Coffee Cake

I always wanted to experiment with coffee cake. So I used this basic recipe that I found on the site www.about.com but I forget which section. So I give the recipe below and my observations later on.
Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsps baking powder
1/3 cup butter
1 egg beaten
1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 F. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and soda. Cut in the butter till the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Combine egg and buttermilk, stir into the flour mixture. Spread into a greased and floured 8 inch cake pan (square or round). Now sprinkle the topping and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1-2 tsps cinnamon
2 tbsps melted butter
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Combine the ingredients and sprinkle over the cake batter just before baking.

The result was quite yummy. I felt this cake was more on the dry side and crumbly too. It did taste very light when eaten with a cup of coffee. The topping was delicious and crunchy. This coffee cake reminded me of the homemade cakes we used to bake in India. Those were not as moist or spongy as the ones I bake here. The cakes here are more reminiscent of the juicy, moist pastries that the bakeries in India sell. Whereas the homemade ones are more like this coffee cake.
On the whole a very satisfactory experiment with a simple recipe.

picture courtesy: flickr.com.No copyright infringement intended.

Rabbit-Ear Apples

'An apple a day keeps the doctor away' goes the old adage. That almost says it all. The fruit is very nutritional as well as extremely delicious. I remember growing up in India where apple is a seasonal fruit. It is available for only a few months each year. Here we are lucky enough to get apples year round and should enjoy them more.
I came across this simple way to dress up a regular old apple in a book called ' The Best of Taiwanese Cuisine'. The author, Karen Hulene Bartell, lived in Taiwan for five and a half years and was able to savor the delicious cuisine first hand. It is definitely a very good choice to look to, when in search of some good Taiwanese recipes.
As in China, the meal in Taiwan too is rounded off with some slices of fresh fruits. And I found the picture very cute. So I tried making some too, following the instructions in the book. The result was quite satisfactory.



Instructions to make Rabbit-Ear Apples:
Slice the apple into eight pieces. At the midpoint of a slice, cut an elongated 'V' into the skin. Now slice under the 'V', between the peel and slice. Make sure the skin is still attached firmly at the front base of the slice. Peel off the back half of skin . The 'V' becomes the rabbit's ears and the apple peel becomes the face.
Repeat the process with the other slices. Serve as a garnish for a fruit bowl or as is, and they will be devoured. I guarantee.


recipe courtesy: The Best of Taiwanese Cuisine by Karen Hulene Bartell.
no copyright infringement intended.

Snowy day Snacks - 2

The biggest blizzard of 2010 has come and is slowly moving away. It lasted all day long and made us crave some comfort food. So I turned to the real Indian comfort food idea - vegetable fritters called Bajjis. These can be made with a number of different vegetables, the most popular being aaloo (potato). Personally my favorite is hot green chillies, a specific kind sold just for making bajjis. And that taste can not be achieved with any type of chillies available here in US. The best option would be to use either jalapeno or serrano chillies if you like it hot. For a milder taste you can use anaheim peppers. Today we had a mix of chillies, aaloo and eggplant (vankaya) bajjis. So without further ado, the recipe.

Ingredients
3 long hot peppers, cut in halves
2 small eggplants, sliced thinly
1 small potato, peeled and sliced thinly
2 cups besan (chickpea four)
1 tsp chilli powder
2 tsps ajwain powder
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying.

Prepare all the vegetables as suggested above. Keep the potatoes and eggplants covered with water to avoid darkening because of oxidation. Mix the besan, spices and salt thoroughly. Now add water slowly to make a thick batter without any lumps. When the vegetables are dipped in the batter, it should stick to vegetable and cover it with a thick layer.
Heat oil in a deep thick bottomed vessel ( wok or kadai ) over medium high heat and deep fry the first test batch. Fry till golden brown, remove and drain on a paper towel. At this point, carefully taste the hot 'bajji' for salt, batter state and doneness. If vegetable is raw, it should be in oil longer. If the cooked layer of batter deflates after being taken out of oil and lies limp on the vegetable, it means he batter is too thin. Add a little besan to correct it. If the outer layer is to dry when you bite into it, the batter is too thick. Add a little water to correct this.
Only after testing the first batch should you go ahead with the rest of the vegetables. This way it is assured that the remaining fritters will taste just right. And the ones in the last batch are mostly the best ones ( as a result of constant tasting and correcting after each batch). Give this batch to the people you want to impress!
These fritters taste good alone or served with your favorite kind of ketchup/sauce. Always enjoy these hot and with a cup of steaming 'chai' (tea latte). The most comforting food on a blustery winter day.

Quick Orange Bread

Quick Orange Bread
The search for this bread came about because of two reasons - leftover orange juice and my own laziness. In our house OJ is not a regular item and when I do buy it, the carton stares at me every time I open the refrigerator. So I wanted to find ways of using the half which is always left over after CV is done with it. Hence the idea for a bread.
I added the quick part in the name because this recipe is just that - a quick, measure, mix and bake recipe. No yeast, no "letting it rise" and no kneading till the gluten develops. Mainly because I'm lazy, yes I accept my fault. And this was for just the three of us at home, no guests to impress. Hence I found this recipe perfect for the occasion.

Ingredients
1 3/4 Cups Flour
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Orange Juice
1/4 Cup Oil
1 Egg
1/2 Cup Raisins
1/2 Cup Chopped Nut
2 Tbsp orange peel

In a large bowl, mix all the five dry ingredients. In a seperate bowl, mix the next three wet ingredients and the orange peel. Stir the wet mix into the flour mix just until moistened. Now stir in the raisins and nuts. Spread into a greased 9"x5" loaf pan and bake at 350F in the oven for 50 minutes. Cool and then remove from pan.
Serving suggestion : This bread tastes best when served warm with softened cream cheese or honey butter. We tried w/ cream cheese and it was delicious. Just a little cheese goes a long way here.

recipe courtesy: www.grouprecipes.com from username noir.
picture courtesy: flickr.com