Dried Fruit Peel and Pumpkin Cake

Servings: 12

Ingredients:

    Cooked mashed pumpkin - 1 cup
    Unsalted butter - 150 gms
    Soft brown sugar - 3/4 cup
    Honey - 2 tbsp
    Eggs - 2, lightly bitten
    Dried mixed fruit peel - 1 cup
    Self raising flour - 2 cups
    Nutmeg powder - 1 pinch
    Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp

Methods:

    1. Preheat oven to 180C. Line a wide (I used 8x12 inch glass baking dish) baking dish with baking paper  and grease it lightly with vegetable oil spray.
    2. Steam the pumpkin or cook it covered in the microwave for 5-7 min. Mash it with a potato masher or fork to make a smooth puree. Do not add any liquid or blend it in the blender. That will make it too watery. Measure the mashed pumpkin to yield about 1 cup. Set aside.
    3. Beat the butter with the sugar until soft and creamy. Add the eggs and honey and beat well to combine. Take it of the electric mixer if using, and slowly and carefully fold in the pumpkin with a spatula.
   4. Once all the pumpkin has been incorporated, fold in the dried fruit peel.
   5. In a separate bowl, sift the flour together with the cinnamon and nutmeg. Slowly mix in the dry flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture. Carefully fold and mix to make sure everything has been incorporated but do not beat it or over mix it. The pumpkin puree is heavy, so if you mix it too much it will create a dense heavy cake instead of the soft crumbly one. 
   6.Once the mixture is well combined, spoon it into the prepared (oiled and lined) baking dish. Smooth the top with a back of a spoon. Bake for 35- 40 min. Check after 30 min to see if its done by inserting a knife or skewer in the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean , its done.
   7. Let it cool for 10-15 min in the pan then take it out and let it cool completely before you ice it with the cream cheese icing.

Shahi Tukra

Serving: 6- 8

Ingredients:

• Crusty sweet bread - 1 big loaf
  
• Sweetened condensed milk - 2 cans
• Full cream milk - 1 cup
  
• Sugar - to taste, as required for extra sweetness
  
• Cardamon pods - 3-4
  
• Nutmeg powder - 1 pinch
  
• Almonds - 1/2 cup, slivered or chopped coarsly
  
• Whipped cream - 2 cups
  
• Ghee/clarified butter - 1/2 cup
  
• Mixed dried fruits - 1/2 cup (raisins, cranberry, apricots etc), optional
  

Methods:

• 1. Slice the bread into triangular shapes. Brush both sides with the butter and bake on 180C(200F) for 5 min or until crisp. Remove from oven and let it cool.
  
• 2. Meanwhile, in a non-stick pot, add the cardamons and the milk and bring to boil on low heat. Once it starts to bubble, add the nutmeg powder and simmer for 5 min.
  
• 3. Slowly add the condensed milk to the pot. Remember to keep stirring so that the milk doesn't burn. However, if you keep the heat on low it should not. Add the extra sugar now, if you want it sweeter. Once the milk comes up to boil again, turn off the heat and set the milk aside.
• 4. In a deep dish, lay the sliced bread one on top of other to create an elevated layer. Sprinkle the fruits on top and pour the warm milk over covering all the bread pieces. Cover the dish with a plastic wrap. Make few whole with a fork, so that steams can escape. Let it cool.
• 5. Once the dish cools down to touch, put it in the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
  
• 6. After it has chilled and set nicely, top it with the whipped cream. Sprinkle the almonds on top and serve.
  

Raas Malai- the Sweetest Delicacy!

Ingredients:

• Full-cream Milk - 1.25 gallon/ 4.5 liter
• Vinegar - 4 tbsp
• Sugar - 5 cups
• Green Cardamon - 2

Methods:

• 1. In a non-stick pot , bring half a gallon of milk into boil by simmering on very low heat. Reduce the milk to half the amount by keeping it simmering for about 2-3 hours on low heat. Remember to stir occasionally to avoid any burns or lumps.
• 2. Mean while, in another pot bring the rest of the milk to boil. Once it starts bubbling, turn the heat off and add the vinegar. The milk solids (chana) will separate from the whey.
• 3. Drain it in a cheese cloth, and hang it somewhere to drain for about 1.5- 2 hours. Do not squeeze to get the water out faster. This will make the chana (cottage cheese) hard and result in harder sweets.
• 4. Back to the evaporated milk, once the milk has reduced to a thick sticky consistency (you will know when you dip a wooden spoon in the milk and a thick cream sticks to the spoon) add 1 cup of sugar (or to your preference) and keep stirring to melt in the sugar completely. Your sweetened cream is done, set it aside and let it cool. Once cold , keep it in the fridge until it is required for the sweets.
• 5. Meanwhile in a pot with a wide surface area, make the simple syrup by adding 4 cups of sugar to 5 cups of water and the cardamons. Simmer on low heat, and keep it warm while you make the chana balls. You need a large pan*, because once you add the chana balls they will puff up and take up as much area as you give them, that means the bigger they will get.
• 6. Once the chana has properly been drained out of all the liquid, knead it with 1 tbsp of sugar for about 6-10 min. The more you knead it the softer the sweets will be.
• 7. Form tiny little balls out of the chana, the recipe allows for about 70-90 balls. Once all the chana balls have been prepared, poach them in the simple syrup for about 20 min on low-med heat, covered. Do NOT open the lid while cooking. This will make the balls shrink and hard.

• 8. Once the 20 min is up, turn the heat off and let the sweets cool down. Do not open the lid until the pot is cool to touch. This will make sure the sweets are soft and spongy. Soak the sweets in the syrup for about 24 hours.
• 9. Then transfer them (drained of the syrup) to the sweetened cream and soak in the cream for 24 hours more, refrigerated. The longer you soak the sweets, the sweeter and plumper it will get. After the 2 long days of waiting, you can serve the sweetest delicacy ever. It is no doubt a lot of hard work, but the result is heavenly!!!
  

Hints:
* If you do not have a large enough pan, then cook the sweets in two batches or use two different pots, that is what I did. This also means that you need to divide your syrup in the two pots or make extra syrup for two different pots.

Orange Cream Delight

Few days ago, after lunch I felt like having a cream cheese pie. I had none at home, and couldn't be bothered running to the store. So had to do with whatever I had in the fridge. However, I was feeling lazy to create a pie crust and go the whole yard for a pie. So , here is my take on it. This is a lazy version of cream cheese pie, in other words it has most of the ingredients of a pie but just does not look like one. Bon Appétit!

Servings: 2

Ingredients:

• Cream cheese -1 cup*
  
• Orange flavoured yogurt- 2/3 cup
  
• Orange Zest - 1 tbsp (zest of 1 fresh orange, can also use lemon)
  
• Orange extract - 1/4 tsp
  
• Canned orange - 1 can
  
• Chocolate Brownie - 2 big pieces **
  
• Strawberry preserve/jam - 2 tbsp
  

Methods:

• 1. In a bowl beat the cream cheese with a electric mixer until frothy.
  
• 2. Add the orange zest, extract and slowly beat in the yogurt with the cheese. Put it in a zip log bag for piping/filling the cups.
  
• 3. Drain the canned oranges from their juice and set aside. Preserve the juice. With a heart shaped cookie cutter, cut your brownies, don't throw away the cut leftover pieces.
  
• 4. In each wine glass***, first put 1 tbsp of the strawberry preserve, then top it with a layer of oranges, then a layer of the broken/leftover brownie pieces.
• 5. Cut of one corner of the zip log bag with the cheese in it to create a piping bag. Gently squeeze the bag to pipe over the cheese/yogurt mix on top of the brownie layer in swirls.
• 6. Arrange some more orange pieces on top of the cheese. With the piping bag do some decorations on the cut-out heart shaped brownie and place it in the center of the yogurt.
• 7. Pour about 2-3 tbsp of the preserved canned orange liquid over the brownie to allow it to soak up the juices. Chill for at least 2 hours before serving.
  

Hints:
*You can use fat-free or reduced fat cheese and yogurt for a healthier version.
** I baked my own brownie to have control over the thickness and crunch I wanted. I also used heart shaped cup to bake my brownie so that I wont have to cut it later. You can use store bought brownie and cut it to your desired shape.
***You can use margarita or any other glasses as well. Instead of using any fancy glass, you can also use flat cups with leads and store your orange delight in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. In this case just defrost it for about an hour or so in the fridge before serving.

3 Layered Chocolate Mousse Cake

Servings: 6-8

Ingredients:

• Instant chocolate pudding mix – 1packet (100 gm)
• Milk – 2 cups, cold
• Fudge Brownie mix- ½ packet (300 gm)
• Egg – 1
• Readymade Whipped cream – 600 gm
• Strawberry preserve – ½ cup
• Dark chocolate – for shavings

Methods:

• Follow the packet instructions of the Fudge brownie mix, and prepare half the amount of the batter. You are looking for a thin cake, about 1 cm thick.
• Pour it in a baking dish, that can also be used for serving, and bake for 30-35 min. Let it cool.
• Once the cake has cooled down, place a sheet of plastic wrap on top and invert the dish on a plate, so that the cake can be removed without breaking.

• In the same dish, mix in the instant pudding mix with 2 cups of milk, and chill for at least 1 hour. The pudding will harden.
• Once the pudding is hard enough to hold shape, carefully transfer the brownie cake onto the dish, on top of the pudding, thus creating the second layer.

• Whip the readymade whipped cream with the fork very gently to soften and then spread it over the cake in dollops. The texture should be rough and lumpy or with soft peeks.
• Meanwhile in a cup, mix in the strawberry preserve with 3 tbsp of water and microwave it for 30 seconds so that to thin out the preserve and make it syrupy.
• With a spoon, dredge over this syrup on top of the whipped cream in any pattern you like.
• With a grater, shave some dark chocolate over the whipped cream for the garnish.
• Serve the desert chilled.