Cake House

N early 8 years into blogging and publishing a new recipe still gives me the tingles. This blog is, in fact, my stress reliever. I got many friends through blogging and got to know about many new recipes and ingredients and cooking methods. I like when some of my friends tell me that they read the whole post and tried my recipes, which to me, means my efforts are not going waste. I will be eagerly waiting for all the lovely comments after each post. As 2017 is going to end, I am really thankful to each one of you. Thank you for all your support and suggestions and encouragement. This year I have tried so many different varieties of dishes some of which I shared with my dear friends. Their responses give me immense pleasure, joy, and encouragement. Every single recipe that I tried and posted on my blog in the year 2017 is dear to me, but I have selected one recipe from each month which is popular and easy to make... January- Kerala Style Deep Fried Masala Papad/ Pappada Boli http://...

For the sauce reduce 400 cl fresh orange juice till 150 cl is left. Add 50 cl chicken stock. Then whisk in 50 gr cold salted butter. Fry the scallops in a dry pan. Serve with orange parts.

T utti frutti refers to candied raw papaya, which is brightly colored small cubicle pieces. These are generally used in cakes, cookies and even in ice creams. The dough can be prepared ahead and kept refrigerated when needed thaw the dough and bake. These cookies are a feast for the eyes because of the colorful candied fruits. The bright red and green colored candied fruits add an extra shine to the holiday treats. Kids will love these colorful treats. as the festive season started, these cookies are perfect for gift family and friends. It is optional to add chocolate chips. We can also make Karachi biscuits using tutti frutti, which is a popular dessert in India. After seeing many blogs with Christmas treats, I baked Christmas fruit cake/ plum cake and these shortbread cookies which are my kid's favorite. . These shortbread cookies are filled with lots of tutti frutti and chocolate chips which are very easy to make. My daughter enjoys helping me with baking these cookie...

SCRUMPIOUS MINCE PIES A fitting post to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and New Year. I made these last Friday for St Piran’s Bridge Club, Carnon Downs and they disappeared in moments. I love cookie cutters with festive designs to vary the lids, I also love frangipani topping! My pastry is delicious, crumbly, melt in the mouth and made very quickly, especially if you have a food processor. I never rub in, too much like hard work. I also rarely make my own mincemeat as the luxury brands are so good. My favourite is Lidl’s Deluxe Rum and Raisin or their Spiced Brandy. Basic Sweet Shortcrust pastry. 8 oz plain flour  a tablespoon of caster sugar 5 oz very cold butter, roughly cubed [zest of an orange - optional] 1 large egg yolk 1-2 tablespoon cold water Place the flour and butter in the food processor and blitz [or rub in]. I pulse, it will take a few seconds. Add the yolk and water and pulse again, until it starts to form a lump. Tip onto a floured surface and bring together. Pl...

Start with the green curry. Sweat some  shallot and garlic in olive oil. Add 2 dl fish (or chicken) stock plus some fresh ginger, lemon grass and the stems of coriander. Boil for 10 mins. Pass through a sieve. reheat the infused stock and add some cream (or coconut milk). Reduce till thick. Add coriander leaves and blitz, Boil the samphire for 3 mins. Cut the fennel bulb very finely and marinate in olive oil en orange juice. Fry the haddock for 5 mins, skin side down. Turn off the heat and turn the fish. The other side will be done in 2 mins. (inspired by Bart Desmidt)

Plus a sauce of creme fraiche and horseradish

Liz P’s Hummingbird Cake A delicious and different fruity cake, extremely moist and full of tropical flavours. This recipe was given to me some time ago by a Bridge friend, who lives in Truro, although the recipe originates from Australia or the US, I believe. Thanks Liz for this scrumptious recipe, it is virtually all in one and is a doddle to make, great as a dessert and freezes like a dream. Ticks every box for me. Brilliant as a Xmas dessert! Liz suggested making it in a 23cm [9 inch] square tin, so that is what I have generally done, but it is equally good in a round, as I have done here. Butter and line the base of your tin and pre heat your fan oven to 160C 450 gr tin of crushed pineapple, drained as best as you can. ¼ of a cup of the reserved syrup 3 oz gr SR flour 5 oz gr plain flour ½ teaspoonful bicarbonate of soda ½ teaspoonful cinnamon ½ teaspoonful ground ginger 7 oz soft light brown sugar 2 oz desiccated coconut 1 cup mashed over ripe banana  2 large beaten eggs 6 fl...

Recipe asap

U nniappam is a popular traditional snack in Kerala. Unni means “small” and appam means “rice cake”. This dish is made of almost all the houses in Kerala. These unniappams will be liked by all. I like to call these “cuteness overloaded” appams. They are so soft and scrumptious that you will end up eating a whole lot. This is prepared using rice, jaggery, and banana. Traditionally this is made using clarified butter. We can also add some roasted coconut pieces in the batter but I like it this way. From so long I badly wanted to try this dish, but without the pan it was impossible. This time when my in-laws came from India they bought the pan and I made them for the first time, which came out super yummy and soft. These unniappams can be made using raw rice, but as I didn’t have so much of patience to soak the rice, I used rice flour. This is an oily dish, but once in awhile, it is fine to have these delicious and traditional snacks. Hope you will also try this dish and let me know. Ing...

FRUITY MALT LOAF Wow, I love this, slathered with butter, of course. Us Cornish have always eaten it and didn’t we call it yuma? I am not sure if that is the correct spelling though. It is surprisingly easy to make, in fact it’s a doddle, but needs maturing before biting into the soft, malty, sticky, fruity dough. Mmmmmm. And the smell, oh my word. You will need a small loaf tin, buttered, with parchment up the sides and hanging over. This will help lift it out as well.  Pre heat your fan oven to 160C 9 tablespoons malt extract [135gr] 2 tablespoons treacle 2 oz soft dark brown sugar 150ml strong black cold tea 8-9 oz dried fruit. Raisins, figs, even better, soft prunes 9 oz flour - half plain, half wholemeal [no need to be exact] 3 tsp baking powder large pinch salt Mix together the wet ingredients and sugar, in a medium bowl, then add your choice of dried fruit. If using prunes or figs [lovely] chop them into raisin size pieces. This will happily soak for an hour or two. Stir the...

Caramel Nut Cake A very different, delicious and impressive cake, using a strange ish method, I have taken it from the 1970’s Talking About Cakes. Making the caramel is quite tricky but OK if you take your time and follow the simple rules. But trust, me it is worth it, for this scrumptious cake. Line a 8 in loose bottom spring form cake tin and pre heat your fan oven to 160C Caramel: ⅓ of a cup of soft dark brown sugar 3 tablespoons very hot water Cake mix: 6 oz butter, softened 10 oz caster sugar ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract 3 eggs 12 oz plain flour 1½ teaspoons baking powder pinch salt 1¼ cups milk, pref whole milk ½ cup chopped walnuts Start off by making the caramel. Put the soft brown sugar in a small saucepan and on your lowest setting, heat gently until liquid. No need to stir but it will take 10-15 mins. Do not turn up the temp! Stir in the hot water, adding it gradually [and carefully] and when all dissolved and bubbly, set aside to cool. This sounds easier than ...

A healthy and nutritious salad a day keeps the guilt away, that is what I believe. Most of the days I like to have salad and I will be searching for a different variety of salads. Till now I have made salads using grilled chicken, fish but never made an egg salad. This simple and healthy salad is made out of very fewer ingredients. This salad consists of all of my favorite ingredients which are boiled and mixed together. These salads are filling, low- cal and a great way to satisfy your daily requirements. We can have this salad any time of the day. The nutty quinoa goes very well with soft eggs. I hope you all would like this. Ingredients: Eggs- 3-4 nos Quinoa- ¼ Cup Broccoli- 1 Cup Spinach- ½ Cup Capsicum- ½ no Olives- 6- 7 nos (optional) Salt- as required Pepper- 1 Tsp Avocados- 1 no Boiled Corn- ½ Cup Method: Boil the eggs till done. Remove the shell and 2 eggs cut in half and the remaining eggs remove the yolks and cut into quarters. Cook the quinoa till done. Boil the broccoli an...

CHEESE CHOUX BUNS Don’t be scared of Choux pastry. It is dead easy and very quick, especially for nibbles. This is a post war recipe from a book entitled The Art of  Cooking, issued in the early 1950s by Stork margarine. There are some great recipes in the book, but these days we would use butter, of course. I rarely, if ever use margarine now. Great party or picnic food, or just to eat. If you follow this, you cannot go wrong, trust me. CHOUX pastry: This recipe makes 2 doz cheese buns or similar. I often make ½ the mixture. From start to baking takes less than ten mins. Pre heat your fan oven to 180C. Prepare a well buttered baking sheet. [or two] In a medium saucepan place: ¼ pint water 4 oz butter Bring these just to the boil then remove from the heat, then beat in, with a wooden spoon: 5 oz sieved plain flour and a pinch of salt [and pepper]  Return to a low heat and beat until the mixture forms a ball. Remove from the heat and allow to cool until moderately warm. [5 mins...