.....From My Palate

Treats

Cassata Ice Cream – Revisiting Childhood favorites

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While talking to your own children, you sometimes revisit your life in the past and unfolds your childhood temptations and favorites. While talking about healthy food and its importance, my son suddenly asked me “What was your favorite food when you were of my age”? I took a pause to think because the answer was not in any way a good example for him. I tried to ignore the subject saying we didn’t have so many options those days. The next question popped up was about my all time favorite food or dessert as a child. That was easy to answer, it was cassata and ice cream soda. Of Course! apparently the next question was “What is Cassata and Ice-cream Soda? Ice-cream soda was easy to make him understand as float but divinity of cassata was really difficult to describe and make him understand. The slice of three flavors of ice-creams layered on a cake covered with nuts was nothing less than a bliss on a plate. The flavors of three ice-creams bursting together in your mouth with crunchy nuts and spongy cake still makes me blank and the only word that comes out of my mouth is Yum! Delicious!.

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Cassata is very different than ice-cream cake. Ice-cream cake is cake with a layer of ice-cream and frosting on it, whereas cassata is three layers of ice-cream on a layer of cake and covered with nuts. More ice-cream, less cake and a crunch with roasted nuts. I don’t know if I am making any sense to you but sometimes the experience is better than lots of words. So I decided to recreate a recipe for cassata with my favorite flavors of ice-creams.

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My favorite flavors are all Indian flavors of ice-cream. Keeping a color scheme in my mind I opted for Mango ice-cream, pistachios ice-cream and kulfi. The whole experience of making cassata from scratch was so therapeutic and joyful to me. I was so excited that I finished from baking a cake to making three flavors, layering and freezing in one day.

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Though, the size of my cassata is smaller than the real one but when you make it at home, having just one of anything you love is never enough. A guilty pleasure !!!

Verdict from my son– OMG! it is so delicious. It has ice-creams, cake, nuts….Gosh! Its a total treat.
Hard work all worth!! 🙂 🙂

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Cassata Ice Cream – Reliving Childhood Temptation
Recipe Type: Ice Cream / Dessert
Cuisine: Indian
Author: Bhawana
Ingredients
  • Sponge Cake
  • 3 Flavors of Ice cream of your choice
  • (I used Mango, kukfi and Pistachios)
  • Crushed Almonds and Pistachios
  • Tutti Frutty
  • Terrine Pan or Loaf Pan
Instructions
  1. Line the preferred pan with the parchment paper hanging on both the sides.
  2. Take out the ice cream from the freezer to soften them before using.
  3. Sprinkle crushed nuts all over the pan.
  4. Fill up the bottom part with one flavor of the ice cream.
  5. Flatten it with the spatula. Cover and put it in freezer for an hour.
  6. After an hour check, if it is all set add another layer of the different flavor.
  7. Add extra tutti fruity for color and set it again in freezer.
  8. In the mean time, cut sponge cake in to a rectangular shape of a pan.
  9. Check again after an hour, pour the final layer of the different ice cream.
  10. Add extra layer of nuts on top.
  11. Now place rectangular cake over the ice cream. Press it lightly.
  12. Cover it tightly with the hanging parchment paper and aluminum foil.
  13. Freeze it overnight.
  14. To serve, put the mold in the warm water for some time.
  15. Invert on a plate, peel off the parchment paper.
  16. Add more nuts on the top. Slice and serve.

Khajoor Mewa Roll

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Gifts, new clothes, mithais and lot of happiness and exuberance around….yes! that’s what festivals gives us while breaking the monotony of work and busy life. If festivals are not there our lives will be like robots with no emotions and feelings to share with family and friends. Festivals are regular days, just an excuse to rejoice and spend special time with loved ones. These are the days to break rules, diets and enmity whereas strengthens the bonds of love and responsibilities for each other. One such day to celebrate the emotional bonding between brothers and sisters is around the corner. A very very Happy Raksha Bandhan to all of you in advance.
I wanted to dedicate this post to my brother. Happy Raksha Bandhan Bhai!

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Any festival is incomplete without sweet. And in the time of healthy, sugar-less sweets, this sweet will be a perfect treat for a health conscious, exercise freak, brother. This roll is like an energy bar with dates and nuts. Khajoor rolls are not new to me, my friend in UK introduced this recipe to me almost 8 years back. This is a quick recipe with hardly any work and looks delicious.
What will be a more healthier way to celebrate “bond of love” ? Be ready with an extra box to pack this yummy treat for your brother.

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Khajoor Mewa Roll
Author: Bhawana
Ingredients
  • 2 cups Khajoor (Dates), pitted & chopped
  • 1 cup mixed Dry Fruits, toasted & chopped
  • 1 tsp. Desi Ghee
  • 1/2 tsp. Cardamom Powder
  • Few drops Rose Essence (optional)
  • Shredded coconut for garnishing
Instructions
  1. Heat ghee in a nonstick pan. Add khajoor.
  2. Cook khajoor while mixing it well.
  3. Cook until they are soft.
  4. Mix dry fruits, cardamom powder and rose essence.
  5. Mix it well and let it cool for sometime.
  6. Roll the mixture into a thick log.
  7. Roll it on shredded coconut and wrap it tightly in cling film.
  8. Refrigerate it until firm.
  9. Cut it in to slices and serve.

Dry Fruit Biscuit/Cookies

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I don’t like baking cookies, not that I don’t like cookies in fact I am the official (“Me want cookie!”, “Me eat cookie!”), cookie monster of our home. And the reason for my aversion for baking cookies is, that most of them goes straight in to my much needed workouts tummy. Yeah! its strange that even the youngest one in our family does not go around the cookie jar as much as “ME”. My Love affair with cookies are not new, I still remember going to the bakery with my parents, and the first thing that grabbed my attention was nicely lined up round and square pieces of these buttery delights with different toppings and making them more desirable. Though its really hard for me to say any of them my favorite, as I love all of them equally but still i used to like flower shaped biscuit (yeah! back home we call them biscuit) with red jelly topping in the middle and coconut biscuit that looks like macaroons (or may be they were macaroons who knew then..:-)).

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I always like the idea of serving different types of cookies lined up in the tray for guests, but irony is even now, when ever they are needed my cookie jars are always empty. So I really request my friends and family to visit us either on the day I bake cookies or on the day I get my groceries from store, so that I can serve few of them to our guests and feel better while eating rest of them in privacy. :-))
Today we are talking about Nuts Cookies, these are kind of icebox cookies without eggs and with lots of nuts. We can add cardamom powder and saffron to enhance the Indian ethnic taste to our palate.

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Dry Fruit Biscuit/Cookies
Author: Bhawana
Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
  • 2 tbsp. Custard Powder
  • 3/4 cup chopped Dry fruits
  • 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
  • 2 sticks of Butter, softened
  • 1 cup Sugar
  • Sliced Nuts for garnishing
Instructions
  1. Cream butter and sugar. Add dry fruits and vanilla essence. Mix it well.
  2. Sift all purpose flour and custard powder.
  3. Mix flour into butter mixture slowly without over-mixing it.
  4. Make a soft dough out of it.
  5. Use little milk or extra flour if needed for the soft dough.
  6. Shape the dough in to logs and tightly wrap it in a wax paper.
  7. Refrigerate the logs for an hour until firm.
  8. Preheat oven at 350 °F.
  9. Cut logs in to 1/4-inch thick slices. Garnish them with sliced nuts.
  10. Bake for 12-15 mins until cookies are little brown from the edges.
  11. Cool them for 10 mins.
  12. Enjoy freshly baked biscuit/cookies with tea or coffee.

Tutti Frutti Pound Cake

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My cravings and weather go hand in hand. Yeah! if its raining nothing is better than crunchy spicy mix pakodas with steaming ginger tea. What is better than hot steaming Kadhi Chawal with Spicy Aloo on any snowy day for lunch or dinner. Cucumber Sandwich with Cold Coffee can make me happy for lunch on any sunny summer afternoon. But when the sun is lazy and hiding somewhere and there is a nip in the air, my craving for slice of pound cake with my evening tea can push my lazy bum in the kitchen. No kidding! sometimes my cravings are really strong. And this was exactly what happened to me few days back. Whatever happens, happens for something good but in this case it was delicious.

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Tutti Frutti was not in my mind but I decided to add it for color and my son’s love for them. While eating a slice,  I got nostalgic about old school tea time cake that all of us have loved and relish -Britannia Fruit Cake. Oh! I still remember those two slices in my lunch box used to made my day. Either its a road trip with parents or picnic with friends Britannia fruit cake never disappointed our hunger pangs. Back then, no idea about baking I used to wonder sometimes “What is the recipe for this magical slice?” And now I realized making this cake from scratch to calm my own wicked craving have long roots and a story to tell……

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Tutti Frutti Pound Cake
Author: Bhawana
Ingredients
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 4 large eggs, room temperature
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup Tutti Frutti
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Butter and flour a loaf pan, set aside.
  3. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
  4. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after adding each one, add vanilla and salt.
  5. With mixer on low, add flour in small batches, beating just until combined (do not over mix).
  6. Add tutti frutti mixed with little flour. Mix it well in cake batter.
  7. Pour the batter in prepared pan.
  8. Bake for an hour, until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.
  9. Let cool in pan for 15 minutes.
  10. Take it out and place it onto a wire rack to cool completely.
  11. Slice and enjoy!

Baklava – Nutty Sweet Multilayer Pastry

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I have a Cooking Bucket List, Yes! It is long and I wanted to make each item in the list in my lifetime. When I accomplish any recipe in the list as per my satisfaction, its a proud moment for me and very motivating for my tiny cooking repertoire. Well, in a time of “no sugar-no oil” healthy food (pun intended if you find one) fulfilling cooking bucket list is a big dream. Putting check sign on any particular dish gives me immense pleasure and few extra pounds on my waist.
I wanted to share one of that happy day for me with you guys and my trophy for the day is Baklava- Nuts Filled Flaky Multilayered Pastry sweetened with rose flavored Sugar Syrup.

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Baklava is a Middle-Eastern dessert, famous all around world for its flaky, nutty, sweet and rich taste. Home made baklava tastes so good, its fresh, pastry is more flaky and crunchy and sweetness according to taste. It was in my list for really long, i have no idea why i didn’t try it before…its really easy and delicious.
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Baklava
Author: Bhawana
Nutty Sweet Multilayer Pastry
Ingredients
  • 1 box Phyllo Pastry Dough
  • 1 cup Walnuts
  • 1 cup Almonds
  • 1 cup Butter, melted
  • 1/4 cup crushed Pistachios for garnishing
  • Sugar Syrup
  • 2 cups Sugar
  • 1 cup Water
  • 1 tbsp. Lemon Juice
  • (I used 1/2 tsp. Rose Water and 1 tsp. of Orange Blossom Water for extra flavor)
Instructions
  1. haw phyllo sheets according to package instructions.
  2. Mix nuts and pulse them in food processor until coarsely ground.
  3. Boil sugar and water in a pan for sugar syrup.
  4. Add lemon juice and continue boiling syrup for more 10-12 minutes.
  5. Add rose water or orange blossom water for extra flavor.
  6. Preheat oven at 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
  7. Take a deep baking dish and butter the bottom and sides.
  8. Trim phyllo sheets to fit in to the baking dish.
  9. Place a phyllo sheet in a dish, butter it all over with a brush.
  10. Repeat the same process until you stack 15 sheets at the bottom of the dish.
  11. Spread half of the nut mixture over phyllo sheets.
  12. Add five more phyllo sheets brushing butter in between each sheets.
  13. Spread rest of the nut mixture over phyllo sheets
  14. Again, repeat stacking 15 more layers of buttered phyllo sheets.
  15. Cut Pastry diagonally in to diamond shapes.
  16. Pour rest of the melted butter over the phyllo sheets.
  17. Bake for 50-55 minutes until the top of the baklava are golden brown.
  18. Pour the sugar syrup on hot Baklava.
  19. Garnish with Pistachios.
  20. Set aside for few hours or preferably overnight.
  21. Enjoy the goodness of your hard-work.

Fruit Trifle – English Pudding

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Trifle is a layered English dessert made from sponge cake, custard, whipped cream and fruits. Sponge cakes are usually dipped in sherry or other preferred alcohol in traditional recipe. I made a simple syrup with rose flavoring for that purpose. Trifle is a classic English dessert that still has its place on table set for any celebration. Multiple elegant layers set in the glass trifle bowl can elevate the mood of the party even when its time to go home. The presentation in the bowl looks so awesome but personally I don’t like it when it served.. It looks like a messy blob of cake. Now I know why the individual bowls of trifle are more preferred than  the big one.

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This is the easiest dessert for the party as you can buy the basic ingredients readymade from the store and assemble it in few minutes. What I really like about this dessert is the different colors and layers gives the explosion of tastes and textures in the mouth.

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Fruit Trifle – English Pudding
Author: Bhawana
Ingredients
  • CAKE LAYER
  • Sponge cake, Pound cake, Angle Food Cake- Cake of your choice
  • Sugar Simple Syrup
  • CUSTARD LAYER
  • 3 cups Whole Milk
  • 1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
  • 4 tbsp. Sugar
  • 3 tbsp. Custard Powder
  • FRUIT LAYER
  • 2 cups sliced fresh Strawberries
  • 1 cup fresh Blueberries
  • 2 cups Mangoes, cubed
  • 1 cup Grapes, cut halves
  • 1 cup Pineapple, cubed
  • WHIPPED CREAM
  • 1 1/2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
  • 4 tbsp. powdered Sugar
  • Few drops Rose flavoring
Instructions
For The Custard
  1. Mix the custard powder with 1/4 cup of milk and whisk well until smooth. (no lumps)
  2. Boil rest of the milk with sugar.
  3. Add the custard and vanilla essence to the boiling milk.
  4. Keep stirring until the custard starts to thicken. This will take about 5-7 minutes.
  5. Cool completely, and refrigerate preferably overnight.
For the Whipped Cream
  1. Combine the heavy whipping cream, and the powdered sugar in a larger mixer bowl.
  2. Beat on high until stiff peaks form.
  3. Keep chilled in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Assemble the Trifle
  1. Place 1/2 of the cake cubes in the bottom of the trifle dish.
  2. Drizzle the sugar syrup over the cake.
  3. Top the cake cubes with custard followed by fruits and whipped cream.
  4. Repeat layers one more times or according to the size of dish.
  5. Decorate the top with fresh fruit.
  6. Keep chilled until ready to serve.

Mango Lassi

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I don’t know, its summer or the magic of mangoes that compels me to publish two posts on mango  one after the another. My post is about a yogurt based drink that is served savory or sweet. It is most popular in the Punjab region of India. It is served in the disposable clay cups that elevates its taste to the different level. Creamy, frothy texture of this sweet yogurt based drink is not only refreshing to the soul in the hot humid summers, but it is also good for stomach because of its probiotic nature.

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Yes! Lassi is a phenomenal drink served either with kewra water and sugar or grounded cumin seeds, salt and dried mint. Now with the new generation and their experiments this ever young drink is served in lots of new varieties and tastes.

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But when this drink is blended with mangoes it explodes your taste buds with its delightful taste and creamy texture. Mango lassi is one of the most internationally  famous Indian drink. Its simple to make, elegant to serve and tastes royally delicious.

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Mango Lassi
Author: Bhawana
Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cups roughly chopped Mangoes, or
  • 1/2 cup Mango Pulp
  • 1 1/2 cups fresh Dahi (Yogurt)
  • 1 cup cold Milk
  • 3 tbsp. Sugar
  • Few drops Mango Essence
  • 2 pinches Cardamom Powder
Instructions
  1. Combine all the ingredients and blend in a mixer till it is smooth and frothy.
  2. Pour into glasses and serve immediately garnished with mangoes.

Tomatillo Salsa – Chipotle Style

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The tomatillo or husk-tomato is a plant mainly cultivated in Mexico. Tomatillo’s most popular recipe is Salsa Verde (green sauce). Due to the tomatillos, salsa verde has a green tangy flavor with the underlying zesty tastes of hearty green chile, lime and onions. I was first introduced with this salsa by our favorite Chipotle Mexican Grill. Initially I was little reluctant in trying this salsa due to the spice level, but was always intrigued by its color. We (yes! with my husband) try to recreate our favorite chipotle recipe and were really happy with the results.

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Tomatillo Salsa – Chipotle Style
Author: Bhawana
Ingredients
  • 5-6 Green Tomatillos, husks removed
  • 3 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 2 Chile de árbol, or more to taste (or use Dried Red Chilli as a substitute)
  • 1 cup cilantro leaves, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup white onion, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 tsp. Cumin Powder, roasted
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 lime
Instructions
  1. Rinse and roughly chop tomatillos.
  2. Place the tomatillos along with the garlic cloves and the chilli in a pot and cover with water.
  3. Boil and than simmer at medium for about 12 minutes, or until tomatillos change their color from a bright to a pale green.
  4. Place tomatillos, garlic and chilli and 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid in the blender and puree until smooth.
  5. Add the cilantro leaves, onion and salt and process again.
  6. Add salt, cumin powder and lime. Mix it well.
  7. Serve with chips or as a salsa accompaniment to Mexican dishes.

Orange Pistachios Marble Cake

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What you guys do on sunday morning, when Mr sunshine is taking a break and its raining outside? You don’t have any early commitments?  No deadlines and when other chores can wait??
A lazy Sunday mornings with a cup of ginger tea and a I-Pad to curl up with…after a while, browsing idly here and there, you jump from the couch with a thought, “how about baking a cake”?
How many of you agreeing with this thought?
It is impossible to enjoy idling thoroughly unless one has plenty of work to do. There is no fun in doing nothing when you have nothing to do. Wasting time is merely an occupation then, and a most exhausting one. I read it somewhere and noted down at once as I really concur the opinion

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After browsing lot of fancy recipes, I decided on a simple marble cake. My little helper with a gleam in his eyes, pulled the chair in the middle of the kitchen, sit there ready, with a recipe in his hand. He helps me, reading all the instructions step by step and sometimes in mixing too. He is my major critique and a consumer of my goods.

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Orange Pistachios Marble Cake
Author: Bhawana
Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cups Maida(All Purpose Flour)
  • 3/4 cup Sugar
  • 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
  • 1 cup Thick Yogurt
  • 2 tbsp Cocoa Powder
  • 1 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Essence
  • 1/2 cup Milk
  • Pinch of Salt
  • 1 tsp Zest Of Orange
  • 2 tbsp Pistachios Powder
  • Few Sliced Pistachios
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F. Grease and flour the cake pan.
  2. Mix Yogurt, sugar and Salt.
  3. In another Bowl mix flour and pistachios powder.
  4. Add baking powder and baking soda, mix it gently, and allow to stand for 3 minutes, until you see bubbles on top.
  5. Add oil, vanilla essence and orange zest in the batter. And mix it well.
  6. Now add flour and milk alternately. Fold the batter very gently.
  7. Divide the batter in to half, mix cocoa powder in one half.
  8. Now pour both the batter alternately in the baking pan.
  9. Top it with little orange zest and pistachios slices.
  10. Bake it for 40 to 45 minutes until the cake tester inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
  11. Cool down the cake for 10 minutes.
  12. Cut it in to pieces and enjoy with tea or coffee.