes. Turn the gas down to low now. Add the cashew powder. Keep stirring so that it is lump free, doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan and start leaving the sides of the pan, about 3 minutes. Turn the gas off.

Pour this mixture on a greased wax paper. Take another greased wax paper and put it on top of the mixture. Put the palm of your hand on the second wax paper and flatten it. Gently use a rolling pin to spread it out, preferably to a square shape about 1/3 rd centimetre thick. Remove the top wax sheet. Take a Pizza cutter or sharp knife and cut it in diamond shape.

Carry the “Vark” on the paper it came with and drop it gently on this spread. Press the “Vark” softly on to this mixture to help stick. Take a sharp knife and gently run the cuts over the Vark again. Tease out the pieces and enjoy.

Inside scoop;

Vark or edible silver foil is available through Amazon.com.

You can cover all the pieces with the Vark, I have used for a few only.

How to make natural food colours using vegetables and an eggless chocolate cupcake.

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By Ratna

Imagine a world without colour. Just close your eyes and try. It is hard, isn’t it ? We live in a world of colours. The beautiful flowers, sweet fruits, birds, attract us with their myriad and brilliant colours.

Research has shown that we prefer coloured things over white, even as a child. Taking this further we started incorporating colours in our food. Take for example ‘Smarties’ and M&M. Their dazzling variety attract young and old alike.

Adding colour to food to make it more attractive is by no means unacceptable. . What is harmful are the artificial colourings. More and more research indicates a direct link between certain food colourings and Cancer, ADHD in children etc. You can read about them here, here, and here.

Saveur had an excellent article showing how natural food colours can be made using vegetables. They made pink frosting using Beets. Taking that as an inspiration I tried using carrots and Spinach leaves to make yellow and green food colours respectively.

What is coloured frostings without cupcakes? So here you go – chocolate cupcakes with coloured frostings.

A match made in heaven.

Recipe:

Pink food colour,

Spread 1 lb peeled beets, sliced paper thin, on a Silpat lined baking sheet and bake at 200 degrees F for 2 hours. Place dried beet slices in a food processor and puree until finely ground. Made two Tbsps.

Yellow food colour,

Follow exactly the same procedure with carrots.

Green food colour

I took two cups of Spinach leaves, and followed the same procedure. I got about one and half Tbsp of colour.

Eggless Chocolate cupcake

(Adapted from Eugenie kitchen ). Made 9 cupcakes.

Ingredients;

All purpose flour 3/4 cup

Baking soda 1/4 tsp

Baking powder 1 tsp

Salt 1/4 tsp

Unsweetened cocoa powder 3 Tbsps

Unsalted butter, softened 3 Tbsps

Granulated sugar 1/2 cup

Pure vanilla extract 1/4 tsp

Milk 1/2 cup and extra

Yellow Buttercream frosting;

Unsalted butter, softened 1/3 cup

Icing sugar, sifted 1 cup

Yellow food colour 1 tsp

Milk, to adjust 1 or 2 Tbsps

Pistachio nuts, chopped 2 Tbsps

Method;

Preheat oven to 360 degrees F.

Sift the dry ingredients like flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder together and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, add the softened, unsalted butter and spread with a spatula. Add the granulated sugar and whisk till light and fluffy. Throw in the pure vanilla extract next and stir till combined.

Add in only a half of the sifted dry ingredients in half of milk. Whisk till homogenous. Add the remaining dry ingredients and milk. Stir again till smooth. Adjust the thickness of the batter, if needed with one or two Tbsp of milk.

Divide the batter in cupcake molds. Fill only about two thirds full. Bake for 20 mts. Once out of the oven, let them cool completely on a wire rack.

Frosting;

In a mixing bowl add in softened unsalted butter and spread out with a spatula. Fold in the yellow food colour that we made before. Mix till smooth. Sift in half the icing sugar and mix. Then add the remaining sugar, mix till smooth. Adjust thickness if needed with milk.

Decorate with Pastry tip. I used Wilton 22. Start piping in the middle and slowly make concentric circles until the top is covered. Garnish with chopped Pistachio nuts.

Enjoy!

Inside Scoop;

The home made food colour can be stored in plastic containers in a fridge.

Apart from colouring frostings it can also be used in other foods to accentuate the colour.

Persimmon, Cherry and Pistachio Tart

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By Ratna

I am a sucker when it comes to tag lines like ‘Fresh, Easy, No-cook meals’, ‘No bake summer fruit tarts’ or, ‘Machine not needed ice cream’. Baking is not exactly my forte.

I have been looking for a tart recipe without eggs, fit for a beginner ‘tart maker’ like me. The August cover of the Chatelaine caught my eye with one such recipe.

The weather outside has been nothing but gorgeous. Clear blue skies, warm temperatures. The garden is in full bloom, with the heady perfume of roses on one side to the fruit laden cherry tree on the other. The smell of freshly cut grass here and the sound of the Blackbirds singing there. Oh, how I love this time of the year.

The prairie fields are yellow, as far as the eyes go. Set against the blue sky they are a scene to behold. The blue and yellow, the yellow and blue. A gentle breeze sets a ripple effect swaying the heads of the canola flowers from one side of the field, all the way to the other.

K my friend’s daughter graduated from high school. Standing at a cross road of her life, she decided to move to the city. The little girl with braces and pigtails is a lovely young lady now, ready to move forward. It was sad to see her leave. What else but sweet could drown our sorrows?

Lovely outdoors, great event and an excellent recipe. Each complementing the other. Just like the blue and yellow outside.

Recipe: Adapted from Chatelaine august 2015.

Ingredients;

Graham cracker crumbs 4 cups

Unsalted butter 1 1/2 cups melted

Mascarpone cheese 1 cup

35% cream 1 cup

Honey, divided 5 Tbsps

Vanilla 1 tsp

Water 1 Tbsp

Persimmon, cherries 2 cups

Finely chopped pistachios 2 Tbsp

Lime zest 1 tsp

Icing sugar 1 tbsp

Method;

Skin and cut the persimmon into small pieces.

Spray a 8 inch tart pan ( with removable bottom ) with oil. Line the bottom with parchment.

Stir cookie crumbs with butter in a medium bowl until moist. Scoop this mixture into the pan. Firmly press up the edges until crust is even with rim. Press down to cover the bottom of the pan with this mixture. Freeze until very firm, at least 1 hour.

Beat the mascarpone with cream, 4 tbsp honey and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high until stiff peaks form, 2 to 3 min.

Stir remaining 1 tbsp honey with water and fruit in a medium bowl until glossy.

Carefully remove firm tart shells from pan by pressing removable bottom up and out from ring. Peel off parchment. Set shell on a plate. Spoon mascarpone mixture into the shell. Top with fruit. Sprinkle with pistachios, lime zest and icing sugar

Inside scoop;

I preferred to keep the cherries intact, mostly for the visual effect.

Strawberry in balsamic vinegar

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By Ratna

A short drive from the busy city of Rome, felt like a long step back in time. The beautiful medieval village of Mazzano Romano is home to Chef Fabio Bongianni. Halfway in Law school, he realized his true calling in life was food, not felons. A change of course and training in Paris later, he opened a few very successful restaurants in Rome. That was not all, he wanted to share his passion with others with similar interest and opened cooking classes both in Rome as well as in Mazzano.

Bonjourno, greeted Chef Monica to our small group, for whom just marvelling at the Fontanas and Basilicas was not enough. We wanted to delve further. Eat where the locals do, cook like the locals. We had joined a day course with Chef Fabio’s team. Bonjourno we returned the greeting. Set against the Treja valley, the stone houses met with cobblestone path on one side and a lush green vegetation on the other.

The first stop was to get fresh produce from the local grocer. Zucchini, tomatoes, eggplants whatever was in season. As we walked back to the apartment a group of elders waved us with a gummy smile. Time seemed to have stopped in this little town, or maybe it was the attitude of the locals that made ‘ time’ their slaves, not the other way around. The words ‘Schedules’, ‘Plans’ had no meaning.

Our conversations were punctuated only by the rustle of the leaves. The lazy river deep in the valley meandered at its own pace. The kitty on the roof top kept a keen eye on the out of towners.

As we measured flour and cut strawberries, tasted the ravioli filling and rolled out the pasta dough we made new friends. We laughed a lot.

Mallo what? Malloreddu explained Chef Monica with an infectious smile. We tried to say the word without much success. Our new friends from down under put their accent on the word sounding it funnier. More laughter followed.

It was almost lunch time. We exchanged email addresses and made foot notes while cleaning the sauce drip from my recipe book.

The day ended establishing deep friendships. We left richer in culinary expertise and an experience that will forever be etched in our hearts.

Strawberry in Balsamic vinegar is a recipe that you don’t have to keep the fingers crossed for or hover around the oven worrying about the outcome. The flavour and aroma of the fresh berries are accentuated by the acidic vinegar. This can be assembled in no time, leaving you with plenty of time to catch up with friends.

We were enlightened that this recipe has been served since Renaissance times.

Recipe:

Adapted from the book “A Fabiolous Cooking Day”. Serves six.

Ingredients;

Strawberries One pound two ozs, hulled and cut

Balsamic vinegar One fourth cup

Superfine sugar Two Tbsps

Lemon juice Two tsps

Mint leaves, chopped Three Tbsps

Vanilla ice cream As needed

Greek yoghurt If using in place of ice cream

Method:

Place the strawberries in a glass bowl. Pour the balsamic vinegar and lemon juice over it. Add the sugar, mint leaves and toss together. Cover with Saran wrap and marinate in the fridge for about an hour. Serve over Vanilla ice cream.

I have used Greek yoghurt instead.

Inside Scoop;

I preferred using the mint leaves just before serving.

Check out their website here.

Cooking Sutra

Stories and Photos of Food and Family

Tag Archives: dessert

Eggless sugar cookies

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Caramel ice cream cheesecake

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Lavang latika : Clove twisties.

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Kaju Katli: Cashew fudge, GF, DF

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How to make natural food colours using vegetables and an eggless chocolate cupcake.

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Persimmon, Cherry and Pistachio Tart

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Strawberry in balsamic vinegar

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